New Friends

One of the benefits of living at a hostel is that you eat family style. The tables are set up for four people so you get a chance to visit with many people while you are eating. Our school, ACK Language School, also has students from many different places. I thought I’d share with you some of the stories of people we have met the past two weeks.

Last night we ate with Professor Jae from South Korea. He is a political science professor from Gyeongsang National University. South Korea is just entering into the realm of international NGOs (non governmental organizations or aid organizations). He is on a trip to Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda with a graduate student to collect data about the effectiveness of NGOs. He studied in America (as they call the US) to obtain in Master’s degree. We decided that we are long- lost siblings because we were born in the same year. He has no sister and I have no brother.

This week two seminarians shared several meals with us, Edwin and Fredrick. They have been with a Spanish priest for five years. This priest has been in Africa for several years and has established a formation house for young men wanting to join the priesthood. There are several younger boys who are completing secondary school with the intention of becoming priests. Both young men are studying theology and philosophy as they prepare to enter university next year. The left early yesterday morning to return to their archdiocese. It would be at least an eight hour trip in their pickup depending on the condition of the roads. They were great help at correcting our broken Kiswahali phrases. I’m sure that had many chuckles after they left the dining hall.

Faustina is a doctor from Tanzania studying English at British University here in Nairobi. She earned her medical degree in Italy and can speak fluent Italian. However, she needs to learn English to communicate in hospitals. Her English is just a little bit better than our Kiswahali. So, it has been good practice for all of us. We struggle to understand one another. Mary is great at initiating conversation along her English-Kiswahali dictionary as support. I’m listening, recognizing words and entering into the conversation once in a while.

We met another lady from Tanzania whose husband is a doctor that works in Southern Sudan for the UN. He came home for the Christmas holiday, got pneumonia and had to be hospitalized. She came to take care of him while he is in the hospital. Her husband was released from the hospital on Friday, but must stay in Nairobi for another week since he needs to see the doctor again at the end of the week. They are living apart because she is not allowed to enter Sudan.

Peter is a young man we have often visited with at school during our chai breaks. He is from the Dinka tribe in Southern Sudan. He was in the army for nine years, but left to get an education. He is currently studying English and hoping to be admitted to a university next year. All of his brothers have been killed in the fighting, but his parents are still alive. It seems that there is a large Sudanese population in Kenya. This last week several more Sudanese students started school. We noticed in Friday’s paper that the Sudanese embassy was holding a cultural festival this week in Nairobi.

Evelyn is a civil servant in Nairobi. She is on leave from her job for several weeks and is attending language school to study Kikuyu (a tribal language). She is hoping for a promotion and will need to speak Kikyyu in the village so people can understand her.
Mwalimu Bill is one of our teachers. He has taught at ACK for over ten years. We don’t know much about his background, but he owns a tailor shop downtown with three tailors. He says it is impossible to raise a family on a teacher’s salary and you must have a second job. He spends his Saturdays supervising the shop.
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Mwalimu Sylvia is our other teacher. She is only twenty-six years old and is the second born in her family. Polygamy is common in most of Africa. Her mother had four girls. Her father was pressured into setting aside her mother to marry someone else in order to have sons. The new wife had two daughters and a son and Sylvia’s mother had a son next and then another daughter. The two wives did not live in the same compound, but in different villages. Her mother worked to save money to educate her children. As young as she is, Sylvia is the head of the English department in our school.

John’s birthday was this last week and we were able to celebrate in style. He woke up to a huge card covering our doorway thanks to the late night efforts of Mary, the other MKLM with us. We learned how to sing happy birthday in class: siku ya kuzaliwa (repeat four times). Mary arranged with Rafel, our dining room attendant to have a birthday cake for lunch. John was surprised and the rest of the diners enjoyed a special treat. After class we stopped at a hotel we pass by every day. One of the other missioners had recommended it as a nice place to enjoy beautiful gardens and a drink. We sat outside near waterfalls and enjoyed our raspberry shake and smoothies. Click here if you’d like to see some photos of his birthday as well as some street scenes of Nairobi.