Issue link: https://alabamapower.uberflip.com/i/768720
brought it in the house at night. So the kids and the animals slept in the same building." The orphanage – which opened a new facility in April – is rooted heavily in Alabama. Administrator Ruth Owuor is a native Kenyan who came to Alabama in 1996 with nothing but $20. She started a flea market business and sent money back home to her family, who opened the orphanage. For years, Owuor was the only financial supporter. In 2012, Owuor returned to Kenya as administrator. She named it Mescal's after the late Mescal Griffin of Lineville, who Owuor met while in Alabama. Mescal had Alabama Power connections of her own as the mother of Marshall Griffin, Business Office manager for Alexander City and Dadeville. Mescal's daughter Charlotte – president of the board of Mescal's Children's Center of Hope – is the wife of APC retiree Steve Robertson. "Mescal, like Ruth, had a compassionate heart for 'spiritual orphans,' or children whose parents did not take them to church," states the orphanage website mescalskids.org. Owuor was impressed hearing numerous stories from thankful adults who as children had been taken to church by Griffin. Griffin, of course, would have found driving in Kenya much different than Lineville, Whatley said. "The cows really do have the right of way. Cars just slow down and go around them. They have speed bumps on four-lane highways and there are no traffic lights or stop signs except in the center of the very largest cities. People just punch the gas to squeeze into gaps." At the airport, Rick had to push a baggage cart with 10 suitcases (mostly with goodies for the orphans) weighing 300 pounds on a street the length of two football fields connecting international and domestic terminals. Another shock was a local mall – similar to malls in America – in the largest nearby town, Kisumu. "They have armed guards at the gate to the mall parking lot," Whatley said. "When you pull up, they put mirrors under the car to check for explosives. Then when you go in the mall, you have to go through airport-style security. "It makes all of us very thankful for being back home where we have so much. We are just blessed to be able to visit and share a little bit in what Ruth is doing for the orphans." Cows in Luanda, Kenya, not only share the highway with cars; they have the right-of-way. 34 Home of one of the Mescal orphans.