CHILDREN'S GARDEN AND HOME SCHOOL

NAIROBI KENYA

This school, garden and home is typical of many places where children are educated, fed and housed around Nairobi.   There are over 200 children that live here, all coming from circumstances that are difficult and sometimes tragic.    It is a place filled with laughter, education, animals, music, dancing, sports, gardens and poverty.   

We found this place through the International School of Kenya's service program.   Each student at ISK from grades 6-12 must complete at least one semester of service, and there are over 20 programs from which they can choose to participate.   Sam chose this project because he heard they were planting a vegetable garden and he also knew there was an opportunity for playing some soccer.   

I decided to volunteer for this program in order to find out more about what is going on in other places around town and to get out of the "bubble" of ISK as well.  I really wanted to work with children and this was a good start to find out about the community outside where all the "expats" live.  About 20 ISK students get on a bus on Wednesday afternoons - early dismissal on Wednesdays! - and head out to the school, which is about 20-30 minutes away.   We drive through farmlands and villages and even the U of Nairobi agricultural school campus to get to the school.

On first glance, it looks like an apartment building.   There is a car wash outside along the side the road, as well as a little farmer's market and corn mill.     You really don't notice that there is a school.   But once you get behind the building where all the children sleep - see photo above - you can see the rest of the school environment.   

When we first arrive each week, we usually spend about 30--40 minutes reading to the kids....Sam and I both had our favorites!   

Helen and Antony were both very good students and they would love to read with us.   Antony especially liked to hear stories about other parts of the world and he told me he wanted to travel a lot when he grew up.   He would love to come to America to see Washington DC.  He worked very hard on the word puzzles that we would bring and he loved his pencils to be very sharp.  Only the best behaved of the 200 kids were able to join us on Wednesdays, and Helen and Antony were always there.   They really have so little but they have an amazing intelligence and aptitude, and Helen would like to grow up to be a scientist.   Their warmth is surprising, engaging and a little contagious!...They both made Christmas cards for Sam and me....

Antony!

Helen and Antony

 After we were done with the reading portion, we would usually help plant a piece of the garden....

Planting mango trees

Field of Dreams

By the end of the semester, this garden was full of spinach, tomatoes, kale, corn, beans and peppers!  But I wonder if you can guess what this plant is below.....   It was hard to recognize at first but it is one of the best fruits in Kenya....

Beautiful bananas with flower on bottom!

Also, at the school, there are several animals living among the children.   They have cows, rabbits (we brought a few dozen with us one week and it was fun to see the kids' reaction), dogs, etc.   The kids take care of the animals as part of their daily chores.   This poor dog was hit by a car the day before one of our visits...We were not sure how it was going to do but he healed pretty well, and he had a ton of love from the kids!

On one of our first visits, some of the older students, Beth and Boniface, gave me a tour of the entire compound.   I was really impressed with all of the environmentally friendly and sustainable projects  they are doing.   They never throw anything out and they use everything and re-purpose everything that is used at the school.   They have this fabulous "community cooker", where all their trash is put in a huge container and they burn it, but the heat from the fire is channeled into a system that heats their stove and the water that they use for showering.   

I was surprised to hear that none of these high school students had read the "Harry Potter" series of books.   They had only seen one of two of the movies.....So, I couldn't help it and had one of our friends that was visiting from the US bring a set of the books.   The head librarian at the school was almost in tears when we gave her the books and the kids were really excited to sign up for reading them.   I am hoping to have a book club with the older kids next semester to discuss Harry Potter....It would be a treat for me and hopefully a good experience for them.

Beth and Boniface

Community Cooker dedication..

The Community Stove

So, sometimes after planting the kids just dance!   We have had several dance parties where some of the Kenyan kids show the ISK kids the traditional tribe dances and they are very serious about their dance moves.   Then, the ISK kids join and it is truly amazing to watch!

  

Sam's dance moves:) And Lily joined us too!


Another cool project for the kids was the tomato planting project.   A donor from China gave them a greenhouse, and the kids put together a tomato growing project.   As the semester wore on, I took photos of how the tomatoes were growing.   The kids started out with 2 bags of seeds that cost around 700 Kenyan Shillings (about $8.25).   Now, in January they have a whole greenhouse filled with tomatoes and plants - apparently you grow tomatoes alongside hot peppers and garlic to keep the bugs away.   They will be able to use some of the tomatoes and sell the rest for quite a profit.   This money will go toward food, clothing and books for the children.   Very enterprising!

Simlaw Seeds are the best!

The seeds planted in September

The seeds have sprouted!

Now filling the greenhouse!

This Children's Garden school is very different from ISK, where Sam and Lily go every day to school, but the kids are much the same.   They are smart, and they really want to learn.   They are amazed by the littlest of things that we take for granted.   On one of our visits, some of the smaller boys were fascinated by Sam's watch.   They were practically climbing all over him to play with it because it "made noises".   It was just a watch alarm, but they were so curious and were asking so many questions.   It was an interesting experience for Sam, who is unaccustomed to all that attention, but he understood it was a big moment for the children of the school.....

The kids love Sam's watch!!!

If you want to learn more about the Children's Garden Home School, you can check them out at www.childrensgardenhome.org.   It may be worth the click!