Greetings from Hope CC

So I have been here at Hope a week tomorrow, and this week has been so full and good. It is Saturday now, so I am taking advantage of the afternoon downpour to update my blog. Thanks to my MCC country reps, I have the loan of a computer for the year along with an internet connection, so I am not nearly so cut off as I anticipated. I am enjoying being able to keep up to date on world news as well as staying in touch with people back home. If you email me, I will reply timely:)

First of all, coming here last Sunday, Kenya is a beautiful country! And Hope is in a very beautiful part of this beautiful country, in the Aberdare foothills. From my window in the morning I can see the sun rise, and yes, I am up before the sun rise as the day starts here at 6:30... The mornings are brilliantly sunny, and brilliantly cold, and then by around 1 heavy clouds have rolled in and the heavens let loose. The other day the tap was down, and I was able to collect two whole buckets of water simply from the roof runoff! It was exciting because I was able to take my bucket bath that night. The water works most of the time, but it is definitely hit and miss. By nightime it is clear again, and far from the city, the stars are incredible.

Hope is near the not so bustling metropolis of North Kinangop, although I am not sure if we even drove through it on our way here. Us, as in the MCC country reps and myself, as they brought me here. When I need to get back to Nairobi for any reason(such as my work permit and alien card within the next few weeks), the mtatus do run fairly regularly and the trip should be around three hours. In the meantime, I doubt I will have much need to go to Kinangop, and so my life is confined like that of the children to within the walls of the Center.

Life within the walls is anything but dull though, and I got here right before the term started. I arrived Sunday, was given ten students Monday to make a hybrid standard one/nursery school class(ages ranging from 3-6, and yes, that can be a challenge), and Tuesday morning realized I was supposed to start class that day instead of the next five minutes before classes started. I like to think I am pretty good at winging it, and I think my students still like me, so I must have done a good job. With such young ages, in addition to the challenge of age range, there is a language barrier. I have definitely had to use my broken swahili suplemented by a lot of English since getting here. The Swahili helps a ton, because at least people can see I really am trying. Thankfully, I also have a teaching assistant, mostly to help with my three unruly musketeers(the 3 year olds) who have the run of the Center and are a handful if so very cute!

In all, there are almost two hundred children here ranging from the 20 or so infants up through form two in secondary school. Forms three and form go away to boarding school because Hope doesn't have the facilities yet and there is even one young man who will be starting college next week. There is a new school being built so secondary can be extended here through form three and four which will hopefully be finished by the start of the new school year in January although that partly depends on funds... Hope is very donor driven, which is a blessing but can also be dangerous when the economy drags back home... Instead of one long break like back home, schools here get August, December and April off, which I think really makes almost more sense. The children love to go and play on the building in progress and make me come, and it makes me so nervous because they are playing so near the edge on the second or third story, and while the building is definitely stable, the scaffolding looks very precarious and there are no sorts of guard rails!

The workers here range from teachers, to nursery workers, to cooks and shepherds. There is a big garden with peas, tomatoes, maize, potatoes, cabbage, spinach and carrots that the children are mostly in charge of. Livestock like cows, sheep, pigs and goats that again the children help with. Also, there is a new chicken house which once the chickens come, the children will continue to be in charge of. They do their own laundry, help out with all the chores, truly look after each other, and function very much as family to each other. They also lead the daily devotions before each meal, and truly have ownership of their lives, and in school, such a desire to learn. One challenge to teaching is how limited resources are. You learn to make do, but I definitely do a pencil and crayon check each day to make sure none have walked away by intention or accident.

I have done pretty well to get a start on learning names and making friends, mostly with the younger children because they just love having you around. The girls all play this rock games where you throw one rock in the air and while it is in the air you have to move a pile of twelve in and out of a whole by different numbers(starting with one at a time, two at a time, etc...) It is harder than it looks I found out when I tried. The boys and some of the girls prefer to play basketball and they say they like football(soccer), but I have yet to see one... In addition to the younger children, I have gotten to know a few of the older girls who look out for me and are very helpful for all the times I don't know what is going on, which is fairly often although I am definitely beginning to get the hang of the schedule.

I think the rain may be letting up, and if they are not napping, I have plans to go and visit the nursery, but I just wanted to write a quick and not so brief update of life here. Also, one other perk which I did not expect is that at least through October I am not the only volunteer here. There is a girl from Canada who has been here for four months, which gives me company in the evening in the visitor section and has also been very helpful in getting the hang of life(laundry and bathing techniques, for examples) and getting an in with some of the kids. After October, I may be the only one, but by then I plan to be fully integrated into life here, and especially during the weeks, the days are full.

Anyways, that is the news from Kenya, and I will try and maybe even take some pictures and upload them someday, or at the very least update my blog again sometime in the not too distant future. Blessings to everyone back home!