John Craig made a simple enough request…would I summarize my impressions of my visit to the Lead Farmers program in Mayange, Rwanda and the Little Rock School in Kibera, the slums of Nairobi, Kenya.
Descriptions of the two projects we visited are available on the EPN website, so I’ll spare the details here and focus on my impressions. What is most difficult to capture in writing are the warm smiles, open hearts, rough hard working hands, dusty earth-between-the-toes, robust cassava plants and luscious mangoes, and the entrepreneurial spirit and optimism in the farmer’s fields in Rwanda – just 21 years after the genocide of 20% of the country’s population, bringing it to its knees.
And in Kenya, rising out of Kibera, one of the worst slums in the
world, and home to an estimated one million people with no running water,
electricity or sewage system, is an oasis of joy, hope, and infectious laughter
of 380 bright-eyed children, somehow impeccably dressed in school uniforms,
learning together in an inclusive environment unmatched in the US. They all learn sign language for the benefit
of their deaf classmates, and giggle at my attempt to sign my name. It makes me smile as I write this.
Context makes the ordinary extraordinary.
……To read more of Peter’s thoughts, be sure to check back with us early next week, as we post part 2 to Peter's reflections!
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