Fountains of hope well up in Kenya

After returning from his first African mission trip last year, Lee Adcock felt compelled to do more to provide the people of Homa Bay with clean water ... so he shipped a compressor and jackhammer to his friends in Kenya.

"I went to Kenya last August for my first time and couldn't believe they were digging wells by hand," said Adcock, owner of Lee Adcock Construction in Shelbyville.

Adcock went back to Kenya this summer and with him went the Rev. Charles Williams of Fair Haven Baptist Church and Pat Marsh, also of Shelbyville. The men returned last week from their trip and presented a program about their findings and accomplishments to members of Breakfast Rotary Wednesday morning.

When the men arrived in Kenya, the compressor that Adcock had shipped (it took more than four months and $5,400 to get there) was waiting for them.

In addition to teaching the Africans how to properly use and maintain the equipment, the men helped begin digging a sixth water well in the area.

For several years now, a group from Shelbyville has been traveling to Nairobi and Homa Bay to work on the well projects.

"God placed a blessing on Lee Adcock's heart about these wells," said Williams, a first-time team member. "Africa is a beautiful country, but there are so many needs there ... We pay $1.25 for a bottle of water and throw half of it away.

"Next time you want a drink, go drink out of a pond used by cattle."

Adcock told Rotarians that one water well can serve between 100 and 150 people who otherwise would have to drink from a dirty pond.

He said he realized the need for the compressor to help with the digging of the wells while on last year's mission trip. The team had hit rock while digging the fifth water well. Through support of the Shelbyville community, funds were raised to ship the compressor prior to the start of this year's trip.

"They are now digging two-and-a-half feet per day with the help of the compressor," Adcock said. "Before they were getting eight inches a week.

"We feel negative about our government and lives here," Adcock said. "Visit a third world country and it only takes a moment to see how blessed we are."

At the conclusion of the trip Adcock left a camera with his African friends so they will be able to keep him updated on their progress. He also left them with a pair of boots -- some of the men did not own boots and had been working on the wells in sandals -- and all three men on the team left their suit jackets as well.

Marsh, a member of Breakfast Rotary, attended the trip for his first time this year. In addition to being shocked to see the dirty water residents of Nairobi and Homa Bay were drinking, he noticed how terrible their roads were.

"It was touching and heartbreaking to see the way people live there," said Marsh, who credits Adcock with convincing him to go on the trip. "Their roads are terrible and people have to walk everywhere. Nobody there has much, but they'd smile and have a twinkle in their eyes ... I think they knew we were there to help."

When not working on the wells, the Shelbyville-based team had a chance to spend some time at a church the team helped build on a previous mission trip. Although complete, the church did not have any chairs inside it. When Marsh learned of this, Williams said he went out and bought around 80 chairs to fill it the next day.

"There was a woman there, we called her 'mama,' and you should have seen her pray over those plastic chairs," Williams said. "This woman was praying over plastic chairs and people here complain about the pews (in a church). Never have I been more touched as I was for two weeks in Kenya."

Williams explained to Rotarians that the Nairobi and Homa Bay well projects have become Shelbyville community projects, not just church projects, acknowledging that several area businesses have donated to the cause.

Next year, they'll return to continue working on the wells, but they also hope to hold a Vacation Bible School session while there.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

To learn more about this project, contact Lee Adcock Construction, Fair Haven Baptist Church or call Wilbert Nelson, who has been involved with the project for several years, at 580-5083.