Three whole hours is a long time to be patient by any standards, but that is what we had to do after our sabbath plans had changed for August 2nd 2008. Originally, In-Tune was to be with the youth at JKUAT but as drama and commitment unfolded, we had to head West towards Limuru Girls School, located just at the edge of Limuru town and believe you me...if you thought this time of year Nairobi is freezing, you have no idea what its like in Limuru.
The organising elder, Elder Kennedy Adams, told us to avail ourselves at church by 8.00am, and true to our word we were, only to hear from Ted that the van we were waiting for to take us there would actually come at 9.30am. Again, no problem, we practised as we waited until we saw the Elder headed towards us and we knew for sure we would finally be on our way. Unfortunately not, for he emplored us to be patient as the Elder who was to transport us there, Elder Okioga, was on his way, five minutes infact as he had said. It so happened that his five minutes was close to two hours, time after which Elder Adams shifted plans and used some money the church had given him to organize the trip to take us to town using public transport en route to Limuru.
Alighting from the Citi Hoppa bus just near Nairobi Stalls on Kenyatta Avenue, Chris and Joseph kept ahead of the group, but not infront of the ex-choxxarians(as former students of Limuru Girls are known) who were directing the Elder towards the stage where the Limuru bound vans are boarded. Later on we realised this was at the Fire Station stage....but once again we had to exercise our patience by hanging on for another one of the old girls to join us. This time however, it happened to be for only ten minutes and we promptly filled one of the vehicles and were on our way towards one of the coldest parts of Kenya.
Having no music whatsoever in the van, Bernard wa skind enough to lend us his mobile phone for us to listen to some acappella music on the way, though the renditions quickly faded away into the sounds of laughter and stories as In-Tune exploded with reminiscence and so did the girls seated at the front of the vehicle...and sadly Ronnie, who enjoyed a more silent trip.
The matatu(van) driver and conducter took us all the way to the gate of the school, thank God, after being treated to some breathtaking views of tea estates and grand villas by the roadside. This, coupled with Edwin's question of whether those were nurseries, left us in awe. We were ushered in by some of the girls dressed in brown into their medieval Chapel which was simply but rather ornately designed. The morning song service was on going and so we sat at the back of the chapel, with Ronnie, Bernard and Edwin occupying the bench infront of Tichy and myself as Joseph and Chris made for the front bench after a few minutes.
Then the borowing began...as the cold began to bite, Joseph kicked off the habit of asking the girls to supply him with mittens, scarves and jackets...all in the school uniform brown of course, and the girls were rather surprisingly happy to oblige...they not only furnished him with his requirements, but also Ronnie, Bernard, Tichy and Edwin! Soon the guys were all dressed up like eskimos in Antarctica. 
The service proceeded well, after we realised that the divine service in Limuru Girls was carried out in the afternoon, and so we settled for a presentation session where we were treated to excellent music from various groups in the school. At this point I have to say that Choxx has one of the best school choirs we have ever heard...they sing with such inspiring spirit, it was hard not to get carried away in the moment.
Lunch break was a fun filled affair, as it always is with the In-Tuners...and though the SDA group did not provide us with lunch, the guys and girls were perfectly comfortable to buy stuff from the school tuck shop, all the while the officials kept us company and even bought some of us some drinks and scones!
After lunch, the old girls treated us to an item, on request as well and In-TUne officially took over the programme, with Joseph at the helm, and Chris his co-driver. 
There were sharings and items and laughter and music and the girls did indeed enjoy the entire afternoon that we had lined up for them. 
Elder Okioga joined us to the enjoyment of the girls, as Elder Adams silently watched over the goings-on. As the norm goes...everything on this earth must come to an end, and as we wound up our performances, we finished off with 'Everybody Said, but Nobody Did'.
There were sharings and items and laughter and music and the girls did indeed enjoy the entire afternoon that we had lined up for them. Elder Okioga joined us to the enjoyment of the girls, as Elder Adams silently watched over the goings-on. As the norm goes...everything on this earth must come to an end, and as we wound up our performances, we finished off with 'Everybody Said, but Nobody Did'. And that marked the end of arguably the most successful outreach ministry In-Tune has ever been to, not just because of the performances, but because of the warmth and hospitality with which we were received. God Bless you Limuru Girls School SDA Group.
1 comments:
I was browsing the web for Limuru Girls as I used to go there - I left in 1975! I was one of three white girls then. I really enjoyed your pictures of the chapel (I used to sing in the chapel choir) and I see the uniform hasn't changed in 33 years. Glad to read that the school choir is still strong; we used to win prizes and once3 sang for Jomo Kenyatta himself.
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