This is a fun week at the school despite the fact it is still closed. New Playground equipment is being installed thanks to a generous donation from Mauldin UMC Men’s Fellowship.

I also need to acknowledge the first photo in the collage of a very young grace on the left was taken by someone else, I believe Frank took that photo before they started building the school and before I was involved.

So when I first started talking to groups that had already been involved with this ministry just after I got started, they all recognized here and her spirit from my comments. They all knew her as Gracie, but as she has gone from the little girl to a great 3rd Grader she has returned to the original Grace.

When I first arrived to the school, Grace quickly grabbed me to come into her room to take pictures. She was used to the Americans coming over and wanting photos of the kids to take home with them. She quickly arranged all the students to have their picture taken and then wanted hers taken. It was evident she was in charge.

As the school became certified and was allowed to have Standard classes in addition to the preschool classes it was already offering, Grace was a little older than most of the students because her parents held her back from public school so she could attend this school. Her father, Lucas, is the Masai who contributed the land for the school.

Because she is a year older than most of the kids in her class, she has continued to be looked to for student leadership. Fortunately because of her example most of the others in her class and some in the class below are showing leadership. They herd the preschool kids off the playground equipment in the morning when school starts and after lunch. They take charge and help me round up the youngest kids for “Reading with Barnabas” video time. This was all because she set a good example for the other kids.

As a student, Grace is really working hard and often is in the top three of her class. She struggles when you throw her a curve ball where you ask something that uses what she has learned but in a completely different way than the teacher’s example. This is the big area where she is trying to improve. She normally is a “B+” student using the USA grading scale.

Grace has stopped by my house sometimes with her older sisters to ask for help with math before the competitions. She really wants to learn.

Another interesting story from Grace is when the mission team from my church visited. Grace’s mom sent her to sell some jewelry items that the mom had made. Grace asked me first if it was alright, which I appreciated. Then she gave Karalee and my mom some of the jewelry for free. I gave her a hard time the rest of that week about giving them things for free and not me (though I don’t wear jewelry other than a cheap watch).

Grace loves to sing and dance with the musical segments I get for the “Reading with Barnabas” program. She loved participating in the musical part for the mission team Vacation Bible School. She enjoys reading to her fellow classmates and got really excited to read the story about Barnabas Bear on International Read Aloud Day.

She also loves to sing with the other students at church or with the Masai youth when they sing. The funny part of that is as the oldest student at our school, she is one of the tallest students. When she is up front with the community youth, she is one of the youngest and shortest members. It is strange to see her so differently.

This blog about Grace was difficult to write because I can think of a lot of different stories to tell about her but I don’t want it to get too long. I can sum up all the things I did not tell you about her and say I am not sure the school would have had as good of a start as it did without her being here.