Week 3!

Hello! Another week has passed here in the village! On Tuesday, we said farewell to our guests from Boston. They successfully completed their eye screenings Tuesday morning and then headed back into Nairobi. The eye clinic was an amazing success and I am so glad I got to be a part of it. Now the doctors and nurses are going to put together a report to send back here entailing the children in most critical need of glasses etc. It was amazing to see some of the children and many of the shushus receive reading glasses and be able to read clearly for the first time. Many of them wanted to wear the glasses all day but we had to explain that they are only for reading or close craftwork. It was nice to have the clinic counselors there to help translate.

The family photo project is almost complete as well, with myself needing to finish the last couple families. This week also brought the departure of one Emory student but also the arrival of 4 new volunteers, 2 from Spain, 1 from Ireland, and 1 from Nairobi. Some have started helping the other volunteers with their stove building project in the mornings and are still trying to figure out  what they will do in the afternoons. One funny fact is that the Irish girl is the 4th volunteer who has come through that rows. What a small world! Who would have thought I would come halfway around the world and find rowers from all over.

Friday was an exciting day for the primary school. They have just finished their exams for the semester so Friday was a celebration/prize day. Sister Mary came from Nairobi and we had special educational guests from the government. The entire primary school, many shushus and guests gathered in the social hall for the ceremony. Of course it started late, typical Africa time, and went way over time. Following the event was a nice lunch for all the staff, guests and children, so when it hit 3:30pm and we had still not finished, you could tell everyone was about to pass out from hunger. It was nice to see the children do various musical and dance performances. Some of the routines are going to the national competition in Mombasa next month. In addition, the top students in each grade get various prizes like shirts, watches, candy. And there are even superlative prizes like most disciplined and cleanest. So now the primary school is just wrapping up this week and the secondary school and polytechnic will finish their exams this coming week. Then they will have a prize day and vacation will start for about a month. The Spanish volunteers are working on arranging a summer camp for the younger kids during their vacation so they are still doing something.

Yesterday (Saturday) was a busy but fun day. We started the weekend on Friday night with a going away party for Alex, the remaining Emory student. We made homemade guacamole and chapatti and even mixed homemade sangria. All the volunteers and some staff came for the party and we made a huge bonfire. Then Saturday morning 9 of us headed into Kitui to do some grocery shopping and get lunch. For the new volunteers it was their first visit and first chance to get some needed supplies. I was happy because I finally found a fitted sheet for my bed (until now I had a flat sheet that fell off every night). It sounds like not a big deal but it was a luxurious find, especially because it was only $2. It was also nice to get a good lunch and get some food that we don’t find in the village. When we got back around 3pm, we had a quick turnaround and 8 of us began the 1.5-2hr walk into the nearest village, Kwa Vonza. For some time we had wanted to hike the small mountain/hill in the village, which houses the cellular towers and satellites. We had heard from previous volunteers that it was a fun activity and a great view. We reached the hill in after 1.5 hours and waited for our village friends who were going to lead us up the hike. The actually hike only took 20 mins, much less than we had anticipated, but the view at the top was amazing. You could see all around for miles and miles and we could make out the road to the village. It was a fun weekend activity and I will definitely do it again many times. After we hiked down we finished the day with chips (fries) and drinks at the local bar. By the time we got home I was exhausted, but it was a great day! Today is my lazy Sunday. I plan on just reading, relaxing, maybe doing some laundry and catching up on my email. Hopefully this coming week I will have more time to plan some sustainability projects and do more background research.

I have also included some pictures of my house, our stray dog Ticksie, my favorite street food (grilled corn/maize) and views from our Saturday hike in town. Enjoy! Xx Maggie