Got it Good

By Alan Davis ~

We don’t think too much about turning on the tap. We expect clean, fresh water to flow freely at any time, day, or night. Cory Strauch learned on a recent trip to Kenya, Africa, that tap water isn’t always the norm. 

 Cory Strauch is the Executive Director for Crossroads Senior Living’s Memory Care facility in Lakewood, Colorado. He had no idea when he began working for Crossroads, a non-profit, that its sister-company, Maranatha Volunteers International, who founded Crossroads in Colorado more than two decades ago, is also a non-profit dedicated to “building people through the construction of churches, schools and water wells” all over the world.   

 In July, Cory joined a group of Maranatha Volunteers on a short-term mission trip to Kajiado, Kenya. Only about one and half hours south of Metro Nairobi, Kajiado is home to a grade 1-12 school campus serving Maasai children. Maranatha Volunteers International organized the trip for 36 intrepid volunteers with a desire to serve. 

 While there, Cory was exposed to something westerners don’t often see. Woman and girls walking miles for water. “We witnessed mothers carrying their babies on their backs,” Cory said, “walking with 5-gallon containers of water on their heads.” Once the young girls can lift and carry water, they too join the twice or more daily processions. Often this means girls have no time for education. Mothers have less time for being mothers. Life is a constant struggle for survival. 

 Maranatha Volunteers is drilling water wells and placing pumps throughout rural Kenya. Cory says, “It isn’t until you see first-hand what living without running water means for people, that you see just how crucial water is for us to exist.”  

 “Providing memory care to our community,” Cory says, “is demanding work.” But from his time in Kenya, Cory has gained new insights and perspective. “I love providing a safe and inviting home for our Lakewood residents,” Cory says. “And I’m ecstatic that here in our community, we have clean, hot, and cold running water. I have a new appreciation for the Maranatha donors and volunteers who are making that possible in rural communities around the world.” 

 My greatest takeaway, Cory says, is that “I’ve learned to be thankful again. Thankful for the joy that fills my heart by helping others in dire situations.”  

 Alan Davis is the Marketing and Admissions Director for Crossroads Senior Living Memory Care at Lakewood. alan.davis@crossroadsalc.org