The Desire to Learn

I woke up early and took a bus with Melanie’s son, Matt, to head back to Kajiado. He is a really nice guy and I enjoyed talking to him. He is a university student like me back in the states and it was nice to talk to someone who comes from the same culture as I do! During my bus ride back to Kajiado, I just kept thinking about my future, the next two years of university, and the rest of my life. I really love my work with MGEF and the community I have found here, and it is crazy to think that I am going to have to leave all of this. But a few months ago, I didn’t even know any of this existed! You never know what life has in store for you…and I’m excited to see where the next two years will take me!

Being back in Kajiado was wonderful—seeing Emily and Lucy, riding with my motor bike driver, hugging all the kids! I talked to Lucy and Emily about everything I had brainstormed over the past few days and they loved the idea of having tri-annual student gatherings for all the MGEF students to come together and mentor each other!

That night, I had a wonderful conversation with my roommate! I have mentioned her before, but her name is Diana and she is from Nairobi. She is here working with the students for the month of July. I had talked with her before, but never about very in-depth things. Tonight we just sat and traded life stories and honestly had more in common than I ever could have imagined! She has become like my sister here and I really enjoy her company. She is a strong woman who has been through so much. I feel like every woman I meet here I describe as strong…but I honestly mean that about each and every one of them. They have overcome so many obstacles, faced circumstances I would never wish upon anyone, and yet they still smile, laugh, and continue living. And the most incredible thing is that they all just want to LEARN! There greatest dream in life is just to be educated. Because education leads to independence, leads to control, leads to a better life and hope for the future. That is the power of education for these young women.

I had a great conversation with Sarah, the director of the Children’s Home, that night and then I just spent time with the kids. At one point I had six girls trying to braid my hair…it was just wonderful! As I tried to fall asleep that night, I just kept asking myself questions: How am I going to leave here? How am I going to bring this experience back with me? How can I enable this experience to change me? I don’t want to leave here and just go back to my normal life. I want everything I have seen her, everything I have learned here, everyone I have met here to stay with me. And I want to make sure I consciously think about that before stepping on that airplane.