New Life Academy - Ruiru - 6.26.08

This morning we got up and took the short trip up the road to a town called Ruiru. The New Life Academy is located there and it is run by a married couple, Peter and Anne. The Academy serves as a school for children aged 3-9. One year ago the Amani Scholars from the Amani Children’s Foundation came to the New Life Academy and drilled a well for water. They are one of the only locations in the community with regular access to sufficient water.

When we arrived at the home we were greeted by the children at the gate. They were on recess. They had prepared verses, songs, and dances to perform for us. Next, the kids challenged us to a relay race…my mom even participated! Before proceeding to class, Jane gave the children some words of wisdom.

Soon thereafter, the kids had to go back to their classes and we all sat down with Peter and Anne for tea and a discussion. Peter told us that he met Clive and Mary Beckenham while in his third year at a divinity school. They’ve been like parents to him since his own passed away.

One question triggered a very intense conversation that described the conditions surrounding the New Life Academy during the recent political conflict. As the other tribes ganged up on the Kikuyus because the candidate from their tribe was the projected winner, they targeted Kikuyu men and male children. Many women and female Kikuyu children were molested. Homes were burned and people were displaced. Kericho was one of the towns that was hit the worst. Some children who survived can remember their fathers and grandfathers being shot, stabbed, or beaten to death by their own neighbors. Children were separated from their parents and neither knew whether the other was alive or dead.

The government descended upon these towns and took victims and potential victims and dumped them by the busload in safer areas of the country like Ruiru. These people didn’t know where they were and had nowhere to go. People were being directed to the New Life Home Academy. One day an elderly woman showed up with five children that she had grabbed as she made her escape. She was of no relation to them and didn’t know any of them. When she arrived a New Life Academy they were all fed and clothed and she began spreading the word around town. Soon the Academy was feeding 80 families a day. Crisis counseling was also provided for the children.

Soon Peter was forced to ask parents to go get food at the Red Cross or one of the other relief sites so that they could continue to feed more children. And feed them they did. Thirty of the students who started as refugees eventually enrolled at the New Life Academy. Five older girls who were rescued now make up the sewing program at the school. They sew all of the uniforms for the children at the Academy and the other New Life Homes. They also make merchandise that they sell. Following the discussion we bought some!

Upon leaving the Academy, the group split up. The young people headed to YaYa to scope out a TV and DVD player for the Nakuru home while the parents went back to Kazuri Beads. We had dinner at a great little Italian restaurant then we headed home for a group meeting.

At the group meeting back at the Ngufami House, Jane instructed me to pair each young person with an older person (mentor) in the group to work on constructive Amani projects when we return to the United States. The catch was that you can’t be with your own parent. My mentor is Millice Ellerbe of Charlotte and Mom’s mentee is Jack Grote of Winston-Salem. We’ve got some ideas cooking and I’m hoping you’ll all be involved!