There is a certain vibe in the room this morning, as today we are off to Mass! Yesterday we met the most incredible people who are part of the Karibu youth group that run Edmund Rice camps out of Kibera, and today we get to join them for church. Not only are we excited for spending another day with our new friends, we have heard the most incredible stories about mass here in Kenya.
It was such an enlightening experience for all of us. We arrived at the church early and loved interacting with the local children, playing games, juggling rocks and even discussing chapatti recipes with Mamma Mary OKila, who is the manager at St Stephens, a school included in one of our placements.
When the time came to enter the church to start the ceremony, there was a buzz in the room. Soon everyone was out of their seats, clapping and dancing to the upbeat songs, lead by a very talented and energetic choir- I loved it!
At the church they had a visiting priest, Father Paul, who interacted charismatically with everyone. He had people laughing and listening, and even cracked a few jokes. It was amazing about how closely his message related to our immersion, about walking together, becoming a stronger community, going home changed and wanting to be changed and about reflecting on our experiences. This experience was something quite different to what we have experienced at home, and we all left feeling a little bit different and changed within ourselves already. It was interesting at evening debrief to hear about how different our reactions were about the service today.
Towards the end of the ceremony, we were invited to stand as Tom Lavers bravely got up on stage and greeted the crowd with a 'Jambo rafiki' (hello my friends) which received quite the applause! He did a fantastic job relating his speech back to the fathers message of three wise men, handing over 3 gifts, not in the shape of francensese, gold or meer- but a beanie, and beanie and a wristband!
We all left the church with much energy as we walked with our Karibu friends along the dirt track towards Otiende, the Christian brothers residence. Here, we played games together as a group and split off into groups to discuss the reasons why we are meeting together and sharing our stories with one another. Each day, stronger friendships are being formed and more barriers are coming down.
A definite highlight was when poor Kennedy kept being beaten in strength tests by our Wonder Woman Dani, and two of the Karibu boys were eventually able to wrestle Andrew Guirissi to the ground. It was a day with many laughs, many jokes and a whole lot of fun!
At the church they had a visiting priest, Father Paul, who interacted charismatically with everyone. He had people laughing and listening, and even cracked a few jokes. It was amazing about how closely his message related to our immersion, about walking together, becoming a stronger community, going home changed and wanting to be changed and about reflecting on our experiences. This experience was something quite different to what we have experienced at home, and we all left feeling a little bit different and changed within ourselves already. It was interesting at evening debrief to hear about how different our reactions were about the service today.
Towards the end of the ceremony, we were invited to stand as Tom Lavers bravely got up on stage and greeted the crowd with a 'Jambo rafiki' (hello my friends) which received quite the applause! He did a fantastic job relating his speech back to the fathers message of three wise men, handing over 3 gifts, not in the shape of francensese, gold or meer- but a beanie, and beanie and a wristband!
We all left the church with much energy as we walked with our Karibu friends along the dirt track towards Otiende, the Christian brothers residence. Here, we played games together as a group and split off into groups to discuss the reasons why we are meeting together and sharing our stories with one another. Each day, stronger friendships are being formed and more barriers are coming down.
A definite highlight was when poor Kennedy kept being beaten in strength tests by our Wonder Woman Dani, and two of the Karibu boys were eventually able to wrestle Andrew Guirissi to the ground. It was a day with many laughs, many jokes and a whole lot of fun!
Can't wait for our tour around Nairobi with our local tour guides.
Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
No comments:
Post a Comment