May 2008
It is always important to remember when working at the Nairobi Animal Orphanage that you should NEVER let yourself become attached to any of the baby animals in the nursery. I thought I had learned this lesson well, but I was wrong. During my time here I have seen countless young animals come and then eventually die, none of that ever affected me until a few weeks ago when we received a young zebra.
We called him Kiseme and he was around two weeks old, umbilical cord still attached when he arrived. He was so friendly right from the start, following anyone and everyone wherever they went. My coworkers, who can easily become annoyed by the antics of our young buffalo, were extremely tolerant of the zebra who often found himself in their way. Around the zebra’s third day at the Orphanage he began to realize who his new mother was, and forgetting the guys, took to following only me. I of course was ecstatic. It was wonderful to have little horse hooves following me everywhere I went, and a little horse nose to nudge me for constant attention. I was more than happy to spend my entire day around the Orphanage so that he could drink mild every one to two hours But all this quickly ended when after being with us for only one week, Kiseme died in the middle of the day. I had done all that I could for him that morning, but the fact that he had been given cow’s milk his first two days at the Orphanage had poisoned his system anyway.
I was sad and disappointed but tried to hide it from the guys and continued work as usual. My coworkers were not fooled. They had seen how happy I had been with the zebra around and knew I was upset. The out pouring of sympathy and compassion that they showed me the rest of the day was like nothing I have ever experienced. As I’m sure you can imagine, working all day with over 15 guys is typically anything but compassionate, but this day they all changed. Guys who I spend my day giving and receiving sometimes harsh, but always playful jokes and comments with suddenly became quiet, sweet, and caring. I received more understanding hugs, kind smiles, and heartfelt words than ever before in my life.
This out pouring of sympathetic love from them showed me how much I really mean to them and how much they all mean to me. None of them were sad for the zebra, they were sad because of me. I can’t begin to explain how much it meant to me that they cared so much about my feelings. I can now clearly see that we are all a big family, and the best part is that I’m a member of it. I truly believe that I experienced God’s love that day in the most real way possible. God took this sad moment in my life and used it to show me how I have become a valued member of a community. He allowed me to see that I have had an impact on the people around me in Kenya. I can now feel inside of me why God sent me to Kenya and also what Kenya has become for me.
I thank God for little Kiseme and they joy he brought me, but even more for fully revealing my true Kenyan family to me.
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