Pencils
After spending Wednesday morning and part of the afternoon visiting classes as well as playing and talking with dozens of children at Living Springs School, I am more aware of the financial chasm that exists between myself and an average Kenyan child.
I was initially struck by this after one of the school boys, William, who is 10, offered me a piece of his mango during recess. This was not just any mango, but the ONLY mango he can afford all month. (I later asked the vendor the cost and he said 10 shillings.)
Later in the evening, as children gathered around Leisa, Lynsey, and I in order to get our addresses to be pen pals, the broken pens and stubby pencils also attested to our financial differences. I have (and still do) take such small objects as pens and pencils for granted on a daily basis.
In fact, I am rather particular about the pens and pencils I use. I haven’t used a wooden pencil in years and I prefer skinny pens.
Such small objects, yet they are but one example of the financial disparity that exists between me, a middle class American and the Kenyan children who have stolen my heart this year, whose parents earn less than $2 per month. While I have thought about sociological differences throughout this year while we have lived within such close proximity to the people we have ministered to, it has been more at the forefront of my mind and heart this month as I see such fundamental differences in these children’s lives.
It has also been more at the forefront of my thoughts due to having the opportunity to have Lynsey (from the “World Race Exposure” project) on our team this month. I have enjoyed talking with her about issues that range from sociological to anthropological, political, and economic. Lynsey’s insights and interests in the people around her, be it in her native Philadelphia or now in Kisumu have added to my own thoughts.
While I do not want to be so naïve to think that I could make an extreme difference to these children and their families within the mere four week we have had here, I do want to help them in some way in the future. I am beginning to work on some NGO ideas and ‘God-willing’ (as our pastor says here) they will come to fruition within the next few years. I was nearly asleep the other night when I began to ask myself, is it so odd to think that a mere pencil could help lead a child to Christ? Or change their lives? Pencils.
The next time you pick up a pencil or pen, think about it.
