Madam Librarian

It appears that a connection with libraries is in the blood- both mum and dad work or have worked in libraries  and when I arrived at school I was given the position of librarian without consultation...

The students at the school are issued government  authorised textbooks with the information they need to memorize for the exams. Any further research or resources are not provided or particularly advocated by the Kenyan system. Hence I have been super keen to provide other resources in order to broaden the horizons of the students a little!

The computer room/library contained a pile of mac computers donated by mac africa which lay mostly unused in a tangle of power plugs as not many students or teachers know how to operate them. The one bookshelf with lending books had been placed behind the door meaning students cannot browse or even really see what books are available.

When Jemima was visiting we spent a lot of time reorganising and setting up the library to be more user friendly. 10 computer stations with clear rules displayed, the books moved to a more accessible location, a simple index card system for borrowing records, purchase of a number of new books, cleaning the whole room and setting up mats and areas students can sit.

Our 'library' of borrowing books

From when I open the library at 7 until I send out the last students at 5 or 6 it is a hive of activity. Students borrow and return books in all their breaks, come for a chat or to ask a question and after school absolutely love coming to use the computers.
It's amazing how the room can fill up with over 30 students in a matter of minutes (3 per computer max for space sake).

Some days the power will go out which relieves me of the duty of kicking everyone out when I need to leave, but the majority of the time when I turn the lights off and say 'time to shut down everybody' the students are very good about it and are all out within a couple of minutes.

I would love to be able to expand the library's selection of books- a number of 'set books' are required for English and Kiswahili, which the students are supposed to purchase themselves, however at approximately 500 shillings (about $6)  per book this is well outside most students capacity. If they are fortunate enough to have parents and their parents are fortunate enough to have a job this is over 2 days pay, hence the majority go without and struggle to keep up when studying the book in class.

They also love novels, revision guides and story books- once again these range from 500- 2000 shillings ($5-$20), they would also love some Swahili bibles and resource books. If this is something you would like to help out with then shoot me an email tabithaverity@gmail.com.

Our lovely inspiration wall- posters donated by Meningie Community Library

Computer time after school

Joyful Widows :)

Being a widow in Kenya is an unenviable thing. No such thing as Centrelink benefits here and often a widow will have many children to provide for. One of my students explained that when her father died the in-laws came and took everything they had, leaving them without even a house to sleep in. Apparently this is a common thing here in Kenya and it certainly makes life very difficult for the widows!

The Agape in Action Widows program started in 2010 to help out some of the especially needy widows in the ecclesia. Last Saturday we were invited to be a part of one of the widows meetings in which over 30 widows gathered together at Lela (the AinA orphanage here). 

We all introduced ourselves, had a bible talk by Des and shared a meal of soft drink and mondazis (a common meal when feeding a crowd for a special event). This widows meeting was to distribute blankets, maize seed and fertilizer to some of the widows and then a brand new 'very smart' dress or skirt/top and a pair of shoes to everyone. 

The duty of distributing these items was given to us the muzungus as to the widows we represent every person who has ever donated to the program. As the lid of the case of clothes was flung open, the room of docile, shabbily dressed, mostly elderly women suddenly erupted! Everyone got to their feet and started loudly singing, stomping and dancing, we would yell out the name of the widow (written on the clothes) and this would be met with a loud cry of 'ayyyeee ayyyyeee ayyyyyee ayyyyeeee!!!!!" as the lady would dance her way towards us and then fling her arms around in a massive hug, multiple handshakes and 'asante sana's (thankyou very much), they would instantly throw the clothes on over whatever they were wearing and continue to dance around the room. There was something about the whole experience that is hard to describe, the excitement and joy in the room was so contagious I found by the end of the distribution I was exhausted from the sheer adrenaline of the dancing, singing, clapping and cheering. 
Watching the widows leave dressed in their lovely new clothes, new shoes on their feet and with sacks of grain on their heads I realised how much of a difference this program makes in their lives, they left with a full stomach, having been encouraged by the bible talk, a new set of clothes and also means to provide food for their families. 


“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27





Click on this link to find out more and contribute http://www.agapeinaction.com/project_current.html#widows 

Genuine living below the line.

Live below the line is a campaign I have been involved in for a number of years- only spending $2 per day on food for 5 days to raise money and awareness for those living in poverty. However, now I have faces and names and characters and people I love to put next to the phrase 'those living in poverty'- pretty much all my students! I decided to conduct an experiment to see how I would survive on the local fare here in Kenya. For one week I committed to lining up with the students and only eating what is provided by the school- well below $2 per day worth!

Breakfast- cup of tea, 

Morning tea- cup of tea, 
Lunch- beans and maize, 
Supper- ugali and skuma (boiled kale) 
Except for Wednesdays in which morning tea also includes a mondazi (fried dough) and lunch is rice and beans and Sundays in which dinner includes a mondazi and rice- and a small piece of meat (which being vego I avoided anyway).

For those that aren't familiar with it, ugali is made from maize flour and water, its basically like a bland stodgy pudding bread, it is eaten with your bare hands and moulded to pinch up the skuma. It takes quite a bit of getting used to! Some students can afford to buy avocados, bananas, extra mondazis, peanuts etc but for those who don't have pocket money they simply cannot have these extras. 


Myself and Elise (who bravely took on the challenge as well!) decided to take the role of one of these 'poorest' students and not supplement our food. Western style foods and delicacies such as butter, chocolate, chips and biscuits are readily available in big supermarkets, however the majority of Kenyans simply cannot afford them, many can't even afford the basic fare that is provided at the school! We decided no extra snacks, added flavourings to our food, morning coffee or cuppas before bed...

So what did I learn after a week of eating like a student? 
I lost 2.3 kg over the week and I discovered that hunger is no fun. Its hard to be positive and energetic when you are hungry. Not having a proper breakfast makes it hard to concentrate and it is exhausting. Having the same food day in day out and no fresh fruit or veg is difficult to adapt to, picking out rotten bits of food, maggots and bugs from lunch is time-consuming and appetite reducing, watching others who have extra food and yummy snacks is a great cause of jealousy and it is easy to feel indignant.

We are currently working on setting up a breakfast program for the school- so we can provide a nutritious alternative to a cup of sugary tea for ALL the students. Fresh fruit, wholemeal bread, nutrition drink, eggs... For approximately $0.26 per student per day we can set this up. If you want to help these students then every cent really counts!! Go to www.agapeinaction.com/breakfast program to donate.

Sponsorship- can you help?

Coming from a family living in extreme poverty is something that most of us can simply not truly understand because we have never experienced it.

Talking to my students I have heard many heart wrenching stories about what their backgrounds and lives outside of school are like. 

One of my brightest students explained to me that his parents simply do not have any money or employment and it is a struggle to find enough food to eat, he and his siblings often go hungry. His family will not be able to get enough money for his school fees.

Another student I often notice for her helpfulness and cheerful nature- she frequently mops the staffroom and helps out with odd jobs, recently I sat with her and she told me about her background- her father has died, her mother is remarried and she never sees her, she moved in with her grandmother but then her grandmother died so now she is with an uncle and his 12 children- needless to say money is a problem and any funds go straight to trying to provide food for the family, as she is not one of their children she often misses out.

Another lad is an orphan who lives with his 79 year old grandma and has been walking 18 km to school until he ended up moving in at the school- however he hasn't paid any fees and is worried about if he will be able to stay.

Unfortunately schools cannot run on no money. Fees are around equivalent to $240 per year or $400 for boarders. Compared to Australian prices this seems like nothing for full board, tuition, uniform and food, however it is still out of reach for many Kenyans. With the school Administrator I have discussed the situations of the most needy students and have identified 13 students for whom paying fees is an impossibility and the only way they can continue at school is if they receive sponsorship. 

For just $40 per month you could provide the necessary funds for these students to stay at school. I personally know all these needy students and some are the the cleverest and most helpful in my classes! Providing funds for their education will potentially help them to gain employment and break out of the vicious cycle of poverty. 

If you are in a position to be able to help any of these students then please send me an email (tabithaverity@gmail.com) and I can link you up- they are super excited at the thought of maybe getting sponsorship and being able to stay at school and I can testify that their need is very real!!!

Some of the 13 students urgently needing sponsorship:

Language!

Swahili and English are the official languages in Kenya, however each area also speaks their local dialect or 'mother tongue' here in Kamukuywa it is Kibukusu. So for many of the people (including my students) English is their third language. Considering the Kenyan national curriculum is in English this can cause lots of difficulty for learning!

I have been trying to pick up a bit of Swahili while I am here- early on in my trip I greeted the entire group of boarders (almost 200 students) at night time bible study by starting my talk with 'habari za asubuhi' I had thought this was 'good evening' but the uproar of laughter that followed didn't bode well...as it turns out it actually means 'good morning' it took a good few minutes to quieten everybody down! Once over the initial embarrassment I too found this hilarious and joked about it with the kids for a few days after.

I decided to make a pact with my year 9 class that they teach me a new word of their choice every lesson, my efforts at pronunciation cause them to explode in laughter. The other day I proudly said to them all what I thought was 'I don't speak much Swahili' but the resultant hilarity made me turn to the class prefect and ask what was wrong... Apparently I had just said 'I don't speak Swahili lakes!'
My novice struggles at Swahili have really showed me first-hand how difficult language is. I have a great deal of respect for all those multilinguals out there!

Walking down the streets many people call out 'how are you!' (pronounced howar) the appropriate answer to this is 'fine' and every child will call it out multiple times until you answer. Often this may be the only English they know and if you try to extend into a conversation it goes nowhere. Even when asking the same question back to the children they struggle to respond, I then try in Swahili which will sometimes get a response but more likely I'll need to say it in Kibukusu to get an answer. 'Fine' seems to be the appropriate response to just about any greeting  'good morning' ' how's it going', even 'hello' are all responded to with 'fine!'

In the street  it is a common occurrence for randoms to get excited at seeing a muzungu and run up and before I have a chance to really register their presence they loudly declare to me 'I am fine!!!'  I still find this hilarious and can't help but think ' I am SO glad to hear that!'

Funny Englishisms are everywhere, especially on menus- the local hotel has a lovely list of beaverages, and in a nearby town there is a lovely selection of 'bittings' including 'chicken naggats'.

Another one of my favourites I found when I was reading through an English teachers guide from the library and came across some helpful tips on how to deal with commonly 'missplet' words!

Half Term Break :)

Half term break has arrived- after week 10 of a 14 week term. Not exactly half way through the term but a welcome 5 day break all the same. 

A number of students ask if they can borrow my phone to ring their parents or guardians to organise money to go home. The Kenyans have an ingenious money management system called M-pesa which is basically money linked to your phone and through it you can pay bills, buy credit, send money to other peoples numbers, or withdraw cash (from a M-pesa agent). For some of the students living long distances away this works fantastic as they were able to get their parents to send money to my phone and I provided them with cash- who knew being an ATM would be amongst my roles here :) 

We have planned to see some of the surrounding region in the break and head south to Kakamega rainforest- the only tropical rainforest remaining in Kenya. Despite being unwell the previous few days I decide to go ahead with the trip-20 km hike included :)

Our accommodation is in a 'Banda' in the forest and we spend much of the time hiking through the forest. Our local guide Benjamin has loads of knowledge and keeps stopping us to stroke the leaf of a plant and inform us of its ability to cure anything from sore throats to malaria or else to get us to listen to a bird call and then replicate it exactly himself and tell us what bird it is. To me all the birds sound the same and the jungle is just a tangle of green, but I guess I havnt lived here most of my life. 

I'm more interested when he starts talking about the cobras, baboons and leopards but we only see the baboons- perhaps that's a good thing. 

After hiking for hours we reach a river which considering the hot day I don't need to be told twice is safe to swim in- first time in over 2 months to be immersed in water, such a good feeling, and having wet clothes for the rest of the hike was nice and refreshing!  

A 4:30 am start the next day proves to be worthwhile as we hike to a hill overlooking the forest and region for sunrise. I am greatly amused by a fellow tourist from Nicaragua who is an avid bird watcher and has a long list of birds to sight. He sits near us at the top of the hill glued to a laptop which his guide has carried for him, complaining about internet speeds and completely ignoring the amazing sunrise and beautiful scenery! 

3 days in the forest is a lovely break and we return with a couple of days to finish marking exams and get motivated for the second half (final 4 weeks) of term :)

Sports Carnival

The much awaited sports carnival finally arrived!
The week prior was a hectic rush of organising the teams as I was required to make student IDs for every student, these had to be stamped and signed by the principal then laminated. Another copy of their IDs with all the players shown on one page also had to be made and stamped. Each player had to have their birth certificate (matching the date on their ID) and primary school results certificate stamped, signed and attached.
Sounds simple enough but in reality it was a nightmare.
Many students don't know their birthdates, have multiple names they use interchangeably and couldn't produce a birth certificate.
Combine this with frequent power blackouts and ink shortages and the result was a couple of 12 & 13 hour days at school getting it done. The whittling down of the team to the required number was more determined by who had the necessary paperwork rather than skill. A shame from a coaches perspective, but the principal informed me that if we don't obey the rules we are likely to get kicked out as they are stricter on private schools.

Our transport lorry.

The actual morning was a flurry of organising shoes and uniforms, strapping ankles and checking names and then our transport arrived and the energy and excitement levels increased astronomically! 
Over 50 girls in the back of a lorry all super excited about sports, clapping and stamping and singing at the top of their voices-no wonder we attracted attention as we drove to the venue!

The sports competition was pretty interesting to be part of. There were over 2000 people there from various schools in the region, the street lined with stalls selling bananas and snacks, music pumping from large speaker setup, games being played left right and center with everyone seeming to know where they had to be despite no schedules, scoreboards or timepieces anywhere. 

Rough fields resulted in many injuries.

My duties were to be coach of girls football and also first aider to all our school teams- although it didn't appear that any other schools had first aiders so I ended up assisting quite a few other students as well.

Being the only white person caused a stir again, as I walked past the row of spectators watching a football match they all stopped, turned and stared, laughing and waving.  I am fairly used to this under normal circumstances but found it unusual that they were turning from their beloved football to look at me, until I realised there amongst the  noise of music and cheering there were two guys just behind me yelling out in Swahili 'have u seen the muzungu!? Look look!!'
Once again I was given preferential treatment, people kept giving me chairs to sit on which was a bit of a problem as I preferred to stand and cheer, but it was rude to refuse so I would sit for a bit and then thank the person and come up with some excuse as to why I had to suddenly leave.

Crowds watching the football.

I discovered that it is very difficult to coach a team when the officials, spectators and other players are all speaking another language. My girls were fantastic, sticking by me and translating when they realised I had no idea what is happening, but even so I found that in our first game some Kenyan men were cheering super loudly for my team and then made a couple of substitutes on my behalf- I assumed they must have been associated with our school somehow but afterwards I found out they were just over enthusiastic spectators that has convinced the officials they were part of staff- something that had slipped past me amongst the language confusion- often they speak Swahili and also a local dialect, sometimes even both together-makes it very difficult to know what's happening.

After the first game I was a little more savvy and didn't allow randoms to take over anymore. I continued to cause a stir, being a white, female coach, and running around with a backpack bandaging, massaging and strapping my players. Especially in the first game when one of my players realised she didn't have sports shoes, and so I pulled mine off and gave them to her to wear for the game, a barefoot muzungu is a very rare occurance!
Often people asked me for money or if they could work for my school or come and be my student, or get contact details. I would mostly answer 'hapana pole' (no sorry), pretend I didn't understand or leave it to one of my students to answer them in Swahili.

On the second day the school hosting the games ran out of water and I had students asking me for drinks all day. I ended up purchasing 28 bottles of water throughout the day- until there were none left even for sale around the grounds!! The games went late into the day, not finishing until almost 7 pm, but it was worth all the efforts, our school came off with a few wins and we qualifies for regionals in girls volleyball, netball annnnnnnd yep... My girls football team :) :)

Kids climbing the trees in order to see properly.

Lunchtime for football girls.

  

Our boys volleyball