Day 8: Reddy Junior School

Day 8: Reddy Junior School 8/15


Orphanage day! The morning was spent at the market, buying food for the safari just in case it’s not “real” food. At around 1:30 pm we finally made the 10 minute trek to the orphanage. Once we passed through the short cut (aka the dump), we were on the main dirt road leading to our destination. As soon as we popped out onto this road a group of small children came running up to us! Each of them found one of our hands and didn’t let go until we arrived at the orphanage. It was the cutest thing ever, they are so sweet!

Once we entered the mud and stick structure of Reddy Junior School we met the coordinator and he invited us to sit. Despite the conditions these people endure every day, they are the happiest human beings I have ever had the privilege of meeting. We learned that Reddy is a community school in Nyali that is also home to many orphans who rely on the support of this safety net. Joel has done an amazing job fundraising money for them and construction of new walls and a well providing clean water will begin as early as next week! We will all be returning to help make this possible. Clean water is hard to come by in Kenya, especially if you live in a community like this. The biggest obstacle is not being able to pay the water bill each month; it is building the well itself. Thankfully, this long awaited necessity is going to be available to these children soon. From there it costs about 1,000 Kenya shillings per month to keep the water accessible. That is about 10 American dollars per month. The coordinators and the children are very excited to not have to worry about getting sick from the water anymore.


Once the four of us piled into the small classroom and sat down, we instantly were mauled by tiny fingers and bright white smiles. It was so much fun. One little girl sat on my lap the entire time the older children sang and danced for us. She grabbed both of my hands and wrapped them around her stomach tightly and despite the heat, sat there the whole time. I just wanted to take her home with me! Another little boy sitting next to me instantly had an eye on my watch. He was pushing all the buttons so the time on it was totally misconstrued. I gave in and just took it off for him to play with. Well of course there were about 30 kids and 1 watch, so they all argued about who got to wear it J One of the older children even presented us with a couple rap songs in English! One was about AIDS; the other was about his lifestyle in Kenya. The lyrics were really honest coming from an 11 year old boy. One line went something like, “My shelter is 10x10, other’s have homes with 2 stories and 10 rooms, but don’t worry about me-- I’m fine.”

 The infamous watch

 Trisha, Megan, Me, and Keisha with some of the kids

The girl in the white dress was at a conference in Mombasa today advocating for children's rights

These people don’t want our pity, they want to sing and dance, enjoy life, and be happy—always. A message a lot of people in this world don’t understand. These little fingers and bright smiles have changed my life already. Materialistically, they have nothing; but spiritually they have everything. They are amazing and I just can’t get enough of them! Yes, it makes me melt when all they want you to do is hold them, but I will leave here knowing they aren’t sad. They are happy, welcoming people who will openly show you their lives with no shame. Days like these are worth remembering. Materialistically we have changed their lives, but spiritually they have changed mine. There is no greater gift than that.