Today I received a note from our buddy Bob Chew, who is leading a noble appeal for funds to help provide water to a rural community in Kenya, Africa. In case you weren't quite awake during those Geography classes at St Joe, here's a couple of maps to help you along ...
Anyway, below I give you Bob's email verbatim, and let you decide for yourself if you want to be a part of this initiative ...
Email from Bob Chew
Hi,
Last yr I went to Kenya to visit Fr Francis Teo , a catholic priest, at his mission. He is Chinese man originally from Malacca. At 23, he left his home and went there searching for meaning in life . He later signed up for religious training and got ordained as a priest there. He is now 47. He has spent a good part of his life in Kenya and it seems like he will continue to live there for the rest of his life.
He is now in Miri and will be in Kuching on Saturday. While here, he will be conducting masses, sharing his exotic African experiences and his community life projects with the Kuching audience.
His group is known as MCSPA - Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle. They are based in the impoverished wilderness in the Turkana region which is located in the north-western part of Kenya, a desert region that is hot throughout the day and night and throughout the year. MCSPA's mission is to develop water resources for the villages. What they have done is incredible. This precious little water collected in dams and boreholes have helped avert drought and famine for a number of years that so often hit the people of that region. For us it is images of fly-infested children skinny like skeletons and swollen tummies.
For more information on MCSPA, check this website.
I am putting together some money to pass on to him as a gesture of our support . I am hoping we can put together RM 15 000, a tidy sum to drill a borehole with a manual handpump. Please dig into your pockets and let's do it together.
I will passing to him the money before he leaves .I will also be meeting him daily while he is in Kuching from Saturday onwards. As MCSPA does not have an ac in Malaysia, i will have to pass him cash. If u will , you will have to bank into my ac first and i will draw it and pass it over. I do have an ac for community work too.
Public Bank Bhd 3125837330.
Thanks for your action . Bye bye.
Chew Pok Vun ( Bob)
Kuching
Email: lkcbob@tm.net.my
Here are the photos Bob sent me, from his Kenya trip.
:
I have asked Fr Francis Teo a few times since 2004 whether I could visit him in his mission . On 30 Sept 2010 I finally landed in Nairobi, Kenya 6 years after I first asked .3 days later , I was on my way to Lodwar, Turkana , northwest region of Kenya, an area of where it’s hot throughout day and night.
Pic 2
Me and Fr Francis outside his church at Lodwar before Sunday mass. Fr Francis speaks fluent Turkanese and Swahili. He grew up in Malacca. At age 23 , he cut short his studies in S’pore and left for Africa in search for meaning in life. He enrolled for religious training in 1992 and was ordained as a catholic priest in 1997 . Now 47, he has spent a greater part of his life devoted to community work amongst Kenya’s poorest.
Pic 3
Me with colourful ladies waiting for church service to start.
Pic 4
This is what you get when you successfully build a dam. They take a mountain stream, build a dam to retain the water. At Turkana, it rains only 1-2 weeks in a year. During this short time you have to capture as much water as possible, otherwise it will all run off.. With the dam, you have water for the next 6-9 months, on which the animals survive. When animals survive, children can get milk and blood from the animals. Hunger and famine are thus averted.
Pic 5
Me visiting a local family whose dwelling is made from branches and woven leaves on the banks of lake Turkana . Can house 4-5 people. Pretty cool inside against the hot harshness outside. Very clever .
Pic 6
This is a borehole with a manual hand-operated pump. A borehole is a well created by drilling to the water table . A pvc pipe is installed which iis much like a straw in a bottle. Each of these cost RM 15k.
Well, over to you guys and gals .... Just do what you think is right. Contact Bob directly if you want to contribute.
Pic 2
Pic 6