Arboreal

This is the slum in Kenya where Danielle, Hani, Luke and I went to find stories.

 (click on the image to see it larger)

Mitumba is the Swahili word for "second-hand."  It usually refers to the donated clothes that arrive in crates across Africa.  These are clothes that were unwanted by the second-hand stores in Europe and the U.S.

Mitumba is a place where about 20 000 people live on 11 crowded acres.  Let me repeat that for you: twenty thousand people.  On eleven acres.  These numbers were repeated by several individuals we talked to separately.

Mitumba is a state of mind.  The people who live here don't get a first chance at life.  They are the unwanted cast-offs.  Or that's how they feel about themselves.

We'll try to tell their story, focusing on one Pastor Shadrack Ogembo, who while not a resident of Mitumba, spends much of his time there.  He says, "Our goal is not to take people out of Mitumba, but to take Mitumba out of the people."

Over the next days or maybe weeks as time allows, I'll expand on what Mitumba means to me and what God is doing through Pastor Shadrack there.  Meanwhile, it's just good to be back at Dordt with all the great friends I am blessed with here, and a few who are much closer thanks to 12 tight days together.  What a trip.