"therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself" Goodness! this may sound really foolish to most of you, but what do you do if you cannot even find fair solutions for today? This is one of the most quoted verses by christian religious counsellors that I am not sure whether they really mean it or they are using it as a booksellig metaphor.
Today I found myself murmuring these words to myself even though I am not a counsellor. We went to Bogamachuko,one of the communities to the west of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest that benefits from the ASSETS programme. Accompanied by Frossy Nelly a student on attachment from Coast Institude of Technology, we had gone to assess potential beneficiaries to receive bursaries from ASSETS this year. At the home of Patience Ngole, one of the applicants, we found three old ladies, one of whom was Patience's mother and two young girls. All the five were gathered together preparing mchunga (a wild vegetable) that hadly had any leaves due to the very dry conditions of the place. This was meant to be the lunch for the ladies who explained that all the men had gone to towns looking for employment. We stared our interview and established that Patience's dad who lives and works in Kilifi has not been supporting the family at all and the mother had to do it all by herself. As the interview goes on, Kanze, Patience's sister who is deaf and dumb appears. At 15 years of age Kanze has not been taken to school yet. Sitting next to her mother she keeps on smiling as she follows on our conversation by lip reading. "I wish I went to school," Patience mother says. "Then I would have known that there are schools for deaf and dumb as well" Thanks to the area civic leader who has secured a sponsor and a place for her at Kibarani school for the deaf.
It's 2.15 p.m. and we have to move to the other applicants. "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself" I murmer as we head back to the car.
