More Healing stories from Jamii

Jamii has had a rough year.  Two months ago, one of their level 6 students who had been with Jamii since its beginning, collapsed after running to school one morning.  He was rushed to the hospital but did not survive.  The school has been reeling from this and from the rumors in the community suggesting to the parents that the school had done something to the student.  To help settle this, Basilus and Esther paid for a post mortem which determined the cause was congenital.  They also paid for the funeral, which in Kenya, can be very expensive.  Also, teacher Sophie had her first child recently, but the baby lived only a month.  She was home recovering during our visit, so we were very sorry not to see her.  

All this to say, it is no accident that our theme for this year's trip is "Healing and Restoration."  It is no wonder that the teachers have been asking for assistance and resources on how to address trauma in their students (which also really means in their lives as well.)  Much of what Ann shared in our teacher training addressed this.  Then one of the teacher's written comments we received during our training sessions indicated that one of the other level 6 students has now been showing signs of depression and not wanting to eat since his friend died.  

Since they do not have grief counselors or other resources like we have in our schools in the states, it quickly became apparent to us that no one was really talking about the death of this student, so the students really have not had the opportunity to share their grief.  I arranged with their teacher Mr. Kariuki for Ken, a retired policeman who is now a chaplain, and Lance and I to meet with the level 6 students before they went home for the August holiday.  

Ken did a remarkable job sharing with the students, validating their grief, telling them that it is okay to be feeling sad, and to be missing their friend.  The students were hanging on every word, nodding their heads, whispering yes to many things Ken shared.  He reassured them of God's love for them and for their friend.  I followed up with a few additional comments about how working through grief takes time and that they should not feel ashamed or surprised if they continued to feel sad for months to come.  Lance closed our time together with the students with a beautiful prayer.  It was one of those holy moments that affirmed to me that we were where God wanted us to be.

 On another healing note, our medical team provided 5 days of care for the Jamii students and their families, the rescue center community, and the Jamii teachers.  They set up their clinic on the Jamii field and saw over 500 people.  Their dedication and compassion continue to humble and amaze all of us.