Student Stories

Jack and Heather, two visitors from Michigan, arrived at the guesthouse last Saturday night.  It’s been great to have some additional company here, and it’s been fun watching other people experience Nyaka for the first time.

On Monday, Headmaster Stephen took us to visit the homes of two students after school.  We first visited the home of Abia, a P-7 student.  When I write “the home of Abia,” I mean that it is truly her home because she is the head of the household.  With no guardians or relatives to look after them, she and her two sisters live in a house by themselves.  They attend school during the day, and when they go home, they begin tasks like gathering ground nuts and husking bananas for supper.  The walls of their clean house are decorated with pictures of pen pals from America and pieces of paper from school.  At night, they light paraffin so they can see and finish their homework.  Being at Abia’s place was yet another wake up call.  You hear and read stories about child-headed households, but until you visit the home of a child, a young girl, trying to raise her younger siblings, the reality doesn’t really sink in.  These children are so strong.

Without Nyaka, one can only begin to imagine where Abia and her family might end up.  The school’s Headmaster and teachers keep an eye on them, and if the need arises, extra support can be provided.  One of Nyaka’s great achievements is that it has managed to keep its students in their own environments, and in doing so, the school also provides support to the local community.  Abia will continue to run her household.  Perhaps many will say that she has too much responsibility, that she’s growing up too quickly.  However, I have no doubt that given her natural strength and the support she’s been given from Nyaka, Abia will rise above these obstacles and become a role model for her family and her community. 

We also visited the home of Allan, a student at Nyaka.  Last November, Nyaka arranged to have Allan flown to the U.S. to have surgery on his legs and arm.  Because of cerebral palsy, he spent most of his life crawling from place to place with the help of his one good arm.  Allan’s surgeries have led to big improvements.  Heather, a teacher from Michigan who is visiting Nyaka now, was able to bring Allan’s mom pictures, and for the first time, she saw her son standing and wearing shoes.  It was incredible to see her reaction to the pictures.  She had so much joy inside of her.  You can follow updates on Allan at the Nyaka website (www.nyakaschool.org).

On a lighter note, I milked a cow for the first time today.  Oh, and today, we ate a chicken that a group of grandmothers gave us yesterday during an outreach visit.  The generosity of people who have so little is really incredible here.   I’m excited to see what the weekend has in store.  More to come soon!