Kenya Blog Wednesday
Today was awesome! Kisupat! We
broke into 3 groups: Logan, Courtney, Karen, Fadzai and Mark taught primary
students about the solar system, wild animals of Colorado, electricity and
mathematics. Kristin, Mary and Meghan finished painting the last classroom at
Lorubae, and Kyle, Bo, Wes, Cori, Nicole and Karina made some serious progress
on the shade structure at Unity.
Yesterday we finished the holes for
posts and today we mixed cement with sand and water in a wheelbarrow and poured
it in the holes to hold the posts in place. As soon as we had two posts in the
ground the women came and started weaving smaller sticks between the posts.
They use strips of palm frond leaves to tie the sticks in place, so aside from
the concrete, the entire structure will be totally natural. We got all 12 posts
in place and most of the outer edge of the structure filled in with sticks the
women had collected before we came.
The kids at the primary school were
extremely shy at first but when we started doing activities they were very
engaged. Logan had brought several small electricity circuits to show how light
bulbs work. We also had everyone go outside and students acted out the planets
rotating around the sun in our solar system. They were so embarrassed at first
but through laughter and encouragement they got into it and we hope they
learned a little bit!
This afternoon we are spending time
at Umoja village and going on the last game drive of the trip. Cross your
fingers for leopard and lion sightings! Yes, we have 2 days left after this
one, that’s all! Remember, we arrive at 3:26pm on Saturday, so don’t forget to
come get us! Tomorrow most of us will wake up super early and hike up Ololoque
(big head) to get a bird’s eye view of the Samburu region. We’ll have to finish
our goodbyes with the women’s villages tomorrow evening and enjoy our last
night around the campfire with the lead guard Dominic’s animal impressions,
which all sound mysteriously similar. Love to you all!
‘Zungies 4 Lyfe and Fadzai!
Dear Karen,
ReplyDeleteWe were delighted to hear from you. The blogs have been terrific. What an experience! Please stay in touch once you are back in civilization. We are all fine and anxious to hear your impressions of Nairobi and Etheopa. Hope this reaches you as I have tried a couple of e-mails before I turned the task to Maya.
Love MOM and Dad
Wow what a trip. Thanks for sharing the updates. You all have to feel pretty good about all the tasks you accomplished as well as all the wonderful people you met. Loved hearing about washing your clothes outside and hanging them in the trees. Enjoy the heat for now, it's supposed to be 18 degrees F on Sat. afternoon. Broncos play at 2:30-5:30ish so the roads should be EMPTY for your arrival!
ReplyDeleteAs for you Brett, wishing you a great sabbatical at Samburu. If Kenya has them, I know you'll find some avocados and if not other delicious fruits to enjoy along with your relationships with the villagers.
Karina, Glad you and the group made progress on the shade structure as that is what I remember you saying you wanted to do. Awesome.Would love to see a photo when you get back and hear your stories in person sometime next week. Please thank Gladis and tell her I love her beaded bracelet because it's from her but also it's so simple and beautiful.
I know it will be hard to leave. Love, Mom xoxox
Sports Update for anyone wondering:
Sat. 2:30 at Mile Hi: Brocos and Ravens
Sat. 6 pm Green Bay at San Fran 49ers
Sun. 11 am Seattle at Atlanta
Sun. 2:30 Houston at Patriots
TukTuk*: (Mary to everyone else - see note below) - I have so enjoyed the blog! Thanks for being the blogger! Wayyy better than the Zambia blog. I really liked the "small children as paintbrushes" and "Mzungu Day" descriptions. And I also had to dry my eyes while reading your Sophia interview. I hope you got cooking / stoves / firewood pictures!? I'm looking forward to seeing all of your pictures! I hope the camera /contrast issues are working.
ReplyDeleteUm - and what does "Zungies 4 Lyfe and Fadzai" mean?
*Translation of "TukTuk" for Mary's Kenya colleagues. "TukTuks" are those small, cute, colorful, sturdy, motorized, 3-wheeled go-anywhere vehicles that transport people throughout much of the developing world. They go where nothing else can - where cars, buses, etc. can't go. They just get the job done, so that's been my name for Mary since she was tiny. Doesn't Mary seem the human embodiment of a TukTuk?
- Dad