In a region near Kenya's eastern coast, a small village and a church lie in the midst of a nearly uninhabitable desert. The place is called Kazamoyo, a Swahili encouragement that translates “take heart.” The distance separating Kazamoyo from other communities is so great and difficult that parting words often include this exchange: “Take heart as you trek to your destination.”

Samaritan’s Purse was the first international relief organization to set foot in Kazamoyo. When our staff arrived, the church was nothing more than a small building standing on red parched earth with a dried up tree.

Samaritan’s Purse staff members taught church members improved agricultural techniques that would aid their farmers and heal their land. The small congregation began digging holes around the church and planted small trees the staff provided. The people were so dedicated to watering the saplings that not one died under the scorching heat.

For the past three years, Samaritan’s Purse has planted more than 50,000 trees in this dry and dusty region along Kenya’s eastern coast. It is among the driest regions of the country, receiving less than 1.8 feet of rainfall each year. Famine and drought plague the region, and when crops dry up and farmers have no source of income, they cut down trees and sell the wood.

Along with providing saplings, Samaritan’s Purse also teaches communities advanced and environmentally friendly agricultural practices and how to use alternative energy.

Every sapling that springs up provides more hope for the Kinango region’s future. The soil becomes more productive and the harsh climate is morphing into a place where crops can be produced.

It’s already beginning to happen in Kazamoyo. Eight months later, in the middle of the Taru desert, there is an oasis—a green patch of land with a church.

PLANT A TREE, HELP A COMMUNITY

Samaritan's Purse , Kenya , Community Development , An Oasis in a Dry Land