Before coming to work at First Love Kenya, I asked about their religious affiliation and just how "religious" a day in the life of one of these children was. I was told that they have prayer/devotional time after dinner, and that they go to church on Sundays. That was about it.
On my second day here, a church group came from Atlanta, Georgia and their plan was to spend the next two days teaching about God and the Bible..... that pretty much upped the anti in terms of the "religiousness" of a typical day in the life of a First Love child. So - First Love is a non-denominational Christian-run orphanage. Now, I don't really want to use this blog to talk about the ethics of the values that these Christian organizations impart on children in a vulnerable position.... I know it all and I know both sides of the argument and we can have that discussion when I get home... What I do know is that right now, this organization provides these children with loving caregivers, that their bellies are full and that they are going to school.
The religious affiliation thing is interesting to me (I am a religion major after all) and it fascinates me what these Kids are taught on the concept of "God" and how they integrate their beliefs into their every day lives. I wonder what this religious addition does for them in their life and how their lives would be different without a religious component. I wonder if it gives them more hope for a better life.
On my second day here, a church group came from Atlanta, Georgia and their plan was to spend the next two days teaching about God and the Bible..... that pretty much upped the anti in terms of the "religiousness" of a typical day in the life of a First Love child. So - First Love is a non-denominational Christian-run orphanage. Now, I don't really want to use this blog to talk about the ethics of the values that these Christian organizations impart on children in a vulnerable position.... I know it all and I know both sides of the argument and we can have that discussion when I get home... What I do know is that right now, this organization provides these children with loving caregivers, that their bellies are full and that they are going to school.
The religious affiliation thing is interesting to me (I am a religion major after all) and it fascinates me what these Kids are taught on the concept of "God" and how they integrate their beliefs into their every day lives. I wonder what this religious addition does for them in their life and how their lives would be different without a religious component. I wonder if it gives them more hope for a better life.
What I did learn today with by watching the Atlanta group interact with the kids is that it must be really hard, in general, for the kids and for the volunteers that come in to teach the kids… I doubt the majority kids understand what the volunteers were teaching, especially the young ones and especially due to their southern accents, and I bet that the volunteers feel a barrier as well (which they tried very hard to overcome with visual aids and dances etc), just as I had when I started. Soo… I wonder what they are trying to achieve and I’m really interested to see where these two days go.
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| Richard and Emmaculate |
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| Kelly and Daniel being silly |
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| Vero, Lucy and Cynthia mass producing chipati (I tried to make chipo and failed cuz i was too afraid of the OPEN FIRE they were making it on!!) |
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