Looking for the positives

The start of  a new term is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of new classes, the blank page - the new stationery mixed with the wistfulness of missing family and the slower days of Summer.
 For many children school is the one place that they have security. Following our visit to Kakuma refugee camp the first classroom from our fundraising is now built and will open shortly.
http://www.janehewitt.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/the-first-of-many.html
 Hopefully this is the first of many - we will keep you posted. I've been doing some editing today and looking back over my Kakuma photos - these are a few that I haven't shared before.

The two photos above are outside Hope school as we were leaving. Children desperate to wave for as long as possible - young children with nothing. Anything I write will sound trite but I have to keep reminding myself of how much I have and how much they actually need.

This collage is of a workers' cooperative where the people there were  making bags both from the amazing material you can see here and also the plastic UNCR heavy duty plastic sacking.
The resilience we saw there was second to none. The people were welcoming, friendly, determined, parents and teachers just like us who only wanted the best for their families and children.
Enjoy your first days of term and remember Education  can make such a difference to peoples' lives x

Sunday Evening

Well it's Sunday evening and I've got that back to school feeling after half term. You know the one...very unsettling. I've used the photo of Vicky 'unable to attend' to remind myself why I do this! She was a young girl in Uganda who stood at the barbed wire fence whilst we taught samba to the kids inside the school - no money - no education simple as that! So I'm thinking of my kids tomorrow and how lucky they are but don't realise it. Time to stop worrying and start enjoying teaching again!