Guest Blogger: Preston Gordon

A Visitor’s Perspective

Greetings! My name is Preston Gordon and Nick has been kind enough to give me the space for a guest blog. I spent this last week here in Limuru, Kenya with CARE for AIDS and want to provide an outsider’s perspective on what is currently happening with CFA here in Kenya.

Given my close ties to CFA through my brother Nick I often hear about what goes on here in Limuru, so I thought I had a pretty good idea of how things work. But there is so much that I’ve learned and seen by being here and meeting people that I could have never understood. The first employees of CFA that I met upon arriving were Duncan and Cornel. From the moment they picked me up at the airport with Nick I knew they were two amazing guys! I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with Duncan as he lives in the CFA house where I was staying with Nick, and I cannot imagine anyone but Duncan himself working in his position. His genuine heart for the CFA mission and ability to work towards that effectively with the other workers is so exciting to see.

I soon met the other two employees who work daily in the CFA office, Steve and Kevin. Steve is the financials man, and Kevin is the regional coordinator for the Limuru region. They were also both super enthusiastic about the work and extremely welcoming to me. I had the chance to have dinner at Kevin’s house, where he cooked us delicious chicken stew and chipati, and attend an aerobics class at the Limuru gym with Steve and Duncan. If Nick hasn’t blogged about aerobics yet, it seems to be the latest craze here in Limuru!

After seeing the office work I was able to visit three of the CFA centers around Limuru—the Banana, Koinonia, and Imani centers. Talking to the two employees at each of these centers and sitting in on a few of their counseling sessions with clients was a really cool experience for me. Nick has explained to me numerous times what really goes on with the clients during their time with CARE for AIDS, but hearing what happens from the people who are actually doing it (and seeing them work) gave me a whole new perspective. I think the most humbling thing about these employees is seeing their care for the people and desire to see them succeed while some of them are HIV-positive themselves. In addition they come from very humble homes as well—while talking to one of the employees and mentioning my weekend visit to the Masai Mara, he said he only wished one day he could visit one of his country’s amazing parks to see the animals. It is so sad that Kenyans have some of the most beautiful creatures in the world within their country but cannot afford to go and see them.

Finally, I experienced CFA at the most personal level—I was able to go on several home visits with the Banana employees, Margaret and Joseph. On home visits, the workers go to the clients' homes and for the most part just visit with them, check up on how they are doing and show them they care enough about them to come to their homes. It was wonderful first to see the generosity of the clients. When one of the clients saw she had guests, she would not let us leave until we shared a cup of chai tea and a platter of sandwiches together. Even though she had so little, she wanted to share with me and make me feel welcome in her home.

Two other things really struck me during the home visits. Seeing how so many of the clients take what they have learned in the CFA seminars and really use it to make money was really fascinating. Clients were doing everything from making beaded necklaces and cleaning detergent to raising rabbits and goats to make money, all things which CFA had helped them learn how to do. In addition, getting to encourage the clients and pray for them in their homes and seeing how much it meant to them was a really cool experience. Telling them how much I and so many other people in America cared for them and wanted them to be strong and succeed was such a blessing.

In summary, visiting Limuru and seeing CFA in action from the office to the client’s homes was a fun, inspiring, and humbling experience. Kenya is a spectacular country with vibrant people, and seeing the work being done here to those in such great need was very exciting. Lastly, I want you to know that every employee I met and interacted with has a heart for the people here in Kenya and a heart for Jesus Christ. That is truly something beautiful.