It has been a long time since i have been out. I mean, i have gone to check out what is happening, for meetings, and short visits... but not for a full trip. I just got back from 3 weeks in SIkirar :) a community which we have just begun working with this year.
This community is predominately Masai, with sprinklings of Kipsigis and Kisii. The school was started only a few years ago, so the primary school only goes to class three. The nursery A has 99 students, and nursery B has about 60. classes 1-3 have about 120 students combined... and they are all working within two buildings.
upon arrival, we were greeted with hundreds of screaming, laughing, and smiling children... small children, with no upper classes, i feel like quite a giant amongst the little ones.
The group worked on two new classrooms, one getting close to completion, the other walls are just beginning... and along the way they fell in love with the students of Sikirar.
I also fell in love... not the type of love that i have for my significant other, but a different kind.... one particular student grabbed my attention on our first days with the community. He was very small, class 1, and calm. While the other students were screaming with excitement, chasing soccer balls, and reaching for whatever hands they could grab, this boy was just sitting quietly. My friend and I went up to talk to him, and we were well received. He began to play with us, counting rocks, making drawings in the dirt, etc. Before long, he was sitting on our laps, snuggling, speaking KiMasaai (which neither of us understood). From that day, every time we saw him, he would come quietly, hold my hand, whisper words i didn't understand... and just be with me. Each day i would head to the school to see this boy... i have a deep love and caring for all of the children i meet in Kenya, but there was just something special about this boy... anyway, here he is...
So the story goes on... on our last day in the community, we had a surprise visit by some members of the Kenya Boys Choir and the Canadian rockers Hedley!! They dropped by in their hunt for a goat, and played a few songs for us. So the school was madness! everyone dancing, singing along, hugging... and i lost track of my favorite boy. I didn't get to see him before we headed out. I was a bit sad... everyone was saying goodbye to those students that they had become close to, and i couldn't find him...
The good news is... i am heading back to SIkirar at the beginning of July, I will find my friend when i get there. Until then, i will keep him in my thoughts, and picture him learning in the new classrooms we have helped to build.
