From:   “Tanya Maxwell Morrison” <queen_mambokadzi@hotmail.com>
To:         <srpeponi@nbi.ispkenya.com>
Sent:      Monday, April 13, 2009 10:10 PM
Attach:   Photo 92.jpg
Subject: Greetings from Canada!!!

Dear Mrs. Ndesandjo and Madari Kindergarten!

Greetings from the thawing lands of Canada! We are so excited to see new blades of green grass appearing through the lawns and the growing tiny buds of the first leaves on the trees! We miss Kenya and her year-round climate!

But most of all, we miss our dear friends, like the staff and children of Madari Kindergarten!

Charli, almost 7, has adjusted so well to life in Canada. She is attending a lovely little school about 4 minutes walk away. She has made many friends and is doing so well at school. She excels in all areas, as per her latest report card, but I must be the teeniest bit proud and tell you about her reading score. Although she is finishing up the Grade 1 year here in Canada, her reading has been scored at a Grade 3 level!! I realy must give credit to Madari Kindergarten and especially to Mrs. Ndesandjo’s love of books that she so beautifully instills into the hearts of the children at Madari Kindergarten! It has been such a blessing to have Charli transition so smoothly into her new life here. She learned so much about herself and her relationship with others during her time at Madari. I do have a pang of sadness when I see her all-white class, but I am immeasurably thankful that inside one of those little hearts and mind lives a rich and colourful memory of the many ethnicities and cultures she experiences as a result of her upbringing in Kenya and the time she spent at Madari!

As I write this letter, Charli is playing with one of her new friends from school. I overheard the end of one of their recent conversations. Charli must have been answering a question her friend had asked when she made this statement, “I think I must be so smart because I was born in kenya”.

The rest of the family is also doing well. Severiana turns one next week and is just starting to walk.

Quynn delights everyone she meets with her open and friendly greetings that I know has a lot to do with her upbringing in Kenya and her frist time at Madari Kindergarten.

Micheal and I are enjoying Canada but are already counting the months until we can return to Africa – and hopefully it will be in time for our two youngest children to benefit from enrolling at Madari Kindergarten!

We also wanted to thank you so much for sending us the photos of some of the children playing at Charli ND Quynn’s playhouse that is now at Madari! That was so special for the girls to see and helps us keep the memories of Kenya live.

All the best to you all – and although we have said “kwaheri” to you, we have also most definitely said, “yakuonana”.