The year began with a sense of anxiety for the nation of Kenya. First, the High Court was to make a ruling on when the election date in the country. This was shortly followed by a focus on the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was to make a ruling on whether to confirm or decline charges against six of the suspects held most responsible for the post election violence of 2007 – 2008. The fear here arose out of a feeling that there would be violence around the country if the charges were confirmed, especially for two of the suspects - leading presidential candidates for the coming elections. The ruling on the election date was expected to affect the level of the political temperature in the country. Put together, the country held its breath, uncertain of what this combustible mixture would produce.Eventually, the High Court chose not to rule on an election date and left it to the President and Prime Minister to agree whether to hold an election before this parliament’s term expires in March 2013. Second, the ICC confirmed charges against four of the six post-election violence suspects, including two of the current leading presidential aspirants. And what was expected to be an explosive reaction to the two issues turned out to be a civil reaction that baffled many. There was not a single case of violence reported anywhere in the country in relation to the two matters.All this translates to the fact that in January we opened the school and its related projects to a new academic year and we can report that we are still open. The anticipated reaction to the two explosive matters could easily have sparked a new wave of violence. The school is located in the heartland of a sect that engages in organised crime. This particular sect was at the heart of the confirmation of charges for two of the post-election violence suspects in the ICC case. We are amazed at the grace of God and how He has kept the country in the last couple of weeks since then. Things are going on peacefully not just in Mathare but also in the entire nation. We also thank God for the lessons that many Kenyans have learned since the post-election violence in 2007 – 2008 in which over 1000 Kenyans died and hundreds of thousands were displaced. We have prayed that we would never get there again.We pray then, and pray with us, that the lessons we teach the children in the school and our engagement with their community would not just be academic. We pray that these lessons would also be conveyed with a sense of the values of Christ – peace, love and brotherly kindness. These are the lessons that Kenya needs to recapture. These are lessons that we need to teach this future generation now so that they may have an impact in the area and beyond to the future.