Easter Greetings to all from IcFEM Mission, Kimilili, Kenya!

May you find joy in the Risen Lord as you seek to serve Him with us.

From the Board, Management and Staff of Interchristian Fellowships' Evangelical Mission, Kimilili, Kenya.

More info from www.icfem-mission.org

Still putting sponsored students into school.

Daniel sets off to find schools for our last three boys this term - using the Withington Girls' School (Manchester UK) motorbike. He has to collect letters.

Meanwhile, back in Kimilili.......

In Kimilili, the Mission work goes on in the community. Fellowships are growing and the effect is very widespread. We thank God for His hand on us.

We are still putting very needy children into Secondary School. This involves doing home assessments for all shortlisted applicants.

Thank you, Withington Girls School, Manchester, UK, for your fantastic effort raising money for a motorbike for this purpose. It is the red one in the photo. The others are used in the community and it is rare to find them at Mission HQ!

Meet Gladys and her children

This is where Gladys stays with her ten children after being displaced from Mt Elgon. The eldest boy (18) is mentally handicapped. The baby is 1 month old. She doesn't know where her husband is now.

She rents this room - initially a church building. The boys sleep in one corner and the girls in another. Another corner is used for cooking. There is no proper toilet! No seats at all - just sacks.

This group of displaced people is about 5km from the Camp visited earlier. There are about 25 families staying around this place.

The old Church building where many stay.

Everyone wanted to be in the photo!! The volunteer camp supervisor is just off the photo on the left.



The men stay on the other side behind the dividing partition in the background.

Where other families sleep.

Other families stay in tents - we wonder what will happen when the rains come.

Some have an old mud Church building. This is divided into two. Men and boys stay on one side and women, girls and children on the other. I took a photo on the ladies' side.

A visit to a camp for IDPs

This is a small camp, not far from Kitale. People have come from many places. Some families rent places outside tha actual Camp and others stay with relatives and friends.

The total number served by this Camp is 2697. These are from 427 families. However we observed others coming from far, looking for food.

Staying in the actual camp are 155 families.

Food is cooked for many of these families in a structure kindly lent by the school for use as a kitchen. The photo shows the two large sufurias. We have now taken them another two.

The kitchen is has one of the IDPs as a watchman/supervisor. He has the great luxury of a proper bed in the corner. He shares the room with fireplaces (3 stones) and firewood.

WATER for IDP Camp, schools and community.

Mr Julius Wanyama, Primary School Headmaster shows the pump to IcFEM Mission Hospital Administrator, Mrs Margaret Soita.

The borehole is 200ft deep, with plenty of clean water. The pump was installed in 1994 and breaks down very regularly now. At present it is not working.

PLEASE HELP US TO REPLACE THIS PUMP! It will supply water for the schools, IDP Camp and the local community.

Gifts can be made on-line through IcFEM's website. All gifts can be gift-aided. the estimated cost is about £500

http://www.icfem-mission.org/

More from Kimilili

No news doesn't mean no activity!!

THANK YOU to all who have sent gifts for helping the IDPs (Internally Displaced People).

IcFEM is very involved with the Kimilili Relief Coordination Committee, but we are also doing our own investigations concerning needs in two other areas.

Meanwhile we are helping individuals daily.

Last Saturday (March 8th), two large teams of Mission staff went out to see for ourselves. The information collected is being acted on right now. On Monday, two smaller teams (5 people in each) went to some Primary Schools in the areas visited on Saturday. We were particularly looking to see how the schools were coping with the big influx of extra children, many with no uniform (just dressed in rags) and very hungry.

One Primary School has a Camp next door. They are doing a wonderful job, but with very limited facilities. The major need identified there is for WATER. They are also doing some central cooking for the ID families. They were struggling to cook for hundreds with only two large sufurias. We observed this when we visited the Camp on Saturday, so on Monday, we went back with another two large sufurias and two cartons (each 12 bars) of bar soap. Every small gift is WELCOMED with great joy.

Now we are investigating the purchase of a new water pump. There is a good borehole, but the pump is old and keeps breaking down. A new hand operated pump would cost about £500.

As I write, our power is going on and off, as is Internet access. I hope to post this and then add some photos later.