Zero Percent Failure

In the months prior to this trip to Kenya, I had spent a lot of time reading about the success of healthcare in Africa. While economic interventions, in general, have not been overly successful — incomes across the continent are down or stagnant — there have been...

The Mechanic and Bodyguard Nannies

One only has to be in a village or in a meeting with mothers to see how beloved babies are in traditional Kenyan culture. At Mentor University, we have two young mothers with babies — Damaris from Mt. Kulal with baby Anon (nine months) and Judy from Kargi with baby...

Bringing Down the House

The first sound I heard on Saturday morning was the muzzehin calling the faithful to prayer. It was 4:30 AM. In this village of mostly Catholic parishioners, South Horr is a typical village in northern Kenya, with a diversity of spiritual practices. As light filtered...

Now We Have a Bond

The annual training program for all of BOMA’s Village Mentors, dubbed Mentor University, was conducted in a conference hall at the Samburu Sports Club — a round building held up by long narrow poles and a cement half-wall. The panels between the poles were covered in...

From Safari to South Horr

The MAF plane was a large one, with few passengers. The plane had four rows of three seats each. The back center section was open, with no seats, and was intended as an area to strap down loads of supplies. There was also a back row of seats occupied by a MAF pilot,...