For this we Exist
For this we Exist

It is the end of the first week of the final term of the year. But there are hardly any children making their way to school with the rising sun, as would be expected. The teatime break that explodes with shouts of children as they play and the accompanying clouds of dust, are missing. It is because there is no government school that is open. There is only a teachers strike countrywide as government teachers protest against the failure of their employer to increase their wages as promised. Added to that is the university lecturers and the government doctors who have also joined the strike in their demand for increased wages. We pray that the current impasse would be quickly and justly resolved especially with national exams set to begin in less than 8 weeks.However at Kwa Watoto the cacophony of voices continues to rise during the teatime break. The dust still swirls over the little strip of open ground where they play between classes. The red cardigans still grace the streets of Mathare in the mornings as they head to school and the afternoons when tinted with some dust, they head back home. Today marks the end of the first week of this term. The children are back. The teachers are back.We are back to do what we have been called to do, for being at Kwa Watoto is more than a job. It is a calling. It is a calling that arises out of the vision to bring transformation to communities through the education of children. It is the reason why one of our latest additions to the teaching staff was willing to leave a much better salary to work at Kwa watoto. It is the reason why she is willing to work in what is a less comfortable and definitely less prestigious environment. This is because when she heard about the work of eduKenya and the Kwa Watoto School, she saw a vision and wanted to be part of that vision and how it plays out. And true enough, she was recognised and rewarded last term as one of the outstanding teachers.It is this spirit, enflamed by the vision of eduKenya that keeps us going. We exist primarily to see the lives of children changed. We exist to see the community changed. And it is not far from our imagination that one child at a time, one family at a time, change will one day be felt way beyond the alleys and shacks of Mathare. It is not beyond our imagination that out of this area will come forth a politician of substance (I put that first to get it out of the way), a teacher who mentors, a businessman of fair practice, pastors of the Word, parents who care and a just leader of the nation. For this we exist. And we are glad for your participation and involvement with us in this vision.

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