Straight from Kenya!

Lauren’s Blog

Blog #1- We’ve arrived on African Time

Well, we’ve made it here safely and are enjoying the easy adjustment to “African time”- which means that schedules are flexible (lunch at 3:30), hours adjustable and timeliness unessential. In other words, we’re at ease and not too worried about anything other than rest, acclimating to this new culture and eating lots of yummy food.

Last night Shani and Jacob (Maasai men that are invaluable liasons with the locals) met us right as we walked out of the gate at Nairobi Airport. We quickly realized that certain concepts, like it’s not what you know but who you know, transcend culture as Shani greeted friends throughout the airport and quickly got us into a special Customs line for our visas. Once we were all through Customs, Chris and Becca (our WLS leaders) met us with juice boxes, the perfect refresher after 26 hours of travel.

We arrived at the Masai Lodge around 9pm and immediately enjoyed a local buffet. The Tusker beer, rice, goat, chicken, carob soup, salad, peas, tomatoes with onions, and ice cream made for quite a feast. After getting to know our leaders a bit and learning about a nightly ritual
A-Appreciation
N-News
C-Concerns
H-Hopes
O-Oddities
R-Reminders

We journeyed to our rooms, which are so much more than rooms. They are individual little houses with a porch and bathroom on each one. We settled in for a nice night’s rest under the mosquito net. Some of us (me and Michelle) overslept a bit before Becca woke us up for breakfast.
After breakfast today we had our first group meeting. Already the group was teeming with ideas about how what we are learning here can impact our classes. Even as we walked to our rooms last night Dina and I were brainstorming about students that we hope can have this experience next summer.

I’m very impressed with Kenyan hospitality. The wait staff and hotel crew are eager to do everything before you even ask. They speak lovely English, but the accent is decidedly British, making me all too aware of the occasionally thick Tennessee drawl I lend to my own words. This afternoon we went to the giraffe sanctuary and took a tour with Judy (also Khayeni in Lua) who told us the history of giraffes in Africa. Highlights included Rebecca “getting to know” a giraffe quite well andseeing hundreds of school children that were just as fascinated with us as we were with them. They were adorable in their school uniforms and loved watching the short video I took of them.
Kwahari (“goodbye”) for now. More news to come as we travel to Shompole Ranch tomorrow. Love to friends and family that are reading this. We can’t wait to share all our pictures with you! -Lauren

Rebekah’s blog

July 18-19: Arriving in Shampole and First Day of Work (Saturday and Sunday)

We spent Sunday morning preparing to transition from Masai Lodge to Shampole, our home for the next week. After several hours of errands (much longer than we expected…remember “Masai time”) we finally headed out from civilization. The 3 hour drive was GORGEOUS!! We passed several small bustling towns with markets and lots of people, and then descended down into the valley. The best stop was by a lake with flamingoes and several other birds, however we also had to make a stop Magadi, so that I could go to the doctor (mom, we tried to keep this a secret from you as I had a terrible sinus infection and fever the first few days…now I am totally healed and doing great, which we are crediting to the antiseptic saliva of the giraffe that I kissed!). We arrived to Oloika School right at dusk. We met Rebecca, the head of school, and several parents and community members. As the sun set behind the mountains and a cool breeze was blowing, we greeted our new friends and fellow laborers for the next week. We left the school at dark and drove across the desert to Losigo Lodge. Along the way, we got to see a giraffe (just wait until you hear about all the animals we have seen, and we haven’t even been on our safari yet). Losigo Lodge is amazing, I mean so hard to describe. We are staying in huts right along a river where baboons run around and play all the time. After a late dinner we fell asleep, ready to begin our week of manual labor.

Sunday morning we headed out to the school where we began two main projects- the building of a dining hall and the installation of solar panels in the girls dormitory so that they can have electricity for the first time. The chief of the village lead us in the groundbreaking of the dining hall, and then Matteus, the foreman of the project, and others helped give us work assignments. Some of us helped make bricks, a tedious process that takes weeks to complete. Paul really demonstrated his manly strength on the brick press, so much so that the Masai men were trying to find him the following day to get his help again (not sure why they didn’t ask for Michelle and I to come back?? ?) Others (Regina, Chris, Sarah) helped with the foundation of the dining hall, which involved intense digging of trenches and breaking up rocks with pick axes and sledge hammers. Lauren (aka “Nado” which means “the tallest” in Masai) unintentionally collected a sea of “groupies” who worship the ground she walks on….she is the biggest celebrity here and deservedly so with her friendliness, grasp of the Masai language, and killer work ethic. The solar panel team (lead by John and John, assisted by Dina and Paul in the afternoon) began prep work and kept great attitudes in the midst of numerous problem-solving challenges. Scattered throughout the day there was plenty of time for great conversations, volleyball games with the kids, and a few of us even got to attend church! There is so much more to say, but in summary, we left our first day of work understanding that this opportunity will leave none of our lives unchanged, and we can’t wait to share more stories with you. –Rebekah

Michelle’s blog

July 20 – Work Day 2

Lights-something we take for granted every day, but something that the girls dormitory at Oloika school lacked…until today! Can you imagine no reading at night?

We headed back to Oloika School in the morning after a quick breakfast at Losigo Lodge. We waved to the Masai who were up tending the donkey and goat herds as we drove the 40 minutes to our work site. We got a quick start to our work, dividing our team. John, John, Paul, and Dina worked on the solar panel installation. First they had to create scaffolding from bunkbed frames tied together, boards and rickety ladders gathered from nearby villages. Next they had to cautiously crawl onto the roof and secure the solar panel with limited tools and supplies. Then the wires were connected and the control panel programmed. Finally the LED lights were installed in a series on the ceiling between the bunks. We all were eager to see each step completed…more on that later.

Regina, Rebekah, Chris, Sarah and Michelle loaded and hauled endless wheelbarrows of volcanic rocks to level the ground in preparation for pouring the foundation for the new dining hall. Lauren continued to help digging trenches and also helped gather gravel that covers the ground as far as you can see. The gravel was loaded on a pickup truck and unloaded at the work site. Throughout the day our team made connections with the Masai people. We tried to learn the names of the women who helped us haul rocks, perfected our greetings “Sopa,” “Epa,” and learned simple words. Dina befriend a little boy, Soina, who later fell asleep on Lauren’s lap while she drove the pickup filled with gravel.

Now for the ending…
We were loading up the vans, getting ready to leave Oloika. The solar panel team had tested the lights and shown off their handwork to the Oloika teachers and our team earlier in the afternoon, but the real celebration began when the girls arrived in the dorms! The girls squealed with delight and there were the customary thank yous, but it didn’t stop there. The girls enthusiastically began a series of call and response songs, punctuated by the remarkable Masai jumping. The songs lasted for 15 minutes. (Wait until you see the pictures and video!) Our whole crew joined the girls jumping and singing, huge grins on everyone’s faces. The chief told us…

“They are thanking God for bringing you to us and asking God to bless you for coming.”

John P. said, “How cool! We started a project two days ago and now it’s complete. This is something that will really make a difference in their lives.”

Could there be a moving moment than seeing young girls cheer for lights!

Michelle

Regina’s blog

July 21, 2009- Work Day 3

Sopa! (For those of you who don’t know the language of the Masai people, this means greetings.)
Today has been an eventful day that began with a 5:00 breakfast. We then set out for an exciting game drive. What an amazing experience! We saw impalas, grand gazelles, baboons, giraffes, warthogs, ostriches, waterbucks, and many, many birds. We also saw the fastest domestic cat I’d ever seen. We wanted to see elephants and lions, but they didn’t make an appearance this morning. We did see signs of elephants, but this wasn’t quite as exciting as seeing the real thing.

Before arriving at school, we drove through the Shampole market, which is held very Tuesday. We saw many Masai cows and sheep. There were also
people there who were selling various items.

If it weren’t for a little van trouble, the morning would have been perfect. Luckily, John F., with his awesome mechanical skills, was able to save the day and fix the van.

At the school, the work on the dining hall continued. Paul and John made bricks, Rebecca, Michelle, Sarah, Lauren, and I collected tons of rocks and gravel. The highlight of the day for Dina, the two Johns, and Sarah was teaching in the Oloika School.

Our group of happy travelers parted ways at the end of the workday. Sarah, Rebecca, John P., Lauren, and Michelle went to the overnight home visit. They will be sleeping under the stars in bomas tonight. Chris, Paul, Dina, John F., and I returned to Losijo Lodge and ended our day with dinner and sparkling conversation.

Sere,
Regina



Sarah’s blog

July 21, 2009 – July 22, 2009, homestays with Masai families and Work Day 4

Part I: homestays with Masai families:

Sopa from Sarah, or make that Nameonyak, my new Masai name, which was given to me last night at my homestay in the Masai boma. Our group of six were distributed across three bomas where we had chai tea and dinner, spent the evening with the Masai families who live in the boma, and woke up to some more chai tea and a bit of experience with the daily life of these wonderful people. The huts that make up each boma home to one mother and her children – the huts are distributed around a large circle, perhaps 30 or even 50 yards in diameter – with an inner pen where their goats and cows and donkeys live. Surrounding each boma is a fence made of acacia tree branches, which are full of huge thorns. At night, the opening in the outer fence is closed to protect everyone inside from the African animals prowling the plains outside. While we slept, we could hear the noises of the animals in the boma as well as the distant noises of the African wild animals surrounding us. This was a truly amazing experience for all six of us (we’ll post pictures and videos as soon as we can).

Some of the special moments of our overnight visits were: 1) the children who surrounded us at every chance, sang and danced with us after dinner, and held our hands whenever they could get next to us. The respect that the children have for their elders, and thus also to all of us as we are “elders” to them, is remarkable. When first presenting themselves to adults, children of about age 10 and below put their arms to their sides and do a slight bow so that the adult they are approaching will place one hand on their head and say “sopa.” Then the children lift their faces and share their remarkable, radiant smiles! 2) the grace and nobility of the fine women who are living the life of a Masai mother during this horrible drought in Kenya. Their husbands and older sons are at times off with the cattle as far south as Tanzania in search of water and grass, and the women and children are carrying on without them. Their days consist of long walks to the river to fetch water, milking of the goats and cows (they let us help with this – be sure to ask Lauren about her goat-milking experience!), food preparation for their children and themselves, cleaning the dishes and laundry, and very little time for relaxation. In spite of this, they are serene, smiling, and delighted to welcome overnight visitors. Wow – we are all in awe. 3) the huts themselves – these are small (maybe 5 feet tall) structures made of straw, sticks, and mud. The mud is made from the dirt that is everywhere – blowing and sifting over everything – mixed with water and animal dung from their cows and goats. However, there is no smell at all – it is swept clean and the beds are raised from the floor with tied sticks that look like bamboo; fairly comfortable considering. The huts are shaped sort of like a loaf of bread – a thick, stubby loaf – with one bulge sticking out at the edge of a long side. This bulge is the entryway, thus creating a bit of privacy as one must make a u-turn to get into the hut itself. These are such efficient, environmentally appropriate homes for the nomadic Masai people! The homes, as well as the entire bomas, are often left by the families as they move across the land in search of food and water for their livestock. It is comforting and impressive to see these abandoned bomas and notice how they simply return to the earth over time, leaving no waste behind. What a remarkable night we all had with our hosts.

Part II: Work Day 4

Now we are back at Oloika for the fourth day of work. It will be another day of moving rocks – huge rocks that I can’t pick up alone – making bricks, playing with the children, and enjoying lunch together. John Picklesimer and I taught a math lesson together to a group of 14-15 year olds. A bit of algebra I (finding the mean, and solving a simple equation by substitution,) and the children were so very attentive, excited to see us, and eager to participate. Their classroom is a simple room about 12 feet by 12 feet, with about 12 double-seating desks and a chalkboard. There is not anything else in the room at all. The windows are open as the weather does not require protection from anything except the hot sun. During the lesson the children all sat and listened and worked through the problems in their heads as they do not have much paper or many pencils; they did a great job. The head of school, Rebecca, gave me a copy of their governmental math exam (a standardized test used for admission to the next level of school); I will bring it home and share it with the Ensworth math faculty – maybe our kids can do it and we can send a spreadsheet of their results back to Rebecca! Now we are having a great lunch, and later we will head back out to do more rock moving. I’m signing off now as we are about to try to upload the entire blog – more news later.

Sarah