Friday, March 4, 2011
Who needs school?
Today, Michelle, Jade and I had the opportunity to help with a medical outreach clinic put on my Sister Freda and her staff. This entire experience was amazing! First of all, it was at the Kitale Women's Prison- a place we've started investing in and are growing to love. Secondly, it was really neat to help meet the physical needs of these women and to do so in the name of Christ. Even after seeing all of the inmates (and their children), each of the prison guards met with one of the doctors. I played pharmacist and by the end of the day could decode the prescription notes as well as quickly find each medication--something people go to years of schooling for in the states! After giving several immunization shots, Jade said it best: "What we're learning here is that we don't really need to go to school for all of this." Don't worry parents, she's just kidding! We do recognize the importance of school, but we're certainly learning that being a mzungu in Kenya usually carries as much qualification as any college diploma.
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mzungu - "person of foreign descent" . . .
ReplyDeletethen how much more good could a trained nurse in Kenya do!
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/local/article_940d291d-e769-595f-a8f1-12ceaac1cc73.html
ReplyDeleteSamuel Owiredu, of Akwapim-Lavtch, Ghana and of Corpus Chrisit, Texas was impacted by Wheels for the World in his hometown in Ghana. He must have looked much like the boys in your photos. I got to listen to his story a few days ago. He added to what you've said about the scarcity of pencils by saying great was the punishment of having to write a word 100 times. It meant using up precious lead and, when you used up your pencil, you had to share someone elses' pencil. So hard to do he said.
So true about the pencils. If a child doesn't have a pencil, that's his loss and he will simply be left behind...no one will do anything to resolve the situation. I bought a handful of pencils and erasers that I carry around in my backpack to handout when I see a child without on, which continually happens. I need to purchase a sharpener for myself. The kids here use razor blades to sharpen pencils and usually those are hard to find around the school. So if have a pencil but the lead is broken or low, it does you absolutely no good at all. Pencils are scarce, which means any other school supplies are nearly impossible for these kids to come by- so so sad.
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