Week Twenty!
Hi everyone! Twenty weeks. WOW! So hard to believe… And equally hard to believe is that so many of you are apparently still taking the time to read my weekly updates and even respond back. That is amazing! I feel like I’m writing them for myself as much as for each of you – they are an excellent record of my time here. And less than one week to go – 5 days from today I will be in Nairobi, waiting to board my plane.
Staying in one place for so many months is such a different experience than being a two-week visitor. But this week has been a busy one as I try to fit in all those things that I had promised myself and others that I would do ‘later’. I really have felt more like a tourist this week – my camera has been working overtime and I have been the ‘guest of honour’ more times than I can count. So grab a coffee and read on…
Last Wednesday was the last day of school for this term at King David. It was a great occasion for the children and for me. As I have often said the staff and children have become my extended family while I’ve been here. Over 50 parents came for the celebration and prize giving. It was great to hand out the awards which the head teacher had lovingly purchased the day before, thanks to our (thank you friends!) financial gift. As was my wish, prizes were given not just for top marks but also for improvement, smartness (cleanliness!), and punctuality. Parents were thrilled! One girl, Teresa, who at 14 years is in Class (grade) Four for her fourth time, received her first ever award. Her parents were beaming, as was she. Even Shadrack, our ‘special’ Home of Grace child won an award for ‘most improved’. Very exciting… The staff were told, during our teachers lunch, about the Canadian-funded latrines which will be built for them – and, as I write this, construction is already underway. They were all smiles!! This will not be the last I tell you of King David Academy… I know this is just the start.
Students during the closing ceremony
Shadrack receiving the ‘most improved student’ award
The teachers of King David – we all became such good friends….
Much of my time during these four months in Kisii has been spent in places where very few, if any, wzungu have ever been. Even King David had never had a visitor from another country before. This week was no exception. On Thursday I traveled with Benter about an hour away to the home of Esther and her four children. Esther and her family lived with Edina at Home of Grace when I was here three years ago and she has visited a few times while I have been here. She hand-delivered an invitation to come to her home and to visit the school that she has started – something I was determined to do before I left. Esther is a widow and is now living, as is the tradition, in her husband’s family home in the rural, tea-growing area north-east of here. She has four children – aged 5 to 14.
She scheduled her school’s closing ceremony (a big deal here) so that I could be the special guest. It was held in the newly constructed shell, built at the far end of her strip of farmland. (Until it is completed school is held in her small sitting room.) Forty children, age 3 to 6, proud parents, the three volunteer teachers and three (!) pastors were on-hand to celebrate. Esther had prepared them for my visit all term long – none of them had ever seen a mzungu before… I tried my best to give them a good impression as they did for me! There was music, poem reciting, prize-giving to the top students and speeches. Following that Benter and I returned to Esther’s extended family home for lunch and a visit. It was a great day. We returned home with a gift of vegetables from their farm for Edina and the children and – surprise, surprise! – Esther’s 14 year old son Brian Anthony who is spending his school break with us in Kisii.
Inside Esther’s preschool
Esther’s area is tea-growing country. Here is Esther (left) with a neighbour heading to market to sell her just-picked tea leaves
On Friday I attended the closing ceremony at Hezina School where Innocent, Fahim, Happiness and Faruk attend. More speeches, more songs and more prizes – notebooks and pencils are the norm… followed by tea and chapattis with the staff.
The class for Fahim and Happiness – Class Two…
Fahim receiving his award. He is number one in his class.
Four of our children attend Hezina School – Happiness, Faruk, Fahim and Innocent Here they are walking home on the last day, excited for a month’s holidays!
On Saturday I had a chance to visit Kisii Special School. It is a school for children with severe autism and mental handicaps. Quite a great place, with staff working hard to serve this very needy and neglected portion of the population. I’m glad I didn’t go any earlier – otherwise I would have been torn as to where to spend my teaching days!
Benter with some of the students. Being with children with disabilities was a first experience for Benter. (Of course, she was a natural!)
Sunday I worshipped with Benter at her church. It is a large congregation – 2,000 people at each service – and they are just about to move into a permanent structure. 45 million shillings – proudly paid for totally by the congregation with absolutely no donations from overseas (or from Kenyan politicians!) It was a great service – excellent music (finally a worship band that was able to use electronic equipment!) and an excellent preacher, with solid teaching and none of the stereotyped ‘African pastor’ rhetoric that I hear so often. I was presented with a DVD of the sermon – hot off the press, just five minutes after his concluding ‘Amen’. Impressive!
Sunday afternoon Edina and I had arranged to visit another orphanage in the nearby area. But in spite of several phone calls with them we were never able to go – it sees the orphanage in reality does not exist. It is perhaps an example of what Edina calls a ‘ghost orphanage’ – a charity scam of sorts. (Trust me – Home of Grace really does exist – I have all the proof I will ever need – haha!)
On Monday I traveled again, this time with my friend Teacher Gladys from King David to spend the day with her family. They also live in a rural area north of here, in a village that is perhaps even more remote and ‘basic’ than that of Esther. Gladys’ father is one of five sons so, as tradition has it, her grandfather’s piece of family farmland was divided five ways. She grew up virtually surrounded by uncles and cousins – many of whom dropped by to meet me. Gladys is the ‘first-born’ and has four sisters and one brother. The brother lives in the family compound along with her youngest sister who is a single mother and has had to return home. The other sisters live nearby. Gladys has been very successful – she is a teacher and is doing further studies at the local university. As with most people I meet here she sends home much of her salary to support her family members.
Gladys (back left) with two of her sisters and her mom in the sitting room of their family home.
Gladys and her mom. Gladys is the eldest of 5 and is 37. Her mom is in her mid-fifties.
They also live in a tea-growing area. I had the good luck to be able to have an informal tour of the town’s tea factory – yes, a cousin works there! It actually is a fairly simple process – the tea is cultivated and picked by farmers like Gladys’ mother, sold to buyers (at 14 shillings per kilogram) and taken to the factory. There, the leaves are spread out, chopped, dried, ground and then sorted according to the fine-ness. (Did you know that the left-overs of the process are bought by Kiwi to make shoe polish?) I bought some to bring home – tea, not shoe polish!
Gladys on her family’s ‘shamba’ (farm) – maize on the left, tea on the right, hills beyond…
On the way to sell tea leaves at the factory
Gladys’ family were so welcoming. Gladys is 37 – her mother is about 55, her father a bit older. They are a well-respected family in the community – my presence in their home will only add to their profile I am sure! Her father is actively involved in community health for his village. She was thrilled to know that my dad did this work as well – while our lives are so different from one another’s, we also have much in common!
With Glady’s dad…
The day concluded with a wild mutatu (public bus) ride. Yesterday was apparently ‘police crackdown day’ so the mutatus took back roads (I use the word road very loosely) so they would not be charged or fined. The maximum capacity of a van is supposed to be 14 – I counted 29!! If the driver had been caught we would have all been hauled off to the police station. Gladys and I were somewhat safely squeezed into the back corner of the van – right over the wheel – so had a very bumpy, extended trip. It is likely to be my last matatu ride – a fitting way to end!
I was very conscious of road safety this week so was somewhat anxious as I traveled along the narrow roadways. Joffree, one of the boys (he’s 23) in the neighbourhood who is part of the Home of Grace family, was in a motorbike accident. A bit of background: he is a total orphan who has only about 3 years of schooling to his credit. Maxwell and Massai have unofficially adopted him and are helping him to become independent. While he sleeps in a small rented room nearby he spends his days (and eats his meals!) at Home of Grace. In return he does odd jobs and helps out where needed. He had been learning to drive a friend of Maxwell’s motorbike in an effort to begin a small business of his own. When we first heard of the accident it sounded quite serious and Maxwell rushed to take him to the hospital. Amazingly he had only minor cuts and bruises and an injured hip. Benter and I had been badgering him about wearing a helmet – and luckily, that day, he had remembered! I call him ‘miracle man’.
Motorbike accidents are extremely common here. There is only one local hospital where victims of motorbike accidents can be taken – the others will not even attempt to deal with them. It is as much a result the condition of the roadways and the erratic driving style of the drivers. Joffree, a ‘young’ 23, is no exception. None of us will drive with him. His close friend, another young motorbike driver, was killed just six weeks ago at the same corner.
Personally, I love motorbikes (don’t worry – I’m not planning on purchasing one when I am home – not yet at least!). But I am as careful as I can be – I only get on if the driver is wearing a helmet and a reflective safety vest and if he agrees to be ‘pole pole’ – slow and gentle. In fact at this point in time I have my few favourite drivers who wait expectantly at our corner for me, just in case ‘Madam Cathy’ is heading to town…
Apart from this traffic accident, another tragedy struck our intersection this week. A young girl – age 14, in Form One / grade nine – died after receiving an abortion. Early pregnancy, birth control and abortion are all complex and troublesome issues – I’ll save the details for when I return if you wish. Abortions are for all intents and purposes illegal here – and typically done at a very late stage in pregnancy. Suffice it to say it was a huge risk – and this time, one with a sad and tragic end. The girl’s father is a close friend of Maxwell and Massai so everyone here at Home of Grace is grieving for the entire family.
But how about a few more positive things to mention…
School is over for the term. But that doesn’t mean that studying is over. The living room is resembling a ‘one room school house’ these days. Each morning a teacher comes to tutor the children and to give them homework assignments – today I counted 23 children from age 3 to 15 hard at work. That’s what I call dedication!
The older students hard at work
Sabina, Faruk and Amos….
We continue to enjoy watching the Olympics together. There is a broadcast each evening for several hours of highlights. Last night the children cheered as a Canadian beat a Kenyan in one of the track events. I think they can now recognize the Canadian flag as easily as their own! Edina was glued to the television yesterday afternoon mesmerized by synchronized swimming. As I’ve said before, it’s truly other-worldly!
Edina has been noticing how incredibly well the children are doing with their English. For all of them it is their third language – after their tribal ‘mothertongue’ and Kiswahili. (My time has not been wasted after all! Haha…) Five year old Diana now regularly says to me “Thank you my dear” as she receives her dinner each night. She has copied my expression perfectly – it puts a smile on my face every time!
So the days are quickly zooming by. Friday we leave for a bus trip to Kisumu – a repeat of what we did three years ago. Although the older children might suspect something is up, Edina won’t tell the children officially until the day before. They will be too excited to sleep – and I can’t wait either! It will be a perfect end to our time together.
So – just one more update to come. Your inbox will be pleased! Thank you as always for your support, your prayers and your messages. They truly have kept me going…
Until the next time,
Cathy
P.S. Some of you may be wondering who Benter is. In previous posts you heard of her as Benta – or “Auntie Benta”. Kenyan pronunciation had me believing her name was was Benta, but as I got to know her better, I learned that it is spelled Benter. The spelling of names in Kenya is a bit of a moving target – the children, themselves, spell their own names differently from one day to another …. and often use a middle or third name – just to confuse me!! My favourite is Mark Miller (named for their Burlington friend!) – they spell that Makmilla – just the way it is pronounced!
Benter – the ‘heart’ of Home of Grace!
