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Food Relief to Isiolo and Marsabit
by Jeff Vigil
23 September 2011 With the Isiolo team trip fresh on my mind and the need so great in the north of Kenya I decided to “make a run” and try to help in those areas. The trip was to include Isiolo, Marsabit, Sololo and Moyale at the extreme north bordering Ethiopia. The problems started to happen when I made the decision to go. The budget wasn’t ready, the places to stay were last minute, and the people I was to work with were busy. The problems continued as we stopped in Isiolo and started to work. Getting the food was easy but getting it to the right spots was the problem. We got it delivered to a church in a central location and took the rest by car to the other locations. They were 95 kilo (209 lbs) bags so we struggled a little. The last load was on the way to the community by the mosque when the rain started to pour. It rained a lot in a short amount of time. We didn’t make it back to the women that were doing a medical evaluation of the children and we had to wait on the road to get them. Just after the rain stopped, about four o’clock in the afternoon, we left to Marsabit. We drove into the night and the desert. That was when the car started to act up. The gauges and the windows wouldn’t work so we did not have fresh air for a long time. We finally made it to Marsebet and crawled into bed 10 p.m.
Then we found that the car wouldn’t start. I tried many things that failed and finally called Kamal. He sent a mechanic and electrical guy to diagnose the damage. When they arrived, their car was shot. All of their shocks were blown. They fixed our car but had to wait for parts for theirs to come from Nairobi. The decision to return was hard as we wanted to finish the trip. I had prayed for a long time and feel I made the right decision. On our way back the car had more problems. Once it just stopped. That’s right, nothing. Just went kaput. We were stuck in the desert and couldn’t start the car. It took a while but we managed to get it going and made it to Isiolo where it stopped again. But we were someplace safe. Praise GOD. We had a good night’s sleep and tackled the starting of the car again in the morning. We managed to get it going with the help of a neighbor woman that had a car. We then limped our way back to Nairobi safe and sound. The good things that happened were we had a great team that really pulled together. The Anglican Church of Kenya was of great help with people on the ground and getting a list of those in need. They also provided the food that we needed to get quickly. We had plenty of food leftover and had to leave the pastor in charge of the rest of the distribution as some needy people were coming a long distance to receive it. We also brought food with us to give along the way as there are many in the bush areas who are on no one’s list of the needy. We found many along the road, walking, asking for a little water. So next time we will give a little water too.
Summary
The budget for Moyale and Sololo is about the same as the other two areas combined. We intend to reach more families in the Sololo area as it is much bigger and out in the countryside. These families have to walk greater distances to receive assistance. *1 USD = approximately 97 Kenyan Shillings (KSH) If you would like to donate to SIM's Emergency Food Relief effort, please contact your local SIM office or give online to project 92601. We would love to hear from you today! Thank you and God bless. 
 
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