The Best News Possible

A little bit ago I bought Mboya a used cell phone on eBay....well actually I'm not sure how used it was because it was still in the package, but the important thing was that is was unlocked and a quadraband, all necessary for phone use in Kenya.

When he received it he sent this heart-felt email that said(I love how he has adopted my spastic email style of all caps for emphasis!):
JAM BO ALLISON
Thank GOD its very nice to receive your email this morning, and guess what? i just got the phone yesterday, its really receiving network very clear which is my exiting to me. i really appreciate so much and its now time to get to calls and find job s without spending so much bus-fare, i cant imagine how chip (cheap) is going to cost me without travel ling around searching for a job!! You cant imagine how things will be easy for me!! thank you, thank you, thank you, so much RAFIKI YANGU.

It hit me: with the little extra money I sent him with his sister's school payments he paid the rent on his parents farm and then budgeted out 3 months worth of bus fare. Oh.My.God. We take so much for granted here. I prayed that this phone would make a difference to him, quite fervently too.

Today I received this:


HI THERE
Hope you are alright rafiki yangu !! how is your life treating you? hope you are OK ?!! well iam very much alright and the rest of the family, the good news is that just got anew job with a international project from one of east African countries that deals with road construction, they just started early this year but i just joint them in the last three weeks , its a project for three years but i really not sure how long i will be working for them, only that i will keep my fingers closed and hope they will reconsider me for sometime,wish me the best........,well my family is very happy for me,also they told me if i write to you to say BIG hollow to you especially my sister;she is really doing well with school work, last term she got grade B incompaination (combination) of all subject.and hope she can even do more better, wish her the best.
Please hope that you are alright,and keep in touch, wish the best write you soon my rafiki.

Mboya has a JOB and Mumbua has a B average (which makes me swell with pride, given her constant state of not knowing, just hoping I'd come through with the money). I am so proud of them both and I am hoping with all my heart that life will be better for the whole family now. I'm not so delusional as to think that all of their problems are gone, BUT I do know that Mboya's savings account remains and will remain, and that a small portion of my salary will still be put in each week just in case emergency money is ever needed. Right now, I'm just savoring the happy news. You CAN help another person, you CAN....and usually when you help one, you inevitably help another and another. Hell, Mumbua might be a future Nobel Peace Prize winner for all I know. I could've just saved the whole damn world ;) Imagine if everyone on this planet vowed to help one person, one single person. We'd be unstoppable.