08/13/13
Dear Friends,
As Matt and Emily wrote about things have been going
great. I’m learning many new things on a
daily basis about Kitale, the people and myself. The first week of camp was definitely
interesting. After spending most of
Sunday preparing T-shirts with numbers the big day arrived. As we stood by the gate of the compound
little eyes peeked through the gate excitedly. Once every child received a
T-shirt, their name was written on it along with their group number (from 1 to
3) and they were asked to meet us outside.
The first day set the tone to our usual morning routine.
We all stand in a big circle and do stretches; Dom does the
funniest ones involving fun dances and numbers.
Then we play some circle games like ‘’nyama nyama nyama’’ which is a
call and response game about what animals people eat or not. Then we play Emily’s and my favorite game:
‘’Ya Ya Ya’’ which is a dance game about body itches and soccer so I’ve been
told... Once we finish and everyone has arrived Aaron or another one of our amazing
helpers introduces us and themselves. We have 6 helpers as mentioned, Sara,
Bernadette( Berna), Mora, Aaron, Solomon(Solo) and Lawrence (Lawy). Then we
split up into our number groups and each group does 1 of three possible
activities: Arts and Crafts with dancing, Enrichment and Outdoor games.
I lead the Arts and Crafts and dancing room, something that
became norm after my first day. I really
love being there. Not only because it
reminds me of my time at the museum and my nostalgic Kid’s Day memories but
because I have the chance to make a quiet activity exciting and fun for the
kids. Usually we start with stretching
and some yoga and explain the logistics of the project. After the project is complete, we go over
some key words and all or some kids stand up in front of the class and
introduce themselves, their project and their favorite part of it. Usually when
a name is given everyone excitedly says ‘’Hi (Persons Name)!!!’’ with great joy
and clap after the presentation. I
really enjoy watching each kid get a moment in the spotlight and be
recognized. 
My helpers are Mora and Lawy who are fantastic. Every day I feel very blessed to work with
Lawy because I know how hard translation is.
In the words of my beloved Dr. Mitre ‘’Translations are just approximations’’
but he conveys my same enthusiasm and love for the project which I really
value. He also makes every child feel
special and loved especially the shy ones which I see helps them come out of
their shell, which inspires me to be at my best. Even when we have introduced
the 70th child on the fourth hour, he still smiles as if it was the
first which is very special. We also
make a great team as we have begun to incorporate dance into our curriculum
with Shakira, Alicia Keys and Mackelmore being favorites just to name a few. That's Lawy.
With my wonderful team and VLM we were able to complete lots
of fun projects like paper monsters, maracas, family portraits and frames, math
books, journals, a soccer tournament and more. Another special part of camp has
been being able to have tea time with the kids, something I think Americans
should consider doing. Right in the middle of each session everyone stops to
share Chai and Mendahzi. We serve the kids first, spend time with them and then
share with each other. The first day was
hilarious as the kids were so amused at our skin color. Some of them played
with the hair on Matthew’s legs, and carefully analyzed my finger nails,
compared our complexion and were fascinated by my bangles as if I was under a
microscope. After carefully observing
most of them shared laughs and hugs with us and their love which has been the
most special part of camp. The love the
kids have for us and the helpers is enormous, as well as their gratitude. I have never worked with such polite
children, so well behaved and loving always open to share their sunshine. While
there are many undeniable challenges within this community like hunger and
brewing in certain areas, there is also immense light I experience every day at
camp and through the Daughters and friendships we are building with Beatrice,
our helpers, Alfred, The Nyota staff and each other.
Of the many friendships made one of the most special so far for me has been with George, one of the kids at camp from the afternoon session. I first spoke to George on the first day when I noticed his drawing of all 6 farm animals perfectly on his shirt. I immediately complimented him in my broken Swahili expressions Lawy wrote out and he got very shy but then shook my hand. Later that day he showed me the Kenyan handshake which is a pound, your fist onto your heart and then outward again. Every day at camp this became our tradition: greeting each other with our handshake, him showing me his beautiful artwork and laughing together about the silly dance moves Lawy, Mora and I did. George and I are to the left :)
On the fourth day, George told me in English (which he probably practiced) that he drew me or kudro? in Swahili. The very next day he handed me a beautiful picture of Emily, him and I and smiled waiting for my expression. The paper was worn out and I could tell how hard he had worked on it. This moment meant so much to me because though I couldn’t always communicate perfectly, I knew that our friendship had been as important to him as it was to me. On the very last day, I knew we had to say goodbye which was tough. Even though we are only with the kids one week, we share so much with them, learn and care a lot.
As the gates opened and the kids waved goodbye joyfully George stood by the gate shyly.
I ran up to him and from my pocket took out a picture I drew for him. He seemed a bit shocked but opened it and read: ‘’Adela, Emily, George…’’ looked down a while and looked up and smiled, then held the picture to his heart to express gratitude. I like to think that certain things like friendship and gratitude surpass the boundaries of language. I will never forget the look on his face of joy of that moment as it has been one of the most special on my journey here. All I could say in that moment was ‘’Rafiki’’ or friend and give him a handshake, our handshake. As I waved goodbye I was overwhelmed with joy for that moment and gratitude for a great first week.
Love,
Adela xx
(George's Drawing to the left, Adela's to the right)
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