School - A Life Changer

She is now in school... She will not be the same. 

     We went in the morning. Apiyo now has a sponsor and is finally able to go to a school that has a program for the hearing impaired. Apiyo loves to study. She regularly attends the small Catholic church in her small village and has perfect attendance in the little class for unschooled children. In fact, she is very often found at the school hanging around, observing, and learning what she can. Her parents tried to send her to the local village school, but without services, were eventually told to keep her home. We arrived at her home. Over the course of two weeks we had met with her family and the school to arrange her coming. She was beaming, freshly showered, and wearing a new dress. Her family gathered a few belongings and what necessities they could afford to contribute. We waited on a mat in one of the grass-thatched mud-huts making up her home. Her mother wanted to finish cooking before we left. We ate a delicious meal of cassava, chicken, and ground-up white ants. Then, after loading her things onto the back of the motorcycle, we left for town. It warmed my heart to watch her take in the sights of town; the shops, large buildings, and paved roads all busy in comparison the the village life she just left. I was also relieved to see she understood what was going on and seemed excited despite having to leave home. We arrived at the school around lunch time, unloaded the required supplies we had purchased, paid the rest of the fees for school and boarding, and met her new teachers. They were sweet and welcoming. Apiyo took it all in. We partnered her with another sponsored girl in our program – an older girl from the same village who got sponsored a few years ago and was doing very well in school. Apiyo got a bed next to her in the girls' dorm. We visited a little while but wanted to leave before the rain. Apiyo was smiling and doing well. I couldn't help feeling a little sad leaving her there in a new place. I kept wanting to ask, “how are you doing? Are you sure you're ok?”, but I couldn't. Her smile and thumbs up said she was fine. If I feel this way after taking responsibility to transport a student, I can't imagine if it was my own kid. I am thrilled for her though and stoked to see her learn sign language and progress in school. I will have to visit again soon.