More on Kibera and Kabete...

This second week has been spent working again at the school in the Kibera slum and at the Children's Remand Home in Kabete. On Monday I taught a short lesson for each of the classrooms in the Kibera school, on a variety of topics. I played singing games with the pre-schoolers, taught farm animals and sounds to the kindergarten class and talked about the clothes we wear with class one, discussed hygenie and washing in class two, taught grammar in classes three and four, and did a short lesson on geography in class five. They are all so eager to learn, and they know how to make the most of every lesson and every resource. The kindergarteners are the best at sharing because they have only one box of crayons for the class of 30 students! And the upper classes have very small and neat handwritting, in order to conserve paper. They're eagerness and dedication to their education is just so inspiring. I love teaching there, and being a part of their school. The headmaster even informed me that I am the first white person to have taught in that school! I'm thinking of trying to set up a "sister school" program with an elementary school in the U.S. I'm not yet sure what form it could take-- maybe students exchanging letters and pictures with their "cousins" in Kenya/the U.S. Masha and I will be working on figuring out the details of this pilot program next week. 

As for Kabete, we did more case studies on Tuesday. This time I talked to a girl who is awaiting trial for murdering her step-father, after he beat her and attempted to rape her. Hearing stories such as this is becoming more common during my work at Kabete, but it still doesn't make it any easier to listen. The girl told me that she thinks God is punishing her for not being pious in life. I told her that God loves her no matter what, and that those who have the greatest challenges also have the greatest rewards. 

On Wednesday we did a program on anger management, using skits and story telling. I got to participate in a skit, which was really fun. Also, I taught them the "tiki tiki tamba" singing game, which was a big success. As I was leaving that day, many of them gave me hugs and high fives. I feel like they are finally opening up and trusting me-- and that is a wonderful feeling.