It is 10:15 Monday morning and after a three-week break the girls have returned, eagerly diving into Daraja Academy’s second term. As I type a group of five girls are running from their physics lab to English class. Laughing as they go, Mary K., the girl leading the group unknowingly dropped some thing. It must have been small, a pen or pencil, because from my office 20 yards away I missed it… but Lillian didn’t.
Mary K. (we have two Mary’s) and Lillian became very close last term and both blossomed because of the friendship.
Mary’s mom works very hard to provide for a family of kids with no father around, while Lillian’s father was killed in a road accident last October, four years after her mother died from a bad headache (meningitis). Many people become removed and unapproachable after such hardships, but not these two. Their dogged determination to embrace life is truly inspiring. I watched as Lillian slid to a stop, ran back for the item and returned it to her friend. They hugged and like a clip out of a movie, draped their arms over the other’s shoulder and disappeared into the classroom. Honestly, I would be embarrassed to make this stuff up!!!
I am not sure why, but seeing our students in their navy blue and grey Daraja Academy uniforms nev