  |  Top: Ibrahim’s former primary school. Left, top: John Paul Wasiro (of Alfajiri.org), Ibrahim, and I. Left: Ibrahim and his younger brother. Above: A young neighborhood boy who “was hanging about the school fence. Once brought in, he displayed great eagerness to learn, his reading skills already surpass other students |
Few things can bring one as much joy as being able to see someone grow toward their potential. Whether as a parent, elder, sibling, teacher, or mentor of any age, witnessing another blossoming is an extraordinarily beautiful experience.
As I’ve written about and happily updated for the last few years (see my website essays on Alfajiri in Feb. 2022, 2023, & 2024), my young friend Ibrahim continues to take steps forward against all odds. As an infant he was born into a terrible circumstance in a slum; abused as an infant he suffered a head injury that put him in a coma and he was not expected to live. Defying all, he then had to survive the poverty of his world, and find his way beyond still more abuse, destitution, and starvation, followed by understandable addictions which gave him a means to cope with the deep injustices he had endured, all before he was even 14.
We met in 2022, when he was about that age. Something about his quiet focus and gentle presence impressed me then. Through exemplary efforts by my friends Ann Boyd and John Paul Wasiro of Alfajiri, despite some setbacks, he has steadily gained his footing. So it is my great joy to make the effort to visit him in his hometown of Isiolo, Kenya. It’s a small crossroads city about four hours north of Nairobi.
Once again my stalwart friend Paul Gene Goto agreed to drive John Paul and I on the long journey, up and back in one day. This included a final route on a meandering maze from a school, over storm-drenched and deeply pitted, soft-mud roads that rarely support vehicles. The two of us in the front seat barely contained our mutual anxiety through the labyrinth. As he put it: “If we get stuck, we are walking and getting a room for the night, because we will not locate a vehicle anywhere nearby to pull us out!” Only his very skilled handling of his Prius through terrain that might have put a Land Rover to the test, extricated us (amazingly!) without incident.
~~~
Journey aside, it made my heart soar to be able to sit next to Ibrahim, a once dminutive, soft-spoken young teen, and recognize he’s turning into a tall, solid, responsible young man. Alfajiri deserves great credit for guiding him, but largely Ibrahim, who never knew his father and lost his mother two years ago, with minimal support from extended family members, has done the hard work. Day after day staying disciplined amid not only typical teen age distractions, but basic living challenges few of us could begin to handle.
And now he is moving beyond all his impediments. He is in trade school, learning the basics of welding, and soon carpentry, window work, and building gates. I could not be more thrilled for him! He continues to impress and inspire me. He has touched my life in a very special way.
We also were able to go to his former primary school, adjacent a severely impoverished neighborhood, and visit with his younger brother, who Ibrahim has stepped up to look after best he is able. I wish more people who live in modern industrialized nations like the US could experience these settings. It is so enlightening to see the bare block buildings with spare interiors, daylight from windows the primary light source, dirt courtyards and sometimes floors, too many children packed into one room, many of whom are going without substantial meals on a daily basis.
But imagery doesn’t reveal the whole story, either, because, as I have experienced again and again, these young people getting by in situations we can barely fathom, are as often as not incredibly appreciative of the chance to learn. They are delighted and positively beam at the sight of a Muzungu coming to visit — and nearly fall over one another with excitement, waving to get my attention or a response to their shouts of “Hallo!” “How are YOU?!”
Their genuine joy in the most simple, unmarketable, non-purchasable experiences pierces through the falsehoods of so much of what we are told (or unconsciously trained) will bring us happiness. And also deeply touch one’s heart. The whole experience recalibrates one’s world, and reframes the idiocy of our consumerism and the divisive attitudes being promoted right now by too many in our society, especially tragically, by our so called “leaders.”
These are the experiences that refine and reshape my life, and help me gain perspective on what is real and important and deserving of my energy.
.
Few things can bring one as much joy as being able to see someone grow toward their potential. Whether as a parent, elder, sibling, teacher, or mentor of any age, witnessing another blossoming is an extraordinarily beautiful experience.
As I’ve written about and happily updated for the last few years (see my website essays on Alfajiri in Feb. 2022, 2023, & 2024), my young friend Ibrahim continues to take steps forward against all odds. As an infant he was born into a terrible circumstance in a slum; abused as an infant he suffered a head injury that put him in a coma and he was not expected to live. Defying all, he then had to survive the poverty of his world, and find his way beyond still more abuse, destitution, and starvation, followed by understandable addictions which gave him a means to cope with the deep injustices he had endured, all before he was even 14.
We met in 2022, when he was about that age. Something about his quiet focus and gentle presence impressed me then. Through exemplary efforts by my friends Ann Boyd and John Paul Wasiro of Alfajiri, despite some setbacks, he has steadily gained his footing. So it is my great joy to make the effort to visit him in his hometown of Isiolo, Kenya. It’s a small crossroads city about four hours north of Nairobi.
Once again my stalwart friend Paul Gene Goto agreed to drive John Paul and I on the long journey, up and back in one day. This included a final route on a meandering maze from a school, over storm-drenched and deeply pitted, soft-mud roads that rarely support vehicles. The two of us in the front seat barely contained our mutual anxiety through the labyrinth. As he put it: “If we get stuck, we are walking and getting a room for the night, because we will not locate a vehicle anywhere nearby to pull us out!” Only his very skilled handling of his Prius through terrain that might have put a Land Rover to the test, extricated us (amazingly!) without incident.
~~~
Journey aside, it made my heart soar to be able to sit next to Ibrahim, a once dminutive, soft-spoken young teen, and recognize he’s turning into a tall, solid, responsible young man. Alfajiri deserves great credit for guiding him, but largely Ibrahim, who never knew his father and lost his mother two years ago, with minimal support from extended family members, has done the hard work. Day after day staying disciplined amid not only typical teen age distractions, but basic living challenges few of us could begin to handle.
And now he is moving beyond all his impediments. He is in trade school, learning the basics of welding, and soon carpentry, window work, and building gates. I could not be more thrilled for him! He continues to impress and inspire me. He has touched my life in a very special way.
We also were able to go to his former primary school, adjacent a severely impoverished neighborhood, and visit with his younger brother, who Ibrahim has stepped up to look after best he is able. I wish more people who live in modern industrialized nations like the US could experience these settings. It is so enlightening to see the bare block buildings with spare interiors, daylight from windows the primary light source, dirt courtyards and sometimes floors, too many children packed into one room, many of whom are going without substantial meals on a daily basis.
But imagery doesn’t reveal the whole story, either, because, as I have experienced again and again, these young people getting by in situations we can barely fathom, are as often as not incredibly appreciative of the chance to learn. They are delighted and positively beam at the sight of a Muzungu coming to visit — and nearly fall over one another with excitement, waving to get my attention or a response to their shouts of “Hallo!” “How are YOU?!”
Their genuine joy in the most simple, unmarketable, non-purchasable experiences pierces through the falsehoods of so much of what we are told (or unconsciously trained) will bring us happiness. And also deeply touch one’s heart. The whole experience recalibrates one’s world, and reframes the idiocy of our consumerism and the divisive attitudes being promoted right now by too many in our society, especially tragically, by our so called “leaders.”
These are the experiences that refine and reshape my life, and help me gain perspective on what is real and important and deserving of my energy.
.
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