The Dark is Just a Canvas...

In preparation for my part of the Healing Arts camp, I researched art therapy activities (on Pinterest no less!)  A Tree of Life Narrative resonated with me and so I adapted this for the students at New Dawn. I shared with them how it is possible to use the visual arts to depict aspects of our lives, to respond to what we are experiencing, or to respond to scripture.  I showed them examples from my own sketch book that I use during church to respond to sermons.  

In this activity, roots are metaphor for where we have come from, our family of origin, important people or experiences that influence us today, both positively and negatively. The ground is our present life, the trunk, what we are good at, the talents God has given us.  The branches represent our hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future, what we are growing toward.  The leaves are important people, both past and present, or scripture that nurture, support, and encourage us.  In the sky we could also depict any storms or situations that threaten or discourage us. 

I first walked the students through drawing and coloring an acacia tree and the scene as preparation and practice for our larger unity painting we would do together.  On the large canvas we took turns drawing the different elements, making sure we drew enough roots and branches and leaf sections for every student to have their own. We then got a first coat on.  All this on the first day!

I also taught them about color mixing.  The paint and canvas were left over from the mural I did at Edy Ridge Elementary this year and were graciously donated by the school for my trip. 

The second day we put on a second coat and finishing touches such as highlights and shadows.  As the painting was drying, we then walked through adding words to our individual trees expressing all the elements of the tree narrative.  They were so focused and quiet.  I also shared with them, that as they did this part of the exercise, they could consider this as prayers to God. 

All dry and ready to write on with sharpies!

Students transferred their words to our unity tree. 

As we created our unity painting, we decided to use the ground for our favorite scripture verses, depicting how we are rooted and grounded in the word of God who sees us and helps us grow into Him. 

All done and hung on the wall in their main hall. 

Such a wonderful, thoughtful group of students.  It was an incredible blessing and privilege to be with them.

New Dawn Healing Arts

Our education team returned to Nairobi to present a "Healing Arts" camp to 40 students at New Dawn High School located in the Haruma slum.  Our purpose was to introduce the students to the idea of using a variety of arts to express emotion, address pain or trauma, and potentially experience some healing as a result.  We centered our three days around the Old Testament story of Hagar and the "God who sees me." 

Students read a script of the story of Hagar, who represents the outcast, yet despite this, is seen by and visited by God, not once, but twice.  Ken served as our chaplain for our time together, and each morning shared a different devotion about the Hagar story using Psalms that she might well have sung as she cried out to God in her distress.  The story of an outcast resonates with these students as many of them come from situations where they have been rejected by family or feel like an outcast due to their circumstances. 

Lance and Sanna led a group of students in the art of song writing.

Ann and Nina led a group in using poetry to address our emotions. 

Judy led a drama group of course!

I led a group of students in the visual arts, of course. 

The students really got into the theme song that Lance and Sanna taught all of us, called "Joy" by Rend Collective.  Look it up!  One of the lines in the song is "The dark is just a canvas for Your grace and brightness."  This particularly resonated with me and the group of very quiet, but thoughtful students in my painting group.  More about this in the next blog!

Special Needs in Manyatta

After dispersing our ministry bags and food to the mamas of Manyatta we held a "Special Olympics" for the special needs students from the surrounding area.  They sang and dance their greetings to us as well as we arrived with games and supplies for them. 

Scott and Frederick helped us organize the events.  

I was in charge of the balloon races.  It was a hoot to see all the different ways we could use a balloon for our races.  

After everyone rotated through our five different events, we handed out a variety of toys, games, sports equipment, shoes donated by Nike, and t-shirts.  

We were exhausted. 

Kangundo

Pack and re-pack is our constant theme.  The night before we left for Kangundo we re-organized the medical trunks, packed more pills, organized the family ministry bags to be sure each family also had sheets, then packed it all up again in suitcases. 

In addition we organized all the food supplies that we had purchased at the grocery store (Nakumat) earlier in the day. 

A special surprise was meeting Kate's professor friend formally from Boston College, Bienvenu.  Kate knew he was going to be in Nairobi the same time we were.  We then learned he was in the same part of town.  After emailing, we asked him to join us at our guest house for dinner and to meet the team.  Then, as it turned out, he literally was staying the next block over and we can see his residence from our parking lot.  Now, that's a small world. 

Next morning, really early, we loaded all the trunck, food, and ministry bags and headed to Kangundo.  We needed one entire empty matatu just for the supplies.  The landscape around Kangundo is some of my favorite.  

The mamas of the little village of Manyatta of course greeted us with their beautiful singing and dancing.  The joy on their faces when they see us is so humbling. 

Our first stop this year was to the future site of the medical clinic we will be building come this October.  Everyone gathered to pray and dedicate the land that was graciously donated by Miriam's Mother Monica and stepfather Isaac. 

Then we all walked together up to Isaac and Monica's compound, where...

The mama sang and danced for us some more!

Each of us connected with two families, giving each of them a ministry bag with clothing, sheets, shoes, and flashlight. Then we helped them gather food staples from our food stations.  See all those Ikea bags?  That's what we were collecting them for!  They're full of food and clothing now!

I got to connect with my favorite mama from last year.  

Teacher Celebration and Adversity

After being with the students in the morning and playing with them on the field, Ann, Judy, Nina and I would return to the Noble Guest House to present our Jamii teacher training. At the conclusion of our five teacher training sessions Judy (aka The Producer) orchestrates a certificate ceremony for the teachers.  Sanna opened with a beautiful solo and then we called the teachers up one at a time to present them with a certificate of completion for the topics we presented (learning styles, assessment, geometry, learning difficulties and trauma.)

Here we are with Teacher Kariuki who teaches levels 4-6.  Ann is also handing out envelopes.  These were monetary gifts of hope for the teachers that were anonymously donated.  We learned that Jamii has been struggling recently to meet payroll because the majority of the families have been unable to pay school fees.  (and Basilus and Esther do not turn them away, unlike other schools)  Most of these families are very small vendors who go into town to "hawk" their wares.  Kenya recently has "decentralized" their government system by placing governors over provinces.  The governor in Eldoret recently decreed that hawkers are no longer allowed within the downtown area, effectively taking away these slum families' meager livlihoods.  

The actual story here is that the governor is of the main tribe currently in power, and all these families from the Langas slum community are of the "wrong" tribes.  This is going on all over Kenya now.  Decentralizing the government has, in effect, increased tribalism and discrimination and Miriam is worried that the next round of elections will be as viscious as it was in 2007, and Eldoret was one of the worst areas for election violence at that time. 

 Here we are giving Esther and Basilus their certificates.  Basilus is always quick to say that Jamii means "family" and if you are at Jamii, no matter what your tribe, you are family.  The teachers are from a variety of tribes and they intentionally teach all the students about the cultural heritage, dances, and songs from their different tribes.  Jamii is in essence an oasis in the midst of the tribalism turmoil that surrounds them, making the monumentous effort to teach respect for all. 

 Because I knew how difficult the last few months had been for everyone at Jamii, I asked Lance to come and sing the song "My Hope is in You" at the closing of our time together.  The lyrics are below.  Basilus and the whole team of teachers then thanked us and sang and prayed for us.  Saying our goodbyes was so difficult as we left them for another year, praying that they continue to be strong in the face of so much adversity.  

"My Hope Is In You"

I meet with You and my soul sings out
As your word throws doubt far away
I sing to You and my heart cries
"Holy! Hallelujah, Father, You're near!"

My hope is in You, Lord
All the day long, I won't be shaken by drought or storm
A peace that passes understanding is my song
And I sing my hope is in You, Lord

I wait for You and my soul finds rest
In my selfishness, You show me grace
I worship You and my heart cries "Glory
Hallelujah, Father, You're here!"

My hope is in You, Lord
All the day long I won't be shaken by drought or storm
A peace that passes understanding is my song
And I sing my hope is in You, Lord

I will wait on You
You are my refuge
I will wait on You
You are my refuge

My hope is in You, Lord, all the day long
I won't be shaken by drought or storm
My hope is in You, Lord
All the day long I won't be shaken by drought or storm

A peace that passes understanding is my song
And I sing my hope is in You, Lord
My hope is in You, Lord, yeah
My hope is in You, Lord

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.