Do you remember the Empowered Seamstresses of Lalmba, the widows sponsored by Lalmba to develop their tailoring businesses to support their children?   Last year they sewed table runners to grace your tables as our Christmas item.  They, and all of our staff in Kenya and Ethiopia, have been concerned about how their friends in America are coping with the various challenges of 2020.   We have received messages of love and concern from them over the past several months.

Recently we received a package from them in Kenya.  They have been working hard to create new masterpieces for their Lalmba friends for Christmas.  This year, they created colorful hot plates made from discarded bottle caps wrapped in fabric.    This is a popular way that Kenyans repurpose bottle caps that come off their soda and beer bottles.   You can use it as a trivet to protect your table when your hot items come out of the oven.

Africans find ways to reuse discarded items in ways that are nothing short of genius.  One of Jeff’s favorite Kenyan souvenirs is a wicked kerosene lamp made from a discarded hot cocoa tin.  In small shops in the countryside we often see old plastic water bottles holding single-serve gasoline servings to power customer’s motorbikes, plastic sacks tied together to form makeshift soccer balls, and all manner of containers, candles and children’s toys made from tin cans.  We hope you enjoy your own gift of repurposed bottle caps with an African flair.   May it grace your dinner table and protect your surfaces in a uniquely African way.

Jeff’s treasured Cocoa lamp

We celebrate the creative spirit of our friends in Africa.  They are perfect models of the ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ mantra!  Please know that in the midst of our country’s current struggles, there is a little corner of Africa sending you a message of love and peace.  Blessings on us all as we navigate the world’s challenges together.  May we model our own lives on the simplicity and innovation of the lives of the poor.

Lately we’ve had some of our supporters ask “Who is writing these newsletters?”  We realize some of you may not know who is now behind the scenes running Lalmba.  Many of you remember Hugh and Marty Downey, the organization’s founders who ran Lalmba for 50 years.  They retired and passed the reins on to Jeff and Hillary James at Lalmba’s 50^th anniversary in 2013.

Jeff and Hillary James, originally from Virginia, served as newlywed volunteer project directors from 2004-2006 at Lalmba’s project in Chiri, Ethiopia.  Jeff had previous experience in Kenya running an American boarding school for several years.  Upon our return to the US, Jeff took a job as photography manager at Rosetta Stone language learning company, and Hillary worked part-time as a speech therapist.    We always dreamed of continuing our work in development.

Then one afternoon in 2012, Marty and Hugh called with an offer.  They were ready to retire, and would we take on their roles? The decision made, we moved to Colorado and have been running operations since 2013, doing our best to honor the legacy of Hugh and Marty and the character of the organization they created.

We have 4 wonderful children and are blessed to call Lalmba our life’s work.

This past month, Physician’s Assistant Carly Hunt from Illinois returned to Kenya to continue her volunteer service.  She left Kenya amidst the coronavirus scare in March, but things have now calmed enough worldwide to enable her return.

Carly’s impact shines beautifully even in the short time since her arrival.  She recently saw little Brighton in Lalmba’s clinic.  He suffered from a compound left femur fracture when he was 4, and the leg never healed.  When Carly met him 2 years later, he walked on a broken femur.  His left leg was much shorter than his right leg, and he suffered so much pain at the fracture site that he couldn’t walk more than 100 yards without having to stop to rest.  Brighton never attended school because he couldn’t manage to walk the distance.  Carly connected with an orthopedic surgeon in Nairobi who performed surgery to stabilize Brighton’s fracture so that he can walk without pain.   Carly also made him a shoe raise so that the legs are even, which should help the muscles to grow more correctly and to improve his gait.    With the generous help of Carly’s friends and loved ones back home, she raised enough money to pay for Brighton’s much-needed surgery.  She is in Nairobi with Brighton and his mother this week.  We look forward to following his story, and are grateful to Carly for her hard work to make this happen.  Stories like Brighton’s are dramatic examples of how Lalmba’s presence has life-changing impacts for people who otherwise have no options.  Godspeed, Brighton!  May you soon be joining your friends on the football field and in the classroom!