Most Memorable Image

In the summer of 2006 I was privileged to take a trip to Kenya for about two weeks. I was able to hang out in Kisumu, Kenya for a while before going to Nicaru and Nairobi. While in Kisumu, where our team spent most of our time, we were able to play and minister to students at a local school. Many of the students were young, in elementary school, and they spoke no English. The only way we could identify them was either by their shoes, or if they were too poor to afford a school uniform. They were precious and in the few days we spent time with them, we fell in love. While I have many memorable images from each place I've visited, Africa has taken the cake. Though I have seen many memorable images taken by others, such as the Twin Towers coming down, or a baby starving in Africa, I find that the one most burned into my brain is of a little angel in Kisumu, Kenya. One little, precious girl who let me hold her and play with her, even though neither of us knew the other's name. It's the picture that reminds me that love knows no barrier. Love can be communicated through touch, sight, sound, action, deed, look; through every human connection and then some. It's a good thing to hold onto when I see pictures of tragedies in the world. It's good to be reminded that love wins.


Here are two of the boys we were able to meet in Kenya. Many of the children, whether they are orphans or from extremely poor families, cannot afford to bring food to school. The school, which is located in a church and run by a local pastor, can only afford to feed so many mouths; this means that many of the children either go without or they share with each other. It was heartbreaking to see children with so little food share so willingly with their hungry classmate, wishing that you could carry them off to America and feed them till their heart's content. I've never seen so much joy, selflessness, or love like I saw in these children.

I will say this, America has nothing on those children. I'm incredibly grateful for all that I have and for the country and the opportunity that comes from where I live, but I have never seen an American as happy or as content as these children. At such a young age, they understood that life is not defined by what we have or do not have, that physical things can be gone in a moment; they understood that there was still joy to be found, fun to be had, and laughter to be shared even in the midst of their difficult situations. America may profess it's freedom, but her people live in bondage in so many ways. These children were not only incredible, they were free.

Grace and Peace,
Corley