Popie here, just wanting to report about my time at Daystar these last few months. While Tim has been interviewing and meeting with people for his various projects and doing his writing of articles for Christianity Today, most days I have reported to Daystar University for several hours. When we are staying with the Okonjis, it has been no problem getting there.—only a 15-25 minute walk, which actually was the walk I would take when we lived here in the same estate, 30 years ago, so lots of memories! However, the Wachiras live much farther away, so navigating the transportation scene on many days has been quite daunting. I figured my commute from their house was as if I were traveling from Santa Rosa to San Francisco, for it can take 1 ½ to 2 hours! Because of the traffic (the “Jams” as they call it) I found that walking could take about the same amount of time as going by matau (bus), so it can take some time getting there and getting back. Needless to say though, my new knees have been the best, for I have really really walked, and felt no pain, except with that weird episode in the Mt. Kenya that lasted only a few days.
In the early weeks of my being with Daystar, I was teaching various seminars/workshops (mostly through the peer educator group on campus) and meeting with students, so it was a combination that I really enjoyed. In the last six weeks or so, my work there has been mostly counseling appointments with students at an office in the counseling center. My main frustration has been the mixup/tardiness in appointment and peer educator meeting times. Day students have many things competing for their time, so often several student meetings are planned at the same time. And then there are their transportation issues! Despite this, I have had a number of significant connections. I have done some very intensive marriage counseling , as well as less intense appointments concerning issues that students anywhere face. Very serious financial stressors definitely figure into life here more than they do in my practice at home. For examples one student I have met with semi regularly, over the loss of her mother, just told me that she eats one meal a day due to her perception that she and her sister and brother who live together don’t have any extras (I recommended that she at least take a banana to eat, especially in the afternoon when the grief thing feels so overwhelming). But between school fees and being students with no financial support from family, things can be extremely tough! I have met a number of refugees who have found their way to Daystar who are living on an incredibly tight budget, but somehow they make it. On the outside though, the student body is extremely attractive, enthusiastic, and seem to have so much going for them. They represent the new Kenya! It really has been a privilege to be able to connect with many of them and to be a part of some their inner journeys!
I have spent quite a bit of time with staff members as well, and have particularly bonded with a couple of women in the counseling department.. They both represent a growing number of PhD candidates who are working at Daystar, doing night school, have young families---and deal with transportation-- so it is easy for them to get overwhelmed! One of the women in particular, I feel I have been able to help with our contacts in the Daystar area of Nairobi (in not only the counseling world of Nairobi) regarding placement of students in the community as volunteers and internships. For example, yesterday I visited a nursery school (which has 200 plus children) in Kibera (reputed to be the largest slum in Africa ) and it was easy to identify a number of ways Daystar students could volunteer or have internships in all sorts of areas, not only working with the children (both with disabilities and not), but also with the single mothers and grandmothers who work with the school.
It’s been a very good experience—not without its frustrations, but on the whole very worthwhile and eye-opening. If we come back to Kenya, I would love to do the same kind of thing again.
No comments:
Post a Comment