I'm posing here with Samuel Kibe. He is a former street kid who, when we met him, was tending the gate at the guest home we stayed in our first night in Kenya. While we were waiting for Tim and Allison to arrive the following evening, we got introduced to Samuel and found that he had a passion to reach street kids like he once was who didn't have any prospects for a job. To do this, he wanted to open a barber shop and teach the kids how to cut hair. Additionally, he would earn enough from the barbershop to support his family, who were staying with his wife's family since Samuel's income at the guest house wasn't enough to support them. We talked about how much it would cost to do all this, and it came out to $160 US for equipment plus one month's rent of a small shop. Remarkably enough (or perhaps not so remarkable given how God had orchestrated the trip up to this point) we had an extra $160 in hand, which we had brought to cover the cost of customs on the computers we were bringing with us. However we were simply waved through customs and didn't have to pay anything, so we gave the money to Samuel, and he's used it to establish his barber shop and reunite his family. In his first month of business, he earned just enough to keep it all together. Now he's praying for the additional equipment his wife can use to cut and style women's hair. The initial investment is more costly, but it earns more in the long haul, so he and his family would be in good financial shape if that were possible. We stay in touch with him via email, and hope to have a chance to see him again if God sends us back to Kenya.
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