Some highlights from the week:
· Some guys from the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) and a carpenter joined Chris, and together they installed all the windows and door frames in the new building with the help of local workers who also mortared them in place.
· One of the MSOE students designed, led the construction, and installed railings for the upstairs corridor of the new building with the help of Chris and the other guys from MSOE.
· I was joined by a librarian (who specializes in cataloguing) and someone who works with computer databases, and together we labeled and catalogued over 500 books for the new library.
· One of the volunteers was an English professor and poet, and he gave a guest lecture to my English class and led them in a poetry-writing exercise. Also, he brought some art supplies so that the students could make drawings and send them to his artist daughter in a type of art-exchange. He is now compiling the poems and art into a booklet for us!
· Each of the volunteers got to stay with a host family and seemed to make good friends with the people of Ribe. By the end of their stay in Kenya, many were saying Swahili phrases and wearing kangas and kikois!
· We all enjoyed some relaxation time together with a meal at our house and then a trip to the beach on the last day. We ended the week by heading to Nairobi, from where the group flew home and we continued traveling …
Group of volunteers
The pupils already enjoying the updates to the building
(Does anyone from the American group have a link to photos you can share with us? We are not able to upload very many.)
Then, from March 8-March 12, we traveled with the Project Kenya folks (Brydie and Mophat) to Western Kenya, where Mophat is from and where Brydie had some developing PK projects …
· Day 1: Drove from Nairobi to Kisumu, saw Lake Victoria for a few minutes, had dinner with Mophat’s mother and sisters, and stayed the night in Kisumu.
· Day 2: Visited the Kisumu Museum (awesome, learned about Luo culture). Drove from Kisumu to Migori, Lesley squeezed in a phone interview while Chris joined the others for dinner at Mophat’s father’s house, stayed the night in Migori.
· Day 3: Drove from Migori to Kisii and surrounding area where we visited Kuja School for the Deaf (great place and people), a new children’s home, and soapstone carvers. Returned to Migori for dinner at Mophat’s father’s house again (learned even more about Luo culture).
· Day 4: Drove back to Nairobi, stayed with friends, Eda & Albo, hung out with their kids.
· Day 5: Bus from Nairobi back to Mombasa, then to Ribe. Whew!
The landscape of Western Kenya
Our travelling group at Lake Victoria
It was a very exciting, albeit fairly exhausting two weeks. I guess it could be considered a vacation from our usual schedule, but it was also work-related and very educational. It was definitely nice to relax a bit, enjoy the cooler weather, and get a much broader understanding of the country in which we live.
