KENYA 2020: The Road Not Taken

Thursday night a team from Green Bay arrived. They come from the first church Grace Imathiu served. Every year they hold a 3-day leadership retreat for 40 high school students from 4 secondary schools. In addition to the retreat, they provide scholarships to pay school fees, and then provide funds to fill the gap between what the students can afford and the cost of a college tuition. It is an amazing program.

In a strange twist of fate, I met the leader’s son a decade ago when sat next to us at church. He was new to town, we took him to dinner, etc. We knew each other for years when his mother visited him in Ann Arbor and he introduced us. She had read about our work in the bulletin and could not wait to tell me about what they were doing … in the same community in Kenya. This is the third time our teams have overlapped.

So, what does this have to do the road not taken? We took a few hours today and drove through one of Kenya’s beautiful national parks. Once inside the gates, you find yourself on a maze of gravel and grass paths. Repeatedly, “two roads diverged” much like in Robert Frost’s poem. Pick one and you may cross a river just as 20 feet from an elephant … and pick the other and … well, you will never know. Talk to the stranger and well, you never know.

Since our work in Kenya began, there has been Ebola, terrorist attacks, some political violence and now the corona virus. We come anyway. The work is good. The work is making a difference.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
[from the final stanza of The Road not Taken]

Think about coming along next time.

A student in the field at Gichunge Primary; Students writing to students in Ann Arbor; One of roads in the National Park; The elephants crossing the river.

KENYA 2020: If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail

Kenyans can find a solution to anything. If the government makes you chop down a stand of trees … you make desks and tables out of the best of the lumber and benches out of the rest. Today while checking on the use of large flash cards we have provided last year, they showed us the set of “student sized” alphabet cards they had been inspired to make themselves … from cardboard boxes. When the youngest students wanted dolls to play with, the teachers found a local tailor with remnants and they hand-sewed the dolls. The examples are endless.

Perhaps this willingness to make-it-yourself is why they greatly appreciate the handmade bags we give the teachers each year. Susan Baily from FUMC has never been to Kenya but seems to know exactly what to make. This year it was a beautiful array of brightly colored bags we filled with teaching supplies. There was one uniform response when we passed them out today … “It is PERFECT for church! It will hold my Bible. I will be asked by everyone where it came from!” Perhaps more of us should be carrying our Bibles because later in the day we gifted a bag to Delfina who oversees the porridge program … and yes, “It will be PERFECT for church!” THANK YOU, SUSAN!

Just as the government insisted on cutting down the trees as a “safety hazard”, the inspectors have given the school two weeks to close its traditional kitchen. Many of you know we built a kitchen for the school a few years ago with a fuel-efficient wood-burning stove. The old kitchen is still used to make the daily tea and more recently, lunches for the Eighth-Grade students preparing for their exams. There is room in the new kitchen for additional cookers. Let us know if you’d like to help.

A final word about hammers in Kenya. Here, you make use of what you have. This week we observed an urgent need for hooks for the teachers and students to hang their work-bags and coats. Off we went into the big-city of Meru and found a local hardware where we bought out their supply of hooks (68 of them). Each hook was neatly packed with 2 screws for installing the hook. Do I need to go any further? Did you know you could use a hammer on screws? YOU CAN! This proves the point, if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Finding a way is not always what you expected, but at times you find it works.

Alphabet cards; Handmade dolls; Very happy teachers with their bags; The traditional kitchen that needs to close; The hooks in place in the teacher’s supply room.

KENYA 2020: What do you remember about school?

Most of us have memories of primary school that still stick with us years later. We helped create a number of them today.

Class photos: We finished the class group photos for grades 5-8 today. It was fun to watch the boys tuck in their shirts, the girl’s bush off their skirts, and the positioning to be next to your best friend. This year we made the process more of a joint effort with lots of “test shots” followed by repositioning, and shouts of “stand up straighter” from classmates who were vested in the photo being as perfect as possible. The number of photos taken tripled but so did the fun.

The Cafeteria Cook: There is no cafeteria at Gichunge, but there is Mercy who gets to school at 6:00 AM to start the fire that will cook the porridge and heat the tea for the teachers. She also serves the porridge and then washes the cups, pots and pans … and NEVER stops smiling. Each visit we bring her new aprons. It is small thank you for a huge task.

Lunch Time: Today we shared the American sack lunches we had made. The bags of “crisps” (potato chips) were a big hit. We followed Margaret’s advice and got the weirdest flavors we could find: Tangy Tomato, Onion & Lime, Hot & Cheezie, Chili & Lemon, and Carmel flavored. In the Kenyan tradition, after the sacks were passed out, a student led the class in saving a prayer before the bags were torn open.

The Place You Hung Out: A couple of weeks ago the Education Department made the school cut down about 30 trees that sheltered the students as they ate their porridge. The lumber was milled onsite and used to make new desks. The end cuts did not go to waste but were made into long benches the students STILL use to eat their porridge or gather with friends. What was a good place is now seen as being even better.

THAT Teacher: All of had one. He or she seemed to create magic in the classroom. Margaret and Jeff ran into one in the pre-primary classroom where they were finishing up the height and weight measurements. This is the same classroom that has all the wonderful “talking walls.” Each student came forward to be measured and then quietly returned to their seat. They don’t come any sweeter.

Buddies: Printed photos are rare in Kenya, but everyone seems to know what a selfie is … and wants to be in one! Margaret and Kathy took at crack at multiple selfies today. In the process we made a lot of friends, but not sure our selfie skills improved.

Can’t wait to make more memories tomorrow.

-- Kathy Macdonald

A class photo; Mercy the cook; Lunch time, The best benches at school; The magical classroom; Selfies!

KENYA 2020: How many students does it take to make a P&J sandwich?

Half the team began the day at Gichunge Primary where our arrival was marked with multiple verses of “If you’re happy and you know it …” sung by 200+ students at their morning assembly.  That will get your blood flowing! 

Speaking of blood, Jeff and Margaret Punch spent the day at BLISS Secondary performing rabbit dissections for each of the Form 4 (12^th grade) science classes.  Sounds grim but it is a critical part of their national exam.  Having two doctors explain each step gives these students an amazing experience.  Margaret was a bit disappointed that all three rabbits were male (apparently this isn’t that easy to tell from the outside) … there was no opportunity to show the female anatomy. 

Meanwhile back at the primary, we witnessed the morning serving of porridge.  This is a program First Methodist has supported for multiple years.  Lots of happy faces and only one cup spilled in a trip-and-fall.  Tears were dried and her cup refilled.

The pressure on the Eighth Graders to do well has them beginning their studies at 7:00 AM just as the sun comes up.  With no electricity, the rooms are dark.  Today. Greg demonstrated “desk top” solar lanterns for each of the Eight Grade desks.  A welcome addition. 

Although we provide porridge each day for the primary students, many of them don’t have a lunch.  Their families survive on money earned as day laborers.  When day labor is not found, the family goes without food.  As a small token, the team provides a typical American sack lunch to each Seventh and Eighth Grader … and of course this includes not one, but TWO P & J sandwiches. We managed to draft the U of M Engineering students into helping us make the sandwiches and pack the sacks.

So. now we can answer the question of how many UM students does it take to make a P&J sandwich?  It takes 6 about a bit over an hour to make 110.  Not a bad way to end the day knowing you are going to make the day for a great many students.

-- Kathy Macdonald

Morning Assembly; A rabbit giving its life for science; Solar lanterns for the classroom; Porridge time!; Engineering students doing a good deed at the end of a long day.

KENYA 2020: Can Your Walls Talk?

Report from Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Almost late to Gichunge Primary this morning … got caught in the unusual traffic jam shown below.  Our work at the primary this year consists of ongoing projects and fresh initiatives.    One of the ongoing efforts is to track the impact of the porridge program we have supported for years.  This time Margaret and Jeff Punch took the lead weighing each student and recording their height.  The Eighth Grade went like clockwork.  Things got a bit unruly with 33 Third Graders whose English skills are still evolving.  Not sure this was covered when they went through Med School.  They took at break after Third Grade and answered health related questions from Eighth Graders.  It is pretty rare for any of the students to have access to a doctor, much less two.  

Kathy took on the task of taking class photos, another one of our ongoing efforts.  For most of the students, these are the ONLY photos they have of themselves.  She did not fare much better than the Punchs did with the Third Graders when she began with the pre-primary group.  This age group is just being introduced to English and Swahili … and have NO experience with facing the camera much less lining up.  It was a wonderful test of wills with everyone trying really hard to please.  Below is the best of over 50 shots.   The out-takes are wonderful with heads looking in the wrong way, someone deciding it was all too much and laying down, the class sign held directly in front of the face, and the poor teacher pulling one student or another back into position.  It was fabulous and worth it.

A fresh initiative this year comes from a teacher request for help with “talking walls.”  In Kenya, Talking Walls are posters that can “talk to the students” when the teacher is not there.  Brilliant!  Last fall we experimented by leaving several yards of fabric used to line curtains.  It was heavy enough to install grommets on one side so they could easily be hung or removed.  The result has been an amazing set of teacher created masterpieces that are replacing the torn and damaged posters they had.  Later this week, the teachers will begin phase 2 with the 50 yards we brought this trip.

So, can your walls talk?  They do here.  They reflect the hard work of the staff, the effort of the students (even the third graders), and the joy of this place that brings hope the entire community.

-- Kathy Macdonald

A Kenyan Traffic Jam; The “Perfect” Photo; A New Talking Wall

KENYA 2020: What's Blue & Gold and in Kenya?

Report from Monday March 2, 2020

The team made it safely to the Thiiri Center in Meru, Kenya where we joined several other University of Michigan teams working in the area.  There is a team from the Dental School with 18 students.  The Pharmacy School team has 7 students and the Engineering School has 7.  It almost disloyal not to be decked out in Gold and Blue.  Think of this as sort of a mini-Ann Arbor doing good on the far side of the world.

Our team continues to focus on supporting education at the BLISS Secondary School and the Gichunge Primary. Today we worked at both locations.  The morning was spent at the High School where Greg Hulbert addressed the student body. He compared sharing the gift of knowledge with a child’s rubber duckie.  Both bring joy and uplift both the giver and the receiver.    He then presented Moses, the School Principal with a rubber duckie.  The 600+ students broke out in laughter bringing home his point.   

The afternoon was spent at Gichunge Primary.  There were lots of high-fives with the kids and hugs with the staff. Their Eighth-Grade class had the highest exam scores for any non-boarding primary in the entire Meru County on their November end-of-year exams.  This is an amazing achievement for a school that still only has electricity in one small administrative building, no consistent water supply and kids from families that have even less.  Can’t wait to share all the stories that will come from our work with them this week. 

So, what’s Blue and Gold and in Kenya?  A whole lot of big-hearted Ann Arbor-based folks that are determined to make a difference.  GO BLUE!

- Kathy Macdonald

Gichunge students counting/sorting bottle lids; Greg inside the new BLISS Hall; Moses, Greg & the rubber duckie

North Dakota 2019: last painting pic