So different from the UK....

Another busy day in the Rift Valley.

Today we heard a heartbreaking story from Kenneth. He looks after a Mum and a sister who are both unwell. His sister has mental health problems, and a heart defect. Last time we were here PottersHeart were able to help Kenneth to pay for his sister to go to a mental health centre. She was given medication and thankfully is feeling much better. He was so appreciative of what we'd done....it has quite literally given her a life back again.

However, when I asked about her heart he showed me a prescription given to her by the hospital; blood pressure tablets, heart regulators, blood thinners and a diuretic. Drugs we take for granted in the UK. The prescription is 510 Kenyan shillings for three months........equivalent to about £4.00. But as a family they can't imagine how they will ever be able to find that money.....so she is not able to take the medication!

This is such a small amount of money in our society, it breaks my heart.

Needless to say we paid it!......It was the least we could do.

The businesses teaching today also shows us how fortunate we are. People starting poultry projects are so thankful that they now have 35 chickens......... but when you worked out how many they would need to have to bring in a living wage for a family it is actually 600 chickens!!

To thrive as a family they need 1500 Kenyan Shillings per week (£12.00)....most are still living on 500 shillings or less.

Marion has been teaching on Stress Management. It is a really big issue here. Even though the pace of life is really slow, people worry so much about money....... the incidence of high Blood Pressure is very high.

Teaching with the football team went really well today, everything from dreams and aspirations to football tactics. Darren and John are really building a relationship with these guys. It's lovely to see.