To School!

by Ed Colina on March 9, 2010

Fred and Students in Classroom

Fred and Students in Classroom

Today I hopped on the back of the motorbike and headed to see the kids at our preschool – Esarunoto.  There are 91 students in four classrooms.  It was great to see the kids and teachers again.  I also walked over to the manyatta to greet some of the women who are eager to begin beadwork once again.  Hopefully we can find the right products and the right market for them to be successful.  Fred took me to see the goats we bought last year.  All are well and many are ready to give birth.  He has branded them all so that they are not absorbed into the men’s herds and can truly be used to support the women, the children and their education. The project seems to be successful although we have 35 more goats to purchase but right now the grass is green and the price of goats is high.

Ed and Daniel in Classroom

Ed and Daniel in Classroom

I met with Daniel, Fred’s older brother and seemingly the head of the family.  Daniel is the chair of the Education Committee.  We will have a formal meeting on Thursday with updates and concerns.  So, after visiting, I joined Mwololo on the back of the motorbike and Daniel hopped on behind me.  The bike was truly built for two but – TIA.  We went to the store, the ATM and then back to my room to type and copy the February exam for the adult education classes.  It’s a simple A,B,C and number recognition test.

Tomorrow we visit St. Timothy School in the nearby slum.  Hoping there is no big production, songs, hoopla for the white guy’s visit.  There are now close to 150 students in the school and we provide porridge and lunch.

Interested in what I eat?  Some have asked.  Here are some highlights.

Saturday – to celebrate my return, Benson and I bought minced meat! We cooked it with onions and tomatoes and put it over pasta.  Drank water with Quencher added to it. (mango flavored syrup).

Sunday – Starbucks coffee (thanks Karen and Kathy) Benson drank it and was hyper all day.  Ate the left over meat and pasta (fine art of deciding when it has gone bad – no refridge) PB&J. For dinner, lentils and tomatoes over rice and Quencher.

Monday – morning – left over lentils and rice, PB&J.  Bread and butter. Water

Tuesday – Eggs, Ramon noodles. For dinner, rice topped with a stew of tomatoes, onions, cabbage, Quencher.  There’s enough rice for breakfast tomorrow.

These items are pretty standard.  I always eat a variation of something over rice (tomatoes, cabbage, lentils, beans.)  Once in a while, when Benson or Fred are here, we make pasta and make a thick sauce made with Wyler’s Cream of Chicken soup and put some canned tuna in it – but the tuna is expensive here.  You can get Ragu-like spaghetti sauce but anything processed is really expensive.  It’s fine and according to the Maasai, I am too fat.

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Visiting the Project Sites

by Ed Colina on March 8, 2010

Today, Monday, Mwololo met me for an extended meeting to go over important issues, budget stuff, staff and cultural problems, and dramas that occurred while I was in the states. At 1:00 pm we took off on the motor bike to visit two adult education classes. I was able to greet the students and tell them where I had come from and give them my regards. We then headed back to Athi River, sliding around in the mud in the rain. That is an experience I don’t often have in Kenya. It seems to never rain.

Later in the afternoon, Fred (my Masai friend) came to see me, traveling back from Kajiado. He and his brothers were bringing 50 cows a long distance from Kajiado to Athi River – since there has been some rain here and there is some grass. Kajiado is undergoing a cholera outbreak and some of his acquaintances have died.

Tomorrow we visit the preschool and see some of the Masai women. Wednesday we go to St. Timothy – a school we help in the slums. Everything is going well but for the visa issues and some concerns about my mom’s health. She is ok but undergoing some tests. More to come.

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Arrived in Kenya

March 8, 2010

It has been obvious that I have neglected the blog for almost the entire time I was in the states. I am now back in Kenya and hopefully I have something to say. It may only be a travelogue for now but stick with me – it will get more interesting.
The only [...]

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Snowy Cincinnati

December 21, 2009

Well I have been enjoying my time back in the states, although the pace has been pretty slow, even at this hectic time of year. I was able to visit friends at IHM school and get caught up on donations and acknowledgments. At home I travel to Panera daily to use their internet connection [...]

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Home

December 13, 2009

I finally made it back to the states and am now safe and sound in Cincinnati. I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss Kenya already, but it is great to see my friends and especially my family! I spent a couple great days in NYC with friends from Grace Church [...]

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Karen to Kibera

November 27, 2009

I am back in Athi River, after a terrific Thanksgiving meal last evening. Turkey, stuffing, potatoes and wine; it was very nice. I was able to spend the evening with friends and celebrate all the things we have to be thankful for. We took turns at dinner talking about our memories of [...]

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A Great Day

November 25, 2009

Today was one of the best I have spent in Kenya. I am not completely sure why but I am anxious to share the day with you. I took an early motorbike and three matatus to Karen (Nairobi) to meet Lloydie Zaiser, the Director for the KEST Program http://www.k-e-s-t.com in the states, [...]

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Thanksgiving Is Coming

November 24, 2009

I have been negligent in not writing in the blog lately but a lot of finalizing of projects before I head home and lack of electricity have kept me from writing. But all goes well. I just left three visitors from the U.S. There was a great pride, I must say, in having American friends [...]

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Uniform Measuring Day

November 14, 2009

Today Mwololo and I traveled to the ECDE Center to oversee the measuring of students for new school uniforms for the start of school in January. The students were very excited, most of the little ones this was their first uniform and probably first time for a new piece of clothing. Mwololo went on and [...]

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Sale of African Items

November 11, 2009

Fred, Benson and I went to Kiserian early this morning. We purchased some belts, beads and other items for the women to make their products. In November, a representative from Hopecrafts will come and look at what we make and hopefully buy a few things. There is another group in London who also works with [...]

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