Students
We are now in the second week of tuition (like summer school). It is so fun to teach, and have a class of students; it is also so challenging and frustrating. I think the most frustrating part is having so much energy and excitement about teaching and learning all these cool things about our world, and knowing that it is not all sinking in. But as Marit reminds me, this is the first time they are learning like this, perhaps the first time hearing some things, and like little kindergarteners, they’re not supposed to understand everything they are read in books, but by no means should that mean you don’t read to them. It may not be the first time around that something clicks, but the exposure to creativity, to science and writing… that is a small wonder we can rejoice in. The school system in Kenya is run by these small booklets for each subject with the same little drawings etc… All the primary teachers teach out of these books and there is no variety, hardly any imagination, story books or other resources or science classes. It has been so cool to see the libraries that have been started and how revolutionary and amazing reading can be! So far, with the help of people in Washington and others, enough books have been sent to start a few libraries in the local schools, and here on the farm. A resource library was created a few months ago, and is hopefully going to be a huge tool for all the seven primary schools in this district. The dream Marit and I have is to help the teachers somehow know ways they can use other books in their teaching, and to get the books out of the cupboards!! The saddest thing would be for libraries to be created and then be so strange and valued that they are not used kabissa.
Some highlights from last week included: learning the parts of the flower and dissecting some, planting seeds and watching them grow, going on a “field trip” to one of the shambas and having Fred explain how certain plants grow. Also we spent a whole class day learning about the inside of the earth and volcanoes, then going outside and making one out of vinegar and baking soda and soap and water; we buried the volcano in a bud vase at the top of a heap of soil so it was quite exciting, but the eruption was a bit anti-climactic. The other day I was so thrilled when I looked at all the kids in my class sitting under his own tree writing a story inspired by a picture they chose from a National Geographic. They are never ever alone. They eat and sleep and walk everywhere with each other, and so to see them alone for 20 minutes (of course this takes a lot of coaxing) is a beautiful sight. I am learning that I want to learn and teach about the things around us also, it is so cool to ask and understand why there is lightning and thunder every afternoon, what soil is made of etc...

Older Students
There are also other students here that are of varying older ages who are attending the Bible school that moved here last year. They are from all over and it has been fun to get to know them a bit. Koma and Daniel are two guys from Sudan. They met at a refugee camp in Northern Kenya. Over the school break Koma went back to Sudan and reconnected with his family for the first time in 16 years! Even communication was difficult during that time. He was saying that he was trying to get his birth certificate and identity papers there but it is so corrupt. “If you make any mistake on the form, the officer makes you pay and he pockets the money. They even can make $300-500 extra in a day!” I wasn’t sure if Sudan’s currency is also called a dollar, or if he was referring to the American dollar, anyways wow. “There are two governments really, the government of the hearts and the government of the people. But even if the government of the people is for peace and anti-corruption, how can we fight against the corruption of our country when the corruption is not out of the hearts of people? How can we fight against that? We need the holy spirit to guard and guide our hearts, to change our hearts. Otherwise we can just forget it and go back and hide in the bush like the last 20 years.” He said. Grace, my roommate from Rwanda has lived most of her life with her family in Uganda. Her father was killed in the 80’s and her brother was killed in the 94 genocide. It is boggling for me to be in the midst of the history I have studied, and to glimpse the heart of its effects-- I really want to know more.

Washingtone’s wedding
My friend Washingtone (Ben Moore’s roommate) got married last weekend! It was my first Kenyan wedding—So fun. He married a women from New Zealand so the mix of her few friends that came out, and Washingtone’s whole extended, extremely Luo family was so neat. At the end, his family did this parade of loud clucking and singing as they brought in envelopes with money, chickens that had squacked in a basket during the ceremony, and a coffee table over the shoulder…all as presents for the newlyweds. One of my favorite parts were the speeches. The parents and different friends welcomed each other into the family, people shared beautiful things about the character of the bride and groom, so you know that the marriage will be good, if you did not know one party. So that was a really fun day and ended in a huge downpour that filled the trenches!