Greetings from Wednesday

 Greetings all!

Marianna here. . .wrapping up another full day on the worksite. The pace has certainly changed, however, since we finished building the actual structure of the library. Today was spent mostly in the shade, cutting steel cables into long strips and wrapping them into neat squares in order to prepare the inner structure for the lintel we’re beginning tomorrow. Lots of sitting in the dirt bent over stiff and sharp objects, twisting and working the cables into position. A dozen or so older students from Oloika who were hanging around the school during the afternoon came over to help us. We partnered up with them after a quick name game and finished the lintel cables ahead of schedule! My partner’s name was Rama, a fifteen-year-old eighth grader who actually attends school with her brother and sister in nearby Magadi. She lives in Oloika, though, and has been home while the public school teachers have been on strike.

click for more

On that note, we go some very happy news from Shani tonight at check-in! Apparently the leader of the teacher’s union and the Kenyan government have arrived at some sort of agreement, and the teachers will begin teaching their classes again within a couple of days! Of course, with Oloika being fairly isolated, a couple of days could stretch into sometime a bit longer, but I’m sure we’ll see some serious changes in the classrooms long before we leave for home.

As we did yesterday, we ended the afternoon session with a very humbling game of soccer. I honestly can’t even begin to explain how vast and open the landscape is, stretching for miles and miles around each side of the dirt field, across this valley to the mountains beyond. My team lost. . .again. . .but the fact that these extremely agile young boys, some not even wearing shoes, would honor us by passing the ball our way once or twice during the game was enough to make it all worth it! My hiking boots were definitely not constructed for this kind of activity. They’re well broken in by now, Mom!!!!

I guess I forgot to mention the fact that it was only yesterday morning when Thea, Jessie and I got back from our homestay. I hope one of them gets to blog soon, because I think it’s only fair for some of the parents, who probably are experiencing Kenya for the first time through a child who is also experiencing Kenya for the first time, to hear it from their own unique perspective. I’ve been lucky enough to have now been on three homestays, totaling to nearly a week in a Masai boma. Zhamoyani did get a couple of things right though: jump rope, flying kites, coloring books, and plenty of snooze time in the heat of the day. I will also add that we took a stroll after evening tea, around 6 pm, that can only be described as spectacular. The light, the landscape, everything! How can a place on a map that is so small be so big in reality?!?!?!? Mind blown.

I have also continued my obsession with Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire and hogged a considerable portion of check-in reading the author’s introduction. I encourage you all to look this book up. . .there is a lot to think about in it that is extremely relevant to Oloika. Overpopulation, climate change, the difference between preservation and “improvement,” desert landscapes, and that genus of tourist, Slobivius americanus, restricted to vehicular types of travel and without the patience or cardiac health to remove themselves from a car. Being back here has also got me fantasizing about one of my favorite places on earth: the Carl Akeley Hall of African Mammals at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. Carl Akeley, besides being a fascinating scientist and explorer who revolutionized museum taxidermy and display practices (taking a moment to geek out, here), also recognized a simple fact that was years ahead of his time. Some of his motivation in replicating the landscape, flora, and fauna of the African wilderness so accurately (please please please check out the dioramas in this hall online because they truly are unmatched in the world) lay in the truth that the Africa he knew, even in the ‘20s and ‘30s, was rapidly disappearing. Victim to development and restructuring after the calamity that was “the Scramble for Africa.” Even then, he knew and he understood that he was preserving an idea that was almost already gone. 

From the Author’s Introduction to Desert Solitaire:

Finally a word of caution: Do not jump into your automobile next June and rush out to the canyon country hoping to see some of that which I have attempted to evoke in these pages. In the first place you can’t see anything from a car; you’ve got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk, better yet crawl, on hands and knees, over the sandstone and through the thornbush and cactus. When traces of blood begin to mark your trail you’ll see something, maybe. Probably not. In the second place most of what I write about in this book is already gone or going under fast. This is not a travel guide but a elegy. A memorial. You’re holding a tombstone in your hands. A bloody rock. Don’t drop it on your foot—throw it at something big and glassy. What do you have to lose?

Just food for thought…

Xoxo

Marianna

Quote of the day: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” –Margaret Mead

Did you see these? Let us know.

It's possible this album was not set for public viewing, please check out these oldies but goodies. http://groton-kenya2013.blogspot.com/2013/07/day-1-photos.html

July 9, 2013

Tuesday report photos from Sun/Mon

Quote of the day from Zhamoyani: “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door” –Milton Berle

Sopa!!

Today the group continued building the library. Shani was able to bring Marianna, Thea, and Jessie from their homestay to the work site in the morning. They were dirty and tired, but eager to work and see what they missed while they were with their host family for a couple of days. We were glad to have them back this morning. A day is longer here than it is in the U.S. so I missed them too.

Since the corners for the building were completed yesterday, we were able to fill in the inner rows. The day seemed to be going slow, but we were able to finish the nine rows, leaving space for windows, and beams tomorrow.

Click for photos of Sunday and Monday.

I heard from Marianna about their wonderful time with their host families. She mentioned jump-roping, flying kites, herding goats, and more. I can’t wait for when I go on my homestay on Thursday, which is in two days.

During our work time in the morning, Edward, the man in charge of the construction, told us that two trees had to be removed since they were leaning over into the building, and interfering with the project. We were given two pick axes and a thin, heavy metal, sword-like object to chop off the tree roots and bring down the invasive species covered in thorns. Sure enough, Eddie, with his brute force and massive size, was able to chop down the first tree within a few seconds. I was no match. The second tree was a lot harder to bring down since the roots were much thicker, but Brandt, Eddie, Ycar, and I were able to bring down the thorn-covered tree, after about ten minutes. It was also my first time using a pick axe so I felt so good with it in my hand. The Masai warriors came to our aid to help us carry the tree away.

During our lunch, Laurie explained a project to us. A couple of days ago, we did an exercise with the Rusinga kids, where we would have to listen to each other speak, and write down important words that they said. With those words, we have to create a poem. We can change the words to fit our poem, but at the end, we will send our poems via email to the Rusinga kids. I look forward to my finished piece.

Later on in the day after our afternoon work, we played a game of soccer with Charlotte’s ball. I was so intimidated by the kids. I thought they were going to be so good. And they were. When were separated into two groups, I was on team nabo (one), which mostly comprised of Groton students. I was a little bit worried about how well we would do, but when we started playing, I became more confident. The little kids were really fast. Some kids hit the ball across the field. Others were able to keep the ball between their feet while people tried to steal the ball. It was an amazing game. I was busy running up and down the field. Eddie head-butted the ball; Varsha and Jessie blocked many. And after about twenty minutes of playing, team nabo won 2-1, surprisingly. Everybody was worn out. We returned to our compound, looking forward to tea time and the showers.

Charlotte, Varsha, and Brooke left the camp tonight to go on their homestay, so it will be a small group tomorrow on the worksite, but it will be fun to work on the roof.

Best,

Zhamoyani

P.S: Hi Mum. You are probably worried right now, but I’m fine. I remembered to take my malaria pills. J

Monday

Sopa!

After a restful Sunday, our group got back to work.  With Rusinga gone and Marianna, Thea, and Jessie on their home-stay, it was quite lonely.  However, we managed to get a lot done.  I got to work very closely with James our mason today as we constructed the final corners of the building.  I had not done that much work with James, but by the end of the day, we were buds.  Whenever the Groton group decided to take a water break, James would yell at us, “Work is not happening!”  He also had a lot more faith in me than I had in myself.  By the end of the day, he told me to try making corners on my own, but I refused for the library’s sake.  We also bonded over not knowing Masai since he is from a different tribe.  I think he knows even less than I do which is always comforting.  By the end of the day, we finished all 9 courses of one full wall and all the corners.  We probably will finish the rest of the walls by the end of tomorrow.

Today also involved a lot of fun activities with the people around the worksite.  We brought a few books along with us today which provided endless entertainment for the day.  At tea time, every single person on the worksite was looking at a book.  I looked at an animal book with James and one of the Masai men who helps on the worksite.  As we worked through, we went over the names of the animals in English, Swahili, and Masai and where they all lived.  Once we got to the underwater section, the men had a difficult time understanding what exactly whales and dolphins were.  James also kept asking me how one would catch a narwhal, “Do you grab it by the horn?”  It was so amazing to see how much joy a book can bring.  Books are such a simple thing for us, but here they are the greatest thing in the world.  It was really cool to see.

In the afternoon, Brandt performed a little science demonstration for all of us.  This experiment involved heating a Coke can with a little bit of water in the bottom until the can was full of water vapor.  Then he turned the can over into a bucket of water and it was crushed by the air pressure.  The students and adults alike were amazed at the sight.  James let me take a break to go see it and he himself was dumbfounded.  He kept asking, “How can we make it go back?”

To end the day at the worksite, we played a game of “Wah” with some kids.  It was a little confusing to explain, but by the end, most people got really into it.  Tomorrow we are planning to play the more universal game of soccer with some Oloika kids.  After that, Varsha, Brooke, and I are headed off on our home-stay!  It should be really fun to experience boma living.  Shani (who says hi) has reported that the other group loves their home-stay and is having the greatest time.  Hopefully we will have a similar experience!

Now it is time for bed to prepare for another full day!

Xoxo,

Charlotte

P.S. Mom and Popi- I hope you are surviving without me and Syd! Miss you guys! 

Friday and Saturday with Rusinga

Sopa!!

Today was basically another hard day of work at Oloika. We left the compound at around 7:45 in the morning to take our usual stroll through Shampola into Oloika. I always enjoy the walk because I get the opportunity to greet the Masai. We worked at a much faster pace compared to the other days. We put up many rows of brick, used around six loads of sand, and threw mortor at the walls. The building is coming along nicely. Now, instead of working outside the foundation, we have to go in the building to work. Today was the Rusinga students last day here in Oloika, so it was sad to see them go. As a group, we played zip-zap-zop, which was really fun. We also had a few leadership temperament activities with the Rusinga kids hosted by Brooke, which made us understand ourselves and our personality better. One of the questions we had to answer was “What makes a perfect utopia?” And by using the nineteen UN Millennia goals, we worked together to form a perfect world by prioritizing the significance of each goal.  It was interesting to see how our perspectives differed. Through this activity, we were able to identify people’s leadership roles, and our own. It was fun working with the Rusinga kids, and we are all going to miss them. We took a picture at the end in front of the future library with the Rusinga kids and the Masai workers. Hopefully, the relationship between Groton School and the Rusinga School will continue! We did exchange Facebook and instagram names so we look forward to seeing pictures of Nairobi when we get home. 

click for the album

We walked back to camp around 5:30 escorted, as always, by a group of six or seven Masai warriors.  The showers we took when we got back were very refreshing.  We took tea, coffee, hot chocolate and cakes (banana this time) while the sun set behind us. By the time dinner was served lanterns were set out around our camp and we couldn’t see the food without a headlamp.  We all, well half of us, were delighted to find burgers and fries for dinner.  We made buns out of the fresh rolls they always have at meals.  Four members of our group are vegetarians or don’t eat red meat and there were only two veggie burgers, but there was plenty of salad, vegetables and fresh fruit so no one went hungry. Now the kitchen always has enough vegetarian options.  We met Shani’s wife and sister during check-in and look forward to seeing more of them in the coming weeks.  Before going to sleep we heard zebra calls from the savanna.  We all look forward to seeing them when we go on our safari next weekend, but we are looking forward to the sleep in on Sunday the most. See you all soon!

~Zhamoyani and Thea

Day 2 in Oloika

Today we had our second full day at the worksite. After a beautiful breakfast of eggs and bacon as we watched the sun rise, we did a quick energizer and headed out to the school. We completed the 15-minute walk through town, greeting everyone cheerfully as we went. We spent our morning with part of our group working on the next layer of the walls, and the rest tutoring younger students in math and science. Our morning work was interrupted by a short break for tea, coffee, and cookies, after which we returned to work again, fully caffeinated and re-energized. During the second part of the morning, Laurie, Thea and Varsha began a conversation with six Moran (Masai warriors). The Moran, who spoke impressive English, taught them a plethora of useful Masai words. They were enthusiastic in their instruction, and the lesson was very much enjoyed by their students.

During the hottest part of the day, we headed back to camp for lunch and a short break (shoutout to the delicious potato salad). We returned to the worksite in the afternoon, where it was considerably cooler and much more pleasant. We continued our progress, finishing the fourth layer and beginning the corners for the fifth. Following the afternoon session, we and the Rusinga students played a fun, mentally challenging game which seemed much harder after our long day of work, then had a discussion about leadership types and how to find balance in leadership between different personalities.

We finished the day with a delectable dinner of chicken curry and chapatis, and then circled up for check-in under the stars, where Shani shared his incredible life story. Born and raised as a traditional Masai, he has dedicated his life to preserving the Masai culture and empowering his people especially through education.

Learning about this culture has been a fascinating experience so far, and we can’t wait for the rest of the trip!

Love,

Varsha and Jessie

Comments are welcome!

Hey friends and families out there- we'd love to hear from you so leave your comments and questions!
Much love from Oloika,
Team Kenya 2013