April Holiday

Pole Sana!! (I’m very sorry!)

It has been a long time since I last posted and I am very sorry for that. I have noticed that the busier I become and the more comfortable I feel in my environment the less I write. My friend Anna and I were discussing how we have both been in East Africa for so long now that it feels like home. In the beginning of our individual journeys, everything was new, different, and exciting. Now that we have been here for over eight months we are adjusted into our new homes and although it is still exciting, it does not feel as necessary to write. I also realize that I am the one in Africa…not you; therefore, I must inform you on what is happening and on all of the exciting adventures that I continue to have every day. 

Since I last posted, I have finished the first term of the school year with my girls at Gathirimu, I have gone on a two week backpacking journey around Tanzania and the coast of Kenya, and I now have some exciting changes in my living situation for the duration of my stay in Mitahato. There have been many things that have gone on during the last two months but if I were to write about all of them you would get intimidated by all of the text and not read. Instead, I will give you the “juicy stuff”…the events that will always stay in my memory and heart, the events that you might actually be interested in reading about.

I will start with the most important, or at least in my opinion—Gathirimu Girls’. I was privileged enough to be asked by Form Two Nile to join them in March for a trip to Mount Longonot. Mount Longonot is a beautiful mountain located in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya (one of my favorite places to go in Kenya). Hiking up this mountain with my girls was an amazing experience—one that will stay with me forever. I hiked up the mountain primarily with a group of eight girls. We were one of the last group coming up the mountain. During our journey up, many of my girls were ready to give up and go back down. It was so inspirational to be a part of this group and work together to help each other reach the top. If you were to ask the girls now if they thought they were going to make it to the top, they would tell you no. Once they reached to the top we were all celebrating and congratulating each other. What amazes me is the girls’ ability to defeat fear, overpower fatigue, and change their negative mindsets to positive. I was more proud of them then I can ever explain during this trip. I am very lucky and blessed to have gotten the chance to go on this trip and even more to be able to work with these wonderful girls every day. 

 

The girls closed on the thirteenth of April for their three week holiday before second term begins. I am proud and eager to say that both of my English classes performed very well on their final exam. Form Two especially did much better than I was anticipating. They had been struggling throughout the term a little and by the final exam they all scored above a C-. The Form One class I teach also did very well and all of the girls scored above a C. I told the girls that if the class as a whole was to score above a C- then we would a little celebration. I am excited to celebrate with them this coming week in school—we will watch a movie and have some snacks.

A few days after school closed, Morris and I went on a two week backpacking trip around Tanzania and the coast of Kenya. Our main purpose for going into Tanzania was to go to a town called Arusha to volunteer in an orphanage called Cradle of Love Baby Home. It was an amazing experience to play with the babies and help out the staff in whatever ways they needed. I was really impressed with the development of the orphanage and how well everyone worked together. The orphanage has 48 infant to three year olds. They have a nursery with nine newborns to six month olds and another house where the wobblers and toddlers stay. The majority of our time was spent with the older babies but we were able to visit the nursery as well.

After spending some time in Arusha with the babies, we took a bus to the capital Dar Es Salaam which was a twelve hour journey. In both Arusha and Dar we couch surfed with two very different people. My favorite experience was in Dar with our new friend Emanuel. He lives in a village about two hours away from Dar. It was so interesting and fun to experience a new village life in Africa. A few main differences from Mitahato were the houses which are made of mud, eating is always done sitting on a mat outside and only done with your right hand, and the soil was all sand. There were many other differences but those are some that stuck out to me. I really enjoyed meeting Emanuel and his family—they were very welcoming and we learned a lot by staying with them. The few days that Morris and I went to the city were spent going to a historic museum and relaxing on the beautiful tropical beach. 

Our next journey was from Dar back to Kenya to stay in Mombasa. The journey back to Kenya was another twelve hour bus ride. In Mombasa we stayed with Charles, Morris’ friend from high school. We were only there a few days but each day was very exciting and memorable. My favorite part of the whole trip was spent snorkeling in the Indian Ocean. Mombasa is home to the Kenyan National Marine Park. While in the marine park we got a chance to swim, go on a boat ride, and snorkel. I love snorkeling and this experience was absolutely amazing. The sea life that we saw was beautiful. I am very grateful for this experience and to have been able to spend it with good company. Our trip was completed with an eight hour night bus ride from Mombasa to Nairobi. It was a trip that I will never forget…filled with many mosquito bites, finishing two novels throughout the 38 hours of bus rides, and many other memories that will last forever.

Back in Mitahato, life has been very busy and exciting. About a day after we got back my friend Anna visited with me for a few days. This was really enjoyable because I don’t often get to talk about my experience in comparison to home and the other East African countries. I laughed so much while Anna was over—I hope to make a quick trip to visit her in Uganda if possible before I go back home. The day after Anna left Erin arrived. Erin is a Portland State University student that spent some time studying abroad and is now spending the remainder of her time in Africa volunteering in Mitahato with me. It has been really fun getting to know her and showing her around the village. She is spending her time volunteering at the new secondary school connected to Mitahato Primary School. She will also spend some time in Gathirimu getting to know the girls I teach. I really enjoy spending time with her an introducing her to my family here.

 

Now…school has started again the students are all back for the second term. This week has been spent having the girls take exams. I am eager for next week because teaching resumes and I missed my students a lot over the three week holiday. That is all the update for now…I will try to write in a timelier manner for the next post!

A New Month to Celebrate!

It’s a new month and I am totally ready for it! February was a strange month for me. I let boredom, cultural differences, and homesickness take control of my thoughts and emotions. Honestly, I feel really good about March. This all might sound a little silly but I feel inspired and excited for everything that life has to offer me. There are days that I wake up and my first thoughts are, ‘Wow, I am incredibly blessed and lucky! Life is good!’ It’s a great feeling to reflect, realize what might have been bringing you down, and then make the changes to better your life—especially when you’re blessed enough to spend time in a beautiful country like Kenya!

I started teaching and introducing myself to the new Form One (Freshman) students this past week. The girls have similar questions to those that the Form Two had when I first arrived. Some questions include: When did you get here/when are you leaving?, Do you cook/clean in Kenya?, Do you eat Kenyan food and what is your favorite?, What is the staple dish in America?, Is your hair real/do you use chemicals?, How old are you?, Are you married?, Do you have any siblings?, What are your talents/hobbies?, etc., etc., etc. I cannot express how much I truly enjoy meeting and talking with these girls. It’s important for me to introduce myself and give them a genuine understanding of who I am. Also, I want to make sure that they do not fear me and that they feel free to salute me in the hallways and talk to me if they ever need or want. My hope is that they feel as comfortable with me as the rest of the students do. So far, they appear to fit in very well and after I introduced myself and joked with them they seem to feel very comfortable and open.

The girls had their midterm exams early last week which was then followed by a five day break for them to all go home to rest and relax with their family. While the students went home, I too left Mitahato and spent the week in Banana. Mary’s fiancée’s guka (grandfather) has passed away the week before we arrived; therefore, most of the time we were in Banana we were at guka and cucu’s house helping prepare meals for the visitors and for the funeral. It felt good to be able to help out a family in a time of need. The last few days of the break I spent relaxing and doing nothing much more than watching movies and waiting for school to resume again. It was a pleasant break and as always I enjoyed spending time with everyone in Banana—which after writing this blog posting I am off to spend the weekend there again. 

As far as being at home in Mitahato, I am officially helping with every part of the housework. The last task that I finally learned and am starting to do on my own is hand washing my clothes.  I now get to clean the house, cook the meals, help clean the outside compound, and clean clothes. This all might seem like unimportant or simple things but to finally be handed over these tasks from Mary makes me feel important and like I’m a part of the family and am doing my part to help. It was only yesterday that I did all of my laundry on my own for the first time. I was proud of my accomplishment and it made me excited to be able to help clean the kids clothes in Banana the next time I’m there. Another ‘plus’ in all of this is it reduces idleness while at the same time making my family’s life easier. 

I have had one huge realization in the past few weeks. It is not something that I was unaware of but recently it has been emphasized a great amount in my thoughts and reflections. This realization is how blessed and lucky I am to have the parents I have. There have been too many time growing up that I took advantage of or didn’t thank my parents. Not only this, but there have been several times growing up that my parents asked me to do a simple task and not only did I often refuse but I whined about it too. It’s embarrassing to think back about some of these things and realize what I wish I would have done differently. 

While in Kenya, I have observed and seen how family dynamic works in the Kikuyu culture. The children in the family, from a very young age, begin to help their parents with almost everything. Not only this, but they never have to be asked to do anything. If someone sees that the cow needs to be fed he/she goes to the samba (garden), cuts some nipia grass, and does the necessary work to feed the cow. If someone sees the house needs to be washed he/she will fetch water and clean the entire house before going on with their day. If the laundry needs to be done—whether it is his/hers or another member of the family—he/she will buy soap, fetch water, and clean everyone’s clothes. This goes on and on with any small or large task that needs to be done on the compound. I see Morris wake up extra early because the evening before he saw that his mom and cucu’s drum was not completely full of water. I see Mary wake up early to make sure that everyone will have warm water to shower with and breakfast to eat when they wake up. I see brother John stop what he is doing to run home to milk and feed the cow several times throughout the day. I see Cousin John all around the compound helping his cucu, his aunts, his mom, and the kids in any way that he sees necessary. It has been a great lesson to be a part of this environment and to witness how well this family dynamic works—no one fights or argues…everyone helps one another. I have learned a lot and I know that when I return home I will be helping out much more.

Another connected realization I have had is how lucky I am to have the relationship that I have with my parents. I have always been able to confide and talk to both my parents about anything and everything. I tell this to my students in connection to some of the Life Skills lessons. The girls are very surprised about this and they often don’t understand how I am able to hug and get hugged, how I am able to tell and be told I love you, and how I am able to express myself to my parents.

While talking to the Form One girls yesterday, one of the students asked me, “Who is your hero?” Oddly enough, I had not received that question before and had not previously thought of a response. The first thought that came to my head was my dad. I told them my dad is my hero/role model and they were all shocked. Now thinking about it, my dad has been my hero since forever. He is the person I learned from as I was growing up, the person I go to for advice about everything, and the kind of person I want to be like as I grow older. He is confident in himself in all aspects of life, he inspires others with his words, he believes in everyone and their potential, he lives the life God called him to, when he struggles he does everything he can to fight and succeed, and he cares about his family more than anything. My dad is one of my best friends and I am really thankful, lucky and blessed to have such a caring father in my life. Thanks Dad—I love you!

This posting consisted of a lot of analysis and reflection within my life. The time I spend in Kenya provides moments like this when I get to reflect, learn, and become very thankful for everything I have received in my life. Sorry if you didn’t “sign up” for all of this self-analysis but it is all a part of the process and journey that I am on. I am learning about myself personally and professionally in connection to a new culture and environment.  It’s definitely quite a journey and I am enjoying every bit of it!