When Lon and DeAnna
Kennard visited Kersa Illala, a primitive village
in the Rift Valley facing Southern Ethiopia, they
were also visiting the former home to four out of
six of their adopted Ethiopian children. Despite
visiting poverty-ravaged locations in other areas
of the world, the Kennards were unprepared for the
shock they felt viewing the horrible conditions
in Kersa Illala. Beyond the emaciated bodies and
hollow eyes of the people, they saw animal and human
excrement everywhere. There was no latrine. In
fact, there was a complete absence of training in
appropriate sanitation.
Brother and Sister
Kennard had come to bring their children back for
a visit with family and friends. Soon their two
married sisters rushed up to see Ali, Merga, Shumba
and Bedane. One was so overcome that she kept fainting.
At last someone picked the sister up and gave her
a drink out of an old tin can. Deanna thought the
yellowish-brown liquid must be some kind of African
remedy. She asked the interpreter,
“What is that?”
His answer: “Water.”
For the first time
Sister Kennard realized the miracle of clean water
flowing from her kitchen tap. When it rained in
Kersa Illala, the excrement all around the village
washed into the river. The same water needed for
bathing, washing, and drinking was also used by
the animals. Seeing these conditions, Lon and DeAnna
knew they needed to find a way to help.
Click to Enlarge
This Ethiopian river served as a sink, a toilet
and a laundry, causing much sickness and death.
Sister Kennard said
they returned home and “prayed so hard.” Within
two weeks they met Tim Evans of Choice Humanitarian,
a group that had done much good helping improve
conditions in primitive villages. Lon went with
group members, including Jim Richie, to Mexico,
where he saw a village Choice Humanitarian had helped
to transform. Brother Kennard said, “Whatever you’ve
done here, we need to do it in Kersa Illala.”
He got an appointment
with Tim, and told him, “I want to take you to Ethiopia.”
Tim Evans had been
doing humanitarian work for thirty years. He had
been to places such as India and Indonesia, where
astounding poverty was commonplace. Yet as Tim Evans
walked into this Ethiopian village, Brother Kennard
said, “Tim completely broke down, sobbing. He told
me, ‘I’ve never seen anything this bad.’”
Click
to Enlarge
Photo
by Naomi Harper
One young girl washes
her hands as another young girl drinks from the
same water. The river was filled with raw sewage.
Tim went on to teach
the Kennards what steps to take to begin helping
Kersa Illala. He even promised Lon that he would
get Choice Humanitarian to help the Ethiopian village,
or he would resign. Later, Tim did quit. He and
Lon formed a group called Engage Now. Later Lon
and Deanna formed their own organization — Village
of Hope.
Since the time that
the Kennards brought their children home from Africa,
the children have grown and changed. Alimetu and
Merga are now happy and well-adjusted teenagers.
Merga graduated from high school in May, and both
she and Alimetu have jobs. Kidist has a full-ride
soccer scholarship at York University in Nebraska.
Helen also completed high school this spring, and
is now enrolled in Cosmetology school. Bedane returned
from a mission to South Carolina, where his mission
president called him a fantastic missionary and
sent him to challenging areas. In these mission
areas, Bedane was always teaching. He was welcomed
into many homes where other elders were turned away.
While Lon and DeAnna gave the interview about Bedane
and his siblings as children, the adult Bedane was
out doing his home teaching.
What hasn’t changed
is the Kennards’ commitment to their children and
to Ethiopia. In partnership with the LDS church
and others, Brother and Sister Kennard have done
much to improve the conditions in Kersa Illala.
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to Enlarge
Lon embraces two Ethiopians,
ZemZem and Ramasha.
“It was better than
Disneyland,” Lon Kennard said, describing the excitement
of the Kersa Illala villagers enjoying fresh water
for the first time. As Village of Hope, Brother
and Sister Kennard worked to arrange the drilling
and building of the first village well. The money
for the well was donated by the Church. The digging
of this system, which has been described as “The
most amazing water and sanitation system in Ethiopia,” [ii] [ii] came with challenges, but the Kennards feel
the Lord blessed them and the village.
The first hole dug
went through strata that caved in on itself. The
drillers had to move the hole 150 feet to the south.
Then they tried again. Again the strata began to
cave in. However, the engineer persisted. At last
they managed to dig the well to a depth of 187 meters.
The Kennards said they expected five liters per
second production. Once they hit water, they were
delighted when the well pumped 28 liters per second.
Second, they worried
about fluorine, a common element in the area that
in high concentrations could make the water unusable.
When the water test was done, the fluorine content
was only one point seven parts per million. One
point five parts per million is considered perfect
for that area of Ethiopia.
The Kersa Illala well
was dedicated on November 25, 2005. After its completion,
the Oremia Regional Water Authority allowed one
day of unlimited water usage. The villagers’ excitement
transformed it into a holiday. One man used the
laundry sink to wash every piece of clothing he
could find, including what he wore. Women sang in
the showers. Children and adults ran back and forth,
soaking wet, laughing and dancing.
Click
to Enlarge
Photo by Naomi Harper
Thanks to the well, this baby can be clean and safe
from his bath.
The completed work
was worthy of the sign that hangs in front of the
well: “Donated by The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.” Beneath is a scripture from
Isaiah: “With joy shall ye draw water from the wells
of life... Make a joyful noise unto the Lord for
He hath done wondrous things.”
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to Enlarge
Villagers drank clean water from their own well,
filling jugs with the precious fluid.
DeAnna chose this scripture
because the words of Isaiah are recognized by both
Christian and Muslim religions.
Gosaye, the engineer
for the project, said, “I have been all over Ethiopia
drilling wells, and I have never seen a well like
this one in production, quality water and distribution.
We always talk about water and sanitation, but we
never get sanitation because we only build distribution
spigots, never wash basins or showers. To have a
system like this…is unheard of…in Ethiopia.”
The Kersa Illala well
has six distribution points throughout the village.
Each has six spigots to fill water jugs, six sinks
for washing clothes and babies, and four showers.
The water is available for use by everyone in and
around the village. Brother Kennard estimates that
the water system’s “impact on health and quality
of life will be unbelievable. I personally think
it will save 1,000 lives a year.”
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to Enlarge
As other villagers look on, an Ethiopian woman soaks
herself under one of the spigots of the new well.
The well will greatly
reduce infant mortality and improve adult health,
but the Kennards didn’t stop there. After meeting
the basic need for clean water, Village of Hope
is now working to provide a future full of hope
and opportunity for Ethiopian children.
Church member Daryl
Gibb spent several months in the village designing
and building a high-risk children’s center. [iii] [iii] The goal of this center is to protect
against neglect, abuse, and exploitation of children,
including child trafficking. It will foster healthful
living patterns and provide caregiver rehabilitation
with the goal of safely returning children to their
homes and families. Presently, 150 children await
the construction of the center homes.
On April 1, 2006, the
first five houses were completed. Nine more five-house
clusters will soon be finished, meeting the needs
of resident children as well as providing therapy
and counseling, tutoring, feeding, recreation, hobbies,
evaluation and testing for non-resident children.
DeAnna poses with her son Bedane and the chairman
of the village. The Chairman of the village
was thanking Village of Hope for funding the construction
(underway) of new classroom buildings for the public
school in the village (right and left).
During the time that
Brother Gibb spent designing the Center, his wife,
Pirko Gibb, R.N., provided Kersa Illala with medical
care, holding scabies clinics and arranging for
serious problems to be treated, free of charge,
at a local hospital.
The Kennards’ statement
as they adopted their Ethiopian children, “Well,
if we can take one, we can take six,” had developed
into a philosophy for changing lives. Their effort
to help just a little more created life-changing
results for the village of Kersa Illala. And if
they can help one village, who knows what’s next?
Although most of us
won’t adopt six children, the efforts of the Kennard
family should remind us to ask ourselves — is there
room for just one more act of kindness? A small
effort to help may end up in unanticipated results
equivalent to helping an entire village.
The Church is now
beginning preparations for a second well, this one
in another remote area. It should be completed in
February of 2007. Lon and DeAnna Kennard are now
making plans to take volunteers to Africa to begin
teaching hygiene lessons, and Village of Hope will
also hold a medical clinic around this time. For
information about helping with this new project
or in Kersa Illala, please contact Village of Hope,
2880 East 1200 South, Heber City, Utah 84032, 435
654 3548, villageofhope-ethiopia@hotmail.com
