Escort

I never cease to be amazed at how the English language can be so different in another place.

Class had just been dismissed for tea. I hung around outside the classroom door because I needed to collect papers from a few of the girls. Instead of running to the dining hall to get their tea, about four girls sat down on the grass to bask in the sun. This is our conversation.

“Aren’t you girls going to go get your tea?” I asked.

“No,” they replied, “we don’t have an escort.”

Laughingly I said, “I’ll take you down to the dining hall and be your escort.” There was no reply. So I continued, “Did you get in trouble or something? Is there some reason you can’t go to the dining hall?”

Then they started laughing, “Since we don’t have anything to take with our tea we don’t want it.”

“Oh, you want something to eat with your tea, bread or something. Is that right?”

That is one time the Oxford Dictionary didn’t help me!

Here’s another example that I’ve run across several times this week as I’ve graded compositions, but this one is in the Oxford Dictionary. I had no otherwise but to go home. Definition of otherwise: choice.

Visit to Ortum

We’ve had a guest in Kitale. Maria, a registered nurse, is thinking about becoming a Maryknoll Lay Missioner. She is here for three weeks to see the reality of health care in Kenya and opportunities for future mission. Kathy has done a great job scheduling visits for her. Last week they traveled to Ortum to visit the

Mission Hospital and Nursing School there. Since I didn’t need to go to school that day, I asked if I could tag along. It was a beautiful trip and informative visit.

In 1956 the Kiltegan priests and Daughters of the Holy Rosary, both Irish mission organizations, started work in Ortum. Ortum is in West Pokot located about two hours north of Kitale in the Cherangani Hills. There they established a mission church, schools and a hospital. Later they added a nursing school, one of the best in Kenya.

The hospital and nursing school were impressive. The Sisters still run both

institutions. The nursing school has about 100 students. Because they are so well trained, when they complete nurses’ training they are snatched up in the job market. The hospital is well equipped and offers many services not found elsewhere. One of those is a place where expectant mothers can come and live for free while they are awaiting the birth of their baby. Since this area is sparsely
populated and people must travel far through mountains by foot, if women wait until they are in labour to come to the hospital, they won’t make it on time to deliver!

The people native to this area are the Pokots. Because they live in a remote area many of them still follow traditional ways of life. It is a goal of Bishop Crowley, to help educate these people to improve the quality of their life. I do have several girls from West Pokot in my classes.

The Pokots are divided into two main groups. The Hill Pokot live in the Cherangani Hills (where we were) and practice both pastoralism and farming growing maize. The other group are the Plains Pokot who live in arid plains where they herd cows, goats and sheep. Whether a pastoralist or a farmer, wealth among the Pokot is measured by the number of cattle one has. Cattle are used to barter and to pay bride price (dowry). As long as a man has enough cows to offer, marrying more than one wife is allowed.

Dairy products such as milk, butter and cheese are the staple diet of the Pokot.

They make porridge from wild fruits boiled with a mixture of milk and blood from cattle. Cattle are seldom slaughtered for meat because they are more valuable alive. Pokot women traditionally wear colorful necklaces and beaded headgear, brass jewelry and big loop type earrings whereas men wear just a few wrap garments and cowhide capes and shirts. Pokot warriors wear red clay on their hair with feathers.

To see more pictures of the area around Ortum, click here.

Ft. Jesus and Old Town Mombasa

While in Mombasa, we spent a day enjoying some historic sites there: Fort Jesus and Old Town. The word Mombasa means “Island of War” which aptly fits as there

have been many battles and intrigues involving its ownership. It is one of East Africa’s oldest settlements. Some claim settlements have existed there for at least 2000 years.

Due to the importance of the natural harbour ships from Arabia, Persia,Yemen, Iran, India and even China created major trading center in Mombasa. Traders from countries to the East were interested in spices, gold, ivory, millet, seamum, coconuts, and slaves. The Kiswahili language is said to have originated here as a language of trade with words derived from Arabic, Indian, Portuguese and English.

Much later the Europeans realized its economic value. Vasco da Gama stopped there in 1498, however, he wasn’t allowed to enter the port. Almost a hundred years

later, Portugal obtained dominion and built Ft. Jesus to protect its interests. The fort was the main hub for trading, a prison for slaves, and protection for their own soldiers. The popular trade goods at that time were spices, cotton, coffee and slaves.

The Portuguese were overthrown by Omani Arabs in 1698 after being under siege for two years and nine months. And then in 1887 the British took control of the city. Between 1631 and 1875 the fort was won and lost nine times.

The Portuguese sailed under the flag of the Order of Christ, not the Portuguese flag, since they regarded themselves as representatives of Christendom. So it was natural that they named it Fort Jesus. Ft. Jesus was built in the shape of a man

as viewed from above. It was the first European-style fort constructed outside of Europe designed to resist cannon fire. A quote from the brochure pretty well sums up the fort’s history, “Fort Jesus has suffered a history of murder, siege, starvation, bombardment and treachery that makes our modern world of hi-jacking and thuggery seem quite tame.”

Old Town is located just outside Ft. Jesus. It is filled with buildings influenced by Islamic and Portuguese architecture. The carved wooden doors and balconies are beautiful.

For additional photos click here.

Fire at St. Anthony's

As I was walking to school this morning the only fire truck in town was going towards St. Anthony’s. When I got to school I knew something was wrong as there were many motorcycles and no kids in class.

As I passed the academic block I could see the fire truck near one of the

dormitories plus students and some adults standing around. One of the dorms had caught fire between 5:00 and 5:30. The fire department was putting out what was left of the fire. Luckily the boys were at morning preps in their classrooms. Thank God no one was injured. About 120 boys lost all their belongings.

While an emergency Board of Governors meeting was being held I went to all the form 1 and 2 classrooms and told them how sorry I was about the fire but my prayers

were answered that no one was hurt. We can replace clothes, books, etc. but not human life. Other teachers were busy consoling and helping boys who had lost things. Parents and people from town started coming to see the damage.

We had a school assembly after the BOG meeting. We had speeches of encouragement from the principal, acting head of school board, head of PTA, plus some other officials who were around. After parade we had tea break. After I "took" my tea, I headed back to the dorm area. Some parents and more town people were coming to see the damage. Some of the boys were able to go in and try to get their locker (trunk) out of the dorm. Finally I decided I might as well go into my math classes and do some review at least that might keep them busy.

After lunch I went back to the dorm area. The dorm had finally cooled down enough that all the boys could get their trunks out. Most the boys only found ashes in their trunk or things were so badly burned that they were not salvageable. One boy was really upset so I let him use my phone to call his parents. You could see the relief on his face as he was able to visit with his mother. I even received a call from a parent who was concerned about her son so I had Moses call his mother. The media here is not real reliable and likes to sensationalize. She had heard that some boys were killed in the fire.

After lunch I had learned the following. The boys whose dorm caught fire would double up or use bunks of boys who have not returned to school yet because of the

teacher's strike. One of the counselors told me that a few of the boys were depressed because they knew their parents had used all they had to put the them in school and did not have any money to replace what they had lost. PTA will set up a fund to buy some of the things the boys lost. And finally, we will start exams tomorrow morning.

One thing that really struck me was a comment I heard. "Yes, it was a bad loss for the boys, but they need to learn to move on with life." Another one told me that there is much tragedy and one might as well learn at an early age to keep moving forward with their life. Not quite what I would hear in the States in the same circumstances.

I really feel for the counselors, the teacher who is head of boarding, the principal and teachers who stepped up to help. They really had a load on their shoulders today. My heart also goes out to the boys who lost things in the fire and all the boys. I am sure many will not sleep well tonight. But God did bless us in that no one was injured.

Mombasa Visit

As our students are on holiday during the month of August we decided to take advantage of the time off and visit Mombasa. We were attracted to Mombasa for two reasons: friends and the Indian Ocean. It was a wonderful trip thanks to these wonderful ladies. There are currently four MK lay missioners serving in

Mombasa. While we were there we were able to help welcome Coralis Salavador back to Kenya who has been on a year's sabbatical in the States.

Judy Walter arrived in Kenya in January and has opened a medical clinic in Bangladesh, one of the slums in Mombasa. We were able to pick her up from work one day and see her beautiful new clinic.

Dr. Susan Nagele has been a MKLM for over 25 years serving in Tanzania, Sudan and Kenya. She is currently working as a consultant for the archdiocese of Mombasa and seeing patients in many of their clinics where they don't have a doctor on staff.

Mary Oldham coordinates the Maryknoll Fathers AIDS Orphans Project in the Archdiocese of Mombasa. This project provides school fees, books, uniforms, and supplies so that children who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS can go to school.

We enjoyed the friendship and fellowship of our Mombasa friends with visiting, touring historic sites, enjoying the ocean, celebrating Mass on the beach, and playing games. We look forward to being together again in November for the annual meeting of MK lay missioners in Nairobi. The scenery and atmosphere won't be quite the same, but the ambiance will be!

For additional pictures of our vacation click here.