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Bailey woman buys cows to help Kenyans

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Contributed by: Alma Wirth on 2/22/2006

Going on four years ago, I met a young man from Kenya, Mugambei Muku, a theology

student, while working for a national photography chain doing church directories. When my husband,

Randy, and I had our first Christmas party here at our Pinecrest Bed and Breakfast, we

invited Mr. Muku and his sister.

Mr. Muku came to three parties after that. He became pastor and went back to take over the New Hope

Mission in Kenya.

We learned there were 250 starving children in his community, so I decided to buy them cows to provide

milk for them. It has been a very long and hard road as I set a goal to buy 10 cows and then one day go

to Kenya and see my “family” so far away.

Peak National Bank in Conifer offered to wire the cost of a cow, $350, to Kenya without the usual $55

fee. The first cow they named Barake, which means “blessing” in Swahili, and number two is “Makena,”

which means happiness.

There are lots of stories to share about each cow. When I went to the bank to pay for the second cow, I

brought my money in the vase that I keep on my table in the living room of my bed and breakfast. The

teller was counting the money and she said, “You have more than you thought.” Someone must have put

money in the vase without my knowledge! Then the teller said, “I am giving you a check,” and it went

around the bank and we suddenly had enough money to buy the second cow. I cried for about three days

from happiness.

Last year, a neighbor told a friend about the cow fund and, although it took him a year, the friend

sent $300 and we had $50 in the cow account so we bought cow number six and named it Christmas.
The next morning, still overjoyed, I was telling one of my dog-grooming clients about it. I told him I

also wanted to buy two goats also before Chistmas.

He asked how much a milking goat was. I told him $125 each and when he came back to pick up his dog he

had two checks, one to pay for the dog and the other to buy the two goats for my kids. He went home and

the whole family had decided to buy the goats. Well, of course, here I go again, crying for days. And

as I write this article I am crying again.

Another time, a friend invited me to go to a luncheon at Meadow Creek Bed and Breakfast near Pine

Junction. I brought a photo of five of the children sitting in front of cow number five. I showed this

to the speaker, an IREA representative, and he said, “We will buy your seventh cow.”

Now I start wondering, once I meet my goal of 10 cows, how I will afford to fly to Kenya? One day soon

after, I met a woman and her adult son who have made that dream possible, too. The man had, many years

before, nearly lost his life in a motorcycle crash. He was pronounced dead at the scene, but was

revived to a comatose state in the hospital. When he unexpectedly recovered, he went on to live a full

life. He travels a lot in his business and has accumulated enough frequent flier miles to send my

husband and me to Africa once we reach our goal.

He told me, “I am sending you to Kenya—I have so many frequent flier tickets I could never use them in

my lifetime.”

Everything comes to a complete circle. Recently my mother-in-law took our whole family on a cruise. On

the last night of the cruise, Randy and I were dancing. Suddenly, a young man came up to Randy and

asked if he could ask me to dance. As I danced with this young man, I asked him where he was from and

he was from Kenya.

Now I am working on 15 cows, I cannot go to Kenya til 2007 .
Sincerely,
Alma Wirth

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