The IBM team arrived at 9 am and were greeted by the Principal, Mr. Muthembwa. He told us that it is a boarding school and it costs $30US per term to feed and teach the students. Some students cannot afford even that, so there is a fundraising program in place to help cover their costs. After a brief meeting with the teaching staff, we attended a school assembly where we were introduced and our agenda for the day was communicated. The students looked great in their red and plaid uniforms. What I noticed right away was that it was so much more quiet than a typical school assembly. In order for these students to 'listen' they have to watch the visual sign language of the speaker. The sign for Canada is: Make a "C" with your right hand and then put your hand on your left upper chest. I smiled because it made me think of a hockey jersey with the C for Captain!
After the assembly we got down to work volunteering: Planting trees, cutting the grass and cleaning the kitchen and dining room.
Here is Dilhun digging with one of the new shovels we bought for the school.
Here is Richard sweeping the dining room floor after all the tables had been taken outside for washing.
After all the work, we got to the fun part - play!! We had taken soccer balls with us to donate to the school. We also took skipping ropes and other toys. The kids loved them! I think one of the favorite activities, though, was having their photos taken. Once I pulled my camera out, I was mobbed. Here are four of my favorite photos:
Aren't her blue eyes amazing?
She was soooo excited!
These guys were really hamming it up for the camera
There were a bunch posing for this photo, but I zoomed in on this boy's face. His eyes just shone!
After awhile the older boys naturally took over the soccer game and some of the younger children came and sat on the sidelines with us. The children were fascinated with Henriette's blonde hair. They patted it and touched it and signed to each other about it.
One little girl who I guess to be about seven years old sat beside me and in very basic sign language, we started a little conversation:
Hello my name is Jennifer. I am from Canada. What is your name?
Hello my name is Charity
(pointing at my IBM T-shirt) 
E-Y-E B-E-E M 
(then she laughed because she got the joke of the T-Shirt) I-B-M
Yes!
(pointing at the soccer game) B-A-L-L
Yes!
(pointing at my bottle of water) W-A-T-E-R
yes!
B-O-T-T-L-E
yes!
We were both grinning from ear to ear! It may sound like a simple conversation to be excited about, but it felt great that we were able to communicate with each other in her language. (Way back in high school I learned the basic letters of ASL with my friends Colleen and Cathy, so although I didn't know the word signs, I could communicate with her by spelling out each word). I remember how hard I had studied Swahili before coming to Kenya and I wished I had spent more time studying American Sign Language (ASL) too.
The highlight of the day was when a group of senior girls presented a traditional Kamba dance for us. One girl played the drum and 12 girls danced to the beat of the drum, which they could feel through vibrations. It was beautiful and very emotional. The leader of the dance group had a stick/baton with an animal hair tail, which she swished around in time to the beat. The other girls never took their eyes off the baton so they knew what to do. Their rhythm was incredible - you could see it in every movement. WOW. It was a true demonstration of ABILTY in the face of disability, and it was inspiring. There were many of us with large lumps in our throats by the time they finished.
It was a day never to be forgotten.
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