An early bus ride into rural Kenya

The morning starts with an early Institution Bus ride to Kenya Connect‘s headquarters and we transfer to a four-wheel drive vehicle. Eventually I’ll realise why the bus seems so crowded and so intimate. It’s because the seats are child seats. When we start our journey to the rural school in which we will be volunteering I understand why the four-by-four is needed. It’s not the rainy season now, but it’s clearly the rainy season sometime in the year here in Kenya. Huge sections of the red dirt roads have been washed away and there are dry canyons where torrential floodwaters have etched into the landscape. I grip the seat. This time it’s a seat built for adults.

The schools we are visiting are enthusiastic for our visits and the teachers and children are grateful for what we bring. Today we have another fifty people under the trees, where parents have given up their time, walked reasonable distances, and dads have come as well, to join in our family literacy sessions.

In their last session together, Brian encouraged parents to create their own picture books with and for their children. He’s utterly brilliant at connecting with them and the shared pride they have in their children is palpable. It’s a pleasure to watch him work with the crowd. These sessions are meant to be small but the demand is huge. These parents want a better life for their children and their commitment to being here for them is humbling and inspiring.

I adore hand-made books and these, brought by the parents, are perfect examples.

I previously ran a small private press, publishing heavily illustrated, beautifully bound, limited edition artists’ books. I prefer the energy, commitment and emotion in these scraps of paper to anything I ever created back home.

There’s time for a story from Rael:

I appear to be a distraction:

Having me here is clearly a novelty.

As part of the session parents are invited to speak, and emotional mothers rise in beautiful patterned clothes to speak in Swahili about how they have come to realise they are their child’s first teacher. They now know how they can make the best use of everyday opportunities for interacting and learning with their young children. I can feel hope for the future here.

After our session, it’s school playtime for the older children and a crowd gathers around me as children want to high-five me.

As soon as I arrived in Kenya, I said my favourite thing was how beautiful the people’s faces are.

That, and how sincere and lacking in cynicism they are.

I hope to bring more of that sincerity and lack of cynicism into my life back home.

I’m a changed man already.

I’m changed for the better, thanks to the generosity of spirit of the people of Kenya.

Thanks to Kenya Connect for the volunteering opportunity.

If you would like to help the charity Kenya Connect empower rural communities you can visit them here and donate here. They have an Amazon Wishlist for the basics of paper, pencils, and books. Please support them if you can. Their need is great and their cause an honourable one.