Kat in Kisumu

Greetings from Kat in Kisumu!
I am here at last and have been since Saturday at 6.30am. It was an eight hour bus ride and Michelle (our coordinator), Rahel and I arrived pretty wiped out. The bus nearly left us the two times it stopped because we didn’t understand the Swahili being shouted through the megaphone and it was when a couple of guys came with out seat numbers that we jumped up, chased the backing up bus and banged on the side so they would open the door.

Vitilus, Susan and the two youngest, Steven and Daniel came to pick us up and after a few errands in town we went up to their place. I don’t know about you, but I imagined a sort of jungly area but as we drove out the city in their red pick-up, we climbed up these lush green hills and eventually turned off the road onto the bumpiest “road” I have ever encountered, and after a 10 minute climb we reached their home. It is in a clearing, and when we walked up to Joy Nursery on Sunday to sweep and get the three classrooms ready, the breathtaking view took me COMPLETELY by surprise. You can see the city, and the Nandi hills that surround them… completely beautiful. (I will add pictures another day).

The family have really taken us in with all the love in the world, and told us that we would go SLOWLY (pole pole) so this first week has been pretty much just helping in different classes as we get to know the kids, the methods of teaching and get used to the climate. We are, as Rahel says: IN THE BUSH. So I don’t know what temperature it is but it is quite hot so after school (it ends at 12) we have been having lunch and having a lie down in the afternoon because we feel so worn out. I was starting to have a cold before leaving Nairobi and on Monday it hit quite badly, my nose was running like an athlete and it then blocked up but by now is much better, all there is left is a tickly cough but I am on the mend (I think this is the only time in my life I have really RESTED while I have had a cold). Rahel has got the same cough (my fault!).

- take a break, grab a bite, come back -

(There is SO much to write about I can’t decide what to leave in and what to leave out) but I don’t want this to be TOO long. The school routine is this one:At 7.15am we got to have breakfast and leave the house just before 8 to get to the nursery. From 8 – 8.30 we sing songs (going back to my childhood, all those Church songs, like “the wise man built his house upon the rock!” etc.) and they sing enthusiastically. From 8.30 – 10.00 is the first part of lessons and it is English or Maths. I have been exploring the different classes but have helped Susan out in the Final Class (the oldest ones) and today we were teaching them the letter U. Letter “yew” sounds like “uh” (cup / hut / run). English is hard to teach let alone learn! At 11.00 it is breaktime and we run outside in the sun and just tear about, playing games. Their uji (thin porridge) is brought out and it seems some of them don’t have breakfast because after it they perk up considerably). Then there is another hour of lessons and at 12ish we finish off, clean up and head home. I want to learn about the kids, each one of them has his or her own background and they go through so much hardship it is difficult even to imagine, so just being able to smile at them, hug them, hold their hand or swing them around is encouraging, as in some way it shows them love.

In the afternoon we rest, and I need it (this is the person that never took a siesta in her life) and maybe prepare some things for the next day (yesterday found us tracing/drawing cows for the kids to colour in). At 4 it is Chai time (tea time and a sweet something to eat) and then there is always something to do, be in practice guitar, help Susan in the kitchen, play with the kids outsides (the kids from various houses congregate at the front of our house to play) and at 7.00 we eat. Annie and Sarah (the two eldest, 10 and 9 years old respectively) get home about 6.00 every day and so they do their home work and the boys have their baths. After we eat there is a time for singing (in English or Swahili) and then the designated person for the day shares what they learnt in their quiet time. At 9.00pm we finish the dishes and go back to our quarters but by them I feel so exhausted that I generally crash before 10.00. Rahel and I are hoping that it is only because we are acclimatizing and will not feel this tired the whole time!

Anyway, we are at the internet café and so I think I will stop writing now although I am sure that by next week I will have even more to tell. So for now, I thank you for your prayers and interest and if you got all the way to the bottom of this, CONGRATS!

Lots of love,

Kat