GUA Comes to Life

     Sunday was quite a powerful day.  We met a couple running an orphanage with 90 children in a slum. A slum that is every bit as bleak as anything you can imagine.  The kids were so excited to see us though and sang and danced and wouldn't let go of us.  Little toddlers that we would hold were so happy.  It was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.
     The entire afternoon we spent at the Gua house flat.  These are the lost boys of Sudan who through the goodness of Emmanuel Jal and Gua-Africa headquartered in London, support their efforts to regain their childhoods through education that had been taken by war.  They were incredibly well-spoken and brought a powerful intensity to their stories and hopes.  They are so focused on the FUTURE and not the past that it has to make you smile.  Man, can they smile!  They loved the Gua bracelets and gifts we brought them and immediately put them on and we took many pictures and exchanged more contact information.  We may get to meet again later this week.  They are amazing young guys.
www.gua-africa.org

Gua to all! GUA means "peace" in the Southern Sudanese language of Nuer

Kibera Face to Face

Today was a day I've been eagerly anticipating for a long time now.  I visited the largest slum in Africa with an estimated 2 million people living in abject poverty.  A perpetual poverty that has locked in generations of Kenyans.  Yet at the same time, it was incredible to see the smiles of people.  Hundreds of children all day long smiling and saying in English, "how are you?"  The answer they expected was "fine" or "mazuri".   Despite the incredible poverty, and with virtually nothing an American can conceive, the place was alive and you felt a sense of community.
We visited a school in which most families cannot afford the school fees necessary of $16 a month to allow them to get through primary school.  A school so basic that none of us would probably take our students to it. Yet, I commend the courage of the head teacher we met for meeting his challenges with a smile.  We met a family where the mother is partially paralyzed from some type of infection, whose husband died in December of AIDS.  The teenage daughter is hoping to go to college someday and yet you see such heartbreak on her face.  This family worked hard to make there 8' X 10" metal roofed shack comfortable and homey.  We met a 74 year old man who has lived in Kibera since before Kenya's independence in 1963.  It was a mud shack that was leaning over with only an old cot for a bed inside.  He was ill but claimed he was only tired and only complained that he didn't get any meat from the aid agency that brings him some food once a week. A sadness I can't explain.
You go through a gamut of emotions.  Pictures to follow I hope soon.

Tomorrow I meet with the lost boys of Sudan at the Gua House. More challenges, and more hope.

Gua to all.

Jambo!!

Jambo from Kenya!!  It's been a whirlwind first couple of days so far.  My traveling companion Mike and I arrive at midnight Wednesday night at Jomo Kenyatta Airport and proceeded to get a harrowing taxi ride through darkened streets in a 1990 esq Subaru with one headlight.
Gotta run.

More later.
Hakuna matata!

48 Hours and counting...

In approximately 48 hours I will be arriving in Kenya for my first African experience.  No place on earth conjures up more images than Africa.  Sadly so many are negative.  I hope to tell just a few stories that remind us that there are so many views of the world.  Trying to move down to earth from 30,000 feet is one of our most difficult tasks in the developed world with our first world comforts. 
Geography and history have played roles beyond our control and yet we pass judgment without even a second thought. 
I feel blessed everyday to have been born when and where I was but I want to believe I can see the world for what it really is. 
I know I will learn far more from them than they will from me.

Gua to all,
Jeff

Creek Crumbs

Thanks to all who participated in the Creek Crumbs for Kenya!  We are taking a large supply of children's clothes, toiletries, and toys to kids in Nairobi.  Hopefully all will go well and I'll be able to distribute them after I get there.  A special thanks to Mark Kelly, Annette Stegemoeller, and the Hyde PTA for providing money to mail off our packages!!

Hyde Helpers!

Thanks to the fifth graders at Hyde Elementary for joining the Creek Crumbs Campaign for our last big project this spring!  I gave a presentation to the classes today and the kids were great and very excited about helping the less fortunate in Africa. 

The four classes of Ms. Richter, Ms. Cooke, Ms. Soto, and Ms. Rogers will be "paying it forward" by donating items such as toiletries and t-shirts that will be sent to Nairobi, Kenya in the next few weeks.  My students at the high school will be doing the same and we hope to provide a nice care package for the Kids of Kibera and other needy individuals.

How awesome to be able to give these thoughtful gifts out when I arrive June 13th.

Thanks Hyde!!

Funds for Teachers

Thanks to Fund for Teachers for this amazing opportunity!!  This non-profit organization is making trips like this possible for teachers around the U.S.  This is my second time as a FFT Fellow.  I was fortunate enough to go to Israel in the summer of 2008 with their support.

Check them out on Facebook!!

https://www.facebook.com/#!/fundforteachers