‘You’re rich eh?’ “No. We’re not.” “But your dad drives motorcar.” “It belongs to his place of work.” “But your mom has nice hair and works at an office.” “We’re not rich.” “But you wear shoes to school.” “You wear shoes, too.” “But mine are not like yours. You bought yours at the Bata shop, eh?” “No. My mom bought them at the market.” “But you’re rich, eeh?” “No, Shiku. We are not rich. We need to run. We’ll be late for school.”
Karī (kar- eı) was used to these questions. She loved this place. Here, she had memories of great adventures. Here, she learned how to speak her mother tongue, Kikuyu. She still remembers that first day of school when she walked into her third-grade reading class, and she thought they sounded like they were chanting a spell or some weird ritual. She now prides herself in being able to name most of the trees in the forest in this beautiful language.
Her family had moved around a lot and had lived in 4 different counties in Kenya. This beautiful land covered with lush green tea farms had been home to Karī for four years.
Karī never thought this would change until that warm, sunny Sunday morning. Grandma and one of her brothers had just finished feeding the chickens, her other brother was fixing his car outside, and her youngest sister was playing beside her. She heard the car outside and ran to the window to see if her mom and dad were home. Her dad was coming home from the hospital today, and she was excited!
His doctor pulled up and walked around to let her mom out. She seemed different and didn’t lift her head up as she walked down the stairs to the front door. Karī knew something bad had happened, but she wished it away. She wanted her mom to open the door, smile, and tell her everything was okay.
The doctor opened the door and let her in and the moment she saw her children, she broke down. She then uttered the words that sent Karī’s world moving in slow motion.
“Daddy is gone.”
Karī’s grandma threw the empty jerrycan down, held her head, and begun wailing. Her elder brother stood in shock, and her other brother ran to his room and locked the door behind him. Her little sister ran and hugged their mom tight. Kari just stood there and watched everything unfold like she wasn’t there. Minutes later, their house would be full of strangers, family, and friends. This would go on for a week, like an unending cycle. Strange people asking if she needed anything, people taking things that belonged to her dad… Karī wanted to wake up from this nightmare. She wanted her father back. She wanted her mom to smile again. She wanted to go to school and see Shiku and answer her silly questions. She wanted her beautiful, adventurous life back.
“Karī, I feel bad for you. You’re going away, eh?” “I don’t think so, Shiku.”
Shiku would soon be right, but Karĩ would forever wish for the Saturday before the Sunday that changed it all.
The Kenyan education system moved on from the British system to a Kenyan one in 1985. I was privileged to join kindergarten in 1990. It was a time when this system was gaining traction and teachers were passionate about teaching classes they believed were beneficial for the Kenyan children. The one thing that was not evident in these classes though, was empathy. Most children went to school because they got to learn something new, make new friends and play. I managed to escape most of the brutal punishments and caning in my first four years of primary school.
I was fortunate enough to have a good education foundation. I could read, comprehend and write which made it easy for me to do well in class and pass my exams.
My parents were big on empowering us to be confident and learn how to advocate for ourselves and so I was able to plead or reason my way out of the caning and punishments.
I had a safe place to call home. My parents and siblings created an environment for us to voice our feelings and also talk about our day.
Unfortunately for most of my friends, they did not have that and I never understood the trauma that came with the “lack of” until I lost my dad and my world fell apart. Suddenly I was going home to my mom, who in her own grief was unable to cope with all the responsibilities that now fell on her. I used everything my parents had taught me and relied on the little confidence I had left to get through primary school. I learned to survive.
This part of my story is what made me stay when I joined Oasis and saw that the education system was still the same if not worse. I asked God to use me to bring change and for Him to also bring people who would share in the education vision that focused on the child and helping them thrive by providing a safe place to come explore, learn and be loved.
Together with this team of Educators, we have been able to create that kind of environment across all our Oasis schools.
Faith
Faith is a very gentle and loving teacher with a passion for reading. You will find her at the Shelter library or her office preparing reading books, checking lesson plans and planning activities. She also has the most fun library activities.
She joined Oasis in 2018 as a teacher at the Valley and then the responsibility of tutoring children was hers. We later moved her to the Shelter School to be the Educator. Now she helps equip the teachers and makes sure that the children who are behind on their scores are caught up through tutoring.
Jane
Jane is the Educator at the Well School. We’ve known her since she was in high school. She always offered to volunteer with Oasis during break. When she graduated University, we offered her a job as an Educator at the Well. She had shown growth in her leadership skills and her desire to serve made it easy for us to transition her into that role.
You will sometimes find her at the Well library reading with children, handing out materials but most of the times will be outside taking time to talk to a child or an adult who needs her time. She smiles a lot, always happy, very passionate about learning and education.
Mercy
Mercy is our Educator at the Valley School. She is very passionate about seeing communities thrive. She understands the importance of educating generations and the impact this will have in eradicating poverty and challenges that hinder development. She may not be an education major but she has found her voice and passion in education. She is committed to making an impact on the Valley community one child at a time.
You will find her meeting with teachers, handing out reading books and making the most of the after-school tutoring program.
Faith values reading and believes that it allows you to travel and go places you never had a chance of visiting. She is determined to help any child that comes her way understand the power and freedom that comes with reading and knowledge of words.
Jane believes that every child deserves an adult who will love them, believe in them and invest in their education. She wants to give children the same opportunities that were awarded to her.
Mercy dreams of a day when communities in impoverished areas will embrace education and create an environment where children get a chance to learn. Where no child is forced to dropout of school in order to take over family responsibilities.
At Oasis, Site Educators are more than just teachers. They oversee the day-to-day running of the schools. They encourage, evaluate and work alongside the teachers, implement teacher training and evaluate pupils’ progress each term.
These three ladies give more than just their time. They have moved far from their families to come serve and they do it with all their heart. They do more than I ever imagined possible and because of their love, commitment and sacrifices, hundreds of children get a chance to learn, be loved and be part of a generation that will impact their communities, and be the change we need in Kenya and the world.
I am more than honored to serve with them. For their love and dedication, I will be running three miles in their honor!
Please join me in encouraging them and supporting Oasis by giving to my Chicago Marathon fundraiser. Any amount you give will go a long way in enabling them to impact children in Kenya. Thank you!
“Everyone who remembers his own education remembers teachers, not methods and techniques. The teacher is the heart of the educational system.“ – Sidney Hook
Her story is hers to share but here is where her story changed mine: A few months before meeting her and joining the women’s ministry, God had clearly told me to go help with the 61 Project women’s ministry in Maai Mahiu but I pulled a Jonah and went the opposite direction. I moved far away from home telling myself I had a better plan. A series of vivid events brought me right back to this place.
When I first met her she was around 18 years old. She’s the one who walked me through what they were working on with the women and introduced me to three boys she was caring for. She told me how she ended up serving with the children and women at such a young age. Her story moved me to tears because she was young and yet had been through so much. Political violence had taken so much from her and her family and yet she could confidently say that God had called her to serve women and children who did not have the same hope. She gave me hope.
She was the person God had placed at that ministry building door to usher me in to a community that would later become family. Those three boys she was caring for are now my sons and the man who began that ministry is now my husband. She has walked our journey with us, and has been there each step. Together we have cried, laughed and loved.
Over the years I have watched her lead through compassion and genuinely care for our children here at Oasis. I have seen her share in their joy as they celebrate and hit milestones and I have seen her embrace their pain and tears as her own. She has used her experiences to lovingly guide them and help them break down walls of trauma that have in the past held them back from seeing God’s purpose in their lives.
She heeded the call of Christ, ventured in to the unknown and trusted that God’s plan was good perfect.
Her name is Joyce. Full of compassion, love and kindness. She is my community, my sister, my family.
I am dedicating a mile of my run to honor her and the work she has committed her life to. Will you join me and give in honor of Joyce?
I remember growing up in neighborhoods so diverse and living in community with people from all over the world. It was a world that allowed my childhood to roam free. Kids were allowed to be kids and all adults were your parents (even in discipline). I remember being able to visit my Ethiopian neighbors for a meal, playing till late with our Zairian friends, learning Kikamba from our Kamba neighbors, and going by the neighborhood’s favorite American cūcū known for the best gooseberry jam, relish and pickles. It may seem like a one-time childhood experience but this community helped shape my life. My appreciation for food and flavors, creating, reading, art, wanting to serve, my passion for education, falling in love with Jesus and being part of something bigger, all began here.
We were created to be in community and I am grateful that my parents were able to provide that for us despite having to move around a lot. They heeded the call to serve and God always surrounded them with people to love and be loved. God has surrounded me with people who inspire me, love me and challenge me.
I am extremely grateful to God and for those of you who continuously give to Oasis and also support our family. You have made it possible for us to be able to work and do life with a few of the people I am going to highlight this week.
So, are they my community or my family? They are both and they are my other reason for running the Chicago marathon.
Join me as you get to meet some amazing individuals, see God’s purpose fulfilled through them as they serve and love Oasis children with us. Join us in becoming part of a greater community and family that goes far beyond tribe, race, language, countries or continents.
Milima haikutani, binadamu hukutana.
Mountains don’t meet but people do.
Swahili Proverb
Please help me support Oasis for Orphans by making a donation through my fundraising page. Even a small donation will help me achieve my goal! The process is fast, easy, and secure. Thank you so much for your support.
“It’s been a busy and exciting couple of weeks. I have had a job interview with Oasis, and training that ends this Friday. I get to start working at the Valley as an educator tomorrow! I’m a bit nervous because it’s a huge role and I’m not even sure where to begin but I’m excited. I’m up for the challenge. Pray … that God directs me on the best way to plan and also be able to love and help these kids as He wills.”
This is part of an email I wrote to my now mother-in-law, on August 8, 2016.
Little did I know the kind of challenge that awaited me 😊.
It was in this very room, a simple library at the Valley, that I met these amazing fourth graders.
Their lives changed mine in ways I never imagined possible. Together we explored through science, painted to music and traveled the world through our books.
It was here that one of them would learn how to read, another would come to love math and another would pick up a paint brush for the very first time.
This was our fun and safe space where there was no shame in not knowing, and creativity ran wild.
As I reflect on these memories I am reminded of how God has made everything beautiful in His time.
These children are now young men and women in their second and third year of high school and I am blessed to have been in their lives as God planned.
August 9, 2016 was my first day of work with Oasis for Orphans and these children, these fourth graders were my inspiration and were also the beginning of what God was about to do through education at Oasis.
They are my first reason for running the ChicagoMarathon this October. I have always been the teacher but now I want to help fund scholarships that will mean another child getting an opportunity to learn and be loved. Will you partner with me?
Family and Friends, Please help me support Oasis for Orphans by making a donation through my fundraising page. Even a small donation will help me achieve my goal! The process is fast, easy, and secure. Thanks so much for your support. Donate to my page Thank you so much for walking this journey with me.
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