One of my favorite things about the Race is the amazing people we get to meet. This month, one of the people who will probably forever impact me was Eunice.
Eunice is a teacher of a small preschool – 3rd grade school in the Pipeline area where we have been doing ministry. It was a relatively normal Thursday and we were out doing evangelism. Honestly, basketball season was just starting back in the U.S. and I was questioning whether being on The Race was really the best use of a year of my life. I miss the kids I coach. I miss being in the classroom. Then God intervened to give me a small glimpse of why He has me on this adventure this year.
Eunice just recently started a new school and when we walked up to her she was literally raking the ground inside a tin building (the school) to make it level. Classes were scheduled to start the following Monday and there were no walls in the school. But, she had such joy and such vision for what she wanted to happen in that classroom. We discussed returning to help in the construction work and potentially to meet her students.
A few days later, we returned as a whole group to hopefully meet the students. Unfortunately, we had just missed this kids as they finished for the day at 12 and we arrived at 12:30. One of those cultural understanding moments. Cody and I who had been there the first time were blown away by the amount of work accomplished in a few short days. The school now had classrooms and the walls were covered with teaching-related materials. It actually looked like a school.
We were able to again hear Eunice's vision for the school and for the community. Pipeline is a very poor area outside of Nakuru, the city where we are staying. It is also an area that has many internally displaced people (IDP).
Most of the people were displaced as a result of violence that came about after disputed elections in 2008 where people were forced to flee their homes to escape tribal violence.
In general, the people in the Pipeline area are very poor and often are illiterate. Eunice is doing Saturday classes with her students parents to help them become literate as well as teach basic math skills so the people can function well in society.
Today, as part of our last day we decided to return to assist Eunice one last time. We picked beans out of the field in front of the school, hauled dirt to help create better drainage away from the school and hoed weeds away from the school garden. I guess this is all part of being a teacher in Kenya. I had such an amazing time talking with Eunice about the challenges the students face and her challenges as a teacher in a poor area with few resources. She just kept reiterating how blessed she was that we had come and her desire to just learn more about how to teach better.
As a teacher, I want to be like Eunice. She is faithful to the call to help her students fully acheive and wow is she passionate about her students. She is having an impact on the broader community through educating and assisting the families of her students while helping to break the cycle of poverty. Finally, she has this amazing desire to grow as an educator and to glean whatever she can from the people she meets.
