Once again, it has been too long since I’ve put up a new
blog post. Last time it was 7 weeks before I posted, this time it has been 3
months. Yikes. So, pole sana, I’m very sorry! This post will be a long one, covering
the last few months. In those few months I’ve been blessed with so many
experiences, it’s hard to know where to start or how to put it all down in
words. I’ll start with the painting projects I’ve done, and then share some
photos and moments from daily life here in beautiful Kenya. I find myself
saying the words Kenyan children are taught to recite frequently here. They say
“Mungu ni mwema, kila wakati”—God is good, all the time!
Loving on Backson, one of the kids from Ilula Children's Home
New murals
I could probably spend the rest of my life painting
classrooms here in Kenya. I could make myself a little mud hut, raise support
for the paint, and just travel from school to school as a fundi, or craftsperson, painting alphabets, numbers, shapes and
animals.
I don’t think that’s what God has in store for my life, but I have
enjoyed the work I’ve done in classrooms so far. I’ve learned to recruit
teachers whenever I can, because painting a large classroom solo can be exhausting!
Here are the 3 schools I painted
at over the past several months.
This could be how I advertise my fundi business
School #1: Free
Methodist Primary school in the Kibera slum, Nairobi
Kibera…the second largest urban slum in the world, and the
largest in Africa. The metal mabati buildings
stretch on and on, and when it rains the muddy roads become a force to contend
with. I spent one week painting in Kibera, and it rained every day. I walked in
wearing gum boots, but still didn’t manage to escape the mud and sewage
problem. Having a cell phone out in Kibera is a risk, so I took only a few photos
using my best iphone quick draw.
mabati houses as far as the eye can see
Creative building techniques...work with what you've got
Graffiti by Kibera Talking
Being in Kibera is like being in a completely different world,
separate from Nairobi, separate from Kenya, separate from everything. It’s
unique in it’s slum-sprawl grunginess, yet life there also seems totally
normal. People sell vegetables along the street, children play, friends call
out to each other from the top of precariously built structures. It’s a real
place to live, not something from National Geographic that only exists on the
glossy magazine pages. I came to love it, and the people I met along the way.
Children hanging out in front of the river
The school in Kibera is a large mabati two-story structure for classes 1-8. I was asked to paint in the early childhood room--a double width classroom which also serves as a church on Sundays. We only had four days to tackle the space, and the headmaster requested a Noah's Ark. I decided the only way that was possible in four days was to make it simple, done in a silhouette style. I would never have managed to complete such a large project
in one week without the help of 5 teachers who came daily to paint with me for
no pay, on their Christmas holiday. I called them fundi # 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and they took the joke well considering
being a teacher is a much better profession than being a painter here in Kenya.
Classroom before painting
Opposite end of the classroom, pre-painting
And finished!
Animals marching two by two
Teachers hard at work
Me with the teachers turned fundis who helped make it happen
Celebrating the last day of painting with chicken and chapati, yum!
School # 2: Karinde
Free Methodist School, Nairobi
After Kibera, I still had a week in Nairobi so I was asked
to work on a second Free Methodist school in the Karinde neighborhood. The
school consists of only Baby Class and Middle Class right now (nursery school
and pre-school), so I knew exactly what to paint. I was working solo this time,
with the exception of a few kids who came through. School was closed for
Christmas break, so it was mostly just me and the paints during my week in
Karinde.
Painting rainbows is always fun
A few kids dropped by, so I put brushes in their hands
A very cute visitor
Finished room
School #3: Samro
school, Ilula
Samro school is located at my home base in Ilula, and is run
by the co-founders of ELI so all the children at the children’s home where I
live attend Samro. That made this painting project so much fun, because I was constantly visited by my friends.
The more schools I paint at, the more I see the consistency
in what teachers want in their classrooms. Generally a primary school teacher
has hand-made educational charts posted all over the classroom. Charts with the
ABCs, numbers, animals, and shapes, etc. The teachers learn how to make these charts
in teacher college, so they are pretty consistent in what they portray. Here
are a few examples of teacher charts
Hand-stitched number chart, sewn on an old maize sack
When I take on a classroom, the teachers often want exactly
these materials painted on the walls. Numbers, letters, weather, shapes, etc.
If I did every classroom exactly the same, however, I would get bored. So I try
to mix it up with an airplane carrying the ABCs and a tree bearing the numbers
1-100. At Samro School I left the bottom part of the walls mostly free for teacher charts, and I painted up high. Here’s how the two classrooms at turned out.
Middle Class (pre-school) pre-painting
Finished Middle Class
Finished Top Class (kindergarten)
Work in progress, with my friend Joseph close by
These girls have the answer!
Top class, or kindergarten, in session
Painted learning materials and teacher charts together
A Middle Class (pre-school) student hard at work
Enjoying the new room!
Kampi Mawe Slums
Besides painting murals, I have involved myself in a few other places in and around Kenya during my time here. One of my favorite places to go is the slum community of Kampi Mawe. Kampi Mawe (Camp Stone) about 2.5 hours from Ilula where I live. It is a community of roughly 1,000 transient residents from all parts of Kenya. Brewing and drinking illicit alcohol is common in the slums, and people there are living on the edge of hope, with little to carry them from day to day. Jiggers, or tiny fleas that burrow in the flesh and lay egg sacks, afflict many people due to poor hygiene and living conditions associated with extreme poverty. I try to visit Kampi Mawe once a week. Let me take you there, and let you see the faces of some of the people that make that place special to me.
Besides painting murals, I have involved myself in a few other places in and around Kenya during my time here. One of my favorite places to go is the slum community of Kampi Mawe. Kampi Mawe (Camp Stone) about 2.5 hours from Ilula where I live. It is a community of roughly 1,000 transient residents from all parts of Kenya. Brewing and drinking illicit alcohol is common in the slums, and people there are living on the edge of hope, with little to carry them from day to day. Jiggers, or tiny fleas that burrow in the flesh and lay egg sacks, afflict many people due to poor hygiene and living conditions associated with extreme poverty. I try to visit Kampi Mawe once a week. Let me take you there, and let you see the faces of some of the people that make that place special to me.
A view of Kampi Mawe from a high point
Jigger removal can be very painful
Tumaini--Hope
Children are often left alone in Kampi Mawe while the parents drink
One of the oldest gogos I've seen
Making new friends in Kampi Mawe
Ilula Children’s Home
Finally, besides painting and traveling out to other
communities, there is home. I have spent the majority of my now 8 months in
Kenya in the village of Ilula, living life with over 100 kids being raised at the Ilula
Children’s Home. Life with them is sweet. Since you're probably tired of reading by now, let me just share some photos of my favorite place in Kenya. Asanteni sana, thank
you all so much, for reading my updates and being a part of this journey. Mungu awabariki sana--God bless you all!
Teaching the kids that it's all about grace
I love it when they wear snowsuits from the 80s
My friend Sarah, one of the children being raised at Ilula Children's Home
A few of the small boys practicing yoga
Receiving a gift of a kuku--chicken--from a neighbor and friend
First Kalenjin pumpkin ever-- "Kipkemboi", or born at night
Kenyans love to run!
Enjoying books sent by Little Pickle Press
Priscah, one of the house mamas, making chapati
Kids from the children's home heading to Samro School
Smiles
Kids on swings, a universal joy
Let me finish up this long blog post with a quote I like from Henri Nouwen.
If we keep claiming the light,
we will find ourselves becoming
more and more radiant.
And it's true. Claim the light, seek God in everything, and watch what He can do. I thank God every day for the joy he has brought me here in Kenya. Mungu ni mwema, kila wakati! God is good, all the time.
amani...peace!
