The month of July went very fast and August is almost over as well. I have been in Mombasa for the last week attending a HIV/AIDS conference. Tomorrow I am going on Safari in Tsavo National Park and then it is home to Kativani because I have school on Monday. Even though it is the vacation the children are in school. The last week on August we are taking 50 students to Mombasa for an educational tour. I will be in charge of the girls, 25 village girls in the big city...could be interesting. Thank you to those of you who sponsored a few children, they are super excited about the tour!
July brought a lot of school strikes at many schools across Kenya. I was very fortunate that our students were disciplined enough to not participate. The students went on strike for various reasons. July was a busy month at our school with end term exams and setting up the library. Thank you to those of you who have donated novels for the library, the students were very excited to take home novels over the break! For those of you who have been asking what they can do or send, I would love to recieve some reference books or textbooks so I could add them to the library as resources. It is great to have the students see pictures of things in the textbooks as well. Also, I am trying to sponsor a few students school fees so if anyone is interested in sponsoring a childs school fees let me know. Many students miss a lot of school or do not even attend school because they do not have fees. I continue to hear their stories and they break my heart. I am so thankful I grew up in a system of free education and where I had a supportive family.
It currently is pea season so when I have free time I love going to the shamba with my students and picking peas. I love that we go to the shamba together to collect our food and then we sit in a circle and peel them as a community. I love the concept of growing our food as a community and preparing it as a community. Water is still a problem but I am managing.
I went to Kitui to visit my host family there. The children are getting so big! JoAnne (who has been renamed JoRae) is 10 months old and walking. Kali and Cynthia have improved their English so much. They told mama to stop speaking to them in mother tongue so when I visit they can communicate with me. Kali and Cynthia also convinced mama that JoAnne needed to be named after be because she fears people but as soon as I walked in the door she reached for me so they are saying that she remembers me caring for her when she was born. So they actually changed the birth certificate to JoRae.
I need to keep this short and without photos again because I need to catch my matatu out of Mombasa. But I will try to update again soon and add pictures.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
journy to the coast
Happy Independence Day a day late!
I traveled to Mombasa to see my volunteer friends and to spend the holiday with them. Yesterday I stood at the main roadside for over an hour trying to catch a bus. As I stood there I saw many mzungus (white people) passing by in empty matatus with only one or two of them in it. Private matatus...that is one way to travel around. However, I was happy I travel like them because I was traveling like a true Kenyan. I boarded an overcrowded matatu and road to Mombasa like the locals.
On my journey to the coast, I passed through Tsavo national park where I saw all the usual animals as well as entire family of elephants (9 of them). After traveling through dry Tsavo, the country started to turn green, the houses were constructed of different materials since the rock of the area was no longer clay but rather granite. Some of the huts were constructed out of grasses. I loved seeing how the shelters changed according to availability of materials. Once I was at the coast it like I was in another country. There is water here!
This week at school some crazy things happened! I became the girls handball and volleyball coach...yep don't even know what handball is. We also got a generator and watched a shakespear play. All the teachers canceled class and we had 200 students and 8 teachers in a room watching this horrible tape version on an 18 inch TV. They told me they wish TV could be there hobby and I was so happy that TV is not available here. I am so glad it was a special treat to be able to watch this play and TV is not a hobby!
Life Skills Club update. This week I have started to hear horrible stories about HIV/AIDS and what the people think about the disease. I have heard when someone finds out they have HIV/AIDS they have sex with as many people as possible because they do not want to die alone. It is such a sad concept that makes me cringe. The phrase here is once you have decided to have sex, even if it is when you are married, you are accepting the fact that you may die with AIDS. I am working on educating them on HIV/AIDS but it is very difficult.
Teaching is still going well, I brought the students to the lab this week and we did a lot of work in there...which was disastrous at first but by Friday they were understanding the lab a little better. We received a box of posters this week so we hung them and the students were so excited to have "learning aids." My community is awesome and all is well. I will try to update you again soon (maybe with pictures) but it might not be until my next trip to Mombasa in August.
I traveled to Mombasa to see my volunteer friends and to spend the holiday with them. Yesterday I stood at the main roadside for over an hour trying to catch a bus. As I stood there I saw many mzungus (white people) passing by in empty matatus with only one or two of them in it. Private matatus...that is one way to travel around. However, I was happy I travel like them because I was traveling like a true Kenyan. I boarded an overcrowded matatu and road to Mombasa like the locals.
On my journey to the coast, I passed through Tsavo national park where I saw all the usual animals as well as entire family of elephants (9 of them). After traveling through dry Tsavo, the country started to turn green, the houses were constructed of different materials since the rock of the area was no longer clay but rather granite. Some of the huts were constructed out of grasses. I loved seeing how the shelters changed according to availability of materials. Once I was at the coast it like I was in another country. There is water here!
This week at school some crazy things happened! I became the girls handball and volleyball coach...yep don't even know what handball is. We also got a generator and watched a shakespear play. All the teachers canceled class and we had 200 students and 8 teachers in a room watching this horrible tape version on an 18 inch TV. They told me they wish TV could be there hobby and I was so happy that TV is not available here. I am so glad it was a special treat to be able to watch this play and TV is not a hobby!
Life Skills Club update. This week I have started to hear horrible stories about HIV/AIDS and what the people think about the disease. I have heard when someone finds out they have HIV/AIDS they have sex with as many people as possible because they do not want to die alone. It is such a sad concept that makes me cringe. The phrase here is once you have decided to have sex, even if it is when you are married, you are accepting the fact that you may die with AIDS. I am working on educating them on HIV/AIDS but it is very difficult.
Teaching is still going well, I brought the students to the lab this week and we did a lot of work in there...which was disastrous at first but by Friday they were understanding the lab a little better. We received a box of posters this week so we hung them and the students were so excited to have "learning aids." My community is awesome and all is well. I will try to update you again soon (maybe with pictures) but it might not be until my next trip to Mombasa in August.
Friday, June 27, 2008
It's been awhile
I know many of you have been anxiously awaiting my update. I have been so busy and it is very difficult for me to update since I can not do it via my phone and I rarely make it to town. I have been living in my village of Kativani for 2 weeks now. At first it was challenging to adjust to my Kenyan life. I forgot how hard it is to carry water, wash cloths, and cook here. The biggest challenge of all has been communication. But with time my language skills will improve.
I started teaching last Monday. The students were so excited to see me and I was so excited to see them. During the morning assembly many of the students had huge smiles on their faces. After assembly they got in trouble for not being serious. Shooty…I hope I do not corrupt these children too much. Class has been great. I love teaching here. The students are getting much better at interacting and becoming active learners, something they are not used to.
The weather has been very dry. Today it is hot, but normally the weather has been cool and cloudy. I am really enjoying the temperature but, the Kenyans think it is SO cold! I just laugh they have no idea that 70 is not freezing. Because it is so cloudy my solar charger is not working like I hoped but it is kind of nice only turning my phone on to check if I have messages. The weather is very very dry and we are not expecting rain until October. I am a little bit concerned, considering we are already struggling to get water. This week I only used 40 liters but I did not wash my cloths yet and I rarely wash my hair. Because it is so dry and the harvest was poor many of the students can not afford their school fees so many of my very bright students are out of school. It makes me so sad that students who want to learn can't because they can not pay for school.
Things are really great here. I have been super busy with school, coaching volleyball, and helping the students with their studies. Next month I am going to be starting a life skills club at school that focuses on HIV/AIDS education. I love teaching, I love my community, and I love Kenya.
I started teaching last Monday. The students were so excited to see me and I was so excited to see them. During the morning assembly many of the students had huge smiles on their faces. After assembly they got in trouble for not being serious. Shooty…I hope I do not corrupt these children too much. Class has been great. I love teaching here. The students are getting much better at interacting and becoming active learners, something they are not used to.
The weather has been very dry. Today it is hot, but normally the weather has been cool and cloudy. I am really enjoying the temperature but, the Kenyans think it is SO cold! I just laugh they have no idea that 70 is not freezing. Because it is so cloudy my solar charger is not working like I hoped but it is kind of nice only turning my phone on to check if I have messages. The weather is very very dry and we are not expecting rain until October. I am a little bit concerned, considering we are already struggling to get water. This week I only used 40 liters but I did not wash my cloths yet and I rarely wash my hair. Because it is so dry and the harvest was poor many of the students can not afford their school fees so many of my very bright students are out of school. It makes me so sad that students who want to learn can't because they can not pay for school.
Things are really great here. I have been super busy with school, coaching volleyball, and helping the students with their studies. Next month I am going to be starting a life skills club at school that focuses on HIV/AIDS education. I love teaching, I love my community, and I love Kenya.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Safe Arrival
I have arrived safely in Nairobi after 23 hours of travel. I am pretty tired but feel at home. We arrived at AFRALTI (the hotel) late last night and it felt like I never left. I feel a little bit like I am living two lives and just keep putting the pause button on one. On Saturday morning I will take the matatu to Kativani and I start teaching on Monday!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Off Again!
Yumbuni Secondary School
My Form 2 students in their classroomOn February 6th, 2008 I wrote in my journal "...hopefully I will be living this life in just a few months. I don't want to leave Kenya, but I must. I have hope and faith that I will be returning soon. But, deep inside I don't see the political situation improving anytime in the near future and fear my return will not be possible." Fortunately my return is possible. Peace has resumed in the country and I will be re-entering tomorrow to continue teaching at Yumbuni Secondary School.
After being home for four months it was a difficult decision to return to Kenya. I loved teaching high school biology and anatomy physiology here in America and found it difficult to decide whether I should return or not. But, every time I thought about it I saw the smiling faces of my students at Yumbuni and remembered my promise to return to continue to teach them.
My bags are packed...and I am ready to go.
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