Seri's cross culture porch

Even Cross-Cultural Solutions would've had a hard time dreaming up the cross culture that happened on Seri's porch.

       My roommates' name is actually Sarah, but there were too many Sarah's at CCS, so we changed it.  Seri's volunteer job was with AMKA School.  They had just recently opened a second school called AMKA STEP UP in an impoverished village, and Seri, who has a teaching degree, was to be the nursery school teacher.  Oliveri, the other teacher there, taught the primary age kids in the one-room school, and Seri's classroom was on the concrete porch.  She had only a few students, and asked the director about it.
       "Don't worry. The village has to come to know us and trust us. It will take time." 

       One day Seri came in from work, flopped down on the bed and said,
       "The porch looks a little like a prison cell.  I think some paint would brighten it up for the kids."
       "I love to paint, I'll help you." Said Jennifer, our other roommate.
       I chimed in, "Me too, I want to help."
       From out in the sitting area we heard Craig's voice,
       "Count me in."
       Within moments of the dream, Seri had a paint crew.  She seemed a little floored and said,
       "Well ok then, how about this weekend?"  Seri cleared it with the powers that be, grabbed her Tshillings, and went to buy paint.  By Saturday word had spread and more volunteers showed up ready to work.  We all agreed when we saw it for the first time that, although it was a great porch, it looked pretty dismal.

       We laughed and cut up as we painted for several hours, putting on the first coat.  The concrete soaked up the paint.  What a difference it made in the entire feel of the classroom!  We were thrilled and couldn't wait to see it with a second coat.  We celebrated with a beer at Mzungu Bar.

One of the teacher's from the other AMKA joined in, along with another Sarah

woohoo!

       We waited for Seri to get home from work on Monday to hear what  the kids had to say about their new room.  She told us they each stopped cold at the door as it registered in their brains, then they shouted with delight and went to touch the paint.  They ran their little hands all over the beautiful blue and green.  One boy actually hugged the wall.  The mood of the classroom was lifted.

wall hug

       The next Sunday we went back for a second coat, and decided to paint the back wall as well.  While we painted, an idea came to Jennifer.  Her placement was at Upendo Art School for kids where they taught art in addition to the basic subjects.  She told Seri that she knew a teenage boy who was an artist that volunteered at her school, and helped with the children.  She said,
       "He's a really good artist and I'll bet he would come over and paint some animals on this wall for you."  Seri loved the idea, so Jennifer called Josie.

Oliveri lands a hand

Jennifer, trim expert

craig cleans up

       After a consultation with Seri and Jenn, Josie was so excited that he called Jennifer every day and asked,
       "Is this the day I paint? Can I paint yet?"
       His enthusiasm was contagious, and by the time paint day did come around he had two of his roommates who wanted to help as well.  Josie, Nickie, and Rogie live in a ghetto in the village of Rau.  Here, a ghetto means something different from what we know.  It means that these boys are underage and they live on their own in a small house.  For whatever reason, they no longer have parents taking care of them, and they survive by living together, pooling resources.  There are five of them in this ghetto, one being a little brother who is quite young.  The three are all artists who try to sell their paintings whenever they can to buy food.

       Every Monday when the kids came back to school there was something new.  
       "How about some numbers too?" Seri asked as she admired the boy's work.
       I mused, "Seri, when word spreads about this porch, the village will know you care."

       After  several weekends of work, as they neared the end, Josie asked Seri and Jenn if they could paint a mural of Zanzibar on the far wall.  

       "Please give us more time and allow us to paint a beautiful mural for the children.   It will take two days.  You must say yes."  

       Seri teared up.  They had already invested so many hours and weren't being paid.   Jenn looked a little concerned.  

       "Boys, my time at CCS is up and I must return to the states.  Can I trust you to finish this to completion?"  They enthusiastically agreed.  "In that case, here is money for cab fare to get you back and forth. (It was about an hours walk.)  If you want  to walk, then you can use the money for food, but the cab fare is here so you will be able to finish for Seri." 

        She took the boys out for a good-bye lunch to thank them, and they ate everything in sight.

finishing touches

masters of the fine art

Seri and her amazing classroom

       The new school year always starts after Christmas, which is their summer break.  In the meantime, Seri volunteered at several orphanages which don't take a break. It was fun and rewarding, but Seri was excited to get back to her little class. 

                                                                Seri's new students...