Clara Lee Ching Wah
Hi Milonga,
This is Clara from Hong Kong. I returned to Hong Kong and somehow still can’t believe I already had this experience in Kenya. It was like a dream but came true already.
Before my journey, I was very worried with a lot of aspects especially that it was my first time traveling to Africa. A lot of uncertaintities popped up even before my flight. So for me, I didn’t put a lot of goals to myself, instead, I was having an open mind to embrace whatever will come to me.
A friend, Venant came to pick me up. He was the newly assigned contact person for Milonga Project in kenya. He is nice and good to communicate. So whenever i got probems, he would settled for me. The first feeling of Kenya was COLD. I was so surprised. It really break out one of the sterotypes from me of Africa. And I realised Kenya is actually quite developed. It consists with areas which are very mordern but of course also a lot of places that are still in poor or misery too.
The people in Mariapolis Piero were very nice and welcoming. Since I was always alone in the house, they always came and check up on me. I really appreciate it.
My services were mainly in 2 schools. One is inside Piero, Rainbow School. I was working in DayCare and Pre-Primary 1 class with around 24 kids each. It was a very nice experience with them and also the teachers. I also discovered a new talent of myself, copy drawing skills. The second place I served was in Mathare,slum. A school called Magnificat Project. I used to work 2 days per week and assist the teachers mainly in preparing exercises and homeworks. I learnt a lot at this school also from the kids. They don’t have anything, but a pure heart, joy and simplicity.
At the end of the experience, I did a small fund raising donation to the Magnificat Project. I collected more than € 2000,00 donations from Hong Kong and bought stationaries for the whole school and the students. It was a very beautiful experience for me and also for the school.
Of course, there were also moments when it felt hard and tough to move on, but I think I was able to move on because whenever I saw the kids, I told myself “everything is ok”, it is worth to do because it is for them.
Overall, I thank Milonga Project, for providing me this chance to experience a very special and meaningful experience which is a super memorable one in my life. I know is impossible for me to change myself immediately after this experience but I know somehow it changed me in some mindset or my attitude toward living, to thanks for what I have now and treasure it. “Happiness is simple but not a must”.