RafikiKate: Back-to-School

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Back-to-School

This past two weeks, we have entered our second quarter of the new school year. With the new term, my schedule changed a bit, but not too much. Here is what a typical day looks like for me:

7:15 am Morning Devotional
8:15 am Breakfast at Wageni House (where I live, the Guest House)
9:00 am Morning Enrichment with the toddlers (walks, talks, swings, and books)
9:30 to 10:45 Free time to read or check email or work on projects for the teachers/directors
11:00 am Tutoring Amos in numbers, alphabet, reading, writing, small motor coordination
11:45 am Set up lunch for and eat with JSS (Junior Secondary Students, ages 14 to 20)
12:40 am Tutoring small groups of JSS students in math, science, grammar, and Bible
1:50 pm Time for working on extra projects assigned to assist teachers, Education
Director Brandon, or Childcare Director Carolyn
3 pm Enrichment with all ages (books, walks, swings, games, free play)
4 pm Free time
5 pm Dinner
6:30 pm Enrichment in specific cottages, Mon-Thurs (reading books to all ages)

7:30 pm Evening Devotions (once per week, we are assigned to join specific cottages and
assist the mamas with devotionals

8 pm Walk for exercise with Ipod
9 pm Read or computer
10:30 pm Bed time

I particularly enjoy tutoring Amos in the morning, and the JSS students in the afternoon. The 6:30 pm devotionals are fun too. These are the times when relationships are developed the most, and I become very attached to the kids. I will truly miss them. They crave affection and attention (don't we all?), and they are all very eager learners. They bring us great joy, and I wish I could take a few home with me.

I do miss painting with the JSS girls, but now that a Kenyan Vocational Arts teacher has begun working with them, we MM's are not needed so much in the class any longer. It was fun while it lasted, though. Soon, the girls will be making jewelry made of cow bone and beads for export to the Rafiki Exchange in the U.S. It's an exciting time, and they are proud when they sell their work to help the school.

1 comment:

caryn said...: i love the photo of you walking with the kids. it is so sweet! :o); April 29, 2007 at 2:10 PM

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Safari Retreat

The second weekend that I was here, four of us went on our Big Safari adventure. It was far more expensive than I had anticipated, but worth it for the safety, convenience, and luxury that we enjoyed. We arose at 5 am on Friday, February 23rd, so that we could catch an early flight on a small plane out of Wilson Airport. The 30-minute flight was quite enjoyable, even though I've never been in a small plane before. The pilot just spoke directly to us, no airline attendant necessary. We flew low, and could see herds of elephants as we approached Amboseli Park in Southern Kenya. There was only a sign and a shack at the "airport". It was pretty cool. We were treated royally upon arrival at Ol Tukai ("Palm Tree") Lodge. Our driver, Isaac, would transport us throughout the weekend in a special Landrover with a convertible roof that he usually opened up for us to stand and take photos. Really cool. Our partners in this adventure were Paul and Maggy, a precious British couple who work for a large company that exports gazillions of roses to European florists. Paul runs the entire Kenyan operation, but Maggy was visiting from company headquarters in London. By the end of the weekend, she had fallen in love with Africa and now plans to move to Nairobi. Since photos speak a thousand words, I will attempt to capture the beauty of African creation with a few photos from our trip. Anna's camera was much better than mine, and she granted me permission to use her zooms of the lions and giraffes. Amboseli is known for its large herds of elephants, so they were always within reach it seemed. They were delightful to watch eat, bathe, and march across the road in front of us. As our director had suggested, safari is a spiritual experience which is hard to describe in words. "Majestic", "awe-inspiring", and "glorious" don't quite capture the emotions we felt. Enjoy the handful of photos displayed in this post...