Kenyan Journeys: Children of hope

It has been a full week of exploring the area of Makutano, the part of Kapenguria that Michael and his family live in. Last Thursday, Angelina and Peter (Michael’s right hand man) took me everywhere: the open air markets, the local Muslim mosque, countless churches, and many different little street stores. They also took me to the poorest part of Makutano. It was here that I witnessed the harsh effects of poverty, and I will never forget what I saw. Houses with caved in roofs, no doors, and crumbling walls. Each were very small one-room shacks, and each housing numerous people. Almost every adult was drunk, and Peter protected me from those who approached me. But the thing that really got to me was the children. There were so many children. Many had clothing that was so threadbare it barely stayed on their bodies, and some were not clothed. And each had a huge smile at the sight of me, a “mzungu” (white foreigner). A small crowd of children followed me, saying “How are you?” over and over, since it is the only English they know. Most of the children have never attended school, and it broke my heart to think about what their future holds.

Luckily, the story does not end there. The next day I was able to go to Daylight for the first time. It was there that I met four children from the area I had visited the day before. Michael had gone to that area and talked to parents about the school. Even though those four children cannot even afford a school uniform (about $7), Daylight took them in and now they are students. Daylight is in the process of buying land and building a bigger school building where more children from that poor area (and other far away villages) can come to receive education, food, and love. Currently there are almost 100 children on the waiting list due to lack of space at the current school.

Even though it is school vacation now (classes start again on May 3), there were about 50 students of the total 150 students at Daylight on Friday. I was able to meet and talk with the Daylight teachers and headmaster, all of whom have obvious passion for their students’ futures. I was also able to bring two soccer balls, jump ropes, some classroom materials, including phonics flashcards and handwriting worksheets, books, some art supplies, and 3 laptop computers! The computers will be used at the school that is being built, as the current one has no power. A big thank you to Emily Smuder and Amy McGuire for donating two of the laptops, and to Abby Cullen for providing teachers with much needed resources! They were very excited to have materials to teach from. There is much more to say about the hope that is found in the children at Daylight, but I think pictures may speak louder than my thoughts.