Healing Hope

By Carl Clemons-Hopkins
Movement and Music Instructor with Diaspora of Hope 2008 – Kenya

In the music and dance class, we examined music creation, lyricism, choreography, and movement. During Wednesday’s movement section of the class, the students were asked what they aspired to be in the future and to take on the physicality and gestures of that person. Esther Akinyi, one of the older girls in the group, said she wanted to be a nurse, to which some of the other students began to laugh. Her response to this was one typical of Esther: a swift punch to the head. We went on to discuss how such reactions are obstacles to achieving one’s goals that can be controlled. This went to a discussion on the things we can and cannot change in our lives.

As the first few students did the movement exercise, I noticed how intently Esther watched as they walked and behaved normally and then as their future-selves. Now it was her turn. I found some things in my bag to serve as medical supplies and chose the girl with whom Esther had the aforementioned confrontation with to act as her patient. First, she went to her normally—entertaining the class and play fighting with the “patient,” and then I gave her the nursing supplies and told her she was now the top nurse in Kenya; she was famous for her compassion and gentleness and that her patient had suffered a severe arm injury and was in great pain. Esther took her “supplies” and began to cross the room. She started off silly but then looked at her props and the faux nurse hat and began to get very serious. She put on the hat, arranged her “supplies” and walked slowly and upright toward her “patient.” She then slowly and gently rolled up the “patient’s” sleeve giving much care not to touch the arm. Once this task was complete, she took a piece of tissue and softly wiped clean the “wound.” Afterward, she began to ask ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions regarding the injury before she bandaged the injury and hugged her patient. I asked the class if they saw a major difference in Esther and they all answered with a loud “yes!” When I asked Esther how she felt about the exercise, she answered happily, “I was a nurse.”

The next two days of class, unlike the first three, Esther had no physical altercations. On the last day of class, she told me of her plans to finish secondary school and attend the University of Nairobi for Nursing—a plan she had just made that day. Furthermore, she plans to focus on doing her level best now in school in order to get the grades she needs to make this dream a reality.