From Memphis to Maua
Cathy Whitaker had several big reasons why she never thought she would go to Africa. The third grade teacher at the Germantown campus of St. George’s Independent School has a weak stomach, a fear of flying, and no desire to ever be that far from home
But through a series of events that began with an assignment from Rev. Rick Kirchoff in 2006, Cathy will be making the 16,000-mile trip from Memphis to Maua, Kenya, for the third time this summer.
“Bill and I were asked if we wanted to be part of a focus study group on AIDS orphans,” Cathy explains. “I never, ever, ever dreamed that it would lead to what it has led to.
The group began focusing specifically on AIDS orphans in Africa, and we all agreed that at some point, we needed to have a group that goes and explores what we can do as a church to help.”
Bill and Cathy Whitaker talked and prayed about their possible involvement and were asked to be the team leaders for the trip. After a year of planning and preparing, a team of 12 traveled to Kenya in the summer of 2007.
“It was a life-changing experience in so many ways,” Cathy shares. “As a Christian, it had a tremendous impact on me and my willingness to allow God to lead me to a place where I didn’t really think I’d want to go. I had to rely on Him even with my fears, and I had a group of people from all over who were praying for me.”
Cathy and Bill again led a group back to Maua in July 2008. Teams, under the leadership of Dr. Susan Hillebert, returned in the summers of 2009 and 2010.
Each year, the team takes tens of thousands of dollars worth of donated medical equipment, supplies, and medicine to Maua Methodist Hospital where Methodist missionaries Bill and Jerri Savuto serve. The team also helps with various painting, construction, and maintenance projects at the hospital. The medical personnel on the team, including Susan who is a pediatrician, spend time helping with patient care and teaching in the hospital.
“It is difficult to see children sick and dying from totally preventable diseases,” notes Susan. “Most pediatric patients are under two years of age, and about one third of them are admitted for malnutrition and other common maladies such as tuberculosis, measles, encephalitis, meningitis, asthma, and AIDS.”
The campus of Maua Methodist Hospital is also the Kenyan base of operation for an orphan empowerment program called ZOE Ministry. ZOE staff work with community leaders to identify the most vulnerable children in their area. These orphans and child-led families are then united with one another in Working Groups of 60-80 children. Working Groups often become an extended family, supporting one another in their journey out of poverty.
ZOE staff equips the orphans with the resources and training to grow their own vegetables and care for farm animals to provide a stable source of food. They also teach them basic hygiene practices, provide small business training, connect them with local churches where they can discover God’s love, and provide grants for materials to build houses for families.
“A local contractor prepares the foundations for the homes before the work teams arrive,” Susan explains. “Then visiting teams work side by side with Kenyan workers to complete the projects.
“This home, what we would consider a nice yard storage building with a concrete slab foundation, is beyond the dreams of the family that are now occupying it. They have known only a shabby, well ventilated structure, and have cooked, eaten, and slept on a dirt floor their entire lives.”
The sight of “mazungo” (white people) at the building site draws the attention of curious children and neighbors. Younger team members like Brandon Whitely are happy to lay down a hammer and pick up a soccer ball to the delight of the children who gather.
“The kids loved us,” Brandon notes. “Their culture is one of sharing and community. When we put a soccer ball out, they would all take turns, and we’d start kicking it around together.”
For Brandon, a recent graduate of University of Tennessee and part of the 2008 and 2010 teams, the highlight of the two-week trip was the time spent with more than a dozen group leaders (ages 14-22) from the Orphan Empowerment Program at a weekend agricultural seminar in Meru. Conducted by Kenyan missionary John Mwalimu at the Methodist Bio-Intensive Farm, the two-day seminar teaches participants efficient ways of farming and encourages them to share what they learned with their community and family.
“After dinner one night, I just sat down and asked them to teach me their language,” Brandon remembers. “We stayed up four or five hours past when we should have gone to bed.
“It almost shocked them to hear someone speak Kimeru because it is something that was very personal to them and a part of their cultural identity. People come in and speak in English, which they understand, or in Swahili, but never their own regional language. It blew their minds and they loved it. It really helped me to bond with them.”
This summer, Germantown United Methodist Church will send its fifth team back to Africa July 7-21. Co-led by the Whitakers and Susan Hillebert, this team of 15 will include college students, doctors, nurses, teachers, business professionals, and retirees.
“I don’t know why I’ve gone on this trip every year,” laughs Susan who has been a part of each team GUMC has sent since 2007. “When we get back, and someone asks me if I’m going next year, I just say, ‘I don’t know.’ But somehow, I can’t not go.”
