Field trip and a tour of Kibera

Yesterday, I went on a field trip for the social services course that I am taking here. There are 6 other students in the class as well. We fist went to a school that is run by an NGO in the Mukuru slum. It's actually mostly funded by the Irish government. The school was really great and they are really doing a lot for the community. The school teaches kids from what would be 1st grade all the way up to adults. Primary education is free here, but some kids still aren't able to attend school because they have to have uniforms and books and are also charged a small fee for the operations of the classroom. Some of the adults haven't been to school, so they are starting out right at the beginning. The class rooms were really nice and the kids were so cute! We told them our names and then they told us theirs and a few of the classes also recited songs they had been working on. We then went to a free clinic that is mainly for AIDS patients that is run by the coptic orthodox church. The facility was amazing, they currently have nearly 10,000 patients. The clinic offers free testing, medicine, clinic visits, even a maternity ward. The largest contributer to the clinic is USAID. After class I got in a quick nap and then my neighbor Frank called me and informed me that we were going for a walk, so he showed me around Kibera, which is the second largest slum in the world and its about a 5 min walk from where I'm staying. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before! There were dogs and chickens and goats roaming around all over and there were a ton of booths selling clothes, khangas, shoes, vegetables, fruit, you name it, it was probably sold there! There was also a crazy amount of garbage. I thought that I would be really sad after seeing the conditions of Kibera, but actually, everyone there seems really happy and you can tell that there is a really strong community bond there. The kids were absolutely adorable. When they saw me they chanted "how are you?" and some of them came up to me and shook my hand. Tonight some of my friends and I are going to make tacos for my family. My mom is really excited.