Aug 2 - Visiting Schools

Today we would be visiting all the schools and meeting lots of kids ... Beautiful kids. Our first stop was at Liberty Vision where we walked down this enormous, treacherous red clay road full of holes. It had a small ravine running along side it. There were goats, sheep, and chickens all along the way. There were kids everywhere ... The kids were so happy to see us and would grab our hands and walk with us. The smells were overpowering and garbage was everywhere. It's hard to imagine people living in such conditions but they do.

This is the small branch bridge that seemed like it would break easily that we crossed. Paul said this trench wasn't there last year. 

At the bottom of the hill was a river where some were washing their clothes. There was a small little girl up from the river and she was crying for her mother. Joy picked her up to soothe her crying, little did she know she had no underpants on and she was poopy. 

This is Liberty Vision school that Chipo runs. The building is make of a railroad car. This class was for the baby's or 3 year olds.

The children all have to take off their shoes before they enter the classroom. As you can see below their shoes were so very worn and some were 3-4 sizes too big.

These children can't go to school because there is no room for them ... Some are on a waiting list.

This picture is of the 4 & 5 year olds ... They sang a beautiful song for us!

Our next stop was Huruma Nursery School that we support. How wonderful to see the kids and to get an idea of what work is ahead for us. We have been asked to raise the roofs of the classroom and put ceilings on all as it gets so hot during the summer months. The heat from the metal roofs make the classroom feel like an oven and the kids have a hard time concentrating.

We are also going to put concrete on the floors to make them smoother and easier to keep clean.

This is the only play structure they and as you can see they love it. 

The kids having fun with one of the two trikes they have. 

Pastor Henry and some workers have already started the work of digging a ditch to place the pipes from the water source to the kitchen. It's going to make it a lot easier to cook and feed the children there lunch when this is complete.

We then headed to Cheleta Primary School, which is the government school grades 1-8. We were greeted by the head teacher Mr. Titus. He welcomed us and was glad to see us and show us around. The area you see below is the parade area where all the students meet and stand in the morning. 

We were escorted to the standard 1 classroom where one teacher was in charge of 84 students. The government can't afford to pay for another teacher. They did have another lady in the classroom but she was a volunteer.  There is a nationwide teacher shortage due to a lack of taxation money.

All the students from Huruma were asked to come up front. Suzan went thru a list to see which students were from our nursery school and took pictures of each one to bring back to those at our church who prays for that child or supports them financially. It was so heartwarming to see them smile big and come up front. 

Two of the girls we met at Cheleta, very sweet and they had just taken their final 8th grade test to determine what school they would go to next year. If they are one of the top 2 in their class the government will pay for their high school. If not, then their parents will have to pay which is around $1000 US dollars. For some, this means they don't finish high school. This is very true for most of the children of the slum areas. 

What a day, a wonderful day, filled with laughter and some tears. Our prayer for these children is that they learn that Jesus loves them and with Him, ALL things are possible!