Departure Day

Lynn and my last day was Sunday. We got out to the farm in time for church but found the children to be quieter than normal and some very standoffish. Little Sarah had come over and wrapped herself in my arms while I was talking with teacher Saul. She was not saying much, but just there holding my finger and getting as close as possible. All I heard her ask a few times was when Rhonda would be back and how many months would it take. Saul began explaining that the hardest day at Challenge is when all the visitors leave. Many kids find a place on the grass all to themselves and cry, others lash out in anger at someone else. He was explaining that many fights break out in the first day or two after the visitors have left because they do not know what to do with their feelings. I was really shocked by this news. I looked down at Sarah and realized what was happening. Many of the kids will just lie in the dorm bed and not come out to see us go. I believe they are trying to separate themselves. During Saul and my conversation, the bell for lunch rang but Sarah would not leave. Saul went on to say that many kids loose the appetite to eat. Here I am getting caught up in my thoughts of going home for Christmas and spending time with loved ones while these kids are literally dreading the departure date. That put such a heavy weight on my heart. I had to choke back tears several times that day and told the kids that I would be back as soon as I had the money to return. How could I not? Much of my heart remains in Kitale with these kids.

Relaxing weekend days

I was playing a great game of Chicken Foot (played with dominos) with the kids and had one of my ‘stop and realize I’m in Africa’ moments. Most of the time I forget that I am so far away in a poverty stricken area where the kids I’m playing with actually grew up suffering on the street. Here I was carried away in the moment of teaching them how to play dominos, which they’d never seen before, and loving every moment. The kids were making me laugh so hard.

About this time, a student rang the bell for dinner. This was the last full day with the kids before my departure home. As all the kids ran to get ready for dinner, I stuck my head in through the dinning hall window and took in the scene. You see, I am so happy when I’m at the farm and playing with the kids and I see that they are happy playing with us visitors. My view is clouded and carried away in these perfect moments but then as I watch them sit down to eat their Ugali (maize/corn) and sukuma wiki (collards) at their assigned tables, my view begins to get clearer and I see their everyday life. I get the chance to come to Africa and have fun but when I and other visitors have left, they remain. It saddens my heart when I think of all I did at their age; sleepovers, movies, mall shopping, ice skating, etc, and here they are fighting as a group of kids to grow up and succeed in school so that they can find a job. There is no, “I’m going to the movies with a friend and be back before dinner.” What these kids live for is the teams that come over and the letters from pen pals. I would say that most months out of the year, there is someone visiting but it is ever-changing and unsure at times. I know that the kids at Challenge Farm are loved by so many people and compared to other children in the world, they have been given a great opportunity at the farm but it doesn’t stop me from realizing just how good a life I’ve had and how I desperately wish I could give to them what was given to me.