Time has a way of creeping up and zooming by. Hard to imagine that already our LitWeek is over, another trip come and gone. Today we celebrated all we accomplished this week. The 6th Class performed a STELLAR performance of Abiyoyo for the entire school. I was completely amazed at how well-planned and creative it was. ZZZOOOOOOPPPPPP!!!

In the morning I was blessed with a visit to the Hope Children's Centre, the one-room school house started with the help of my friend Benta. I walked in an was blown away by the absence of resources, the meek room that held safe the 20 or so students. The teacher in the room, Sheila, looked at me skeptically. I asked for Benta, and while one of the students went to retrieve her I distributed the pile of books that I had brought to share to the children. In that moment I was the most humbled I have ever been in my life. The joy that filled the room was almost tangible. It was clear that these students were not used to receiving anything, had never held books of their own and were uplifted by an act as simple as handing out books. I am holding that feeling in my heart. I wish I could share with you all how amazing it was to see the light that filled the room. I asked Benta what sorts of things I could bring to her school on my next visit. "Stationary, colors, pencils, perhaps food." Children should not have to live in this much need...

Although the week is over, and I am soon to return to my easy life in the US, the lessons I learn here from my Kenyan family imprint on me a deep appreciation for food, gifts, relationships and the resilience of the human spirit. I humbly and wholly thank my hosts for allowing me to come and spend the past week learning with them, laughing with them and playing with literacy. The experience has been an inexplicable gift. There are not words to describe my feelings.

Annie