“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds… “ Hebrews 10:24 (NIV)
Many of the children we work with in Mathare have parents or siblings who had a teen or multiple teen pregnancies. Some come from homes where a parent or other relative may be involved in prostitution. The over-exposure to irresponsible sexual behavior by the majority of the children at our Mawewa Primary School, and poor parental equipping to teach sexuality from a Christian perspective, has given eduKenya the opportunity to walk alongside parents to equip their children with the tools to understand and live out God’s best plan for them.
CPR (Creating Positive Relationships) is a program created by one of eduKenya’s partners, the Tanari Trust, that teaches children about human sexuality from a Christian perspective. The program teaches about the God-given gift of our sexuality, abstinence before marriage, and the benefits of approaching our sexuality from the Christian perspective for our holistic health. As a part of the program, our 6th grade class participates in various experiential activities both inside and outside of school, while also benefiting from special talks and mentorship.
During one such recent activity, our 6th graders and some of their parents were accompanied by their teachers on a hike at the Ngong Hills in Nairobi.
To start, the air was brisk on the hike morning, and the green hills were beautiful, even while being a little intimidating for our inexperienced hikers. The Tanari CPR coaches were the main leaders with our teachers bringing up the rear, helping any stragglers. Pastor Bob, eduKenya’s former Kenya Director and co-Founder, our Mawewa School Headteacher, Mr. Wesonga, and our Head of Security Mr. Juma, also stepped up to set a vigorous pace for our students and their parents, while also regaling the students with lots of life stories full of wisdom that the students appreciated. The challenging and different outdoor environment broke the ice and allowed our students and their parents to interact more freely outside their home environment, while also creating different occasions for life lessons to be taught and learned in an experiential and nonconfrontational way.
At one point during our students' hike, Bianca, one of our 6th Graders, mistakenly went ahead of the group, passing the initially planned last point, where everyone was required to stop, so the group could plan their way back to the main entrance of the Ngong Hills. Though Bianca was forced to turn back and return to the stop, her strength and focus inspired the teachers and coaches to push further and higher. The team then encouraged everyone to follow Bianca’s lead and surpass their limits, a real-time lesson in determination, perseverance, and “spurring one another to good works.”
Even though it was not the initial plan, inspired by Bianca’s example, the teachers and the Tanari coaches, led the team to follow in Bianca’s footsteps and complete all 7 of the Ngong Hills, a grueling hike that all the students completed. Some of our other students and teachers stumbled and crawled over especially difficult areas, while others got support from friends and were helped to balance with walking sticks from the environment, all with the same goal, to complete the Ngong Hills. Our parents did their very best, and four of them were able to keep pace, while others had to be left behind, and had to meet with the group at the end of the hike.
Taking the lead at the very end, Bianca led the whole group to the final point, even though it was especially difficult for her since she had already walked a few extra kilometers as compared to everyone else. With the hills conquered, life stories shared, and lessons learned, our students left saying they were inspired with a new outlook on life, ready to try and stand true to their values, persevere, and grow up into responsible young men and women.