Teaching

Today in Kibera I got to help in teacher Abigail’s Kindergarten classroom. As soon as I came in she introduced me to the children, handed me a piece of chalk and told me to do the math lesson. So I did it (good think it was just kindergarten math) and the kids were so great! And very smart too. I was impressed with their cooperation and diligence. Children here are very well behaved. I also helped with the reading lesson. It was hilarious because they pronounce English words with a British accent and I obviously do with an American one. So reading words like can, fan, ran, etc was so funny. I think I confused them. But Abigail instructed me to speak as I normally do. After the kids went to lunch I got to chat with Abigail for a little while and she told me about the kids in her class. It was the first time I have really felt sad while in Kibera (the poverty is overwhelming but the people are so happy and kind). There are 16 children in this particular class and many of them are HIV positive. A lot of them don’t have their parents and a couple of them even have learning disabilities. I tried to help a little girl write today and she just couldn’t do it. She has a growth on the back of her head causing this problem, but I don’t know what it is. Abigail is amazing working with them in spite of all of this though. The kids are on medication and the church feeds them a BIG lunch (for some of them this is their only meal of the day) so they are really quite healthy. It is remarkable to me how loving and sweet the kids are even though they have nothing. They have Jesus and a school and church that cares for them and it is incredible to see. I feel so blessed to be able to work with this church this summer.