When Education programs go way beyond the classroom

Accompaniment is part of the idiosyncrasy of JRS. But what does that mean? It means to go beyond the minimum necessary, it means to care, to be there… and in that framework, is why our high school students in Nairobi went beyond the classroom on early March 2022.

Profiting their school break, Bea, education coordinator for JRS in Nairobi, decide to teach them things that might not be taught in their schools.
A 3 days workshop was organized with all our From 2 and 3 students (ages between 14 to 17). Different facilitators came to train the children on soft skills: leadership, hard-work, commitment… but also topics such as reconciliation, peace, and cooperation.

But that is not all… one day Bea took all the students to Nyumbani Children Home: a home for children with HIV or other unaccompanied children founded by a Jesuit in Nairobi. JRS students spend a whole day with the children, to know about the project and their realities. They also supported with Day Care services and did a general cleaning of the house. Sweeping the floor, cleaing the chappel… were some of the community work the students did that day.

“Sometimes, they think they are the only vulnerable people in the world… By bringing them here, we teach them that there is other people who also has to struggle in life. That they are not the only ones.”

– Bea Munuzeno, Education Coordinator

“When we talk about bringing back to the society, it is part of education… it is knowing to appreciate, to give, to share…. Not only adults can give back. Youth can do the same, with small acts like today. We are trying to teach them the spirit of giving, and not only receiving”

Martha Nyepeat is a secondary student from South Sudan explains us the following:

“I leart that children with HIV are just kids… seeing them together at the Centre gives me hope to give back to the community. I’m very happy for participating in that visit!”

At JRS, we are not only content with sending our students to school. But as any father or mother does, we want them to learn everything possible about life, about caring, about sharing…

That is what accompaniment means to us: to treat us all like a family.