Nanyuki

I was introduced to a new placement called Hope & Home last week where the school doubles as Rescue centre for street kids from all over Kenya. The place is owned by Mama Susan who has not very much money but the biggest heart! She has up to 40 children in her care now and she loves each of them equally, no matter where they've come from or what they've been through. I'd been okay working at Vision Star but wasn't feeling fulfilled or like I'd made much of a difference in my two weeks there so this week I decided to do two placements - Vision Star in the morning and Hope & Home in the afternoons. At Hope & Home, I did a lot of teaching classes 5,6,7 & 8 which is equivalent to years 5-8 in NZ curriculum however because the school is for street children, a lot for the kids are 2-4 years behind so there were several 16-17 year olds doing year 7 and 8 work. I introduced Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom movie to my social studies classes and we had some really great discussions around equality, freedom and human rights. Thursday was a public holiday in Kenya and instead of taking the day off, I decided to organize a cooking social at Hope & Home with the kids as I wanted to spend as much time as possible with them. The other volunteers came along and I also invited Jacinta too. We made chapati, pilau (spiced rice for special occasions), vege stew and the kids taught me how to cut cabbage the Kenyan way! It was so lovely because normally the kids wouldn't have eaten on a day like today and we were able to put on a huge feast for them!! Following lunch we had a dance competition and I sat there taking it all in, appreciating how little these children have and yet seeing how happy they are put everything in to perspective. A group of girls read a poem called "The African Woman" which highlighted the struggles of women in Africa - from child bearing, rape, circumcision to violence - it was very powerful and as a woman, it really affected me as I couldn't imagine ever going through these things a lot of the girls had been through. Then Joseph stood up and presented his poem "My Comfort". He spoke about walking from street to street, shelter to shelter, with nothing but the dirty clothes on his back and cut up feet, no mother, father, brothers or sisters to love him, until he found Hope & Home - his comfort. At the end of this I was so overwhelmed with emotion, the day had been absolutely incredible and I couldn't hold back the tears no longer. I'd been surrounded by kids who had been raped, abused, abandoned, battled addiction, forced into marriage and who were all under the age of 18. Yet none of them looked sad, none of them showed pity, none of them hated their lives but instead, they were all so full of love, joy, happiness, resilience and togetherness. This was the most special and memorable day I've had in Nanyuki and there's nowhere else I'd rather be at this point in time than with these kids.Read more