11/07/2024
This school, P.S. Kindness, opened in 2019. Every time I’ve visited this school, it’s around the end of the day and it is always raining. As the students are dismissed, a handful of stragglers will usually sit on the front slope with me and hang out while we wait for the rain to slow down. It’s picturesque, with all the greenery and the volcano looming in the background. You’ve probably seen us use the drone shot (slide 2) of this school many many times!
This year, as we rolled up to visit, the sight was jarring. Over the half-wall surrounding the school was a field of white tents as far as you could see - an IDP camp set up right next to the school. As I chatted with some students, I asked what life was like in the camps and one student said, “It’s hard. Food is expensive so we’re lucky to have one meal. There’s no water or toilets, so a lot of people are sick.”
While I was still mulling this over, they had already moved on to telling me their favorite subjects, favorite games, and their dreams of becoming doctors, teachers, and pro soccer players. All I can think is our students are truly a different level of resilient.