Last day at Bethel Academy07/31/2014 A lot of tears were shed at Bethel yesterday as I said goodbye to the teachers and students! I cannot begin to describe how these wonderful people and this experience in Kenya has changed my life forever. I have never felt a love and happiness like this before. When you give something, you receive it back exponentially greater... Let the fence begin!07/29/2014 What a blessed day!! With the help of the current African Impact volunteers, we cleared bushes with machetes, dug holes for the fence posts with our bare hands, helped mix cement and hold the posts in place. It was grueling work, but so worth it! I am so grateful for the help of the Bethel teachers that pretty much showed us how to everything! I am humbled by the community spirit present at the school. We were all in it together! The Best Souvenir07/24/2014 I presented a donation gift to each school that I work with this week. I will be funding the building of a fence on one side of the Bethel Academy yard space. It will keep the children and their rogue balls out of the neighbor's vegetable garden, as well as keep the children safe at school. I will be helping to start the fencing project on Monday with a few other volunteers. We will be pulling out bushes and digging holes for the posts. I will also be helping to fund a painting project at Janet Junior Academy, where I work in the morning. The project will paint the inside of the classrooms. My donation will help purchase necessary painting materials. This will be done during the holidays here in a couple of weeks, so I won't be able to participate. At least I know the money will be going to a good cause! This is truly the best souvenir that I will be coming home with... Because of the generosity shown to me, I am able to pay it forward to the schools that have been so loving, generous, and supportive during my stay in Kenya. I will be able to leave a piece of my heart behind, and think of myself at each school for a long, long time. Beyond the Roots07/20/2014 African Impact's 10 year aniversary Mandella Day "Beyond the Roots" garden project at Mukeu special needs school! The teachers taught us traditional Kenyan gardening techniques while the kids helped us with the "jembe". The students also live full time at the school and have 2 cows and a chicken coup to help raise funds. Such an amazing day!!!
Class 4 Teaching Day!07/16/2014 Today I got to teach a lesson in class 4 at Janet Junior Academy! I taught about Light and brought in my flashlight and headlamp for them to experiment with shadows. They went wild over the headlamp! We demonstrated how light can travel through transparent materials, but not solid and opaque materials. I used the teacher's lesson book, and it was quite different than the USA. I'll post a few pictures of what made the lesson specifically African. Loved every minute of working with these clever kids!! So eager to learn an so smart!! Potatoes07/15/2014 Today I was officially initiated into the Kenyan kitchen at Janet Junior Academy... Had to peel potatoes by hand using a knife. The kitchen boy just laughed when I expressed my fright. He analyzed my every slice, saying "Like this! Like this!", not understanding why I didn't know how to do this already. My first dozen potatoes were rather geometric versus his perfectly skinned ones, but I slowly got better. I tried to explain to him that I am used to a potato peeler, but we were totally lost in translation on that one. After a whole bag of potatoes had been peeled, and I REALLY felt the cramp in my ring and pinky knuckles, he then started carving out chunks of the potatoes in one hand! I put my foot down on this one and insisted on chopping them on the table. I have a lot of practice to do before I can become a good Kenyan woman! Chopping cabbage - check Sorting beans - check Making porridge - check (beans, maize flour, sugar, and water) Scrubbing and cleaning with the bare basics of bar soap and shredded cloth - check Sweeping the floor with their awesome handmade broom of sticks - check Stirring brick-hard ugali with a giant wooden paddle - check Peeling potatoes by hand - check Shredding and chopping in hand - not yet Tending to the fire without choking and coughing and running out because my eyes are buring - not yet Carrying 20+ cabbages in a sack on my back - not yet Everyday I am humbled by the women (and kitchen boy) that I work with. Their natural strength, positive attitudes, and resourceful qualities are so inspiring!! Yesterday I chatted it up (as best I could) with Grace, and learned more about her and her family. She has 3 kids and has worked in the Janet kitchen for 4 years. She's such a beautiful and quiet woman. My goal is to secretly find out their shoe sizes and buy them new shoes when I'm at the market on Friday. Crocs would be the best, but I'll have to see what I can find. Both women wear shoes with their toes poking out of holes. I know they don't care, but after putting up with me for 6 weeks it'll be the least I can do! Today I was officially initiated into the Kenyan kitchen at Janet Junior Academy... Had to peel potatoes by hand using a knife. The kitchen boy just laughed when I expressed my fright. He analyzed my every slice, saying "Like this! Like this!", not understanding why I didn't know how to do this already. My first dozen potatoes were rather geometric versus his perfectly skinned ones, but I slowly got better. I tried to explain to him that I am used to a potato peeler, but we were totally lost in translation on that one. After a whole bag of potatoes had been peeled, and I REALLY felt the cramp in my ring and pinky knuckles, he then started carving out chunks of the potatoes in one hand! I put my foot down on this one and insisted on chopping them on the table. I have a lot of practice to do before I can become a good Kenyan woman! Chopping cabbage - check Sorting beans - check Making porridge - check (beans, maize flour, sugar, and water) Scrubbing and cleaning with the bare basics of bar soap and shredded cloth - check Sweeping the floor with their awesome handmade broom of sticks - check Stirring brick-hard ugali with a giant wooden paddle - check Peeling potatoes by hand - check Shredding and chopping in hand - not yet Tending to the fire without choking and coughing and running out because my eyes are buring - not yet Carrying 20+ cabbages in a sack on my back - not yet Everyday I am humbled by the women (and kitchen boy) that I work with. Their natural strength, positive attitudes, and resourceful qualities are so inspiring!! Yesterday I chatted it up (as best I could) with Grace, and learned more about her and her family. She has 3 kids and has worked in the Janet kitchen for 4 years. She's such a beautiful and quiet woman. My goal is to secretly find out their shoe sizes and buy them new shoes when I'm at the market on Friday. Crocs would be the best, but I'll have to see what I can find. Both women wear shoes with their toes poking out of holes. I know they don't care, but after putting up with me for 6 weeks it'll be the least I can do! Today I was officially initiated into the Kenyan kitchen at Janet Junior Academy... Had to peel potatoes by hand using a knife. The kitchen boy just laughed when I expressed my fright. He analyzed my every slice, saying "Like this! Like this!", not understanding why I didn't know how to do this already. My first dozen potatoes were rather geometric versus his perfectly skinned ones, but I slowly got better. I tried to explain to him that I am used to a potato peeler, but we were totally lost in translation on that one. After a whole bag of potatoes had been peeled, and I REALLY felt the cramp in my ring and pinky knuckles, he then started carving out chunks of the potatoes in one hand! I put my foot down on this one and insisted on chopping them on the table. I have a lot of practice to do before I can become a good Kenyan woman! Chopping cabbage - check Sorting beans - check Making porridge - check (beans, maize flour, sugar, and water) Scrubbing and cleaning with the bare basics of bar soap and shredded cloth - check Sweeping the floor with their awesome handmade broom of sticks - check Stirring brick-hard ugali with a giant wooden paddle - check Peeling potatoes by hand - check Shredding and chopping in hand - not yet Tending to the fire without choking and coughing and running out because my eyes are buring - not yet Carrying 20+ cabbages in a sack on my back - not yet Everyday I am humbled by the women (and kitchen boy) that I work with. Their natural strength, positive attitudes, and resourceful qualities are so inspiring!! Yesterday I chatted it up (as best I could) with Grace, and learned more about her and her family. She has 3 kids and has worked in the Janet kitchen for 4 years. She's such a beautiful and quiet woman. My goal is to secretly find out their shoe sizes and buy them new shoes when I'm at the market on Friday. Crocs would be the best, but I'll have to see what I can find. Both women wear shoes with their toes poking out of holes. I know they don't care, but after putting up with me for 6 weeks it'll be the least I can do! |