Of Dancing and Damaged Roofs
Maureen Halverson loves dancing and has competed and performed ballroom dances throughout the United States and Europe. But it wasn’t until she experienced the overwhelming joy of dancing in rural Kenya that she understood how dancing as a community can bridge cultures and unify hearts.
Students at Fuleye Primary hold up a drawing of the hole in their school roof as they greet Kenya Keys team members with music and dance.
I had just arrived in the small rural Kenyan village of Taru with my fellow Kenya Keys interns and went to visit the Fuleye Primary school. To my great surprise, we were welcomed by several adults in traditional Du’ruma tribal clothing who were playing percussive instruments, singing, and dancing. Their energy and warmth were contagious as they dressed us in traditional tribal fabric and so we all joined them in dance as we moved to the ceremony tent. I anticipated the beautiful performances by the school children, of which there were many, but I did not realize that we would be participating as well!
We became a part of their community as the adults and students encouraged us to learn the steps and join in the rhythm of their tribe.
Oh, the joy and feeling of belonging! It did not matter that we were from a different country and culture, they wanted us to be a part of it all. Through their rhythm I felt their unified vision, through their movements I saw their strength, and through their voices I heard their courage.
A hole in the roof of a Fuleye Primary School classroom. Students moved through the day to avoid hot, direct light, and school was often canceled when it rained.
When the principal of Fuleye Primary School took us on a tour of the school, I saw several holes in the roof of the classrooms, one of which measured several feet in diameter.
How could these students focus on their studies when natural elements could so easily distract them or cause them to crowd together in classrooms where the roof was more intact? When I got back to America, I found out that the students and faculty at Merit Academy in Springville, Utah had the exact same question and a plan to fix it!
Maureen visits Merit Academy to support their fundraiser for Fuleye Primary School
On March 23, I was excited to attend Merit Academy’s assembly to kick off a food fundraiser to raise funds to fix Fuleye’s roof. At that assembly, I witnessed through dance, music, and speeches how determined and happy the Merit students and staff were to help their fellow students in Taru, Kenya. They also experienced a taste of the Fuleye community through dancing the moves that I learned at Fuleye.
Merit Academy’s Chef Sharon made a plea to the school community to be generous in buying meals so that the students in Fuleye could have a more comfortable place to study. And oh, how the community answered. They raised over $10,000!!
The students at Fuleye Primary School and the students at Merit Academy are sharing a unified rhythm of community and closing gaps not only in the roof, but also between cultures.
The roof at Fuleye Primary School was complete in May of 2022, thanks to the dedication and generosity of many people, including the Merit Academy community, Generational Hope Foundation, Clay and Liz Davidson, Desert Palms Presbyterian Church, Chris and Maureen Halverson, Sandy Stephenson, Open Classroom School, Jensen Investment Management, Shawn and Katie Ross, and Bill and Peggy Self.