A typically wonderful day

Today was a wonderful day. It started when 2 students from olympic academy came to my house to walk me to the school to avoid the mess of getting lost again. They were older, class 5 boys, and pretty quiet, but knew exactly where they were going and led me purposefully to our destination. When i arrived, my class was in the middle of a science lesson where they learned all about the eye and sight. After that lesson, they went to break, and then i taught them their social studies lesson where we continued to discuss the needs of our community, how we meet them, and what problems we face in trying to meet them. We discussed everything from aids and corruption to government and natural disasters. Quite honestly, the students blew me away with their level of engagement and the calibur of questions they asked. I couldnt have been happier or more proud of them, especially given the difficulty of the material and the level of maturity it required. Then we all ate lunch together as a class, played soccer and took photos. Some of my program staff came to visit during lunch, so that was a lot of fun. The kids had computer class after lunch, so mx teaching partner carole and i just sat around discussing the current state of kenya and politics and life in general. She couldnt be a sweeter woman. After a bit, she decided to invite me back to her house in kibera for tea while the kids were finishing computers. I was so humbled by her and her husband alexs generousity and hospitality. They live in a one room shack in the slums without running water, electricity, or anything else we would take for granted as given. It nearly broke my heart when carol took out a rusty old can to shake out their nearly last few shillings to go buy milk for our tea. I tried to tell her it wasnt necessary, but also had to keep in mind that it is an insult to refuse when someone offers you to take food and drink with them. They also fed me a mix of beans and maize called githeri, but i insisted alex take the majority of mine as he had worked all night and hadnt eaten yet that day. In keeping with the trve african spirit, i find kenyans no different: they have nothing, but are willing to give you everything. It is absolutely inspiring and helps me to again believe in the genuine good that can come from humankind but is so often overshadowed by violence and hate. After some hearty discussion and a good amount of inquiries about life in america compared to kenya, carol and i left alex and headed back to school. At the end of the day, the same 2 boys walked me home, this time talkative and full of eager questions for me. They made me promise to visit them in class 5 tomorrow, and stayed to visit for a bit at the house. It was such a beautiful day, the kind i hope everyone in the world one day is lucky enough to experience. Tomorrow afternoon, i will be leaving town to work on a project i hope to become increasingly involved in, which is working in an idp, or internally displaced peoples, camp. We go tuesday at 4, then do a cycling tour amidst the wild animals of hells gate national park wednesday morning, then spend the rest of the time till thusday evening delivering food and medical aid and hearing the stories of the people living in the camps. Many people lost everything during the post election violence of 2007-2008, and are now barely surviving in the deplorable conditions of there camps. I will write with more details after i go, but i am very excited to start getting involved in this project. Thats it for now, love from kenya!