In this edition, we want to bring you up-to -date on our associations in Kenya. We begin with an update on Tresi’s story. If you remember, last October, we re-connected with Samuel and Susan Okumu near Kisumu, Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria. Samuel and Susan run a school in a village that began with 35 students and has grown to nearly 200. East African Village Outreach (EAVO) began working with Samuel and Susan a decade ago, but had not had much contact in recent years.
When we visited in October, Susan introduced us to Tresi, a young student whose leg bones, because of severe malnutrition, had developed abnormally. She was unable to walk due to the distortion of the bones--a form of rickets called “wind-blown knees.” Susan asked EAVO for help. Tresi could have surgery to correct the condition, but the surgery was costly; she needed some pre-op care to ensure her body was sound (requiring some nutritional supplements over time) and post-op care. Samuel and Susan cared for her until she was strong enough for the surgery at which time Susan, Tresi, and Tresi’s grandmother, Penina, traveled 600 miles to a Samaritan’s Purse hospital near Nairobi.
Tresi’s surgery was successful, though she is in pain. Surgeons repaired her right knee; the left knee will be corrected at a later date. Her grandmother, Penina, who is her guardian, is overjoyed and has been giving testimony in her own church as well as other churches in the region to the goodness of God.
