The splendour of tea country...

On our way back from the Rift Valley on Saturday, we stopped in at Brown's Cheese to stock up on holiday cheeses and then soaked up the beauty of tea country. Dozens of workers were in the tea fields, picking leaves by hand and depositing them in big baskets strapped to their backs.

A visit with friends at Vumilia IDP camp...

On Saturday, December 15th, we finally got down to Vumilia IDP camp to visit friends and check in on the library (as well as deliver 40 pairs of shoes that my mom had purchased for kids there). We discovered a new Freedom Through Learning logo painted on the library wall (which looks fabulous!) and we spent three hours catching up with Rosemary, Monica, Douglas and many other friends. Samuel, who teaches and tutors kids at the camp, has also become an entrepreneur and opened a handy kiosk near the library where he sells flour, ugali and other staples. Business is beginning to take root in the camp, and gardens are flourishing. As we move towards the next election, people here are positive and optimistic that, this time, violence will not occur.

In conversation with Nawal el Saadawi...

On Friday, December 14th, a small group of ISK teachers and students spent the afternoon at a wonderful lecture/reading with Egyptian author Nawal el Saadawi. We teach Woman at Point Zero on one of our IB syllabi, and it was a fabulous opportunity for our students to meet the author is this thought-provoking and rich novel. In fact, three of our students went up on stage to ask questions and dialogue with el Saadawi about her work. She was incredibly articulate, warm and funny and it was a phenomenal opportunity to meet her and hear her talk about her work.

Extreme School Makeover!

On Saturday, December 8th, the ISK Habitat for Humanity crew drove to Morningstar Academy in Kangemi (one of our Freedom Through Learning partner schools) for an Extreme School Makeover project. In one day we did many things: built a latrine and two retaining walls, painted the interiors of three classrooms, painted the exterior of one whole section of the school and the bottom half of the rest of the school (plus all doors and wooden shutters), built 10 desks (that will hold 3 - 4 kids each), plus completely levelled and graded the small yard/entrance. Phew! It was a big day and we all felt like we had accomplished a lot when we pulled back into the ISK parking lot. One of the best moments of the day was at the end, as we sat and enjoyed a soda, talking with three Morningstar students and local Kangemi slum residents: Veronica, Sharon and Yvonne (the last 2 will be starting grade 2 in January and Veronica will start grade 1). They were such lovely girls, and it was a pleasure to make their school a better place. What a blessing to be part of projects like this here in Nairobi.

A new Freedom Through Learning Partner!

Towards the end of November, Brian and I drove up near Nyeri (in the Mount Kenya region of Kenya) to visit a brand new secondary school in a rural area. Peter Mumbia, who works in the science department at ISK, had asked us to go up and see the school with him. He actually attended the primary school there three decades ago and wanted see if Freedom Through Learning might be able to partner with a brand new secondary school that is in its infancy. There are no high schools around in the area, which means that students who want to continue their studies must either go to a boarding school or walk many kilometres each day. This, of course, deters most students from going on to get a high school education. So the folks at Thunguma Primary School have launched form 1 and form 2 (grade 9 and 10) themselves by moving some classrooms around and hiring two more teachers. As you can imagine, there are many needs in terms of curriculum and resources, as well as more classroom space. Keep turned to www.freedomthroughlearning.org to learn more about this amazing new school and some of the projects we'll hope to help with. It was a great day and the countryside up there is beautiful. We were also introduced to the best tea (grown on the volcanic soil on the slopes of Mount Kenya) we've ever had.

Another cool critter at school...

A few weeks ago, as we were setting up for parent/teacher conferences, Brian found this incredible moth in the gymnasium. It's wing was quite tattered but otherwise the moth seemed to be able to move about, and Brian relocated it under a big bush outside. The pink and yellow combination on the wings was so beautiful.

Witnessing Obama's win at the American embassy...

On election day, Brian and Cora (and a handful of additional ISK students) were invited to join folks at the American embassy to watch the election results pour in. At 4 a.m., my two intrepid political scientists ventured forth to pick up a few more kids and drive to the ambassador's residence. Our ISK group was quite diverse (American, Canadian, Greek, Israeli, South African) and the experience of being at the embassy during such a charged political event was powerful. Cora even ended up colouring in states on a big US map on behalf of the Democrats (Canadian interloper!). The ambassador ended the event with a speech about peace in the midst of political differences (very poignant for the Kenyan students in attendance). Wow - what an opportunity!

ISK's international flavour...

On Wednesday, ISK hosted its annual International Day. We are always amazed at the diversity at our school, and this year the Parade of Nations was fantastic. Of course, the Taste of Nations afterwards is always the biggest hit (we went straight for the South Korean table and loaded up on kim chi, kim bab and jap chae... oh, how we miss Korean food!).    :)

Birds!

Last week, our wonderful and adorable cats were not so adorable and wonderful. After dark, they somehow found 2 young mouse birds to terrorize, and we were able to save one. This little guy was happy to sit in Cora's hand for some time and, when he got restless, was able to fly up and over our hedge to safety. I love my cats, but...

On a happier note, we now have two chickens at our house! Margaret, our phenomenal housekeeper, brought a friend for Mrs. Cluckers. She is a beautiful village chicken that we're calling Miss Cluckers (or Mrs. and Miss for short). She's gorgeous and has also started laying eggs. Maybe goats and cows are next?

South Africa Part 3

One of the major highlights of our trip to South Africa was wildlife. Rock hyrax, gorgeous pigeons and many other birds, African penguins (from the only breeding colony on the continent!), Southern Right whales and great white sharks. Wow! What a display of nature's beauty and God's creativity.

South Africa Part 2

After four days in Johannesburg, we flew to beautiful Capetown and enjoyed so many sites and experiences. We went up the Table Mountain cable car (saving the hike for next time), enjoyed the view of Table Mountain from our condo across the bay, walked on the beach, enjoyed vineyards in Stellenbosch and Franschoek, drove to the Cape of Good Hope and then to Hermanus to see the whales and dive with great white sharks (post 3)! What a fabulous trip.