Mikinduri Children of Hope

Written by Phil Handrahan, a member of the Mikinduri Children of Hope Tour Group, November 2006

Well we arrived in Mikinduri approx 12:30 pm with an optimistic outlook given the good traveling conditions from Meru. As we approached town limits from the mountain surrounding the town, the sun was shinning and it was a beautiful day. We quickly went to the Maternity clinic to coordinate our “give-aways” for the day. Aside from the afternoon clinic we planned to deliver a suitcase of toys and trinkets to the kids when we served the meals at the feeding center. We also prepared a suitcase for our visit to the school in Kigara. All seemed to be a good plan coming together.
 
As we packed the suitcases at the Maternity clinic, the locals appeared at the door and lineups began. All hopeful that they might receive a hat, a pair of glasses or perhaps the doctor might provide some treatment to their concerns. Then mixed messages from the local authorities started coming our way indicating that information on the location of our clinics had been sent out that differed from where we planned be setting up. We decided to continue with the program as we had planned. Minutes before leaving town, word came that the road to Kigara was in bad shape and impassable so plans quickly changed so that we would offer the clinic at the feeding center for the orphans and widows.
 
As we left town, it started to rain. By the time we reached the feeding centre it was a downpour. We walked 300 metres to the feeding center with supplies in tow and as we approached the feeding center we saw hundreds of people waiting for our arrival. Outside the numbers were huge, inside the facility was wall to wall people. We made our way through the crowd and emptied one room to serve as our central operation. Again plans had to quickly change where we decided it was necessary to abandon our clinics and simply look to feed everyone and provide all with a hat.
 
I am picking this up a day later and I will simply say things did not go as planned. Heavy rains ended our session and we decided to try to get back to our hotel approx 5 pm. We got back to the hotel with assistance, soaking wet. Went for a late dinner then surprise…the widows and orphans who were not around for our 7 pm meeting showed up at 9:30 pm. We certainly did not re-schedule. We had a very good meeting with them however all were tired. Hopefully better times tomorrow.

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