Art Exhibit at the Kouna Trust Centre for Visual Arts

Friends and Family,

We are exhausted and all I can say is that I cannot sleep until I share our great experience. Today we started off going to pick up so final pieces of art that our Form 4 class wanted to finish overnight for the show. I popped out of the van to go into the Principal Beatrice office where the art was waiting for me. She and another faculty member Bernard said that now that they have continued to see this talent, their are questioning is they should not be appealing the Ministry of Education to have Art be a part of their core curriculum. I was speechless and in a hurry because Margaret and I needed to "hang the show" at Kouna Trust. To think that our art program may change the format of the curriculum for St. Al's. I cannot believe it.

So off we went, grabbed lunch quickly and Margaret and I had our work cut out for us. We had a show to hang which based on Margaret's experience was going to be her gig. She basically laid out all the art in the gallery group it together and while she was doing this, I was creating and working with the Kouna Trust head of School Programs to create the program that would be distributed and get the names on the paper for the art work so there was recognition of the students art.

We were done by 4:30m the exhibition was to take place at 6:30pm. It was great. We looked at each other and were happy that we did it. They asked us one last time if we were done and then they closed the gallery so to clean it and not open it til time to show. This piece of professionalism was interesting and well received. We hung out and had some of the food that was prepared for the reception in advance of the arrival of our 60 students and administrators and guest and took it all in. This was the real deal and great to see not only how important this is to our students and us, but how important it was to Thom at Kouna Trust to make this go well. Margaret changed into a delightful outfit, I put on a bowtie and a sports coat and we were set.

Well, then their is Kenyan Time and traffic. The bus left the school at 5pm to arrive across town at 6:30pm and they arrived at 7:05. Oh well.....The traffic during commute time is horrible and then add Friday to the equation and it is really bad. While we waited, one of our guest arrived, Sr. Mary Owens, the Executive Director of Nyumbani home which is the AIDs orphanage in Kenya. I am on the Board of Directors of this organization and first meet Mary on the trip in 2007. It was great that she came to support and she loved it.

The students showed and all was well. The students, faculty and staff came from the bus and walking on the grounds taking it all in and in a fashion that we created three years ago insisted on shaking the hands of both Margaret and I as they entered. We started this the first year where we would stand outside our class and greet each student by shaking their hand and they still do it with us three yeas later. As they filled the gallery there was all this noise and excitement and picture taking and oohhhs and ahhhhs and asking the principal to come look at this or to have a picture taken with their work. It was a buzz I had never seen before. I was in heaven, shocked, internally emotional and pleased. I looked over and in a mere glance at Margaret, I could tell she was experiencing the exact same thing. We had felt like the work that we came to do with this program had been realized. I was and am still in shock.

Margaret asked me to represent us and do a speech and I did. I enjoyed being able to thank them for all that they do to make such great art and to remind them that the whole reason that we come each year is to be with these smart, beautiful and important people that we are are some clearly fond of. In true Kenyan fashion, immediately following my speech the power went out.

I laughed outload and things just carried on. People were taken pictures in the dark, people we eating food outside and walking around enjoying themselves and did not even care that the power was out. We were convening with one another celebrating artists and sharing their body of work that they put together this week to hang. Impressed and proud does not truly capture the feelings that Margaret and I feel but its all I can come up with.

As we were all gathered eating food, drinking soda and wine for adults and taking in the event, Sarah, Jamie and Consuelo all from of the Masters in Conflict Resolution program at Georgetown University showed up. It was great. I explained that the power went out, we grabbed a candle and toured them through the show. They loved it and all the students loved them. They grabbed wine and took it all in and hung out with the students. It was just great. It has been nice to share this with so many people that we are connected with in DC and especially for me with reference to Jamie who was an intern in the Presidents office and worked with me for almost a year on the Georgetown Africa Interest Network (GAIN).

As we loaded the bus to return the student/artist home, the light came back on....As always, nothing goes as you expect in Kenya. We all laughed. The few things that came out of this was that Thom and Patrick of Kouna Trust are committed to partnering with us on this annually and I believe in the coming years, art will be part of the official curriculum at St. Al's.

On our drive home, the principal Beatrice, Bernard and John, faculty members, drove with us because they do not live in Kibera which is where the bus was returning the students. I thanked Beatrice and them for coming and allowing us to deliver this program. Beatrice looked at me and said, "we should be thanking you. The sacrifice you and Margaret make is what makes this a success". Not once in the three years of delivering this program would I have characterized any element of this as a sacrifice. None of it. I asked Margaret and she said not at all. Maybe we have to work here with the program and still tend to our responsibilities at Georgetown or have difficulty scheduling to get away, but sacrifice, not at all. I call this a gift we are given. We get as much out of this as the students do, and maybe on somedays, more.

We have Saturday Studio from 9am to noon or I would be posting pictures with this blog tonight, more to come.

Be well,

Charles and Margaret