Seeing creation through the eyes of children

Today, Nathan and I (Adrienne) got the opportunity to join Pastor Vincent and about 25 children (from the preschool that he and his wife have started in Gachie) at the Nairobi Animal Orphanage.  It was wonderful and I am very thankful that he invited us.

The preschool was started in 2006, and Vincent said most of the original children that attended the preschool were 11 or 12 years old at the time.  These children had never attended public school and could not pass the entrance exams to begin Level 1 (1st grade).  Vincent was so proud to share that after the first year most of the children performed well enough on the exams to get into Level 1, and 3 even did well enough to get into Level 3!  He said they have had over 300 children go through the preschool program so far.

The children in this preschool are very needy, most are from single parent homes.  Vincent's wife, Mama Mora, is the teacher.  The children were very excited today because they have just received uniforms and they were proudly wearing them today.  They have been learning about creation and for the first time ever, the school got to go on a field trip.  Most of the children have been born in Nairobi and have never seen wild animals.  It was fun to watch their expressions at each habitat.

This is Sara (in red) and Mora (Vincent's oldest daughter).  Sara is 10 years old and she is very sweet.  As the day progressed, she did not leave my side.  We talked about Jesus and she smiled the whole time.  She attended the preschool when she was younger and now goes to a Primary School.  She has younger siblings at the preschool and was allowed to come along on the field trip.

This little guy is too cute, I could not understand his name but as you can see, he really liked the camera.

As time progressed, the children really got playful...at the beginning of the day, they were extremely reserved with Nathan and I.

This was after they chased the monkey that was running around...I have a fear of rabies and was very uptight about the children chasing the monkey, but the teachers thought it was no big deal!  

It was very interesting going to a "zoo" with Kenyans...at the baboon exhibit, one child gave a baboon his leftover juice and a fight broke out between the baboons.  Then a different child gave a baboon a sucker and they thought it was so funny that he chewed it off the stick.  

This picture is at the end of the day, Vincent is in the blue shirt.  The kids had so much fun and they loved the animals, the zedonk (zebra/donkey), lion and monkeys were the favorites.

Nathan riding the rhino like a horse.

Nathan and I felt like celebrities today, there were so many school children at the orphanage and I was the ONLY white person there!  Several children from other schools took my picture, which was a strange twist.  I asked them why they wanted to take my picture and they said they wanted to remember me.