I want to share and article that was written in The Times, Pryor Creek, Oklahoma, Weekend edition, August 8&9, 2015 4E (which I have added a few things to)
By Cyndey Baron – Staff Reporter
There’s not a lot of difference between a goat in Pryor and a goat in Kenya. It may be the only similarity but it’s one Myra Grayson counted on for her second annual journey to Kenya.
During her 12 day trip, Grayson, along with a team of eight through Centerwill of Broken Arrow, spoke at conferences teaching Kenyan women the art of making soap with one of the few resources they have available, goat’s milk. This year’s conferences, she said, was primarily for widows, a group Grayson said is treated much differently In Kenya.
“Many of them were kicked out of their homes by their in-laws and essentially put on the street.” Grayson said
“We also visited an orphanage where we took mattresses, sheets, pillowcases – bedding for (over) 40 kids, many of who were sleeping (without mattresses and some even) on the floor.
OUT WITH THE OLD…
…IN WITH THE NEW.
At home Grayson is the proprietor of GraysLland Acres, in Kenya she’s a member of the tribe.
“These women (of the Turkana Tribe), were so excited and grateful they had a ceremony giving us Kenya names (mine was Awoyarot, meaning long way) and making us a part of the tribe.” She said “they went all out. They gave us necklaces, their own necklaces.”
Grayson said she was overwhelmed with the women’s generosity and willingness to give up one of their few worldly possessions.
The (less than) 10-foot-by-10-foot mud huts where they women and their families slept were all the same. This year though, unlike last year, Grayson was ready to come home by the end of the trip.
She said fulfilling is the best word she can use to describe the trip.
The goal, she said, is to continue the women’s conferences. “If something is bothering us, we get together to talk about it with other women. They don’t have that, they feel so isolated and alone. It never occurred to them that other women were going through the same things,” she said.
A trip that started over two years ago with an out-of-the-blue offer at the Tulsa State Fair, will be a yearly tradition for Grayson.
“These women work so hard, have so little and are so generous. You’ll never find happier people than the people of Kneya”, She said.
Grayson has enough happy memeories to hold her over until next year’s trip.
“It’s amazing to me how these women take care of each other”, she said. “They have tough lives, but they don’t seem to know it.”
