An Islander who volunteers with poor children in Kenya said he continues to be amazed at the power of the human spirit in the face of so many challenges.
Bruce Garrity of Charlottetown has spent part of the past five years helping children in Kenya afford to go to school and purchase uniforms. He has worked with slum youth to train in a trade and with needy kids in orphanages and children’s centres.
Recently, Garrity travelled from Meru to Maus, a busy town about an hour north of Meru. He was met by a friend who manages a poor school, St. Lucys. He wanted to buy sweets and supplies for the children in the school who had nowhere to go during the April school break.
When he arrived at the shop, he couldn’t find his wallet. It contained his driver’s licence, Alien card (also known as a green card), his credit cards and other important documents as well as about $300 in cash for school supplies.
“I was in a panic mode,’’ Garrity said in an interview by phone from Kenya on Wednesday. “You're in a foreign country, 10,000 miles away from home and it’s got everything. Mother of God, I was distraught to say the least.’’
“I was in a panic mode. You're in a foreign country, 10,000 miles away from home and it’s got everything. Mother of God, I was distraught to say the least.’’
Bruce Garrity
He filed a report with police and spent two hours looking for the wallet when a friend of his struck up a conversation with a man across the street, Peter Mwiti.
When they explained what had happened, Mwiti calmly reached into his pocket and retrieved the wallet. Nothing was missing.
“Peter works for G4S company and was driving by the bus terminal and saw my wallet on the street and picked it up to try to find the owner. He had been calling the phone company to try to get a number,’’ Garrity said, adding that he can’t express in words just how happy, and relieved, he was at the time.
Garrity noted that it meant even more to him considering how tough times are in Kenya and how little money people have that someone would choose honesty over trying to help themselves.
“I wanted to share my faith in honest Kenyans,’’ he said.
Garrity also shared some rather sad tales, especially one involving two young children who were sleeping with their mother for five days before a neighbour came in to discover the mother had been dead the entire time.
Garrity said there is no end to the sad tales.
Garrity is accepting donations for the poor children in Kenya through a friend of his in P.E.I.
“I cannot provide tax receipts, but every cent will be spent on issues of needy youth.’’
Donations can be mailed to Kevin Jeffrey, P.O. Box 15, Belfast, P.E.I., C0A 1H0.
