Jane (Canada) Gravis
’88 was in Kenya in
January when rioting
broke out during the
presidential election. She
and her employees had to
evacuate the 20 children
in their care to escape the
killing and violence. “It
was the scariest time of
my life,” she said. Gravis
founded and helps run
the foundation Into
Abbas Arms, which operates
an orphanage—they
prefer to call it home—in
Kinangop, Kenya, but 10 years ago, she never would have expected
to become so intertwined with the country.
In 1998, Gravis had a dream of Africa, and she couldn’t
forget the faces she kept seeing in her sleep. She signed up for a
mission trip to Kenya sponsored by her church, lending her skills
as a dental hygienist. While there, she saw the many children in
Kenya who were left on the streets, begging for food and shelter,
because of their parents deaths from AIDS, malaria and tribal
clashes. “They handed a woven basket to me at the end of that trip
and said, with this, you will feed the children of Kenya.”
Gravis felt helpless in the face of such an overwhelming need,
but the children’s faces haunted her. Originally, she hoped to raise
money to build a little house for the orphans, helping in a small
way. “I don’t think God gives you the whole plan at once because
it would scare you to death,” she said.
Eight months after the first trip,
Gravis returned to Kenya to buy land,
only to have it given as a gift by a lawyer
she met in Kenya. “It ended up being
this beautiful place that we have now
that I thought would be impossible to
purchase at the time. Then, just boom,
boom, boom, things started happening,”
Gravis said. A friend spoke at his church
of Gravis’ plans, and a man wrote a
check for $25,000 to pay for the needed
water well.
Incrementally during 10 years, the
ministry has built two homes and a
kitchen and renovated a container to
become a library. But it is a daily struggle.
Into Abbas Arms now cares for 20
children. Its goal is 75.
Gravis married this past summer
and moved from Spring to Virginia. She normally visits Africa
about three times a year, taking mission teams along. The recent
financial crisis and hurricane have forced her to cancel plans for
trips in December and January. Ninety percent of donors to the
organization are from the upper Texas Gulf Coast beleaguered by
Hurricane Ike.
Underfunded, most orphanages in Kenya—with 100 kids to
two adult caretakers—are a far cry from Into Abbas Arms in terms
of outlook and opportunity. “The kids are very shy and hard to
make a connection with,” Gravis said. “That’s why I didn’t want to
ever have more than eight to 10 children per house mom. I wanted
them to feel special and loved and like they were in a family.”
From the beginning, the vision was to make Into Abbas
Arms a home, not an institution. U.S. volunteer social workers
and counselors helped the children reconcile their pasts. “We feel
like we’re making a difference in their lives rather than just feeding
them and getting them off the street,” Gravis said.
The home has become a part of the community. The ministry
built a church, where children are learning English. Its well
provides water to about 200 people, and the ministry grows
vegetables and sells them at a low price, saving a long walk to the
market. Periodic mission teams teach citizens topics such as first
aid and parenting. One women’s group gave a pair of rubber
boots to every woman in the community. “You would have
thought we were giving out diamond rings,” Gravis said.
“We’re trying to be as self-sufficient as possible, especially
nowadays with finances as they are. We have cows and chickens.
We’re trying to purchase some goats. We just bought about one
and a half acres of additional land. We’ll plant even more garden.
Our biggest expense is electricity because we have to pump the
water and heat it. Engineers Without
Borders will go over in January and evaluate
our compound for solar and wind
energy,” Gravis said.
One day Gravis videotaped each
child, asking what he or she liked most
about Into Abbas Arms. Every single one
said, “I get to go to school.” The answer
surprised Gravis, but, she said, they
appreciate how much an education means
to their futures. Responses like that keep
Gravis going—“seeing how happy they
are, how whole they are, how healthy and
psychologically healthy they are,” she said.
“When I visit the slums and the government-
run facilities, I look into those children’s
eyes and there’s no hope at all for
the future. It’s a blessing we can do what
we are able to do.”
