Last week, our students returned for the final term of their first year at Canopy Life Academy (the Kenyan school year runs from January – December). It has been a joy to watch our inaugural 4th grade students grow these past 8 months.
I sat down with Christi, Canopy Life’s executive director, and she told me about the changes she has observed in the kids from January until now. She remembers when the kids entered school in January; they were shy, yet playful, and loved to dance and sing.
Within the first couple weeks, our team was able to pinpoint each kid’s character traits that made his or her personality shine. We saw right away that Kioko would act as a big brother to his classmates, and that Gorette would be our quiet prankster. It has been a blast to see how God has taken what was already planted inside each of our students prior to entering the Academy, and allowed it to take root and begin to grow.
Grow physically. Like all children ages 9-10, our students definitely grew physically this year. However, the most notable element of the students’ physical development is how they adapted to their new surroundings at the Academy.
Christi describes the first few weeks at the Academy as having a wildness. Our students were accustomed to living in homes with dirt floors, where it is acceptable to toss unwanted liquid on the ground during a meal. At their first meal together, staff explained to the kids that a tile floor will not absorb discarded water and that food dropped on the floor during an indoor meal will not be cleaned up by chickens.
The children also learned how to do household chores, use indoor bathroom facilities, and care for their personal cleanliness. Christi remembers a game that developed while she was at the Academy in January. The kids would line up and take turns (another thing they had not previously done) washing their hands. After they finished, Christi would dry their hands with a white towel. If dirt came off on the clean towel, the child would get back in line and wash again. Christi laughed as she recalled how many attempts some students needed to remove all the grime they had brought in from playing outside.
Grow emotionally. The kids have begun to feel at home at Canopy Life. In Kenya, it is not a regular occurrence for children to share their feelings or speak openly about life at home. On several occasions, students have told staff and classmates about challenges they are facing. Knowing the children feel safe is exciting for our staff because it is evidence that Canopy Life is becoming a canopy under which people can take refuge and grow. They feel safe, loved, and happy, providing the capacity for them to excel in other areas such as academic and leadership development.
Grow spiritually. In addition to being free to share their feelings with each other and staff, the children have also grown in their patience with others. They are learning to respect each other and trust that God will take care of them during times of abundance and need. They have also shown kindness by encouraging, listening to, and praying for one another.
One of our staff’s favorite times is when we gather for devotions. The children love to sing and talk to God. They are eager to interact with staff about the Bible passage being presented, and offer ways they can apply it in their lives.
Grow academically. When the kids began school in January, they were able to read and speak only a small amount of English. Christi told me that the students would smile a lot, but only knew how to say 2 or 3 things to her. In fact, for a brief period, they referred to her as “British” and “Mzungu” rather than Christi because her given name was unfamiliar to them.
By this summer, the children had begun to speak in full sentences. Sometimes their faces will scrunch up in concentration as they try to remember the right word to describe something, but they are diligent in their pursuit of understanding. They also enjoy reading, memorizing Scripture, and contributing to discussions about classwork.
Canopy Life students are also letting their inventive sides come out during class projects and unstructured play times. One of the highlights for the June team was helping the kids make puppets out of brown lunch bags. Each child was asked to make a puppet that looked like him or her. At first, the kids stuck to the basics – 2 eyes, a little hair, and a small smile. But with a little prompting, the feathers and googly eyes were unleashed. The puppets didn’t end up looking like their creators at all. But they did resemble the vibrant and unique spirits of the children who made them, and that is exactly what our students’ Creator sees when he looks at each of them.
