“... God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (NIV)
At eduKenya, we believe that all people are created in the image of God with intrinsic value and dignity, and the way we treat others should reflect that belief. We are called to create a school community that reflects our teaching and beliefs in practical ways that embody Christ's love. The Makueni People With Disabilities (PWD) Vocational School, which is located very close to our Chelezo High School, is home to students with various disabilities from Makueni County. Recently, our Chelezo High School hosted the vocational school for a friendly volleyball game.
The purpose of the friendly match was to enable the students from both schools to interact freely with one another. We hoped to offer our special guests the same opportunity for camaraderie and respect that develops between competing teams during a sporting event. We hoped to teach our students that people with disabilities are not to be pushed to the margins but are a valuable part of our wider community.
The students enjoyed playing two volleyball games, one between the boys and another between the girls. Our Chelezo teams quickly learned that disability does not mean inability. Several of the players on both the boys and girls visiting team had hearing and speaking disabilities, but these disabilities did not prevent them from actively and fully participating in the matches. The boys’ match was intense, with the first set going to the visiting team, but ended with Chelezo winning the match by a whisker.
When you give to eduKenya, you enable us to practically teach our students that people with disabilities are not just occasional objects of our service, but are full persons, capable of competitive spirit, worthy of respect, with the potential to become good friends and a full part of our social life. By the end of the day, our students were inspired by their new friends and shared that they had learned that despite one’s challenges, they can achieve more than they imagine if only they work hard and are fully committed to their endeavors.