Steiner students visit Familia Moja

I have just returned from a three-week trip to Africa accompanying 10 young people from Melbourne. We spent one week at Familia Moja where we stayed with Wambui and her family.  I was happy to see that work is progressing well on the new building and – the roof is now being constructed.

The children and their carers really are Familia Moja.  They welcomed the tired travelers on our first night and our group could not wait to return the next afternoon to meet the children again.

When the children were at school during the day, we helped out in the vegetable garden, under the ever-present eye of Timothy, the gardener, collected wood and generally helped out at the home.  We looked forward to the weekend when we could see more of the children.  One of the highlights for our students was the day they ran some art classes for the children.  It was wonderful to see such enthusiasm and absorption when the paper and water colours were produced.  The composite painting they produced was uniquely beautiful and we all wished it could be preserved.

The next day we took the children – all 12 of us and all 33 children from the orphanage loaded into two matatus – into Thika to the playground.  We had envisionaged green lawns, swings and other play equipment and had planned some games to play, but ‘playground’ Kenyan style is slightly different.  It was a small and dusty playground at the back of a restaurant.  Nevertheless, the activity was enjoyed by all – young and old alike.

During our stay Familia Moja celebrated their 5^th anniversary.  This was a surprise celebration for Wambui that her brothers planned and executed.  The whole of Wambui’s family arrived for the traditional slaughtering of the goat and a sheep and the children from the home came later to share in the rare treat of a meal of meat.

Even though our time there was short, our young people gained much from their experience.  What impressions will stay with them, time only will tell, but certainly those wonderful children will remain the central part of their experience.

Julie Sale is a Steiner School teacher who brought 10 students from Olinda on the outskirts of Melbourne and Sydney to Familia Moja during September 2012.