Yesterday, while Alan visited with science colleagues in Kisumu, Maya and I headed into the hills with Joni, Cliff and Mark to go visit Mark's family and the school nearby. Mark's brother, Absilon and his wife Lillian live in a sweet mud home on a fertile piece of land. Right next to the house is their farm, where they are growing corn, bananas, avocados, millet, potatoes and more. This farm surely provides the family with a good share of their dietary needs.
Joni, Jaclyn (Absilon's daughter), Mark and Absilon
This is how millet grows
Bananas
Just beyond the farm is the local primary school - Nyagweno Primary School. The motto there is Education is Light. All the schools we've seen in Kenya have their mottos posted on the outer gates of the school. Many of them refer to light in some way. We got to see the preschool class that had about 30 children - and not much else. No materials, nothing to play with, no books. Just a room with a lot of kids and two teachers. They were kind of leery of us wuzungu at first, but after the candy came out and they got to see that we were actually pretty friendly, they warmed up quickly.
The school has few resources - e.g. no running water or electricity, the children need food, the teachers need to be paid better, the buildings are crumbling, etc. etc. Joni and Cliff are eager to help make a difference here, and goodness knows a little would go a long way. But it is a huge challenge for them to navigate the culture and legal obstacles that are popping up all around. It is certainly a learning experience for them. Together with Mark, the new Executive Director of Rosie's Rafikis, they have tremendous potential to do good and we look forward to hearing about their success there.
We're not so sure about these strangers
Candy, the universal social lubricant
The children of Nyagweno Primary
The preschool classroom
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