Our whirlwind day of
presentation (no wheelchair pun intended) began with a formal presentation to
the Joytown secondary school (high school) and ended with a true Kenyan-style
impromptu pres to the primary students and teachers.
We carefully planned
a presentation to the high school students, even creating a powerpoint to share
with them containing graphs of the finalized data and pictures from the study.
We miraculously packed
20+ people and
wheelchairs into a computer room of the school library that was really only designed for 10 or so
comfortably. We shared our data results and the Tinsley family shared some
really encouraging words to the teens/young adults, urging them to realize that
they are fearfully and wonderfully made by God for great purposes in this
world. After exchanging contact information with one of the head-teachers who
organized the high school participation in our study, (once she had told us
about three different ways about the high school exchange program, we headed
back to Joytown primary for what we thought was a simple choir performance.
We walked into the
small school chapel/auditorium building buzzing with music and chatter and
stuffed with children and crutches and wheelchairs galore. We were led up to a row of chairs up on the
stage and the program opened with an announcement of the school choir and an
introduction of the Wheels team who would "take over the program after the
choir has finished". This was news to us…
Nevertheless, I sat and enjoyed with tears in my eyes as a group of children of all different ages and heights and conditions sang their hearts out for us. After two songs, we took the mike and repeated a slightly condensed version of our high school presentation (sans powerpoint, of course). Although we mostly succeeded in putting kids to sleep or into catatonic blank stares, it was an important presentation to the teachers at Joytown who for three years have never really quite understood what this group of muzungus (white people) have been doing taking kids out of their classes to run around in different wheelchairs in circles. They had never really been sat down and explained to before.
We ended our presentation by announcing the gifts we had brought for the students: brightly colored blankets and mosquito nets!
We ended our day by hanging out with kiddos and watching a group practice a traditional tribe "call-and-response" song and group dance.
Other fun news of the day:
-I FINALLY learned how to do a wheelie in a wheelchair/hold it for an extended time!
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| Presenting to the sec school |
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| Chapel |
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| The choir singing away |
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