Area 2 School Game Rules Poster

Here is a poster hanging outside the classrooms of the "older original" Area 2 School.

I always enjoy the wording on these posters! Here are some posters I saw in 2011 and don't forget the Rules for the Toilet seen at the newer Area 2 Building.

A Stroll through the streets of Area 1 Mathare Valley, Kenya

On our first Saturday in Kenya, we took a stroll through the streets of Area 1. This is the area supported by the first Missions of Hope School called Pangani.

This is the Pangani Center and school.

Because of that, it is more highly developed than other areas of Mathare through the influence of the school, health care, small business loans, and such. In fact, it seemed busier and much more active than it was even three years ago. As you walk the streets, hundreds of little kids shout out, "How are you?" and then they want their picture taken. It is winter in Kenya, so there was a lot of runny noses! This gives you a small taste of a walk-through of the main road and businesses in the slum.



Did you see the photo of the runny nosed girl at the end?

At first, I thought that it was just an awful photograph, but then I decided to look a little bit deeper, right into her eyes, and guess what I saw! It is sort of like the whole of Mathare. You have to look a bit deeper to see the beauty.

Speaking of eyeballs, I guess playing with your eyeballs when having your picture taken is a thing in Mathare!

Anthony: the Kenyan boy my family sponsors

Three years ago when I first went to Kenya, I asked be introduced to a needy fifth grader from the Bondeni School for my family to start sponsoring. I had taught fifth graders and was happy when they brought Anthony to meet me that last Saturday in the Mathare Valley. He was as quiet and solemn as could be that day, but I was told when he went back upstairs to his class, that he had the biggest grin all over his face!

Meeting Anthony in 2011

Anthony moved from the Bondeni School to the Joska School about an hours drive away from Nairobi. This is where many of the 7-12 grade students from the Mathare Vallley go to school to get to a better environment in order to learn. This double our monthly cost for Anthony, but it is the first and the  most important bill we pay each month ( a small sum to pay to take one kid from the slum and provide for him an education and a future. We hope that Anthony will pass the country-wide 8th grade test this fall and then be allowed to get into a high school where he can continue his education. Hopefully, Anthony will even make it to college some day.

When we arrived, the boys at Joska were in a service.

They sat us down near the front for about 10 minutes. I kept seeing boys from three years ago in Bondeni about ten rows back. They would catch my eye, smile, and give me a thumbs up. I was very disappointed in not being
able to speak with them.

I was hoping to spend some time with Anthony and talk with him and encourage him on his life journey, however our time at the Joska boy's school was very limited and I only got to spend about 5 minutes with him. I got him some school supplies, some fun things, some candy, and a proper shirt and hat.

Anthony was pulled from the meeting, so we could spend a little bit of time together.

I think he has to grow into the shirt!

We didn't have much time to speak, and he always answered my questions with a soft, "Yes." When I was told that I had to leave and to get back on the bus, he said, "Safe journeys!" I wonder what he thought about my quick visit? We do write letters back and forth.

Kifaru: Rhino by Mary

Poem: Kifaru 

Unfortunately, we didn't see a Rhino this year.
These photos are of the one we saw in 2011.

Rhino, Rhino How are you?
In the grasslands of the day
How frightening you are
Could you someday be a friend? 

In the tallest grass
Just to lay all day long
But nobody will ever come near you
Could you someday be a friend? 

So big and so strong
Wonder where you might come from?
Your sounds are so frightening
Could you someday be a friend? 

Your skin so hard
Where was it made from?
And your horns are so big
Where did you get all that from?

You eat the grass till they are over
You don’t ever invite other animals to your meals
How fast can you run?
Could your ever be a friend? 

So heavy like a mountain
If you are so heavy like that
How much will your child weigh?
Could you someday be a friend? 

Rhino, Rhino the huge animal
On the forest of the day
How frightening you are
Could you someday be a friend?

by Mary Waithera  

I have previously written about Mary here when I first saw this poem she wrote (as well as her perseverance in solving a Tangram puzzle with her eyes closed) . My father-in-law had given me a medal to give to a deserving student. I pulled Mary aside with her teacher, Stanley. I had decided not to make the medal into a show and wanted to present it privately. I had already told Mary a couple of times that I enjoyed her writing and that one day she could be an author or anything else she wanted to be with her grit and determination. I emphasized this again with humble little Mary and told her to put the medal in her pocket and then to bring it home. In her home (remember these kids live in tiny tin shed-sized shanties) I told her to hang it up and to always remember that she will do something important some day. Remember, that Mary is the little girl who got lost while we were in Kenya on our trip in 2011 and wandered alone in the slum alone for three days before being found. I am sure she will do great things with her life. 

Here is a photo of Mary taken of a poetry poster I brought to model poetry writing based on "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams. I decided to write some sample poems using pictures I took from our trip in 2011. I was hoping to find some of the kids in the photos. Mary is holding this photo that shows her in the background of the photo.

And look, I almost caught Mary smiling in these photos. 

Although if you go to this link with the video of her 

doing Tangrams, you will see her smile!

Nyani: The Monkey by Mercy

photo from 2011 trip

Nyani: The Monkey

Monkey, Monkey jumping up and down in the tree,
jumping up and down tree
What immortal face or hand
could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Monkey, Monkey You are so funny.
Why don't you wear clothes?
Why are you jumping from tree to tree?
Why don't you have horns?
Why are you behaving like a human being
but not an animal?

Monkey, Monkey Sometimes you're dangerous
Why are you taking people's snacks?
Why do you have four toes?
Why do you have feather?

by Mercy Muthoni (class 5 red)

Pundamilia: Zebra by Henry

Pundamilia: Zebra

Zebra, Zebra Burning Bright
Good in shining your white colour
Who made you?
Does he/she loves you?

What a black and white body
Why do you live in a grassland
and not a dry land?
And why do you eat grass and not meat?

Why did God gave you ears
and not horns?
Why don't you look like a horse
and God made you like a horse?

Zebra, Zebra burning bright
In the forest of the night
What immortal hand or body.
Are you happy the way
God made you?
I am happy.

by your friend Henry Kaloki (class 5 red)

Simba: Lion by John

Simba: Lion

Lion, Lion Why do you have big paws?
Why do you eat meat, not grass?
Why are you the king of the jungle?
Why do you have hairs on the neck?

In what deep or skies,
burnt the fired of thine eyes?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
Why do you have sharp big canines?
How were you created?

Why do you not wear clothes like humans?
Why do you live in dry land, not wet land?
What did the other animals do to you,
because you hurt them?
Why do you look scary?

by John Mwangi (class 5 red)