Goals/Expectations of the trip: To be aware, to learn, to loveMy daily routine/the kids: Everyday, except Sunday, I spent half of the day at the school with the kids and the other half of each day doing yoga, washing clothes, reading, journaling, talking with Keela and CJ, and/or running errands.
From just before we arrived until January 4 the students are on Christmas holiday so while at the school I am with the 40 students who live there, known as the boarders (once school resumes there will be a couple hundred students there).
The students are very bright, very joyful, very polite, and very tough. In spending time with the kids one of my main goals is to get home exhausted. I feel if I am not tired after spending half the day with them then I did not give them enough of myself. I am happy to report that so far they have succeeded at exhausting me everyday.
We spend most of our time teaching each other. They teach me Swahili, I teach them dance. They teach me games, I teach them games. They unknowingly teach me about life, I teach them about the Bible. Many of them are bright by American standards. Honestly, this somewhat surprised me, as they do not have access to simple resources such as paper, pencils, and books, outside of the school day. What they do have is a hunger and thirst to learn like I have never seen before. Constantly, they come up to me and say, “Michel Obama, quiz me in math,” “Teacher, quiz me in science,” or simply, “Teach me something.” Yes, some of them call me “Michelle Obama” haha. They also have a habit of calling me “cha” for teacher.
Their politeness has a joyful quality to it just as their readiness to learn has. Everyday when we arrive they greet us at the door and shake our hands. When we leave we shake hands again. There are about 5 plastic chairs for the 50 people there each day and the students joyfully offer the chair they are sitting in for CJ, Keela, or I if we are standing.The physical toughness of these kids, girls as well as boys, is incredible. I would bet they play just as rough as tackles in the NFL and do not complain or get injured nearly as often! They have slid across the concrete, gotten hit in the face with a soccerball, fallen on their head doing a handstand, run into each other, stepped on everything you can imagine with no shoes on, and not only have I yet to hear one of them cry or complain, they do not even stop for a few seconds to recover.
Lodging: I live in a beautiful 5 bedroom/3 bathroom home with Christine, the woman who runs Jambo Jipya, Destiny & Fisher, two of her children, Keela, and CJ. We have no AC, no hot water, and no washer or dryer, but we have a full kitchen, including a refrigerator, which is not common. My favorite part of the house is the roof which is where CJ, Keela, and I spend a few hours every morning doing yoga, eating breakfast, reading, talking, writing, etc. The yard is beautifully decorated with tropical trees and plants, many of which I grew up admiring in SW FL. Also in the yard is a pin currently housing chickens, roosters, and turkeys. Unfortunately, the rooster gets going long before the sun rises. Lining the perimeter of the lot is a tall wall and a gate.
Jambo Jipya: The school consists of 11 classrooms, a kitchen, a girls dorm, a boys dorm, a hang out room (which I call the sauna), Christine’s office, a play area, bathrooms, shower rooms, and a storage room. Sounds like a big operation, right? Not exactly. Though I have not yet measured it, I would estimate it to fit inside a high school gymnasium in America. Most of the ground is dirt though in some areas there is concrete.
Some of the walls are a combination of mud, trees, and concrete and some are plywood on the bottom half and something resembling chicken wire on the top half. The classrooms are about 10x10 and their walls are filled with handmade educational posters written in English. The students who live there receive breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and tea between lunch and dinner.
Food: IT IS SO TASTY! The first night we had white rice, cooked cabbage with oil, tomatoes, & onions in it, and goat. The second night we ate the children’s favorite meal with them at the school of chapatis and beans. A chapatis is similar to a fajita shell, you eat it with your fingers by dunking it in the side dish, and it takes all day to make so the kids only get them on Saturdays. Since then we have had chapatis with other sides, such as the cabbage dish mentioned above, greens mixed tomatoes, onions, & oil, and even peanut butter and jelly. Most everything is oiled heavily. There is also a wonderful variety of delicious fruit, the mangos and pineapple being my favorite. We often buy fruit from vendors on our way home from school in the evenings.
Mwtapa: Like Christine’s yard, Mwtapa is full of lush tropical vegetation. Everywhere you look you see a variety of palm trees, mango trees, sugar cane, banana trees, eucalyptus, elephant ears, vines and bushes with flowers in full bloom on the walls around people’s homes, and much more.
There are people EVERYWHERE (or maybe it is just that people are outside moving around and not huddled in their office like in America)! Every street and alley in Mwtapa is lined with individuals and shops selling mostly clothing, food, or hair supplies. A fewer number sell furniture or are pharmacies. People get around by walking, riding a motorcycle, taking a taxi, or for longer distances taking a matatu (public van)…individuals do not own cars. Goats, chickens, and cows are also roaming around everywhere.
Lodging: I live in a beautiful 5 bedroom/3 bathroom home with Christine, the woman who runs Jambo Jipya, Destiny & Fisher, two of her children, Keela, and CJ. We have no AC, no hot water, and no washer or dryer, but we have a full kitchen, including a refrigerator, which is not common. My favorite part of the house is the roof which is where CJ, Keela, and I spend a few hours every morning doing yoga, eating breakfast, reading, talking, writing, etc. The yard is beautifully decorated with tropical trees and plants, many of which I grew up admiring in SW FL. Also in the yard is a pin currently housing chickens, roosters, and turkeys. Unfortunately, the rooster gets going long before the sun rises. Lining the perimeter of the lot is a tall wall and a gate.Jambo Jipya: The school consists of 11 classrooms, a kitchen, a girls dorm, a boys dorm, a hang out room (which I call the sauna), Christine’s office, a play area, bathrooms, shower rooms, and a storage room. Sounds like a big operation, right? Not exactly. Though I have not yet measured it, I would estimate it to fit inside a high school gymnasium in America. Most of the ground is dirt though in some areas there is concrete.
Some of the walls are a combination of mud, trees, and concrete and some are plywood on the bottom half and something resembling chicken wire on the top half. The classrooms are about 10x10 and their walls are filled with handmade educational posters written in English. The students who live there receive breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and tea between lunch and dinner.Food: IT IS SO TASTY! The first night we had white rice, cooked cabbage with oil, tomatoes, & onions in it, and goat. The second night we ate the children’s favorite meal with them at the school of chapatis and beans. A chapatis is similar to a fajita shell, you eat it with your fingers by dunking it in the side dish, and it takes all day to make so the kids only get them on Saturdays. Since then we have had chapatis with other sides, such as the cabbage dish mentioned above, greens mixed tomatoes, onions, & oil, and even peanut butter and jelly. Most everything is oiled heavily. There is also a wonderful variety of delicious fruit, the mangos and pineapple being my favorite. We often buy fruit from vendors on our way home from school in the evenings.
Mwtapa: Like Christine’s yard, Mwtapa is full of lush tropical vegetation. Everywhere you look you see a variety of palm trees, mango trees, sugar cane, banana trees, eucalyptus, elephant ears, vines and bushes with flowers in full bloom on the walls around people’s homes, and much more.
There are people EVERYWHERE (or maybe it is just that people are outside moving around and not huddled in their office like in America)! Every street and alley in Mwtapa is lined with individuals and shops selling mostly clothing, food, or hair supplies. A fewer number sell furniture or are pharmacies. People get around by walking, riding a motorcycle, taking a taxi, or for longer distances taking a matatu (public van)…individuals do not own cars. Goats, chickens, and cows are also roaming around everywhere.
There is also trash EVERYWHERE! Trash pickup/disposal is one of the many public services they are without in Kenya. As a result, if outside they throw trash on the ground (coke bottles, wrappers, paper, anything and everything). If inside, they put trash in small plastic bags and later throw them in a heap in an open field, or on the side of the road, and then others go around setting fire to the bags of trash.
Wow…I haven’t even begun to write about my thoughts/struggles from this week! However, as I have written quite a bit already I will close for now and in the next few days organize my reactions and include them in the next post.
Thank you for the prayers! Now that we have arrived and settled in safely please pray for Jambo Jipya, for their fundraising efforts, and for their leaders to make the best decisions for the future of the school.
It’s a wonderful world…hope you are enjoying it,
Michel
Thank you for the prayers! Now that we have arrived and settled in safely please pray for Jambo Jipya, for their fundraising efforts, and for their leaders to make the best decisions for the future of the school.
It’s a wonderful world…hope you are enjoying it,
Michel
Its looking fine, you can find more Dorm Lightinghere…..
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