Wow! What a First Day

Getting here is always an adventure. Waiting to board the “airbus” to Kenya, which carries 410 passengers, is quite the experience. You see the most fascinating human brew waiting to get on that marathon flight from Amsterdam. Only about 1 out of 30 appears to be Kenyan, which isn’t really surprising considering most Kenyans will never get to travel beyond their village, let alone their country. Still, to see the plane so sparsely dotted with Africans makes you feel you surely must be on the wrong plane.Our connecting flight had a major problem that left us stranded in Nairobi with 24 hours to kill before we could get to Mombasa, our launching point to the bush. Nairobi is not a place anyone wants to be stuck, but we decided to use the time to visit two of our top students that are in the outlying areas of Nairobi. We ended up having the best day ever. Our driver first took us to find Emmanuel Mwengea, who recently graduated from the University of Nairobi in Pharmacology (thanks to a long term sponsor). There he was, dressed like a professional, working as an intern at Universal Corporation, a pharmaceutical plant.A short trip down a dirt road took us to see his tiny bachelor pad and take him to lunch, an unheard of treat for him. He said his stomach was full for the first time since Christmas. An eighth grader when I first met him, he is now well on his way to a productive adult life—something few children from the bush even dare dream of. Next we went to visit Albert Shehi, a freshman in high school, new to our sponsorship program this year.Albert lost his mother when he was nine. His father had become “absent” soon after. An uncle was the only source of stability in Albert’s life. Though uneducated himself, his uncle could tell Albert was very bright and encouraged him in his schooling. Albert scored very high on the national exam, qualifying him to go to one of the best high schools in Kenya. He dreamed of being a doctor someday, of helping his two younger siblings get through school. His uniform threadbare, shyness averting his eyes, he came to meet us in the principal’s office. We explained who we were. We told him we brought him a letter and greetings from his sponsor in the U.S.He opened the letter in disbelief. We explained that his sponsoring family had promised that if he continued his outstanding work, they would, indeed, support him through medical school. A sheepish grin spread across his face. Could this really be true? We asked what his greatest challenge was. “Lack of textbooks,” he said. Because he was classified as “destitute,” it was clear he would never own textbooks of his own, since schools never provide them. He borrowed his more fortunate classmates’ books whenever he could. He got up at 4:00 in the morning to finish his studies by the 5:30 AM prep period. “Your sponsor has agreed to buy you the textbooks you need,” we told him. “That way you can study anytime, and also be able to share your books with the other destitute students.”We had to explain it twice to help him believe this was real. Can you imagine his joy at thinking he would have something to share? That he would actually have textbooks of his own? He said today was the best day of his life. He’d been thrown a lifeline – a promise that his hard, hard work would, indeed, lead to a bright future.Hope is an amazing thing. Emily Dickenson said it is the “thing with feathers.” I think she is right. You can see it permeate a person, fill them with light, and help them see that they can, indeed, soar.What a first day. What other delights and rewards await us? Can’t wait for our eager interns to arrive to share it all. I hope Brent and I can keep the tears back enough to be effective. Today we’ve been a mess—can’t relive the day without crying.