Mshukuru Mungu kwa kila jambo - Farewell 2011

At the beach with my friend Mary

Thank God for everything - that was the message of the homily in yesterday's Mass which started the year end meeting for the Community Based Health Care Project I work with.  

Today is the last day of 2011.  I'm feeling good about 2012.  This year has had lots of high moments & certainly many challenges.  I was able to move from learning my job to learning how to serve the students better.  I am really grateful for those that supported me through the challenging moments - both those in Kenya and those abroad and at home.  It's been a year of growth. 

The Community Based Health Care Project staff have really made a huge difference in my work this year.  When I found out that a young man who had been working with me was involved in theft, it was one of the CBHC staff that went with me to investigate.  When I took my trip home for a month this summer, it was the CBHC staff who took care of the necessary things for the work I do - so it was fitting that I was sitting with them yesterday and feeling grateful to be part of that team.  The primary purpose of their project is health care for people living with HIV, so the education work I do is off-shoot, but everyone is always willing to help out with what I do.

I'm thankful for Christmas cookies....

And for my Mombasa Maryknoll family ... with our Christmas feast! Yea team!!!

And for a Christmas party that really felt like Christmas!

We had a end of the year party with the Reading Club students ... with a multiplication race!

The girls won ... hands down.  Way to go ladies!

After lunch of rice & beans, they made cards - Thanks to Jane for the supplies & Minh for carrying them to Kenya!

At our CBHC Year-end Meeting - we had team-building exercises on the beach

And it was REAL EXERCISE! We ran intervals mixed with push-ups, jumping jacks, etc.  I'm sore today!

Then we had competitions of filling buckets with broken bowls... 

 

we won, but not officially since we used sand to fill the hole....

Then passed a wet towel through our legs in the water... No one managed to fall over, but there was complaining of cheating on both sides.

Me & my supervisor - Sr. Veronica, who's in charge of CBHC and a fantastic person!

Then we had our "Secret Friend" gift exchange.  I was lucky enough to shop with the person who's name I had so I knew just what she wanted!

What I was given.  =)  Very Kenyan.

We had a cake, which is traditionally cut by multiple people.

And then, also by tradition, fed to the guest of honor.

Now I'm off to bring in the new year on the beach with friends.  I wish you all a very happy new year!

"I love my mom like sugar!"

Yesterday I met with my reading club members.  We were trying to close the office early (at 3 pm) for Christmas so I spontaneously decided that we would talk about Christmas before handing out the reading club prizes.  After realizing my first attempt at discussion was above my language level, I decided we'd talk about love. I had each child name someone that they loved SOOO much.  I was preparing to lead into how God loves us and Christmas is really all about this Love.  Most kids named their mom, but Hesborn's answer was so precious.  "I love my mom like sugar!"  It was sweet and pure and straight from the heart.


I have been ever so busy being busy this month - I've even been busy trying to figure out how not to be so busy.  Thanks to this little boy for reminding me that I, too, love my mom like sugar!  And that this holiday season I can remember all those that I love and how truly sweet life is.

To make Mombasa seem a little bit more like home - in spite of the 80-deg-80%-humidity weather - I've been making Christmas cookies, which is something I learned from my mother.  So it was fitting that I had to call my mom last night to get advice on the sugar in the cookies.

Wishing you all time with someone you love like sugar!
Merry Christmas

HIV = Hope is Vital

Hi.  It's a warm December evening in Mombasa and I'm enjoying our newly-hung Christmas lights and Christmas carols being sung by the voices inside my computer.  Tonight we remembered a cousin of my roommate who passed away this week from cancer.  We sat around our advent wreath and sang O Come O Come Emmanuel and shared stories.  It is good to remember how precious life is.  This time of advent is a time of waiting in hope for Christmas - for a new beginning in the new year - for new life to be born again within us - to believe in not only possibilities but also in miracles.

Yesterday I toured the Kenya Port - the gateway of goods to East Africa - with some of my students.  I was most amazed not by the tons of goods, types of ships, 2400 cars per ship, etc, but by my students.  We have been accompanying a group of 18 in career counseling for the past four months.  I struggle to know how best to help them, but this is one new mechanism we've tried.  If only we could translate their intelligent questions into an education system that honors differences in learning styles, their self-reflection into skills that help them succeed academically, their hopes into an economy that offers opportunities for young people without connections or top notch grades.

Since the tour ended earlier than expected, we managed to fit in a trip to Fort Jesus, a testament to the 16th century Portuguese presence and power in Mombasa.  On it, the students found the painting below.  Hope is vital.

Wishing you all hope.

Reading - Kusoma

The Reading Club has officially started - we even had our first "prize-giving" on Friday, where we awarded pens, "fashion" math sets, pencil sharpers & super-cool rulers for all students who had participated.  When it came to assigning "points," things were a bit chaotic as we are still learning together about expectations. But the most important part is that the kids are reading! 

I had the 12 students who joined the club this week meet me on Friday afternoon in what turned out to be our first reading club meeting.  Each student shared about what they had been reading.  I was impressed by their honesty.  One student shared that he had been given a biology assignment and had been neglecting it so that he could get more "points" in the reading club.  Another said that he didn't really enjoy reading stories, he'd rather work on his class subjects.  Due to the pressure on students for academic performance, we are giving points for subject review & I'm finding that many of the students are choosing to do classwork over reading fiction.  It's interesting to see what books the students choose.  One of the favorite series has been about a boy named Akimbo who lives in Africa and has harrowing adventures with wild animals. 

My office has been fully converted into a library/study room with an average of 9 students filling every chair & bench we have.  I've resorted to meeting guardians and students outside on a bench. I know one of the draws for students is the free lunch we're offering for students who stay and study for 3 hours or more.  For about 30 cents each, I can provide the student with two chapatis (similar to tortillas) and a serving of beans.  I had one single mother explaining that she didn't have food at home, so I invited her younger children to come study, too.  For overflow, I've bought clipboards.  The church has plenty of shady spots outside and a number of benches we can borrow if needed. We'll see what happens!

I have a high school in New Jersey that's going to be exchanging stories with our students.  I hope to catch up with the mountains (at least it seems that way on a Sunday night) of work ahead of me and share some of my students' writing with you and with them.  Stay tuned ...

The not-so-serious side of the reading club

Alex has taken on the Harry Potter series

During our photo shoot to promote the reading club, we had "serious" and "joker" shots.

And some of my weekend excitement - making a cake without an oven ... nor a recipe!

Step 1. Prepare charcoal "jiko" & heat up sand in a big pot.
Step 2. Mix well margarine & sugar (when i asked- its about 1/4 container of margarine & 12 spoons of sugar)
Step 3. Add 4-6 eggs, then add flour to desired consistency.
Step 4. Consult others, then decide to mix in a little milk.
Step 5. Add batter to smaller pan, put inside bigger pan of hot sand.
Step 6. Cover and put charcoal on top,too.
Step 7. Check cake, adjust charcoal since top is done more than bottom.
Step 8. Cool cake while enjoying lunch with friends.
Step 9. Eat cake.

Pamoja - Together

Me & Minh after a long day watching the wildlife at Masai Mara National Reserve

Hello.  Meeting new people is one of the blessings of my experience with Maryknoll.  Strangers that pass through or old connections that appear again.  Today I heard a few words I want to share with you.

"They were there with me - while I was converting and cooking - they were right there with me."

It was in reference to a junior high home ec teacher and a math teacher.   These words struck me as so relevant to the many people who are with me in my journey.  Maybe it's you who are reading my words miles away.  Words you said years ago, part of your presence that stays with me, something I learned from you.  Being far from loved ones doesn't always make them disappear.  

I'm in Nairobi for a week and I'm hoping to catch up on communicating with friends & family.  So don't be surprised to hear from me more than once!  The past weeks have been a whirlwind -  preparing for a board meeting, reviewing new cases, putting the wheels in motion for activities during the December school holidays, evaluating this year's experiences, making plans for next year and the best part - a surprise visit from a fellow missioner from Bolivia.

I hope to write more this week about some of these moments.  We shall see if it comes to fruition.

Minh with the Kindergarten class at Star of the Sea Nursery School. Minh's curiosity was a real blessing, as we entered into various corners (and classrooms) that I usually pass by during my day-to-day life.  These children wave at me as I go into the office, so it was nice to pay them an official visit and hear their English skills and songs!

Thanks to all of you who are here with me.  Tuko pamajo.  We're together in spirit.

Even the dust can be a blessing

It's been raining.  Raining, raining, raining. Almost 9 1/2 inches in the last 5 days. Such rain means different things to different people.  In general, rain is considered a blessing here.  Now streets are flooded, some roads too muddy to pass, and some children cannot cross streams to go to school.  All within 30 minutes of beachfront resorts. It's a paradox living in a tourist area.

I slid down our cement stairs in the rain on Tuesday and am now nursing a swollen elbow with frozen peas, grateful I didn't break anything.  It made for a rough start this morning, but today was a day I came home reminded how blessed I am to be here.  The day started with a meeting comparing notes with a women's group fighting AIDS in which a school teacher shared stories you wouldn't want to believe are true.  As I commiserated that some of the situations of my students are similar, another woman turned to me and asked what I was doing to help them.  I told her I often ask myself that same question.  A few hours later and 10 miles away, I visited the home of a child who has been out of school for almost a year.

It's muddy and they live halfway down a hill towards the ocean inlet, where the ships wait for their turn at the port.  We jumped over puddles and crevasses filled with rubbish that has no other place to be.  We walked on the grass so we wouldn't slide down the hill until we reached their half-finished house.  They had been paying $12/month per rent, but with five children to feed and no reliable work, it's better not have to pay rent.  I checked the "homework" the children had been doing at home and encouraged them to study more, enthralled with them as much as they were with me.  To be a visitor can be such a gift.  To be welcomed and loved just for coming and caring.  It's not that simple, but some moments are to be taken and savored for what they are. 

Outside the house was a line of containers catching rain water.  I started to refuse when my hostess started cleaning my shoes before I left, knowing that I would be trudging through mud and puddles on my way home.  She insisted, saying even the leaving the dust behind can be a blessing.  After my shoes were clean, she then insisted I clean my feet as well before going. I dirtied one bucket of water by putting my foot in it & then after trying to balance myself on the other one and scoop water to rinse my foot, she proceeded to clean my feet as well.  Humbling.

I hope her daughter will go to school tomorrow.  She promised she could manage to pay the entrance "interview fee", as I paid for the required admission fee - which I was told includes a desk, the compulsory school badges, tie, report book, and firewood, etc.  Partnering with parents to meet the requirements for "free" primary education is a challenge and a gift.

Niko. I'm here.

Peter, one of our students, asked me to take photos of his work to help him advertise.  There's lots to think about on this wall.

Niko.  Kenyan Swahili isn't always linguistically pure, and "Niko" is one of those words used much more liberally than the specific meaning of I'm around a general place.  It can mean: I'm present, I'm here, I'm around, I'm not going anywhere, I'm just here, or even on the phone - I'm somewhere that I'd rather not say specifically where.

Niko.  This morning it started with a sigh.  Too much to do, etc.

October has been a month of plans - transitioning out of 2011 and looking towards 2012.  The school year starts in January.  We have 30 students - a project record! - taking National exams in November.  9 finish primary school, 12 will complete secondary school and 9 others finish a vocational program,  either in mechanics, tailoring or hairdressing.  I'm working on finances, doing home visits for new cases, and trying to find better ways to support these kids in the uphill struggle they face.  Saturdays have been focused lately on organizing counseling sessions for students that aren't doing so well and catching up on everything not yet done.

I have some lofty goals for December - a new community service project, reading clubs, maybe even a soccer team, meeting guardians & former students and offering free tutoring ... We'll see which of those pan out.  In the midst of all of this, I need to remember to be present to the moment.

Some highlights of moments from today:

• Going to the eye doctor with Anna (Thank you Lions Club!)
• Driving two of the teens part of the way home & listening as they negotiate splitting a loaf of bread, which they promptly devoured.  No exaggeration.
• Telling one of the boys that I want to be proud of him and knowing he understood what I meant.
• Getting community service ideas from the students, especially when they want to help "the needy", which makes me want to both laugh and cry since some of them don't have enough to eat themselves.
• Feeling both that I'm missing home and yet wanting to help these kids who stories draw me out of myself.

Niko now becomes a prayer.  Here i am.