February Happenings

February seemed to fly by!  I must be having fun :)  Here are some of the things that took place throughout the month.

I had my first visitor! My friend from Colorado Springs, Brittany, came out to climb the mountain with a team. After a successful climb, she had one day to come stay with me before moving to her next work location. It was a short but sweet visit. What a treat to be able to give her a tour of the school, introduce her to my teachers and students and teammates, and share the stunning beauty that God has blessed us with here.  And then we also had time to go into town to visit a few of my usual places.

Taking her on an adventurous drive around town

The picture every visitor must get

Waiting at the station...

for a train... 

that will never come ;)

Finishing off the visit with a trip to our
"central market"

Our girls' soccer team was invited to play in a tournament at the local international school. They pretty much dominated every team they played.

On the 24th of February, I got to co-hare my first Hash. The person who sets the course for the Hash is called the Hare. The Hare is responsible for going out ahead of the Hash and putting out the flour to mark the path. A doctor who lives nearby has been a long time friend of our village and is considered one of the Hash experts around here. I was very excited when he asked if I'd like to set a Hash with him. He taught me all the tips and tricks.

One of the tricks you can do is make a false
trail, marked by the F, so that the lead runners
have to go back and find the real trail. We were
nice and only made one false trail :)

My co-Hare expert leading the way with his
bag of flour

The trail went down into the river valley and
back up twice, so it was a bit challenging but
beautifully lush

The mountain came out for a nice view

The flour going down into the river was a joke;
we kept to the bridges for crossing this time

I've got my bag of flour to mark the trail too

We made it back to the start in time to set up chairs and tables
in the yard and then...

welcome all of our Hash friends

 A couple of the friends that I've made at church came out to do the Hash, so I decided to go do the trail again with them. It was fun to have set the trail and then to go do it as a participant to get peoples' reactions.

 

Based on the comments, I think the two climbs out of the river valley were a good challenge and everyone really enjoyed the course. Then we all enjoyed bites together, which are always a highlight when my teammate, Sara, is in charge.

I ended the month with a wedding send-off. It was for one of our workers who has been living here as a mother of one of the children cottages. It's sad to see her go, but we were all quite happy for her. I decided it was about time that I have a proper outfit for a send-off, so I went to a local shop and had a kitenge skirt made.  Isn't the fabric here beautiful?

 Since the send-off was for a cottage mother, the 8 girls who had lived in her cottage were invited to the party. Having them with us made it even more fun!

Don't they look nice dressed up in their Sunday best?!

 There were 12 of us all together, so we hired a dala dala (15 passenger van).  It was the best decision! It meant that we didn't have to take multiple cars and we didn't have to worry about driving back in the dark.  Total win!

We got very close to the location of the party, but had to pull
over on the side of the road for some directions at the very end :)

I didn't mind because it gave me time to get a different view
of the mountain

 We still made it with time to spare because these things always start 2 hours after the time printed on the invitation. Everyone knows that, so it'll probably never change because if it did start on time no one would be there.  Our invitation said this one would start at 6 PM, so it was right "on time" when it started at 8 PM. Haha! It was a very nice send-off.  The hall was nicely decorated. The pace of events was very efficient. I would say it was probably my favorite one yet.

Beautiful lighting

The real treat for the kids is that they get SODA! You can see
that the orange and yellow Fantas are the favorites.

 And no send-off would be complete without the...

Keki ndafu (roasted goat decorated with cucumbers and carrots)
That was the biggest one I've seen; it even had horns!

Funny side note: even though we had all the girls go to the bathroom right before we left, we still had to have to dala dala pull off on the side of the road for a quick pit stop.  Like I said, having the kids with us made for a much more fun and entertaining evening.

And there you have it - the random happenings of February.

Unexpected Trip

As you know, I took a somewhat unexpected trip to Kenya in January.  I was soooooo thankful that it ended up being just a short time away from the my new home that I have quickly become very fond of.  And even though it was a very short trip, I still valued the experience.

The trip up was surprisingly simple and pleasant.  I caught a bus early Sunday morning just across the road at the gas station.  It was a 24-passenger bus with only 12 passengers, so I was happy for the room.  We made a couple of stops, did the border crossing, and before I knew it, I was in Nairobi.

My bus at stop #1 - luggage will get strapped on top

The border crossing

 At this point, I was worried I might not ever be let back in the country or that it might be many weeks.  If only I had known God would have it all worked out in just 2 days!

Just after the border crossing, I saw this sign
on the side of the road for Texas Choma Zone
(Texas Meat Zone)

 As we got closer to the city, I quickly saw very noticeable differences. 

A huge fancy mall?

A Hilton hotel?

KFC?!?!

While I am sure there are some conveniences of the big city that would be nice, I am perfectly happy in my little town with no chains whatsoever.

The bus trip ends at a hotel in Nairobi.  The Rafiki team in Kenya was kind enough to come pick me up and host me at their village.  They were ready to accommodate me for as long as needed.  One of the great things about the villages in all 10 countries is that they all have the same gate.  It makes you immediately feel right at home.

Probably the highlight of the trip was getting to reconnect with friends from Malawi.  We were together in Malawi in 2008.  Who would have thought the next time we would see each other would be in Kenya in 2019?  I always remember her making homemade bread while I was in Malawi.  As I walked in their house for dinner that first night, she was pulling fresh baked bread out of the oven.  What a sweet time with them!

I don't think they've changed a bit.  Still as young as ever and
serving with plenty of energy.

 Apparently they have little hedgehogs that hang around the village there.  He tucked his head in fear pretty quickly, but he was cute.

 I had a chance to see their primary and secondary school.  Their village is a little older, so they have students all the way to the top grade levels.  I really appreciated getting to see another school in action.  I was able to take some ideas and bring them back to implement here at my school.  It was also just fun to be in classrooms with students and meet all of the teachers.

A pre-primary group

It's a beautiful campus with many trees

Just as the team there was thinking of the many jobs I could help with (because there is always lots of work to do in any village), I got the notification that all my paperwork was completed and I was to get back ASAP.  For immigration purposes, I needed to come back in the country by plane.  Fortunately there are many flights making the short hop over every day.  I got word of coming back that Tuesday morning, my plane ticket was purchased by noon, I was on my way to the airport by 2, taking off at 5, landing at 6, and back in the country as an official resident by 6:30.  What a whirlwind roller-coaster!

Bye Kenya

My little country hopper

Thrilled to be back as on official resident!!!!!

Beginning of School Year 2019

It seemed like a very short time between the last day of the 2018 school year and the first day of the 2019 school year.  Before I knew it, the 7th of January had come and students were marching back in for morning assembly.  I really had missed them.  As I stood before them for the very first time leading morning assembly, I just soaked in the joy of seeing those 187 beautiful faces.

Every morning starts with students going to the dining hall for breakfast. Meanwhile, I gather with the teachers in the primary school prep room for a time of singing a hymn, studying the Bible, and praying together before we begin the day.  As soon as we step out of the prep room, two students begin the drum beat signaling that it is time for the students to march on to the sports court for morning assembly.

Student leaders

Marching in for the 1st day of school!

 Once all students are on the court in their class lines, we begin the greeting.  It goes like this every morning:

"Good morning students!"

"Good morning Madam!"

"How are you this morning?"

"We are fine, thank you.  How are you?"

"I am also fine, thank you."

Lined up by class, facing our magnificent mountain

 After the greeting, we sing a song together.
Monday: The National Anthem
Tuesday: Tanzania Tanzania
Wednesday: A Student's Prayer (our school song)
Thursday: Tazama Ramani
Friday: The National Anthem
All but Wednesday are in Swahili, so it's good practice for me.  I've got the national anthem down; I'm still working on the other two :)

It's Monday, so we face the flag and sing the national anthem

 After singing, we put our hands together, bow our heads, close our eyes, and pray.

Absolutely gorgeous morning for 1st day of school

 After prayer, I make any announcements that need to be made. Some mornings I might have them say their memory verse for the week.  I'm always especially impressed by how those little ones can recite, even some difficult words.

A few words of encouragement for the new school year
I think the oldest ones by the net realized they were being photographed

 At the end, the assembly is dismissed, the drummers begin the marching beat, and teachers march their students to the classrooms.

You are dismissed!

The pre-primary students wear purple uniforms.  They're
marching off to their new classrooms.

Primary students wear the blue and khaki uniforms

Each class files out one at a time, keeping it very orderly.
I'm so thankful for the organization that is in place!

Standard 1 just graduated from Pre-Primary 3, so they need
a little extra help and guidance :)

At the end of the day, I got a chance to snap a few class pictures.  I still need to work on getting the rest.

Standard 5

Standard 6

Standard 7

Standard 7 is the top grade level in primary school here.  After Standard 7, students go to secondary school.  The next class is called Form 1.  Form 1 to Form 4 are considered Ordinary Level Secondary School.  Form 5 & 6 are Advanced Level Secondary School.  We are planning to offer schooling all the way through Form 6.  Successfully completing Form 6 means that they could go to college or university, opening up so many more opportunities for their futures.

We are praying that our secondary school will be registered by April.  The science labs are really coming along nicely.

Roofs are on all 3 buildings and walls are plastered.  Three
are required because there is one for biology, one for physics,
and one for chemistry.

The mountain peeking out behind the biology lab

The first floor poured in the biology lab

I am so eager to get those students back and have our very own secondary school!!!

Just in the nick of time for the beginning of the school year, we received a shipment from the home office.  For education, it contained some curriculum materials and lots of library books.  The books that I helped pack when I was at Survival Camp training in Florida in July.  It's crazy to see them again 6 months later on the other side of the world.  The kids will be excited to have some new reads!

Here's to a wonderful school year 2019!!!