Three brothers - they look so rough and tough - but just the oppposite. I'll tell you their stories someday. Charles (Darwin) entering Grade 8; John entering grade 10; Benerd entering Grade 9. The only one missing from the picture is Lucy, their sister - also entering Grade 9. Click to enlarge.
I may have mentioned it before, but the Village sometimes reminds me of the show that was to air as I was leaving the states. The kids ran the place. The Village is sort of like that. Kids do almost everything in the Village. From the early morning hours, kids are working in the shambas, hoeing, weeding, watering. They cook, they do the laundry, they haul water and firewood, they open up the school building, they wash the floors of their houses. They have so much responsibility - it has been difficult to process it all. There is also a side of the children in the Village that is so real and touching, I will never forget it. The best times for me in the Village are between the hours of 4:30 and 6:30pm. The kids are home from school. The work in the fields has been completed and now the place is buzzing with laughter, singing, playing. I often walk from cluster (4 houses) to cluster. I can hear my name yelled across the Village - "Wambua" (my Kamba name meaning For the Rain) or they yell "Hed" or "Heddie" "Please come." They all invite you to the back of the house where you are given food and/or tea. You cannot refuse. No one will eat until you eat. They bring out their best chair for you to sit on and they sit on the dirt. Sometimes they ask you to come into their room and see their walls, covered with newspaper clippings of football stars, computer advertisements and even death notices "Musakta is Promoted to Glory". Sometimes the kids chase after you with a hot chapati, wrapped in a brown paper flour bag. Chapati is like nan or flat bread, cooked on a hot skillet. I went to tutor some of the kids one evening after dinner. The household was gathered around the table and the kerosene lamp. They brought me a plate heaped with scuma and ugali. You cannot refuse. The kids say exactly what they mean, exactly what they want. If they like your shoes, they don't say "Those are nice shoes. I wish I had a pair like them." Instead they say "Give me shoes." In the beginning,it was annoying. Now I just respond by saying "Give me your foot." They stopped asking. Charles "Darwin" (See pic above) and I have a routine on most nights. I say "Charles, what a beautiful sunset." Charles responds by whispering "but not as beautiful as you." I read the 7th grade a Fairy Tale. I ask Charles "Mirror,mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful of all?" Charles whispers "White Snow".
