When I searched for Lenana school on Google, it produced several images of a state of the art boarding school where only the wealthiest families in Nairobi send their children. The Lenana school we support is nothing of the sort. It’s called the Lenana Junior Community School. It’s a school that gives every child in the community an opportunity for education regardless of economic class. It may not look like much on the outside, but what’s inside is transforming a community.
The school consists of a dozen or so bright green colored shanti buildings and a few latrines. Inside those buildings some 400 slum kids are given the opportunity to be educated, an opportunity that would otherwise allude them. They are respectful, obedient, yet full of energy and life. They get two meals a day here at school which we fund through WorldComps feeding program. It is a powerful thing seeing how strong and hearty these kids are. It was a blessing being with them.
There are 16 teachers at Lenana. Every single one of them is volunteering their time, including the headmaster Jackson (I don’t recall his last name.) The teachers here are incredible. They are devoted, they have vision, they are teaching for the passion of it. We’ve come to give them a gift, a small token of appreciation. I stressed that this gift was not from me, it was not even from WorldComp. It is a gift from God who sees what they are doing and through us He is saying well done to these faithful servants.
One young man named Josephat has a story worth telling. He started out at Lenana school in 2005 as a third grader. He finished at Lenana in 2010 and went on to graduate from secondary school with a “B” average. He is currently pursuing a degree in teaching, but in his spare time he is a volunteer teacher and mentor to the students at Lenana. Freely he has received, and so, freely he gives in service to underprivileged kids just like him so, they too, can have a shot in life. He is an inspiration! They are all an inspiration as they teach us what it means to be courageous.
We are off to visit the Home of Grace WorldComp Orphanage. I’m girding up my loins for this one. It could get emotional (and I may split another pair of pants).