St. Monica's Day 2012

Our school is named after St. Monica, our patron saint. Unfortunately the feast day of St. Monica is on August 27th when we're not in school. So we celebrate it in third term before the KCSE exams begin.

Our school is under the patronage of the Catholic Diocese of Kitale. That hasn't always been the case. We used to be known as Kitale Girls. At that point, it was a day school and had a poor reputation. The Board of Governors asked the diocese to take it over to help make improvements both morally and academically. We are currently one of the top three girls schools in the area. St. Monica's Day gives us an opportunity to remind ourselves of our history, successes, achievements and future goals.

Bishop Maurice Crawley is the chairman of the Board of Governors and we can't celebrate without him. He has been welcomed at the gate and escorted to the administration building with singing and dancing.

Of course there are the customary greetings to be exchanged before any meeting or celebration can begin.

Construction on a new classroom was just completed, so the day began with a dedication of the new building. We then moved to a shady area for Mass. This was followed by entertainment, a speech about St. Monica, a history of the school, and recognition for achievements this past year.

The day ended with a football (soccer) game between the teaching staff and students. The girls are proud of the fact that this is the third time they have successfully beat the teachers!

Click here to see more photos.

Maize Harvest

We live in the maize (corn) basket of Kenya. The ground is very fertile and we get plenty of rain. The growing season is now over. People are wanting the rain to stop so the maize can start drying and they can harvest. Currently the fields look like this.

The first step in harvest is to cut the maize and put them in shocks for drying.

After the maize has adequately dried, the cobs are twisted off the corn stalks. Then kernels are removed from the cob and set in the sun to further dry. It's a common sight to see tarps on the ground with the maize spread out. You can see women sitting amid the kernels sorting and cleaning. When it clouds up men put the maize into large sacks or move it to the center of the tarps which are wrapped up to protect it from rain. The men sitting under the porch are in charge of this maize. Can you see the empty bags the maize is stored in on the left hand side of them?

Saturday we drove to a nearby town on a shopping expedition.

This is passion fruit. Andrea calls them snot fruit. That's an apt description of the texture of the fruit inside. It is tasty if you can get over the look and texture.

Passing Time

I got home from school one afternoon before 5:00. The afternoon was beautiful and I needed exercise so decided to take a walk. I was about halfway on my route with I met Robina going home from work. Robina used to do our laundry and clean our house when we first arrived in Kitale. However, she works for a couple other people. Their needs changed and so she was unable to work for us any longer. She still cleans Russ's house on Saturdays so is on the compound weekly. She is a lovely lady so we always stop to chat with her. She introduced me to a tailor that I like. She has a friend that goes to Uganda to buy fabric so I occasionally buy fabric from her. It doesn't get any more convenient than that. She brings several pieces for me to look at and if I like something, I buy it.

I was delighted to bump into her on my walk. We walked together for several blocks. When we got near her corner she asked me if I remembered where she lived as I had taken her home once during a downpour. Of course I remembered. I intended to resume my walk when we got to her corner, but she invited me to her home. You don't turn down an invitation like that.

After we reached her house and settled in, she offered me a soda. Again, you don't turn something like that down. Even though you feel bad and know they can't really afford it, it is an insult to refuse food or drink. So, I replied that I'd like one. She didn't have any in the house so left to have a neighbour's child run to the nearest duka (small neighbourhood shop that typically sells bread, soda, eggs, a few pieces of fruit that are in season). The neighbour's children were gone so she had to run to the duka herself about two blocks away. I felt so bad for her!

We chatted and enjoyed our sodas. I enjoyed the conversation very much learning more about her, her family and her work.

As I was leaving I thanked her for the visit and soda telling her that I was very honoured. Her reply was, "No, I am the honoured one. You helped me to pass the time."

This comment pointed out to me how very different our cultures are. Keep in mind we grew up on farms and didn't have close neighbours that we interacted with daily. John and I both like and appreciate quiet time. We enjoy living in a quiet house in a quiet neighbourhood without people and noise around all the time. When we get home from school we look forward to a quiet evening in our own home.

Robina lives on a compound that is probably an acre. Her's is the only house on the nice walled in compound. The rest of the compound is planted in banana trees, corn, sukumawili, pumpkin, etc. that she uses to feel her family. In my opinion, it is a perfect compound: large, comfortable, quiet, just off the main road, etc. They are building a new house across the road from Robina's compound. She had commented during our conversation that she was glad that she would soon be having neighbours. Her landlord intends to build at least one other house on the compound where she lives. She can't wait for that to happen.

It seems to me that Kenyans like and want people around all the time. They like the noise and chaos. Her children are away in boarding school. She is lucky in that her husband now works in Kitale but works long hours at the hospital as a physician's assistant. Her comment that I helped her to pass the time was a sincere compliment indicating that she doesn't like to be alone, doesn't like the quiet. She not only appreciated my visit to her home but it also made her evening more pleasant.

You've Gained Weight

I know perfectly well that I have gained weight over the past year or so. When we were going to language school in Nairobi we were walking at least 5 miles every day. That helped me lose weight. Then there was the fact that we were eating “strange” food, not our typical diet. Thanks to care packages we have been able to enjoy such things as peanut butter (that we like), familiar candy, chocolate chips, caramel apples, etc. Living in our own house and cooking for ourselves means we can eat whatever we like and as much as we like. I’m not getting as much exercise as I should. My clothes still fit although they are a little snugger than I would like.

I haven’t seen the majority of my co-workers for six weeks. When we started returning to work this week, one of the young women teachers who is very nice made the comment that I had gained weight. Then she was explaining to me Kiswahili words to use. You can’t use kunona the equivalent of fat when referring to people. Instead use the word kuenapa that means grow big, healthy.

Yesterday the father to one of my Form II girls brought her to school. We haven’t seen one another for over a year. After greeting and chatting for a few minutes he gave me the ultimate Kenyan compliment, “You’ve gained weight.” Laughingly I replied, “I’m afraid so.” “That’s a good thing@ was his reply, “ it means you are healthy!”
I’ve got the message. Although it is considered beautiful to be a larger person here, that’s not what I want to be and so I need to start watching more carefully what I eat and get more exercise!

Gladys

Gladys was the head girl at St. Monica’s Girls Secondary School last year. Being Head Girl is the ultimate student leadership position at school. Their responsibilities are many: being a role model, peer counselling , supervising student activities and special events, maintaining and enforcing student discipline, inspection of dorms, classrooms and school grounds, liaison between administration and students, impromptu speeches at assemblies, meetings, special events etc. It is a stressful position with a huge responsibility for the day-to-day management of the school.

Gladys handled the position with grace and humility. Her sunny disposition and optimistic outlook charmed the teachers and students alike. St. Monica’s had an extremely successful year under her leadership. There were few discipline problems and in the all important measure of a school’s success, our KCSE exam scores were the highest we had ever achieved. The school administration feels that a large part of this success was due to Gladys’ leadership skills.

She is the youngest of 10 children. None of her older brothers and sisters has ever been to school. Her father died on the day of her birth. Her mother disappeared shortly thereafter. She reappeared when Gladys was 8 years old and was extremely sick. Gladys helped care for her mother until she died a few months later.

When Gladys was 9 years old she begin to attend school. Within five years she was able to complete the eight grades in primary school! Although it wasn’t a very good school, her score on the KCPE enabled her to attend St. Monica’s. The brother who is her guardian is a boda boda (bicycle taxi) driver. He barely earns enough to support his own family so the Ursaline Sisters (a group of nuns) paid her school fees. Gladys said that when she started at St. Monica’s her English skills were terrible. She worked extremely hard to improve those skills.

Because Gladys really had nowhere to live and no source of income, Madam Akech, our principal, asked Gladys to come and live at St. Monica’s. We have been trying to hire a school nurse for two years now. Due to the nurse shortage in Kenya, we have not been able to fill that position. In exchange for housing, Gladys has been asked to help out around the school. One of her responsibilities is to take students who are ill to the hospital for treatment and then supervise their treatment. As Gladys wants to be a nurse, she loves having this role. She wanted to go to nursing school, but has no way of obtaining the necessary fees.

My Kiswahali skills are terrible. I wish I was able to understand what my colleagues are saying when they chat in the staff room. It would be nice to be able to understand the words of the songs sung in church. A couple of months ago I got the idea to ask Gladys if she would be interested in tutoring me in Kiswahali. It would help me become more fluent and at the same time give her some income. We have been having lessons for a couple of months now. In my opinion it has worked out well for both of us.

Showing me how to make chapati

There has been talk among the teachers that we as a staff need to try to help Gladys with her education. Although her marks on the KCSE aren’t outstanding, they are good. (That often happens to the head girl due to being taken away from their studies to attend to school matters.) The discussion has also included the idea that the teachers could pitch in some to help with some of her with fees.

John and I have always been impressed with Gladys. We attend Mass on the school compound every other week. She has always been so welcoming not just with the traditional handshake but also stopping to chat for a few minutes. Even during the school day she would often greet me. It always made me feel so welcome even when I was feeling that I was a stranger in a strange land. Our admiration has only increased as we have gotten to know her on a more personal level. We also want to help. So, we decided to use some of our mission account donations to help her obtain her nursing degree.

When I was telling my fellow missioners about Gladys they were able to offer advice and information that I needed to be able to help her. Kathy is a physicians’ attendant at St. Raphael’s Clinic in a slum in Kitale. She offered an attachment (internship) to Gladys at the clinic. I’m happy to report that Gladys started last week as the receptionist. When patients come to the clinic, she records their information, takes their blood pressure, pulse, weight, etc. While she is working there she will be able to see and assist with the work of nurses in a clinic, physicians’ attendants, midwives, and medical technicians (lab technician). It will be a great practical experience for her.

In the meantime, she is in the process of applying to the St. Elizabeth’s School of Nursing in Kakamega. If all goes well, she will be able to start in March. We pray for her success.

Sisters Centennial Celebration

We were privileged to take part in the centennial celebration of the Maryknoll Sisters last weekend. The sisters serving in Kenya, Theresa, Giang, and Sia, decided they wanted to celebrate relationships among friends. So they hosted a seminar "Spirituality for Mission in the 21st Century". They invited other Maryknollers, people they work with, nuns and priests from other orders, and friends. At one point there were over 150 people attending the seminar that lasted a day and a half.

Members of Maryknoll participating in the Seminar

Sister Claudette LaVerdiere was the speaker. Whenever anyone hears about Maryknoll Sisters, they always ask about Sister Claudette, so due to this positive reputation, she was selected as the speaker. Recently she completed writing a book about the founder of the Maryknoll Sisters, Sr. Mary Joseph Rogers. Using that, the topic of her lectures was the spirituality of Sr. Rogers and how it applies to us in mission today. It was a thought provoking, inspiring, educative, validating and motivating two days.

However, the best part of the weekend was the celebration of relationships. We knew that three of our fellow missioners from Mombasa, Mary, Susan and Judy, were going to be there so we were looking forward to spending time with them. It is so far from Kitale to Mombasa that we seldom see one another and cherish the time we have together.

Members of Orientation Class 2012
A huge surprise was Sister Genie who was in our orientation class in the fall of 2009. She is serving in Tanzania. Unfortunately, she has constantly been sick in the two and a half years that she has been there. Two weeks ago she came to Nairobi for medical treatment. Although we are sorry that she has been sick, we loved getting to see her again. Please pray for her as she has a difficult decision ahead of her. Due to all the health problems she has experienced, it looks like she is going to have to leave Tanzania. She is in the process of discerning where to go now.

Maryknoll Sisters Giang, Claudette, Sia, Rachel, Genie, Theresa

After the seminar the sisters invited us over to their home for an impromptu dinner. It was a true group effort since it wasn't planned. Susan, a friend from NY, had some pasta sauce frozen in her refrigerator. She ran home to get it. John and Dr. Susan ran to the store to get cheese and crackers. We ended up having a feast fit for a king. Even though the food was good, the best part was spending time with friends. The theological discussion continued around the dinner table as we shared our thoughts and experiences with laughter and tears. It was a joy filled weekend.

Imani Workshop

We were in Mombasa a couple of weeks ago on holiday. Mary, our friend, bought a cute pencil holder made out of recycled paper. We noticed on the bottom it was labeled Imani Workshops Eldoret. Eldoret is a town only about an hour away.

When we got home John started an internet search to find out more about this Imani Workshop. (Imani means faith in Kiswahili.) He found them on the web and sent an email. It was answered by someone in the States! They gave him a phone number in Kenya and directions to find the workshop.

Last week we went to Eldoret and decided to stop by. Imani Workshop is an amazing place. It provides income generating opportunities for HIV positive women doing handicrafts. They receive references from doctors and social workers when they find women who are not able to purchase food and medicine for themselves. Imani takes 30 women a month and train them for three months on papermaking, bead making, tailoring and jewelry making. During this time they also offer business training. At the end of the three months, these women are then able to either do piecework to sell at the Imani Workshop outlets or go into business for themselves.

We got a wonderful tour of the workshop and of course bought several items in their gift shop. If you’d like to find out more information about them you can visit their webite: www.imaniworkshops.org They are in partnership with USAID and AMPATH.

We were able to watch them make recycled paper. They make two kinds: one out of recycled paper only and the other from papyrus. Here is how it is done:
First, they tear the recycled paper into strips and small bits. Then they add water. Here she is holding a piece of papyrus before it is shredded.

The next step is to pound it into pulp.

Now they pour the pulp into pans. Using a screen they filter out the solid matter that will become the new paper.

The new paper is removed from the screen on toweling to remove excess water.

The new sheets of paper are arranged on formica to dry. This can take several days to a week or more depending on the weather.

After drying it is ready to be cut and shaped to make cards, picture frames, notebooks, stationary, bowls, etc.