I finally have gotten some Bible-based ESL materials sent from the US. I have yet to be able to contact the Bible Society of Kenya to get Bibles. None of the phone contacts on their brochure go through so I emailed them last Tuesday but have not heard from them.
I have a new student his name is Stephen. He came to class the first day with a toothbrush in his mouth. There is a certain tree here that’s branches people use to clean their teeth. For most of the class, his toothbrush (tree branch) hung out the side of his mouth…much like a toothpick would. At the end of class, he got razed by the other students for using his toothbrush in class! He is a diligent student. I think he could probably be an artist, he writes with that flare that artists have. He can write the alphabet very well, but when I asked him to write his name on his paper – he couldn’t remember how to spell it! On Wednesday he asked Janet to keep his worksheets for him. (I still don’t have folders for everyone.) On Thursday, after a lot of chatter on my part about the need for practice…he took his worksheets home. Progress?
After class on Wednesday I returned home to a lunch of ugali and cabbage. Not my favorite meal, but Rebecca is an amazing cook…pretty much anything she makes tastes good and now I know why. Cooking fat! She’s adds two heaping spoonfuls to nearly everything she cooks…I’m glad I don’t spend too much time in Ilkiloret, I might come home a few sizes larger!
Rebecca and I went to Janet’s in the afternoon with the groceries I brought for her and then stayed for what has become our customary afternoon chat - Rebecca on a low stool by the door, Janet and I on her bed. It’s not really a conversation because Janet has to do a lot of translating. But we manage to laugh a lot and get a lot of organizational things accomplished. Per usual over the last two weeks, thunder begins in the late afternoon and that is usually our queue to head for home.
In Janet's compound, one "mother" was smearing her house, while others were making jewelry.
Back at home, I play with the kids and hang out in the kitchen while Rebecca cooks. Silas, her nephew, who is 18 and an orphan lives with them and is around in the afternoon to translate a bit for me. On Wednesday he was busy planting seedlings of sukuma in the demonstration garden.
We ate sukuma and rice (that I had brought from Ngong) for dinner in the kitchen because of the rain, Rebecca has some dry wood now, so it is not quite so smoky in the manyatta that is their kitchen.
After dinner I was arranging my bed, when Silas told me that James wanted to talk to me. I’m always a little apprehensive when people ask to talk to me, I immediately think I’ve done something culturally offensive and am about to be told how to behave properly - but that was not the case, quite the opposite occurred in fact.
James started off by saying that he never imagined that anyone from outside could come and stay with them and be so comfortable and at ease. He said he appreciated that I would sacrifice to come and teach them and live the way they live. "People ask me why you stay here," he said. "I tell them you are Rebecca’s friend and you are now part of our family." He said that this (his and Rebecca’s home) was also my home. “Anytime you come, you stay here," he said. "You belong to this house. I have a shuka (Maasai blanket) for you. To keep you warm, but also to represent that you are a part of this family.” (See my heart melting to pieces here.)
Then it was my turn to make a speech. Kenyans are all about speeches; there is no such thing as just saying thank you and keeping silent. So I told them I was honored to come and teach in Ilkiloret and live in their home and be part of their family. That it was because they were respected members of their community and showed me kindness and hospitality, that other people in Ilkiloret accepted me. With all that said James prayed and we all went to bed.
I slept like a baby, warm inside (with the knowledge of my newly acquired family status) and outside (covered in my red plaid shuka).
Although I had trouble falling asleep because it rained off and on through out the night and I had left my jeans and fleece (motorcycle riding clothes) drying on the fence. I told Rebecca I needed to go get them. She said they would be dry before I left the following afternoon. But still I worried. As it turned out, I worried for no reason, even with all the rain; my clothes were nearly dry by 8 am! The wind in the Rift Valley knows no equal!
I rolled up my sleeping mat and then took tea in the kitchen with James, Rebecca and Silas.
Rebecca heated water for me to bathe…I usually bathe in the afternoon with cold water, but it was already rainy and cold on Wednesday afternoon so I used wet wipes to clean my feet and hands before I went to bed. My one luxury while I’m in Ilkiloret is the cleanser I bring to clean my face with…sometimes at the end of a day there I can actually feel the dirt on my face!
As it was still early, around 9 a.m., I told Rebecca I would wash my own clothes and bedding. She put up a mild protest…but as I am now a member of the family she has to let me do my part.
Later Pastor Johnson came by and asked for the phone number of the piki piki that was coming to get me. He wanted to go to town and then catch a lift back with the piki piki that was coming to bring me back to Ngong in the afternoon. I should have known that this was not a good idea, as Kenyans do not keep time. But with my new found status as family member and thus a member of the community I needed to comply with this request.
Day two of class I had 10 students who arrived between 10 and 11 a.m. and who were learning at 4 different levels. I have one student, Elizabeth, who is not able to even make letters properly yet. So I wrote the alphabet in red pen on the back of her worksheet and told her to trace the letters. She completed that in about 15 minutes and showed me her work – she was beaming from ear to ear. I gave her a high-five and told her to go home and practice. Janet translated everything I said and she nodded and smiled.
I think the key to this whole teaching thing is making the students feel like they’ve accomplished something every time they come to class – even if it’s just tracing the alphabet! You have to start somewhere, right?
By the time I reached home Rebecca was dishing up lunch – sukuma and ugali.
And all that was left to do was change clothes and wait for the piki piki. And wait I did.
Elijah was supposed to return at 2p.m. at 2:45 he and Pastor Johnson finally returned. It turns out Pastor Johnson was late for their appointed meeting time in town and did not call Elijah to tell him if he was still coming. Elijah didn’t have Pastor Johnson's number so he waited 10 minutes and left. When he had reached Kimuga (15 minutes into the journey to Ilkiloret), Pastor Johnson called him and pleaded with Elijah to come back to town and pick him.
All’s well that ends well I guess. I stopped at the cyber on the way home and printed and bound the Bible-based ESL material that had been emailed to me and then called Njenga and asked him to take me home.
Tired, dirty and sore, I had no idea of the surprise that awaited me in my kitchen!
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