Our Adventures

From Ontario to Nairibi: books arrive for the Starehe Boy's School

2012-02-13T01:20:00.000-08:00

After several months in a shipping container (special thanks to Dennis Hoekstra from Grand Rapids for allowing Freedom Through Learning boxes to catch a ride alongside his shipment!), dozens of boxes of books arrived in Nairobi two weeks ago. A large portion of this shipment had been requested by the Starehe Boys' School here in Nairobi, and both King's Collegiate and Durham Christian High School filled the requests and sent textbooks and supplies. Many thanks to all of our friends at these schools! On Saturday, Brian and I drove over to Starehe (using some newly-finished flyovers, better known as overpasses at home, which made the drive much less hectic and chaotic) and delivered the books to Charles, the head librarian, and some head boys. Chemistry texts, English book sets, whistles for the outdoor program and much, much more have now made their way into the hands of eager learners here. What a blessing! Check out the video!

Intercultural Trip #1: Marich in West Pokot, western Kenya

2012-02-05T01:22:00.000-08:00

This past week, all of our family members were spread across Kenya on the school's intercultural trips. Brian kayaked at Mida Creek on the coast, Hannah hung out with her senior classmates in Watamu (also on the coast), Cora pedalled over 100 kilometres near Nanyuki (at the base of Mount Kenya) on a cycling trip, and I travelled to remote western Kenya with the Marich team. Our team built a footbridge through an organization called Bridging the Gap (http://www.bridgingthegapafrica.org/), installed a playground at a primary school, hiked Mount Kogh, played in the river and visited a very isolated (and unstaffed) medical centre. The Pokot tribe lives in this part of Kenya and many people still live in very traditional ways; conical houses dot the countryside and mountains and many people dress in traditional garb. We were so privileged to participate in the bridge opening ceremony, where the Pokot people danced and sang and included our group in the festivities. The bridge was a a very special project as it was a memorial bridge for Sharon and Margaux Brown. Sharon was the ISK librarian and, two years ago, was killed in an elephant attack near Mount Kenya along with her one-year-old daughter, Margaux. Jeff, Sharon's husband, is a wonderful person and was with us all week, working on the bridge. At the ceremony, the community honoured him, his wife and his daughter in such a beautiful way. It was an incredibly moving experience.

A taste of Scotland...

2012-02-05T00:53:00.000-08:00

On the last Saturday of January, Brian and I attended a black tie Robbie Burns supper at the Muthaiga Club in Nairobi. For me, it was my first experience with the piping of the haggis and of many traditional Scottish songs. We felt transported to the highlands. Brian was decked out in his new custom-tailored tux and was definitely the most handsome man in attendance.

Books delivered to Kangemi!

2012-02-05T00:46:00.000-08:00

Last week, Brian took several boxes of books to the Morningstar School in the Kangemi slum (very close to our Loresho neighbourhood). Our good friends Abel and Carrie Zwart had generously sponsored this Freedom Through Learning project, and we were able to buy desperately-needed textbooks for the Kenyan curriculum for this school. The teachers here work so hard, for so little pay; students from Kangemi struggle to come up with the most basic school fees. This delivery will have a radical impact on the children's educational experience, which is so exciting.

Hiking an extinct volcano in the Rift Valley...

2012-01-08T01:44:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Brian and I embarked on a 23-kilometre hike up to the rim of Mount Longonot (an extinct volcano that juts out of the floor of the Rift Valley), along the entire crater rim to the peak and back to the park gate. The hike was a bit longer than I thought it might be, and took about 5 hours to complete, but the peak afforded gorgeous views of the valley.

Wrapping up the holidays...

2012-01-08T01:40:00.001-08:00

What a wonderful 3-week holiday we had for Christmas this year, most of it spent with Rebecca. We tearfully said goodbye on Thursday evening at the Nairobi airport, and we're already enjoying all of the memories we made during the break. Also, summer is in full swing here, and our avocado tree is bursting with baby fruits. We figure that, in about 4 weeks time, we'll be buried in guacamole! Our bananas are also progressing nicely and should be ready to harvest soon, and we've added a chicken into our mix of animals. Monica, a friend at the Vumilia IDP camp, gave us a beautiful chicken on Saturday (what incredible generosity), and we're now in search of plans for backyard chicken coops. It's always an adventure here...

New Year's Day with the Maasai...

2012-01-01T09:40:00.000-08:00

On January 1st, we drove off to Ilkengarre Village to enjoy roasted goat and chai tea with Daniel, his new two-month old baby Grace, and several other community members. Rebecca had never visited the village, and it was a chance for her to meet our friends there, as well as experience Maasai culture. As well, Brian had been asked by Daniel to name his new daughter when she was born (a great honour), and this was our first chance to meet Grace and visit her mother Nyuna. After enjoying tea in Daniel's hut, we sat outside (under the breathtaking summit of Mount Kilimanjaro), eating freshly-roasted goat and sitting on sun-warmed rocks. We also got to meet our new sheep that Daniel has added to his flock on our behalf. Rebecca wants to name it "Becky Boo Boo". It was a pretty amazing day.

Ringing in the New Year at Amboseli...

2012-01-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

When we were invited to visit our Maasai friends at Ilkengarre village on January 1st, we figured it would be a great way to celebrate New Year's Eve if we went down on the 31st and stayed at a tented camp. The girls were keen to spend New Year's Eve having fun that involved live music and a rousing countdown (and cute boys, if possible). The woman who made our reservation (her name was Irene) promised me there would be a New Year's Eve program, but said it was a "surprise" and she couldn't tell me the details. That should have tipped me off that maybe there was not a firm plan for festivities at Kibo Tented Camp. Indeed, the big program was (in its entirety) a cake that was rolled out at midnight and a slew of Kenyan reggae tunes belted out from the bar's crackly sound system and speakers. There were no cute boys in sight. Our mantra for the evening became "Damn you, Irene!" We made the most of it, though, and drank champagne while playing Phase 10 in our tents (the girls have made me promise to plan something fun next year). Game drives on either side of the lame New Year's program made up for it, as we saw a wide range of animals (including a pride of 7 lions and a serval cat - very cool). Also, Mount Kilimanjaro put on a show on January 1st, remaining visible and beautiful all day long.

Walking with the animals...

2012-01-01T09:24:00.000-08:00

Rebecca was keen to make a stop at the Lake Naivasha Country Club on our way back from the Aberdares; she had heard about Crescent Island and walking with the animals, and after we enjoyed a nice lunch, we spent 1 1/2 hours out on the island strolling amidst the zebra, giraffes, wildebeest, and gazelles. It was lovely.

Scenic Aberdares...

2012-01-01T09:14:00.001-08:00

After Christmas, we spent three wonderful days in Aberdares National Park. A mountainous part of central Kenya, the Aberdares boast spectacular scenery and crisp, Novemberish evenings (perfect for enjoying a roaring fire in the cabin's fireplace!). It was perfectly still and silent, and half of the park is full of highlands heather and shubbery (very reminiscent of Scotland, although, being as we've never been there, we're basing that assumption on the many photographs and drawings of Scottish scenery on single malt bottles we've gazed at over the years). There are lush bamboo and rosewood forest that roll on for endless acres, and in the park you can also see some amazing views of Mount Kenya. Wow - we can't really believe we climbed that mountain last January! There are also gorgeous waterfalls in the park, and we enjoyed a one-hour nature walk with an armed Kenya Wildlife Service ranger named Eric.

Animals in the Aberdares...

2012-01-01T09:08:00.001-08:00

While in Aberdares National Park, we saw many interesting animals and birds, including: bushbuck, red duikers, reedbuck, waterbuck, suni (another small antelope-type critter), buffalo, colobus and sykes monkeys, bush pigs, Augur and mountain buzzards, cinnamon-chested bee eaters, and Hartlaub's Turacos (very colourful birds with scarlet-red wings that I was only able to photograph in a horribly backlit fashion). Ahh... the range of creatures that exist in Kenya is truly amazing.

Scenes from the road...

2011-12-25T04:35:00.001-08:00

The lower road into the Great Rift Valley can be nerve-wracking, at its best, and downright terrifying, at its worst. The greatest danger is the volume of huge trucks that ply the road, often with poor brakes, suspension systems and an intense propensity to break down. Along the valley, with a drop of thousands of metres to the valley floor below, it can cause heart palpitations to see one of these ancient behemoths on your tail, overloaded and with smoking brakes. On our way out of the valley just before Christmas, we stopped for a minute to give our car a break and an old truck also paused at the same spot. Dozens of litres of water were poured over the engine and, after about 5 minutes, the truck lumbered along. Behind the yellow truck you can see two other trucks passing on the narrow road. Harrowing, indeed.

Development projects are underway!

2011-12-25T04:02:00.001-08:00

While in the Rift Valley before Christmas, we stopped in at the IDP camp to meet with the two co-operative groups beginning to make crocheted plastic bags. We've been working with these groups since last spring to get these initiatives off the ground and, on this visit, we picked up several prototype bags. They are all amazing and each bag is unique. We can't wait to order more and then bring back as many as possible this summer to sell to friends back home! It was also a blessing to introduce Rebecca to all of our friends at the Vumilia camp, and to show her the library along the way.

Critters at Carnelly's...

2011-12-25T03:56:00.000-08:00

After our Hell's Gate bike and hike adventure, we stayed in a banda at Carnelly's campground for the night, anticipating a long hike up Mount Longonot the following morning. Alas, our hike had to wait for another day because poor Rebecca ended up quite sick throughout the night. Our stay at Carnelly's was further enhanced by droves of mosquitoes (recent rains seem to have had a positive effect on the breeding rates of mosquitoes on the lake) and the appearance of several large, black spiders in the banda once it got dark. We all hunkered in our mosquito nets and hit the trail back to Nairobi after breakfast, vowing to come back to hike Longonot before the holidays end. On the upside, we were treated to some nice bird sightings: some hybrid lovebirds and a lilac-breasted roller were particularly nice.

A visit to Hell's Gate...

2011-12-25T03:45:00.000-08:00

On December 23rd, we left Nairobi bright and early and drove to Hell's Gate National Park in the Lake Naivasha area. We rented some dubious bicycles from the park gate and biked 7 km. in to the gorge, spotting zebra and gazelles and waterbuck along the valley floor as we pedalled along. It was a beautiful day, topped off with a 2-hour hike in the gorge, formed about 450 years ago when nearby Mount Longonot exploded and sent volumes of lava down into the Rift Valley. Angelina Jolie spent several days here while filming Tomb Raider 2; the scenery is spectacular and volcanic activity far below the surface still keeps many hot springs active. We encountered several streams of boiling or very hot water on our hike, and we also came upon a sun snake and a green mamba snake in the canyon. Yikes! Hannah stayed in Nairobi with a friend and enjoyed making gingerbread houses while we visited the gorge.

Visiting Margaret's village...

2011-12-25T03:39:00.000-08:00

Margaret, our wonderful housekeeper and cook, lives in a small village about 40 minutes from our house in Nairobi (between Karen and Dagoretti). Just before Christmas we visited her house for lunch and walked around the village with members of her family. Her nephew, Daniel, helps run a school program for village children who otherwise would not be able to afford to go to school, and we had a chance to meet dozens of the children and the two teachers. It was a wonderful day, and Margaret's granddaughters loved dancing and playing with our girls.

Rebecca has arrived for Christmas!

2011-12-25T03:33:00.001-08:00

We were all counting the hours and minutes until Rebecca's plane touched down in Nairobi on December 18th. What a blessing to have our whole family together for Christmas, especially because this year Rebecca gets to stay in Kenya for almost three weeks!

A wonderful lunch with Douglas and his family...

2011-12-04T09:29:00.001-08:00

During our recent visit to the Vumilia IDP camp, we were invited to have lunch at the home of Douglas, the leader of the youth organization at the camp. Douglas has been the point person on the library project for months, and 2 months ago he also became a father. We were treated to a substantial lunch of rice, vegetable stew and lentils, all prepared by Douglas's mother, and it was absolutely delicious. What a blessing to share lunch with such strong and wonderful people.

New projects at the IDP camp: solar lighting & crocheted bags!

2011-12-04T09:20:00.000-08:00

At the end of November, Brian and I spent a day down at the IDP camp visiting friends and working on new development projects. Thanks to a generous Freedom Through Learning donor, we were able to buy a solar lighting system for the library, which means people can enjoy reading in the library into the evening. This is an exciting addition to the project. As well, we were able to meet with the two women's cooperatives that have formed to talk about the crocheted plastic bag projects, and about our involvement. The ladies have been very busy and we're hoping to bring many bags home with us this summer. The sale of these bags will begin to offer economic stability and independence for several families, and we are so excited to be part of what is happening. While we visited, rain poured down for the duration of the afternoon, which is quite a rare occurrence for this part of the Rift Valley. Gardens are growing and the area is greener than we have ever seen it before. This is good news for the residents of Vumilia, but torrential rains are causing flooding and disasters in other parts of Kenya.

A drum, a drum, Macbeth doth come!

2011-12-04T09:18:00.001-08:00

After months of rehearsals, the ISK production of Shakespeare's Macbeth was celebrated on stage at the end of November. Hannah played several roles, including the nurse, a gentlewoman and a soldier. Several students at school are still spouting Shakespeare at random times, which, for all members of the English department, is a lovely phenomenon!

New Freedom Through Learning partner...

2011-12-04T09:14:00.000-08:00

Towards the end of November, Brian spent part of an afternoon at the Morningstar Youth Education Centre in Kangemi. This part of Nairobi is a slum where most people live in small, tin shacks; in the midst of Kangemi is this little school where several teachers are doing their best to provide elementary education to 150 children. This school is a new Freedom Through Learning partner. Stay tuned to hear more about the specific needs of this school.

Critters galore...

2011-11-17T10:41:00.001-08:00

Every now again, we can't help but post some photos of our domestic critters (Ginger and Pepper, the cats, and Sushi, the dog). Last week, we also got up close and personal with a few wild critters, namely a giant slug that crawled in through the bathroom window and affixed itself to the toothpaste (yuck!) and a reed frog. We think this might be a jumping reed frog or a variation on a regular reed frog. One lives outside the biology lab at school in a lovely little pond. During the day it crawls up the reed and tucks itself in the foliage, waiting for nighttime to become active. The incredible thing is that last week, Brian was walking in the high school area and looked down at his watch, only to discover that one of these reed frogs had somehow attached itself to the watch face (where and how and when this happened is a complete and bizarre mystery). After showing the frog off for a few minutes, Brian took the frog over to the pond and, for a few days, the resident reed frog and the "watch" frog got quite cozy. While Brian's frog has now disappeared (off to find more ponds and lady friends, perhaps), the biology teacher is hoping there will soon be tadpoles swimming in the pond.

Canadians unite at ISK International Day...

2011-11-17T10:36:00.000-08:00

On Friday, November 11th, ISK held its annual International Day. Highlights for us were the parade of nations (where we got to dress up and march along with fellow Canadians - very fun) and the food festival, which featured food from all around the world. We ate a lot of kimchi, jap chae, and Scottish shortbread. It was a great day and it was impressive to see the ISK students and staff all lined up, representing 96 countries. Wow - what a diverse school community.

Back to Brown's...

2011-11-06T07:19:00.001-08:00

Last spring when I had the chance to tour Brown's cheese factory (a local, family-run cheese factory that produces a wide range of delicious cheeses), Brian was busy writing reports and couldn't come. This past Sunday we had the chance to head out again, along with several other members of the ISK "Foodie" group, to enjoy a tour and a sumptuous lunch. After many servings of wonderful cheese, we somehow made our way to the car to return to Nairobi, feeling blessed that there is such a fantastic source of cheese in this neck of the woods.

Our neighbourhood coffee plantation...

2011-11-06T07:15:00.001-08:00

Just five minutes from the edge of Loresho Crescent lies a gorgeous coffee plantation. On Sunday (November 5th) we took Sushi off to the plantation for a lovely walk in the sun. Accompanying us was Sarah, a friend of our friend (also named Sarah) who now teaches in Uganda and who used to teach with us in Korea. The coffee cherries were plentiful and many had turned a ripe, rich red.

The beauty of tea country...

2011-11-05T03:15:00.000-07:00

To cap off our visit with Fran, Susan and Donna, we spent a day at Kiambethu Tea Farm, about 45 minutes from our house in Nairobi and smack in the middle of tea country. It is set in a gorgeous landscape of rolling hills and deep valleys, all of a verdant green because of the lush tea growing in abundance. What a wonderful way to spend our last day together.

October adventures...

2011-11-05T02:49:00.000-07:00

The month of October flew by in an incredible blur. Perhaps because it is Hannah's senior year, the weeks and months are moving much too quickly for us. We were blessed with a wonderful 10 days, though, with Grammas Fran and Susan and one of my mom's friends, Donna. We toured Amboseli National Park, Lake Naivasha, many sites around Nairobi, the IDP camp and the Ilkengarre and Inchurra Maasai villages (where we also made Freedom Through Learning deliveries of supplies). It was such a wonderful visit, with the exception of my mom breaking her wrist because of a tumble down our stairs. We all told her there are easier ways to get a tour of the local hospital!

Introductions...

2011-09-18T07:48:00.001-07:00

Last Friday we adopted a 7-year-old dog named Sushi, and she has been settling nicely into life with the Lavenders. She is very smart and adaptable and pretty darn cute, too. Only the cats are dubious about Sushi's presence in the house, and there is still much spitting and hissing when Sushi strays into the cats' personal bubble zone (which has grown to at least 10 feet when she is around!).

Also, on Sunday, September 18th, we attended the annual Storymoja literary festival here in Nairobi. The big highlight of the day was hearing Ben Okri speak, and then chatting for a few minutes with him while we had some books signed. Okri is the author of numerous books including The Famished Road (which won the Booker Prize in 1991).

Exploring the bustling Kamba market...

2011-09-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

After delivering books to Starehe Boy's School in the Eastleigh district of Nairobi, we stopped to poke around at the large Kamba market nearby. This is a real working market when you can see many artisans and employees at work making beaded sandals, woven baskets and decorative gourds. This market has a very different atmosphere than the more commercial Maasai Markets at the big malls in the city. We originally stopped to buy some woven shopping bags but, of course, ended up buying a few more items. While shopping, we saw a car arrive that was full of live chickens. It didn't seem to be a typical delivery vehicle!

Books from Korea to Starehe...

2011-09-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning (Sept.17), we drove over to the Starehe Boys' School and delivered boxes of science videos and bibles from TCIS. What a blessing it was to feel connected to our community of friends and colleagues back in Korea, and to see the excitement of the science teacher at Starehe as she surveyed the collection of videos she will now be able to use. Thanks, TCIS! :)

Birds and more birds...

2011-09-03T07:01:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying the many different types of birds that visit our new garden, and our favourites so far as the little colourful sunbirds that enjoy the flowers right next to the house. The males are a brilliant blue, purple and yellow and one, in particular, is fascinated with our television room. He actually flew right into the house on Wednesday and explored a bit. We are really hoping that Ginger and Pepper don't take too much of a keen interest in our new feathered friends. Also, at school, there is a pair of spotted Eagle Owls roosting in a tree, keeping a close eye on their owlet who is sheltered in a nearby tree. Some middle school students have created an owl viewing platform outside of their classroom. Hands-on education like that is pretty wonderful.

Our New Nairobi Home...

2011-09-03T06:56:00.000-07:00

This August we moved from our urban apartment to a lovely house in a quiet neighbourhood called Loresho. We have a wonderful yard, gardens and patio, and the house has a fireplace and a separate TV room for teenage gatherings. It's fantastic! Best of all - it's very, very quiet. Hannah says it's so quiet that her ears sometimes ring. We figure that's just about perfect.

Motoring around Ontario...

2011-08-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

The bulk of our summer was spent motoring around Ontario. Using Peterborough as our home base, we tried to spend as much time as we could with Rebecca (in either Ottawa or Peterborough). Additional highlights included Kincardine, Toronto (especially Steffi's birthday party, watching the Blue Jays play at the Rogers Centre, and enjoying martinis at the Royal York), Sudbury (heavenly Sudbury) and visiting family and friends.

Perfect Paris...

2011-08-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

After five glorious days in London, we spent another five wonderful days in Paris. The two cities are so different and both are so fabulous. Highlights included: Notre Dame and St. Chapelle cathedrals, the Louvre, our downtown loft apartment, cycling at Versailles and lots of incredible food and wine. Who does cuisine better than the French? Oooh la la.

London lay-over

2011-08-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

This is a very belated post, but in June we spent five glorious days in London visiting Fausta, Jonathan and Nadia, and surveying the sites of England's capital. Highlights included: the Tower of London, the Dr. Who Experience (awesome!!), a day with our friend Emily, the Globe Theatre, the British Museum, double-decker buses, shopping at Primark (this was NOT a highlight for Brian), a sacred service at Westminster Abbey, and enjoying as much fish and chips as we could manage. Oh, and ale... lots and lots of delicious ale.

Updates Coming Soon!

2011-08-14T05:39:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, the summer melted away and here we are, back in the swing of the 2011/12 school year. We have photos to share from the summer (including our 10-day trip to London and Paris and our adventures in Ontario) and from our return to Kenya. It is good to be back in some semblance of a routine and we have settled into our new home in Loresho (a suburb in Nairobi). We have a lovely 4-bedroom bungalow with a big yard and a working fireplace (lovely during these chilly "winter" evenings in Nairobi) and I promise to post photos really, really soon. :)

The smallest church in the world...

2011-06-05T05:39:00.000-07:00

We have driven past this little church dozens of times this year and finally stopped in on Saturday. It's a tiny chapel in the Rift Valley and it was built in 1942 by Italian POWs. According to Mrs. Miller, the woman who has been restoring the church over the last several years, this is the smallest church in the world (although we're not sure of the validity of that statement!). It is a very tiny church and the original paintings are still preserved. The story goes that the POWs built the church on their lunch breaks over a period of five years.

Last visit of the year to the Vumilia IDP Library...

2011-06-05T05:31:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, June 4th, we made our last trip of the year down to the Vumilia IDP camp in the Rift Valley. ISK art students had painted an old desk for the library (to serve as the librarian's desk) and their vibrant designs gave the desk a new sense of life and purpose. We delivered the desk on Saturday along with a box of books from Canada that arrived last week. A wonderful selection of Robert Munsch stories, Clifford and Franklin stories, and young adult fiction titles have now joined the offerings on the library shelves. During our visit we were able to chat with the country director for Habitat for Humanity; he was on site to direct a team of 200 doctors and church members building houses for the day. We are already looking forward to finishing up projects at the library in 2011/12, and we are also excited about the budding women's cooperative and our involvement with their economic empowerment projects. What a blessing to be involved with this community!

Shangalia... celebrating the performing arts in a Nairobi slum

2011-05-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, May 21st, Brian and I (along with a teaching friend and colleague, Misha) visited Shangalia, a children's centre in one of Nairobi's slums. This is a very special place that, for 16 years, has been using the performing arts to help street kids deal with their experiences. Next year Misha and I are planning to have our Global Issues Network students visit Shangalia on Wednesday afternoons to help with the school program at Shangalia and to partner in many other ways; while we were visiting to chat further about what the partnership could look like, we were treated to some performances by the children. Acrobatics, brass band, dance... many performing arts are celebrated at the centre which, in English, is called Rejoice.

Shakespeare on the outdoor stage...

2011-05-25T10:57:00.001-07:00

At ISK we have a beautiful arts centre that includes a circular outdoor ampitheatre, the perfect place for our grade 9 students to perform Romeo and Juliet last week. Cora played the nurse at the Capulet ball, and the entire grade 9 class presented key scenes from the play with a great sense of dramatic flair.

Starehe Girls' School... a new partner

2011-05-08T01:37:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, May 7th, Brian and I spent the morning at the Starehe Girls' School on the outskirts of Nairobi. Surrounded by coffee fields and forest, the school sits on 55 acres of donated land and, since 2005, has been educating high school girls. All of the girls (almost 400 are enrolled at the school this year) are on scholarships and come from poor families. The girls' school was started as a partner school to the Starehe Boys' School (which we've also partnered with), which, for 50 years, has been offering excellent education to underprivileged boys. There were so many impressive things we saw at the Starehe Girls' School: polite, hard-working students; immaculate classrooms and dorms; beautiful grounds; innovative and hands-on learning projects such as a small farm with gardens and cows (the manure produced by the 14 cows at the farm is mixed with water and fermented to produce biogas that fuels one of the stoves in the school's kitchen and the cows are milked every day to provide fresh milk for meals). What a beautiful school and a beautiful vision for education. I can't wait to get some of my Global Issues Network students out to see this school, particularly because some of them ran a workshop about the value of educating girls in developing nations at the recent GISS conference. (See www.girleffect.org for more information about this, and about how the Starehe Girls' School is such an important investment in Kenya's future.)

New Maasai Partners & a Visit to Amboseli...

2011-05-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

On Monday, May 2nd, we traveled down to Amboseli National Park to meet with Daniel, the schoolmaster at the Ilkengaare Community School we've been working with all year. After catching up with him, we drove to a nearby Maasai community where Daniel introduced us to friends and family living there. The school in this village (called Inchurra Maasai Community School) has some needs that we may be able to help meet through Freedom Through Learning. We were treated to a welcome dance and a visit with village leaders, as well as a visit to the school before we went back to Daniel's traditional home for tea and chapatis. It was a fabulous day, topped off with some close-up encounters with beautiful elephants on the way out of the park.

Books on the shelves...

2011-05-01T08:01:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, April 30th, Brian and I traveled back to the Vumilia IDP camp in the Rift Valley with a team of 20 ISK students to engage in a Habitat for Humanity build. Since our last visit about 10 houses had been completed, with just over 120 left to go until everyone is housed. In one of these photos you can see a makeshift tent (from UNHCR tarps) that a family has been living in for three years. During the build, we took students over to our Freedom Through Learning library that will officially open on Tuesday, May 2nd! Books are now on the shelves, posters are on the walls and community members will soon be reading the many donated books we have collected. It is so exciting. I took time to read with the kids while I was there, and I also met with two enterprising women, Monica and Rosemary, about the possibility of getting a women's cooperative started to make and sell purses made from recycled plastic bags. There are so many wonderful things happening here, and we are building some beautiful friendships with this community. In fact, we went home with some eggs from Rosemary and Monica's chickens and some hot peppers from Monica's gardens - people can be so generous when they have so little.

Community library set to open!

2011-04-25T08:48:00.001-07:00

Almost all year Brian and I have been working on a Freedom Through Learning project linked to the IDP (Internally-Displaced Persons) camp we are connected with through Habitat for Humanity. A goal of the youth leaders at the camp was to establish a community library, as there are absolutely no books and educational resources available in the community. So, all year we have been collecting books and on Friday we were able to deliver boxes and boxes (over 500 books!) to the IDP camp. We spent the day cataloguing and organizing books under the supervision of Edmond, a librarian from nearby Naivasha who came to volunteer his time. In a week or two the library will officially open, and in about six months we will be able to deliver many more books that are en route from Canada, the States and Korea. This project has been an absolute blessing to be a part of and we can't wait to see some of our favourite kids from the camp (particularly Cecilia, Eunice, Stephen and James) reading books in the newly-painted space. What a beautiful way to spend Good Friday.

Off to Mozambique with students...

2011-04-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

In the middle of April, I (LeeAnne) flew off to Maputo, Mozambique with 14 ISK students and one more ISK teacher. Our destination: the Global Issues Service Summit, Africa's equivalent of the Global Issues Network conferences I have been attending with students for three years in Asia. It was an inspiring and moving four days, and my students came back full of passion and conviction that they can change the world. What a blessing to accompany them on this trip. Maputo, as a capital city, is on the coast and features some stunning Portuguese architecture. Also, I was blessed to spend a day at a children's home called Project Liberty, where about 20 children (many who are HIV positive) are loved and cared for by an incredible American woman and a small, dedicated staff.

Prom & Speeches...

2011-04-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

After a busy month, I am finally getting around to posting some photos from our April adventures! It's been a great month, full of a lot of Freedom Through Learning activity (check out the website: www.freedomthroughlearning.org to catch up on some of what we've been up to). Also, Hannah and Cora got all dressed up for prom at the beginning of April, and Cora was one of 12 finalists in the high school speech competition a few weeks later. This was a high-profile and event and she delivered her speech about fair trade vs. free trade with confidence and grace. She is pictured, above, with the entire group of finalists (three students per grade level) and also with the other two grade nine finalists (Raihan and Nandie).

Dhows and dreamin'...

2011-04-03T07:54:00.001-07:00

The March break trip we took to Lamu Island was, perhaps, the most relaxing trip we have ever had. Hanging out on our rooftop terrace reading and napping, swimmming, getting to know the locals in Shella (an abundance of sit com characters!) and sailing on dhows. It was a restful and restorative place.

Beaching it on Lamu...

2011-04-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

The beach on Lamu Island, in the village of Shella where we stayed, stretches for kilometres and kilometres. It's absolutely gorgeous and we loved swimming and walking here. In addition, one day when we were feeling adventurous we rode donkeys on the beach with a few friends of the girls who happened to also be vacationing on the coast. We weren't brave enough to ride the camels after we rode the donkeys...

Historic Swahili ruins...

2011-04-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

On our March break, we traveled to Lamu Island and spent a week relaxing, swinging on a hanging Lamu-style bed and exploring ancient ruins. The Swahili settlements in this part of coastal Kenya (very close to the border with Somalia) date back to the 15th century, which is pretty amazing. Lamu town itself still maintains a deep sense of history. For Brian, a history teacher, it was a fabulous trip.

Fresh, local cheese and an organic garden tour... a delightful Sunday afternoon

2011-03-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

A group of ISK teachers got together at Brown's Cheese outside of Nairobi on Sunday afternoon (March 13th) to tour the cheese factory and garden, sample fresh cheeses and enjoy the countryside. It was delightful.

Crescent Island with friends!

2011-03-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

From March 3rd to March 12th, we were blessed to have three wonderful visitors come to Nairobi. Our dear friend Sarah (who now teaches at the International School of Uganda and taught with us at TCIS), Elizabeth (now finishing her master's degree in the US and another TCIS friend) and Shannon (a Durham Christian High School friend now teaching at the American International School of Cairo) all visited to explore the sites. We spent the weekend touring around Nairobi and spent a day out at Lake Naivasha walking with the animals at Crescent Island. Then our friends spent some time at Amboseli National Park all together before dividing up for the rest of their trips. It was a wonderful visit.

Relaxing at Olerai House...

2011-02-20T06:15:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-02-20T06:10:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-02-20T05:54:00.000-08:00

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!

Delivering novels to our Maasai friends...

2011-01-05T21:53:00.000-08:00

On January 4th we made a day trip down to Amboseli to visit our Maasai partners and deliver a box of 85 books. Our friend, Devin Jones, a middle school teacher at ISK, had teamed up with us and asked his students to bring in books for young adult readers. We expected we might get around 30 books and ended up with over 80! Daniel, the head school teacher at the Ilkengarre Maasai community school, was excited to receive the novels and had us come and spend some time with the children. School had just resumed the day before, after a 6-week break, and Daniel spent time handing out school supplies we had delivered about seven weeks ago. After visiting the school for almost an hour, we walked to the adjacent village and spent another hour having tea with Daniel and a few other people in Daniel's home. It was a very special time, topped off with a chance for us to thank the community for their donation of hand-made goods; the Maasai crafts will be sold at an upcoming ISK event to help fund another Freedom Through Learning project. What a great way to kick off 2011!

Family adventures to usher in the new year...

2011-01-05T20:53:00.000-08:00

It was such a blessing to have Rebecca come to Kenya during the Christmas break, from December 24 - January 2. It just felt right to have everyone together for the holidays, and we tried to see as much of Nairobi and the surrounding parks as we could during Rebecca's visit. Here are some family photos from Christmas, including a New Year's Eve photo at Fogo Gaucho, a Brazilian BBQ restaurant in Nairobi. We're already dreaming of next year's Christmas vacation and more sights we can share with Rebecca.

Rhinos at Lake Nakuru...

2011-01-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

After our Christmas trip to the Mara, Rebecca had seen four of the "big five": elephants, buffalo, lions and a leopard. But no rhino. So we took a day trip up to Lake Nakuru National Park in search of rhino so she could round out her Kenyan game drives. Not only did we see many white rhino (including a mother with a baby), but we also spied a black rhino in the bush beside a back road in the park. These elusive and endangered creatures are very hard to see in the wild, so we considered ourselves to be very lucky, indeed.

A real African lion safari...

2011-01-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

To make Rebecca's Christmas trip to Kenya really special, we traveled to the Maasai Mara, Kenya's world-renowned national park, for three nights and three days. It was an amazing experience. We saw dozens of lions, including a male and female eating a dead buffalo. We also spied a leopard at close range (basically, right above our heads as we parked underneath a tree out in the Mara). Not to mention elephants, buffalo, wildebeest, gazelles, zebras, giraffes, jackals, etc. It was a fantastic trip.

Thoughts about Christmas and the IDP camp community library...

2010-12-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

On Saturday and Tuesday, Brian and I spent time at the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp near Maai Mahiu in the Rift Valley. We had originally visited the camp and met many wonderful people here during an ISK Habitat for Humanity build back in the fall. During that visit, we talked at great length with a young man named Eric who has taken on a leadership role among the youth of the camp. After the terrible violence that these people experienced in the post-election chaos of 2007, several hundreds of people were relocated to the Rift Valley. Almost 150 people/families are still living in tents made of wood and plastic and it has been very difficult for people to start over. They all lost everything when they fled from violence (mostly around Eldoret) and the area of the Rift Valley where they now live is a dry, dry place. It is difficult to establish gardens because the sun is so hot and direct here (the result of overgrazing and deforestation for decades before the IDP camp was established).

Yet, in the midst of such challenges and hardship, it is amazing that so many people have hope for the future. Many young people (such as Eric, Jeremiah, Nathaniel and Douglas - all pictured in the photos with this post) have stepped up and are organizing sports leagues for the youth; a tree nursery so that perhaps, with time, the area can become green again and the rains will come back; and a community library. This is why we were visiting this past week. The young men want to transform a room in one of the houses (provided by an elderly woman) into a community library. They are already planning to build shelving and they believe that literacy and education are the way forward for the young people in the IDP camp. They have a passion to help their community not only survive, but thrive; this was evident in a big celebration they organized for the 450 children of the 9 Rift Valley IDP camps last Saturday.

While establishing community libraries is a new type of project for Freedom Through Learning, we are so excited to partner with these young men. They have launched their own organization (called the Jiinue Education, Economic and Talent Empowerment Group - Jiinue means "to pull up or pull together" in Swahili) and they have a dream of opening the library on Easter weekend. They are going to provide the shelving, the librarian and the organization of the space; we are going to help provide as many books as we can.

This ties into my thoughts about Christmas in so many ways. While we were chatting with Eric on Tuesday he told us that it only costs 205 Kenyan shillings (about $2.75 US) to buy the school supplies a primary student needs for an entire school term. This ensures the ability of that student to attend school for the term - isn't that staggering? For less than the cost of a Tim Horton's coffee, a child can receive education for a whole term. Of course, given the IDP community's limited resources, it's not always possible for families to come up with this kind of money. I have been thinking about one family, in particular, in this regard: it is a family of five children, the oldest of which (a 16-year-old named Hannah) is trying to stay in school while caring for her four younger siblings. The youngest is 2. Her father did not come with the family to the Rift Valley and her mother has abandoned the family. Now the siblings are on their own in the midst of unbelievable circumstances. Many times they are given food by others, including two Kenyans who work for a charitable foundation in the nearby village.

In the face of these stories, and in the face of the optimism and hope that so many people here have for a better future, it makes me contemplate Western consumerism in the Christmas season with increasing dismay. I think that if more people from Canada, the US, Korea and other privileged nations could meet Eric, Hannah, Douglas, Jeremiah, Nathaniel and so many other people here, priorities and habits might change. My prayers are becoming more fervent for North American churches and believers to think about the distribution (and redistribution) of the world's resources. I find myself hoping this Christmas that more people (including myself) would truly believe in what love can accomplish on our planet.

What a blessing it is to be here and feel part of something bigger. God is so good.

Carols and Candlelight at the Karen Blixen Museum...

2010-12-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday night we drove out to the Karen Blixen Museum (in the home where Karen Blixen, also known as Isak Dinesen, author of Out of Africa, lived while trying to establish a coffee plantation from 1914 - 1931) for an evening of carols by candlelight. Hosted by the Karen Vineyard Church, the evening has become an annual event and it was simply magical. We arrived early and had time for a tour of Blixen's home before we found a lovely spot to spread out our picnic blankets and enjoy some dinner with our friend, Margaret. Warm mulled wine was passed around as candles were lit and carols were sung. Combining a picnic with festive caroling was a new phenomenon for our family and we loved it. What a glorious, wonderful way to celebrate the Christmas message.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

2010-12-13T04:56:00.000-08:00

We have decorated for Christmas! As we anxiously await Rebecca's arrival in Nairobi, we've channeled our energy into adorning our apartment with lights and baubles (many of which are hanging from branches of the live Cypress tree that is our Christmas tree this year). Before decorating, Cora dismantled the enormous and creative cardboard fort that she had built in our room after our shipment arrived. Of course, the kitties have been enjoying all of this activity, and are getting into as much naughty business as possible. We also hosted a fun ISK "newbie" Christmas party on Sunday and have attended many festive get-togethers. It's been a fun season so far!

The Starehe Boys' School

2010-12-13T04:50:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, we braved some unbelievably chaotic traffic circles in Nairobi to get to the Starehe Boys' School. Brian has been talking with Charles (the head librarian there) for weeks about getting some resources to the school (bibles from TCIS in South Korea and textbooks from Canada). This is an incredible place that, for 50 years, has been offering disadvantaged boys access to excellent education. There are now well over 800 boys enrolled at the school (which is primarily a boarding school, as boys come from all over the country); 75 per cent of the students receive scholarships that allow them to graduate with a full high school diploma. Many go on to study at Nairobi universities. In fact, on Saturday we ran into one alumnus (now a lawyer) who was getting married that afternoon in the school's chapel. You can tell this is a special place and we are excited to be able to get involved with supplying some resources. Two years ago a girls' school also opened, and there are now 350 students studying there. We can't wait to see if there are needs for resources there, and if some of our teacher-friends from around the world can find resources to match. :)

Monkey business...

2010-11-28T04:56:00.000-08:00

While driving to meet Daniel and Supok at the Amboseli Serena Lodge, we observed lots of wildlife, including baby baboons and vervet monkeys. So cute! Driving along the road to the park we saw a gorgeous herd of giraffes, along with some zebras. And, approaching the park gate, a giraffe loped right across the road in front of our car (which didn't break down this time, by the way!). It has rained recently in the park and the swampy areas looked quite lush and wet; elephants and water buffalo were munching with wild abandon.

Taking school supplies to our Amboseli partners...

2010-11-28T04:50:00.000-08:00

On Saturday (November 27th) Brian and I loaded up the car with school supplies and drove out to Amboseli National Park. We had met members of a Maasai community when we vacationed in the park in October, and Brian has been corresponding since then with Daniel, a teacher who runs the community school. We are really excited about the relationship and partnership that is developing between Freedom Through Learning and this particular school. There are some longer-term plans to assist with teacher training and organizing the school curriculum, and the Maasai parents are going to contribute goods that can be sold to help fund future shipments (either to their community or to other schools). We spent three hours chatting with Daniel and Supok (the village leader) on Saturday before we delivered the first batch of supplies for the school. It was a wonderful and fascinating day and God seemed to "show up" at every turn. What a blessing.

Meanderings in France...

2010-11-24T10:43:00.001-08:00

After our visit to Ulungu, I (LeeAnne) boarded a plane and flew off to southern France to attend a teachers' conference; in particular, I went to participate in sessions related to the Global Issues Network movement. I stayed in Nice, on the shores of the Mediterranean and, when I wasn't at the conference, I wandered around the old city, the Matisse Museum, the Modern Art Museum and the nearby medieval, walled village of Eze. Of course, along the way I ate as much lovely food as I could... ahhh...

Visiting Ulungu...

2010-11-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, November 16th, we were blessed with a visit to Ulungu, a small village about four hours south-east of Nairobi. Ulungu has been linked to our home church in Peterborough for several years, and the drilling of the well here was a big part of our family's prayer life for many years when the girls were much younger. To be able to meet people from the community we have prayed for, for so many years, was a beautiful gift. We took part in a ceremony to mark the official end of the church/village partnership (which has resulted in a well, a water distribution system for the surrounding countryside, a medical clinic, and uniforms for many school-age children). Pastor Ben Mutea spoke, many people sang and gave speeches, and we were given lovely hand-made gifts by the village representatives. It was a wonderful day.

Art and drama...

2010-11-24T10:23:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago Hannah and Cora were able to showcase some of their wonderful, artistic talent. Cora's wonderful metal sculpture (that she welded in art class!), called "For The Birds", was displayed as part of an art show at the school. While the art show was on, Hannah also spent three nights on the stage as a lady-in-waiting in the school musical, Once Upon a Mattress. She was expressive, entertaining and very dramatic, and the production was fabulous!

A Habitat build in the Great Rift Valley...

2010-11-07T04:45:00.000-08:00

On Saturday three of us (Brian, Cora and I) woke up bright and early to participate in a Habitat for Humanity build in the Rift Valley, about one hour from Nairobi. The build took place in one of nine IDP (internally displaced persons) camps in the valley. The residents of the camps all experienced violence during the 2007 elections and have been living in the camps since then; the people we met mostly came from the Eldoret region. All of the hundreds of people who moved to the Rift Valley originally lived in tents and many still do. Habitat has a master list and is continuing to build simple, small 3-room homes for families according to their place on the list. We met many people who are living in tiny tents (several of which appear either in the foreground or background of the photos) and we worked on two homes during the day. Our jobs consisted of shoveling sand and rocks to make cement, carrying water in large jugs on our backs, moving hundreds of large (and heavy!) stones for the foundations, and then beginning to build the foundations. It was a very successful day and we were so blessed by the people we met and the stories they told. Many people are faithful Christians and one 61-year old woman (her name is Monica) praised God for her small tent and living in safety. She left everything behind when she moved from Eldoret and has no worldly possessions; she is caring for a 10-year old niece and a 10-year old nephew (the children of her two sisters who have died); and she doesn't know when her stone house will be built. Yet she exuded the joy of God in such a beautiful way. She was radiant, actually. What a lesson and testimony. We hope to return soon to visit this community and one student council representative is already dreaming up a clothing and shoe drive for the children of the settlement. A smart and visionary young man we met, named Eric, is also talking about organizing tree planting, sports programs and a community library on site. There is much to reflect on at the end of such a rich day.

Elephants in Amboseli National Park!

2010-10-23T06:06:00.000-07:00

Amboseli National Park, in the southern part of Kenya on the Tanzanian border, is famous for its elephants. Apparently it is THE park to visit if you want to see elephants and we found it lived up to its reputation (and then some!). There are herds of elephants everywhere in the park, many of which spend several hours a day in the park's swamps munching on green plants. We spent a significant amount of time with four herds while we were in the park (along with several solo elephants along the way). If you parked your car and just sat still, the elephants would drift around you as they slowly and deliberately wandered, ripping grass from the earth the whole time. The sound of the grass ripping from the ground and also of the elephants chewing the grass was overpowering and engrossing. In fact, while we drove in the quiet end of the park, we had herds to ourselves for hours, with no one else around for miles and miles. It was an incredibly still, serene and soulful experience. We watched adolescent elephants spar and play, babies nurse alongside their mothers, and large males watch over their families. The only tense moment came as we left the largest herd we spent time with. The biggest bull swung around as our car crept past, as if was deciding whether or not to charge our car. Another bull had just turned to face us, as well. Needless to say, Brian stepped on the gas pedal and scooted out of there as quickly as he could. Thank goodness the transmission hose didn't break at that moment!

Wildlife in Amboseli...

2010-10-23T06:02:00.001-07:00

We took too many amazing photos of wildlife to post on the blog (check them all out on Facebook!). But here are some highlights...

Our encounter with the Maasai...

2010-10-23T05:52:00.001-07:00

We had the privilege of visiting a remote Maasai village while at Amboseli, and we spent the better part of a full afternoon walking through the village, visiting the school, talking about the community and getting to know some people. We learned a few words in Maasai (Sopa! Ashayolang...) and we spent a full hour working out a price for a Maasai spear, a beaded wedding necklace and some beaded bracelets. It was a community affair, with all of the men seated and standing in a semi-circle. Daniel, one of the schoolteachers, was appointed as the businessman and he engaged in bargaining with enthusiasm. We had read about how long bargaining takes with the Maasai and, indeed, our experience was a lengthy but very enjoyable one. Lots of laughter, stories and pauses made the experience positive and good. In another post called "Car Trouble" you can read about some additional adventures with Chief Supak and his brother, John. John gave us a call the night after we returned to Nairobi (he is in charge of the village cell phone) and we think we'll be chatting with him again soon about ways Freedom Through Learning can support the village school. What a blessing.

Views from the tow truck... (see story below)

2010-10-23T05:49:00.000-07:00

Car trouble...

2010-10-23T05:37:00.001-07:00

This past week, on our trip to Amboseli National Park, our poor Subaru Forrester broke down three times. The poor 11-year-old hoses in the car just couldn't take the crazy washboard roads we used for days on end, and the transmission hose gave up the ghost. On the way down it broke the first time, thankfully right next to where a road construction crew was doing some road work. Some of the road guys were helpful and ascertained what the problem was. Brian worked with the guys to cut the hose and re-attach it, and then he rode into town to get multiple litres of transmission fluid. The whole process took about four hours but then we were rolling again! Everyone assured us the park wasn't too far but what they all failed to mention was that the road from the last village (Namanga) into the park gate was completely rutted with washboard for 67 kilometres! As we drove along, we realized it was getting dark and we still had hours to go (with a dubious repair job to boot). Brian and I envisioned spending the night by the side of the road, camped out in our car, fighting off lions or bandits. We were so relieved to arrive at the park gate in one piece! Two days later, after a wonderful afternoon at the Maasai village outside the park, we drove the chief and his brother, John, over to the Amboseli Serena Lodge (a very expensive lodge in the southern part of the park). As we coasted in to the gas pumps there, Brian commented that the steering felt funny in the car. Lo and behold, we had lost all of our power steering fluid and also cracked the transmission hose again, bleeding the transmission dry. It was another lucky break, though, because there couldn't have been a better place to break down - a ritzy bar with cold Tuskers was waiting. While Brian sorted out the repair (with the help of Chief Supak and John - and Supak's very large knife that was used to cut the hose again), the girls and I ventured into the lounge and reflected on our good fortune. After the repair was complete, Supak and John joined us at the bar for a drink and further conversation about their community school (and possible Freedom Through Learning partnerships there). We also talked at great length about the drought that has resulted in the death of all but two of the community's 400 cows. The situation is dire and the community has been ravaged. Supak believes education is the key to moving forward, and he is passionate about providing education for the community's children. We came home with a lot to think about, and with the beginnings of a relationship with a unique community. The following day, after driving on many more miles of washboard road before we hit the glorious tarmack, our poor car (which we have nicknamed Joey Africar) simply couldn't keep going. The transmission hose broke for the third and final time 75 kilometres south of Nairobi. Thank goodness an AA tow truck was able to come and get us (two hours later) and we rode back into town in high style, seated in our humbled Forrester on the back of the tow truck. It was quite an experience!

Braving a Nairobi mutatu...

2010-10-08T10:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had to take our car to get the brakes done. There is a garage just down the road and Brian decided it was time to muster up some courage and take a mutatu back to the apartment from the garage. To explain, a mutatu is a van that serves as public transportation here in Nairobi. There are hundreds of these vans in the city and they follow bus routes, picking up passengers along the way whenever someone flags one down. Apparently, up until a few years ago, the rules about mutatus were a lot looser and dozens of people would pile into one van. The laws are a lot tighter now and the vans are supposed to only take about 11 passengers each (although we have seen a lot of infractions in this regard). When it came time to go back to the garage, Brian convinced me (LeeAnne) to come along for a return mutatu ride. I was a bit dubious, as the mutatu drivers are quite erratic and aggressive, driving at fast speeds and in creative ways, veering onto the shoulder and cutting other drivers off at will (in fact, they strike fear in my heart whenever we drive in the city). This mutatu ride didn't let us down in terms of the fear factor. It was packed with passengers to the point that Brian and I shared a seat by the sliding door (I was perched on the edge, hoping I wouldn't get caught in the door when it was opened or opened - while the vehicle was in motion, I might add). The video is a bit chaotic because as soon as I turned the camera on, the mutatu stopped and we needed to get out of the mutatu to allow a gentleman in the back to exit the vehicle. The video doesn't fully capture the intensity and risk associated with a mutatu ride, but it does give a little taste of the experience. And we survived! :)

Literary Festival fun...

2010-10-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

On October 3rd, we took advantage of a wonderful 3-day literary festival in Nairobi and attended a session that featured two Kenyan poets (Tony Mochama and Njeri Wangari) and a British poet (Benjamin Zephaniah). It was so delightful to be engaged in a discussion about the power and purpose of poetry, with poets who are passionate about their craft, dialoguing and reading from their work. After being away from access to such events (in English) for awhile, it is a treat to be able to participate in such events and to be exposed to a whole new group of artists. We came away from the day with three fabulous books of poetry by Kenyan poets (along with several other books as well!). In the video you see Zephaniah performing one of his poems about his brother scoring a goal in a soccer game.

Meeting some folks on a Habitat site

2010-09-27T11:31:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Cora & Brian were part of a 21-person team that started the first Habitat for Humanity home in Eldama Ravine, north of Nakuru in rural Kenya. The village "watoto" (kids... plural!) came out to encourage our mostly-female Habitat team that worked under the supervision of a local construction expert. The Habitat client is a woman who earns a living selling honey at the side of the road. Her current home is a basic mud structure that is under attack by local insects. The H4H home, when finished, will be made of bug-proof stone! The honey-lady, as we called her, has become a H4H homeowner with "sweat-equity" and a long-term affordable mortgage. What a great opportunity to meet some great people and build some muscle!

Riding, English style...

2010-09-27T10:34:00.001-07:00

After her birthday trail ride this summer, Hannah fell in love with horses, and we've been lucky enough to find a horse farm not far from our apartment. Hannah and I went on Sunday for the first time and I took a lesson, too. Thank goodness my horse, Tornado, didn't live up to his name because I couldn't even canter without thinking I was going to plunge to my death. I spent most of the hour just walking along the track. Hannah, on the other hand, had a great time and learned how to trot easily. She'll be back again next weekend learning how to handle her horse, Janet, and she's very excited.

Our newest family members!

2010-09-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

For just over one week we have been enjoying a lot of cuddling with two little kittens who have joined our family. They are about 5 weeks old and they are currently named Ginger and Pepper (although there is an ongoing debate about whether or not those names will stick). Little Pepper only has one ear (a birth defect) and this makes her even cuter. The cats are adorable and very playful and entertain us all constantly. It's really nice to have some feline friends around again.

Flamingos and Wildlife at Lake Nakuru National Park...

2010-09-14T08:03:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we ventured to Lake Nakuru National Park to see more animals and were treated to up-close encounters with white rhino, a few lions, tonnes of baboons and vervet monkeys, water buffalo and lots of birds. Several monkeys really wanted into our car to get at our snacks and, right at the end of the day, one was successful. Brian turned his back for a minute while the front passenger door was open - that was all the opportunity this monkey needed. It leapt into the front seat, looked into the backseat where Hannah and Cora were shrieking, and grabbed a bag of dried apricots. It then climbed a nearby tree and opened up the bag to thoroughly enjoy our food. Very funny. It was a spectacular day!

More Adventures...

2010-09-05T04:52:00.000-07:00

This was a busy (and good!) week featuring a two-day getaway for all of us on Thursday and Friday. ISK has two-day trips at the beginning of the year for each high school class; the idea is to help each class gel at the beginning of the year, and activities are geared around team-building and relationship-building. It is a great idea, and both Hannah and Cora had a fabulous time with their classes. Cora went off to climb Mount Longonot and hike in Hell's Gate National Park; Hannah went to a wilderness camp south of the city to go rock climbing; and Brian and I went with the grade 10 class to Sagana, a wilderness area north of the city, where we did some white water kayaking (the group photo, above, shows the teaching team that accompanied the grade 10 group). Saturday saw a return to Karen to visit the kitties at the KSPCA, take a tour of the Kazuri Bead Factory (and of course another visit to the shop) and then to engage in a search to order bookshelves and desks from roadside furniture builders on the Ngong Road. It is such a colourful stretch of road! Handpainted signs, vendors and the sound of hammers and welding torches blend with free range goats and busy traffic. The bird sighting of the weekend involved a small flock of cinnamon-chested bee eaters just outside our apartment building. They are extremely beautiful.

Wildlife around Lake Naivasha...

2010-09-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, August 27 and 28, we spent two exploring the Great Rift Valley and Lake Naivasha. It was absolutely stunning! We spent Friday with the Wilders driving into the valley and exploring Crescent Island, an island made from the rim of a volcanic caldera that was teeming with non-carnivorous life. Zebras, wildebeest, hart beast, gazelles, impalas, giraffes, hippos and spectacular birds were abundant and we were able to stroll among the animals. It was so beautiful. We spent the night at a lovely quiet lodge on the edge of Crater Lake (aptly named because it is in the crater of an extinct volcano), where the only sounds were the crickets, frogs and - in the middle of the night - rowdy colubus monkeys on the roof of our cabin! We walked with a troop of about 20 giraffe through the woods at sunset and then, the next morning, enjoyed three hours of walking among the animals. It was a magical place. (More photos on Facebook - here are some highlights.)

A day in nearby Karen...

2010-08-22T08:15:00.001-07:00

On Saturday (August 21st), we drove to Karen, a village on the outskirts of Nairobi where Karen Blixen (who wrote Out of Africa) lived on her coffee plantation not so long ago. The area is beautiful and we spent the entire day out there. Our morning was spent at the KSPCA (Kenya Society for the Protection of Animals) where we cuddled cats and kittens. Cora and Hannah picked out two 3-day old kittens who will join our family in about 8 weeks, and they're already looking forward to visiting the kittens in a few weeks to see how they are doing. We then enjoyed a leisurely two-hour lunch at the Karen Blixen Restaurant (on part of the old estate), sitting at a table on the lawn and enjoying fabulous panini sandwiches, salads and fresh juices (it was quite divine). We topped off our afternoon with a visit to the Kazuri Bead factory, a company that employs over 350 women (mostly single moms) in producing gorgeous clay bead jewelery and pottery. Needless to say, our visa card got a workout. It was so nice to spend a day exploring and getting to know a new area. Also, on Sunday we picked up some handmade furniture we had custom-ordered for our apartment from a carpenter who works nearby on the roadside, and we are the proud new owners of a lovely side table for the hall entrance and a very cool custom TV stand (designed by Brian) made of rustic wood. The carpenter told Brian that the shape of the piece would be determined by the wood he had on hand, because God made the trees in a certain way and the shape had to be honoured in making the table. He definitely honoured the tree and made a beautiful TV stand for us. We feel like we're getting to know some local vendors and we're building relationships... the settling in continues.

We're settling into life in Nairobi, Kenya!

2010-08-16T12:21:00.001-07:00

After an incredibly busy summer in Hawaii and at home in Ontario, followed by two very busy weeks settling into life at the International School of Kenya, we are finally getting a post onto the family blog! We have been very delinquent and promise to post more soon.

Our first impressions of Kenya:
* driving is chaotic! (you drive on the "wrong" side of the road and battle pedestrians and matatus - small vans that serve as buses along narrow roads in most parts of the city we've been in so far)
* life is colourful: fabrics and carvings and houses are colourful and lively. Nairobi is abuzz with activity all the time. Also, there is green everywhere! Plants, trees and foliage are lush and we've heard things get even greener after the rainy season.
* the capital city is very diverse: people from all corners of the globe live here. When you go the grocery store you see an incredible array of people (rivaled only by the multicultural nature of Toronto!).
* ISK classes are also incredibly diverse: the discussions we have had in our classrooms so far have been rich and full of many perspectives. Wow.
* smiles abound here: everyone has a broad smile and a greeting ready, and it is easy to converse with people and enjoy pleasant conversation.
* it's so easy to operate in English! After four years in Korea, it seems very easy to read everything in English and to be able to ask for directions to various items in the grocery store.
* the dirt is red (like PEI!).
* birds are beautiful: we have black kites that soar outside our balcony window all the time, and we've seen some gorgeous African pied wagtails all over campus.
* the David Sheldrick Wildlife Centre (Elephant and Rhino Rescue Centre/Orphanage) is an incredible place where babies are given a chance to survive and then be re-integrated into the wild. Very cool.
* warthogs are bigger than we thought they might be. :)

These photos are from the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (Elephant Orphanage), the ISK campus, our apartment and a few scenes of life in Nairobi.

More thoughts to follow soon!

Graduation!

2010-05-29T22:11:00.001-07:00

This week Rebecca celebrated her graduation with formal Baccalaureate and Commencement services. We all cheered for her and are so proud of her (and the rest of the family is still processing the fact that our family is changing as Rebecca gets ready for university studies at the University of Ottawa next year).