Los Angeles,... Chicago,.... perhaps New York. Could be anyone of these cities. But this, ladies and gentlemen is beautiful, downtown Nairobi Kenya. Makes you wonder doesn't it. How such a modern skyline in the capitol city of Kenya can exist adjacent to some of the most desperate poverty we know. And the progress of this city doesn't stop with its high rise office buildings and hotels.. Everyone is excited about the construction of modern "super highways". Literally, the boasting and expectation of relieving some of the worst traffic nightmares in the world is heard from many corners,... from drivers who are truly skilled at maneuvering tight spaces without traffic accidents, to pedestrians who narrowly escape death by crossing through these tight spaces, especially on the round-abouts. It has to be seen to be believed. But this is modern Nairobi. Its still building. The new highways are actively under construction with a target completion date of sometime in 2012. The excitement here is palpable. The scenes are far from the poverty ladened pictures that routinely are seen in media outlet.Much has changed since our first visit, some 17 years ago. In those days, cell phones were far in the future, in fact, communication more often took place through unstable and unreliable phone connections and then more often than not infrequently. Now through fiber optic lines its inexpensive and reliable. The skyline certainly wasn't what it is today. The attitude of Kenya's citizens was largely one of despair. Changes over the years have brought vitality to this metropolis and with continuous renewal of hope, fostered in large part, I'm told, by it current leadership. There are mis-steps by the government to be sure, at the parliamentary level mostly. But the excitement of Nairobi is truly a good sign of a properous present and future. Congratulations are certainly in order.
That's the good news.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, as they used to say (showing my age maybe?:-), even within this capitol city of Nairobi, within Kibera or Mathare Valley for example, each with at
least 1 million desperate inhabitants, starvation, lack of cleanwater, illness and despair remain the order of the day. That's the bad news. But it can be even worse in the "upcountry" or places where the concept of a downtown Nairobi or Los Angeles, or New York is as unreal as traveling to another galaxy. Dreams of Nairobi are hard to find when their dreaming instead of feeding their children or having access to basic health care or clean water without traveling for one day to the nearest "borehole". This is a different skyline. That's,.... the very bad,... and sad news.There's an obvious disconnect. Recognized by all, many stating grand plans to eliminate it, but the task to bridge the gap is huge.
Consider health care. There is a 6.3% prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Kenya, a nation of 40 million citizens. Of those with known HIV, the highest estimate of those receiving treatment is approximately 400,000. The most commonly heard figure is 200,000. So approximately 20% of those needing treatment are actually receiving treatment, at best. The enormity of this problem is probably felt strongest in the rural areas,.. not in city center Nairobi. And we don't even know what's happening at the cross borders at the juncture with neighboring countries, where mobility between countries combined with an enormous sex trade, provides the ingredients for explosive HIV prevalence. What to do? How can the gap be filled?,.. if only in this one example.
We all have the power to heal... if not physically, then emotionally, spiritually and socially. The gap can be filled through simply caring about and fixing the systems that produce the gaps in the first place. But Jesus made it even simpler than that. He healed through touching people. People were healed through touching him... and sometimes, by touching only his clothing (...If I can only touch the hem of His garment,.. remember that one?). Healing happens when we enter and touch each others' lives, or maybe even by coming a little closer than we are accustomed. Maybe someone needs only to touch our clothing to be healed. Gaps can be bridged, ... health can be restored and healing can take place.
The disconnect we feel is real. Fixing or lobbying for fixing systems that explode this disconnect either in Nairobi or in Philadelphia can heal and fill the gap, ..... bridge the disconnect,.... help us to touch people's lives. Maybe this will allow all of us to scrape the sky,... sort of like the skyline of beautiful downtown Nairobi.....Maybe.
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