In Kenya, the school day begins with an assembly that includes a devotion. We were asked to provide the message at the primary this morning. The team did a short skit about letting your light shine and then attempted to sing "This little light of mine." Practice on our part could have helped. By Kenyan musical standards, we were pathetic … however, we did garner a few chuckles.
One of the highlights of the day was serving the porridge. This happens at 11:00 each morning. The students line up by grade with the youngest going first. John, Abe and Jeremy poured over 200 servings into plastic cups producing a lot of smiles. If there was any doubt about the need for the feeding program our measuring of the pre-school classes removed it. We had a 4-year old who weighed 26 lbs and an 8-year old who weighed 35 lbs. The porridge program continues to be the only meal that can be counted on by some of the children each day.
A few of our team members spent the afternoon providing science lessons. Dr Margaret Punch was invited to give a lesson on reproduction to the Grade 6 class. It included a description of American pizza (look carefully at the chalkboard) along with both male and female anatomy. (Kenyan children are curious about everything.) She has been asked to repeat the same lesson for the 7th and 8th grades tomorrow. I am not sure if pizza will be included.
This evening we shared things we were grateful for. Perhaps the most powerful was by the team member who realized she had touched the hand of every student in the school as she handed each of them their weight and height card to take home. For many this was the first time this information had ever been taken. Last night we shared dinner with a young man who attended this same primary school. He went on to attend BLISS High School and has now graduated from University. One of his most prized possessions is the cloth "cinch sack" with the BLISS school logo … handed to him by an earlier FUMC team 8 years ago.
We don't always know when or if we're shining light in the lives of others. The height/weight cards, the cloth cinch sacks, the porridge, the pencils, the classroom chalk, the wall charts, the flash cards, the microscopes … and this year the solar lanterns the team will be handing out to the incoming students at BLISS on Friday. Perhaps we never know at the time what the impact will be — on us or them.
This little light of mine …
The Kenya Mission Team
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