Also, we had our first summer team come for 2 weeks from Vanderbilt University! It was a group of 8 girls and 1 boy and they came to Uhuru Academy to teach some life skills clubs on communication skills, decision making skills, hygiene, relationships, HIV/AIDS, and business as well as help workers in Jikaze fetch firewood, deweed gardens, plow the fields, meet with different families in the village, and help beautify the land at the school. It was nice having a chance of pace from our regular schedules each week and to inform others on what exactly Uhuru Child is doing day in and day out!
Along with accompanying them to Jikaze and the school, I also got to go with them on their safari....for free! It was the same park I went to with DB, my boyfriend, the week before but still a wonderful experience. We stayed over night in the lodge which was really nice! It even had heated beds! And we went on 3 game drives and saw some lions stalking some zebras and impalas! We were so close to some of lions, one of whom was sitting in a tree above our heads. It was epic. And the food was amazing. I was definitely glad I got to chaperone! Not to mention the students themselves were a treat to be around and I enjoyed spending time with them!
cape buffalo
impala
lioness perched in a tree right above our van!
lioness walking down the road!
lioness stalking some zebra!
stalking action
Lake Nakuru Park
zebra
On the last day of their trip, the Vandy kids made pizza with the Uhuru Girls and soap as a tentative business the students could start! All in all, it was a productive trip and I was definitely glad they were our first visitors this year because they made it very enjoyable and set the bar very high for future groups! And, they are going to continue to raise money at their school for Uhuru Academy through their KenyaDigIt club.
Christine teaching everyone
Enjoying the fruits of their labor!
It was nice getting to sit in on the Vanderbilt teams' life skills clubs or GLOW club as we call it (Girls Leading Our World) because they had some great lessons that invoked many questions from the girls. It also helped prepare the way for Christine and I to start our series on HIV/AIDS which will take up the whole term! I am excited about doing this series because there a ton of myths about the disease and how it's contracted and what actually happens in your body once you have it. I didn't even know some of the answers to the questions the volunteers were asking the girls! So it'll be informative for both sides. And we are hoping that by equipping our students with these facts, they can become leaders among their peers and in their communities by informing others with the truth so that these lies about AIDS will stop spreading. Also, so that those who do have AIDS will not be treated like lepers by their communities or families.
In Bible Study, Christine and I are starting a unit on prayer! We are going over the what, who, when, why, where, and how of prayer because it is one of the more misunderstood topics in this culture when it comes to Christianity. So, we are hoping to give them a clear picture by teaching and modeling before them what prayer is and isn't and what the significance of prayer is.
In Discussion group this term, we will be covering different religions of the world. In Kenya, the dominant faith is Christianity but there is a Muslim and Hindu presence so there are also many misconceptions about those faiths and their followers. By covering some of the major world religions, we hope to inform them about the similarities and differences between these religions and Christianity so that if they were ever sharing their faith with someone of a different religion, they would know how to relate the two accurately. Also, we would like to inform them of the facts so that they can be leaders and properly inform those in their communities and families.
Lastly, in Chapel which is the part of discipleship program that I lead and teach, we are going to do a rendition of J.D. Greear's (pastor at the Summit Church in Durham, NC) series "A Search for a King" and it's about the life of King David! This is one of my favorite sermon series by JD and I am excited to convey these principles and applications I learned from it to these girls! It will be hard for them at first to learn how a Bible Story they heard as children relates to them personally but my goal is teach them that everything, every story, In the Bible not only relates to us but points us to Jesus. I don't know all of their religious backgrounds but most of them grew up in church and in some of those churches there was not a lot of deep, personal, reflection and relation to the Bible and it's teachings or practical application being taught. So, we hope that by the end of this series they will be able to explain how a passage relates to them and what they can apply to their lives from it!
Like I said, some really exciting things are happening this term not to mention 3 more teams coming this summer for short term trips! 2 college teams and 1 adult team and I look forward to showing them and being proud of what we are doing here through Uhuru Child!
A few requests for Uhuru Academy:
-LAPTOPS LAPTOPS LAPTOPS! We have 3 laptops for our computer class and 20 students do if anyone has an old laptop they a getting rid of or don't use or know of someone that does, please please please let me know!!
-we are having some fundraisers for instruments for music class going on online right now at http://www.crowdrise.com/kenyamusic
- as well a fundraiser for a library and filling it with books! http://www.crowdrise.com/uhurulibrary
-and we are always accepting money for scholarships for our IDP camp girls! If you would like to donate money to sponsor a student at our school go to http://www.crowdrise.com/ScholarshipsforIDP
Uhuru Academy is only running because of the grace of God, prayers, and generous donations so please continue to help us in these areas! And tell your friends!
"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" -Isaiah 52:7
"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" -Isaiah 52:7
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