Part 3: We awoke Monday to roosters crowing, cows mooing, and the beautiful sound of a thousand girls singing at the Bunyore Girls' School next door. Except for the animal noises, it was almost like dying and going to heaven, the sound was so angelic. Alan and I were staying in the upstairs apartment of the guest house, and Sharon and the other women were staying in a guest house on campus. We met at breakfast and did a little planning for the afternoon's seminar. Mid-morning, we all got a Swahili language lesson by Jeremiah, the assistant principal of KIST. He was a good teacher, but I pronounced each word only to forget it a few minutes later. I hoped I could remember them before the week was over. Next, Lisa took us on a tour of the grounds. Sharon and I could only do half of the tour before we needed to get ready for the first session. Still, I was amazed at all that the grounds contained... the campus of KIST, the National Chapel where the week-end's funeral would take place, an AIDS outreach office, and a children's center. The others would see the Girls School next door and the Kima Clinic as well as the surrounding town. We were expecting 10-15 students to show up and were surprised when 22 came. Meeting and greeting people is very important in Kenyan culture, and we shook hands and spoke to as many as we could before beginning the session. "Jambo!" (hello!) "Habari?" (how are you?) "Mizuri sana!" (Very well!) Before we knew it our time was up. The students were eager to learn, and it was a joy to work with them. They were so focused on learning the guitar chords and helping one another-- as each one passed along one of the three guitars, he or she showed the next person how to form the chord. We had six keyboards, with two and sometimes three people to an instrument. We made a very joyful noise! Relieved that the first day went well, we returned to the guest house for dinner, followed by a time of sharing and prayer. We didn't have as much trouble falling asleep that night! Next Post
