Something Fishy Is Going On
Something fishy is going on in Kenya.
And I couldn’t be happier about it.
Some of our friends at the Northwest Church in Seattle wanted to help the teachers at Ring Road Orphan Day School near Lake Victoria. These teachers do something pretty important every day. They teach children who have had some of the hardest beginnings imaginable. Many of these kids have known poverty, hunger and loss at an age when children ought to be thinking about recess.
And the teachers don’t make much money.
What if we could find a way to give these teachers a little more income every month—not just once, but month after month?
That’s where the fish come in.
With funds donated by the Northwest Church, we started fish cages in Lake Victoria. The idea is pretty simple. We raise fish. We sell the fish. And the money from the fish helps us give each teacher at Ring Road an additional $50 a month.
Fifty dollars may not sound like a fortune to most of us.
But in Kenya, that extra $50 can make a real difference. It can mean more food at home. It can help with school fees for their own children. It can help pay a medical bill. It can make the end of the month a little less frightening.
Somewhere out in Lake Victoria, fish are swimming around right now that are going to help a teacher.
I’ve been involved in relief work for a long time, but I’m not sure I ever thought I would write that sentence.
Once those fish are harvested and sold, we can begin putting the extra money into the hands of these teachers. The gift from Seattle keeps giving in Kenya. Instead of simply providing a little more money for one month, our friends helped create something that can produce income again and again.
Of course, we want to do more of it.
There are teachers at CRF schools who give their lives to children while living on very little themselves. There are schools that could benefit from farms, fish projects, bakeries, mills and other small businesses that can help provide a dependable source of income.
Maybe you would like to help us start another one.
Your gift could buy fish. Or seeds. Or equipment. Or help start some little project that keeps producing long after the original gift has been spent.
Sometimes helping people looks very spiritual.
And sometimes it looks like a fish swimming around in Lake Victoria.
Either way, it looks like hope to me.
Thanks a trillion times to our friends at the Northwest Church in Seattle—and to all of you who keep finding creative ways to love children and the people who care for them.
BECAUSE LOVE SHOWS UP. SOMETIME WITH FINS.
Milton Jones
Your gift could buy fish, seeds or equipment for a project that keeps helping teachers long after the gift is spent.
