Relaxing at Olerai House...

We took advantage of a long weekend (Feb. 18 - 20) to get out of the city overnight on Friday and stay at Olerai House on Lake Naivasha. We had heard it was a wonderful place and, indeed, it was fantastic. It was so quiet and peaceful, with views of savannah down to the lake and prolific wildlife on the property. In fact, a herd of resident zebra often wandered around, drinking from a large watering hole and nibbling on grass while we were eating breakfast and lunch outside. It was lovely! While on walks, we saw a baby hippo, some adult hippos, lots of gazelles, zebras, waterbucks, vervet monkeys, some colobus monkeys and a herd of Maasai giraffe. One pair of giraffe was involved in some mating rituals, swinging their long necks down low to swoop across the ground and bringing their heads up to nudge their partner. In one photo you can see one giraffe with its head low and upside-down, rubbing against the other giraffe. We are already scheming ways to get back here again.

A family Habitat build...

On Saturday, February 12, the ISK Habitat for Humanity crew loaded onto a bus and went back to the IDP camp in the Rift Valley for a build. Brian (one of the Habitat teacher sponsors), Hannah, Cora and I (along with about 18 more students and Lillis, the other Habitat sponsor) were excited to get back to the community. About 30 new houses have been built since our last visit, leaving approximately 130 more until the entire community is housed. We spent the day hauling water to make cement, working on plastering the inside of the rock walls, moving stones and playing with children. It was a really successful day and Cora and Hannah worked together plastering the inside of one house all day. What a blessing to be part of such meaningful projects.

Conquering Mount Kenya!

In the middle of January, ISK had its inter-cultural trips week. Hannah ventured off to the coast for a kayaking trip while Brian, Cora and I journeyed to Mount Kenya with the whole grade nine class. It's a rite of passage at ISK for the freshmen to climb this massive mountain (and Brian and I discovered it was a rite of passage for new teachers, too!). At 4,987 metres (just over 16,300 feet), getting to the Lenana summit was a serious challenge, especially while carrying big packs most of the way. Long days, sore feet, altitude sickness, cold huts at night... getting to the summit was a sweet moment. Brian hiked up one side (with 33 kids and two other teachers; Cora and I hiked up the other side with our friend Ron and 33 more kids). What an adventure!