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