School-Wide Assembly: The Regis-St. Aloysius Gonzaga Quest Retreat Experiment in the Kibera slum, Nairobi, Kenya

Transcription

1 REGIS HIGH SCHOOL Office of the Assistant Principal 55 East 84 Street New York, NY (212) Fax: (212) School-Wide Assembly: The Regis-St. Aloysius Gonzaga Quest Retreat Experiment in the Kibera slum, Nairobi, Kenya Transcript of speeches delivered at the first Assembly of the School Year September 19, 2011 Kristin Ross Assistant Principal: INTRODUCTION: It is great to begin our second week of classes with not only our first assembly of the year, but with a school-wide assembly. To the freshmen, who are here at your first Regis assembly, you should know that we have these gatherings once an academic cycle on A-days, but not always as a full school group like today. Sometimes you will have a large scale assembly like this, and other times it will be with just your class, or with the class ahead of you. We hold assemblies on a variety of topics that are of interest to our community everything from the more routine topics like explaining school processes or procedures, to celebrating academic achievement, sharing talents of students and interests of the faculty, to representing milestones in the life of our school community and exploring cultural topics that do not otherwise fit in our standard curriculum. These assemblies will often be led by a student or faculty member, and we very frequently have guest speakers or visitors join us as well. It is fitting that we begin this year s assembly program sharing a bit about a recent endeavor that really is at the heart of what we are all about here at Regis: our work in Kibera, and our relationship with St. Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School in Nairobi, Kenya, the world s only secondary school for AIDS orphans. Our two schools share a very special connection, in that we are the only all-scholarship, Jesuit schools in the world. We are blessed to have St. Al s Founder and Chaplain, Fr. Terry Charlton, here with us today. I am here just by way of offering an introduction, to the main show that will follow. I d like to begin with some context of the story you will learn about this morning, that is, the trip Ms. Early, Mr. Carroll, myself, along with seniors Ryan Phillips, Charlie Patton, Kevin Barker, John Balletta and Evan Lumbra took this summer to Nairobi for our first ever Regis-St. Aloysius Quest Retreat experiment. It really all began around last November, with a short meeting in Dr. Tocchet s office during Fr. Terry s last visit to Regis. Building on the visit Fr. Judge and Ms. Early took the previous summer to St. Al s, we were exploring what more we could do to build the Regis and St. Aloysius partnership in the year ahead. During that meeting, we batted around the dream of sending a Regis team to St. Aloysius, to help the Kenyan students experience their first ever spiritual retreat. St. Al s is a fairly new school, as you will learn about in detail from Fr. Terry in the time ahead. They are not yet fortunate enough to have the abundant resources we enjoy every day here at Regis. The school did not have the means to offer religious retreats to their students, and we all agreed it would be a wonderful experiment to have a group from Regis visit St. Al s and lead their students on retreat. The idea was that Regis would share this gift of our retreat tradition with St. Al s, who would then have the blessing of retreats in their community, by continuing on in

2 that tradition. It would be one Jesuit school working tightly with another, in the best possible sense. It was a big idea to have, for sure, and looking back on it now I am both amazed and grateful at how far it went. In short order, with the full support of Fr. Judge and Dr. Tocchet, and under the sheer devotion of Ms. Early and the commitment of Mr. Carroll, we selected a team of then juniors who applied for this experience. Over the course of the remainder of last school year, as Ms. Early worked on all of the details and arrangements -- big and small and there were many -- the first ever Regis-St. Aloysius Quest Retreat Experiment came to life. Ms. Early and Mr. Carroll met regularly every week with Kevin, Charlie, Evan, Ryan and John, as they prepared for the experience of leading a retreat at another school one in a vastly different culture than our own. They worked to make the religious retreat experienced tailored to the needs of the St. Al s student body, which is comprised of all African teenagers, both boys and girls, some who are not Catholic and all who have lost one or more parent to the AIDS epidemic. This was a challenge for the retreat leadership team, and loads of time and effort was poured in to making our version of the retreat fit for St. Aloysius. While doing so, we also learned a lot about the cultural and historical perspective of the African region we were visiting, to properly inform the very personal retreat work we would be undertaking with the St. Al s students. The extensive preparation culminated in our visit in June to Kenya. As a point of note, for those that are not familiar with the geography of the region, Kenya is in East Africa and the neighboring East African countries include Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Ethopia and Rowanda. The team spent about three weeks in and around the Kibera slums of Nairobi, and that is the experience you will hear about in today s assembly. During our time there, the team held two retreats, first for the boys and then a second for the girls. When the retreats were completed, we spent the remainder of the days visiting St. Aloysius School just about every afternoon, working and playing with the students, sharing about Regis and learning from them. During our mornings we visited a variety of organizations around Nairobi including the local Jesuit parish in the Kangemi slum, the Jesuit Refugee Service, Nyumbani Orphanage, which is an orphanage for AIDS orphans run by an Irish nun, the Hakimani Center for Peace and Justice, where we learned a great deal about the Kenyan government and the work of the Jesuits throughout East Africa, and the Foundation of Hope, an organization founded by a graduate of St. Aloysius, located in the original school building in Kibera, that is dedicated to outreach efforts to the youth of the slum. As you will hear about in just a few moments from the retreat leaders, we met some truly incredible people who are doing amazing work that served to both inspire and motivate us to follow their lead. And finally, near the end of our time in Kenya, as a reward for the hard work of the guys, we were even able to visit overnight the famous Masai Mara game reserve. I will tell you that it really is difficult to describe just how incredible our shared experience was. I consider my time in Nairobi with the students from St. Aloysius to be perhaps the most meaningful professional experience I have ever had, and certainly among the most moving personal experiences as well. I am absolutely blessed to have had the opportunity to be a part of this endeavor. I am especially grateful to have had the chance to see our students interact with the St. Al's kids. It was wonderful to see how easy and natural it all was, and to have experienced it first hand, with my own eyes. To me, this whole project represented in a very real way the true mission of Regis. And the team the five guys and two faculty who are up with me here today -- were at the heart of making this possible. Regis, St. Aloysius and our students may be very different on the surface level, but it was obvious to me the deep similarities that connect us. There were so many quiet and unscripted moments where I saw our guys modeling exactly the characteristics we hope to see in Regians - unwavering generosity, compassion, selfless kindness, leadership, faith and a real willingness to connect with people from very different 2

3 backgrounds. With wonderful regularity and without any need to be noticed, these Regians connected with the St. Al s students, and made them feel comfortable and at ease. Real friendships were made. It was truly exceptional, and it made me so proud to be a part of the experience. I have worked at Regis for a long time, and I have never been more proud of a program or of our students than I was of this retreat. It was incredible to have the familiar experience of working toward something that is wholly at the heart of us here at Regis -- as this retreat is yet doing so in an entirely new and unfamiliar setting. This was not just a service trip, nor was it simply an emersion trip. Given the goal of an introduction of the tradition of faith that has become the cornerstone of the Regis experience to a fellow Jesuit school, this was something entirely unique and special. The truth is, we went to Kibera to share something of ours, but the end result was that we gained so much more than we gave. Experiences like the one you will hear about this morning do not come to fruition without the hard work and diligence of faculty, administrators, students and in the case of this particular group, their families. I came home from the trip in early July feeling like I learned so much, in so many ways. I have looked forward to the chance to share this experience with the Regis community, and to explore our next steps as a community in continuing to support the Regis-St. Al s partnership. Ryan Phillips HISTORY OF KIBERA: Good morning guys. My name is Ryan Phillips and I m part of the team that made the trip to Kenya this past summer. Though many of you have probably heard a little bit about Kibera over the past couple years, I m here to offer some context about what Kibera really is and how it came about over the past century. Kibera, meaning forest in Nubian, is a settlement located in the Nairobi Area of Kenya and was started by Nubian soldiers who fought with the Allies in the First World War as payment for their service from the British colonial government. In the following decades, Kibera grew as an informal settlement as various Kenyan tribes moved into the area and this ethnic diversity would come to be the cause of various political and gang conflicts throughout the 20 th and 21 st centuries. The Kibera slum is now divided up into 13 villages, bordered by the heavily polluted Nairobi river as well as the Nairobi dam. The 2009 Kenya population and Housing Census reported Kibera s population as just over 170,000 people though this is considered to be a very low estimate. Other estimates from sources like the International Housing Coalition put the population of Kibera at 800,000 and still some others at over 1,000,000. Because of Kibera s informal nature, it is highly difficult to come to an accurate estimate on the population. The Kenyan government technically owns all of the land on which Kibera is located, which is part of the reason why very few permanent multi-story buildings have been constructed in the area. At any time, the government can choose to bulldoze parts of the Kibera settlement and reclaim the land. Though the government owns the land, it refuses to acknowledge that the slum exists at all. Kibera has no basic services: no public schools, clinics, electricity, running water, public bathrooms, and no sewage system whatsoever. The streets and alleyways of Kibera as well as the Nairobi River are essentially an open sewer. In terms of education, Kibera has various private schools, for which tuition is almost always needed, with St. Al s as the significant exception of course. Despite the modest schooling, the vast majority of children remain trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty, never leaving Kibera in their lifetimes. 3

4 Evan, John, Charlie and Kevin will now go into detail about what our experience in Kibera and at St. Al s was like. Evan Lumbra A WALK THROUGH KIBERA: One of the most eye-opening experiences on our trip was the actual walk through the Kibera slum. All of us had already seen pictures of the area and heard descriptions of what it would be like, but not even that could fully prepare us for what we would see, smell, and hear firsthand. Our first morning in Nairobi, we drove to the edges of the Kibera slum where we met up with Fr. Terry. He led us further into the slum, past tiny stores, many of which had tin walls dressed up with Coke advertisements, along dirt pathways that led us to the original St. Al's school. Now used as a primary school, it seemed to just blend in with the rest of the slum with its dirt floors and metal sides, it didn't look like a school at all, or at least not like any that we had ever seen. After our tour, we set back out to walk through the slum to the new school in an area called Langata just outside of Kibera, led by new friends from the Foundation of Hope which Kevin will tell you more about in minute. We traveled up and down hills along a wide, uneven road that ran alongside the Nairobi River, polluted with garbage and pigs roaming along its edges. The stench of raw sewage lingered in the air along with the voices of small children almost chanting "how are you" over and over as they watched us foreigners pass. Some people would even smile and say "hakuna matata," correctly assuming it was a phrase we would know. It was impossible to see where one house ended and the next began, so cramped they seemed to melt together. At a few points, we could peer down the narrow alleyways which broke up the rows of shacks stacked one on top of the other. And as we looked down these slim muddy passages, it looked as if it went on forever, and you could tell that there must be hundreds of other little rooms used as houses packed deeper and deeper into where we couldn't even see. And despite the smell of refuse, the trash-filled river, and the muddy roads, the people were remarkably clean... probably more well kempt than most Regis students. We passed tons of people walking to work, emerging onto the road from within the tight alleys without a single wrinkle in their clothing, the women often traveling in heels. It wasn't difficult to tell where Kibera ended and Langata began. The uneven road turned into pavement, and the tin housing was left behind. Now the houses we passed were professionally built with fences and walls parceling out the properties. Finally, we reached the new St. Aloysius building. This time, it actually did look like a school. Each of us was paired with a student, and we were given tours of the building and even ate lunch and played basketball with some of the guys. Through the tours and conversations, it was easy to see just how much pride they took in the fact that they are able to attend a school like St. Al's in a new building outside of the slum where they all live and that was so startling to the rest of us. John Balletta ST.AL S DAY: To start off, I want to make clear that, while Hakuna Matata is indeed Swahili for no worries or problems, nobody in Kenya actually says it. Sorry. 4

5 On our first Sunday in Kenya, we went to the St. Aloysius Gonzaga Feast Day celebration and Mass at the school. What had been the school s outdoor volleyball and basketball court became a makeshift church. We, along with our student partners from the school, sat in folding chairs underneath a tent by the altar. Directly across from us was the choir, which was huge compared to the size of the school. Kenyans just really love to sing and perform. The air was wrought with anticipation for the start of the Mass. Celebrating Mass that day was the provincial of the Jesuit province of East Africa. He led the procession, followed by Father Terry and a priest from Georgetown, then some 30 boys and girls dancing their way down the aisle. The choir, on cue, burst into song. You know those songs in church that you look at quickly and see that there are six verses? But luckily only two get sung? At St. Al s, everyone sings every verse, claps to every beat, and dances along with it. As soon as the keyboard turned on and automatically went to that Jazz Organ sound mode, everybody got up and sang with all their strength. Sometimes they sang in Swahili, and although we couldn t understand exactly what was being said, we felt it. Their voices were beautiful and powerful and like nothing I ve ever heard before. It was no surprise that the patron of the choir, Mr. Bernard, announced that CDs would be sold after the Mass. Unfortunately, I didn t have enough schillings on me at the time. One of my favorite parts of the Mass was when they brought up the Gospel. They covered two of the older boys with a cloth and sat a smaller boy on top holding a book, sort of like Jesus Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem from the Bible. Of course, it was followed by more singing and dancing and a couple of laughs. The provincial had the widest grin when he received the book, and began to read from it. He gave a beautiful homily in which he demonstrated the connection between St. Al s and the Holy Trinity. After the Mass ended well, it s tough to say when that was. Speakers came up to the altar from the faculty and gave speeches, students performed in between the tents, and groups like Foundation of Hope did their own dance, which combined break-dancing and traditional African dance. Loyola Academy from Chicago also got up to do their own thing, but it was pretty bad. Afterwards, we each got up and helped ourselves to portions of rice, beans, boiled beef, and ugali (kind of like grits, but with mashed potato texture, and add tomato sauce (basically thin ketchup). The students at St. Al s expressed their deep spirituality (which you ll see more clearly during Charlie s talk about Quest) through very active participation. Although the Mass format may have seemed foreign to us at first, the whole St. Al s Day experience was rich in culture, faith, and an infinite amount of joy. Charlie Patton THE QUEST RETREATS: The main reason we went over to Kibera was to host a Quest Retreat. Quest is an introspective retreat that focuses mainly on the relationships in your life (with yourself, with others, with God); all of you will go/have gone on this retreat in sophomore year. There were two Quests, one for the junior boys, one for the junior girls, and each lasted 2 and a half days, just like our Quests at Regis. Our Quests followed the same basic outline as the Quests at home, but there were a couple of major differences. One obvious difference was the fact that there were girls on one of the retreats. Girls have never been on Quest, and I was wondering if it would even work as far as them listening to us and stuff. I envisioned talking with the girls while they whispered to each other in Swahili and laughed. This did happen, but it really didn t last beyond the first day. The girls shyness wore off as we got to know them better, and they really started to take in the messages of Quest. We went into the girls Quest thinking our biggest challenge would be the free time they wouldn t know how to play sports, they ll probably just 5

6 want to sit around and talk to each other, and we would be confined to our rooms, forced to read or take a nap. Our free time with the girls turned out to be anything but that we were constantly playing soccer, taking pictures, chasing local cats and turtles, and enjoying each other s company. On the boys Quest, things in my and Mr. Carroll s group got out to a rocky start. We had 15 minutes of silence in our 25 minute small group session, a period of time that doesn t seem too long until you are the one leading what is supposed to be a discussion, and have seven faces staring at you without responding. Our group quickly rallied from that rocky start, and by the time we got to the big activity (juniors and seniors should know what that means), my seven guys were among the first to participate. Their stories had a layer of depth that I haven t seen in Regis Quests, and I m glad they opened me up to their perspective of life. Their faith in God inspired me to take a step back and realize how fortunate I was to have the opportunity to fly halfway across the world to talk to them. Although I thought I would be teaching the St. Al s juniors lessons on how to better Love, Learn, and Serve (their school motto), I came back from the experience having learned a lot more about myself and my own relationship with God. Both Quests allowed us to connect to the kids on a level beyond just group discussions, and into friendships. The Quest in Kibera allowed us to act out one of the key lessons in Quest that it s important to love without distinctions. Our friendships with the kids from St. Al s started at the Don Bosco Retreat Center, but hopefully they last a lot longer than the two weeks we were there. Kevin Barker SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS IN KIBERA AND NAIROBI: When we were not on Quest or visiting the St. Aloysius school, we were meeting and learning from organizations based in Nairobi, Kenya. Although we met multiple people and visited numerous groups, two stick out in my mind. The first is the Foundation of Hope. As Evan said, on our first day in Kenya, we walked through the Kibera slum. Our first stop on the walk was the old St. Al s school. David Dinda, the president of the Foundation of Hope, met us and guided us through the narrow alleyways to the organization s headquarters. Cramped into his small office, David told us of some of the Foundation of Hope s missions and goals. We learned that the group organizes youth sport games, talks to the community, and cleanups around the slum. When we visited a week later we again sat in a crowded room, listened to David, and talked to other members. The majority of the members were our age, high school kids. We talked about school, rap, my small knowledge of Swahili, and the English Premier League. Talking to the organizations members was easily one of the most enjoyable parts of the whole trip for me. With groups like the Foundation of Hope working hard to improve the community, I know that the future is very bright for Kibera. Another organization that we met was Nyumbani, which is home in Swahili. While Nyumbani reaches out to many different groups of people affected by HIV/AIDS, we visited the Home for Children with HIV/AIDS. Here we first listened to a brief history of Nyumbani, where we learned of its mission, needs, and hopes. The Children s Home cares for over a hundred children, ranging from newly born babies to a few as old as twenty years old. We toured the grounds, including the homes, school, and graveyard. Recently, the Nyumbani Center has gained access to drugs that are able to calm the effects of HIV. Previous to their implementation, the center on average lost a child every five months. Now, however, the center has not lost a child in several years. The youngest residents go to a school in the facility, so after 6

7 introducing ourselves, the teacher made time in their schedule for a special recess. There must have been about twenty kids, and each one had a huge smile on their face. The Nyumbani center took these children in from the street, after their parents had abandoned them. The orphanage cared for them and educated them. It is organizations like Nyumbani and Foundation of Hope that give me hope for a better future in Kibera. 7