Hello all!
We have adopted an internet café in town, someday I will have to get a picture of us sitting here. How about some fun, random facts?
- Women are named according to their children or their husband… a mother is mama and a father is baba… so Susie is referred to as Mama Annie (as her oldest daughter is Annie) and when I was showing Ruth a picture of my mum I introduced her as “Mama Kat” Xd
- There is a new boy in my class, Cavin Akech and he really should be in primary school. He comments on everything, will NOT sit still and any class discipline there WAS is washed down the drain. He came on Monday and on the first 3 days I lost my temper with him several times but today I was able to cope, in the end he was sent outside for a good 15 minutes and the class was peaceful. I find it hard cause my attention is on him and so less can be given to the other kids, however, I am learning to deal with it – he is probably the biggest challenge up till now.
- I go to the nursery around 6.20am each morning to unlock the doors of the nursery and open the gate for the kids that get there early and have the privilege of enjoying a BEAUTFUL sunrise coming over the mountains EVERY DAY J. I really enjoy those times!
- We started Sunday school last Sunday and now have more responsibilities so we are getting more organized so we can do everything well.
- On Sunday there was an offering taken up after the service so that the land the church is on can be bought (they have to raise 40,000 kenyan shillings) and there were only like 20 – 30 people there and they did the collection. It was very different from what I have experienced, as the people were called up one by one in public and they gave their offering. Many shouts of amen, and clapping and waving of the hands but it made the event more enjoyable and the people were giving joyfully, by the end of it money had lost all its importance, at least in my eyes. The downside was that it last 2 hours. So added on to the 2 hour service (it was actually 3 but we were late cause of Sunday school) Rahel and I were not feeling very well… starving in fact. But there was a huge meal after so alls well that ends well. =).
More random facts on their way next week, we are doing OK, Rahel got another cold and it seems to be getting better. I can’t believe another week has gone by, but it is nice it is the weekend and I can relax – Monday is a holiday too so that’s cool!
Prayer letter to be sent out soon as well, so things are well.
Over and out.
K
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Short update
They say pictures say more than 1,000 words and there are about 55 pictures on my facebook so look at them there to get the real feel of what I am doing!
This week has been good, we started teaching Bible stories in the Pastoral time every morning, I did 3 days of Gideon and today Rahel started Ruth and will continue tomorrow! I have been in Kenya a month already and it feels like it should be so much more because of everything I feel I have been through but on the other hand it does seem a long time. I am defintely settling in!
We killed a chicken to have for tea.. around 4pm Susan said: "I don't know what to make for tea" so Vitilus suggested they slaughter a kuku (swahili for hen) so we did just that :). (Pictures on facebook).
Prayer letter will be out before the end of the month. We prayed for rain and boy it came, I am glad I purchased wellies in Nairobi before coming here =). A longer update next time, thanks 4 reading!
K in K
This week has been good, we started teaching Bible stories in the Pastoral time every morning, I did 3 days of Gideon and today Rahel started Ruth and will continue tomorrow! I have been in Kenya a month already and it feels like it should be so much more because of everything I feel I have been through but on the other hand it does seem a long time. I am defintely settling in!
We killed a chicken to have for tea.. around 4pm Susan said: "I don't know what to make for tea" so Vitilus suggested they slaughter a kuku (swahili for hen) so we did just that :). (Pictures on facebook).
Prayer letter will be out before the end of the month. We prayed for rain and boy it came, I am glad I purchased wellies in Nairobi before coming here =). A longer update next time, thanks 4 reading!
K in K
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Kisumu 2
Greetings from sunny and warm Kisumu again!
This week we have started up with our different activities, after looking around last week Rahel decided that she would help in Baby Class and I am helping out in the Final Class. Rahel loves to do crafts so can really help Susan and Lydia (the teachers in that class) with ideas and I am working alongside Susan in the Final class, she is doing most of the teaching but it is after, when they write things down in the books and need help that really, you almost need one teacher per student to help them, I can see why she wanted help. They have their interview to get into school in November so our aim is to get them all ready for it, there are some especially that are having difficulties and if they don’t make the interview it will mean they have another year of nursery before they can try again. We are both enjoying it, and also preparing lessons for CRE (Christian Religious Education) that we will be doing each morning starting next week.
Ruth is another Kenyan lady living with us and she is also teaching in the nursery (Middle Class). At first she was really shy but now we are having a great time with her, she is teaching us some Luo as well J. We have been playing with the kids after school some afternoons (siesta’s are no longer necessary… only sometimes) and I found myself a child at heart as I tore through the bush chasing boys with little fruits to smear it on their feet – last night we played hide and seek in the rain and it was really is amazing. In the mornings when Rahel and I walk to the nursery I feel like Anne Shirley (from Green Gables) – with the long skirt, swishing through the grass, going to teach the kids =). There are other days when we take the guitar up (if we have been using it) and then I feel like Frauline Maria from the Sound of Music with the big case… the hills truly are alive with the sound of music. As for my cold, it has now left me, it went to Rahel, left Rahel and went to Annie and now Vitilus is getting it… Sorry!! =/. But it is not too terrible, after resting about a week it goes…
Right now I am feeling a bit tired… late nights (we talk a lot), early mornings and the heat is most likely the issue but the weekend is soon so we will get some rest. It is hard in the classroom (when I am alone) to get the kids to be disciplined and be quiet and sit down – they are definitely testing us, and because we run about with them at break they don’t see us as official teachers (intimidating ones) but we don’t want to be that really – we have to find the balance between loving them and also teaching them and show them we are higher up the pecking order than they are.
Anyway, that is all for now… in short: We are settling in now, have more responsibilities and are getting used to everything – it is still a challenge with the kids but they are very lovable! I am tired at the moment and probably missing people but Rahel is really great so I am sharing with her and it helps us both! Keep up the prayers and encouragement and thanks for them already.
Until next week!
Kat
This week we have started up with our different activities, after looking around last week Rahel decided that she would help in Baby Class and I am helping out in the Final Class. Rahel loves to do crafts so can really help Susan and Lydia (the teachers in that class) with ideas and I am working alongside Susan in the Final class, she is doing most of the teaching but it is after, when they write things down in the books and need help that really, you almost need one teacher per student to help them, I can see why she wanted help. They have their interview to get into school in November so our aim is to get them all ready for it, there are some especially that are having difficulties and if they don’t make the interview it will mean they have another year of nursery before they can try again. We are both enjoying it, and also preparing lessons for CRE (Christian Religious Education) that we will be doing each morning starting next week.
Ruth is another Kenyan lady living with us and she is also teaching in the nursery (Middle Class). At first she was really shy but now we are having a great time with her, she is teaching us some Luo as well J. We have been playing with the kids after school some afternoons (siesta’s are no longer necessary… only sometimes) and I found myself a child at heart as I tore through the bush chasing boys with little fruits to smear it on their feet – last night we played hide and seek in the rain and it was really is amazing. In the mornings when Rahel and I walk to the nursery I feel like Anne Shirley (from Green Gables) – with the long skirt, swishing through the grass, going to teach the kids =). There are other days when we take the guitar up (if we have been using it) and then I feel like Frauline Maria from the Sound of Music with the big case… the hills truly are alive with the sound of music. As for my cold, it has now left me, it went to Rahel, left Rahel and went to Annie and now Vitilus is getting it… Sorry!! =/. But it is not too terrible, after resting about a week it goes…
Right now I am feeling a bit tired… late nights (we talk a lot), early mornings and the heat is most likely the issue but the weekend is soon so we will get some rest. It is hard in the classroom (when I am alone) to get the kids to be disciplined and be quiet and sit down – they are definitely testing us, and because we run about with them at break they don’t see us as official teachers (intimidating ones) but we don’t want to be that really – we have to find the balance between loving them and also teaching them and show them we are higher up the pecking order than they are.
Anyway, that is all for now… in short: We are settling in now, have more responsibilities and are getting used to everything – it is still a challenge with the kids but they are very lovable! I am tired at the moment and probably missing people but Rahel is really great so I am sharing with her and it helps us both! Keep up the prayers and encouragement and thanks for them already.
Until next week!
Kat
Thursday, 7 May 2009
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
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
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
In ole Nairobi
- Rose Av. Compound -
Jambo! I thought I would give you all Swahili lessons and then realized that you already know Swahili, you just don’t know you know it. So if you have ever seen The Lion King then I will show you that you know Swahili but didn’t know you knew it.
Simba: lion (yep!)
Hakuna matata: (we all echo Pumba saying: It means) no worries (for the rest of your daaays)
Asante sana: thank you very much. Asante = thankyou, sana = many/much
Rafiki: friend
Masai Market
Saturday found us going to the Masai Market (reminded me of the Indian markets in Lima but nooo). They set up in different areas (that day in the centre of town) and have their rugs with all the beautiful African crafts, scarfs, pictures and so on and on and on. Very compact and busy. The sellers are wandering near their “stall” and call you over as soon as you are looking or make eye contact, oh sister, sister! Friend, friend! And I make you good offer and then try to rip you off really badly (muzungo muzungo) and you get the price down and they say i have never sold this for so little so yeah, it is an exhausting process.
Tips for buying when they are clearly trying to rip you off (always true):
- Walk away. They will follow and say they will sell it for less. Do this many times. Even if you give up and want to go away, they will keep turning up beside you.
- Hold out the money you are will to spend for what you want, some will take it and you won!
- Ask for non-muzungo prices.
- Be prepared to haggle DOOOOWN. I.e. they will say 7,000 and you can get it down to 3,000.
Church
On Sunday I went to church with Amelie and Lianne (two German SIMPacters) and it is international but aimed at the Asians (they call them Asians but are really people from India) so we sang in English, Swahili and Hindu.!. Very interesting, and on every Hindu song, either one person or a whole group of Hindus came to the front and just danced, spontaneous, random worship. It was really lovely! Interesting church experience but I have still not experienced the TRUE Kenyan church experience. Less than a week before I do!
Giraffe kissing
OK, so the title gave it away. We went to the giraffe sanctuary and we could feed and pet the giraffes (!) and if you put the food in your mouth (tiny pellets), the giraffe would selfishly give you a kiss to get the food. =). Lots of saliva but also had some antiseptic (used for their tongue cause it constantly gets cut on the trees) so hopefully it was bacteria free!
(Maybe it was not true love's first kiss)
I am hanging out with the SIMPacters that are leaving today (Katie, Lyndsay, Austin and Adam) and seeing all they are suffering to pack everything so hopefully when my time comes to go I will not buy TOO much stuff to bring back! I leave for Kisumu on the 2nd of May =).
Kwaheri!
Saturday, 25 April 2009
Muzungo in Kenya
Jambo!
Hello from Nairobi Kenya! This is my fourth day here and it has pretty much been getting to know people (Kenyan’s and missionaries), some of the city and orientation! My flight was a day time one so I enjoyed that and the only problem that arose was that at Glasgow Airport it seemed I had scissors in my hand-luggage (HOW?) and after emptying out the entire carry-on suitcase it turned out they were in my first-aid kit and sealed so it was all in vain and luckily I was able to keep them.
Nairobi
As for Nairobi, I am staying at Rose Avenue (a missionary compound with 15 houses) and over the last few days I had orientation with Michelle (from Taiwan) so it was interesting to see Kenya from a Taiwanese perspective: I not only learnt about time, about security, about hospitality, about HIV/AIDS, about how to get money from my account, that chai (tea) here is very milky and sugary, that you should avoid ice-cubes, raw vegetables at restaurants and bleach all fruit and vegetables for twenty minutes, that after 6.30pm I must be in the compound and that ugali is what people eat every day twice again BUT I also learnt about Chinese customs, festivals and food so I have had lots of cultural orientation =).
But orientation is only over OFFICIALLY as I am learning new things every day! I will be in the compound until the 2nd of May and then is when I will be going to Kisumu with Rahel (who has already been here for 6 months) and am pretty much hanging about with the other short termers and exploring Nairobi until I go.
Visiting the slum, Kibera
One memorable experience was my visit to Kibera, one of the biggest slums in Kenya and it is just 15 minutes away from the city. Fey drove us there (in a land rover, the roads are quite hard going so little, automatic cars would die very quickly, all the cars here have to be tough and sturdy), parked in a place with lots of military so the car would be safe and walked about 15 minutes into the slum. Dirt roads, some mud from the rain, lots of people selling things on the outsides of the slum and then we got to the houses, all lined up in many rows with alleys everywhere. The homes have no bathrooms so you want to watch out for “flying toilets” that are found lying on the road in (some in plastic bags). Everyone seemed interested in the two muzungos walking down the road (muzungo is a white person, or for a Peruvian, a “gringo/a”) and countless little children, all the way to the railway came running out saying “How are you? How are you? How are you?” (well it was really “Howar yU?”) and they all want to shake your hand. It was very sweet. I heard from another SIMPacter (the people here for short term) that there was a kid crying his eyes out in the middle of the street and as the SIMPacter approached, he opened his eyes, stretched out his hand and in a trembling, high-pitched breath said “Howar yU?”. Very cute! Here in Kenya, hospitality is very important so everyone that talks to you, know them or not, must have their hand shaken. Unfortunately, it was too unsafe to take a camera out, Fey recommended I did it when we were with a Kenyan, so I am looking forward to uploading pictures after I go again.
I will brave the supermarkets soon and experience church on Sunday so expect to hear more on that and other things I do in Nairobi before I leave for Kisumu,
Kwaheri! (Goodbye!)
Kat
Hello from Nairobi Kenya! This is my fourth day here and it has pretty much been getting to know people (Kenyan’s and missionaries), some of the city and orientation! My flight was a day time one so I enjoyed that and the only problem that arose was that at Glasgow Airport it seemed I had scissors in my hand-luggage (HOW?) and after emptying out the entire carry-on suitcase it turned out they were in my first-aid kit and sealed so it was all in vain and luckily I was able to keep them.
Nairobi
As for Nairobi, I am staying at Rose Avenue (a missionary compound with 15 houses) and over the last few days I had orientation with Michelle (from Taiwan) so it was interesting to see Kenya from a Taiwanese perspective: I not only learnt about time, about security, about hospitality, about HIV/AIDS, about how to get money from my account, that chai (tea) here is very milky and sugary, that you should avoid ice-cubes, raw vegetables at restaurants and bleach all fruit and vegetables for twenty minutes, that after 6.30pm I must be in the compound and that ugali is what people eat every day twice again BUT I also learnt about Chinese customs, festivals and food so I have had lots of cultural orientation =).
But orientation is only over OFFICIALLY as I am learning new things every day! I will be in the compound until the 2nd of May and then is when I will be going to Kisumu with Rahel (who has already been here for 6 months) and am pretty much hanging about with the other short termers and exploring Nairobi until I go.
Visiting the slum, Kibera
One memorable experience was my visit to Kibera, one of the biggest slums in Kenya and it is just 15 minutes away from the city. Fey drove us there (in a land rover, the roads are quite hard going so little, automatic cars would die very quickly, all the cars here have to be tough and sturdy), parked in a place with lots of military so the car would be safe and walked about 15 minutes into the slum. Dirt roads, some mud from the rain, lots of people selling things on the outsides of the slum and then we got to the houses, all lined up in many rows with alleys everywhere. The homes have no bathrooms so you want to watch out for “flying toilets” that are found lying on the road in (some in plastic bags). Everyone seemed interested in the two muzungos walking down the road (muzungo is a white person, or for a Peruvian, a “gringo/a”) and countless little children, all the way to the railway came running out saying “How are you? How are you? How are you?” (well it was really “Howar yU?”) and they all want to shake your hand. It was very sweet. I heard from another SIMPacter (the people here for short term) that there was a kid crying his eyes out in the middle of the street and as the SIMPacter approached, he opened his eyes, stretched out his hand and in a trembling, high-pitched breath said “Howar yU?”. Very cute! Here in Kenya, hospitality is very important so everyone that talks to you, know them or not, must have their hand shaken. Unfortunately, it was too unsafe to take a camera out, Fey recommended I did it when we were with a Kenyan, so I am looking forward to uploading pictures after I go again.
I will brave the supermarkets soon and experience church on Sunday so expect to hear more on that and other things I do in Nairobi before I leave for Kisumu,
Kwaheri! (Goodbye!)
Kat
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
