Water is life!

Rain and water isn't something I really thought about much before while living in Australia. Water comes from a tap. It rains in winter. Thats basically it. Sometimes in winter the rain may require quickly grabbing the washing in and drying it by the heater. It is a mild annoyance if having to dash from the shopping centre to the car. 

Rain in Kenya is something else. When it really rains then everything stops. Most times the power goes out. The marketstalls throw tarps over their goods and everyone rushes for shelter.

For the locals it is very loud on tin roofs and you can't hear very well so you just huddle together and wait for it to stop. I have sat huddled in a mud hut for over half an hour. No light and over 30 people squashed in together. No one talking because it is simply too loud to hear each other, all just waiting for it to stop.

Yet despite this, here in Kenya rain is so much more of a necessity. Farmers plant their crops and then wait for the rain. If it doesn't rain then they won't be able to eat. And when I say 'farmers' that means just about everyone. 

Girls with their empty buckets when we ran out of water.

At the school here we have a bore and several wells. However the large number of students living here often results in the bore running dry- and the well water is not clean enough to drink. Several times I have told my classes they need to have a drink of water because many of the students were slumped on their desks exhausted. This was met by a cry of 'hakuna maji!' (there is no water!).

Kenyans are not used to drinking much water, many of my students ask me why I carry a drink bottle and drink so much. I have told many students the importance of staying well hydrated but it felt a little pointless and cruel telling them to drink more when not only is there no water but also many students don't have anything to keep water in- many only have one cup or bowl for their tea and lunch and therefore can only have a small amount at a time.

Thanks to some generous donations we were able to quickly resolve these problems and purchase a water tank to be specifically for drinking- if the bore goes dry then students will still have water to drink at least! 
A bulk purchase of waterbottles was made and each student given a bottle with their name on it- now students are able to have as much drinking water as they need.

Agape also sent funds for some longer term solutions- 4 massive rain water tanks to help through the dry season.

A huge thankyou to those who contributed to this cause- it is such a fundamental thing and makes such a difference for day to day life!  If you want to contribute further we would love to be able to get the kids durable long lasting drinkbottles rather than the disposable style ones we currently have. Send me an email (tabithaverity@gmail.com) if you have any funds or know any good suppliers we can get some donations from! 

What do Kenyan students do in the holidays?

It seems that many things about Kenyan life are quite different to that of Australia so I was pretty keen to find out what school holidays would be like for Kenyan students.

Do they hang out with their friends, watch movies, go to the beach and the shops? Well, I kinda knew they wouldn't do most of that stuff but was interested to see what they would do instead- I opted to stay at the school for the holiday period to get some work done and see how the 50 or so students living here all year round spent their time.

Construction work on the schools new kitchen began in the holidays and on the first day I noticed some of my older students amongst the workforce,  $3.10 for a full day of carrying heavy buckets of water, shovelling dirt and mixing concrete can make a real difference to school fees.

However, for those students who live here all year round they had other chores to take care of that came above paid work, for example emptying out the schools supplies of beans, mixing bug killer all through them and re-bagging. I decided to help the boys out for an arvo doing this much to their delight- I didn't realise how dirty a job it was, or how difficult. After filling a bag with beans they jokingly asked if I wanted to lift it. I thought I'd give it a go but was shocked that I could barely budge it! The boys explained that they were 90 kg bags- then casually hauled them onto each others shoulders and carried them back to the storeroom.

One morning I got up before seven and had a look around the school, most of the classrooms were empty yet I found a few that had students in them, they had gotten up early and set up their books to work on their study. Halfway through the holidays the students at the school started 'attending' lessons again and observing the school timetable through self-directed study, always keen to be improving their grades!

I was happy to see that holidays did also include some chillout time, for the girls this is mostly sitting around and doing each others hair and for the boys many games of football. 

As for those students who are boarders or day scholars, I found out on return to school that the majority had worked in their fields for most of the holidays. I learnt to begin my post-holiday lessons with 'how were the holidays- did you weed the maize?' to which the inevitable answer was 'fine- yes of course we did!!'.

Situma

One of the best things in Kenya is no doubt the variety of amazing different people I have met, during the recent school holidays I spent a lot of time with one such person.

Gregory Situma is a happy, cheeky, friendly and fun loving 11 year old boy that lives near the school. He was around almost every day in the holidays, skipping into the library where I was working with a happy smile, keen to help in whatever way he could. Considering his young age  I was super surprised at what a quick learner he was- he quickly picked up how to use my computer in only a few minutes and helped me re-catalogue all the library books, cleaned up the library with me, helped me in the garden- even came around and did my washing with me. 
Situma loves to dance and we often ended up doubled over in laughter at our dance off efforts when having a break from work. He is good at sports as well and picked up how to play Oztag and ultimate frisbee quicker than any of the other kids. He is a real gem of a child. 

Unfortunately, when Situma was a young boy he got sick. As a result of this sickness he is now completely deaf.

For people with disabilities, Kenya is a very unforgiving place. Situma is lucky enough to go to a boarding school for the hearing impaired and as a result knows sign language very well- however, most of his family and friends don't know how to communicate with him. Many people simple ignore him or don't make an effort, explaining by saying they 'don't know how to'. After spending so much time with Situma I got to know a little sign language and we also wrote a lot of notes to communicate. 

One day Situma told me his mother wanted to meet me, unbeknownst to me he then told his mother I wanted to meet her and thus I rocked up at their house with both me and his mother unsure as to exactly why I was there. 
Situma loved it, giggling away he introduced us in his own little way and sat me down in their little mud hut. Friends and extended family members started coming from everywhere to meet Situmas 'muzungu friend'. It was apparently a great honour for them to have me in their house and I was given two bottles of Fanta and shown through the family photo album. After chatting for a while in their broken English and my broken Swahili his family started asking me what vegetables I ate- they then proceeded to take me outside to their little farm and shower me with presents- 15 avocados, a whole bunch of bananas, half of their sweet potato crop and a 5 litre bucket of peanuts.
Here was this poverty stricken family with little more than the clothes on their backs and the food they were growing and yet they were all so keen to give. 
I knew they needed the food a lot more than I did and felt bad to accept it but I knew it would be much more offensive for me to refuse so I thanked them profusely and then went home and baked a cake with Situma to give as a thankyou gift- they had never eaten a chocolate cake before and were so excited and thankful.

Situma cannot hear a word I say and yet he knows me well, I have never heard a word from his mouth, and yet I have had some of my most hilarious and enjoyable times with him. 

This little boy and his family are so welcoming, friendly and generous despite their circumstances. Their attitude of positivity and willingness to give is something we can all learn from!