Some colored pencils and a guitar

Sometimes unexplainable things happen. It seems as if the longer I am here in Africa, the more frequent those things become. I have been meaning to write about one of those times for about three weeks. At Huruma, I've been teaching creative arts class for some of the different classes as much as time and class schedules allow. Three weeks ago, I had the opportunity to work with the second graders. The following is a just a retelling of all that happened that morning. This is an excerpt from my journal about that day. Before beginning I'd to tell you about two of the children that are in that class.

One of the little boy is named Nicholas. He is deaf. I don't know why he is deaf or if he's been deaf since birth but he is a beautiful little boy that always seems to have a smile on his face.

One of the little girls is named Miracle. She has an amazing story. When she was little, her parents found out that they had both contracted HIV and that their children had it as well. In Kenya, there is a huge stigma around HIV and AIDS because of the fundamental Christian influence and the fact that HIV is a sexually transmitted disease. Miracle's parents decided that they didn't want to deal with having HIV... they didn't want that stigma placed on their family. So they hung themselves. They hung themselves in their living room in front of their children's eyes. Right in front of two year old Miracle. She does remember it. When she came to Huruma, she tested positive for HIV. However, after some time, she was tested again, and the test results were reversed- she was negative. That is unheard of... They renamed her Miracle.

Thursday, November 8, 2007
Creative Arts Class- Grade 2

Yesterday before lunch I went to Jodie's class to do their creative arts time. For the first thirty minutes or so, we talked about what it means to be creative. A lot of them said that playing football, singing, dancing, and drawing were part of their own personal creativity. I thought about how they all have innate creativity within them and how it is largely ignored and even suppressed in some cases. It seems that the teachers do not emphasize creativity whatsoever and in teaching creative arts I have met with some resistance because the teachers don't think it is important.

We started our little session with a singalong. We sang "How Great Thou Art," "Awesome God," "I'll Fly Away," and "Silent Night." At the end of the singalong, Jodie came back with paper and colored pencils. This was the part that I was excited about.

Two days before, I remembered something that my English professor did with us my senior year and thought I would try it with the kids. He had us all sit down, dimmed the lights, and played one song on repeat for the remainder of the class time. We were encouraged to listen to the song twice through and then to begin to write... writing whatever came to mind from the song whether it be prose, poetry, or lyrical. It was one of those times in life where you feel something happen inside you... you can't explain it, but you know that something was different and my writing that day reflected that. Because of that memory, I wanted to try it with the kids.

I asked the kids to sit down, separate at their desks and to put their heads down. I explained I would play a song and that I just wanted them to listen to the song, keeping their heads down and not talking with their classmates. I began to play "Mexico" by Jump Little Children. As I played and began to sing, a feeling of peace swept over the room... I watched as peaceful expressions washed over their faces and many of them began to smile. Even Nicholas, the deaf boy was smiling. I feel like he felt the music rather than heard it because his whole demeanor changed as I began to play.

After the song was over, I asked them to lift their heads and begin to draw or write whatever they felt after hearing the song. I asked them not to talk with their classmates and to keep their eyes on their own papers. They did exactly as they were told. I began the song again and played for about thirty minutes as they sat and listened and drew. I don't remember feeling that peaceful or that happy in a long time.

At the end of the time, I silently put my guitar away and walked around the classroom to see what they had drawn. My heart began to flutter, beating faster as tears came to my eyes. Probably 80% of the kids had drawn hearts...some drew one heart, some drew lots of small hearts, some drew Jodie and I with hearts around us. Even some of the boys drew hearts. (Well, of course one boy drew a lion and the other traced an elephant... that would have been me.) The deaf boy, who is actually extremely artistic, drew a heart. Even now, I still can't totally believe it or hope to comprehend what happened that morning. They hadn't seen each other's work, but they had drawn hearts as I played the music.

A class filled with the world's abandoned, orphaned, sick, destitute, and abused children drew hearts and wrote about love. The song didn't directly speak of love, but they drew hearts. Out of thirteen kids, ten drew hearts.

There are so many implications of what happened that morning. The power of music....I have aways wondered if music actually does have power. But apparently, music is able to convey love, thereby giving music some sort of supernatural quality. I will never understand what happened in that room and I won't attempt to understand now.

I have struggled with how to love these children... the abused, the abandoned, the destitute, and the dying. I have tried so hard to do something to change the world for them. I have tried so hard to wrap my mind around the big picture and fix things for them. But all it took was a guitar and a voice to convey more love than I could have ever come up with on my own. Something happened in that room that science and reason cannot explain. Something happened that was beyond my human understanding.

I think that was the simplest and yet most profound experience of my life. Don't overcomplicate love. Just love. I cannot explain or understand what happened that day... I just wanted to tell you about it. Smile about the children and go out and love someone today.

lovewill

"In a world overwhelmed with words, sometimes the most powerful communication is action that is fueled and inspired by love."

God, I want so much for you to open my eyes, because they need me to look into theirs.

P.S. This morning I was sitting and writing and I heard this crazy loud song coming down the road. As it drew closer I recognized Johnny Cash singing about being the man... And when it drove by I realized it was a presidential propaganda car... They go around blaring propaganda about a certain candidate in the election... and it was blaring Johnny Cash. HAHAHAHAHA!!!

:-)