Vacation!!!

My brief vacation went fast, yet was very renewing!  Here are some photos of my 2 grandchildren... who were the hardest 'things' for me to leave last January.  Margaret, at only 8 months old then, was not crawling; now she's walking, running, climbing, and trying on the 'mud boots' I wore here at Mbita during 'mud season!  Liam, who was sorry I missed his 4th birthday, got lots of Grammie time, including a day at the beach together. (He'd been asking his pregnant mother to take him all summer, but her fatigue & Margaret's nap schedules got in the way.)    Note not only Liam buried in the sand, but also the "sweet home Chicago" skyline in the background!  Before I left Chicago, I was able to introduce Liam to some of the animals below...  as we watched Disney's "Lion King"!

Upon my return to Kenya, I was able to visit the 'historic' place that may have been the 'seed that was planted' that began my interest in Africa, culminating in my spending 2012 working in Kenya!  In 1963, when my father returned from his 6-week job in Africa, his only story that stayed in my memory all these years was of his stay at Treetops Hotel. Back then it was much smaller, and when the elephants leaned against the trees to scratch their backs, he and the other guests upstairs could feel the hotel sway. I believe fire damaged the original building; you can see me here in front of the new, larger one, no longer supported by trees, where every room has a view of the watering hole which invites the wild animals in the Aberdare National Park to come drink.

When I got to my room and looked out the window, this elephant greeted me!
The following photos were taken on a game drive through the Aberdare National Park 

Spotted hyena

Cape Buffalo

Leopard

These stately elephants look so calm and gentle, but the cool thing about Treetops and Aberdare Park is that they really do give the animals a lot of 'space', so the animals actually stay wild!  You don't want to mess with, or irritate a wild elephant.

As I returned to my home in Mbita, I enjoyed the many hours of driving through the different regions of Kenya.  Since most of my time since January 1 has been in Mbita, I especially enjoyed noting that there are many areas of Kenya that are not as dry, barren or poor as the area around Mbita. It's good to be back now, unpacked, organized, and ready to give my best to my students and the staff at CGA.

Computer Lab!!!

My travel plans for the August holiday between Term 2 & Term 3 changed; instead of going south to Victoria Falls and the Zambezi River, I made a quick trip to Chicago!! I went to pick up 4 laptops, and relished having some wonderful refreshment and renewal.

The final term of the school year started 2 days ago. Here are pictures of the new "Computer Lab" at Christ's Gift Academy.

Thanks to donations from the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (arranged by their librarian, my dear friend, Eileen Saner) and to my 'relatives', the Wartman family, I was able to bring 4 donated laptops back to Mbita, Kenya, and set up this Computer Lab! Above are some of the Grade 8 typing students taking a break to greet you!  It is so awesome to see how these motivated students are working so hard;  some have made very good progress in even these few days. Now that we have these new computers, by the time of their final exams, every 8th grader will have had at least 5 weeks of daily typing instruction: what a wonderful skill for them to take to high school, in addition to their academic record.

More will follow tomorrow...  the evening flying insects are bombarding me and my computer screen...

Outdoor Education with my Grade 5 Science class

My Grade 5 science class was able to have a once-in-a lifetime experience: for the past 3 days they lived and learned at SEEK (Suba Environmental Education for Kenya), where I am privileged to live. The instruction and various activities were focused on the environment, but were also integrated with related areas of science, and used English and math skills.  Morning devotions were done in Kiswahili, as well as some discussion of their science learning.  Translating what they learned into Kiswahili was not only a good language exercise, but it also made them think harder about what they had learned in science!

Our main teachers from SEEK: left to right: Maxwell (head gardener), Hezron (children's ministries and environmental clubs), David (environmental clubs in local schools), Don (the Pro... the one who, years ago, developed a cross-curricular educational program for 6th grade in South Africa, getting students out of the classroom and into God's Creation to learn and use all academic areas, and who co-founded SEEK and CGA with his wife, Nancy), Nick (office manager and 'go-to guy' for almost everyone who comes to SEEK).

 The next 3 photos show some 'group-building' games. Behind the students in the first 2 photos, is the camp's wonderful, giant sycamore fig tree, and the cabins for the students.
[Reminder: girls as well as boys are encouraged to keep their heads closely shaven; so, these are not all boys... there are 7 girls in the class!] 

The games move to the beach 

Now the work begins....

In small groups, students examine the animal life in a 10 cm x 10 cm square plot...  each group observing and recording their findings from a different part of the SEEK grounds. 

Don is teaching about habitats, and getting us ready to examine the array of plant and animal life in the micro-habitat of this giant sycamore fig tree.

Now on the beach, again in small groups, group members work together to investigate and record animal life in the sand and in the lake water. This engaging activity is a great reinforcement and review of our study of invertebrates and vertebrates... 

But:  With a school system focused on rote learning, on their all-important End-Term exams which begin tomorrow, will they be able to connect and use what they are learning in this fun activity when they take their Science Exam??

Julius and Stephen encourage another group's progress on the task.

Another review for our science exam...  examining the parts and functions of a plant, from the roots all the way up to the flower!

Nick led a valuable debriefing session before the children left yesterday.  He invited students to share their likes and dislikes about the camp.  I was not surprised at the results...  they had had 3 days in this beautiful environment, surrounded by adults who were interested in what they thought, eating generous quantities of delicious food! There was only 1 dislike: insect bites. Topping the list of 'likes' was 'meals'!  These contented, happy children continued volunteering their 'likes' : showers; games; experiments; comfortable cabins with electricity [solar power for 1 compact fluorescent bulb]; learning, including discussions and a video of "Planet Earth"; campfire Friday night; the breeze from the lake; watching the monkeys and other animals; the teachers; the environment; the absence of manual labor (i.e., the chores they do daily at home).  Yea for this last item; aren't kids honest? They really tell it like it is! 

[Note: my own children, as well as most Illinois students, very much enjoyed their 3-day Outdoor Education adventure 'roughing it', ie, getting out into nature and doing without the conveniences and ease of home. But for these students, this 'camping' experience and Outdoor Education was truly 'living in luxury', a wonderful treat away from the hardship and chores of their daily lives!!]

Ugandan Treat~~photos at bottom

I recently got to spend my 'birthday weekend' in Kampala, Uganda. What a fabulous treat that was: catching up with my long-time friend, Edward; and attending a Gukwa (Dowery) Ceremony with Edward's family.

It took me 12+ hours and 5 different kinds of vehicles to get from my home to Edward's: piki piki (motorcycle taxi), ferry, matatu (van), comfortable coach bus, and finally, a car. While I'd been able to meet Edward's 4 grown children last year when I was in Kampala, I hadn't seen Edward for 10 years, and I'd never meet Vasta, his wife.  So, (re-)connecting with them was so very special!
As many of you know, my interest in Africa began way back in 1963; so in January 1974 when Edward arrived at the windy, frozen Trinity Seminary campus to study, I enjoyed befriending this always-cold, charming student from a country of 'eternal spring' (his description of Uganda to me). I knew of Idi Amin's terrorizing rule of Uganda, and yet all   Edward said about Amin was that he was concerned about his family, because there would be long gaps between hearing any news from them.  
But now, 38 years later, in the comfort of his home, I was able to get the details...  to hear the news that he had been unable to utter back then! I learned that he had been smuggled out of Uganda in 1973 because he was one of the dissidents on Amin's 'hit list'. 'Earning' this designation started while he was a college student in Kampala: representing his university student group, with a few students from other Kampala universities,  they courageously met with Amin to respectfully protest his decision to evict Ugandans of Indian descent. Then, some years later, Edward had been forced to watch one of Amin's firing squads execute suspected rebels, one of whom was Edward's student at the time. This prompted Edward, a young deacon, to preach and sing songs of protest.  When his bishop learned that Edward's life was in danger, he arranged for Edward to flee, and to study in the US.  Once in the US, Edward needed to change his name, apply for refugee status, and not return home for 8 years. While using this time of exile, and getting his Masters and PhD degrees in the Chicago area I had no knowledge of the extent of his stress; for his own safety, Edward could not blow the cover that had been created. One small way I'm now able to appreciate what he went through at that time is that I can't imagine suddenly going 8 years with seeing my dear family and friends, and without eating any of the familiar and favorite foods from home!!! 

We spent much of one day at the Gukwa (Dowry, but read "bride-price") Ceremony of close family friends: Edward's daughter Tsimiine was an attendant for Grace, the bride. Both Edward's family and Grace's family are from tribes whose homes are in southwestern Uganda. All the African guests wore traditional dress, sewn in gorgeous fabrics!!  By the end of the day I'd learned to distinguish the Bafumbira (Grace's tribe, near the Rwandan border) style from the style worn by the Bakiga women (Edward's tribe).  After a feast of African foods, the modernized version of the Gukwa formalities began... with the 2 families sitting opposite each other across a wide lawn. Other guests were on the 2 remaining sides.  Speeches in the local tongues, and the presentations and acceptances of gifts were interspersed with very beautiful, colorful Bafumbira dancing, music and singing!! It was really fantastic!!!  Obushera (a fermented drink made from sorghum) was served in calabashes, then the couple cut and served the western-style wedding cake!  What an incredible privilege it was for me to be present at this ceremony!!

Edward and Vasta

Great drumming throughout!

The array of gorgeous dresses and fabrics begins...

Now for the Bafumbira dancing!

Bringing in the Gukwa gifts

The happy couple...  the Gukwa Ceremony is over; the wedding is in a week!

You're invited to A Virtual Trip to visit me in Mbita!

Life here is hard and exhausting, as well as meaningful, gratifying and a special, very unique experience!
My typical school day starts at 5:45, ideally doing some sit-ups as soon as I get up (otherwise I don't do them!), having breakfast, praying and reading scripture on my front porch before leaving for school at 7 AM.  For the past few weeks, I have been trying to not bring work home, which has made evenings and weekends much more restful and renewing; but that also means staying at school until my work is done, as well as being very disciplined to work during the cracks between classes. I am now generally getting home between 5 and 6 PM. One thing that was nice about getting home earlier was that my shower water was warmed by the sun; it's often cooled off later in the day.  The 'rainy' season hasn't been so hot, but when I do arrive home all sweaty, I undress in the shower... and wash my clothes right then and there as I take them off!  Fortunately, I have concrete floors in my house, which are not damaged by some water dripping on them.  I've strung a back-packers' clothes line across one end of my bedroom (I happened to buy it when I was at L L Bean a few years ago.)  Nancy and Don Richards, who started SEEK (Suba Environmental Education for Kenya) and CGA (Christ's Gift Academy), and a delightful young Dutchman named Bob, and I usually eat dinner together at the SEEK dining hall. Back in my house after dinner, I often read (Thanks to my children for giving me a Kindle for Christmas, I'm able to buy an e-book online, download it to my computer, and then transfer it to my Kindle!!!) or watch a DVD movie.  I savor the few DVD's I have, as to not 'use them up' too soon! It's great to have the time to watch the 'bonus' features...  how the movie was made, behind the scenes, etc.  Having recently read Let's Roll, and then seen the movie "United 93", now I'm watching the video clips of the bios of each United 93 passenger, reported by their families.  Then I head to bed around 9:30, and continue my "Reading through the Bible" before falling asleep. I started at Genesis 1 in February, and am now in the book of II Kings.

Just as when I was teaching in Oak Park, weekends fly by!  Most Saturdays I walk the hour into town to do various errands... buy fruits & vegetables, hot chocolate mix, and/or airtime minutes for my phone and internet services.  I have yet to get started early enough to avoid the heat of the day... I can't seem to tear myself away from an hour or 2 of peaceful, beautiful Saturday morning on my front porch, enjoying the birds, sometimes the naughty monkeys who think they can get some good food from the gardens, and on very special occasions, seeing a shy dik dik (tiny relative of a gazelle).

On one of my excursions into town, I  was glad I happened to have my camera with me when I saw this little, impromptu parade. 


My late start to head into town means I walk home (more uphill than down) in the heat of the equatorial sun, so I usually arrive home too exhausted, hot and hungry to do anything productive for quite a while! After a shower, then lunch, I lie on my bed listening to music Dot or I loaded onto my computer  Special events are movie nights at SEEK, or weddings or funerals, which are all-day affairs!
To go to church on Sunday, I leave home at  9:30, and get back home at around 2:15. Usually I end up leaving the service before it's done, driven home by hunger pangs.  The day quickly passes as I make and then take some food for that evening's meal, worship and fellowship time that we Mzungus (white people) have at the Pierce's home.  Guacamole is one of the foods I enjoy making (actually, eating!) here, using the fresh, wonderful local ingredients; I will certainly miss that treat when I return to Chicago!  I also really enjoy fruit salad, when I can simultaneously get ripe pineapple, bananas, mango and papaya!  The only problem with food preparation here at the equator is that with no refrigeration whatever I make needs to be eaten within 24 hours.  Two solutions: eating guacamole, or various other dinner-time dishes, for breakfast, or making the food for a community meal!
Even back in the US I found cooking and cleaning on the weekends to be a nice break from the intensity of teaching during the week. Baking here, though, is a lot more involved...  planning ahead to borrow measuring spoons and cups, and cookie sheets, cutting chocolate bars into 'chips', mixing everything by hand, and then hiking up and down, over a bridge, then up and down again, to Nancy & Don's house, to use their oven.
There are several other weekend domestic activities that transport me back over 100 years, to pioneer days in the US.  I've designed and hand-sewn a skirt!  I was prompted to do because I wanted a skirt as cool as possible, while also fitting the modesty standards of this culture; in addition I wanted a deep pocket in my clothes, so I could carry chalk with me when I got to the different classrooms where I teach!  [Bringing chalk to each classroom each day is essential: the 'resourceful' CGA students, who have essentially no personal possessions, and certainly no art materials, will snatch up any chalk left by the board, and use it for their own artwork between class periods!]

And here's a photo of me using a charcoal-heated iron to iron my clothes!!

I love my chaco sandals...  comfortable, good arch support, great grip on the rocks and hillsides, easy to wash the mud off!  And..I think I'll be wearing my chaco tan for quite a while....

                        Enjoying the SEEK beach, the waves & the view! (Note the Palm tree)

I kind of have a cat, or 2 or 3...   The mother cat was left in the neighborhood when her owner moved away last year. She got pregnant, hung around SEEK, gave birth somewhere in the wild, then started showing up. 

I took this photo by leaning out my living room window...  the cats were just below!  

Aren't they darling!!!  But the babies were totally feral at the time this photo was taken.  A side-mission for me has been to domesticate these darling kitties, as far as my energy and food supply allow. Unfortunately, before I could get very far, the middle kitty must have been a tasty dinner for an eagle or snake.  The other 2 are now gangly 'teenagers'.  I've now managed to name them. The mother is Maia, Greek for 'good mother', I believe, which indeed she is. The one in the front is Liam, named after my grandson...  both of them were reluctant to give up nursing. The one with a 'patch' over one eye is Asy, short for 'asymmetrical'. He is still quite a 'scaredy cat', still feral, but Liam is making steady progress tolerating my presence nearby.




Not for the faint-of-heart, or weak stomached... Maia, the 'Good Mother', catches a garden snake for a family meal on my porch!

You've heard how cats will play with a mouse; here they are playing with the beheaded snake. (I saw the mother eat the head after she killed it.)


Time for lunch, and a break....  more another time, including news about the Touch Typing I began just last Monday, teaching 5 Grade 8 students!  In 5 sessions, these students who had never touched a computer before made great progress...  one girl getting to 13 words/minute with 95% accuracy, using 11 keys!  
Thank you very much for your visit to Mbita today!