A very busy day

My life in Ndwara has a similar rhythm every time I’m there.   Mama and I get up early and chat,  I wander around outside in my nightgown listening to the birds, and watching the sun come up while I brush my teeth. When I’m ready one of the guys brings me a giant plastic bowl of hot water and I shower.  The washing room in the house is about as big as a walk in closet, with a drain at the bottom of the wall to let the water out.  There’s a stool to put the bowl of water on, and there’s always enough water to get nice and clean and rinse afterwards.   It always seems that as soon as I am dressed, people are arriving to greet me or visit. It’s busy but I never feel rushed.

The first visitor was a young man, Felix, who has just started studying to be a plumber, sponsored by Terry.  He just came to tell me how his first month at school was, and to say thank you for the support.  It was great to see someone who is enjoying the chance to go to school as much as he is.  There is one girl in his class, along with all the boys.  He was busy telling me all about the practical part of his courses, and how much fun it is putting pipes together.  He is aiming to do very well at school, because he has heard that there is a shortage of plumbers…

The first meeting was with the Michael Simning Scholarship Committee.  Because I was sick yesterday, all of the meetings were held in Mama’s yard, under the trees.  The committee decided on the process to be followed so that we have a girl ready to go to school in September.  While I will trust the process, I have my fingers crossed for the young woman who volunteers in the library, and is interested in becoming a library technician.  I think Michael would have enjoyed the meeting, and the project very much.

Second meeting: the library committee, which had nothing but good news.  Our volunteer staff member is doing a great job, use of the library is up, the school is bringing even more classes into the library, and the secondary school English teacher is requiring that students read a novel.  It looks like we have money on the way,  and I was able to report on my meeting with the Kenya National Library Service.  If we can come to an agreement with them it will take care of our sustainability concerns.

Next meeting: the parents of the sponsored students.  We are now sponsoring 24 students in three grades plus the ones going out of town for school so this is quite a big group.  The kids are there too,  and each family stood and introduced themselves.  Many of the kids are orphans, so the group includes grandparents, aunties and others who have taken the children in to help raise them.  The headmaster, who had organized the meetings, asked each family to introduce themselves and their children.  Many of them simply said thank you, but others wanted to tell what it meant to them that their children were able to go to school .  I wish I had been able to record them –some incredible tales of the steps they went to in order to get their kids to school.  One widowed mother talked about her child’s hopelessness when he found out that there was no money to go to school, and his decision to commit suicide.  She talked about hearing that there was a way to get your child into school in Ndwara without money, and how far they walked, asking the way, until they got to Ndwara and found out it was true.  She thinks we saved her child’s life. Another one talked about her niece coming home and saying that she had heard about this school, and persistently dragging her auntie here and there until they could figure out  who they had to talk to.

After the storied, the headmaster talked about how well the students were doing, and how well they were placing in regional exams.  The top students in both form 3 and form 2 are our sponsored students.  Not only that, the first goal in the football game against a neighbouring school was scored by one of our sponsored students.  The headmaster had just come back from a conference, where Ndwara’s school was widely discussed because people wanted to know how a brand new village school could be doing so well. One of my personal points of pride is that two girls that have had babies are back in school, and I think that I had some influence in that, by raising it with the headmaster when we first met.

The big surprise for me was the gifts:  from the headmaster , a traditional picture made out of dried water hyacinths; from the parents’ committee, 6 yards of beautiful fabric so I can make myself a dress; from the future plumber’s grandmother, a leso;  and from the Widows’ and Orphans’ Society, fabric for my daughters in law.  The other gifts were even more valuable:  the Widows’ and Orphans’ Society were challenged to make enough money to sponsor one more student,  and the headmaster and several of the form 3 students had figured out how to apply for bursaries that they are using to sponsor four more students.  This made me so proud of them, as they are working to make this work so they don’t need outside funding forever.

By lunch time the meetings were over, and we were able to set off on a drive. We went to the shores of Lake Victoria. For me the most interesting thing was watching the Luo boat builders.  Their boats are distinctive, and men were building them using a chain saw.  That is a change from tradition when all of the work was done with a panga (opanga in DhoLuo).  They are very skilled at shaping the boards with chain saws, and while it is a very manual process, it is very efficient, and the boats come out looking as they always have. I was told that the only modification from the shapes that they have been using for ever, is the addition of a board at the back for an outboard motor,  rather than relying on sails on oars.  I was delighted, however, to see a boat sailing in. The traditional sail is very much like a dhow,  so I am wondering if there is an Arab influence here.