Testimony

Caroline and Lucky Baraka survived the August 7, 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing in Nairobi Kenya. Through this ordeal they felt God's mighty hand still in control of their lives and that they were miraculously saved from death.

Caroline was working on the 19th floor of the Cooperative Building when the bombing occured. The Cooperative Building was built next to the then US Embassy building and was joined to the demolished Ufundi Co-operative building which collapsed immediately after the bombing.

Having obtained injuries and using her blouse to cover the eye that was bleeding profusely, she clutched the railing and made her way down the stairs stepping over dead bodies. Listening to many screaming for help in their own languages and others screaming “fire, fire” while throwing themselves out of the broken windows, Caroline prayed and held tightly to the stair way railings and made her way out of the building only to have to find her own way to the hospital on foot because there were no ambulances.

At the hospital, she was given stitches without gloves and worse without anaesthesia. An ultra sound scan was done that determined a blood clot on her uterus. After being on bed rest for 2 months, Lucky Baraka was born on October 7, 1998. Lucky required occupational therapy weekly for a year for weakness of his limbs.

Caroline, though scarred and in constant pain, has been able, by the grace of God, to live her life to the fullest. After the lengthy medical treatment and birth of her son Baraka, Caroline was able to start working as a peer counselor. She later joined Kenya Professional Institute for Counseling and Neema Counseling and Training Center in Kenya.

Eventually Caroline moved to the US for further treatment. While in the US, she joined Scope Ministries International where she did further counseling. She volunteered with the Oklahoma Memorial Park and the American Red Cross Chapter in Oklahoma as a Disaster Management Action Team member.

Caroline continues to work as a counselor and motivational speaker for churches, schools and other organizations. She is the president and founding board member of Baraka Care International, a foundation born out of this experience.

Out of this experience, Caroline came to realize that had she and other Kenyan’s been trained in what to do in a disaster, fewer people would have been injured and killed and had there been enough professionals who knew what to do in an emergency more may have made it to the hospital and not have lost their lives.

Caroline resides in Pennsylvania with her family. She is a Survivor Saved to Serve.

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