Kenyan Roadside Sights

We just returned from a trip to Nairobi. Traveling in Kenya is quite an experience as your driver zigzags all over the road to find the smoothest section with the least and shallowest potholes. Even in Nakuru, the fourth largest city in Kenya, we had to stop to allow cattle to pass across the road in front of us!

You know you are in Kenya when you see . . .
. . . motorized vehicles sharing the road with donkey drawn carts.
. . . vendors along the side (and sometimes on the road) selling produce.
. . . car washes located along streams and rivers.
. . . rocks being crushed by hand.
. . . maize (corn) drying on tarps in the sun.
. . . mothers walking and working with babies tied to their backs.
. . . men, women and children digging (hoeing) in their field by hand.
. . . children playing with homemade toys made out of plastic bags, plastic lids and maize stalks.
. . . partially completed buildings. (They don’t get loans here to build homes. Instead they build when they have money. That means they might be building a house for several years before it is complete.)
. . . young children (as young as 4 years) walking places unattended by an adult.
. . . men and women laying on a grassy spot taking a midday rest.
. . . something blooming every few feet.
. . . cattle, goats and sheep grazing everywhere.

Nairobi is the largest city in not only Kenya, but East Africa. For us Nairobi is a great place to visit because . . .
. . . the internet speed is much faster.
. . . you can find real DVDs, not pirated copies.
. . . many restaurants there have food resembling something you could order in the United States.
. . . you can browse in a bookstore.
. . . you can see a movie in a theater even if it might not be your favorite type of movie.
. . . you get excited when you find groceries like Dream Whip, lasagna noodles, green chilies, cream of mushroom soup, Coke Light (diet Coke) etc.

End of the Year Activities

As in the United States the final weeks of the school year are filled with many extra activities. Of course there is the academic side with final examinations. However, students and teachers alike have a multitude of additional responsibilities and celebrations.

Click here to see some photos of these special activities.

When the Form IVs (seniors) complete their KCSE examinations they leave school. Most of them left about a week ago. Depending upon their elective classes, some had to stay about a week longer to take their last exam. There is no such thing as high school graduation.

The faith based groups held a special banquet to honor the Form IVs before they left. John and I were invited to the Young Catholic Society (YCS) end of the year banquet. As is typical of most Kenyan celebrations there was a Chief Guest invited to speak, cake and a complete meal served afterwards.

Form I, II and III students at both St. Anthony’s and St. Monica’s finished their end of term (finals) about a week ago. Report cards are to be sent home with students on the day that school is dismissed. That means teachers must have the exams marked (graded) so the report cards can be prepared. At St. Anthony’s the report cards are prepared by computer, but that is not the case at St. Monica’s. To give teachers time to get the exams marked, special activities are planned to keep students busy, active and out of trouble.

One of the tasks done by students is the harvesting of maize (corn). Schools try to grow as much food as possible to feed themselves to cut down on the boarding costs. Casual labors are hired to do the planting, weeding, and cutting and stacking of stalks. The students then take the cobs off the maize stalks and carry the corn to the store where it is kept until needed.

St. Anthony’s organized football (soccer), basketball and volleyball tournaments. St. Monica’s was only football. Each class played the other classes to determine the Form champion. Then the champions from each Form played to determine a school champion.

St. Anthony’s choir also prepared and held a Christmas concert. We were hoping to go, but it didn’t work out. John was so surprised when they asked for the words to Jingle Bells. They have no concept of our cold and snow. We understand they also sing Frosty the Snowman!

Of course there is thorough cleaning to do: desks, classrooms, dorms, grounds, etc. Students are allowed to leave their metal lockers at school in their dorm during the December holiday, but everything must be locked inside.

The final day they hold a Closing Assembly. At the Closing Assembly they recognize top students.

Kenyan Baby Shower

John was unexpectedly invited to a baby shower about a week ago. Here is his story . . .

I decided to go to school on a Saturday to mark exams and work with the basketball team. I had been marking for awhile when the head of the English Department stopped by and asked if I wanted to go to another teacher's house. She had twins in August and they were going to greet the newborns. We traveled to the shower with six adults in a compact car. Yes it was crowded, but that is the Kenyan way to travel.

We started off with some songs in Swahili lead by the female agricultural teacher. Next we had a scripture reading from Psalms about family and home followed by a prayer. Then there was another song of gratitude. The mother gave a prayer of gratitude for us coming to visit.

The main attraction followed. The twins were brought out for all to see. First, some of the ladies dressed the babies with new clothes which we had brought. Then we sang and danced as all got to hold them. I think I impressed the others by the way I was able to get one of the babies to smile. Finally, we had one last song. I noticed that during the song a person’s name was said and then they got up and did a quick jig. So when I heard my name I did likewise. Of course everyone chuckled at my dance.

I have learned you do not go to a Kenyan's house without eating. We had a full meal. Two kinds of rice, three kinds of chicken, fish with the head attached, beef, seasoned meatballs, three different kinds of vegetables, boiled eggs, boiled eggs wrapped in meat, plus other dishes. While eating I was told that I did not eat enough. Kenyans stuff themselves at gatherings until they can eat no more. Then we had a break but were served a choice of fresh mango or passion fruit juice. We visited for a while until dessert was served. It was fresh fruit and ice cream. The fresh fruit was so sweet I commented about sugar being added. I was told that if you cut pineapple at the right time it is very sweet. Many of the teachers went back for more ice cream. Most do not have refrigeration in their homes so frozen treats are a very special treat to them.

It was a great experience. It is always good to meet with coworkers away from the school setting. It was fun to see them interacting with one another and I was grateful to be included. The experience gave me more insight into their culture. I wish I had my camera so I could have taken some pictures!

Vivan's Community

I wrote an earlier blog entry about circumcision. It is extremely important event in the lives of most Kenyan boys as it is a symbol of entering adulthood and initiation into the tribe. Many of my girl students attended circumcision ceremonies during August. December is the other month of circumcision for adolescent boys.

Many boys are usually circumcised at one time. During the circumcision the boys are not allowed to cry out or flinch to show that they are truly men.

After the circumcision is done the boys rest and relax for a period of time. During this time they are taught the tribal history and traditions. The mothers of the boys cook a lot of food for their sons so the boys can gain strength. The boys don't do any chores that they normally would do until after the period of rest is over.

A couple of weeks ago my students interviewed a classmate. What follows in a composition based upon one of these interviews.

Vivian’s Community

Vivian is a very beautiful and intelligent girl. She comes from the Gusis community. She truly loves visiting there because she gets to see all the cultural practices, hear family members speaking their language and the way the community members conduct themselves.

Furthermore, she enjoys eating the traditional meals, buying food stuffs on her way back home at cheap prices, seeing the physical features around the area, feeding the fish at her grandmother’s place and above all to meet her long distance relatives and friends.

Her community’s village is located at Nuamira. Their ancestors had decided to settle there because of the fertile soil. They had also settled there because they once fought with the Kiporgis community many, many years ago. They had been pushed where they decided to settle down and make it their home. She truly loves the place.

In her community there are many elders. The elders are called “Thatha” and are respected very much. Their work is mainly to solve disputes in the community, circumcise, conduct marriages and give initiates new roles. The elders also bless newborn babies.

The community members also practice the rite of circumcision whereby boys are the ones circumcised. During the circumcision ceremony, the boys are taken to the river in the early morning hours. Then mud is applied on them before being circumcised. After the ceremony, the initiates are separated for about three or four weeks. After the separation time a big celebration is done. Presents are given to the initiates and they are given new roles in the community. Vivian loves and is very proud of her community together with her people.

Student Note

I confiscated the following note from one of my students this morning. It is just a little bit different than a note that would be passed in a class in the United States.

Rose, yesterday you took my spoon just after the prefect’s meeting. I kindly request you to give it to me now before I eat githeri.

Mass Kenyan Style

The basic format of Mass is the same wherever you attend, but there are definite differences between the way Mass is celebrated in the United States and Kenya. When going to an African Mass, allow at least an hour and a half. Why? There is much more singing and dancing!

We prefer music at the services when traditional music instruments are used. These include drums, kuwimba (hollow reeds filled with stones and then tied together), sometimes rattles and tambourines. If the church has electricity often there is a keyboard. You have to keep in mind that most people here don’t use printed music. The keyboardist tries to follow along with the singing playing by ear. Most of the time, in my humble opinion, it is more of a distraction and irritation than support for the music.

As Mass starts a procession begins from the back of the church as the entrance song is sung. The procession is led by the liturgical dancers followed by the servers (altar boys) and priest. This is not a fast procession as the dancers are leading with small steps often taking ten small steps forward and one or two backwards.

Often incense is used not only once but several times during the Mass. My girls hated incense on the special days that it was used at home. I wonder how, now that they are adults, they would react. Would they still hold their noses? If incense is being used, the altar is incensed as the final part of the procession.

Once the celebrants are at their places on the altar, the service continues. Almost all of the parts of Mass are sung, not spoke including: Lord, have mercy, Gloria, Profession of Faith, Holy, Holy, Memorial Acclamation, Amen, and Lamb of God. This is every Sunday, not just during the holy seasons of Advent and Easter. As a part of many of these songs, members wave their hands whenever they sing the refrains of Alleluia or Hosanna.

Before the readings, the liturgical dancers lead another procession from the back of the church bringing forward the Bible. Of course, there is a special song sung during this time. The Bible is incensed before the readings begin.

There is the regular offertory taken. Instead of baskets being passed among the congregation, each person who has an offertory gift goes to the front of the church where servers are standing with locked wooden boxes to receive the donation. This is not done in an orderly manner as we would expect. Instead each person goes forward whenever they want. There is no organized traffic pattern. People are coming forward and returning down every aisle, three people abreast! It is very crowded and confusing.

Before the Eucharistic prayer begins, the bread and wine, altar, priest and congregation is incensed.

Often the Sign of Peace is not done, there is no shaking of hands and greeting of your neighbors.

The majority of Kenyans do not receive communion. The reason is that many of them are not married in the church. It is so expensive that many cannot afford to have a church wedding in addition to paying the dowry. Often it takes years for the husband to be able to pay the entire dowry. Then some priests and ministers won’t perform a wedding ceremony until the entire dowry is paid. The traffic pattern for communion is the same as the offertory. People get up whenever they want and join the line going in any direction that they want. Wine is never offered as part of communion, only bread.

There is an additional prayer said after communion, The Soul of Christ.

After the Eucharist a thanksgiving offering is taken. Not as many people contribute to this second offering. This time the priest stands in front of the altar to personally receive the gifts. Gifts can be money, or real items grown and raised on their shambas (farms). We’ve seen bags of maize (corn), charcoal, eggs, bananas, fruits, vegetables, even live animals such as chickens, sheep or goats brought forward during this time. The priest accepts the gifts, hands them to the altar boys and shakes the hand of each person this time. Finally they receive a special blessing.

Once again the liturgical dancers lead the procession out of the church. I must say that a Kenyan Mass is much more joyful that Masses we are used to. With all that sining and dancing, how can you not be happy when it is over?


alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528989752481385394" />

Funeral Visitation

Tribal affiliation is extremely important. It affects every part of a Kenyan’s life even in such things as the foods they eat, clothing they wear, names they give their children, music, how they vote in elections, and ceremonies such as birth, coming of age and death.

Last week one of the St. Anthony’s teachers lost her son. He was only 22 and had been sick but his death was unexpected. As always, we took up a collection to help pay funeral expenses. This woman’s nephew died the next day. According to Luo tribal custom the nephew must be buried first because he was older. This means our teacher’s son has been in the mortuary almost two weeks. Staff members have been going out to her farm almost every day to visit and console her.

Today (Thursday) it was announced that a group of us would be leaving in an hour to greet her. Others would go on Friday and still others to the funeral itself on Saturday.

Fourteen of us left in a van to go to the city mortuary. Once we arrived we waited. Soon the family came in cars followed by our school bus. The school had provided the bus to help transport the family and fellow teachers. We all consoled the teacher and her other children.

Then they brought the casket out and placed it on the ground in front of the mortuary. I believe it was a viewing casket because it had a glass plate window so people could view him from the shoulders up. After viewing, the minister said a prayer which was followed by a song. Next the body was loaded onto a small pickup to be taken to the family home. Then we proceeded just like a funeral procession back home to the family farm. The women sang songs the entire way to the farm.

In the Luo tribe the body is taken to the house a day or two before the funeral. The road to the house was too narrow for the bus so we had to walk about a mile. Located next to the house was a small tent. That is where the casket was set upon arrival. There were also three large tents that would seat about 50 people erected for people to be able to be in the shade. A sound system was set up so all could hear the short 45 minute service. Since there is no electricity on the farm, the system was powered by a generator. All this time people continued to arrive.

A song started the service followed by a prayer from a minister. There was another song and a sermon. Last was a closing song. After the service was a procession for all to view the body.

It is custom for the grieving family to feed the guests. The menu was cooked rice, pilau (spiced rice), boiled potatoes and cooked cabbage. Many people sat on the ground or stood up to eat since there weren’t enough chairs.

Tomorrow (Friday) more people will go to express their sympathy and another short service will be held. The actual funeral will be held on Saturday. Funerals are almost always held on Saturdays so people don’t have to miss work to attend. It will begin around 10:00 and last most of the day.

It is the Luo custom to bury people in front of the house on the family farm. This woman’s husband’s grave is located about 20 yards away from her house. The son was going to be buried next to the father.

It was a humbling and yet an honor to be included in this experience.

Catholic Education Day

Catholic Education Day for the Kitale dioceses was held at St. Anthony’s last week. There was much preparation in getting the school grounds all spruced up. It is the best the grounds have looked since I have been here. During the week the St. Anthony’s boys practiced greeting the guests on to the school grounds, as well as singing songs and dance for the Mass, and the entertainment part of the program. The faculty wanted everything to be the best since we were the host school. Over 50 primary and secondary schools were invited for the big day.

The Mass was supposed to start at 10:00. The actual starting time was 11:20. The entrance procession was lead by various school’s liturgical dancers followed by St. Anthony teachers, and then the bishop. All but the bishop danced in. The good news was that I was in the middle of our dance line, and I did not fall or knock anyone else down.

During offertory not only were their monetary gifts brought up but also fruit, whole bunches of bananas (stalk and all), vegetables, large bags of maize, live chickens, sheep and goats. It took twenty minutes for the procession and gift giving to the bishop to be completed. The Mass took two hours. Cindy and I estimated there were over 3000 people in attendance. Besides students there were priests, nuns, principals, teachers, PTA members, board of governors, local politicians, and other guests.

After Mass the St. Anthony’s staff helped serve lunch to the adult guests, about 500 people. Rice, pilau, cooked cabbage, potatoes, chapatti, stew and a soda were served. My job was to help get sodas to the three dining areas plus any other things that were needed to help serve. The schools had to furnish their own students’ food as it would not be practical for St. Anthony’s to supply food for 2500!
After lunch was entertainment. The first group of students was from a deaf school. They sang a song in sign language. Others did songs and dances, some in traditional dress. One group of primary age students played soccer. It was a most amazing, humbling, and inspirational experience to watch because they were physically handicapped. Some had only one leg and played on crutches, others had different deformities. The point their head teacher made was they may have a physical disability, but that did not mean they were not intelligent and any less of a human than anyone else. Many times here, children with handicaps are considered outcasts by their families.

Next were speeches from the bishop (his was the shortest), other school officials, the MP (like a US congressman) from Kitale, and the guest speaker. Some speeches were good about education. Others were about schools getting funds on time and the government not being so corrupt. Finally were the awards for various things like best schools, most improved school, best disciplined school, highest math and religious scores, etc.
I left home at 7:30. I called Cindy to pick me up and returned home at 6:45, just before dark. Yes, I was tired but it was a great experience. Our staff and students took a great deal of pride in making sure everyone had a great day.

To view more pictures of this special day click here.

Annual General Meeting

Both St. Anthony's and St. Moncia's are Catholic schools in Kitale. Their governing board known as the Board of Governors (BOG)is similar to our school board. They meet monthly to take care of the business of running the school. Bishop Crowley is the chairman of both schools. That shows his interest in good quality local schools. In the Kitale dioceses, St. Anthony's consistently ranks first in academics and St. Monica's in the top five.

Each school also has a Parent Teacher organization that plays a similar role to our PTAs. Parents and teachers are working together on projects to improve the schools.

Once a year the school holds an AGM (Annual General Meeting). Kenya's love acronyms! The purpose is to allow the BOG, PTA and school administrators to let the parents know of progress, issues, and needs. The parents have the opportunity in the Open Forum to speak about any topic they wish. Important guests are invited and a Chief Guest that is the keynote speaker.



The day started with Mass. These are the liturgical dancers leading the procession as the priest enters to begin Mass. Mass was followed by the meeting and speeches. One of the topics discussed was the need to purchase a generator because Kitale seems to be having electricity problems and the school is frequently without electricity.

The final activity was a late lunch. I was on the committee to help purchase food and supplies for the High Table. We also supervised the arrangement of the room for the special guests.

Click here to see more pictures of this day including many of my fellow teachers at St. Monica's.

Daily Life

A friend recently asked how do you avoid being sick and getting intestinal bugs? Well, we’re really careful about what we eat and drink.

We cannot drink tap water. So we have two water filters. It probably takes about four hours to put our drinking water through the filters. The first basically takes the dirt and other impurities out of the water. The second removes microbes and bacteria. That is the water that we use to drink and brush our teeth. We take water bottles with us wherever we go. You can also buy bottled water most places that are sealed with a plastic rings just like in the States.

When buying fresh fruits and vegetables, wash them in water that has a small amount of Clorox in it, especially those that will be eaten raw. However, it’s fine to use tap water when cooking.

We buy our meat from an Asian Kenyan woman that has deep freezers where she stores the meat. The meat is frozen when we buy it so we simply move it from her freezer to ours. We don’t buy from the local butchery where the meat is exposed to the air hanging from hooks in the window.

When eating out, which doesn’t happen very often, we are careful about where we go. The two restaurants that we frequent in Kitale cater to Western customers. I understand there are a couple African restaurants in town that would be fine, but we haven’t had an occasion to visit them.

John and I both drink the morning tea and eat the lunches prepared at school. I’m sure they aren’t cooked in the most hygienic situations, but our digestive systems seem to tolerate them.

Here are a few other interesting items about our daily life.

At home:
• turn on the hot water switch for the shower a couple of minutes before showering
• fill the water filters both in the morning and evening
• turn on the outside lights about 7:00 for the night security
• put any open food items in a sealable container
• keep the rechargeable lantern charged and in the same place so you can find it when the electricity goes out
• turn on the electrical outlet before you use an appliance
• take daily malaria pill at breakfast

When leaving the house:
• open closet and cabinet doors to avoid mold and mustiness
• don’t forget to put on sunscreen
• take your umbrella with you every day because it will probably rain at some point
• take your water bottle
• carry a bag for your dirty shoes if walking to school
* make sure you have your phone with you

At school:
• shake the hands and greet everyone in the Staff Room the first time you enter each day
• carry a piece of chalk and a pen to class with you because there are none in the classroom
• carry a wrap or jacket with you in case you get chilled
• keep the Oxford dictionary beside you as you mark compositions (British English and American English are different!)
• if marking exams, take the calculator to school because they don’t have them

Click here to see an earlier web album of household items that are different in Kenya than the States.

St. Monica's Teachers to Mombasa

Teaching doesn't have many perks in Kenya. However, many of the better boarding schools send their teachers on a trip during August holiday. Several weeks ago Bishop Crowley mentioned that I would be going to Mombasa, the Board of Governors (school board) had approved the trip. I knew the past couple of months there had been many discussions about where to go in the staff room . But as with many things, information is hard to come by because of organization style. I was looking forward to staying with Mary and Doctor Susan while there.

We left on Wednesday morning and returned home early Sunday morning. I think all but two teachers went so that meant there were about 35 of us. We took our own school bus and had two drivers to share the driving duties. Most of us has a seat to ourselves, so we had plenty of room.

On the way down we stopped for a late lunch at place called, Kikopey, known for roasted meat. I understand it is near a grazing area where they raise many animals. Our men especially were thrilled. There were many shops that were grilling meat: goat, beef, chicken, sausages. As a small group, you order the meat that you want and were served ugali, tomatoes and onions on the side. It was OK, the men were a lot more excited about it than the women. Roasted meat is a real treat and Kenyans don't eat it often.

When we arrived in Nairobi on Wednesday night we hit rush hour and were caught in a jam (traffic jam). When we got to the downtown area several of the younger men teachers spent their time standing in the back of the bus watching traffic out the back window. Welcome to the big city! I think everyone appreciated having an hour to find snacks, bathrooms and stretch.

We got to Mombasa about 7:30 am. They hadn't called ahead for reservations so the first order of business was to find a place to stay. I recognized that we were only a few blocks away from Susan and Mary's house the first place we stopped. I gave them a quick call and less than 5 minutes later Mary picked me up. I ended up spending the entire day with them. We had a great visit, ate PIZZA for lunch:), and went to a mission group to order furniture. The Brother than ran the mission was a friend of Susans. Both of them had worked in Kitale for a number of years. We had a wonderful visit and got some good information on nonviolent communication. On the way home we got ICE CREAM! Pizza and Italian ice cream on the same day. What a treat!

I spent Friday with my fellow teachers. As pedestrians, we rode across the ferry to the south coast. (The city of Mombasa is on an island. You drive over the causeway to approach it from the west, but must cross on the ferry to get to the south. To get to the north you can use a bridge. The beaches are both to the north and south.) We had a little excitement on the return ferry trip. It got caught in the current, traveled downstream and turned a 90 degree angle at one point. We were never in any danger, but many people were pretty nervous.

Just like many tourists, shopping, shopping and more shopping is what they were most interested in that afternoon. I trailed along listening to them bargaining. Once a price was established, I did purchase a couple of lessos (fabric used to cover their good clothes when they are working).


We got to the beach about 4:00 that afternoon. It seems that many Kenyans are afraid of the water. It makes sense: they don't have swimming pools and there is very little water in rivers, ponds or lakes for swimming. Even though I had a swim suit on under my clothes, we were only there for an hour so I didn't bother to take off my skirt. I was the first one in at low tide. I went back several times and told the men they needed to take off their shoes, roll up their pants, and come on in. Finally several did.

There was a small boat that offered to take us for a ride out to the reef. There were about a dozen of us that went. It was a glass bottom boat, so we were able to see fish, urchins, coral, etc. They were so excited and amazed. It was so much fun watching them. Francis, David and I were the only ones brave enough to go sit on top of the boat. I'm sure they all agree that I am pretty crazy not being afraid of the water and sitting on the roof of the boat.

Mary, Susan and I spent a relaxing Saturday morning chatting and eating. We left about 1:00 that afternoon and didn't stop nearly as often on the return trip. During one of our stops the biggest purchases were honey, woven baskets, and carved wooden spoons. I'm guessing there were many happy wives when their husbands returned home with gifts.

We arrived in Kitale about 6:30 am. I had asked the driver to drop me off at a gas station that is only two blocks from our house. His comment was, "Is someone going to meet you there?" I was going to just walk home. The people sitting around me wouldn't hear of that. "It's too risky," they said. I'm sure it wasn't really. It's a major, wide road in a good part of town. We walk on it all the time, but I did have a couple of bags. So, I called John so he could meet me. You could see and hear their relief when they saw John and our car. I don't think anyone at home needs to worry about me when I am with my fellow teachers!

Click here to see more pictures from Mombasa.

Circumcision

We took a road trip with Katrina in early August to Jinga, Uganda. It is so interesting to travel in Africa because you never know what you will see.

Although Kitale itself has a mixture of many tribes, this area is Luhya territory. They are the second largest Bantu ethnic group in Kenya. Being Bantu means that originally their ancestors came from western Africa and migrated eastward over the years. Traditionally, they are agriculturalists. Depending on where they live they grow cassava, sugar cane, maize(corn)or wheat.

Circumcision in Kenya is an important event in Kenyan culture based upon your tribe. The procedure is not done at birth as in the United States, but rather when a young man enters adolescence. It is considered to be a significant rite of passage as they enter adulthood. These boys are being escorted to the ceremony. Notice the rattles, whistles and cow tails. They are creating a lot of noise so that everyone is to notice they are on their way.

The Lyhya still practice the traditional male circumcision ceremonies. We saw several young men being escorted to the elder’s place for their circumcision or returning from the operation.

They only circumcise their young men every other year in even numbered years during the months of August and December. The boys range in age from 11 to 15 years. An elder performs the ceremony and cutting of the foreskin. Then the boys must enter into a period of seclusion where they are not allowed to see their mothers or any other females. These boys are wearing dress like garments because the ceremony has been complete.

Once the time of seclusion is over, a feast is held in the village to honor the young men. At this point, they begin counseling by the elders on skills, appropriate adult behavior, and tribal ceremonies and history. They are no longer able to live with their mothers and sisters, so a bachelor hut is built for them on the family compound.
Not only are they wearing dresslike garments, but the boys in back have had their faces painted with mud during the ceremony.

Note: Most people today have their sons circumcised at a hospital by a doctor between the ages of 10 - 15 years old.

Click here to see more photos of typical Kenyan sites.

Mount Elgon

The town of Kitale is located in the foothills of Mt. Elgon, about 40 km away. Mt. Elgon was formed by volcanic activity at least 12 million years ago. It is now an extinct volcano that was once higher than Mt. Kilimanjaro. It is located in both Uganda and Kenya with the majority in Uganda. It is huge being 80 km in diameter with five major peaks, the highest being 14,140 ft above sea level. This photo of Mt. Elgon is taken from Kitale, about 40 miles away.

The rocks forming Mt. Elgon contain sodium. This has caused elephants to form caves on the mountain. They dig into the softer rocks behind waterfalls with their tusks to be able to eat the salt found there. What they leave behind on the floor of the cave is then eaten by smaller animals like buffalo, bushbuck, hyrax, leopards, hyena and monkeys. The last known cave-in caused by elephant mining was in 1982.
We spent a day at Mt. Elgon National Park hiking to two of the caves, Makingeny and Kitum, and viewing the wildlife there. Kitum Cave was the inspiration for the movie “The Hot Zone” about an Ebola virus outbreak. Two people became ill with Ebola, one in 1980 and the other in 1987 after visiting this cave. However, the US Army’s Infectious Diseases Unit and Kenya Medical Research Unit examined the caves. They found no evidence that there was any connection between the caves and the disease.
One of the many waterfalls on Mt. Elgon.

We had a wonderful day. Since it is the rainy season we hired a 4WD vehicle to tour the park. I’m sure glad I wasn’t driving! We needed the 4WD many times. When you enter the park, you must take a park ranger along with you. He/she carries a gun in case you meet wild animals. Fred, our park ranger was a great help. I still don’t know how he was able to stay clean when I got so muddy! During the day we saw zebra, baboons, colobus monkeys, velvet monkeys, bush buck, water buck, deer, and guineas.

Standing at Elephant Platform.

Click here to see more pictures.

Victoria Nile

Here we are standing at the source of the Victoria Nile. Lake Victoria is to our right and the Nile River is to our left.


The night before rafting standing at Bujagali Falls.


The Nile River is 6650 km (4132 miles) long making it the longest river in the world. There are two major tributaries: the White Nile and Blue Nile.

Last week we traveled with Katrina to the source of the Victoria Nile in Jinga, Uganda. There it begins with a spring at Ripon Falls at the end of Lake Victoria. It empties into the White Nile after passing through several more lakes. The White Nile and Blue Nile converge in Khartoum, Sudan. There it continues northward toward its mouth in the Mediterranean Sea. The water travels at a rate of three km per minute. It takes 3 months it to travel from its source to the Mediterranean. Incredible!

Katrina wanted to white water raft on the Nile. Previously we had rafted on both the Colorado and Rio Grande Rivers which have level 3 rapids. Rapids are rated on a scale of 1 to 6 based on their difficulty. I must say, the Nile was much more fun and exciting. We spent a day on the Nile traveling a total of 30 km. Locals call the Nile a “pull down river” meaning it flows at one level, the rocks pull it down to a lower level where it is nice and smooth before being pulled down again several kilometers later. We were pulled down five level 5 rapids, five level 4 rapids and the smaller ones were too insignificant to count!

While there we met people from Belgium, Great Britain, Turkey, Slovenia, Germany, South Africa and Uganda. It was a great day. We started near the Owens Falls dam where the water was nice and calm. There we learned the commands we would need throughout the day. We flipped the raft to practice getting back in and getting into the crufix position in case we got separated from the raft and needed to float downstream.


Kayaks and two oar rafts accompanied us in the river as safety precautions. If you got separated from your raft these boats were there to pick you up. At three different points when the water was calm, we could leave our raft and swim or float downstream. That was great fun. Even though we were all just a few feet away from one another it was amazing to see how we would get in different currents that would take us at different speeds down river.

They provided all three meals for the day. Lunch was half of a pineapple and biscuits (cookies). The fresh pineapple was wonderful! The evening meal was a BBQ back at our campsite. The beef shish kabobs had the best meat we have eaten since we’ve been in Africa! Vegetables, fruit, rice, potatoes, and chapatti completed our meal.

It was a wonderful day!

Click here to view pictures of our rafting adventure.

School Visitor

Our friend, Mary Oldham, came to visit last week. Mary is a fellow Maryknoll Lay Missioner, class of 2010. We along with twelve others joined MKLM in September and attended a three month orientation in New York. That’s when we first met Mary, a fellow Midwesterner. She was also assigned to Kenya so we traveled on New Year’s Eve to our new country. We were together in language school in Nairobi until April. At that point we moved to Kitale while Mary moved to Mombasa. We were delighted to see her again and get a chance to visit about our ministries.

Mary is coordinating a project called Maryknoll Fathers AIDS Orphans Project in the Archdiocese of Mombasa started in 1999. This project addresses the educational needs of children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS. They come from marginalized families who have very limited economic opportunities and live in slum areas surrounding Mombasa. Many of the guardians are living with HIV/AIDS and have other children to care for. Some of the orphans in the project are living with HIV/AIDS themselves.



She also deals with schools, but in a totally different way than we do. She is involved with finding schools that will accept her children, placing them, the admissions process, paying fees, etc. She was very interested to see how schools function on a daily basis and what education looks like in Kenya.

She was able to spend one day with John at St. Anthony’s and the next at St. Monica’s. Unfortunately, the boys were taking exams so she was only able to meet the teachers and other staff and see where John works. Since we were still holding class at St. Monica’s, the girls were thrilled to be able to talk with her and ask her questions.

Although she isn’t a teacher, she is a natural in the classroom. She started off each class telling a little about herself and then opening it up to questions. The questions ranged all the way from: Tell us about your family. Are you married? What are you looking for in a husband? What are your traditional foods? Where did you go to university? How is life different in Kenya from the United States? What are some of the challenges you face in Kenya?

Of course, the girls were thrilled to have another visitor from the United States. Mary continued to reinforce the importance of studying hard and getting a good education. Education is the way out of poverty and to reach Kenya Vision 2030 economic and social goals.

Report Card Weekend

This is report card weekend. School in Kenya is divided into three three-month terms. This past week has been Final Week. John especially has been swamped with >marking (grading) exams. Do the maths. Each class at St. Anthony’s has 85+ students. There are four classes. That’s 340+ students. He reported about an hour ago that he has marked over 4000 questions. It took him about 20 hours to finish mark his exams. He will be so glad to be finished and be able to think about something else.

Here are a couple of examples from his Form I (freshman) maths exam:

1. A large scale farmer uses ½ of his land to plant maize (corn), 1/5 for grazing, 1/3 of the remainder for horticulture and the rest for beans. If he uses 20 hectares for horticulture farming determine how much land he uses for beans. (Worth 4 marks/points)

2. Matthew bought a suit for sh 2400. He is going to resell it and marked it a price that after allowing a 10% discount he would make a profit of 20%. Calculate the marked price. (4 marks)

3. A cylindrical tank whose diameter is 2.8 metres and height of 80 cm is initially empty. Water whose volumn is 985.6 litres is poured into the tank. Determine the fraction of the tank filled with water. (4 marks)

I’m luckier. I only have to mark (grade) my own students. That’s 148 exams. My exams don’t have to be marked until we return to school in September. However, I must have the Oxford Dictionary on the desk beside me as I work. It is probably the best money spent since we have been in Kenya. If fact, I have two: one to use at home and the other is kept at school. There is a real difference between American English and British English not only in word usage but also in spelling. I am constantly having to double check to see if what I think is an error is in fact correct. Here are a few spellings that I need to count as correct: realised, colour, travelled, practise, mould, offense, labour, and foetus.

Here is an example from my Form I exam:
Read the following story. Fill in the blanks so that the story makes sense. (10 marks)
Ogre Stories
There are many ___________________ narratives that depict ogres. Ogres are ___________________ characters who disguise themselves to deceive foolish and gullible _____________________. These evil characters do __________________ things like killing people and ______________________ them up. Ogres have nothing _____________________ in them, and indeed they never change their evil nature.
Ogre stories present the contest between ___________________ and evil in the world. As we have said, ogres disguise themselves as good and well meaning, but in the end their _________________ nature reappears. Their aim is to destroy. In some stories they kill and get away with it. Yet in others, the ogres are eventually _____________________. Such stories reassure us and show that good ____________________ over evil.



Maths answers:
40 hectares, sh 3200, 1/5

English answers:
oral, evil, people, evil, eating, good, good, true, destroyed, triumphs

Everyday Necessities

Several weeks ago I showed you our house. I thought today I'd show you things in our house that are different than homes in the United States. These are things that we couldn't do without.

We don't have near the electricity problems that Katrina has in Nigeria. However, it isn't unusual for the electricity to go out a couple of times a week. Tonight for example while I was cooking supper we lost power for about twenty to thirty minutes. If it is daylight it isn't a problem. However, if it is dark, it is really dark. This is a rechargeable lantern that puts out quite a bit of light. We keep it in a special place so we always know where it is at. There are also several flashlights kept in strategic locations in the house and candles with matches in every room.

If we would drink the water here we would get sick. There is bacteria and other impurities that our bodies aren't used to. That means that we might get sick if we drank tap water. That problem is solved by having a water filter for drinking water and for brushing teeth. It works by the simple process of osmosis and gravity. You fill up the top compartment with tap water. Inside is a clay filter to get rid of the impurities. As time goes by the water passes through the filter and into the bottom part of the filter. Now it is drinkable water!

There are four dogs on the compound for security reasons. Copper and Dino are two that are outside all day long. They are quite tame and friendly (to us). Dino is the father of Copper. Copper is younger and more energetic. John feeds her our bones and scraps of meat. She really likes that. Due to the treats and warm concrete, she hangs out near our house during the day. We often hear her tail hitting our door at night. It's not a bad thing to know that there is a guard dog right outside your front door!

We don't have and don't want a hot water heater. We don't have room for one and they are too expensive to run. However, we have three small ones that give us hot water just when we need it. Each shower has a hot water heater on the top of the shower nozzle. About three to five minutes before you want to take a shower, turn on the switch outside the bathroom and you've got a warm shower. Likewise, we have another larger hot water heater in the kitchen above the sink. We plug it in while I am cooking. Again within three to five minutes there is hot water. Boy, is it ever hot! What hot water isn't used doing supper dishes stays warm overnight and is still lukewarm the next morning.

This is high malaria season. Since it is the rainy season, there is a lot of water sitting around. We take a drug to prevent us from getting malaria every day. In addition we sleep under mosquito netting. Our bed has a special frame for the netting so it isn't right in our faces when we go to bed. It's almost like sleeping in a canopy bed.

Click here to see a few more pictures of things that make our lives a little easier.

Sunday Walk

We go for a walk on Saturday and Sunday mornings. John gets plenty of exercise during the week since he usually walks two to three kilometers every day to and from school. I on the other hand don’t get much exercise. Walking in our neighborhood gives us a chance to explore and learn more about our new home. We try to take a new route each time we go. This morning we took our camera along to show you what we see in our neighborhood.

This road is a mirum road. It’s the next best thing to being tarmaced (blacktopped). I don’t know what it’s made of, but it sure doesn’t hold water. Even after a heavy downpour there are no mud puddles. There might be an area holding water for a few hours, but it is soon gone. On this type of road you don’t have to worry about getting stuck. The road to John's school isn't nearly this nice. He won't let me take him all the way to school because he's afraid I'll get stuck.

Click here to see more pictures. We are surrounded by hills. The Cherangani Hills are to the north east. To the north west is Mt. Elgon amid the Cherangani.

All houses and most building are located in compounds. There is a wall surrounding the compound and usually a hedge of some type. It’s not at all unusual to see cattle, goats and sheep eating grass along the edge of the roads. I’ve had to stop several times on my way to and from school to wait for them to cross the road. The shepherds are good in that if they see cars coming, they will try to get the animals to move over. At times there is no person with the animals. In that case they seem to be local animals with long ropes tied around their necks. They must belong to a compound nearby and are out grazing for the day.


Notice the lady walking with her small child in this photo. If you look carefully you will notice that she is carrying firewood on her head, a baby tied to her back, and a shopping bag on her arm. How does she do it?

Homes in our neighborhood run the gamut from large, multistoried homes for several families usually owned by Indian Kenyans, British colonial homes built in the early 20th century, modest stone homes similar to ours, to small homes built out of timber, corrugated tin, even mud.

Exams

In the first thirty-two years of our careers, students abhorred exams. They considered them to be the bane of their existence, a teacher’s plot to trick them. However, they knew exactly what material they would be covered on the test.

You can imagine my surprise when two weeks ago a Form I (freshman) class asked me if I would give them an English exam once a week. “What!” I exclaimed. “You actually want more exams?” Their answer was an emphatic and resounding, “YES!” So, I started asking even more questions of not only them, but my other two English classes. It was unanimous, they all wanted weekly tests.

It turns out that four years ago, the math department in an effort to improve their scores started a Math League. I still don’t understand what all it entails, but a weekly math exam is given to every Form III and IV student on Thursday morning and twice a month to every Form I and II student. That’s almost 1800 exams to mark (grade) a month! Due to this emphasis, their math scores have indeed risen significantly.

John and I felt that way too much time spent on preparation for the state assessments rather than on true learning. In some ways it is even worse in Kenya. Students aren’t tested here when they finish a unit of study or chapter like in the US. Instead, they are given three exams a term (about every 7th week). Anything and I mean anything can be on these exams. It might be material covered in class, but more than likely half of the exam is over material they have never even seen or discussed. These three exams determine students’ GPA and ranking in the school. There is no such thing as a privacy act here. The scores of every student are posted on bulletin boards for any person to see.

During the months of October and November Form IV students (seniors) take the K.C.P.E. exam. This exam determines if the student will even be allowed to attend college, what college they will attend, and even what their area of study (major) will be. There is no such thing as individual choices. Test scores determine their entire academic future.

So you can see why they consider testing to be so important. It is literally life or death to them. I don’t know if I will be able to keep up writing and marking exams for my students every week, but I’ll try. They think it is so important and so I’m happy to do what I can to help them improve in English. My tests won’t affect their GPA or ranking, but will constantly reinforce and emphasize skills that will be covered on the K.C.P.E.

Here’s something else you might be interested in. Class time isn’t used to give these extra exams. Instead, I am going to school at 6:30 am on Tuesday mornings. This is prep time for them (study hall). It is a perfect time for them to take the test. Could you pass an English exam at 6:30 in the morning?

Almost a Child Bride

Last week I had my Form I students write a composition about a real life experience, something that actually happened to them. The themes were: A Close Shave, A Perilous Experience, A Nerve Jarring Experience. Unfortunately, most of them created a fiction story. However, this one is true. This student’s father was going to marry her off at the age of 14. I’ll let her tell her own story in an edited version.

A Close Shave

It was on a Friday morning when I woke up at the crack of dawn. On that day we were going to have visitors. I quickly ran to the frog’s kingdom (outdoor bathing area) to have a shower. Without wasting time I went and dressed in my best dress. After that I went to see what was happening in the kitchen.

Mmh! I was welcomed by the fresh aroma that wafted in the air. My mum was frying some chicken and mandazis (fried bread similar to doughnuts). I sat next to her and asked her about the visitors who were coming. Tears started falling down her cheeks like a waterfall. For sure I wondered what was happening.

I stood and went to the dining room to have my breakfast. At around nine o’clock I saw an old man coming to our home. I did not know whether he was our visitor or not. I quickly ran and told my father that we had a visitor.

When the visitor arrived, I was told by my father to go outside because they had a serious issue to talk about. After some hours my mum came while crying and told me to run to Grandmother who lived in Kenya to get some assistance. My father was planning to take me off to be married.

I wondered how I could run from Tanzania to Kenya, but I decided to do so because I did not want to follow the customs and traditions of the Hehe tribe. My mum packed for me some food and within a minute I was off.

I arrived at my grandmother’s three days later feeling hungry, thirsty and tired. After my grandmother served me a delicious meal, I explained all that had happened. How I crossed the border and how I arrived.

After listening to the story, she took me to my aunt’s to continue with my education. I thank the Almighty because when I came to Kenya I knew how to speak English. (The official language in Tanzania is Kiswahili. Very few can speak English.) I want to pass my examination and have a good career so that I can go and teach for the tribe the importance of education especially for girls. That is why I am in St. Monica’s Girls High school.

Blessing at St. Monica's

St. Monica’s is a public secondary school, but is under the management and supervision of the Catholic Church. This week we had a visit from Bishop Crawley. He had a busy morning blessing our new computer lab, breaking ground for a new dining hall, and planting trees.

Now that our new computer lab is completed, it needed to be blessed it before we could move in. This building project was partially funded with government funds to increase technology courses available in secondary schools. (Our school has about 20 computers for 582 students.) Before the actual blessing, Bishop told the girls how proud he was of their academic achievements. He had just come from visiting schools in another district and was extremely pleased with the good behavior of our girls during the ceremony. He mentioned he had sent a “granny” (that’s me!) to teach in their school. He talked about how important it is to have an international

flavor in schools and learn as much as possible about other places in the world.

This picture is taken on the veranda of the computer lab. Bishop is on the right, the president of the PTA is next to him, Principal Akech is talking to the girls, and the chairman of the Infrastructure (Building) Committee beside her. The others are members of PTA.

When a school needs or wants to expand they don’t get tax money from the government or pass a bond issue. Instead, they hold meeting(s) with parents of students who are currently enrolled. The school presents their building and finance plans. The parents then decide whether or not to accept it. If it is approved, each student is assessed a certain amount as part of their yearly school fees. Any future enrollees are included until the building is paid off. Thus, only parents of students finance building projects, not the entire community.

St. Monica’s wants to expand. They currently have three streams of students and want to increase to four. That means they have three classes of approximately 50 students (150 total) at each grade level. In order for a school to break even financially, they need to have at least two streams. The first step in this expansion plan is to build a new dining hall. Once that is complete, they can use



the current dining hall as a dormitory. I’m not sure how long ago this plan was adopted, but they have collected over $25,000. It will cost about $50,000 to build a building like this. That means they have enough to start construction.

These photos are of the blessing of the building site and ground breaking.

Just like students anywhere, the girls were excited to get out of classes for part of the day. It was hard to get them settled once the ceremonies were over. However, it provided a great opportunity to talk about the importance of education when we returned to class.

Not all chili powder is created equally!

It is so nice to be able to have my own kitchen again. However, cooking is an adventure. Ingredients here are a little different, so even if I am using a familiar recipe, it doesn’t always turn out the way I expect. Last night was a perfect example.

I wanted to make burritos, Chipotle style. All you need is meat, rice, beans and toppings. That’s easy, right? Not quite so. I’ve learned to make some pretty good guacamole with the avocados that are in season, so that part wasn’t a problem. I can substitute chapatti for the tortillas. They can be purchased at the restaurant where we eat on Sundays. Refried beans, taco seasoning, and salsa are not available in the stores. That’s easily remedied by checking the internet. I found recipes for all three. The salsa and beans turned out great. The problem was the taco seasoning. Although I cut the amount of chili powder way down, the chili powder must be several times stronger than what we are used too! Poor John and Russ added second and third helpings of yogurt (sour cream substitute) to their burritos to try to cool them down!

I think I can still use the leftover seasoned mince (hamburger). I’ve frozen it and will save it to make chili one of these cool evenings. When I add more meat, that should dilute the seasoning and make it more tolerable.

On a happier note, John and I had breakfast burritos this morning minus the mince. The scrambled eggs with salsa, guacamole and cheese were great! We didn’t even miss the sausage.

This is John, one of our askari (guards) and groundskeepers. He has just picked some avocados from the tree in our compound. That means more guacamole, avocado and tomato salad, and avocado salad dressing. I even made avocado pudding last week. Not bad at all.

St. Anthony's Boys School

St. Anthony’s Secondary Boy’s school has almost 1000 students with about 50 teachers on staff. The class size ranges from about 85 in Form one (9th grade) to only 50+ in Form 4 (seniors). The boys wake up at 4:45 in the morning, dress in their uniform and get ready for morning prep (study hall) and breakfast. Class starts at 8:00 and the school day ends at 4:15. This time is broken up into 10 different 40 minute class periods. Students stay in the same classroom and the teachers switch classes. In the evening after supper there is another prep time.

Monday and Friday mornings the boys have parade (an assembly) starting before 7:30. The Kenyan flag is raised, the national anthem is sung, religious songs are sung in Swahili, a Bible verse read, and then a reflection of the verse is given by several boys. Two or three boys will then give national and world news. One boy will give what we would call a pep talk about doing well in school. Next, a couple of teachers will give a pep talk, give names of students who have done well in various areas, plus remind them of things that need to be improved upon. Twice the boys “entertainment committee” has given a skit which helps give some comedic relief. Finally the principal gives his speech about ways to improve and why the boys need to give their best effort. Morning parade lasts for over an hour at which time students are standing at attention.

My form one math class has over 85 students. The two aisles between desks are only about 12 inches wide. There is an art to gliding down the aisle I am trying to perfect without catching my slacks on screws sticking out of the desks. The desks remind me of antique desks with flip up tops. There is only about two feet between the front row and the chalkboard where I stand.

Most of the boys come from the Rift Valley Province, but we have some from other regions of Kenya. Teaching math in Kenya is different from the US. Even though math is a universal language, I have discovered many cultural differences in its lessons and methodology. Students have algebra, geometry, plus basic math in Form One, not an entire year of algebra like in the US. Because of culture, some of the explanations have to be different. The books are boring by State standards and most of the examples are only for the very basic problems. Yet, the good news is that a textbook only cost about 5 to 7 US dollars compared to 60+ dollars back home. I have had to ask another teacher more than once how to use a chart or table as I have never seen a similar one before. Once explained it seems easy and logical. Very few boys have a calculator. Every two or three boys must share a textbook as there are not enough to go around. Also, it is not uncommon for boys to share pencils, pens, rulers, compasses, etc.

Extracurricular act ivies offered after school this term include choir, entertainment (drama), science club (we have boys who have qualified for the National Science Congress in Mombasa), and basketball (on a dirt court so when it rains ….), net ball, hockey, and football (soccer). One huge difference from back home is that ALL form 4 students quit extracurricular activities to focus on their studies for the national exam. In fact they have extra classes and extra studies in Forms 3 and 4th to prepare for this test. This exam, the K.C.S.E., determines not only IF they are allowed to go to college, but also WHAT college they will attend and what their MAJOR will be once they get there.

The following are some things that have happened to me that would seem unique to a teacher in America. I have been asked to counsel a Form 1 Samburu student (like the Masaai) who wants to leave school so he can be like his friends and herd the cattle, goats and camels. I hope I will be making a trip in the next year or so to north central Kenya to visit his family if we can convince him to stay in school. A second is having the class clap for a story I told on how to remember the 9s multiplication facts. This week a student asked me to say a special prayer for him so he can do better in math. A daily occurrence is students catching me as I leave class asking me to mark (grade the work they just completed) to see how well they are doing. A student in Kansas would never ask for extra work let alone ask to have a teacher double check to make sure they are doing it correctly.

I feel so blessed to be working with such bright, willing students. John

Our House

Let me take you on a tour of our house. It is a brand new house. We were able to move in on May 2nd, although many small things weren’t yet complete. Our house is small, but very comfortable and adequate to meet our needs. It is definitely a home built with Westerners in mind. There is no way the majority of Kenyans would be able to live in a house like ours. Most Kenyans live in tiny one or two room houses built of mud, timber, stone or galvanized tin.

Click here to see pictures. One of the first things you might want to know is that there is no heating or air conditioning in homes here. The temperatures have been averaging in mid 70s during the daytime and at nights in the mid 50s, so there really is no need. You’ll notice on the picture of the outside of the house that the two outside sections of windows open outward to let it air. This works really well. Open them in the morning after breakfast to air the house during the day. Then about 6:00 you’ll need to close them as it starts to cool off. You’ll also notice the metal inside the glass. This is a safety precaution that all homes have. It adds a nice decorative touch to our house.

We had our couch, armchairs, coffee table, dining room table, four chairs and two end tables made by a carpentry shop by another ministry, FPFK. You can see that they did a great job. They used cyprus wood to create simple, strong and functional furniture. The chairs are very comfortable.

The floors are all tile as are the kitchen and bathroom walls. There is a fireplace in a corner of the living room. We understand we will be lighting fires in it in the next few weeks as June and July are the two coldest months. Area rugs help to add warmth and color.

The dining room is separate from the kitchen. You’ll notice a small window on the left side of the dining room. It is to the kitchen. I’ve put my plates and silverware in the sideboard at the end of the dining room. It is really handy to set the prepared food on the kitchen counter just below the window and then once in the dining room reach in and put them on the table.

You’ll notice that the kitchen has plenty of counter space and cabinets. We have to filter our water before we can drink it. There isn’t room in the kitchen for the refrigerator; it is in the hallway off the living room. This is a great little area as it has access to the bedroom, bathrooms, and our study.

Our bedrooms have tons of storage space. They each have a full length mirror in the little recess you can see in front of the rug. We don't have hot water. Attached to the top of the shower is a little hot water heater. Before you get in the shower you flip the switch and magic, you have hot water coming out of the tap! We are using the second bedroom as a study. We each have our own desk and plenty of space to spread out without getting in one another's way.

There is a large cement patio area in front of our house. In a few weeks it will have a nice table with an umbrella, table and chairs. You can see the pots that we’ve planted that will be scattered around. In all that dirt will be a flower bed. It’s silly to plant it now because they are still doing construction on a house next door. Soon there will be a hibiscus hedge between our house and the newest house.

Between our house and Russ’s is a new banda. The old one was leaning and fell over last week. We were excited to come home one day and see that they are building a new one with a raised floor. It is even going to have electricity! It will be great to use in the evenings or for Saturday morning coffee. I think we’re going to initiate it next weekend with a Memorial Day barbecue with Russ and Kathy.

Our compound has five houses in it. Missionaries live in three of the houses and the fourth is the owner of the compound, a business man and his wife. The fifth house is not yet complete. It will probably be rented to missionaries in some point in the future. It is necessary to live in a compound for security reasons. We have someone on the grounds twenty-four hours a day. During the day they are groundskeepers as well as security. At night they are the watchman. We are a two honk compound. When we arrive home our signal to Ocheng or his son, John, is two honks of the horn. That lets them know that it is someone who belongs on the compound so they can unlock and open the gate for us.

Again, our house is in no way a typical Kenyan home. It would be considered to be extravagant and out of the reach of most Kenyans.

First Impressions of School

We are getting a quick introduction to Kenyan education through real life experience! The staff members in our schools have been extremely helpful as we are continuing to adjusting to new procedures and ways of doing things.

The official school day starts at 8:00 and runs until 4:00. Classes are forty minutes in duration. Due to limited space, students remain in one classroom all day and the teachers move from room to room, not the other way around as happens in America. Our students are lucky in that each student has their own desk and chair. The desks are large enough that their books fit inside and don’t have to be piled on the floor. Although our schools have excellent reputations, students must still share textbooks, only two students to a book though. The classes are much larger than what we are used to. Cindy has 47 – 52 in her classes while John has 82!

Assignments are done in exercise books rather than on loose sheets of paper. That makes collecting work to mark (grade) more difficult and much more cumbersome. The good thing is that the teacher doesn’t actually collect the work. Each class has a class prefect that is similar to a class monitor. These prefects are nominated by their classmates, but the final selection is determined by the teaching staff. Among their duties are the actual collection of work and then they and a friend carry the exercise books to the staff room for the teacher. Once the teacher has them graded they call the prefects to come and pick them up and pass them back to the students. That sure beats trying to carry a stack of notebooks over a foot high to another building.

The head of each department has their own office where they can work in quiet. However, most of us do our work in the Staff Room. It is a large room that contains at least 24 large desks. Desks are assigned on a seniority basis. Some teachers must share desks. Cindy is lucky enough to have a desk of her own. She was told it is because she teaches English and has the most marking to do. John is doing his work in the library because there isn’t a place for him to work.

Each morning at 10:00 the students and teachers are served chai. It is tea made out of milk and sweetened with sugar. We both like it very much. The British call it milk tea. Teachers are served white bread with their tea. Most make a bread and butter sandwich that has four to six slices of bread in it. As a rule Kenyans don’t eat breakfast, so it is understandable that they are hungry by 10:00. It’s during chai and lunch that the staff room is the most crowded and the noisiest as almost everyone comes for these.

Lunch is also served for the teachers. We have decided that we will eat the school lunch provided. They are already concerned because we don’t take bread with our chai. In their opinion we don’t eat nearly enough to keep from starving. Lunches are typically Kenyan food: sukumawiki with ugali, githeri, or beans and rice. Githeri is a mixture of red beans and maize (corn). Their version of corn is what we would call field corn in Kansas. It is large kernels of hard, tough corn. It’s not our favorite meal. Ugali according to the dictionary is stiff porridge. It is made out of corn flour (similar to corn meal) and boiling water. It is stiffer than mashed potatoes or even corn bread. To eat it you use your thumb and first two fingers to pinch off a piece. Then you pick up a little bit of sukumawiki to go with it. Sukuma is kale that is finely shredded and cooked with onion for seasoning.


Although Kenyan schools are very different from what we are used to, students are the same all over the world. We are glad to be back in the classroom and enjoying getting to know our newest classes.

Bananas

Bananas are bright yellow fruits about 8 inches long, right? Yes, in the United States. They come complete with a Dole, Del Monte or Chiquita sticker. However that is not true in the rest of the world. Bananas come in four colors: yellow, red, purple and green. Someone told me there are 42 different varieties of bananas, but I haven’t been able to confirm that. We have seen several different types of bananas in Kitale.

Russ, another MKLM, runs a program for street children. They have their own banana plantation at Don Bosco. I’m guessing there are at least 30 banana trees in their grove producing bananas for their children. Not only did we get to see the trees, but actually taste some of the fruit.

Joseph, the groundskeeper, is probably about six feet tall. See how small he looks standing next to the plants? They can grow to a height of twenty to twenty-five feet. Now look at the ground. There is maize (corn) planted between the trees. In another section of the plantation, there are pumpkins. Both are food staples. Not only is the pumpkin eaten, but the leaves are cooked as greens and the flowers and seeds are also used for food.

Here is a short lesson about bananas. First of all, they don’t actually grow on trees. Instead, they are the largest herbaceous flowering plant known. The trunk is hollow and doesn’t have any wood in it at all. That’s why the trees blow over so easily during a storm. The trunk is basically a stem that supports the fruit. After the tree has produced the banana crop, that stem is dead and needs to be cut down. Once cut, another sucker will start growing to produce another crop in a years time.

Do you see the bright purple flower at the base of the bunch of bananas? It’s called the banana heart and is also edible. At first it is a tight cone, but as the bananas ripen, the flowers open from the bottom upwards. When all the petals have opened, the fruit is ripe and it’s time to cut the bunch from the tree.

Each banana is called a finger. Depending on the variety of banana, the finger could be anywhere from three inches long to about twelve inches. The sweetness and starch content of the fruit also varies.

Another member of the banana family is the plantain. They are a starch and need to be prepared like potatoes, boiled, baked, or fried.

Bananas and plantains are important as a food source for Eastern Africa as well as Southwest Asia. It has been estimated that the annual consumption is 99 pounds a year in East Africa, most being produced on small farms. They are especially valuable because they produce fruit year-round, not just once a year as most crops. India, not Brazil, is the largest producer of bananas in the world.

Banana fiber from the trunk and leaves are also used to make beautiful artwork, paper and even clothing. We’ve already bought several to decorate our house.

Driving = Sensory Overload

Nairobi is a city of three and a half million. Kitale is 150,000 including the containment area. That includes the surrounding area, people that would come to town to shop. So although driving isn’t the challenge here that it would be in Nairobi, it still requires a different set of skills than driving in the US.

You can see from these photos that you are sharing the road with many different types of vehicles. The most common mode of transportation and cheapest is by foot. It is amazing to see the number of people walking. At times it almost seems as if Kenya is a huge anthill with constant movement of people from one place to another.

When you start looking at public transit you’ve got bodabodas at the first level. They are bicycles with a passenger seat on the back. (An interesting side note: the way they got their name is because people would hire them to cross the Kenya-Ugandan border. Hence the name, bodaboda (border). Not only will you see people riding on the back of the bodaboda, you will see them loaded with firewood, groceries, sorghum to feed the animals, bricks, sugarcane, water, etc.

Moving up the economic scale are pikipikis, or motorcycles. You can tell that you are nearing a major intersection along any road when you see a group of men and
pikipikis or boadbodas ready for hire. It was interesting to note that any time our bus stopped on the way to Kitale, suddenly there were several pikipikis right beside the bus door ready to take passengers anywhere they might like to go.

I’ve written about matatus before. They are similar to minivans that have seats for fourteen but often carry many more. They are considered to be public service vehicles with the right-of-way in pretty much any situation. Watch out especially for them. They might stop at a moment’s notice of pull out right in front of you.

We use the British system of driving on the left side of the road. You need to look left-right-left for oncoming traffic, not right-left-right. Most major intersections in Kitale have a roundabout. Make sure you go on the left hand side of roundabout and yield to anyone on your right. The nice thing about roundabouts is that they have signs that help to distinguish them and let you know where you are. For example, I turn to go to my school at the Eveready round about, the bookstore is by the cattle sculpture roundabout, John’s school and the cathedral is at the Lions’ Club shelter. Even though we live in a residential neighborhood, we have a roundabout at our corner. I guess it’s nice to know that if we ever have car trouble we only have to walk a few feet to hire a bodaboda or pikipiki.

Then there is the car itself. The steering wheel is on the right side of the car. You shift with your left hand. I think all vehicles here are manual transmission. You are constantly downshifting for large speed bumps, deep ruts in the road, slow moving vehicles or going uphill. The blinker is on the right side of the steering column, not on the left. Both of us keep turning on the windshield wipers rather than the blinkers! Oncoming traffic is right beside you, not across the car. You need to hug the center of the road. If you go too far to the left you will hit a large speed bump, fall off the side of the road, or hit some other slower form of traffic. Russ assures us that we will indeed get used to driving, but at this point there is so much to be thinking about. Driving isn’t natural yet.