Dear Kenya,
Today was my first day teaching at BROSIS. We started our day going over our plan and soon enough we were on our way to the school. Today we took a different route we took last time. Because there were traffic because there was a fair going on, we took the "back roads". Allie and I had no idea where we were until we say a church sign that said "Kibera's Church". That's when we realised, we are drive on the outskirts of the largest slums in East Africa. We saw an enormous amount of shops selling either fruits, cooked food, shoes, movies, clothing, etc. The roads were extremely narrow and many people were walking in the street because there was limited room with the shops there. The traffic was not terrible but one needed to be patient to get through. Left and right I was looking and observing what was around me. There were a significant amount of children to make me question, "Why aren't you in school?" "What are you doing?" Roosters, dogs, cats, everywhere. We finally got out of the crowded area and headed towards a road that seemed to be entering a forest. Before we left the area I saw what was behind the shops. A mountain of trash covering a hill. Then I saw movement in three different areas. That's when I realised the movement was children playing on the hill of garbage. I looked behind me and saw the distance view of Kibera. A collection of tin informal settlements and garbage surrounding it. I looked forward absorbing what I had just observed and thought to myself how much I want to return and see the residential portion of Kibera and meet some of the people who live there.
Soon enough we arrive at BROSIS. We entered the lot and the children saw us and cheered. There were screaming, laughing, and excitement! I heard the children greeting us, and chanting "Life Skills!" "Life Skills!". I got even more excited to be there. We sat with the director and the teachers as they finished their lunch. We discussed with them a project we would begin, if they were interested. HESED is looking to write a proposal to the French Embassy to assist with clean water for the children and for the community. After that matter was discussed we were given sodas as we waited to finish their lunch. Once we were told that the children were ready we got up with excitement to start walking to them but was stopped by the director and was told not to rush and finish our sodas. He kept insisting we finish out sodas. So Allie and I chugged it and went on out way (Boy, chugging soda...not an easy task). So we walked through the school past other rooms which were used as classrooms and finally got to our class. There, 21 eager students waited for us. We entered the room and many of them gasped. Allie and I said hello and introduced ourselves. They responded with a hello. We then put name tags on them and asked each of them their favourite subject in school and what they would like to learn from this class. Many of them said Sports games and health. One student said he was interested in sanitation and hygiene which I found was very interesting. We will definitely cover that topic. After introductions were over we took them outside to play two games. We first played rock, paper, and scissors. Only one student knew how to play this game. Everyone else had never heard of it. So Allie and I explained and I demonstrated with this one student. Soon enough they got the hang of it. So after two people played the game the loser would cheer the winner on and find a new person to play with. Soon we had two separate groups. This showed how we should cheer on our peers and friends for success and accomplishments. The second game is a game that I mentioned before in this blog, its called "pepeta". Its the game that one of our orientation leaders showed us. This one was very fun and enjoyable. Most of the kids really enjoyed it. After that we distributed the notebooks and quizzed them on our names and we left! It was an overall successful day!
Now this weekend, I will not have any wifi and probably no cell service. Why? Well, the program is taking us to a rural village which is 4 hours away from Nairobi. This is a self sustaining community. With the information we have so far, this is a community that has a different way of life than we live. One thing that makes this community unique is the elders and the cildrem Because HIV/AIDS is an issue, there are a numerous amount of children who are now orphaned due to the fact their parents have passed away due to that disease. So, this community matched these orphaned children with elderly as their guardians. They take care of each other. We are going to volunteer for the weekend. I am excited to see how this trip goes and help in any way possible. I will take lots of pictures and will 100 percent have something to say when I return.
That is it for now. I apologise for the long post. Once again, thank you Kenya for providing me with an experience of a lifetime.
Love,
Angie
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