Easter in Ichamara

The Easter Bunny has not visited Ichamara, but we are having a good weekend regardless. On Friday we visited Gerald’s house and had dinner with his family. It was a great visit, and we realized just how far he has to walk to work each day. It’s over an hour’s walk in a suit! Lunch was really good, but I was still not very trusting of my stomach, so I didn’t have very much. On Saturday we attended the Prize Giving ceremony. Gillian and I arrived early and were treated to a tour of the school’s forest by some the standard 7 & 8 students. We were blown away with how mature and professional these five students were on the tour. We both agreed that we have paid for tours that were not as well delivered! They took us for a walk to the access point, and then through the forest to a field, and around to the coffee tree field. These kids were incredibly knowledgeable, and were very impressive. The ceremony began around 2pm, and Blathnaid and Jess joined us at that point. The ceremony began, but the winds and dark clouds began at about the same time. After about an hour, the ceremony was put on hold because of the heavy, heavy rains, and the Tuskers tarp that we were sitting beneath collapsed and nearly drenched us. Blathnaid and I got a little wet, but nothing too major. We left the ceremony at 6:30pm, and it was still going strong. I am betting that it probably went late into the night. Today (Sunday), we attended Easter mass at Kimondo church, and it was a 2 1/2 hour mass. There were some really upbeat songs, and even a youth dance troupe. Some distinct differences from churches at home. Tomorrow we are having lunch at Lucy’s house, and the rest of week we are scheduled to be visited two other schools in the area. We leave early on Friday morning, and we are having a hard time believing that our time in this house is almost expired. Not long now until we are back in Canada!

Week Five

Although we were not teaching at our regular schools this week, the week was very busy. We started Monday by going on the Milk Run with the Wakulima Dairy. We all took separate routes, and were busy helping the workers write down the milk numbers, and talking to the locals. People were very excited to see us, and really happy to speak with us. Lisa and Blathnaid both went to Brookside Dairy and saw how the milk was processed after being picked up. It was a very interesting day and we all enjoyed it.

Tuesday we went to Gathukimundu to do a training session with the teachers for the OLPCs. Lisa has previously introduced the computers to the students, and the teachers seemed just as excited to have the opportunity to learn how to use them as well. We went through various programs with the teachers, and allowed them to have free time to explore the computers. For many this was the first time ever using a computer and they needed to learn simple things such as how to turn the computer on, and where each letter was on the keyboard. We also led a brainstorming session where we had the teachers tell us how they could see themselves using the computers with the students, and what programs they found would be most useful for them. The teachers also asked many questions and voiced some concerns they had of the computers. The teachers really enjoyed the session and it was exciting to be able to see how the teachers were planning to use them with their students.

Wednesday and Thursday we spent the day at Matuto Primary School, which is twinned with Prince Street Elementary. The headmaster was very excited to see us and the students even more so. Although the students were on their Easter Holiday, the grades 6, 7, 8 came back to school for those two days specifically so we could come teach them. We spent the days doing extra lessons for the students and playing ‘footie-ball’. On Thursday after classes the students walked us to the Chairman of the Matuto’s farm. We planted maize and watched how Arrowroot was planted. We also had a tour of the farm and had the chance to play with some of the kids from neighbouring farms, putting Maple Leaf tattoos on them. We also had the chance to try Sugarcane, which we all really enjoyed.

For Good Friday, Gerald invited us out to his home for lunch. It was a good time spent with good food and great company. Gerald also gave us a tour of his farm and we spent the afternoon drinking tea and eating Macadamia nuts from one of his trees.

On Saturday we went to prize giving ceremonies at both Ithanji and Gathukimundu. The students entertained the guests with both song and dance which they had spent weeks preparing for. Although the day was interrupted by heavy rainfall and thunder showers, everyone still had a great time. At the Gathukimundu ceremony we officially presented the OLPCs to the school.

All in all it was a very busy and productive week, filled with new experiences and new friends.

Week #4

This week was our last week in our schools. It was sad saying goodbye to all the teachers and students, but we plan to visit them again before we leave. The school week only went from Monday to Wednesday, and at that time the schools closed for the holiday. The students seemed relieved to be finished with exams, but still continued working on these three days. On the last day some of us went to visit students’ homes and were shown around their farms. There were also trees planted at Ithanji Primary in the Canadian Forest.
On Thursday we were invited by the staff at Gathukimundu to visit William Holding Wildlife Foundation and Education Center. We visited this site, which looks after many orphaned animals as well as some animals we hadn’t seen yet like a Rhinoceros and the Hippo. It began with an information session, followed by visits to the animals, and a ride on a 150 year old Tortoise.
We went to Nyeri on Saturday to visit Green Hills Hotel’s pool. It was a beautiful day and we got lots of sunshine.
Our next two weeks are very booked up as we begin our community projects.

Photo from Lisa.

We have received this wonderful photo from Lisa MacLeod, one of the UPEI pre service teachers who is teaching at Gathukimundu Primary.
She reports;
"The work of the OLCPs has begun and so far it seems to be very sucessful. Each student in upper primary at Gathukimundu will receive one hour of lessons on the computers. For children who have very limited exposure and access, they are learning very quickly."
Thank You, Lisa!

Week Three

This week we had the opportunity to see each other’s twinning schools. We noticed that each school is very unique and each has a very different atmosphere. The atmosphere we noticed is strongly reflective of the staff of the school. The children were writing exams so we were not able to spend a lot of time at each school, but we were there long enough to enjoy the time with the children.
Exams are a very significant part of the schools in Kenya, and the schools are very competitive with one another. If a student does not rank well in primary exams they may not get into their preferred secondary school. The exams are the pinnacle of the term. Schools who are successful were very eager to show their success to us.
We began working on one of our community projects this week with an introduction of the OLPCs (one laptop per child), to the upper primary students at Gathukimundu. These were received very well by the students as they were extremely excited to have the opportunity to work with computers. We will also be training the teachers at the school so they are able to provide support to the students when we leave the computers there.
We visited Nyeri City over the weekend where we went to a hotel pool and took in some sunshine. It was a definite change of scenery and it was good to see a different part of the district from where we live. We were invited to attend mass at St. Peter and Paul Kimondo Catholic Parish on Sunday morning, and the people were very welcoming. Although most of the service was in Kikuyu the structure of the service was very similar to that of a Catholic church in Canada, so we were able to follow. The music was a lot more vibrant and energetic with drums and rhythmic instruments that really added to the experience.
We are sad that we only have one week left with the students, but look forward to our community projects in the following two weeks.

Another Wild Week

This week was full of excitement. John arrived on Thursday afternoon and we were all very excited to see the familiar face. On Friday we left for Samburu and stopped at the Equator for some pictures and shopping. We arrived at Sarova Shaba, Samburu in the afternoon. The lodge was beautiful; we were welcomed with fruit juice and hot towels after a long bumpy ride, known as the “African Massage”. The lodge had a lot of monkeys over the lawns, and a very large swimming pool, which we were all excited to see. We went on our first Safari in the afternoon, and were happy to see many elephants, giraffes, and zebras. On the second day out we even saw lions!
On Saturday we went to a Samburu Village, where we took a tour of the village and were told some of the history of the two tribes who live there (the Samburu and the Turkana). We also watched a dance, and were even invited to join in. As we walked throughout the village, we were also shown the inside of the manyattas, and watched as men made fire with sticks. On our way out of the village, the women of the village set up a market of goods they had made. We all agreed that the visit to the village was our favourite part of our visit to the Samburu area, although the animals were an exciting part of the weekend also.
Although we didn’t want to leave Samburu we were excited on Sunday to be heading to the Meru area to meet with Jennifer. Jennifer welcomed us into her home and was happy to have us there. That night, she made a wonderful dinner and Shaad even came to join us. Unfortunately we only had the one night with Jennifer, and the next day we had to leave to visit the schools.
First we visited Kiirua Secondary Boys School. We were met by the head teacher and Martin from the Muchui Women’s Group who showed us around the school and the gardens. We were very impressed with the school’s gardens, and how self-sustaining the school is. They had produced enough potatoes to feed the students for the entire term.
Next we visited Kinyenjere Primary School, where the students were very excited to see us. The headmaster showed us around their gardens and took us through each classroom. In the classrooms we were greeted with smiling faces. As we were leaving the school the students all gathered around us to ask questions. They asked us several questions about Canada, and posed for many, many pictures.
The weekend was very busy, but we all really enjoyed visiting Jennifer and the schools. We headed back to Ichimara very tired, but with many memories.

First Week in Kenya

We have had a very successful first week here in Kenya. Everyone has helped to make the transition from Canada to Kenya very easy. Henry met us at the airport in Nairobi and got us quickly settled into the Fairview. Shaad and Clement took us out to Rimpa Estates Farm where we had a great afternoon of wildlife and great food. They then brought us to the house in Ichamara and helped us get settled in. They have both been very helpful this week. On our first day in the house we met Gerald and Lucy, who continue to help us settle in and make sure our first week of school went smoothly.

We started our placements at Gathukimundu, Mwati, and Ithanji Primary Schools and were greeted by smiling faces. Although the drive to Ithanji may be a challenge on the dirt roads, it is always worth it when we see the student’s smiling and waving. The kids made us feel very welcome by singing on our arrival. The students are very respectful and always stand when we enter the classroom. They are very quiet in the classroom, unless they are asked a direct question, and are very concerned with answering correctly. The students have become accustomed to working individually, however we continue to try to integrate group work. The students are very eager and have a high level of respect for their teachers. The teachers in the schools have been very pleasant and helpful. They are very interested in Canada, and they ask many questions each day in the staffroom.

Over the weekend we went into Karatina with Francis. He helped us find our way around the Uchumi and we also went to the open air market. The open air market in Karatine is the largest open air market in Africa, and is very busy on Saturday mornings. Francis helped us barter for fruits and vegetables, it was very helpful to have him there. Francis is an amazing cook, and we are all wondering how we are going to go back to Canadian food. We are greeted each day after school with smoothies and an after school snack. He has definitely made the adjustment from Canadian to Kenyan food very easy.

We are looking forward to week number two and our trip with John to Samburu this weekend.