Working side by side with an African community for children

By Robin Harwell

It was a privilege to be part of this “beginning” of the Ageno Community.  This was a monumental challenge that “Ageno” took on: to begin educating and training a staff and a community that will, quite literally, change lives. As a start, it was a beautiful one.  I was pleased and delighted to see and hear such interest about this project expressed by the school personnel, various community leaders and others in the area already involved in programs that deal with children (orphans, special needs). It seemed that there was a lot of goodwill for supporting Ageno with information and referral sources to make it as successful as possible in meeting the needs of their students, whether educational, medical, or spiritual.

I loved seeing the families meet throughout the days of training and then, finally, gather together for the family retreat. I saw new bonds being made and others strengthened among these families. Finally, someone to turn to for understanding, support and guidance for those who may have been isolated before this, struggling alone and doing their best to deal with their family’s challenges. It was lovely!

My schedule has been such that it seemed very difficult to find the time and energy to go to Africa in the middle of my work session but I was trusting God that by going I was being obedient to His call. Well, He had a very special moment for me in Africa:  This young, beautiful, well-spoken mom walked into our assessment with her 7 year old daughter Valerie. She wasn’t on our list to be seen but she came anyway. She’d heard about what we were doing when she took her daughter to the local hospital for treatment for an infection and she took a chance and just showed up.

When I first saw them, Valerie was sitting on her mom’s lap rocking back and forth, looking out at nothing, smiling and laughing and clapping her hands intermittently. Very autistic behavior. I took one look at her and scooped her up and started working with her, explaining to the teachers I was training, what I was doing while I was working with her. I held her and we spun vigorously on the “astronaut board” and when we stopped this little gem of a girl, looked around like she’d just woken up, looked at each one of us, including her mom, and Valerie, for the first time in her young life, was “there”, present in the moment with us and her surroundings. It was wow. It was very emotional and I thought, thank you God. This little girl is why you brought me back to Africa.

On our last day when all the families came together with us and the training staff to spend a day together, Valerie’s mom stood up in front of the group and shared with us. She said she’d been praying, over and over, asking God for help for her and her daughter and when she saw “Mama Robin” (what they called me) work with her daughter, she knew God had answered her prayers. She looked at us, the Ageno team, and said “God brought you to Africa for me.” Confluence of Grace. I will go back to Africa as soon as I can for Valerie and for all the “Valeries” because their lives are important to God. And to me.