Joel (pseudony) interested me last yar as he showed such promise as a leader.  This year he thanked me for seeing him not as "a no good street urchin", but as a boy with values and dreams beyond the poverty that kills.  He told me how impressed he was that I grandpa trusted my grandson to a classroom filled with street urchins.  

I listened to his story, we call it testimony, which I will publish in the MCF Narratives.  The bottom line is this: without the intervention of this remarkable faith based family, Joel would likely have been killed by police before he reached his current age of 18 years.  Now his leadership skills, keen intellect will earn him top graduating marks and a career he dreams in computer engineering.

Paul, the head music conductor at MCF, invited me to the dance class today and so I wandered over around 1500.  The chapel was very hot and yet there were about 30 young men and women dancing to the beat of multiple drums with typical African frenzy and volume.  This still photo does not capture the passion and rhythms filling the space.  I found myself mesmerized by the beat of the drum and regular movements of the dancers, so much so I lost track of time.  I slipped into an dream-like state and spent quite a while in what could be described as a mystical altered state.  

While I understand the mindset of the western Christian colonizers that tried (and failed) to "drum" the drum-dance out of Africa, I am also delighted to see how powerfully it is now practiced by this generation who never knew first hand the age of colonization.

MCF students are under no illusion about the challenges that face them at graduation.  At MCF they work very hard at school or in talent development, harder than what we would expect in Canada among the same age group.  

Not only do the MCF students achieve high school education which is the doorway to further education/training or employment but they also internalize the importance of very hard work, to the point most of them take it for granted for themselves.  They will impact Kenya and beyond.

The day ended with these four grade 11 students (all of them I know from the classroom).  I had met them rehearsing about a week ago.  First time I had seen a guitarist working at MCF and keen to establish a singing quartet.  They performed for Dr Charles and me.  He gave them some pointers and invited them to entertain the choir tomorrow afternoon.  I got to see his skill at inspiring and encouraging young people, and it is perfected.  These boys visibly improved as they performed with his guidance and support.  They are all 17 or 18.   All from Mombasa region with talents in performance  and song writing,  They are in the same grade 11 class I teach, and they discovered they share the same leadership style:  they are "Dreamers."