The schools of joy
We arrive at Todonyang at sunset and receive a very warm welcome from Fr Cosmus, who has made all the necessary arrangements to host us.
Before dinner we walk out of the mission and join the crowd watching a football match on the pitch just outside. A team from Ethiopia is playing against the Todonyang team. It's great to see these two tribes, often in conflict with each other, come together in a peaceful activity.
After a nice dinner together, we head off for a much-needed good night's sleep.
The next morning we visit the Our Lady Queen of Peace boarding school. Fr Cosmus and the school staff have organised the morning extremely well. We meet the headmaster, all the teachers and support staff, and visit every classroom, the kitchen and the lab. At the end, the children put on a show for us with singing and dancing. They are all very well behaved, kind and respectful and, above all, full of joy. The teachers are doing an incredible job!
As we walk around the school, excited children surround us, delighted to have visitors. We then gather the children supported by the sponsorship programme we set up in 2024. It is a great joy to see them doing well and developing into fine young people. We are so grateful to all the sponsors who give these children the opportunity to enjoy the childhood they deserve.
In the afternoon, we visit the St John Paul II day school. It is less developed, having been set up only a few years ago, and hosts children who live mainly in two local villages. Yet the welcome is equally warm and impressive. Parents have been invited for the occasion, and it is meaningful to see them supporting their children. The children dance, sing and speak in English, which is remarkable, as their parents speak only Turkana.
After the event we walk to the nearby village where the children live. We are touched by the simplicity of their lives: houses made of straw, no running water, no electricity and no toilets. And yet the children gather around us with contagious smiles. They live in hardship, at least by our standards, but they are happy. The contrast is striking and powerful: perhaps happiness is rooted deeper in what we feel in our hearts than in what we have.