5-31-2024 A great day at the school

Julius, our van driver last night, had his van at the convent to pick up one of our other teams and, sure enough, my flannel shirt was right where I left it! We left for Kongasis, Catherine's school, around 8am and the going was smooth until we got outside of Nairobi.  There is a two-lane road with lots of truck traffic between Mombasa on the coast of the Indian Ocean and other land-locked countries in east Africa and nearly every truck uses this route. This would not be so bad except for the terrain.  The road goes up and down the rift valley and the trucks can barely make the hills going up and they have their brakes actually smoking going downhill.  So cars and vans have to play a game of chicken every time they more over to pass. The veterans on the team have grown accustomed to this game, it was fun to watch Amanda's reaction to what looked like close calls.  She's a real trouper and adjusted quickly to how things are.  We eventually had to turn off on dirt roads that were in terrible shape after the recent torrential disaster rains and deadly flooding in that area.  We attempted several ways to get to the school only to have to turn back and try another one several times.  Our driver, David and friend Francis inquired of different locals about the best route and they got conflicting answers at times.  We were in a fairly new Toyota Land Rover, but even it, with 4-wheel drive, got bounced around quite a bit as some of the hills were rutted and dangerous.  Our driver David handled each obstacle as it came our way with skill and grace.

We arrived at the school around noon and were serenaded by the children, welcomed by the teachers and listened to Susan, the school headmaster and Catherine's sister-in-law as she too gave thanks for our getting there.  We were treated to a tour of each classroom and got to ask the students of all grade levels questions about their studies, their favorite subject, etc.  Many of the kids just had to touch our skin on our arms, they had never seen a muzungu (white person).  Our tour included maybe 7 or 8 classrooms of different grade levels and we learned of the challenges the school is facing, ranging from drinking water and electricity to lack of books, notepads, pencils and pens.  We asked most of the learners, as they are called, about their favorite subjects, difficulties, etc and encouraged them.  We were served a very nice hot lunch of chicken, rice, chapati and slaw by Susan and her team. Hospitality is a very high value in Kenyan culture and they were perfect hosts.  After lunch, we gathered with the children outside, and each of us visitors got to plant a tree on the school grounds.  As we were doing this, the children began touching our arms to see if we felt as different as we looked.  There was a lot of laughter as this was going on! One more gathering of everyone, a few words with the teachers and then I was asked to close with a prayer. What a blessing!

Our ride back was every bit as bumpy, but at least much of it was downhill.  Margaret, one of Catherine's many relatives both distant and near who helped guide our tour, join us on the way back.  We had a wonderful conversation with her and Francis about everything from the school to life in general.  She is quite a phone photographer, a genre unto itself and so we shared some of our pictures with each other and became social media friends to stay in contact.  We stopped at one of the Great Rift Valley overlooks that I had not been to yet and we took a bunch of group photos and shared a few more laughs. On the way back to Nairobi, we dropped Margaret off to head to her home, about an hour and a half journey for her.  We got back to Little Daughters just in time for dinner at 7pm only to find it was rice, vegetables from the convent garden and chicken, a daily double!  It was good, I spent the evening working with Catherine to plan our Saturday.  It looks like I won't get to do any safaris this time unless I arrange to stay over a day or two, which I may look into.  A small price to pay compared to what the rest of the team has been experiencing trying to get here.  Late at night, we heard that Arron and Sarah are finally on their way to London, so the final pieces of the puzzle are almost in place.  They should arrive in Nairobi Saturday night.  That's it for now.  More to follow as our adventures continue! Blessings!