Simple pleasures at Olives Rehabilitaion Centre

I am now in the midst of my fifth week at Olives Rehabilitation Centre and each day becomes more fun, challenging and interesting. Being greeted every morning by enthusiastic white smiles makes it a novelty getting up in the morning. These children are different; they hold an infectious radiance that can only warm the heart. Knowing that working with them might make a positive difference to their future only wants you to give them your all and more.

A small example of their appreciative and enthusiastic nature was this morning, in our science lesson, where we learnt the sections of a plant. I asked each student to go outside and bring me part of a plant. In the midst of our messy activity, one student, with great care brought me a bunch of flowers with a very impressive, tropical looking insect on it, and before setting it free again we managed to take a picture.

A Kenyan insect which unwittingly became part of Hannah's science lesson

We then made a poster by sticking all the leaves, stems, flowers and roots onto it and labelling them. Elevating the poster was indeed very exciting, the students standing in awe while the rest very gently helped me stick it to the wall. This to us is not in the slightest significant but doing it with these children is like them giving them a Christmas present, all I could hear from them for the next half an hour was “Thank you Madame Hannah, thank you”, and having them involved in the making of it reflected in their excited and proud eyes……….A moment in which I had to put a lot of energy into not welling up.

Two of Hannah's students present the science poster displaying the different parts of plants they had collected: stems, leaves, flowers and roots.

Hannah's class enjoy their morning snack (a cup of porridge and a banana provided by the school) in front of their science lesson creation

- Hannah Kelleher

Simple pleasures at Olives Rehabilitaion Centre