Student Comments on High School Sponsorhip

Below are a few comments from the students who attended the KEF workshop:

"If I were not sponsored for secondary school I would be married with two kids right now." (18 year old girl from a traditional nomadic tribe)

"I was always being sent home from school because I couldn't afford the school fees. It was really difficult to keep up with my studies when I wasn't attending classes. Then I received a sponsor to pay my fees. When writing letters to my sponsor I didn't know how to express how thankful I was. I would pray to God to give me words. I would just write, Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!"  (The student who scored the18th highest grade in the nation on the final national exam and will be starting medical school to become a doctor.)

"Most of the girls from my class dropped out in 6th grade to become sex workers. Because of our sponsors, my sister and I are the only ones to complete high school." (A girl from a tourist area at the coast.)

"My dad died and my mom had to relocate, so my 8th grade teacher took me in. I told myself to study really hard to make it to a national high school. I was gratified when I received really high marks. But I didn't have money to go to school and I didn't know what to do. And then KEF gave me hope, as I received a sponsorship through them. I want to go into computer science and be successful so that some day I can give back to others."

Education in Kenya

I am currently attending a one week workshop hosted by Kenya Education Fund (KEF). We partner with KEF to facilitate sponsorships for our students to attend school. The conference is for all of the recent high school graduates with sponsorships through KEF. There are over 100 students here from across the country. The topics being covered are careers, entrepreneurship, reproductive health and relationships.

A presentation on interpersonal relationships

I am attending with four of our St. G students. It has already been an amazing two days as I so enjoy spending time with our students and am extremely proud of each of them. I have known them since they were in primary school and am in awe to see the young men they have become. They are intelligent, respectful, positive and just fun to be around. I feel very blessed to be part of their lives.

Secondary education is not free in Kenya and as a result over 75% of Kenyans don’t finish high school due to poverty. Our children from St. G’s do not have the means to pay for school fees. Therefore, I work to find sponsors for the students. We partner with KEF who ensures the donations go directly to the school and monitors the students’ progress. I am grateful for the outstanding work provided by KEF. With them, we have provided education for over 40 St. G students to attend high school and 5 for university/college.

I currently have students who need to be sponsored:

• 3 high school students. This is a 4 year commitment at $600 ($50/mo) per year/per student, which covers fees, books, uniforms and room/board.

• Numerous students needing assistance for further education beyond high school. This includes trade schools and college courses. Support for this can come in the form of a direct sponsorship or donations to KEF which can be pooled to support the student.

To sponsor/donate: Donate on line or send a check. Include a note that you heard about KEF through me, Sheila Murphy and indicate if you would like to directly sponsor a student or make a onetime contribution.
.
kenyaeducationfund.org

From US:
Kenya Education Fund
360 E. 72nd St. C3405
New York, NY 10021 USA
Phone: 212.792.6300 x6433
Kenya Education Fund, Ltd. is a registered 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization in the United States. Donations are tax-deductible where permitted by the IRS.

From Kenya:
Kenya Education Fund
PO Box 384-00100
GPO, Nairobi Kenya
Nairobi Phone: +254 702 76 97 12
+254 739 17 36 03

If you have any questions feel free to contact me at info@kenyaamini.org.

Small World

In an earlier post called Flight to Kenya, I talked about a Kenyan who sat next to me on the plane and happened to live in Grand Rapids, MI (where I recently lived for 2 years). Today, I was talking to one of the workers where I am attending a conference and he mentioned his brother who lives in Michigan. It turns out his brother is Mburu, my Kenyan friend from the plane! Small world!

Moving In

The process of moving in has begun! After quite the journey to the house we have been able to move Mama Mwungi in. Though we are still a few weeks away from completion, this move allows Mama Mwungi to cut out a 20 minute walk to and from the house each day. I look forward to joining her in a couple weeks at our new home!

As you may imagine the car was packed full of supplies and items for the new house. Upon reaching the "driveway" we had two options. Either carry all the items including a propane tank and 5 gallon buckets of paint to the house (1/2 mile) or attempt to traverse the muddy trail of a driveway.  We were able to make it about 3/4 of the way before the car was completely stuck in the mud. Thus, we had no other option but to unload the items and hoof it the rest of the way. Thank goodness our construction workers were there to help carry everything!

Our driveway

Carrying mattresses

Carrying propane tank and 5 gallon buckets of paint

Living in a rural area, there aren't many neighbors around. However, if your car gets stuck, breaks down or you just need some help; people mysteriously appear out of the fields. With the help of 12 local guys and nearly two hours of their persistent efforts they were able to get the car back to the main road. Once there they all started cheering as if they had just won a serious competition, despite being covered head to toe in mud!

Deciding if the car can make it through the mud

Group effort- 2 hours of mud slinging to get the car back to the main road

After quite the journey and with a lot of help we finally had Mama Mwungi settled in. Though some of the bedrooms are ready, the house is still without running water, toilets, and furniture. This fact did not discourage us from having a small little move-in party, which included the contractor and his four assistants whom have been living on the property in a small shanty during the construction. This was the first dinner in the new house. We all had a blast and the carpenters were really surprised that their bosses, Bochi and I, would invite them to join us.  I thought it was a fun way to show gratitude for all the great work they are doing.

Beef and ugali dinner

With construction still ongoing the night felt more like a campout than a move-in party, but fun nonetheless. It's exciting to know that in a couple of weeks I will be calling this place my home!

Local Shopping

The supermarket I posted in my last update is a 6 hour commute from our house.  I likely will not be making it there very often. So here are a few pictures of our local markets, where I shop regularly.

My favorite fruit & veggie stand. Today a kind gentleman bought me a banana to eat while I was sitting in the sun waiting for my cabbage to be cut.

Endarasha shopping.
This is the closest town to our house, about 6 km away. "Chemist" is pharmacy. Yesterday, Mama Mwungi had a stomach ache so we stopped at the chemist where she told them her symptoms and they gave her a prescription. The total cost was less than $2.

Endarasha produce market - a disaster when it rains...

Nyeri - the closest city to our house ~25km or a one hour drive by private car.

Hardware store in Nyeri

Nyeri market

Mama Mwungi and I shopping for house items in a Nyeri general store.

Swanky Shopping

Pic of Bochi looking cool on the escalator as we are shopping for a few items for the house at the brand new Nakumat supermarket on Thika Rd.  The carts have some sort of magnets that lock as soon as it is in the escalator so it doesn't roll off!

Cooking Pasta

Pic of me cooking pasta for Bochi and Kimathi. We cook on a single propane tank and burner. Yes, that is their refrigerator that they don't use because they aren't sure what to put in it!

Electricity

We will not have electricity at the house or at least for the first few months. This is not as big of an issue here as it might be in the US.  Here, people mostly use electricity for lights, TV, music and charging their phones. We do not have washers, dryers, dishwashers or heaters. I lived without electricity for two years during my Peace Corps service and it was actually very relaxing. It gets dark at 7 pm every night (we are on the equator), so I would use a kerosene lantern and a head lamp for light. I would make dinner on a propane tank that has a burner. Then after dinner, I would read and go to bed and I would wake up with the sun in the morning. Pretty relaxing!

The biggest challenge is keeping your cell phone charged; most people without electricity take their phones to town and pay about 10 cents to have them charged at a charging station.  My issue is that town is about 6 km (3.75 miles) away and I won’t have a car. So I will have to walk and hope that a matatu comes by that will pick me up along the way.  Because of this issue, I will likely have some backup battery sources that either utilizes a car battery with an inverter or solar power. At this point, we are still doing some research on the solar power. 

House Update

The construction progress is coming along well!

However, it is not yet ready to move in. I will spend the next couple of weeks in Nairobi meeting with organizations and students, buying supplies for the house and attending a conference. I am hoping that the house will be ready to move in by the end of the month. 

Mama Mwungi excited about her room!!

Journey to Our House

Our house is about 200 km (125 miles) north of Nairobi (the capital city). It takes about 3 ½ hours by private car or six hours by public transportation in 14 passenger Nissan vans called matatus. These matatus do not leave on a specific schedule, only when they are full. So there is a lot of waiting involved.

Luckily for me, Bochi has a car so we drive there. From Nairobi there is now a super highway with three lanes in each direction and speed bumps where there are pedestrian crossings, which are extremely dangerous! The super highway last about a fourth of the trip and then it’s down to one lane in each direction for the remainder of the trip. These two lane roads are about as busy as our US highways but are traveled by everything from tractors and large trucks to donkeys pulling wagons. It is hilly and curvy and makes for an intense game of chicken as the vehicles are constantly passing the slower traffic. For this reason it’s good to say a prayer before you start and another prayer of thanks upon arrival. We have found it best, for both Bochi and me, if I just sit in the backseat and try to sleep rather than watch the madness.

The last 6-12 km (4-8 miles) of the trip is on a rock/dirt road. You get to choose the lesser of the two evils of which road to take. The 12 km (8 mile) rock and dirt road is passable in dry weather but have a couple of spots with huge one foot rocks that seem like the car might get lost in. Or there is the 6 km (4 mile) road that is super rocky and you can only drive at about 12 km/hr (7 mph). Our “driveway” is a small path for another ¾ km (1/2 mile) which is not drivable in wet weather and barely passable in dry weather.

I find it interesting that in the US where most vehicles never leave the pavement/tarmac that most people drive SUV’s. But here, where an SUV is needed, most people cannot afford them or the gas/petrol. We made the journey in a minivan.

Kenyan sense of time

Kenyans and Americans have a completely different sense of keeping time. When we arrived with the Peace Corps I remember the Kenyans telling us “the watch is yours, but the time is ours”. Everything happened at a much slower pace and as we found, there is no hurry in Africa. For example, if a meeting is supposed to start at 1:00 people start showing up at 2:00 or 2:30.

When packing I forgot to pack a watch, as I usually have my phone which I use for a clock. I have been at a loss for what time it is because I do not yet have a phone. The power was out at the lodging where we stayed and my friend’s phone battery was dead. So, I had no idea what time it was which was a strange feeling. Here time is not so important, relationships trump time. It is better to meet up with friends, wait for friends or have tea with friends than to be on time. Most everything is done together. When running errands you all go together. I always try to split up; I will do what I need, you do what you need but that is not the way things are done here. Efficiency is not the priority.

On the first day when the first person woke up, they woke the rest of us. We got ready, had breakfast and tea and started our errands. It was 3:00 pm before I saw a clock that day, but it did not matter, we just did what we needed to do. If it doesn't get done we can do it tomorrow. As many times as I have been here, it takes me a long time to adjust to the Kenyan sense of keeping time. In the US we are conditioned to do everything based on time, “time is money”, we are always in a rush and busy. I even walk at a much quicker pace than everyone here. They chuckle about why I am in such a hurry. In order to not go crazy, you have to just relax and go with their pace. After a while it does make you start to question, do we really need to be in such a rush; what do we gain? Do we over glorify busy at the expense of relationships?

Flight to Kenya

My route to Kenya was St. Louis-Chicago-Brussels-Burundi-Nairobi which took just over 25 hours. Each flight had more and more Africans on it which was great because they were extremely warm and friendly which is helpful for such a long journey.

On the Chicago-Brussels flight I sat next to a girl from Ethiopia and a guy from Sierra Leone. Both live in the United States and were traveling back to visit family.  When I ask the guy what surprised him the most when he moved to the United States he said it surprised him how individualistic the culture is and that everyone does things alone. And he was introduced to personal space. He said he was like “what do you mean there is this imaginary space around you that is yours? In Africa we are always doing things together and are all up on each other. Now I have to keep out of this personal space…. Ok….”.

He was also surprised about music preference. “They tell you what music you are supposed to listen to. Back home we listen to Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton on Sundays and romance songs. When I got to US my new friends were like “a black guy can’t listen to that”. I have to say I was surprised the first few times I heard Kenny and Dolly music playing in Kenya but it is always fun to hear a reminder of my own childhood.

On the Burundi-Nairobi flight I sat by a Kenyan that has been living in Grand Rapids (my most recent place of residence) for the past 17 years. I had a window seat and he was across the aisle. The seat next to me was empty and my new friend moved over to that seat so we could talk- true Kenyan style. We had a great conversation and I’m glad I hadn’t considered the empty seat my personal space.

When the plane landed, many of the African passengers cheered because happy to be home. I am also glad I am back! J

What to pack?

     What do I take with me to move to Kenya? Well due to airline restrictions and the fact that I’m too cheap to pay to send extra luggage I took two 50 pound suitcases, my backpack and a small bag. All packed super tight with vacuum packing to maximize space. Keeping them below the weight requirement was quite interesting and I thank Mom and Dad for helping move things between bags and taking a few things out, all at the last minute!

     In the bags I carried about 12 flannel bed sheets and quick dry towels for the house. The quality of linens in Kenya is not very good and the cost is quite high. Also, it gets down to about 50◦F in the cold months, around July, and with no heat in the house, flannel bed sheets are a must! We got a great deal at Kohl’s, on sale and 30% off! I also brought some battery operated lights including my favorite travel companion, my headlamp, backup battery power for a cell phone (since we won’t have electricity at the house), add in a few jackets, clothes and a good pair of walking sandals and I’m basically set. Most everything else like toiletries I can buy here. When getting all of it through the airports I was wondering if I really needed so much!