Jake Roberts helps fit children in Kenya with new shoes.

June 20, 2012

By Alleah Salone, Atlanta Girls School

(Alleah is in Kenya with St. Gregory students from Tucson)

Today was no ordinary Wednesday. We didn’t have to wake up early for school nor hurry for the showers. This was a relaxed morning, which has been rare for us so far.  Today was the first day of mid-term exams, which would have meant a day of proctoring and grading tests. Instead of experiencing this side of the Kenyan education system, which didn’t sound too exciting, we had other plans. The first was to have another delicious breakfast, which was totally different from our normal fare of pancakes, french toast and fruit. Today Ngigi surprised us with fruit salad, eggs, and samosas (Yum J). Samosas are a spicy meat pie, which really got us going this morning.

Daphne Mattille helps paint the kindergarten classroom.

We left Batian’s View at 9:45 with our first stop being Manyatta Primary to finish the painting we began last Saturday. The plan was to finish the black paint on the bottom of the first classroom, stencil and paint the letters around the classroom, and finish the cream and black painting for the second classroom. We knew it was a lot of work, but we also knew we could get it done. We started at 10 o’clock and went straight through until 2, everyone working diligently. The best part of the work was the finished product. Both classrooms, especially the room with the alphabet painted on the wall, were spectacular. I would have never thought that it would have looked good, considering what it looked like when we began. Once we finished we returned to Batian’s View where we had we had a short respite to wash off the paint from our hands, legs, and arms. Sawyer and Allie made us a large kettle of chai, which we all needed. Our rest was short because we needed to head out to our next destination, Gitinga Primary.

Alleah and Emily doing the detail work.

The finished product!

Yesterday one of my teachers from AGS, Corinne Dedini, who had at one time taught at St. Gregory, arrived to spend the rest of our time in Kenya with us. In addition, Mr. Roberts’ son, Jake, had also arrived the previous day and was with us. Our little van was now totally full, and to say that we were cramped was an understatement. Imagine a van filled with five  duffle bags of shoes occupying much of the floor space and two seats, and all of the other seats taken with two more people sitting on others’ laps. It was one packed van.

Our sizing area.

You may be wondering why we had five duffle bags of shoes. This past spring, a St. Gregory senior who had been at Gitinga last June, Athena Roesler, held a shoe drive with the goal of providing each student at Gitinga with a new or gently used pair of shoes. Not only did she find the necessary 196 pairs of shoes for each student, she rounded up another 50 pairs to be on the safe side. The shoes have accompanied us all the way from America and finally they were going to find the feet of many happy Gitinga students. Our task today was to fit the shoes on the Standard 3 and 4 students, and label the shoes with the student’s name in preparation for the big shoe presentation on Saturday.

Hanfei and Jaxon find the perfect fit.

Mr. Nelson Maina, Gitinga’s head teacher, greeted us upon our arrival and we were anxious to begin.  We knew that it wouldn’t be a straightforward task for a few reasons. One, the young students knew no English and only a bit of Kiswahili. Two, we had five large bags of shoes with no quick way to tell the sizes of the shoes. While Athena had labeled each pair with its size, Mr. Maina gave us a list of each student’s name and their shoe size using the European system, which is totally different from the American! Three, for the few students who did know some English or Kiswahili, Mr. Maina told us that they might not know their shoe size.

Olivia finds another good match.

We began with the Standard 3 class and when the students came to our sizing area, their smiles stretched from ear to ear. We had the students sit in a row and take off their shoes, many of which were falling apart or without a bottom sole. We then took two different sizes of shoes and went from child to child trying on the shoes. A couple of times we had a perfect fit on the first try, but a few other students took the efforts of several of us to find the right shoe. Once we had a good fit we labeled the shoe with the student’s name and class.  I did learn some of the Kikuyu language today, that being “Witagwo atia?” Which means “What is your name?” The funny thing is that when the student answered, I was so unfamiliar with names like Wanjiko, Wangari, Mathenge, or Kimathi that I couldn’t spell them! After a few tries I got smart and handed the pen and label to the student to write it themselves. It was a bittersweet moment to see a child’s face when a pair of shoes fit them. They were so anxious to take them home, and it was so hard to tell them they had to wait until Saturday.

Labeling another pair

The same procedure took place with Standard 4, their smiles so huge that we all had smiles on our faces, too. Again we had a few students who were easy to fit and a few others who were more challenging, but in the end every child had a new pair of shoes.

Now it was time for the teachers. This was much easier because they knew their American shoe sizes and we had selected shoes for them in advance. We went to the faculty room where we first had chai. We then gave each teacher his or her new pair of shoes, for which they were very grateful. The deputy head teacher, Fred Gichane, exclaimed that his shoes were giving out slowly but surely, and Athena’s gift was greatly appreciated. He went on to read the note that Athena had attached to each pair of shoes, which read;

Hello Gitinga Primary! This pair of shoes was collected from people inTucson, Arizona.  Many hands worked hard to get them to you. I hope that they not only protect your feet, but also help your learning experience. I miss all of you and send my regards. Love, Teacher Athena.

Our next stop was Naro Moru, to shop and look around. As soon as we got there Becca, Olivia, Allie and I went to the Nice and Spice café for chips (french fries) and sodas. It was so yummy! We spent an hour looking in the various shops, which are so different from those in America. There isn’t the equivalent of a Wal-Mart of Safeway here, but rather many, many small shops selling a particular variety of goods. While this means completing one’s shopping list may take more time, it does appear that it would be much more interesting than going to the big box stores we are used to in America. After the market, we headed back to Batian’s View for some R&R.

Another traditional Kikuyu meal.

Tonight we had dinner at Mr. Maina’s house.  As soon as we arrived he took us on a tour to see his two-acre farm, his many goats and his tilapia pond, in which he estimated there were 50,000 fish! For dinner we had irio (a mixture of potatoes, corn and spinach), rice, beef stew, cabbage, and an endless platter of chapatti. It was delicious! For desert we had chai and watermelon, the latter freshly harvested from Nelson’s farm.  Finally it was time to go, but before we could get up, Nelson stopped us. He said that according to Kikuyu tradition, the man of the house allows visitors in and the woman of the house is the one to give permission to leave. Nelson’s wife, Josephine, then said a short prayer to insure our safe journey home that night and back to America. We thanked her for her kind hospitality and we departed.

In Nelson's home for dinner.

All I can say was that it was a packed day!  Looking back on it I’m not sure how we fit it all in, but we did. And we even ‘packed’ all of us in the van once again for our short drive from Nelson’s to Batian’s View and our waiting beds.

June 15, 2012

By Fred Roberts, St. Gregory Dean of Students

Today the St. Gregory crew and the Gitinga Primary parent, teacher and student community converged on the school to break ground and begin the construction of a new classroom. The $7,000 required to build the new classroom was raised by the members of the St. Gregory Kenya Club and through generous donations from people associated with past Kenya trips.  Now the very students who helped sell pizza and organize bake sales are also helping with the actual construction.  Yes, there is indeed a direct connection between Pizza Hut and tons of stones, sand, cement and physical labor in rural Kenya.

This is the second year in a row that we have targeted Gitinga for our annual community service project. Normally we move from school to school based on a school’s particular need.  The needs at Gitinga, however, far exceed those of the other schools we work with.  It was an easy decision for us to return to Gitinga this year.

The work begins

Gitinga Primary is in an isolated area of Naro Moru.  It is off the beaten path and most of the parents are subsistence farmers. They live off of what they grow on their small farms, and the surplus is sold to purchase items such as flour, sugar and general household needs. Anything extra goes towards school fees.  While the government provides some funding for school building projects, it is never enough. The parent community is expected to chip in to make up the deficit, but at Gitinga this is difficult.

All hands on deck!

Work began promptly at 8 a.m., the first task being to dig the foundation trench in which iron bars would be laid and cement poured.  Our job was made a bit easier because we were adding on to last year’s classroom, so we only had three sides to excavate. Still, we needed all the help we could get.  The ground was hard as cement, needing several blows with a jembe, a heavy forked hoe, to break the crust.  The trench to be dug measured 75 feet in length, 2 feet wide and with a depth of 4 feet.  Unlike in America where one person and a machine could take away the earth in a matter of hours, we were armed with only the heavy jembes and flimsy shovels, but a work force of 200 people!

Moving the dirt by any means.

At any one time there were seven or eight people working in the trench, loosening the dirt with the jembes. After five minutes another person would jump in with a shovel and toss the dirt out. Once the dirt was out of the trench it was shoveled along a line until it was deposited on a burlap sack held by two students who would then carry it 60 meters away to be emptied. This routine went on for five hours.  Only 50 or so adults were actually digging, given the physicality of the job. If not in the trench digging, the others were resting after their own stretch of work and waiting to take over for the next person needing a break. I had a full head of steam early in the morning and was whacking away at the soil with the jembe and digging, but by 11 a.m., my efforts waned quickly. I then moved to putting the soil on the burlap sacks, but even this became a real chore, and my back was screaming at me!

Olivia working the jembe.

There were many other projects going on as well. Many of the St. Gregory students helped peel what must have been 100 pounds of potatoes! In the time an American could peel a potato, a Kenyan woman had done five or more. There were many laughs from the Kenyans as the Americans tried to keep pace, and I was happy that no one lost a fingertip in the process.

Viazi!! (Potatoes!)

Another job was the cutting of iron rods for the foundation frame.  When delivered,  the rods were 30 feet long, waiting to be cut with a hack saw into 26-inch sections.  This turned out to be Jaxon’s forte! Next, the last three inches of either end were bent using a vise and hammer. These were attached to two lengths of rod.  All of this work was done by hand, and in the case of the Kenyans, very rough and weathered hands indeed.

 Cutting rebar

After many of the St. Gregory crew had had their fill of potato peeling and digging, we tackled the school’s blackboards. These are not slate or specially made blackboards, but simply large wooden boards that were painted black.  Many had faded to the point where it was difficult to see what was being written, or had chips of wood missing. With blackboard paint that looked like tar with the consistency of honey, we got to work. The students divided themselves amongst the classrooms and first washed the boards, followed by painting. It was messy work and a few the students looked like they were wearing black gloves when finished. The effort was well worth it as the result was a new, shiny blackboard in each classroom.

Jaxon in the trench.

There was also plenty of time for the Americans to talk with the Gitinga parents and learn more about their lifestyle. The parents expressed much appreciation for the work that was made possible by the St. Gregory community, and I think the Americans felt a similar amount of appreciation for taking part in this much needed project.  While the school only has three stone classrooms – soon to be four – six more are needed. To some it may seem like an insurmountable goal, but as they say in Kenya, “Haba na haba, hujaza kibaba,” which means, “Bit by bit, you fill the pot.”  And in the case of education here, one must always keep trying and never give up.

Who needs a wheelbarrow?

At 2 p.m. the trench was done and it was time for lunch. The women hauled out six cooking pots measuring 3 feet in diameter and 18 inches deep, filled to the brim with mukimo, a traditional Kikuyu dish. Mukimo is a mixture of potatoes, corn, beans and pumpkin leaves.  We also had a sweetened mixture of cabbage and carrots. These two dishes, side by side, were delicious! The Americans helped themselves to portions that filled a quarter of a plate. The Kenyans, on the other hand, filled their plates and made short work of consuming what looked like an incredible amount of food. Fortunately there was plenty to go around, and a few of us even had seconds.

On the first St. Gregory trip to Kenya, the challenging learning environments found in each school amazed the Americans. Back then, most of the classrooms were made of rough timber with dirt floors. Regardless, the young Kenyans paid no attention to the school’s structures, as they were excited to even be in school and learning. In 2006 the St. Gregory Kenya Club was founded by a group of students interested in going to Kenya, and thus began the tradition of raising funds through pizza lunch sales to be used on a project that would have a long-lasting impact on the schools where the St. Gregory students volunteered.

After lunch we returned to Batian’s View and had a short rest, but our day wasn’t over yet.  Next on our project list was to paint the kindergarten classroom at Manyatta Primary, just a half a mile up the road. We got there at 4 p.m. and went to work. The plan was for the top half of the walls to be pained a cream color and the lower section black, to hide the dirt that would eventually make its way onto the walls. Two hours later we finished the top section leaving the bottom section to do later.  On top of that, the students have already made stencils of the alphabet and numbers. These will be used to decorate the upper cream section using bright colors, very similar to what you would find on the walls of kindergartens in the U.S.

It was a long and tiring day, and the St. Gregory crew made a great showing with their energy and enthusiasm. I am certain that as they went about their work they also thought about how lucky we are to have so many resources to aid us as teachers and students back home. After today I have a feeling that this group of students will never look at their schools in America in the same light as before this trip began.

Roses ready for export

June 17, 2012

By Jaxon Rickel, St. Gregory Class of ‘12

All of the scented roses smelled like lemons! As we toured the seven hectre** scented-rose farm called Tambuzi, I smelled as many roses as were available to my olfactory nerves. If I had smelled as many roses as this farm produces and exports in a month, I would have breathed in the fragrance of about 110,000 roses. Sally Shear, our tour guide and the farm’s general manager, explained that their farm is very small compared to some of the really big ones, but 110,000 roses is still a very smelly number.

Tambuzi is about 20 miles from Batian’s View and is owned by Tim and Maggie Hobbs. Tim is a white Kenyan and Maggie is British. They began the farm about 10 years ago, initially growing crops typically used for export. Six years ago Tim and Maggie began experimenting with flowers, and they found the perfect crop to grow for Tambuzi’s location.

The perfect rose greenhouse

Sally explained that there are only a few places in Kenya that present excellent conditions for commercial flower farming, with an abundance of water, sunlight, and appropriate altitude. Of even greater importance is the fact that the sun shines most of the year, with 12 hours of sunlight daily. Because Tambuzi is so close to the equator, there is barely any variation on the day’s length throughout the year. They have also designed the prefect greenhouse for the flowers, with very high roofs and screened walls to let in a breeze. Sally said that this environment was very close to what roses would experience growing outside. Being grown in a greenhouse, however, provides for better control of the nutrients on which the flowers thrive. They can also better protect the roses from damaging insects and fungi.

Sally Shear, farm manager

So how do rose farmers grow, harvest and sell 110,000 scented stems*** per month on seven hectres?

Is it by:

a) Utilizing their unique greenhouses and multiple fungal and insect biocides

b) Employing about 24 people per hectre to maintain and harvest the roses

c) Specially packaging the roses to endure global shipment

d) All of the above

Hint: the answer is d)

So, which answer will you choose?!?! (If in need of help, see “Hint” above)

All of the previous is to say that we were educated and entertained during out tour of Tambuzi on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Olivia takes a whiff.

After touring a scented rose garden, what could be better than taking tea with the wife of a retired Mzungu ophthalmologist at the couple’s mansion? And that is what we did! Only a short walk through the forest from Tambuzi, we came to the beautiful home of Randy and Suzanne Whitfield, who preside over five hectres of forest, vegetable garden and neatly trimmed landscape. Although their home and property are quite stunning, Randy and Suzanne are the centerpiece. They are merely complimented by their stunning stone mansion and beautiful surroundings.

Randy and Suzanne's home

Randy went to Princeton and received his ophthalmology degree from Columbia. While his classmates were eyeing positions in the U.S., Randy insisted upon being stationed overseas. He was hired by Kenya’s Ministry of Health in the early 1970s and stationed in the town of Nyeri, about 30 miles south of where we are staying.

His first appointment was to run a mobile eye surgery unit, which was simply a Land Rover carrying all of the necessary surgical equipment. Suzanne went on many of his treks into the bush as an assistant, along with other Kenyans training as eye doctors. They would travel to areas in the north where eye care was non-existent. Much of what they did was cataract surgery. Suzanne guessed that when Randy first arrived he was the only ophthalmologist serving three million people! They would use a church or school as their base for a week and set up a sterile environment inside. Because there was no electricity, they would drive their vehicle up next to a window and power the needed lights off of the car’s battery.

Randy and Suzanne's home

Dr. Whitfield then became a consultant for all of Africa’s commonwealth countries, which included Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and a few others. In these countries he helped establish medical campaigns against diseases like river blindness. Often this was simply a matter of education on where parasites existed that would infect one’s eyes, as well as improved hygiene.

They raised their two children inKenya. While Randy was doing his eye work, Suzanne was a teacher at Mt. Kenya Academy (MKA), mainly so that she wouldn’t have to send her kids to boarding school at an early age. Back then, MKA was a small primary school. Today it consists of grades pre-K through 12 and is one of the most prestigious schools inKenya. Randy and Suzanne’s kids are now grown and both live inKenya. Their son, Eston, is a pilot, who is currently working with Doctor’s Without Borders in Southern Sudan. Their daughter, Louisa, is married to a pilot and they have a little girl and a boy on the way. Randy and Suzanne were both very hospitable and willing to share with us  their stories from the past and their opinions of the present.

After leaving the Whitfields, we headed for the Equator Curio Market, which as the name suggests, is right on the equator. The dispatch of this incredible experience is forthcoming. Needless to say, it was a very full day and we didn’t return to Batian’s View until 7 p.m., ready for another tasty dinner and the comfort of our cozy beds.

*a Kiswahili word for “white person”

** a) 1 hectre = 2.2 acres b) notice the “re” at the end of hectre: British spelling is used thoroughoutKenya

*** a word for rose or any other flower

Olivia Larsen with some of her favorite 'big smile' kids.

June 18, 2012

By Olivia Larsen, St. Gregory Class of ‘13

In an eighth grade classroom today, one of the girls stepped outside to ring the bell that signified class was over. She came back in, sat down, and proceeded to copy down the math problem I was writing on the board. I told them that they could leave class and go to lunch, but they disagreed: “Fifteen more minutes, please!” they said.

A similar thing happened with my sixth graders. The hand-rung bell sounded and they repeated the mantra “Finish problem first, then break!”

In elementary school in America, a social aspect usually motivates students scrambling to switch seats. Here in Kenya, when I change the area of the chalkboard on which I am writing, the room momentarily comes alive with 11-year-olds clamoring to get the seat with the best view of the chalkboard.

Kevin positions himself in class so he can answer as many questions as possible.

For part of today, I ignored the hands of the students in the front row and focused on engaging the back of the room. Noticing this trend, my buddy Kevin snuck away from his seat in the front row and slinked to the back, hoping to answer even more questions.

When the students here are sent to the library for a class, they sprint, unwilling to waste any time in transit.

These moments are snapshots indicative of my experience at Manyatta Primary School. They probably aren’t very memorable to the students, because these moments just encompass who they are: enthusiastic, eager, excited and entirely uninhibited (accidental alliteration!).

Alliteration was a topic of conversation today with my sixth graders: Emily Dickinson wrote in “I’ll Tell You How the Sun Rose” that “the steeples swam in amethyst” and “the Bobolinks begun.” Through this poem—and the Dickinson poem I recited for St. Gregory’s Poetry Out Loud competition—our class discussed repetition, personification, metaphor, and the elements emblematic of Emily Dickinson like arbitrary capitalization—along with the use of dashes. We also took turns reading aloud the poems to admire the cadence of the language. The students really valued the break from their usual English classes, which focus on grammar and spelling.

Children in this 6th grade class are enthusiatstic learners.

Being able to share this poetry with them is one of the merits of memorization: we don’t have enough Internet access to justify searching for poems, so the fact that Mrs. Young and my father have both facilitated my memorization of Emily Dickinson has been much appreciated by my students and me. These students have smiles that take up half of their faces, their excitement bursting out. When I’ve left Africa, the grins of these children will stay with me.

Olivia Larsen

Everyone wants to answer in school in Kenya.

By Sawyer Burton, St. Gregory Class of ‘13

June 17, 2012

Below is a list of random things I have noticed while in Kenya that have gotten my attention:

1.) Everyone says “hello” to each other, whether they are acquainted or not. I may be walking down a dirt road or on a path and everyone I pass will say “jambo,” which means hello in Kiswahili. The greeter will also expect a “jambo” in return, as this is the polite thing to do.

2.) When one has more time, after saying “jambo,” this is followed by “Habari yako?” – which means “How are you?” You always respond with a positive reply, the most common of which is “mzuri.” You never say anything negative, even if your most prized cow just died. In America, some people will tell you their life story when you ask how they are doing. Not so here. Only if you know someone pretty well, and only after the initial greetings, will you go into more detail, which can then include the less than positive details.

3.) The younger people here listen to popular American songs such as “Starships,” by Nicki Minaj. When I first got here it humored me to hear the famous American tunes playing in just about every ‘duka,’’ which means store in Kiswahili.

4.) The Kenyans call dance music “rhythms.” Rhythms sound similar to the beat in the background of reggae but are not quite the same thing.

5.) The people in Kenya are much better dancers than most of us in America. They all dance with a flow, something that most Americans don’t have very much of. Well, at least the Americans I hang out with.

6.) Many young people here shave their heads, even many girls. It is much easier to have a shaved head than to worry about washing longer hair. And for the girls, to braid one’s hair can be expensive. This is something only older women do. For example, Mary Wairmu, the co-manager of Batian’s View, spent six hours in the salon in Naro Moru on Saturday getting her hair done. She admits that it is a very long process, but it is also relaxing and a good time to socialize with others in the salon.

7.) “Swagger,” like in America, is a popular attitude and style inKenya. For them, swagger consists of classy items such as nice metal watches and dress shoes. They also have the swagger walk like many people in America do.

Greetings and soda

8.) Almost all of the soda is served in glass bottles, which you must leave at the store where it was purchased so they can reclaim the bottle deposit. The variety of soft drinks is more limited than in America, but the favorites are still pretty much the same – Coke, Sprite and Fanta. And very unlike America, the drinks are served warm, mainly due to the Kenyans being accustomed to not having refrigeration.

9.) Each grade level has its own classroom, and that is where the students stay for the duration of the day. It is the teachers who rotate from classroom to classroom. If it happens that a teacher is absent, the students are expected to remain in their class for that period and work on their own without supervision. (Try that inAmerica!)

10.) There are no fast food restaurants or even anything close to it. I tried to explain McDonalds to some of the kids I was teaching and they did not understand it at all. To them picking up food to go is a very strange concept.

11.) Church services have a lot more singing and dancing than what I have experienced back home. When I attended church here, most of the time people were up and dancing. Instead of using a piano, the Kenyans play drums and use shakers. Other than the singing and dancing, however, the rest of the service is very similar to that of a Christian church in America.

12.) Every school in Kenya, primary and secondary, requires its students to wear uniforms. Many young students take pride in the fact that they are wearing a uniform, as it signifies that they are going to school. Purchasing the school uniform, however, is sometimes a great financial burden on families. I have seen more than one student wearing threadbare sweaters or shirts, most likely handed down from older siblings. *The accompanying photo for this dispatch shows the students from Manyatta Primary wearing their uniforms. The girl wearing the green sweater is the top student in the class, which is signified by a different colored sweater.

Manyatta uniform

13.) In American the terms “college” and “university” are used differently from how they are used in Kenya. In Kenya the term “university” refers to a well respected institution of higher education where one earns an advanced degree, like a bachelor’s or a master’s. The term “college” refers to the equivalent of a community college in America.

14.) People have really tough teeth here. I was offered a stick of sugar cane and instructed to tear off small pieces and then chew on the sweet pulp. I couldn’t even begin to bite into the cane. My Kenyan friends chewed on it like it was celery!

15.) Children are much more eager to learn and go to school than in the United States. One teacher told me that in Kenya they have fences around schools to keep students out, but in America they have fences around schools to keep kids in.

Sawyer and his students

June 15, 2012

By Vicky Wang, St. Gregory Class of ‘13

Hamjambo! It’s Friday! We have been teachers in primary schools for one week. I am now getting used to the teaching system here and I am becoming familiar with the teachers and students. Teaching in Kenyais actually quite enjoyable because of the appreciation shown by the students. They stand up and greet me every time I enter the classroom and they always say “thank you, teacher” after class. Even though they don’t have the best environment – some are lacking pencils and erasers, and there is usually one textbook for two students – all are eager to learn.

Shalom students performing

I’m teaching at a boarding school called Shalom. It is a new school and tomorrow will be their one-year anniversary. In Kenya there is the tradition of slaughtering two cows and having a huge feast for big events such as this. Along with eating all of the meat, the other parts of the animal are used for other things. For example, they will sell the hide in the market to get back some of the money they spent on the celebration. I was fortunate  to witness the ceremony where they sacrificed the cows – it was such a new experience for me. The ceremony was quite scary, but all of the kids were in a circle watching it happen. Tomorrow I will go to the anniversary ceremony, which I’m really excited about.

Tonight Sawyer decided to stay with the teachers in their dorm and help with the cooking. The teachers told me that all the parents would come and join us, too. There will also be performances by each class and speeches, which I’m looking forward to.

Kikuyu dancer

In the afternoon we went to Irigithathi Primary, Emily and Daphne’s school, to see a traditional Kikuyu musical performance. The performer played several old instruments, sang, danced and also told the crowd several jokes, which had everyone laughing. I laughed because everyone else was, but I had no idea as to what he said because he was speaking in the Kikuyu language. We all enjoyed it very much.

During my time there I talked to a 14—year-old boy name Joshua Nguni who is in Standard 8, the equivalent of our 8^th grade. He speaks English very well and knew a lot about America and the world. A 14-year-old student in America would normally be in secondary school. I asked him why he is still in Standard 8 and he told me that this was actually his second year of Standard 8. He said that while his grades were good enough to go to secondary school, his family couldn’t afford the school fees. Because primary school in Kenya is free, his dad had him repeat Standard 8 rather than be at home and not learning. Joshua is hoping that by the time he finishes Standard 8 for the second time this December, his family will have the funds to send him to secondary school.

My friend Joshua

Joshua also told me that his mother left him and his brother with their father and moved toNairobito look for work. The father has not had a job for more than two years. His story shocked me. I’m sure there are countless kids in the same situation or worse. I hope that through my time inKenya, I can share these stories and maybe we can do something to help. St. Gregory students are doing a great deal to help these kids, and we need to keep it up in the future.

Back in Tucson, a Friday night normally means that it is a time to relax and have fun, and that is what we are doing tonight. After another delicious dinner prepared by the head chef Ngigi, we are going to watch a movie. And I think Ngigi will also have popcorn and chai for us! This will be a very special ending to another full day in Kenya. Good night!

 St. Gregory students dance with Kenyan friends following dinner.

June 14, 2012

By Becca Rogers, St. Gregory Class of ‘13

See a bit of our day on YouTube @  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4mEmiq2iM8&feature=youtu.be

You wouldn’t expect a trip to Africa to include boy gossip, One Direction and guacamole, but that’s exactly what this day has consisted of.

During lunch at our school, Gitinga Primary, Allie and I usually eat with a group of class 4 girls, play Duck Duck Goose, and then chat with the teachers. Today, we decided to switch it up and spend time with students our own age. We met a group of girls between the ages of 13 and 17* who had dozens of questions about American culture. They asked us if we had boyfriends then went on to tell us that many girls in their class had boyfriends, which they kept a secret from their teachers and parents. One of the only times they’re able to see their boyfriends is during school, and even then they have to be discreet so the teachers don’t become suspicious. Primary school aged boys and girls are considered too young to have girlfriends or boyfriends. In addition, the teachers feel that this would be a distraction from the kids’ schoolwork. But as in all cultures, the students learn how to get around the rules of their elders. The girls made us promise not to tell their parents or teachers because they would be punished if their elders found out. I had not anticipated that the topic of boyfriends would ever come up in a conversation here, but it was exciting being treated as a friend and entrusted with their secrets.

On our way back to Batian’s View from Gitinga, our guide, Peter, a class 7 student, accompanied us. Because he lives close to Batian’s View, Peter volunteered to accompany us on all of our trips to and from the school. Because we follow a trail that twists and turns through small farms and through a small forest, it would be easy to take a wrong turn, so he makes sure that we always make it back! When we arrived after our little journey, we were in for quite the surprise – Ngigi, the head chef, had made mandazi, the Kenyan version of doughnuts! Everyone flocked around the delicious treats, which replaced our normal 4 p.m. popcorn snack.

After enjoying our mandazi and chai, Jaxon, Olivia, Daphne, Emily and I walked over to our neighbor Jecinta’s house to prepare dinner for about 20 people. She told us that we were in “our mama’s house” now, and that we were to treat it as if it were our own home. She referred to us as her children and asked us to make the guacamole, a dish that we hadn’t expected to eat in Kenya. We sliced the tomatoes and onions and mashed the avocados, all freshly picked from Jecinta’s garden. We were then asked to peel the potatoes, a very daunting task at first. After a lot of practice, we finally were able to lumber through the 20-pound stack of potatoes and proceeded to our final task of making chai tea. After a couple hours of preparation, the rest of the group showed up and we had a huge, delicious meal together.

Guacamole preparation

Dinner time

The night came to an end with Jecinta and a few of her friends singing a Kikuyu greeting song and us dancing with them (see the video on YouTube at the link above.) I think it was the most fun I’ve had so far on the trip! They then asked us if we would sing a song to them, and after some debate, we finally decided on “What Makes You Beautiful” by the popular boy band One Direction, and we all knew the words by heart. Everyone clapped, and even the boys joined in! Emily sang the last song of the night, “Lean on Me,’’ and then we all made our way back to Batian’s, ready to retreat to our warm beds after a long and memorable day.

Signing off,

Becca Rogers

* While not very common, some primary school students may be as old as 16, 17 or even 18. This is due to a variety of reason, the foremost being that the students’ parents didn’t enroll their children until they were older than normal. They may have been needed at home or perhaps the family didn’t have the required school fees. Older students are sometimes in the schools because of a severe drought two years ago in the area north of Nanyuki, roughly 50 miles from Naro Moru. Many families had to leave that area and settled in Naro Moru. During this transition the students may have been out of school for a year. Unlike in the U.S. where a certain grade is associated with a particular age, that is not the case here. Even if a student is much older than his or her classmates, if they have a chance to go to school, they take it.

Arriving at school

June 12, 2012

By Daphne Mattille, St. Gregory Class of ‘13

Waking up to go to school is getting easier each day as we are all eager to rejoin our schools and students. Somehow the burden of getting up at 6 a.m. doesn’t seem like such a big deal. I’m sure that if I were in Tucson I would not be saying the same thing, but I am not in Tucson, I’m in Kenya, and every day is an opportunity for something new.

Emily and I arrived at our school, Irigithathi Primary, in the middle of an all-school celebration for the most improved 8^th graders. As the ceremony continued, the teachers brought out cupcakes and distributed one to each student. Their faces filled with joy, bringing smiles to everyone who watched. As soon as the ceremony ended the kids rushed over to us to say hello. Along with that they grabbed our arms, played with our hair, and shook our hands again and again – a typical greeting for our arrival at school. The first class I taught today was Creative Arts, and Emily taught with me. They already knew parts of the song Do Re Mi from The Sound of Music, so we taught them a dance to go with it.

By now we are falling into a nice routine at Irigithathi. My initial feelings of amazement and being a bit overwhelmed have passed, and now I am able to focus on my lesson plans and teaching. Our day consists of teaching, working on our lessons in the staff room, leisurely lunches with our fellow teachers, playing outside with the students during breaks, and several cups of chai. If Kenya has a national beverage, it has to be chai!

A highlight of my day is walking the 1.5 miles from school to Batian’s View. We walk slowly with a group of kids, and I always have someone’s hand in mine. Emily and I practice our Kiswahili and the kids laugh at our efforts, but in a kind way that is more encouraging than anything else. Today’s walk home was different. On previous days the kids would walk with us until they reached their homes, where they would say goodbye, give us hugs, and we would go our separate ways. Today the kids accompanied us all the way to Batian’s View and only decided to tell us of their plans as we reached the main entrance. Emily and I arrived to Batian’s View, a typically quiet and peaceful place, with at least 20 kids all hovering around us pointing at all the new discoveries they made as soon as they entered the compound. After a few minutes of looking around we walked with them out to the main road and they proceeded on home.

Mama Waweru

Tonight an elderly Kikuyu woman named Mama Waweru, who lives just next door to Batian’s View, visited us. We greeted her in Kikuyu, “Wakiachocho,” which means ‘hello, grandmother’ and is a very respectful way to greet an elderly woman. She told us about her life during the colonial era and the beginning of Kenya’s State of Emergency, otherwise known as the Mau Mau. Mau Mau was an armed struggle by the Kenyans, mostly Kikuyu, to force out the British who had taken their land in the early 1900s. Kenyans were only allowed to live in small reserves set up by the British and were not allowed to own land in the area known as the White Highlands, which the Kikuyu considered their ancestral land.

Mama Waweru was 18 when she married, during the time that the Mau Mau movement was very active. Many Kikuyu men went to the forest of Mt. Kenya and fought a guerilla-type war with the British Army. The British also rounded up and detained many Kikuyu they felt were Mau Mau or sympathetic to the cause. Mama Waweru’s husband was detained only three months after their marriage. By then Mama Waweru was pregnant, and had to move in with her in-laws. After Mr. Waweru was taken away, the family was forced to move to a village surrounded by barbed wire, which the British said was for the protection of the Kikuyu not involved in Mau Mau. The real motive was for the British to control all the Kikuyu until they could put down the uprising. Five families had to live in one hut, which they had to build themselves.

St. Gregory students learn about Kenyan histroy from elder Mama Waweru.

While living in the village the British allowed the families to leave for one day a week to tend to their farms, which were up to six miles away. They were accompanied by armed guards to prevent any interaction with the Mau Mau, but the villagers were smarter than the guards. Through a series of messengers word would reach the fighters in the forest of when this would happen. Information was then relayed back to the village of what the fighters needed and where the supplies could be left. This included medicine, bullets, food and information on what the British were doing. Despite the risks, which included death, Mama Waweru participated in the effort. After four years in detention, her husband was released and they moved to the town of Nanyuki. After independence the Wawerus purchased their 15 acre farm on the western slopes of  Mt. Kenya and raised eight children. Mama Waweru still lives there today with two of her sons and many grandchildren.

In closing, Mama Waweru was asked what advice she would have for us. She said that life will always be difficult and that we must accept this, but that we can’t let this get in the way of working hard and being successful. She added that nothing comes easy, and if it does, it probably isn’t worth having. She quoted Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta: “Hakuna cha bure,” which translates to “Nothing comes free.” His point was that all Kenyans would have to work hard and not expect any handouts. I think that all of us at St. Gregory have a clear understanding of this, but to hear it from Mama Waweru,  whose life is so different from mine but with similar ideals, it was a very memorable lesson.

Allie and Becca with their 5th grade students

By Allie Ward, St.Gregory Class of ’13

June 12, 2012

“Wow, wow, wow!” That is all I have been able to say since we left home a week ago. Some of the ‘wows’ are good ‘wows,’ others surprising ‘wows,’ and some not such good ‘wows.’ Regardless, this trip has been filled with shock and awe. This was day two of teaching, and I’d like to think we’ve already made a difference. The children here are so amazing, always eager to learn and never without a smile. Becca and I are teaching at Gitinga Primary, which is the poorest school in the area. A huge ‘wow’ goes out to the kids there and how much they do with so little. Every day we are greeted with huge grins and reaching hands pulling us into the next available classroom.

At first glance everything is so happy and wonderful, but as we began our teaching endeavors we realized just how much these kids are missing. Many of them share pencils, and textbooks are scarce. There aren’t even enough teachers for every class, so often some classes are left unattended. Even with such a struggling school, these kids actually have better test scores than most of the other schools in the area, and it is because they care. If a teacher isn’t present, the students study on their own. Unlike in America where the students move from classroom to classroom, here it is the teachers who move.  I can’t imagine a class of sixth graders left on their own for a full class period without a teacher – it would be chaos. The young Kenyans are so dedicated to learning.

Something else we noticed early on was how respectful and properly behaved the children are, to the point of it bordering on the humorous. They thank you for grading their papers, even if you tell them they’ve gotten all the answers wrong. They knock on the door upon returning from the bathroom just so they can be invited back in. With children so eager to learn and so attentive, teaching is really fun. You walk away saying, “Wow, I totally made a difference today and taught my students how to multiply fractions!” (Exciting, I know.)

A major perk of teaching here is being responsible for introducing Around the World and Simon Says to the children. The students have so much fun and keep asking for us to play more that Becca and I feel like celebrities. To make the day even better, after school we embarked on another adventure, and one of my personal favorites – SHOPPING!

In the market

This shopping here, however, isn’t quite the same as it is back home. We divided ourselves into three teams, and Mr. Roberts gave each team 1,600 Kenyan shillings – about $20 – and a shopping list. The rest was up to us. Grocery shopping is a little different from heading down to Safeway – surprise, surprise. Everything on our list was found at a different little shop or booth and prices weren’t set in stone as we are used to. Everyone at the market waved to us and gave us a smile, which is no surprise seeing how friendly people are here. After buying pencils and notebooks at a bookstore and some bananas and oranges at the little farmers’ stands, we made our way to the most memorable shop, the butchery. The butcher’s shop will forever remain in my memory, not only because we were buying mutton and the shopkeeper laughed at the way we said it, but also because of the smell. It smelled, well, like an authentic butchery. I have to admit that my olfactory senses are not quite up for what hit me when I walked in the door. Olivia braved it and stayed inside to make the purchase while the rest of us ran from the aroma and the surprising sight of several slaughtered goats hanging in the shop’s window. While I am not at all accustomed to such a scene, this is another example of how life is more ‘real’ here. The meat one eats here is not wrapped in fancy paper and placed on ice.  The livestock are not shot up with hormones and the meat then processed to appeal to the customer’s eye. Here, the cow or goat grazing on the side of the road one day may be your dinner the next. This is what the Kenyans are used to, and we are used to something different. Neither good nor bad, just different.

Looking for the kichungi

Mr. Roberts made the hunt even more exciting when he put things on the list in Kiswahili, but they were words we had yet to study. Finding a “kichungi” was proving difficult until we asked enough people to learn that it was a strainer (sneaky one, Mr. Roberts). We found our tea strainer at a small grocery store and it cost a whopping eight cents!

Last on our list was a bootleg DVD, which are quite common and cost only $1.45. In fact, the DVD we purchased has 24 videos on it, but Mr. Roberts was skeptical if it would really work. Once our shopping list was complete, we made our way to the Nice Spice café at the end of the market for some soda and the Kenyan version of American French fries (Sawyer says that they’re better than McDonald’s, but I’m not so sure about that one). With full bellies we made our way home with baskets full of food and items like the kichungi for Ngigi, the cook, to use in the kitchen.

Our kind veggie vendor

It has been another full and diverse day.  Back home when I wake up in the morning I have a general idea of what the day will hold.  Not so here, as I need to be up for anything that comes my way. And with that I am off to bed and so ready to sleep.

Kwa heri na lala salama,

Good-bye and good night,

Allie

OH! Shout out to Athena: I have your red plum jam! You are so very welcome!

June 11, 2012

By Emily Hansen, St. Gregory Class of ‘12

When many people think of Africa they picture golden savannas with grass rippling in the wind; elephants, zebras, and giraffes graze in perfect harmony as Simba from the Lion King basks lazily in the sun, flexing the velvety pads of his paws to the rhythm of the Circle of Life. Sure, the Lion King offers a pretty accurate representation of a Kenyan safari (minus the singing warthog and dancing hyenas), but most of us who have been to Kenya, who have heard about our trip, or have personal connections in Africa may say, instead, that the friends we make here and the families we become a part of are central to our experience. This is my second trip to Kenya, and I can honestly say that nothing has brought me more joy in the past week than reconnecting with the staff at Batian’s View, my students and the other teachers at Irigithathi Primary School.

Today was the first official day of school for all of us “teachers” on the trip. After a warming breakfast of chai, crepes and toast, we all meandered into the van or began walking to school around 7:45 a.m. Whether you are walking or riding in the van, you can wave and call “jambo!” (hello!) to any child or adult on the road and expect to receive a warm smile or salutation in return.

Many in the Naro Moru community are familiar with Batian’s View and the St. Gregory Kenya program, so any “muzungu” or “white person” is considered a friend. This warm, safe, community feel help set the tone for the welcome that we received from our students as soon as we drove onto school grounds. At every school, students waited to hear the grinding sound of the van pulling into the school gates and (if they had morning assembly, as they did when we arrived today), craned their necks to get a glimpse of their muzungu teachers. Waving, hopping erratically and squealing, they welcomed us with ear-to-ear grins and wide eyes. Daphne and I were wonderfully overwhelmed by their enthusiasm, and I was honored when most of the kids thrust their hands in the air when Mr. Kihara (the head teacher) asked if they remembered my name. He asked them what it was, and they all screamed “Emily!” We then proceeded to the teacher’s room, and I kept turning around to wave at the kids as they all shouted my name and wanted a high five, fist bump, handshake or affirmation that I remembered them in return.

The teachers waited for us outside of the room and immediately came over and clasped our hands, gave us hugs (in Kenya you lean once to the left and once to the right after you embrace someone to greet them), and welcomed us into their family. We each got a ‘mother’ (one of the teachers) who then gave us a Kikuyu name. Daphne’s mother named her ‘Wanjiko,’ who is one of the founding tribal matriarchs, and my mother gave me an extra hug, saying ‘Nywela,’ which means a hard-working woman. After getting situated at our new desks and being served chai and bread from the teachers, we spent the rest of the morning receiving class assignments, creating schemes of work and forming lesson plans. Irigithathi requires schemes of work from all of the teachers, which means that we must write out all the details of each lesson, that being topic, objective, activities, resources, and references that we use during the teaching process. It’s also necessary to create a lesson plan with the teachers’ duties, students’ duties, and proposed activity during class. During the one-hour lunch break beginning at 1 p.m., we went outside to bask with the teachers in the warm Kenyan sun.

Since it was a sunny, breezy day, the teachers took us out into the front yard underneath one of the many trees and lay down on the ground. They asked us about our families, about Tucson’s weather, animals, and school system and about teachers in America. As they spoke, they constantly joked with each other and with us, but they were always kind and caring, noticing every band-aid on a finger, sunburn on our face, and red marks on our fingers from scrubbing our own laundry. Daphne and I laughed along with them, and we all got to relax in the company of our new family.