DANCING IN THE RAIN

That thunderous laugh with the phrase “Rangi ya Pesa..haaa” characterized the lesson we had that morning. Bishop Masika took us through what he had done for the community in Yatta. The history of this place was one characterized by poverty, perennial droughts, and worse death. A heart wrenching story of how a woman died and left babies breastfeeding on her corpse. The reaction of the country was the typical reactionary with Kenyans raising millions to try and at least shore in where the government had failed. A cyclic action creates a dependency that does more harm than good, the masses feeling good yet leaving the locals mired in more of “nipee” than actually doing something about it. One man though swore it would be the last time, Bishop Masika saw that handouts entrenched a mentality that was not needed. He took root and from his dream, an entire area became an oasis.

In 2008 Christian Impact Mission had its flagship project in farming. They started by building water pans, this included everyone in the community unfortunately the demographic was mostly made of old women and young kids. The able-bodied men had their families for the “glitz and glamour” of the city (spoiler alert it is not all rosy) as they could not stomach the hardships of having to walk 20 KM to fetch water with the occasional baths. This was aimed at first alleviating the issue of water shortage and ensuring that no one will ever have to walk those many kilometers just to fetch water. Before all that, there had to be a mindset shift, a change that they move from dependency to self-sustenance. This was a rigorous, odorous process that included understanding the people of Yatta, getting them to see the faults in their mentality and have the need to change for themselves.

Bishop Masika’s dream started bearing fruit, with a few months the once desert area was green, and old women who had to walk kilometers for water were now self-sustaining. The community’s limited mind view had shifted from simply consumers to producers, their esteem was improved they had a level of self-identity never seen before and most of all they had an empowered biblical worldview. They literally embodied Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The transformation in Yatta was not complete, Dr. Agnes Masika joined her husband in Yatta and started a project “Operation men back”. As the phrase states, it was basically bringing back the men who had repatriated themselves to the city back home to help with the labor and increase the productivity that was there. As men started coming back home the change that greeted them was a shock, the once desolate place had an ambiance that made it feel like home. They were reintegrated back into the new community through training and also a mindset shift from the Bishop, Dr. Masika, and most of all their wives.

With this going on, there was more labor meaning more land to be reclaimed, more pans to be dug and more crops to be grown. Yatta became food secure and a beacon of hope in an area associated with droughts, poverty, and death. The process did not stop at just simple sustenance but grew to wealth creation. A different model of agriculture that ensured crops were not just grown in season but all year round, with no dependency on the weather but using water harvested in conjunction with farming practices like crop rotation, calendar farming, and now they are selling their harvest as far as Garissa. Now they even have grade cows which you could only find in the highlands, mud houses can rarely be seen but just greenery, permanent houses with electricity. The various farms that we visited had me thinking what am I doing in the city, it was wild how much we undervalue what the rural areas have to offer yet most of the wealth lay there and not in the concrete jungle. How hard work and a biblical worldview changed an entire area and a generation. I saw how 3 weeks of rain literally feeds a district and how when it rains you have nothing else to do but dance in the rain.