Amazing things are happening.

We’ve been collecting stories from women and girls that we have met here that will blow your mind… women who have risen out of extreme hardship growing up, who have fought and worked SO hard to get their education, who have gone on to do great things with their lives and careers… and most importantly how that has empowered them and empassioned them to look out for and HELP girls growing up in similarly tough situations. It’s both heartbreaking and inspiring… and makes the Girl Impact mission so much more real to us.

This morning Girl Impact was introduced to the entire Limuru school at morning assembly in the chapel courtyard. It was their Devotion assembly, and we were so privileged to see these 800 girls gathered together, and they danced and sang the most moving songs. I was standing at the front taking some pictures and video, and it was one of those magic moments of such intense beauty… well, I’ll admit it, I lost it. Tears streaming down my face, and I didn’t even understand the words to some of the songs.

Principal Margaret invited Marnie to the stage to give a short talk to the school audience, and she did us proud. She told her own personal story of how hard she had worked to become an Olympian and the obstacles she had to overcome to get there, and she used her story to introduce the Girl Impact mantra to the assembly…”This is what a girl can do.” And she encouraged and challenged every girl standing there to keep TRYING and embrace the little things that lead to success -- and by the end, every girl standing in that field was calling out “This is what a girl can do!”  My heart was full to bursting.  (Funny moment: the school chaplain followed Marnie’s talk with a short sermon and at one point he said “And this…” expecting, as per usual Anglican custom, for his congregation to answer back “is the word of the Lord”… but to my extreme delight , instead, he said “And this…” and the girls answered back “is what a girl can do!” Rock on girls.) Marnie’s speech incited a 2-hour autographing session later in the day.

The Girl Impact girls then piled on a bus and we drove into Nairobi to Kibera, which is Nairobi’s (and one of Africa’s) largest slum areas. We were there to visit a Unicef sanctioned public school to see how they are implementing water hygiene programs, and HIV/AIDS education into schools – both critically important programs here for these children. We were a bit apprehensive before going, because we didn’t know how it was going to be – these children come from extreme poverty in many cases and we half-expected that many of us would be overwrought with emotions of pity or despair.

We opened the door to the first classroom that we were invited into, and were greeted by 87 little kindergarten faces, singing us a welcome song in English. They were SO happy and excited to see us and they clapped and did a little dance routine and then proudly showed us what they were learning in class – it was SO cute and joyful, and immediately opened us up again to the African warmth and happiness that we encountered at the Limuru school. Can I just say again? -- we all LOVE it here.

Then we were given a tour of the rest of the school and a few of the older kids (boys and girls) gave really great presentations to us about what they had learned about HIV/AIDS, and water hygiene – they have murals all around the exterior of the school that they designed and painted themselves that show all the different points they are learning to live by with respect to these issues and how to manage them in their own lives.

Just before we left, the girls of a music class did a spoken word performance of some poems that were written by African women for girls, and it was another spine-tingling experience in this day that now feels like 3 days. The words were all about maintaining their pride and integrity as girls, about becoming strong and powerful African women, about holding strong against male oppression, abuse and violence, about the importance of education. These girls were about 12 years old, and they were so refined and elegant in their postures, proud and confident in their voices, and united in their passion… it was a beautiful performance, but such a sharp reminder about the horrible situations African girls too often face… being pulled from school to look after their siblings and never making it past grade 8 in their education, rape and domestic violence, being married off to an older man at a very young age, disease, the burden of caring for a family in poverty… and as much as I heard hope and power in the words that they recited, there is an undercurrent of fear. It still happens. They want so badly for it to NOT happen to them. They want to be strong enough to get out of that path. They need support from their families, their schools, from African communities and greater global networks for this to change.

The rest of the day was devoted to class and hanging out with friends for their last day at Limuru. Here are a couple of Catherine's beautiful portraits from today.

I wanted to just give a shout-out to our 2 fabulous TDSB faculty members who are with us on this trip, Wendy and Felicia, because they too have integrated into life at Limuru in an unbelievable way. Wendy, with her gregarious way and an infectious laugh always at the ready, has made her way into the hearts of students and staff alike here, so much so that they invited her to help make lunch for the students yesterday, and everywhere she goes, someone is inevitably hugging her.

Every time I have seen Felicia the last 2 days, she has said “I just had the most amazing and interesting conversation with…” She is soaking everything in like a sponge and putting her calm and thoughtful presence out into the school community here. Yesterday she led the most amazing yoga class I have ever witnessed – 125 students in the soccer field, and she did it in SWAHILI. It was brilliant. The students LOVED it.

And most importantly, the two of them have been an incredible source of care and safety for our Toronto girls, and a huge source of support for the Girl Impact mission. Thank you ladies.

And a final p.s. from your faithful blogger… the title of this post was inspired by a fun moment I had this afternoon, as I had the opportunity (on an errand to get flash cards to our videographer) to run through the tea fields I described the other day. As I was running down this big hill on a red dirt path past the row of little shacks where the workers live, I could hear a little kid hollering, but in an abstract-noise-kind-of-way – when I finally tuned in, I heard her yelling “Moozungu, Moozungu!” – which I now know means “White foreigner, White foreigner!”. When I stopped and turned to look, she threw me a big wave from across that stunning field and hollered “Jambo!” Hello. I waved and hollered back. I love it here.