Taking the Trophy

The Suba Lakers competed in their first tournament since their official registration as a Sports Association with the Kenyan government a few weeks ago. The divisional officials asked the team to represent the Gembe location in the Constituency Football tournament at Mbita High School Saturday. Usually the choose the best players in the area that are under the age of 30 and put them together to compete against the other locations. This time, they decided to ask our club to represent them.

The Laker Girls took home the trophy with a resounding 2-0 win in front of a large throng of hometown faithfuls who had their first chance at seeing a strong girls football team. The fans were impressed at the way the girls controlled the ball, passed and played a game they are only accustomed to seeing boys play. Their performance drew many praises and accolades as they controlled the ball virtually the entire match.

Keta Corazon opened the scoring towards the end of the first half with a superb strike. Second Half subsitute, Irine Achieng from CGA, put the game out of reach with a long range bomb that sailed into the top right corner of the net beyond the goalkeepers reach. The girls had many more chances to score, including a penalty shot, but they had to settle for the two goal victory.

The Journey

The journey to Mfangano Island was a learning experience in many ways for our kids. They learned from interacting with other kids from a different school. They learned from watching the attitudes and behaviour of their teachers and other staff as they competed in sports. They also learned from the boat ride home.

The day’s program lasted a little longer than we had hoped. By the time we were boarding the boat to return home, the sun was already setting. Some members of the group were noticeably worried. Even though these children have grown up around the lake, many of them have never been on a boat before and a majority of them don’t know how to swim. It was a little frightening as darkness set in and the storm clouds moved overhead. We could see lightning in the distance on both sides of the boat which isn’t very encouraging when you are inside a wooden boat. About halfway into the trip, it began to rain. With no covering and no place to hide we had to make the best of a bad situation. The children continued singing to keep their minds off the troubles and the staff prayed. Fortunately the rain didn’t last long and the captain guided us safely to our destination though we were pretty wet upon arrival. The children recognized the hand of God through the situation and were quick to praise his name upon reaching. A safari outside of our own school helps to expose the children to many new things and teaches them many valuable lessons.

Journey Across the Lake

On Saturday morning a group from CGA boarded a boat and rode across the lake to Mfangano Island. The delegation included thirty students and twenty staff tightly squeezed in the wooden boat. After the hour long journey we were greeted by the students at Gethsemane School who were awaiting our arrival. The hosts treated us like kings with their warm greetings and great meals. We spent the day with our sister school competing in various sporting activities. Like us, they are working to educate the orphans of Suba District and instill the word of God in them to see God’s Kingdom come to Kenya through their lives.

The games began with a three-set win for the CGA volleyball team. The boys did not fair as well against a very tough Gethsemane team. The staff took the court next and played an extremely competitive match that eventually saw CGA lose in a third set thriller. After a light lunch they headed out to the football pitch. Once again the CGA girls proved strong with a 1-0 victory when Irine Achieng put the kick through the goal-keepers legs and through the goal. The staff teams competed next. Once again the staff had a very even match that ended with a 0-0 draw. The final competition of the day was the boys’ football match in which Gethsemane prevailed with a 2-0 win. The boys, girls and staff all walked back to the school together and enjoyed a late lunch or early dinner. After the speeches CGA rushed to board the boat and set off for home. The sun was setting as they waved goodbye to their friends from the island. Within a short time the students broke out in a chorus and never stopped singing until we reached the shores of Mbita. The joyous singing helped the delegation to keep their minds off the dangers of travelling on the lake and the rain that soaked us a for a few minutes. It was a great field and good exposure for most of the children who have lived their whole lives by the lake but had never even been

Fighting Cancer

This week we had the chance to visit Barak in the Children’s Cancer Ward at Nyanza Provencial Hospital in Kisumu. Barak is a 5 ½ year old boy from our Pre-primary class at CGA. In April our Orphan Overseer, Lillian, walked into his class and was told by the teacher that the boy is not feeling well. After giving him some water to drink she hugged him and noticed how hard his stomach was. She sent him to the local clinic that treats all of our children. The doctor gave him some medicine. Lillian was worried it was more than that and personally brought him back and talked with the doctor. They agreed he should be referred to the District Hospital in Sindo and get an ultrasound. After receiving the results they immediately took him to Kisumu for more tests. On the day we visited they found out that it was indeed cancer in his stomach. Thanks to Lillian’s quick intervention we are hopeful that it was caught in time. They will be checking his hemoglobin count and if it is high enough then they will begin his chemotherapy on June 10th and it will continue for at least six weeks or possibly much longer depending on his blood counts.

The visit was difficult but very enjoyable. He is in pain and struggling, but he is being well taken care of by the dedicated nurses and staff in the hospital. Their ward is full of children with all types of cancer. Barak used to be a very active and talkative young boy. He was visibly happy when we visited, but did not seem like his normal self. Please join us in praying for his overall health and that he will be strong enough to get his chemotherapy each week and that God would provide a total healing of the cancer in his body.

Football Weekend

Twenty-two girls travelled to Mbita last Friday to be a part of the 1st football training weekend for the Suba Lakers. Two came on the boat from Mfangano Island, four walked over the hills and the man-made bridge from Rusinga Island, four more walked 10 kilometers from Kirindo and the other 12 came from different parts of the greater Mbita area.

The weekend was a rousing success. We had five football training sessions, two math tutoring sessions, and several formal spiritual talks, health talks and academic talks. That list doesn't include the informal opportunties our teachers and coaches had to impact these girls lives in positive ways. We were also able to go as a team to watch the secondary school finals of our zone at Mbita High School. Teacher Rosslyn was a great host for the 10 out-of-towners. They were fed like royalty and enjoyed sleeping altogether in one bedroom.

It ended with a bang on Monday (a public holiday). We scrimmaged against a boys team in the morning and the girls displayed some great skills and talent. After playing two games that lasted a total of about two hours, the final score was 1-1. It was a good challenge for our girls who battled hard. Finally we enjoyed a big feast at Teacher Rosslyn's house with all the players and coaches before bidding them goodbye and dismissing them to return to their homes and prepare for school tomorrow.

Rusinga Island Visits

As I have been working with Paul Onundo and some other local primary school teachers to set up this football club, we have identified the best players in the area. So we have been travelling to each of their schools and homes to meet with their principals and their families. This gives us a chance to share with them what we are doing and why we are doing it. It also helps us to understand the players better when we know where they are coming from.

It has been an interesting journey. The harsh realities of life in this area struck me once again. Today we drove over the man-made bridge to Rusinga Island. I have been there many times, but never deep into the interior. The visit we made was to the house of Alice. She lives in a tiny tin sheet house just off the main road. Her mother has 8 children, but the husband sent her and his other wife away several years ago when he found a third wife he liked more. The mother and her 8 children were staying at the grandmother’s home, but then one of Alice’s older sisters passed away and because of cultural traditions the mother had to move out of her parent’s house. So now they are staying in a tiny rental house for some time period of “cleansing.” She buys and sells fish to survive and take care of all of the children.

Later we went to the home of Lucia. She lost her father when she was young and her mother died a couple of years ago. She was staying with another wife of her father who was a polygamist. That mother just passed away a few weeks ago. Now she is under the care of her elderly grandmother. The only one in their family who earns an income is her uncle who is the principal at her school.

Last weekend we visited Phenny’s home. She is a very hard-working and responsible young girl that was selected as the Head Girl at her school this past year for those qualities. She lives with her mother and her 1 year old sister down close to a fishing beach by Kirindo market. It is a nice compound and a good sized mud-house that they keep very clean and neat. Phenny’s father passed away when she was still young. The mother makes a small income through buying and selling fish at the beach when the fishermen bring in a good catch. Phenny has many duties at home cooking for the family and taking care of her younger sister and also her mother who is often sick.

Working at CGA on a day to day basis for the past five years, I am surrounded by children with the same kinds of stories. As I teach them and spend time with them, I think I sometimes forget the harsh reality of what their home situation is like. Praise God for ministries like CGA that are assisting these children in breaking the cycle of poverty in their families through education.

Suba Lakers Football Club

The Suba Lakers Football Club was founded in 2008 to provide opportunities for children, especially girls, to develop their God-given abilities and potential in a positive setting. Our aim though is to do much more than develop football talent. Using football as our platform we hope to impact children’s lives in academic growth, physical health, character development and, most importantly, in spiritual nourishment. We desire to assist the families and schools in developing well-rounded children that will be successful in life and grow into the future leaders of Kenya.

In each of the last two years girls we have worked with have helped Suba District reach the finals in the primary school Provencial tournament. Several have moved on to good secondary schools and are still developing their talents in various schools throughout Nyanza and Western Province. Last August we took a team to Kisumu that competed against some of the best club teams in the country and the Suba team finished 4th out of 18 teams. There are very many talented players throughout the district, but many never get the opportunity to develop those talents because of challenges that many young girls face in this region such as dropping out of school, drugs, alcohol, early pregnancies, forced marriages and HIV/AIDS. We hope that our organization can positively impact many girls’ lives in these areas.

1) generating opportunities to share the gospel
2) encouraging students to stay in school
3) improving physical fitness
4) building self-esteem
5) developing good character
6) keeping young people busy with positive activities

Starting the last weekend in May, we will be hosting these top girls in the district for weekend trainings one time a month. It will give us a chance to train them athletically on a more regular basis. It will give them a chance to play together and get to know each other better. And, most of all, it will give us a chance to impact their lives in a bigger way.

During the school breaks in April, August and December we will host some 4 day camps and clinics and also participate in tournaments.

We also hope that we will be able to raise money to help support some of these girls to go to secondary schools after they finish 8th grade.

Currently it is being funded through my own pockets along with some help from Jenny Cox (another CGA missionary) and Sandy Thompson in South Carolina.

It is an exciting adventure and something I am very passionate about!