St Joseph’s, Kibiko, + Porridge

Over the next several days we had a number of stops to make: Schools where we only have one or two kids, errands to run, etc. This post will cover a few of those.

Our first stop was at St Joseph’s Primary school. We have two girls there, Shantivia and Agnes. Both girls come from difficult backgrounds. We have moved them into this boarding school for their safety. Agnes is on the left. Shantivia is in the middle.

I was particularly eager to meet Shantivia. Ginger and I sponsor her and had never met. I had been telling Shantivia about Ginger. I found a video of Ginger playing her cello and was showing it to Shantivia. Agnes wanted to see too. Classical music isn’t common in this culture.

To save a little trouble for those who care, the quote on my shirt is by American author James Baldwin: “Ignorance allied with power is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”

Above, Virginia with Agnes. Virginia is truly a hero for many of these kids, and their parents. She is the one who is there when they need help the most. As was the case with both Agnes and Shantivia.

We also swung by Kibiko Secondary school to visit Anthony. Two of Anthony’s siblings are sponsored in Tuko Pamoja, as well. His brother is Alex, who training to be a plumber. And his sister, Monicah, is at Kimuka Primary school. Anthony is the young man who was climbing over the wall to sneak into school when he was kicked out for non-payment. 

One more task we had to get done near the first of the month is to deliver the porridge for the primary schools in the Ngong area where we fund the program: Ilmerijo, Kimuka, and Osupuko.

Below, we have Thomas’s safari truck loaded with porridge for Ilmerijo. 

With each passing day, accompanying us on our daily trips, Thomas got more into our activities and became one of the team.

The unloading begins. It is always an occasion for celebration. The schools insist the kids help unload and haul the porridge bags.

And then, the photo ops. The little kids in the photo below were brought in for the pic only. They didn’t help with the unloading.

Margaret, the head teacher at Ilmerijo, delayed the process enough that we were there for porridge. She wanted more pictures to add to the school wall. We were happy to oblige.

Claudia used the opportunity to renew some friendships.

Since we were hanging out there, a few of the fifth-grade girls were reminding me they wanted keyholders. I’m not sure if they know the purpose of them or not. But I’ve promised to come back and teach a class for them, including keyholders.

Ilmerijo is in a tough area. Early in our teaching, Virginia was told there were 7-year-old girls being assaulted on their way to school. She asked if they were too young for the self-defense class. Not if they’re in danger. We’ve been teaching there since.

Next stop, Kimuka Primary school. We used two vans to carry everything we needed for all three schools. In addition to Thomas, we hired Nicholas, Virginia’s brother, for the day. He drives a sacco, or passenger van. He has to take seats out to accommodate the load.

Note in the sacco, there are three seats across, plus the aisle. Thomas’s safari van is two across plus the aisle, and that doesn’t feel overly roomy.

Below, the delivery is complete at Kimuka. Nicolas is in the blue vest on the left.

Our third and final stop was Osupuko. We dropped off the porridge there. 

Thomas made a beeline for the Special Needs room to check on the sewing machine project. He found several teachers trying it out. He gave a few more lessons. We plan to continue bringing people experienced at using sewing machines each time we come for a while, to help them get up and running with the machine.