This morning we got up and headed into downtown Nairobi. We were on a mission. A mission to surprise Pastor Samuel and the entire teaching staff.
Some background though, first: Several years back in Kenya, they started implementing a new educational system for primary and secondary school (elementary, middle and high school, in the US) – known as Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). The long and short of it is that as of this current school year, we had to move from serving PreK-8th grade to only serving PreK-6th grade. This is due to the fact that the new curriculum brings new standards – some of which our school does not yet meet.
Two of the key things we need in the short-term to get 7th and 8th grades back is to have a science lab and a computer lab. Longer-term, for middle school and definitely for high school (secondary school), we need more classroom space. We need to deliberate more with the leadership here – as to whether that should be through building up, using the land we already have (which is far away and was our “original” plan), or to procure a plot right across from our current school. Either direction we go, we still need time to pray and move forward with this in the coming months.
That said, in the short-term, after many conversations with several teachers or administrators at the school (including Pastor Samuel), I (Tom) felt that a near-term need we could meet was to at least get the teachers a couple laptops that they could start using for their new curriculum work. (they currently don’t have any laptops/computers, etc. in the school) In addition, it made sense to get them a printer. And to do much of the work we do nowadays, we need internet access – so they got internet hookups installed and wireless (WiFi) set up and ready to go.
So back to this morning…I had done research the nights preceding, and went with Samuel and Aidan to go pickup the laptops and printer from the store I’d spied out the best deals at. We kept the secret until of course we got to the store – by then, the cat was out of the bag. Samuel was thrilled! Later in the day he announced this to all the staff during our end-of-day meeting, and all of them were so happy! Mama Aidan and I both relayed to them our love for them, and that these were gifts from our family, church family, and friends, back home.
After this objective was completed, we moved from one end of downtown Nairobi to another – to one more visit at Amani Ya Juu. Now I’d like to say I was only there for the mission – but they DO have amazing coffee! But that was just a bonus. ? Our main mission today was to go back and take the tour, that we couldn’t do on our first day in Kenya when we stopped by Amani. (plus Rebecca wanted to see our friend Cathy, the supervising manager there – she adopted her daughter the same time Kim adopted hers in 2007 and that’s when we first met her) We wanted our kids to take the tour of the facility to connect with the beautiful clothing, purses, jewelry and other wares these wonderful ladies hand craft. The story is too long to go into, so I’ll direct you to the website again, here: https://amaniafrica.org/ Suffice it to say, in the nearly 30 years the organization has been around, they have blessed so many women and helped them out of traumatic situations in various African countries. The ladies are given dignity and put into an “apprentice” program of 3 years, as they learn the sewing, quilting, dying, and many other skills that go into making handcrafted items. They are then sold at the flagship store, right here in Nairobi, Kenya – or at their US-based one in Chattanooga, TN. (shout out to that area – we personally love it and have friends there; but have yet to visit Amani there; but highly recommend you do – and we hope to put it on our list next time we’re down south) Items can also be sent to individuals to sell on their behalf. This ministry uplifts so many – the lady who gave the tour, Dorcas, started in the ministry 25 years ago – and now is in a leadership position there. Her daughter in fact, who just graduated from university is working part-time there in the café – the one where we enjoy that splendid coffee – and that also helps uplift both the workers and the ministry. So full circle – it was a great time to be back there, for Rebecca and I, and a neat opportunity for the kids to connect to the mission of the organization, rather than simply thinking we were making our first stop in Kenya a bougie gift shop and café. (lol)
After those two stops, we went back to the school in Soweto. Aidan had a fun day – he got to give haircuts – to nearly a dozen boys in the school. He and Teacher Elvis churned out several clean bald looks to have these kids looking super sharp! (or as you say in Kenya, “looking smart!”)
There were lots of hugs to go around w/the kids today, we spent time in classrooms, the kitchen and in adult fellowship time, and then ended with a planning/logistics meeting with all the staff for tomorrow’s exciting outing w/the 3rd-6th graders…tune in tomorrow for what that is, and how it went…?!
-Baba Aidan (Tom)
PS – sorry, didn’t get pictures of the computer equipment mission – other than this one my lovely wife took of my bald head as we got out of the van…but will get some pictures of the laptops, etc. when we hopefully set those up in the coming days…
Also – didn’t get many pictures of the ladies working at Amani – was just focused on listening the background and stories; but they did explain in the chapel about the different ways that cultures made peace (Amani means ‘peace’) and that the only true peace, comes from Christ – He is truly, our peace.
Okay, so PPS – yes, no one does that in letters anymore (much less, in blogs) – but Rebecca said I should post this because it’s hilarious. Sarayah stayed overnight at the school w/the boarders – and got to drive Pastor Samuel’s car down the back road by the school, which is pretty funny – Aidan and Sarayah have officially “driven” in Kenya, while neither of their parents have. (although I (Tom DID get to ride a “boda boda” today (motorcycle) – very fun – and a bit crazier than in the US)
