Friday:
Part of our goal on this trip was to uplift the teachers of Mountain Park Academy. It is simple enough to fall in love with many, many children when you visit Nakuru and provide them the basics-- our $20 per month goes a l-o-n-g way in their lives. However, behind those children are twenty-four BRAVE individuals who are doing amazing things in the classroom with minimal, minimal resources while fighting with the undeniable circumstances of living in a developing country: how difficult is it to teach a room of forty-two children who may not be properly nourished, who may be ill, who may be without family support, or who may be experiencing abuse in the home?
Anyhow, as I previously mentioned, part of our project was to serve as tools for the teachers: we delivered jam-packed bags of school supplies to each class Thursday (think about all those crayons in our earlier packing meeting post!) and we also took up a collection among the team in order to leave each teacher with a hand-written note and about five hundred shillings. After meeting for our final assembly at Mountain Park Friday morning and fawning over the few young children who trudged to the meeting place in bright rainboots, the teachers surprised us with their own gifts: traditional lace tops for the ladies and polo shirts for the men. Mama Robi was tickled, so much so that she demanded we all change into our new outfits for the dedication of the children's home fifteen minutes later.
After another arduous climb up the hill, we changed and headed to the children's home to begin the ceremony. It started with a bang! We had a full program of performances: the teachers kicked us off, followed by Ms. Waweru leading the 16 orphans to live in the new home in a chorus, followed by Mr. Ndichu's (Anthony, quite possibly by favorite) girls choir. And then I hit emotional meltdown stage: the first of eight homes was dedicated and named in honor of my grandfather who passed in January-- Hutch's House. I will not give you the long story, but my grandfather loved his nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren more than anything on this earth. That is not debatable. I am so proud that he will be shining love and maintaining his usual watchful eye over those children. The blessings continued: the house parents greeted the audience and shared their vision for the home and their new children, Pastor Francis lead a powerful, powerful prayer that yielded dripping tears among each of our orphans, each child was given a Bible and pillowcase embroidered with a verse on which to rest their heads in their new beds, Mama Robi was brief in her address yet striking carrying her stylish new black and white purse received from us the day before, and we were again entertained by the talented students in our audience. The final acts were an energetic dance troupe again lead by Ms. Waweru and a play addressing AIDS put on by a small group of older students. Amazing, stirring, and joyous-- and the clouds parted just long enough from the previous day's lingering rains to burn the crap out of my left ear (I really think my sunburn might be second degree burns) as I snapped photos.
By the time the program was finished, we were running quite late. Lunch was set for 11:30 so that we could leave promptly for the city to shop at the markets. Amy and I rushed to the school to complete some last minute administrative work and also seek out the child who my mother sponsors. Upon bringing her to the office, introducing myself, and explaining that my mother was her sponsor, she gasped and then giggled. We also had the pleasure of connecting Gwen with Jane, a young girl in the One Purple class. Still in our matching lace tops, Amy and I rushed back to the house to grab a bite with the rest of the team, and then we were off! As we pulled down the drive (i.e. dirt/mud road) that passed the school, the children rushed to line the fence and wave. It was quite a sendoff.And then the sky fell open-- MASSIVE raindrops as soon as we stepped out of the vans to peruse the local goods. After about five minutes of that, Gideon corralled us back into our respective vans and directed us to an indoor shop (thank goodness!). With bags of souvenirs in hand, we were in for a surprise: a game drive in Lake Nakuru Reserve! Less than twenty minutes from the chaos of town we witnessed the majesty of TWO MILLION pink flamingos, four black rhinos (one of which we saw progress to full speed across the road), baboons, larger-than-life pelicans and storks, cape buffalo (the most dangerous beast on the plains), dickdicks (think about a deer, but chihuahua-sized), a Rothchild giraffe (they were the white stockings) and tree leopard from a distance, and a breathtaking view from the lookout.
The sheer beauty and grandiosity of the game reserve was an odd juxtaposition to our ride home through the packed city streets of Nakuru-- after all, it was a Friday night! Gideon explained that all of the randomly scattered young men were referred to as "packing boys" and that the bottles they were ALL carrying was not in fact alcohol, but glue. They were huffing to get a cheap high. One seemed to apparate next to Amy's window; her head nearly hit the roof while simultaneously letting out her signiture squeal. That was some of the only 'ugly' we had seen during our entire beautiful week.
I'll be headed out of town this weekend for my cousin's wedding, but I am keeping my fingers crossed for Internet access. Certainly by Monday I will post a summation (and awesome photos) of our safari in the Mara...
Love hard and love this fall weather,
tnick
1 comment:
When the 12 Strong and Courageous Women visited Mountain Park Academy in March, 2007, we became very fond of a 9 year-old boy named George. From the moment we met him, he touched our hearts with his contagious smile and that smile forever imprinted an image on our hearts. We quickly learned that George was an orphan, having lost both parents to AIDS. He lived in a cardboard insulated shack behind the Robi’s home.
Not only did George not have a home, he lacked a family. All of us need a place we always call home, a place where we are always welcome and there is always a seat at the table for us. It became a dream to give George such a home and from that dream Upendo Homes (Swahili for Love) was born.
How fitting it was for George’s story to be shared with over 550 of his classmates at Mt. Park Academy. The children learned from George’s example that one child, one smile, can make a difference to impact the future of many, many children. Appropriately, at the end of the dedication service, with overflowing tears in his eyes, George led his new family of 15 brothers and sisters and two houseparents on a tour of their beautiful new home. They all were in awe of two very large bedrooms, one each for boys and girls, indoor bathrooms and kitchen and especially a very special study room/library.
As Baba Adjuwan and Mama Bibian (new houseparents) met and prayed with the children inside the home, the family we all dreamed they would have was born.
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