International Day

A couple of weeks ago, Amanda had the opportunity to take part in the international fair at one of the schools that our student ministry program serves.  She wrote about it on her blog, here is what she had to say.

one of the schools at which i spend a lot of time here in nairobi is an international school on the American system. i just love this school. the kids are mostly "western" in their culture, music, language, and dress. but they hale from richly diverse backgrounds. there are over 85 countries represented at this school. on any given day a visit to this school will feel like a private school in atlanta. you will find them speaking english (mostly), listening to their ipods, studying calculus, or writing biology lab reports. they are also, however, involved in things like model United Nations where they actually spend a few days at the UN Africa headquarters proposing resolutions, or go on field trips to London study Shakespeare. they also go on an annual ski trip to Switzerland or Austria or somewhere like that. so i guess it is like a rich private school in atlanta. maybe i'm giving my georgia public school educated ignorance away here by showing how little i know about good private schools. but the school i went to is very different from this one :)

last week their cultural differences were illuminated and celebrated on international day. some people thought it a bit odd and non-unifying, but i thought it was beautiful. many (i'd probably say 60%) of these kids have been involved with our organization in some way, either through camp, the ropes course, or some form of student ministry. so i know many of them. if i don't know them by name i know them by face.

kim and i went to school just after lunch to watch their parade of countries, which was followed by some student speeches, songs, stories, and poetry. i think i was most impressed with the 6th grade Pakistani's poem about pluralism and our community. oh, and the prek/kindergarten/first grade song about being able to shake hands with the whole world. i'm pretty sure the kids were just making noise and moving their mouths instead of actually singing real words. it was awesome. one of them even randomly walked away during the performance before she was chased back into the line up.

after the program there was an international buffet. my FAVORITE part. there was food from nearly every continent! i paid 300/- (about 5 bucks) for a plate and went around to each table piling it high. i laughed at myself scooping up the Italian lasagna with the Irish potato bread after eating a Chinese spring roll and finishing that off with an Indian fudge thing. yeah, maybe i over-did it.

the whole afternoon reminded me of how diverse our international community here really is. maybe i already said it, but there are 85 COUNTRIES represented at this school! each country's flag was flying, all of it's citizens were dressed traditionally (or in their national football team's colors, as in the case of the orange-clad Dutch kids or hockey jerseys like most of the Canadians), and after marching onto the field, they all began playing and chattering together. a picture of the whole idea of the afternoon was captured in four little girls waiting in line at the Indian booth to get henna painted on their hands and feet: one was wearing a sarape and a sombrero, another a Boston Red Sox jersey and blue jean cut-offs, one with a blue tea-length, cap sleeve dress and a white apron and little yellow wooden clogs, and still another in a plaid skirt, knee sox, and a union jack tshirt.

this is a strange and beautiful little place where these children of world leaders in Africa can learn and play together and become life-long friends. i am so thankful to be a part of this place. i am also inspired to pursue unity with, acceptance of, and appreciation for other cultures. and i'm encouraged about the possibilities of our future in these children. and how blessed are we BlueSky people (that's what most of them call us) to be such an important part of their lives through camp and student ministry!

this is the Kenya delegation marching onto the festival field. those of you who are familiar with Kenya will be amused to know that they took the longest to march in. it was about 20 minutes total while every other country took only five. they walked very slowly and had to be continually prompted by the emcee to keep moving because they were stopping to talk with people from all the other countries lined up along the way. then they had a hard time sitting down so the rest of the program could start. the emcee kept shouting, "move along kenya! move along! no, don't stop there! keep walking! now sit down in your section. sit down! don't get back up! ok, everyone! just sit where you are!" haha! so typical. i love you, Kenya. also, please note the diversity even withinthe country of Kenya. first you've got your typical Nairobians there in front with jeans and t-shirts, then a lady wearing what looks like traditional kikuyu dress, then a lady in Maasai dress (maybe? hope no one's offended by my misidentification here), then the little baby Kenyan girl of South Asian descent wearing a khanga dress, followed by another different traditionally dressed lady, and then the cool South Asian high school students walking behind her. All Kenyan; very different.

i think these kids i'm hanging out with are shaping my heart and changing my worldview as much or more than i hope to be a part of God shaping and changing theirs.