Yvonne the butterfly

First day at Reach-Out!

We had an early breakfast at the Impala Resort – with a few glitches… Frank found bugs crawling out of his cereal (I was so glad I had opted out of cereal this morning!) and I was happy to have freshly-made mango juice, until I discovered there were ice slivers throughout the juice… frozen or liquid, you just can’t have water here… even more so than in Nairobi.

We arrived at Reach-Out by mid-morning. The drive once we turned off the main road was familiar, but the area had a cleaner, more vibrant feel to it! Many of the thatched roof homes now had roofs made of corrugated tin; lots of underbrush has been cleared out; and several of the block homes and the two schools along the way had a fresh coat of paint.

We arrived at Reach-Out and turned into the newly gated Dr El-Hefni Secondary (high) School – and were amazed by what we saw! The buildings were all painted green and blue. The administration building had a pretty entrance with flowers and papaya trees on either side of the doorway. There were two classroom wings and another wing with a library and computer room; a full science lab was in one of the classroom settings. Under construction were the dining hall (complete with a kitchen that had three huge built-in cooking pots) and a two-story dorm for the girls who will live on the school grounds. We got a tour of the campus and met the principal, many of the teachers and the new headmaster for the two primary classes that that been started at the school. While many of the orphans in primary school performed well and were able to continue into secondary school (9-12th grade), there were a number of others who did not score well enough to move into secondary school. Hezekiah feels very strongly that children (& girls in particular) must successfully complete at least primary school and he also feels that the failure of the orphans is a reflection of the multiple challenges they are experiencing in their lives and not the result of lack of effort or intelligence. Therefore, Reach-Out (Dr. El-Hefni Secondary School) is now offering classes 7 & 8 in an attempt to give these children a second chance to learn what they need to in order to pass the class 8 exam. I love Hezekiah’s philosophy of second chances!

On a side note, we were sure the new headmaster of the secondary school knew we were coming today – he had on a white suit and a tie with silver & black glitter threads, plus white shoes and a matching white derby hat – quite dapper!

After a complete school tour that took several hours, we had lunch in the library – various meat stews, rice, ugali, and cooked cabbage. The best part was that the principal invited several students to eat with us – the top students in each form. The students were bright, expressive, and articulate and each had such an inspiring story. I sat next to Yvonne who is in Form 3 (probably 17 years old)… she lost her father 4 years ago and her mother two years ago… then lost her brother. She is a total orphan who lives on the Reach-Out grounds. She is the top student in her Form – loves singing, dancing, math and wants to be an accountant. What animal would she like to be? a butterfly… because butterflies are beautiful and she wants to be able to fly – in life. This young woman has suffered so many losses in her young life, but was as bright and positive as a child could be. Over and over, she expressed her love for school and her appreciation for the Reach-Out program. Without it, she would be out of school and on the streets.

We spotted Irene today – one of the three girls we have supported since 2005. She was in a classroom that was on our “tour” – and smiled from ear to ear when we entered the room. She has gotten so tall and, speaking to her afterward, we could see that her personality has just blossomed! The sad-eyed, timid girl we had known on previous trips was bright and talkative… and couldn’t stop smiling! We planned with Irene to visit her at home tomorrow – to see her granny Mama Grace and her sisters Emily and Marguerite.

Meg and I did our first “You’re a Great Child…” session with 12 girls from the secondary school (3 girls from each of the 4 forms…the group included Yvonne) and were so excited by the enthusiastic participation. The program is designed to help children identify their inner strengths and what makes them unique and valuable as people, and to develop self-esteem and self-confidence. The theory behind it is that a child with a healthy self-esteem will be able to make better life choices, especially through the vulnerable teen years. The girls were so supportive of each other as we completed the various activities. In the animal game, one girl wanted to be a frog because “frogs are peacemakers and have no enemies” – the group said she was the next Kofi Annin! Another girl wanted to be a giraffe, so she could reach down and help others up and herself reach farther than she ever could imagine….a third girl wanted to be a strong and brave elephant, so no man could ever hurt or abuse her (I am guessing there was some painful history to that comment). At the end, one girl said her mother was her hero, but that she had never heard these kinds of encouraging words and had never been as happy as she was today. The day ended with lots of clapping, cheers and hugs.

Dinner was another new experience – the Whirlspring Inn… somehow we thought it was a place recommended by Pam… but later learned she had never heard of it. Food was ok… but it was another 2-3 hour dinner. We just can’t get used to Kenya timing. It’s a slower pace of life than anything we are used to…