Our last day at St. Al's in Kibera

Today we walked down the path from Kibera Road to the School for the last time this year and probably forever. If all goes as planned, we will be in the new school teaching by the time that we come next year.  Without a doubt, the last day is always hard.  This students are so smart, willing and able that you just want to take each and every one of them home with you.  They all give you something to think about.  It is hard to not think about who they are and what they have gone through and all that they have accomplished.  

Our last day is one of art review and celebration.  Forms 1 rearranged the room so we could spread their art out on desks so we could all go around and look at it.  Everyone really did well in this class and they produced lots of work.  They seem like a committed group.  We gave out certificates to each on of the students and they really love it.  It is a form of proof of their accomplishment.  There was one student that started late and so I did not have him on my list and he came to me and asked for his after.  Thank God we had made extra copies for just such cases.  Then after we had art review and certificates, we had celebration that consisted of Ginger Snaps, Chocolate and Soda.....What a winner of a combination.  They all seemed excited and clapped lots.  All the classes do it differently, Forms 1, I had to hand out and poor, forms 2 and 3, served themselves. 

In forms 2, Margaret's class, she did review and certificates as well and her class sang songs to her.  It was really wonderful.  These students love Ms Margaret and it shows in how they respond to her.  Jill, one of the senior faculty came by to wish us well and thank us.  She really loves this program and has a personal passion for art and knows all the artists that we teach.  She actually went to a school that had a special program.  If it had not been for our realization of the lack of art and her request for us to bring art, this program would never have been started.

Forms 3 had a larger classroom with a smaller amount of students so they spread the art out all around the room and we went through and looked and talked about the differences and where they developed.  It was great.  This group seems the most mature and has the most talented artists in one group.  They definitely make you feel like they get it and they do..... The talk a little more and at the same time, they are a group of quirky artists.  It is funny to see them.  Having been in the Drama club in high school (I am sure you could of guessed it) they seem familiar to me.  

Today I asked the forms 1 and 3's what are they most important things that they should get out of the class and they all remember without fail that they are Smart, Beautiful and Important. They also connect that this means the same for their art; their creations are also, smart, beautiful and important.  One mentioned that she also learned that art is beautiful, storytelling and artistic.  You get to take out of it what you want and that is the beauty of sharing and teaching.

After class, Jacob, one of our students in forms 3, wanted to share with us his home and family. It was so meaningful.  When they invite you in, it is such an honor.  They are beautiful. He is an orphan and his aunt has brought him in with his siblings.

As we were leaving the school today after the visit with Jacob's family, with its dank and harassing surroundings, we walked up the path back to Kibera Road sadly and silently; it was our last time at St. Al's in Kibera. Even with the dirtiness of the environment and smells, and the children with barefeet and raw sewage and products that are sold on the street, the sound of the children saying "how are you?" over and over again in their singsong voices and all the awkwardness, we already miss the beauty it also represents to us.  The beauty of the students, their hope and ambition, the delightfulness in the faces of the people that we have met and the family that we have formed. David Dinda came to say good bye and as my Kenyan son, it is always hard to say good bye.  (His team won the soccer match last night and it was on the news and in The Nation today.) We have been fortunate to have this experience and look forward to what 2010 will bring us when we return.

We are back at the ranch (Pedro Arrupe) getting ready to leave.  We will join the Jesuits at Hekima College as we depart to celebrate the Feast of St. Ignatius (the founder of the Jesuits for those unfamiliar) and then off to the airport. I could not imagine a better way to end this day. 

Thank you all for being part of our journey.  If I am able and not swallowed up by the return to DC, in the next week, I may send this link out again with pictures attached. 

Be well and see you soon, 

Charles and Margaret

Last Day of Classes

Today was the last day of classes and I have to say that is was hard.  You see the commitment, you see the desire and you see the progress and you just want to continue.  Both Forms 1 through 3 did great work and really wanted to accomplish so much in such a short window.  It makes me wonder, what would it be like to have these students engaging in art as part of their curriculum all year around.  The art club certainly is a step and this is exciting that they are so committed.  The forms 2/3 had final projects to do and I have to say, they are just impressive.  The work that they produced was beyond amazing and there were some visitors that we working with the journalism club and they looked at some of the work and there mouths were wide open and they asked, "have they had formal training?" and I responded "yes", they started in the introductory art immersion and now they are in advanced and then laughed.  These students have very distinct styles.  The things that they understand, the things they want and the aspirations that they have continued to spur on Margaret and I.  

As we walked into the school, Margaret and I looked at each other and realized that this would be the last time that we would walk into the school to teach, probably ever, if the new school is build as scheduled.  Our daily walk in through all the harshness of the environment, raw sewage, smells, trash, really displaced situations and hardness as partnered with the beauty of the people that we teach, the beauty of the people in Kibera and the hope that always seems forever present. 

When we returned from lunch, students were buzzing about and starting to paint knowing today was the last classes and then tomorrow is assembly and rewards and art review with us before they go on two week break.  

Margaret's students continue to be so different then they were last year and she has one artist that is prolific.  It is amazing.  You just stare at the color he uses and his style and it is amazing.  This is such progress.

In my last class with forms 3, they asked what happens after next year when they are done with St. Al's, how do they continue to progress?  Do they just abandon their art education?  Two things came to mind for me, one, we have not even put a scratch in the surface of art education and two, hummmm, maybe the Kibera Art Institute.  I have a grand idea and have to get re-grounded in the states to realize if it is my adrenaline and my blind faith that thinks it will work or could this model really work.....More to come in the future on this.

This evening ended at the Kunuoa Art Trust where the journalism club had their showing of the photo journalism projects.  It was great.  The student photos where amazing and the concept of an exhibit was new to them.  It was great.  Paul O'Callaghan, a volunteer, Collin (a professional photographer married to a Kenyan and a great guy whose last name I have forgotten) and many others made this a reality and it was just great. Margaret and I talked about maybe that would be our next step, an art show after our time with them.  Maybe a week or so longer time frame to make this happen when we come.  The drama club did traditional dancing that was great. There was also recognition and it was nice to have them recognize Margaret and I.  Margaret has a student who is in the journalism club and produced great work.

Tomorrow is the day of celebration where we hand out certificates validating their hard work, look at all the art that has been done and have soda and chocolates and biscuits.  They deserve so much more and they have worked so hard.

I shall write one last entry after the celebration and then we will have concluded this 2nd year program.  Thanks for being on our journey with us.

Be well,

Charles and Margaret

Time is speeding by......

This was a rewarding and hardworking day.  The realization I had today and the one that I am sure Margaret is well versed having taught art 8 hours a day for 12 years, is how hard it is to teach daily.  We are only teaching 4 hours a day.  Part of it is the environment and how much work it is just to get set up with the classes each day and getting the supplies out, etc.  The other piece is that their is an emotional element that comes a long with it that is exhausting yet extremely rewarding.  We also had a child that was in the school that lives right outside the school between to flight of stairs on the landing just crying because he could not get down.  I went up to the landing, handed him off to Momma Margaret who carried him home.  Minutes later he was back in the school sitting on a chair or at the door of our respective classrooms smiling and waving asking over and over again, "how are you?, how are you? how are you?  I love this and at the same time, these are the unique elements of daily life in the school in Kibera.

Today felt like we are on a bit of a race to get all the work in.  Another realization is we had 8 days as opposed to 10 last year to teach and we need 10 days, regardless that this year we have double the time, we actually need the days to make sure that we have the actual time to deliver the curriculum; this truncated amount of time, leaves us very little room for flexibility.  It just makes us push, push and as Phil Boroughs advised us the first year that we delivered this program, it is never going to be as you planned it--That continues to be the best advise we have received outside of don't drink the water unless you bought it bottled.  

Today we plunged right in and all the classes were doing their art creation full tilt.  We have had to work very hard to get our history and art elements education in as well as our practicing and creating art.  The most essential elements that you need to go over are composition, genres, medium, etc and also time periods.  This is all hard to get in and also paint and draw.  We are doing it.  For the advanced students, forms 2 and 3, they are doing final projects on high grade paper and the forms 1 is doing lots of painting on what we call practice paper.  They all are working so hard and so committed. It constantly allows us to know that they are working to achieve the most they can out of what opportunity is present.  So many of them seem to see art as another place to achieve and succeed and they are doing it.  The final projects are amazing and they are certainly going to be great to bring back to help raise money for the school.

We were both excited to see in the school magazine, yes, St. Al's has an awesome school magazine, the mention of the art club and the mention of Margaret and I as the reason they started it. Speaking of the Art Club, we are learning to speak Kenyan.....  After class this afternoon, the Art Club asked to meet with Margaret and I.  They had appointed a speaker to talk.  The Art Club is comprised of most the student from my Forms 3 class that were my forms 2 students last year.  Before the speaker, Hillary, spoke we let them know how proud we were and committed to them and that all the supplies would be left to use in the art club.  They were thankful.  Referring to speaking Kenyan, this is what I am talking about.  Hillary spoke and he asked, "what were our thoughts about taking a field trip to see a museum or gallery either while we were here or even when we weren't here."  We thought that was a fine idea and that since we are leaving this Friday that it probably would be best for them to go on their own.  But I knew that this is not what they were asking us. And I said, "I am not sure I am answering your questions since you are not being direct."  Then they said supporting them going, and I continued to dig and asked, "do you need money to do this and is that what you are asking?" and they all said yes. Then we talked about how to be direct and ask for what you need.  Helping them have a voice is important and they get it. They all acknowledge it is very Kenyan to not be direct but dance around it.  We are more than glad to support this and they were given assignment, Collin is to figure out how much they need and Hellen is to focus on where they might go.  At dinner Margaret said, what is they come back with the idea to go to the MOMA or Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.  We laughed and then both though it be great to do this---Maybe something in our future.  

The world ends up continuing to be a small place.  Tonight I met someone at Nairobi Java because he was wearing a unique pair of Kenyan Safari boots that I also bought so I would be unique at home (Go figure) and we joked about being fashionable in our respective homes, he a Kenyan who lives in Paris and me in DC.  I joked, gave him my card and said "send me a picture of you wearing yours in front of the Eiffel Tower and I will send one of me wearing mine in front of the white house.  He asked me what I was doing in Kenya as he said he was working with a school in Kibera on a Photo Journalism project and low and behold, The Journalism club of St. Al's is having an exhibit opening tomorrow that he was part of organizing.  Small world.  Margaret and I are excited about the project because last year, we also engaged the students with photography and three of the six photo journalists are our students from last year.   It just goes to show that many people are engaged in St. AL'S and the world can be a tremendously small place.

Hope all is well.

Charles and Margaret

A wonderful, frustrating, wonderful day

So our day started off earlier today as we went to the Red Rose School to deliver a program.  It was wonderful.  We got to teach the kindergartners about portraits and shared with them the Mona Lisa.....They Loved her.  After having been formally educated in Art and its history, there is still no allure of her to me, but all our students from Kindergarten to Forms 3 thinks she is just beautiful.  Then they got to spend time creating a portrait of themselves and others.  It was great.  They do not stick within the lines which makes them so appealing and they are so engaged that they laugh and praise every thing they do. All I can hear as I type this is " Hello to our visitors"  in their singsong voices.  They are just lovely.  Margaret is a natural with these kids and they just love her.

Then off to St. Al's.  We had a scheduling issue that has happened both yesterday and today.  The kids had forum in the church. One day boys one day girls and they come late so we have started class with those that are present and then others come in and we end up needing to stop everything to let them get settled.  The desks are so tight that you have to move desks to get by and some are not in the class but have their stuff locked in the desk... This will not happen the next few days, we have been assured. Some of the students were on watercolors and then spilt water, etc, it was as frustrating for us teaching as those learning.  My forms 3 studio session went well and they ended up wanting to work longer which they ended up doing.  They took responsibility of collecting their materials and putting them away.  It was just great to see their enthusiasm.  It is also exciting to see the forms 2, Margaret's class also so engaged.  The day ended with forms 3 class being totally focused and forms 1/2 doing studio well.  All in part of a days work. So great to have such engagement.

We are basically 2 days away from being done.  Friday is a celebration day and an art review day.  Our next 2 days are just packed.  We are excited, the students are doing great work and it is obvious that the work we are doing with these students makes an impact, who knew that we would be planning a 3rd year for 2010 and thinking out even further. 

More to report later......

Charles and Margaret

Update through Monday 7/27/09

This weekend was an diverse one.  We visited the Baishara road downtown which was interesting. We got to shop with and how other Kenyans shop.  After this we spent a good part of the afternoon walking through Kibera with some of the students we teach.  It was interesting and amazing and it was really special that they wanted to share their lives with us.  Hellen, David and Jacob walked us through their Kibera and although we feel really exposed to our student's lives through St. Al's teaching, we ARE forever humbled at how hard their lives are and how they show up with enthusiasm, hope and readiness.  They want to make a difference in their lives as well as others and we are fortunate to be part of their journey as much as they are part of ours.  This same day we had dinner with Sr. Mary, Anne and many nuns at Mary Ward Centre where they live.  Sr. Mary was off to China to a wedding with 4 of the kids from Nyumbani.  They were invited by a donor of Nyumbani.  

Sunday was a day at the Masai Market and then there was rest. Thank God.  It is a lot of work here  and you need to process this when you have time.

I sat and starred and the Ngong Hills, painted some and Margaret read.  We are having a rewarding experience.

Today, Monday-  it isthe Monday of our last week.  This is where the rubber hits the road and we have to make sure our timing and curriculum all gets covered.  It is a bit of a rat race and at the same time, so much smoother then last year.  I am pleased to know that these students are SO engaged.  Today forms 2&3 are using pastels and charcoal.  These new mediums are difficult for them.  They said they thought watercolor was hard but they had no idea these would be more difficult.  The history part is also much more challenging--More information, more in-depth learning.  It is great.  They get it...They want it, and we are here to provide.

Tomorrow, we will have the joy of doing an Art session with the young kids at the Red Rose school which was founded by Ken Okoth of Kibera/Georgetown/Potomac School/Now Tanzania..... We teach an art session each year there and although they do not have art specific, the teachers actually use it in teaching their subjects.  They are so fun to teach and spend time with.  That will be in the morning, then a full day at St. Als and then after classes we may take part in the Art Club.  

We were given the school magazine today that mentions that we were the ones that they suggested we start this and they did and have had great success.  Tomorrow will be a long day.

Thanks for taking part in our journey and reading the blogs.  

Be well,

Charles and Margaret 

We only have one week left----

We have completed our first week......I cannot believe it.  Today continued to be exceptional and I am sure that you are all thinking, "will he get of his soap box already?" but now I get what faculty and teachers feel like when they see something happening from their teaching.

Forms 1's are so engaged and just engrossed which is not the experience Margaret had last year. Margaret's form 2's are engaged and engrossed in a way that is great.  They are inspiring.  Today she introduced pastels to them and they loved it.  They remember so much of what was taught to them They are doing some great work.  Having actually taught them something that has stayed with them and that they want to build on is amazing.  The school and the students are very excited about the future with art.  The refer to what we might do next year, etc. Pretty amazing...I could not have imagined that we would see such progress.

The forms 3 are so mature, focused and advanced.  They are the group that formed the Art Club after we left.  Today, Hellen, one of the students handed me a book that starts the week after we left last year and shows role for each week of the Art club since we left.  Being an artist myself, I know that making art on a regular basis is so important.  They have proved it today.  

Our structure is 90 minutes class and 90 minutes studio so they can actually soak in the work we are doing.  One of the new mediums that we are introducing in addition to Pastels are charcoal.  When Margaret and I were at the Text Book Centre on Kigali road in Downtown Nairobi, we could not imagine paying 4+ dollars for 3 charcoal pencils.  Today when I started studio time with our forms 3's I gave money to Jacob to go to Kibera road and by Charcoal that has been made on the streets.  For 20 Kenyan Shillings, he came back with a bag and they used Kiberan Charcoal to do there first charcoal arts.  This was amazing.

Tomorrow, Margaret, about 10 students, David Dinda and I are going to walk through Kibera and experience a little more than we have before, taking in more of their lives outside of school.  I am so excited.  

The interesting thing about this years experience is that it has made Margaret and I think even more about what is next in this program and these students artistic lives.......We are having outstanding results in sub standard conditions, can you imagine what it will be like to be in a new school teaching art?  Over the moon.... Terry even suggested that he would be willing to have an ART room in the new school.  I almost feel over.

I would also like to share that both Margaret and I concurrently were reading and finished last night, the book "the blue sweater" by Jacqueline Novogratz.  She is the founder and CEO of the Acumen Fund.  She is a key stakeholder in international development and has done amazing work.  It has been so appropriate to read this here.  If you have not read this book, stop reading this blog this minute and go out and buy it.  It answers so many questions and really allows you to know that it is possible to make a difference.  I had the absolute privilege of meeting her at a book signing and being a guest at the following dinner.  She is amazing and I cannot wait to talk to her about the book more and our experience.

We had a charming evening with my friend Wangari (anne) and then we all went and saw the new Harry Potter at Nakumatt Junction for about 6.50 a person....Totally worth seeing even if you are not in Nairobi.

Be well and thank you so much for taking this journey with us.  It is so nice to be able to share this with you.

Margaret and Charles

Day 2 Margaret was running late but we still.....

made it all happen without a hitch.  The thing that is most great about us being here a second time is that they expect us and we know what we are doing.  That is an amazing combination.  Today we had a more extensive opportunity with all our classes and I have to say that they all have a different flavor.  Forms 1 still seems compliant and excited.  We did history and completed our first project that I call Unique identifier.  Creating unique Name Plates that represent you as a unique human, just like art and its unique style.  They get it and they understand that even individuals that do the same concepts, are still unique in how it is interpreted.

Forms 2 who offered such challenges last year have all growed up.....They are into the art in a way that is both pleasing and exciting to Margaret.  They get, they are engrossed and are actually really pushing to develop the drawing skills.  It continues to be rewarding that there is absolute recognition of the education that we provided last year and the continued desire.  Today Margaret shared with them new skill concepts with shading, form and direction of light.  They are engrossed.  

Forms 3 is a smaller but really advanced group.  They were the most mature of our classes last year because they were already experienced students and the self selecting process for lack of a better term became evident to me today.  In the same class last year, I had 34 students in forms 2.  This year, those the wanted to continue their art education ended up being only 14 of that same group and for Margaret's form 2's, it is only 25 of 35 from the prior year.  The uniqueness about these 14 is that they immediately started an Art Club after we left and have continued to practice and develop their skills as artists.  This same group has actually developed theirs skills through continued practice.  This group has some of the artists that we talk about as some of the more talented of the group.  When I met with them today, they were fixated on doing amazing things and because of their maturity level feel like they are very serious and demonstrated that through their desire to work at home, create the name plates with an already developed style and their desire to have a long term trajectory with their art.  We talked about many things and they all led to practicing art on a very very constant basis.

The most rewarding aspect for both Margaret and I is that their art is important to them, all of them.  They get to choose to participate and are in it for themselves not because have to.  Today when I was talking to Forms 3, we talked about sharing their personal stories in their art.  We know they share more wide spread stories of Kibera in some of their art, but I have asked my group to think more internally about this and to consider sharing their own stories in their art, even if it is painful.

Margaret and I are being rewarding just by their complete desire to be here.  I feel like we are probably more fortunate than most to be part of these smart, beautiful and important peoples lives.  We get so much for what seems so little to give.  

Beatrice the Asst. HeadMaster continues to reinforce that they had no idea that this talent was here and that it was our program that made it clear to them that this was an important, if not critical part of their development.  I continue to believe what we learned in 2007, "one person at a time can make a difference". 

I have to say, we have quelled our shopping bug and have just distinct times that we will go to market to get the gifts we promised or the Kazuri we have been funded to provide.  It is really nice to be here and not feel like we don't belong, but on the contrary, feeling like this is a place we should be.  

More to come, hope you are well.

Margaret and Charles

The First day of our second year, WOW

Today was the first day of classes and we started off without a hitch. I think that both Margaret and I are overwhelmed, touched, sparked, excited, proud and all because we are doing something we believe is driven by passion.  

We are actually doubling our teaching time to get more time each day with the students.  Last year we taught forms 1&2 and now we are teaching forms 2 and 3 which were last years students with the addition of the new students from form 1. Since Margaret had the "freshman" last year, I got them this year, only fair.  

The students continue to be great, exceeding our expectations with everything they do.  Our day started with warm greetings from the students and excitement about us being there.  To back track, yesterday we bought supplies and got them ready so today was a very plug and play experience.  

The forms 1 class was excited and very quiet.  Margaret's experience with the 2008 form 1's were that they were load, gregarious and a bundle of energy.  This class seems subdued.  I am sure that I just set my self up for them all being load and energetic going forward.  They were excited to engage about art and when asked what they think Art is, they give canned answers that I am aware will change as they learn what art is to them.  

Margaret's form 2's have matured in the year and she was so excited that they remembered the famous artists that we taught them last year and that they were engaged and ready.  They clapped for her when she walked into the class and they were excited and ready.  We could not be happier.  

Forms 3 will start tomorrow as they finished exams today and they are starting with me after lunch tomorrow.  I cannot wait.  This group was wonderful to work with and last year and they are so excited to start again.  Jacob, Collins and Hellen approached us after class to say that they wanted to share with us their progress.  I was nearly in tears.  They continued on with their art and they get together after school on a regular basis and create art.  I was dumbfounded by what they have done.  I just stood there in shock.  I could not believe that they continued with the art with such ardent enthusiasm.  I felt so proud of them and I said to them that I was so proud of them and they responded, no, we are proud of you and Margaret.  I stopped breathing and realized, that we have given so little to get some much back from these amazing students.  The art that they have created since we left shows a definite refinement from the cliche of "Practice makes perfect".  They have also had them framed, sold some of them at the St. Al's event and half the money goes to the school and half goes to an account that supports them engaging in another art organization.  Margaret and I were in awe and are so excited to be part of who they are becoming.  I looked at Margaret today and said, think, we can be with them on this whole Journey.  She looked at me and said, thanks, I guess you made me realize I may do this for a very long time.......

Tomorrow we have the addition of form 3 that I will teach and Margaret will take on Studio time.  This is exciting.  We are teaching 105 students a day.  It is hard and probably one of the most rewarding experiences we both have had.  

After class we went to lunch with David Dinda Ohdiambo.  I believe many of you have met him if you have been on the trip but for sure have seen him in a St. Als video or the smiling man on the invites.  He, to me, is like a son.  We are in regular contact and it is great to have him so intertwined in my life.  He will be graduating from Social Work College in October and deciding where he would like to go to University.  He is amazing.  He has started the Hope foundation to help youth in Kibera give back.  He also runs the sports program at St. Als.  He may have graduated from St. Al's but he has never left.  He is a key part of why they are so successful and he lives life totally with the perspective that the glass is more than Half Full. 

We were talking about success at lunch and he said it simply, people serve others and experience success when they do what they are passionate about.  Enough said!

Passionately,

Charles and Margaret

Karibu Nyumbani, Global Warming and Kenyan Family

Karibu Nyumbani means Welcome Home in kiSwahili and was the first greeting given when I arrived Friday night and it feels that it is true, just like returning home.  I love Kenya, I have this wonderful feeling when I walk out of the airport and realize that I am here again. 

As someone asked me, "when will you be collecting Margaret from the Airport?"  Well I am happy to say that I collected her last night and am so happy that we are here together to deliver the Art Immersion program we started in 2008.  Margaret and I continue to be in awe of the fact that an idea to provide an intensive art education to these "smart, beautiful and important" students at St. Al's is not only a reality but something that is now an ongoing program.  The excitement is building.  We met with Kiambi the Headmaster at St. Al's to go over logistics and then off to the Text Book Centre which is where all school and art supplies are purchased here.  It is nice to put the money in the Kenyan economy and not have to carry supplies from the US.  The people at Text Book Centre are so nice and willing to be helpful that it is actually a fun experience.  We had our requisite breakfast at Nairobi Java and then tea this afternoon so I feel we are grounded back in Our Kenya.

I arrived Friday Evening and went to visit my Kenyan Family in Nyeri, Kenya - Central Province.  On the way there it has become obvious that Global Warming is having a really negative affect on this part of Kenya, from Nairobi to Nyeri.  From Nairobi to Sagana, right outside Nyeri, it was brown and there were whole unrealized corn crops dead on the stalk.  It was hard to see.  Nairobi is grown right now and it is normally green and a more rain.  My friend, Wangari, some of you know her as Anne said that this is the worst it has ever been.  Awa Ndirangu, Wangari's dad, a 70 year agriculturist said that this is the worst ever and they are worried.  Awa said that this is basically the first year that they do not have Maize at this time of  year and that the crops are not producing as normal.  The coffee should be flowering and there should be rain.  It is very scary for Kenyans, and as a global citizen, pretty concerning.  Even though in Washington DC, the weather has been abnormally nice, another side affect of Global Warming.

The trip to Nyeri was pretty special.  The reason that I was asked to come up right away was that a mass was held by the family priest to welcome me into my Kenyan Family, the Ndirangu's.  It is such an honor that a Kenyan family whom I have become so fond, wanted to officiate a mass to welcome me into the family.  This is such an honor.  Many of you all know that I have a fantastic and wonderful family that I cannot talk enough about.  Then to have another family in Kenya, I am filled with gratitude.  Now that I have been welcomed to the family, I have been asked to take part in the 50th anniversary of Mr and Mrs Ndirangu on January 2, 2010.  What an amazing gift and honor.  Wangari's father Awa (dad) Ndirangu said he never knew that he would have 7 children, he thought 6 was enough.  Most of the family came from around Kenya for the Mass and those that could not be there in person, sent either their spouses in their place or called with best wishes.  

To conclude, I am feeling full of life.  Having Margaret here to teach with, having a Kenyan Family, the Ndirangu's, Having my first Family, the DeSantis's, staying at the Jesuit Community at Pedro Arruppe in Karen district of Nairobi, having the ability to teach art to smart, beautiful and important people, something that has meant so much to Margaret and I. Wow, we are fortuunate--Until next blog, be well.

Charles and Margaret

Soon we will be in Kenya

All, 

Just a short blog to let you know that Margaret and I will be in Kenya teaching.  We will start blogging next week which is July 20th.

We loved your comments last year, please give them.

Much love and appreciation,

Margaret and Charles