This week has followed the course of other weeks, had its share of moments to treasure, but also had its shares of ups and downs as I have had my moments of homesickness and wrestled with the idea of being. Here are some thoughts from the other day...
'Thankfully, homesickness passes, or in the children I remember why I am here. No, I am not necessary, but in this dance of life, I can take part in mutual blessing. There are and will be the moments of loneliness here, but also the reality of love in community. My job is to teach, but also to be present and be; to see in love, to acknowledge, to laugh, to smile, to affirm, to live... In this land without familiar seasons I know to mark the passing of time, life almost has a timeless quality, and yet in it, I am reminded that our life has seasons and I feel so blessed to be here at Hope for this season. Personally, I know it will be a season of rich growth, for in stepping outside all that is known, familiar and comfortable, I have whether I like it or not, given up en element of control... In a way, I have said, 'God, here I am, do what you will, and help me, by your grace, because I don't know if I can do this on my own...'. Stepping out in faith, it is an opportunity for growth in faith, and that is a terrifying, and exciting reality. It is certainly a level of vulnerability I am not entirely comfortable with, and yet, this I do know, it is good...'
That said, learning to be is not very easy. I am good at busyness, not always presence, but I am learning and know it is a lesson I need to learn.
On a less serious note, one highlight of my week has been this morning as the high schoolers have been digging under and harvesting the carrots. Or, perhaps, the younger children have been harvesting and devouring the carrots, each with their pile, delighted to be able to eat the bounty of the earth. To dig under, they use hoes swung high above their heads. I half offered to help, but the girl I asked turned me down and I didn't try asking another. Part of me wants to try and help(I am after all a farmer at heart) but the other part of me is a little nervous about looking weak as I know these kids are way stronger than me... I will try and help another day, perhaps when all of Hope has not turned out to watch and share in the bounty. Truly, I have never seen so many carrots before in my life!
And finally, it looks like I may have negotiated and compromised my way into getting permission to leave for a weekend, so hopefully next week I will get to go to Nairobi for a little break and to run some errands. I say hopefully, because in reality I have learned to never believe anything here until it actually happens. To embrace this element of a complete lack of control, or ever knowing exactly what is happening, is much wiser than to fight it, and by embracing it you are left laughing instead of frustrated.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Celebrations and a brief excursion
This week has been rather full of celebrations, and I even managed to make a brief three hour excursion off the compound.
The celebrations were mostly Wednesday, which was Mashujaa, or Heroes, Day, formerly called Kenyatta Day. Jomo Kenyatta was Kenya's first president and a major leader during the fight for independence from British colonial control. However, as part of the new constitution passed this past August, the name was changed to include other independence and contemporary heroes.
For us here at Hope, the day meant no school, watching the national celebrations on TV, and feasting on one of our pigs. The national celebrations reminded me a little of watching the constitution promulgation on TV back in Nairobi, although with less speeches. Rather, it had a big military parade, and then different musical song and dance acts to follow(which was what reminded me of constitution day). It was fun although a little long. Meanwhile, while watching the celebrations, I kept half an eye on the last minutes of our supper as they were butchering the pig out the dining hall window. Honestly, it is nice to eat the meat of an animal that you know had a good life, and even one where you saw it alive(and being butchered) that very same day. And one that is so very appreciated as we do not have a lot of meat in our diet.
Then, on Thursday we had a going away celebration for one of the young men who finished form four last November and will be joining the Kenya army on Monday. Unlike back home, where with our military habits we always seem to need more soldiers, it is quite an honor to be accepted to the military here as well as being a very good job. In our district, 1000 youth applied, and only three were admitted. They accept people based off of a combination of their academic performance as well as their physical performance. He is quite excited, and I hope it is all he hopes and more. The Mennonite side of me made a face the first time I heard, being on the pacifist end of things, but like I said, he is excited and I am sure will do well for himself. For the celebratory meal, we had one of our sheep. All in all, it was a good week for eating.
Then, as for the brief excursion off compound, it really was brief and a whirlwind from beginning to end. Around quarter to nine this morning, the other volunteer and myself were told to be ready by 9, we were going to Naivasha, the nearest bigger town. We were ready by nine, probably actually left by 9:30, and took the very bumpy road there. We were asked what errands we needed to run(aka told we could go to the supermarket) and were given at tops thirty minutes. Thankfully, I finished my shopping quickly, because within fifteen minutes, we were being urged back to the van. Madam had an errand to run, but also needed to be back here at Hope as there were visitors coming from Nairobi. However, we were a little delayed on our way back to Hope as on the very bumpy road one of our tires went flat. Thankfully, we had a spare, and the driver and the young man joining the army were able to change the tire very quickly.
Then, back to Hope where we met the visitors, who were an MCC service worker, one of the country reps, and some MCC partners who run schools in Nairobi slums. They had heard good reports about Hope, and wanted to meet with the teachers and Lucy to hear how she kept up morale and made things work. I was allowed to join them for their Q&A and lunch, which was pretty interesting, and reminded me again really how amazing Lucy is. She is driven by a vision and a passion, and nothing is really allowed to get in the way, which can be intimidating at times, but also really is probably the only way she is able to do all that she does. It was a good reminder to remember the bigger picture outside of myself; the bigger picture here at Hope, with all of MCC Kenya's partners, and of people doing this week all around the world. It made me excited for all the opportunities in the week ahead.
The celebrations were mostly Wednesday, which was Mashujaa, or Heroes, Day, formerly called Kenyatta Day. Jomo Kenyatta was Kenya's first president and a major leader during the fight for independence from British colonial control. However, as part of the new constitution passed this past August, the name was changed to include other independence and contemporary heroes.
For us here at Hope, the day meant no school, watching the national celebrations on TV, and feasting on one of our pigs. The national celebrations reminded me a little of watching the constitution promulgation on TV back in Nairobi, although with less speeches. Rather, it had a big military parade, and then different musical song and dance acts to follow(which was what reminded me of constitution day). It was fun although a little long. Meanwhile, while watching the celebrations, I kept half an eye on the last minutes of our supper as they were butchering the pig out the dining hall window. Honestly, it is nice to eat the meat of an animal that you know had a good life, and even one where you saw it alive(and being butchered) that very same day. And one that is so very appreciated as we do not have a lot of meat in our diet.
Then, on Thursday we had a going away celebration for one of the young men who finished form four last November and will be joining the Kenya army on Monday. Unlike back home, where with our military habits we always seem to need more soldiers, it is quite an honor to be accepted to the military here as well as being a very good job. In our district, 1000 youth applied, and only three were admitted. They accept people based off of a combination of their academic performance as well as their physical performance. He is quite excited, and I hope it is all he hopes and more. The Mennonite side of me made a face the first time I heard, being on the pacifist end of things, but like I said, he is excited and I am sure will do well for himself. For the celebratory meal, we had one of our sheep. All in all, it was a good week for eating.
Then, as for the brief excursion off compound, it really was brief and a whirlwind from beginning to end. Around quarter to nine this morning, the other volunteer and myself were told to be ready by 9, we were going to Naivasha, the nearest bigger town. We were ready by nine, probably actually left by 9:30, and took the very bumpy road there. We were asked what errands we needed to run(aka told we could go to the supermarket) and were given at tops thirty minutes. Thankfully, I finished my shopping quickly, because within fifteen minutes, we were being urged back to the van. Madam had an errand to run, but also needed to be back here at Hope as there were visitors coming from Nairobi. However, we were a little delayed on our way back to Hope as on the very bumpy road one of our tires went flat. Thankfully, we had a spare, and the driver and the young man joining the army were able to change the tire very quickly.
Then, back to Hope where we met the visitors, who were an MCC service worker, one of the country reps, and some MCC partners who run schools in Nairobi slums. They had heard good reports about Hope, and wanted to meet with the teachers and Lucy to hear how she kept up morale and made things work. I was allowed to join them for their Q&A and lunch, which was pretty interesting, and reminded me again really how amazing Lucy is. She is driven by a vision and a passion, and nothing is really allowed to get in the way, which can be intimidating at times, but also really is probably the only way she is able to do all that she does. It was a good reminder to remember the bigger picture outside of myself; the bigger picture here at Hope, with all of MCC Kenya's partners, and of people doing this week all around the world. It made me excited for all the opportunities in the week ahead.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Some thoughts on school...
So my commitment to blogging once a weekend will probably get dull at some point, as life here is very routine... However, I suppose, even as it becomes routine and normal for me, I will be able to continue to find things to muse about which are less familiar back home...
This week however was pretty eventful in that we had midterms. For the secondary students, Tuesday through Friday, and for the primary students, Wednesday through Friday. For me, I monitored the fourth grade exams, which meant I spent a lot of hours watching the fourteen fourth graders and had lots of time to think of all things present, past, future and hypothetical... From my marking, most of the students passed(which is 50%) or above... Some who were really struggling in most subjects did very well on their kiswahili exam which mostly means that a lot of learning is lost to language as the classes are taught mostly in English and the exam questions were written in English(except for Kiswahili). Now we have five weeks or so until the final exams where the hope is that all students will pass.
I enjoyed monitoring midterms and had more opportunities for interacting with the rest of the teachers than I have had these past five weeks... and I think earned their respect by my diligence to the task, or at least I tried to. There are eight teachers for primary(and I do not know the secondary ones) and they are very committed to their job and to the students. The class sizes vary. For example, there are fourteen fourth graders, more fifth graders and third graders, but less second and first. None of the classes are too big by anyone's standards which must make learning easier. The students vary in ages depending on when they came to Hope, and ability and commitment to education of course.The school itself is made out of tin, and so when it rains, which it does daily, teaching must be very hard. I asked one of the teachers, and she said that when it rains, the students do homework, the teachers can't teach over the racket. It made me appreciate my far removed little classroom where the rain is not so noticeable in the downstairs of the boys dorm(there were no spare rooms in the tin school house so we made do...).
Meanwhile, our new secondary school building(which will be beautiful and made of stones) remains pretty much the same as when I arrived(lacking a roof, that is), waiting on funds I believe. Hopefully, it will be able to be completed by the beginning of the new school year in January, or many of the form two students(who provide a lot of student leadership) will have to go away to boarding school because the upstairs classrooms of the dining hall lack proper science labs.
That really was the majority of this weeks focus, and today being Saturday was laundry day(for me, that is, as the kids do their laundry everyday). And basketball in the morning after laundry before the rain. Persistent rain, for which I think the kids are very thankful for their new gumboots, and I, meanwhile, continue to wear sandals and be muddy by preference. My preference being for sandals over gumboots, not muddiness over cleanness. From the sound of balls hitting the backboard, perhaps the afternoon rain has let up already and it is time for to go explore and see what is going on.
This week however was pretty eventful in that we had midterms. For the secondary students, Tuesday through Friday, and for the primary students, Wednesday through Friday. For me, I monitored the fourth grade exams, which meant I spent a lot of hours watching the fourteen fourth graders and had lots of time to think of all things present, past, future and hypothetical... From my marking, most of the students passed(which is 50%) or above... Some who were really struggling in most subjects did very well on their kiswahili exam which mostly means that a lot of learning is lost to language as the classes are taught mostly in English and the exam questions were written in English(except for Kiswahili). Now we have five weeks or so until the final exams where the hope is that all students will pass.
I enjoyed monitoring midterms and had more opportunities for interacting with the rest of the teachers than I have had these past five weeks... and I think earned their respect by my diligence to the task, or at least I tried to. There are eight teachers for primary(and I do not know the secondary ones) and they are very committed to their job and to the students. The class sizes vary. For example, there are fourteen fourth graders, more fifth graders and third graders, but less second and first. None of the classes are too big by anyone's standards which must make learning easier. The students vary in ages depending on when they came to Hope, and ability and commitment to education of course.The school itself is made out of tin, and so when it rains, which it does daily, teaching must be very hard. I asked one of the teachers, and she said that when it rains, the students do homework, the teachers can't teach over the racket. It made me appreciate my far removed little classroom where the rain is not so noticeable in the downstairs of the boys dorm(there were no spare rooms in the tin school house so we made do...).
Meanwhile, our new secondary school building(which will be beautiful and made of stones) remains pretty much the same as when I arrived(lacking a roof, that is), waiting on funds I believe. Hopefully, it will be able to be completed by the beginning of the new school year in January, or many of the form two students(who provide a lot of student leadership) will have to go away to boarding school because the upstairs classrooms of the dining hall lack proper science labs.
That really was the majority of this weeks focus, and today being Saturday was laundry day(for me, that is, as the kids do their laundry everyday). And basketball in the morning after laundry before the rain. Persistent rain, for which I think the kids are very thankful for their new gumboots, and I, meanwhile, continue to wear sandals and be muddy by preference. My preference being for sandals over gumboots, not muddiness over cleanness. From the sound of balls hitting the backboard, perhaps the afternoon rain has let up already and it is time for to go explore and see what is going on.
Monday, October 11, 2010
and it feels once again that things are starting to settle
So my achievement of this weekend was posting pictures on facebook... I tried to post them on here, but it was taking too long, so if you want to see pictures of my life here, and you have a facebook account, check them out...
That said, life here is a combination of so full and so ordinary, that I hardly know what to write. With school, I settled into my new timetable and am learning how to handle having some free time. It probably isn't even very much free time in the day when I do not have classes and may or may not have grading to do, but when given the choice, I do not do free time, for better or worse, so it is a new concept to me. Left to schedule my own life, I would try and be going from morning devotions at 6:30 until after dinner at 8:30. As the other volunteer wisely pointed out after only a few weeks of living with me, learning how to live with free time might be good for me. And free time here is slower, more reflective and cannot be filled with the constant distractions of back home. For example, when I had free time last year and did not know what to do, I could fill it with going and doing something. Here I have to be more creative... It will be a good challenge for me though.
Meanwhile, I love my new classes if only because I know that the kids can for the most part understand me. It is slightly challenging coming in mid-term and trying to figure out what the kids know and need to work on and even what they should have been taught this year. Also, managing time in a 35 minute class can be hard, and if I make it where the kids do not have time to finish an assignment, they are obviously upset with me. Thankfully, for all the subjects, we have Kenya issued curriculum which is not bad at all. I am skeptical of some of the subtle social messages I see in the texts, but other messages like an awareness of AIDS, environmental concerns and other social issues is good. The English chapters break down into a reading passage with reading questions for comprehension, a vocabulary exercise, and then some grammar points and a prompt for writing. I do not always use the prompts, but have had all of my classes write me compositions which are fun to read. One today was simply amazing with the poetic metaphors and descriptions, even if they were written to such an abundance that he forgot to include a subject or verb in his sentence...
And I like my schedule also because it means when the kids get done with class, I have energy to engage them. When I was teaching standard one, as often as not I would be exhausted and hide away. Last week however I was intentional about once I saw the kids out playing, to go join them. I have even taken up basketball, the choice activity here, and if one knows of my little league days and how completely hopeless I was, that is my labor of love. I have played hours and hours in this past week, and am still pretty terrible, but for me, it is about the relationships formed, and that has been invaluable.
Otherwise, last week was marked by the visit of Madam's Canadian partner, which was mostly good in that it helped finish our chicken house and included ice cream and gumboots and lots of love and messages of grace for all the children. However, it also included the drama surrounding the misplacing of some rather important papers which never turned up although everything was pretty much gone through and consequences were threatened if they should be found in anybody's possession. So yeah, that was no fun...
Otherwise, I have begun again to try and learn the rest of the kids names. I still need to get my sewing/mending project started, but have been waiting for things to slow down a bit on the visitor end. That will be today as Friday people left, and today the basketball grandfather leaves, which will leave me and Lynne, the other longer term, young volunteer. We also have in our visitors quarters as of last night, Madam's sister, her husband and their baby who are here because they think(we all think) Madam needs to take a break. However, they are a different sort of neighbor that other North Americans.
And this week has started out well, with all my classes showing up today... And I realized today that it was exactly two months ago today that I left Seattle... I have been here at Hope for five weeks, here in Kenya for seven... and it feels once again, that things are starting to settle...
That said, life here is a combination of so full and so ordinary, that I hardly know what to write. With school, I settled into my new timetable and am learning how to handle having some free time. It probably isn't even very much free time in the day when I do not have classes and may or may not have grading to do, but when given the choice, I do not do free time, for better or worse, so it is a new concept to me. Left to schedule my own life, I would try and be going from morning devotions at 6:30 until after dinner at 8:30. As the other volunteer wisely pointed out after only a few weeks of living with me, learning how to live with free time might be good for me. And free time here is slower, more reflective and cannot be filled with the constant distractions of back home. For example, when I had free time last year and did not know what to do, I could fill it with going and doing something. Here I have to be more creative... It will be a good challenge for me though.
Meanwhile, I love my new classes if only because I know that the kids can for the most part understand me. It is slightly challenging coming in mid-term and trying to figure out what the kids know and need to work on and even what they should have been taught this year. Also, managing time in a 35 minute class can be hard, and if I make it where the kids do not have time to finish an assignment, they are obviously upset with me. Thankfully, for all the subjects, we have Kenya issued curriculum which is not bad at all. I am skeptical of some of the subtle social messages I see in the texts, but other messages like an awareness of AIDS, environmental concerns and other social issues is good. The English chapters break down into a reading passage with reading questions for comprehension, a vocabulary exercise, and then some grammar points and a prompt for writing. I do not always use the prompts, but have had all of my classes write me compositions which are fun to read. One today was simply amazing with the poetic metaphors and descriptions, even if they were written to such an abundance that he forgot to include a subject or verb in his sentence...
And I like my schedule also because it means when the kids get done with class, I have energy to engage them. When I was teaching standard one, as often as not I would be exhausted and hide away. Last week however I was intentional about once I saw the kids out playing, to go join them. I have even taken up basketball, the choice activity here, and if one knows of my little league days and how completely hopeless I was, that is my labor of love. I have played hours and hours in this past week, and am still pretty terrible, but for me, it is about the relationships formed, and that has been invaluable.
Otherwise, last week was marked by the visit of Madam's Canadian partner, which was mostly good in that it helped finish our chicken house and included ice cream and gumboots and lots of love and messages of grace for all the children. However, it also included the drama surrounding the misplacing of some rather important papers which never turned up although everything was pretty much gone through and consequences were threatened if they should be found in anybody's possession. So yeah, that was no fun...
Otherwise, I have begun again to try and learn the rest of the kids names. I still need to get my sewing/mending project started, but have been waiting for things to slow down a bit on the visitor end. That will be today as Friday people left, and today the basketball grandfather leaves, which will leave me and Lynne, the other longer term, young volunteer. We also have in our visitors quarters as of last night, Madam's sister, her husband and their baby who are here because they think(we all think) Madam needs to take a break. However, they are a different sort of neighbor that other North Americans.
And this week has started out well, with all my classes showing up today... And I realized today that it was exactly two months ago today that I left Seattle... I have been here at Hope for five weeks, here in Kenya for seven... and it feels once again, that things are starting to settle...
Monday, October 4, 2010
Things begin to settle and then turn upside down...
So while last weekend I could honestly claim things were beginning to settle here, this last week has succesfully turned things upside down. Not in a bad way even, but it is back to the feeling of what exactly am I doing...
To move away from being melodramatic, the only thing that really changed was my classes. The teachers, headmaster, Madam, and I had a meeting and agreed that probably too much was getting lost in translation with my first grade class. As I was never sure how much if any of what I said they were able to follow... having the classes change seemed the best decision for everyone, especially as it came from the teachers here and they take their responsibility for the school seriously(and have to answer for it if any of the students lag behind). So now, as of today, I am teaching fourth, fifth and sixth grade English to part of each of those classes. For whatever reason, they only are giving me part of the students, but I will take what I can get... The ones they do not give me are the ones who need special attention, and with most of the students with me, they can give more individualized attention to those who need it.
The class change decision happened Wednesday evening, and then Thursday morning spur of the moment I ended up going to Nairobi to finish my work permit and alien registration at immigration. It was honestly a blessing to get away while they figured out the details of my switch of roles. And Nairobi was pretty relaxed as I did not end up going to immigration until Friday morning. Lucy the Madam is adament against me riding mtatus here in Kinangop, so my going Thursday last minute was mostly to coincide with catching a ride with her. I needed to go to immigration with MCC though, so Thursday I just hung around the MCC office, read, rested, went for a walk in Nairobi, met up with my swahili teacher for a soda, and then stayed the night with the country reps so I could get up early and go to immigration. It was probably the first time I had sat without feeling like I should probably be somewhere or doing somethings(or without being tired after a full day) since I came to Hope... It was also my first time to be away from Hope since coming. I thoroughly enjoyed it although I was also glad to come back Friday afternoon.
The drive from here to Nairobi is so beautiful. Perhaps the most striking moment is when the road goes along a bluff overlooking the Great Rift Valley! You can see the countryside stretching away from you for as far as the eye can see, although it is slightly hazy, and Mt. Longonot sticking up rather randomly in the middle. The rest of the drive is beautiful as well as Kenya truly is such a beautiful country. Leaving Hope through Kinangop, it is rural farmland framed by the Aberdares, which despite living in the shadow of, I have yet to grow tired of. You pass a fair share of donkey carts along the way, and bicyclists, and other vans and cars, but the donkeys are my favorite. If your cart has two donkeys, it is pretty slow, but if it has three, it can keep a pretty good pace.
Then just being back in a city is always fun. The allusion of anonymity. I say allusion because while walking around, I ran into this nice Kenyan couple I had met while staying at the Mennonite Guest House. We were both just in town for the day, but yeah, the world is always smaller than we think it is. And it was great to have a chance to catch up with my swahili teacher, and to here a little more about Inspiration Centre that we had visited together in the Mathare slums as she has been going to volunteer. We talked about the advantages and differences to serving in ones own community or in a cross-cultural exchange way such as SALT or IVEP. I think at home in some ways we are often more effective and necessary although that depends on how much you are part of a community or are willing to work to be part of a community. Cross-culturally there is definitely room for mutual blessing, but I am not as sure about how necessary it is, or how necessary I feel here. I am reading a book about a doctor who has worked around the world, both in the states and here in Africa, doing what he calls 'poverty medicine', and after years of service, he captures his undertanding in the title of his book... 'The Wedding Goes on Without Us'. I like that, and know it is a healthy place to start when doing any type of service at home or cross-culturally. It is not that what one does is not in some ways necessary, especially for this doctor as he has the ability to save lives, but rather the importance of realizing the blessedness, the richness, that exists completely apart from you, and which being part of is a blessing we can receive.
Anyways, moving on from random ramblings as I do have class in half an hour, Friday afternoon it was lovely to come back, and as part of Madam's trip to Nairobi, we brought another visitor. Making our number 4. The basketball girl left last Monday, and her father came last Tuesday and has been the resident grandfather to all the children. He was the one who dreamed up the basketball court here and made it happen, and he continues to dream of sharing his passion for sports with Hope CC here. The kids love him. The fourth visitor meanwhile is Madam's Canadian partner, Mama Irene. She first came here to Hope in 2007, and was the one to introduce the basketball people, and the volunteer who has been here, to Hope. She also has been able to contribute tremendous support to the growth of Hope through financial partnerships and organizing back in Canada. It has been fun hearing from her and Lucy in their conversations how much of what I take for granted here(our beautiful dorms, the new kitchen, the soon to be restarted chicken project) are all really very new. It is fun to hear more of the journey of faith that takes place here every day, and how many people and partners Lucy has invited along in the journey.
That said, the weekend passed nicely if wetly... The rains persist, and I persist in wearing sandals and having muddy feet...
This week holds new classes, a new schedule, and learning how to use the time given me as I will be teaching less. I hope to spend more time with the babies, and to be excited and ready to play when the kids do get out of class. With my old schedule, class ended and I retreated, exhausted to revamp before coming back outside to play. Also, there is talk of setting up a space and time where the kids can do sewing(mending to start with, and then growth is possible), and I am the nominated head of that. I am a little nervous because while I do know how to sew some, it has been awhile since I did any sewing, unless you count hemming pants crookedly... Still, as I like to say, I am not a visionary, but if you give me your vision, I am the one who will be here the longest, and so have the staying power and can do the work on the day to day to keep things going.
Now, to get ready for class, but before this week became to fully launched, I wanted to do a brief(or not so brief) update of life here and my upside down schedule...
To move away from being melodramatic, the only thing that really changed was my classes. The teachers, headmaster, Madam, and I had a meeting and agreed that probably too much was getting lost in translation with my first grade class. As I was never sure how much if any of what I said they were able to follow... having the classes change seemed the best decision for everyone, especially as it came from the teachers here and they take their responsibility for the school seriously(and have to answer for it if any of the students lag behind). So now, as of today, I am teaching fourth, fifth and sixth grade English to part of each of those classes. For whatever reason, they only are giving me part of the students, but I will take what I can get... The ones they do not give me are the ones who need special attention, and with most of the students with me, they can give more individualized attention to those who need it.
The class change decision happened Wednesday evening, and then Thursday morning spur of the moment I ended up going to Nairobi to finish my work permit and alien registration at immigration. It was honestly a blessing to get away while they figured out the details of my switch of roles. And Nairobi was pretty relaxed as I did not end up going to immigration until Friday morning. Lucy the Madam is adament against me riding mtatus here in Kinangop, so my going Thursday last minute was mostly to coincide with catching a ride with her. I needed to go to immigration with MCC though, so Thursday I just hung around the MCC office, read, rested, went for a walk in Nairobi, met up with my swahili teacher for a soda, and then stayed the night with the country reps so I could get up early and go to immigration. It was probably the first time I had sat without feeling like I should probably be somewhere or doing somethings(or without being tired after a full day) since I came to Hope... It was also my first time to be away from Hope since coming. I thoroughly enjoyed it although I was also glad to come back Friday afternoon.
The drive from here to Nairobi is so beautiful. Perhaps the most striking moment is when the road goes along a bluff overlooking the Great Rift Valley! You can see the countryside stretching away from you for as far as the eye can see, although it is slightly hazy, and Mt. Longonot sticking up rather randomly in the middle. The rest of the drive is beautiful as well as Kenya truly is such a beautiful country. Leaving Hope through Kinangop, it is rural farmland framed by the Aberdares, which despite living in the shadow of, I have yet to grow tired of. You pass a fair share of donkey carts along the way, and bicyclists, and other vans and cars, but the donkeys are my favorite. If your cart has two donkeys, it is pretty slow, but if it has three, it can keep a pretty good pace.
Then just being back in a city is always fun. The allusion of anonymity. I say allusion because while walking around, I ran into this nice Kenyan couple I had met while staying at the Mennonite Guest House. We were both just in town for the day, but yeah, the world is always smaller than we think it is. And it was great to have a chance to catch up with my swahili teacher, and to here a little more about Inspiration Centre that we had visited together in the Mathare slums as she has been going to volunteer. We talked about the advantages and differences to serving in ones own community or in a cross-cultural exchange way such as SALT or IVEP. I think at home in some ways we are often more effective and necessary although that depends on how much you are part of a community or are willing to work to be part of a community. Cross-culturally there is definitely room for mutual blessing, but I am not as sure about how necessary it is, or how necessary I feel here. I am reading a book about a doctor who has worked around the world, both in the states and here in Africa, doing what he calls 'poverty medicine', and after years of service, he captures his undertanding in the title of his book... 'The Wedding Goes on Without Us'. I like that, and know it is a healthy place to start when doing any type of service at home or cross-culturally. It is not that what one does is not in some ways necessary, especially for this doctor as he has the ability to save lives, but rather the importance of realizing the blessedness, the richness, that exists completely apart from you, and which being part of is a blessing we can receive.
Anyways, moving on from random ramblings as I do have class in half an hour, Friday afternoon it was lovely to come back, and as part of Madam's trip to Nairobi, we brought another visitor. Making our number 4. The basketball girl left last Monday, and her father came last Tuesday and has been the resident grandfather to all the children. He was the one who dreamed up the basketball court here and made it happen, and he continues to dream of sharing his passion for sports with Hope CC here. The kids love him. The fourth visitor meanwhile is Madam's Canadian partner, Mama Irene. She first came here to Hope in 2007, and was the one to introduce the basketball people, and the volunteer who has been here, to Hope. She also has been able to contribute tremendous support to the growth of Hope through financial partnerships and organizing back in Canada. It has been fun hearing from her and Lucy in their conversations how much of what I take for granted here(our beautiful dorms, the new kitchen, the soon to be restarted chicken project) are all really very new. It is fun to hear more of the journey of faith that takes place here every day, and how many people and partners Lucy has invited along in the journey.
That said, the weekend passed nicely if wetly... The rains persist, and I persist in wearing sandals and having muddy feet...
This week holds new classes, a new schedule, and learning how to use the time given me as I will be teaching less. I hope to spend more time with the babies, and to be excited and ready to play when the kids do get out of class. With my old schedule, class ended and I retreated, exhausted to revamp before coming back outside to play. Also, there is talk of setting up a space and time where the kids can do sewing(mending to start with, and then growth is possible), and I am the nominated head of that. I am a little nervous because while I do know how to sew some, it has been awhile since I did any sewing, unless you count hemming pants crookedly... Still, as I like to say, I am not a visionary, but if you give me your vision, I am the one who will be here the longest, and so have the staying power and can do the work on the day to day to keep things going.
Now, to get ready for class, but before this week became to fully launched, I wanted to do a brief(or not so brief) update of life here and my upside down schedule...
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