Africa 3

Haburi!

Im sorry it has taken so long for me to get another blog posted! I have been busy at the school, and enjoying life with no homework and time to enjoy a good book or movie. I also have started doing more exploring of Nairobi and the places around. Last Saturday Mallory, Katie and I went downtown to go check out the Maasai market that is only open on the weekend. It was quite the experience. There were men that immediately introduced themselves to us and started “escorting” us around the market. They walked with us, tried to get us to buy everything, and were pretty obnoxious. Because it was such an uncomfortable/intimidating experience, no one bought anything, and we didn’t hang out there long at all.

After the market we checked out the Kenya National Archives Museum, which had some very cool artifacts and cultural displays. They had all sorts of art, and weaponry from the local tribes. I am not a huge museum person but it was a good thing to check out and I enjoyed walking around and seeing pictures of the Presidents from Kenya and other political leaders in their history. The history here is very interesting, and I plan on doing more reading about the presidents and their role in the country’s history. They are only on their third president, and have a pretty corrupt government that starts at the top and works its way all the way down to the police here that openly accept bribes.

One thing that has been happening for me as I have been here is I have started to become accustomed to the lower standards of this country, in many aspects. It sort of had to happen, because I am surrounded by things I would NEVER see at home, and I’m open to seeing it and living this way for now, but it’s weird to know its going on. I’m not always comfortable with everything I see or hear or smell, but I know when I get home I am going to appreciate things in a whole new way. I am not at all surprised by what I’m feeling, I just can’t believe some of the things that I see on a daily basis. I will use our walk to school as an example. Everyday we walk 25 minutes to Hamomi, it’s a good walk, but through some very run down and smelly parts of town. Within five minutes down the road from our house we walk through an area that everyday smells like the most putrid smell you have ever smelt. The streets are lined with garbage and there is what you could call a “creek” that is a green mud/sludge running right in front of fruit and vegetable vendors and small shops with candies and sodas. There are always goats, chickens and cows hanging out and eating the garbage that is piled everywhere. Once we get down that street and across the mud pit that is just after, we take a right out onto a main road that goes to Kangame (a slum that the school is on the boarder of). We walk past vendors selling just about anything you could ever want, and this is where you can finally take a big breath of smoggy air from one of the passing Matatus. Once we get past the last matatu stop, there is only one more place where we get a big wiff of goodness, that’s the fish market that isn’t quite open yet, but will be for our walk back. There they sell what looks like dried out sardines, and roasted tilapia fish. After that we have a nice walk down a big valley, across a “river” (more like stream) that has garbage lining the shore, and down the dirt road to the school. On this portion we get to see green trees and gardens, which is nice, and we constantly get asked “how are you?” by the small children that are hanging out and playing by the road. It is like a game for them to ask white people “how are you” so they absolutely love getting a response back, even if it is just a wave. When we get to the school it’s a great relief, but that just means our day is really getting started. I dont want to sound like I am complaining of talking bad about this place I am really just trying to paint you a picture of what it is like here. When I get a picture of some of these places I will post it because I know it is worth a million words.

Time at the school has been great lately. After introducing the 3, 4, 5, and 6 class to Frisbees it has been really fun to start introducing them to more new games. After some practice classes with the Frisbees they have now learned how to play Ultimate Frisbee. I REALLY enjoy it because everyday I get to play with them for an hour and a half. Needless to say I am usually drained for my walk home. Not only did they learn ultimate Frisbee but they have also learned ships and sailors, paper rock scissors, and lions and zebras. Lions and zebras was really great with the class 3 and 4 together. It is a game of tag, and they got to act like lions and RAWR at the zebras. They loved it. I also finally figured out a wayt to get all of their attention really fast. I yell CAPTAINS COMING (it’s from the ships and sailors game) and when I do they freeze, and give a salute. It is hilarious, and the best part, is that it works in and outside of the classroom and all of the volunteers now use it. Math class has also been really great. I have been working on multiplication with class 3 and really making sure they know their multiplication tables. I have been using flash cards, which they really like, so its been a lot of fun. He kids are finally being introduced to new fun ways to learn and all the volunteers can tell that its really good for them and they really enjoy it.

This last Tuesday we had a day off from school for Kenyatta Day, which is like Presidents Day in the U.S. We went to a BBQ at our friend Hannah’s host families house and had a great time playing games and swimming in their pool. The people here are always so welcoming, its really great to learn more about their culture and meet families that love having guests.

This weekend we are going on a Safari to Massai Mara, to check out the Game Park. I am really excited and should have pictures off TONNNNNS of animals when I get back. I will get those up as soon as I can. Right now its time for a Tusker though, so I’m going to end this. Hope life is good!!!!

Kory

Africa 2

It is amazing how fast the weeks go! This week was the first week I got to spend at the school actually working as a teacher. After one day of watching a couple different teachers instruct a class, I was given my first class to instruct. I had 5/6 math. The 5th grade class was learning to add and subtract liters and milli liters, the 6th grade class was learning basic algebra. It took a bit of practice for me to remember how to do some of the basic math, but I was able to remember all the steps and the students did well listening to me and with their practice problems. I have also taught the 3/4 class, they have mostly been working on getting their multiplication tables down and I had them doing some fun things to practice. My favorite subject to teach has of course been PE (it was my favorite to learn in Elementary school also). This week I brought them their first of 3 new soccer balls that I have for them. The new one was replacing a ball that they had had for a couple months that looked like the soccer ball my dog chases at home. The 1/2 class was the first to get to use the ball, and I was shocked to find out the ball could not even survive a one hour game of bee hive soccer. By the end of the hour the ball still kept shape, but would not stay filled with air. This did not disappoint a single student, because it still had the leather on the outside of it, and of course could still be used. I am glad I didn’t decide to bring all the balls that one day, and now plan to give them the others as this one falls apart. Earlier this year most of the students got Frisbees in a donated back pack, so that was the first new game I taught the 3/4 class. At first I had to go over the very basics, like teaching them it was called a Frisbee (not Plato) and just how to throw it, but by the end of the half hour they were starting to get an understanding of how to throw and catch them. My goal is to eventually teach them a game I am going to call Frisbee Soccer, with rules similar to that of Ultimate Frisbee. It will take some time before they progress to that level with the Frisbees, but these kids are fast learners and really enjoy the new game so far.

Outside of the school things are also going very well. My friend Katie that I met in Alaska this summer, that decided to come down and experience Africa as well, has arrived safely and got to go on an adventure her first day. The two of us, with 3 other volunteers who have been here, that are from Seattle, and some other American students that are here for internships an d college credit, got an opportunity to go visit Maasailand and meet a Maasai family. A local friend of ours Simon, who helped find us our host families, and works with the internship program students, is Maasai, and was kind enough to bring us to meet his family. His family has some 120 acres in the rift valley, that they are working to turn into a resort, with a campground and restaurant. The restaurant is still in the planning stages, but the campground is used often by his family and their friends, and was a beautiful get away from downtown Nairobi. The group of 16 of us traveled by Matatu, and Motorcycle brigade an hour out of the city for our tour of Maasailand. When we arrived at the campground the first thing we did was prepared lunch. By prepare lunch I mean, we killed a goat, drank its blood (I passed), skinned it, then roasted it on a rotisserie. This was quite an experience for everyone, especially Katie who took my bet and helped hold the goat’s legs down as the suffocated it peacefully. The entire process was the traditional “Maasai way”, and was not to horrific, unless you were squeamish (I got over that after a year of anatomy labs in college dissecting humans). After lunch we went on a walk to Simons house, where we met two of his three mothers (it is traditional for Maasai to have multiple wives), and got to go in a couple Maasai houses, built of sticks and dirt, and see their crops, which have been struggling to grow this year due to droughts. The family was very kind and Simon was a great tour guide of the land. It was an experience I will never forget, and Katie will have nightmares about for years to come.

That’s the gist of whats been going on in my life the last week. I do of course have more excititing stories, most of which start with “this one time I was on a Matatu, we almost died because….” But I will save a few of those for a time when I didn’t get to experience as many other awesome things as I did this last week. I hope you are reading this and have exciting daily adventures of your own to share! If not, Africa is a very welcoming society and I would love to see you down here. They can always use volunteers at Hamomi!!!!!

Here is my fist pic from Hamomi, hopefully I can keep them coming.

Africa Part 1

What a week it has been! Monday was my last day in Washington until November and right now it feels like ages ago. Since then I have traveled over 20 hours by plane and find myself immersed in a new culture on a new continent. Now that I am in Kenya I can’t believe what I have chosen to do. Somebody should have told me I was CRAZY! Just Kidding!!!! I think that I will fall in love with this place. I am living with a wonderful host mother Elizabeth, and her 19 yr old grandson Collins. It is really nice to have a teenager to talk to and ask about things. He also has a pretty good taste in music so we have talked, and listened to a lot of good music together. My host mother is very kind and has cooked very good meals so far. Finger food is common here so I am becoming more comfortable having sticky fingers after most meals. Meals typically consist of rice or ugali (a sticky corn flour cake) and a meat dish. Life at the house is very enjoyable and I have finally started to get accustomed to the time change.

Getting around town has been a very interesting experience. The common means of travel if you don’t have a car (which I would not think to drive) is in a Matatu. These are old Nissan 12 person vans that run constantly and are crammed with people that just holler when they want to get on or off. Typically you barter with the conductor for the cost of your ride, and apparently if you are the only white person on them the drunks like to hassle you. That was my experience yesterday, but all I could understand the man was saying was Obama, who is very popular here, this being his home country. I have taken a couple trips in Matatus on my own now and am getting more used to them. I am just glad the conductors tap you on your shoulder when its your stop, otherwise I would probably be writing this blog from the back of one.

Last Friday I went to the Hamomi school for the first time. The walk there was a walk I will never forget, when I saw what the shopping center outside of a slum consists of, and saw first-hand how the people here live. If you have seen the movie Slumdog Millionaire you should have an idea of what a slum sort of looks like. There are open air shacks lining the streets, and vendors with all sorts of goods for purchase. I think I saw everything, including the kitchen sink, on the one street. I have not gone inside any homes in a slum yet, but I am sure I will at some point. The Hamomi school sort or prepared me for being completely shocked when I do get that opportunity. The classroom buildings are made of patches of old tin roof, and the rooms are no bigger than a 12 by 12 slab. That really isn’t the important thing though because great things are going on at that school. The children are all very excited to learn, and enthusiastic to be at school. The school is run by an extremely kind man by the name of Masumba. The teachers are ALL volunteers and are there because they want to be. It is definitely not an ideal environment for anyone, but everyone, student and teachers together make the best of it every day and are appreciative of everything they have. We brought donations that day and it was wonderful seeing the excitement of the kids as they received a new t-shirt or pair of shoes. Some even got sunglasses, which was super exciting for them. Once a pair was given out it was shared among all the kids which I thought was very cool and no one was selfish about what they were getting. After being introduced to all of the classes and meeting all the teachers we discussed what I will be doing while I am there. It looks as if I have taken on a job as a math and PE teacher! I am SUPER excited to take on the challenge of teaching the kids math, and introducing them to Frisbee and hackysack games during PE. I start Monday morning and will have an update of how things are going very soon hopefully.

For now I want you all to know that I am doing very well, haven’t even gotten a stomach ache (knock on wood) and am starting to get more sleep at night. I will have another update soon, and hope you are reading this in good health and with high spirits.