My first school project has been running smoothly the last month. In March I had a section behind the school made into a seed-bed nursery area. We used hardwood poles with cement foundations to last longer and some barbed wire to ward off big animals. Since the rains came right when finals arrived, the students had to build the seed-bed without me while I was in Nairobi. They were up to the task and excited to finally get planting.

When I came back I was happily suprised. Honestly, I didnt expect much for students to use their time AFTER tuition (or their spring break holiday school- its stupid) and make a seed-bed. However as I made my muddy journey to the school I found a lovely seed-bed with hundreds of seedlings. The first batch consisted of (from left to right) kale, spinach, chilis, sweet melon, and watermelon.

The seed-bed is made of branches of y-shaped cashew branches about 1 meter long. A roof of smaller branches was made to 1 meter across for easy handling (weeding, digging, etc). On top dry grasses were piled on so the seedlings did not get too much rain or sunlight.

The second week of May the Environmental Club made their first garden plot next to the third building that was never finished. I had over 40 students help with the first transplanting of the two types of melons.

The fourth week of May we made raised beds for the carrots, onions, and mchicha (a green leafy vegetable that tastes like asparagus and spinach) next to the melon plots. We also planted sukuma wiki (kale) and spinach in the nursery area since we didnt have the materials for the bag gardens. Some students also planted papaya plants all around the nursery area.

The last week we planted more kale and tomato seeds were planted in the seed bed.

Our Historian, Paul, has been editing the last touches to our Enviornmental club logo which was voted upon last month. Hopefully we can get some t-shirts made by the end of this year.

The next steps for the Garden Project is to transplant the chilis out of the seed-bed next to the onions and try to get the bag gardens set-up. There has been so much lagging because its difficult to get all the supplies needed like the gravel and metal piping. I bought the bags so hopefully we can get moving by next week. The great thing about bag gardens is that they can be made all year so we can worry about plants that need the rain water. We also need to build a fence area for the tomatoes in the next couple of weeks.

On my spare time, usually on the weekends, I like to go to the school and dig out weeds (I used to garden/farm often growing up). Yesterday the neighborhood kids decided to follow and help me out. I had 4 toddlers and 4 younger children tag along. They sat in the shade looking at books and listening to music I brought while I dug out the weeds in the melon plot. Then a student of mine who was coming back from his own farm nearby saw us and decided to help as well. We had a nice holiday weeding the plots and the kids had a lot of fun spotting cashew tree seedlings germinating out of the ground.

Pictures to come!

First of all, everyone knows that I don’t like to argue, especially with those above me, but today I had to.

Elpinah is my bestfriend here. She is a 20-year old girl who just graduated secondary school and is trying to make her way to a better life. Her father died a couple of years ago and she is working as the school’s secretary to pay for her younger sister’s education and food for the family. I believe she has amazing morals, she works incredibly hard, she is nice and honest to everyone, and to my suprise she hate’s the Kenyan gossip. No wonder it was easy to become good friends with her, we constantly laugh about little things and love learning about life.

So when my principal refused to let Elpinah assist me in Lifeskills because she was “not qualified,” “a failure,” “no mother would like her teaching because she is inexperienced,” “she is too young,” “secretaries are never suppose to teach,” “she would make our school look bad and the parents would complain.”…. WELL I GOT REALLY ANGRY.

I just asked if she could help me out for 15 minutes during my lesson. JUST 15 minutes. The reason I asked for her assistance is because the students really respect her (unlike the rest of the staff), she can rephrase my English so the students would understand (students can’t understand my accent all the time), and if they can’t express themselves in English (some of the topics are very difficult like HIV/AIDS, rape, mentration, etc) then they can talk to her and translate it to me. We are a good team and its great for a Kenyan to teach Kenyan students about these issues. Elpinah also wants to build upon her social, speaking, and teaching skills so this would be good practice. Before this new prinicpal she would help me out with lesson-planning. In fact, it was the old principal who always encouraged me to have her help me out with my classes, and even to try teaching Christian Relgious Studies since she is a popular Sunday school teacher in my village.

BUT NO… my principal thought this was too ridiculous, I mean… How can a SECRETARY ever be talking to a class? She is only suppose to be behind a desk, writing and calculating things down!

After 10 minutes of talking to the principal, he made other teachers come in to hear my viewpoint then his. One of the main arguments against mine was that Elpinah is not qualified to teach and the parents would be outraged, it would make our school look bad.

My argument: Wouldn’t you think parents would be more concerned with teachers not coming to school and teaching their lessons more than 3 times a week? Lifeskills isn’t graded and its MY CLASS. I don’t get paid. Also, I am the only one who has a degree or is certified to teach. Everyone else came right out of high school and they have lied about their grades. Teachers in secondary schools are supposed to at least have a teaching certification and no one except the principal does. Plus, the students, especially the girls, are more comfortable talking about difficult issues like sex, menstration, and relationships to Elpinah then to the young male teachers who aren’t married- wouldn’t that look bad? Why would parents be mad at her for trying to guide them to a better life? If you are worried about the parents getting mad then I’ll ask the students.

Then they got a little scared…

After an hour, as I politely sat back and listened to their arguments, I went to teach biology (The Rh system of the blood). Right after I taught Lifeskills. I asked the class if they wanted Elpinah to assist me in Lifeskills and I got a loud acceptance and most students were even confused on why I would ask such a thing. I mean, the students trust Elpinah with their money and would never give it to anyone else in the staff (not even the principal- that says a lot). So I told them to ask their parents if it was ok if she taught them Lifeskills but they still thought it was a weird thing to request.

As I finished the last class of the day I hear the principal yell at the whole school to slash the grass and clean the compound. I had never saw him sooooo mad in his life. He was hitting student’s arms and spitting in their faces to be productive. It was quite scary.

Elpinah later told me that he dramatically changed his mind. She told me she stood up for herself while I was in class (we have been practicing this since I got here). She told him that she really wanted to help teach me Lifeskills and there is more benefit than loss…I mean what loss is there? She also reminded them Lifeskills was one of my main jobs, if they wanted to fire her from her job and hired a new teacher for Lifeskills then I would think about leaving the country. In which its probably true- I would be devastated if she got fired. I am mad that they treat her like shit everyday when she is getting under paid while doing the most work in the school. She never takes a break and we stay up to an hour more after school finishing work.

The principal later came up to me personally on a brighter attitude and told me everything is fine and she can help me out. I guess they got scared that I could leave before 2 years.  

This was one of the most ridiculous arguments I ever got myself into.

But I am glad we came to a conclusion I like.

Just a normal Kenyan day…

So that was that.

In Nairobi I had roughly two weeks of training ranging from grant-writing to writing our VRF’s- a report/survey we due each semester to listening to lots of guest speakers. Overall it was very informative. I wasn’t suprised with my group’s continuous heated conversations about how to solve the issues of Kenya. We are the ones who witness and experience these issues up in personal and many of the guest speakers who advocate justice and peace sit in their comfortable seats in metro city Nairobi. I took lots of notes (as usual) especially on grant-writing, classroom/school management, and outside resources. The last couple days were slowing down for me after tons of information being shoved into my head. We visited the International School of Kenya (ISK) which brought me back interesting days back when I went to NIS or Nagoya International School in Japan. All the volunteers were dazzled and interested in working at an International School, while I just remembered how it felt like to be the only American girl in my class- lonely. It may be shiny and pretty in the inside, but there are lots of twisted stuff that goes skin deep. Nonetheless the school was amazing, students were bright and highly educated, and they had a huge pool…

Anyways the highlights of my Nairobi experience are quite typical for me: food and animals. After village life it was a treat to sink my teeth into a cheese burger, bbq ribs, real french fries, roast beed sandwiches, SOUPS, ice cream, etc. My stomach did feel a bit funny at the end, but the cramps went away after a day. Medical calls it the “Alfralti Flu,” because everyone gets sick here. Everything was extremely expensive for me ranging from $2 to $15. Again, I usually spend an average of 60 cents for food a day. I couldn’t be happier to eat all the food I ate in Nairobi though. My favorites were: Spurs (bbq place), Java House (coffee/burgers- weird I know), and ArtCaffe (great everything- pasta, fries, salads, coffee). I am salvating just thinking about it…strawberry smoothly…pesto lausagna. ok ok I need to stop.

I also went to the Nairobi safari, $13 with discount. It was a nice cool ride in a huge bus with mostly rich Kenyans. We saw almost everything. It was unique because you could see the Nairobi city in the background with airplanes flying overhead. My favorite spottings were the lions. I didnt take a lot of pictures but I enjoyed the day with friends.

After spending a ton of money ($200) for two weeks I finally went home. Getting home was typical: delays delays and more delays, but it was amazing to get tons of free hugs and smiles. Right when I got off the matatu at the Perani stage, I heard streaming girls fighting over who would carry my bags. When I got to my house I found my three selected students waiting at my house. Actually no thats the lie, they ran to me and almost knocked me down with a huge. That’s just how you get greeted here most of the time. They thought they were leaving Saturday, but I strictly told them and Mr. Kadi it was on Sunday (when people say “yes” I will tell them, “its ok.: It really means they weren’t listening and will probably forget or be reluctant to follow the task. So long story short, before I went to Perani I stopped by the bank to pick up my card (which they lost my pin number) so I bought some awesome fruits and vegetables from the local stand I always go to, and stopped at Nakumatt to get some more supplies. That night I made chicken stew with potatoes and carrots with a side of spinach and kale, while the girls made the ugali. It was a real treat for everyone because meat is super rare here. After watching a couple of movies I tried to go to sleep (my queen can barely hold 4 girls), but thank god Chrissy took my students because I was heading to fatigue that day.

I relaxed, planned, cleaned, and hung-out with my community the next couple of days before school starting.

1. Macadamian nuts and their outer shells

2. Ready to be roasted

3. Fresh ripen pineapple (I can get them almost every day)

4. Guava

5. Cashew nut my little neighbors roasted for me

6. My finished product- super delicious

I shared a huge pineapple with my little neighborhood friends while watching Little Mermaid. After finishing their pineapple two (2-year olds) got distracted, went to my front door area, and attempted to dust with brooms as tall as themselves. My smile came from the fact that this was all on their own will. How often do you see babies try to clean the house because they were given fruit? (Minus myself)