Mount Longonot

On Friday, Simon's class went on a field trip to Mount Longonot.  Tim joined the Grade 4 class on this rugged climb in the Great Rift Valley.   Mount Longonot is a dormant volcano which last erupted in the 1860s.  The mountain is about 100km north of Nairobi at an elevation of 2700m.  The climb from the base of the mountain to the crater at the top is 630m.  It is a very steep climb with deep gulleys that make the trek even more challenging.  The volcanic ash on the ground makes it a bit slippery -- and dirty too.

 There is also wildlife in the area of the mountain and on the climb.  Simon and Tim saw several small herds of Eland (large, moose-like creatures)  They did not see any buffalo, zebra, giraffe or leopards which also live on the mountain .

 The view from the top is beautiful.  A look inside the crater is also very interesting.  A forest of small trees covers the floor of the crater.  A hike around the rim of the crater is even more challenging than the climb to the peak.  Small steam vents are visible around the walls of the crater.

Stolen Dreams

Cathy has worked for us for 16 months.  Two days a week she helps me clean and teaches me how to cook Kenyan style.  She is bright, hard-working, and full of laughter.  She has a husband named Ken and a 2 year old son named Rickie.  Cathy and her family live in a one room cement block/ tin roof home.  They have worked hard to acquire the material things to make a comfortable home.  ("Comfortable" by Kenyan standards is  a meager shack by Canadian standards.)

One day in January, Cathy was at our home when she got a call that she had won a coffee table!  ("Lisa, what is a coffee table?")  Because of its size, Tim went with her to the store and drove her home to her village to deliver the table.

We thought no more about it until this week.  On Monday when Cathy returned home after work, she was shocked to walk into her home and discover that she had been robbed.  The table was still there.  The sofa was there but the cushions were gone.  Her bed was there but the mattress and linen were gone.  Her clothes, shoes, pots, propane cooker, water filter, transister radio, flashlight were all gone!  She, Rickie and Ken were left with only the clothes on their backs.

The next day Cathy and her family moved to a smaller, dirtier home because they were afraid the robbers would come back (the padlock was still on the door when she got home, indicating that the intruders had a key).  Cathy is so thankful that no one was home when the intruders came because it is common for people to be raped, injured, or killed in a robbery.

What we did not realize until yesterday is that our help to Cathy may have led to the robbery.  When a person living in a slum is visited by a mzungu (a white man) the rest of the village then believes that the mzungu has left money and items that are worth stealing.  It is true that we have given Cathy and her family several household items, clothing, towels, shoes, etc  Giving these items is not a problem, but being seen at their home may have made Cathy's family a target.

Rosslyn Academy Cultural Field Study Trip

An important part of Rosslyn Academy is the Cultural Field Studies Program which begins with students in Grade 5 and continues through Grade 12.  The high school students travel in small groups across Kenya (100 - 600 km from the school) to learn about the people and culture of rural Kenya.  The program also requires that the students participate in a service project.  This can be helping farmers plow fields, building a sand dam to store river water, or building a house with Habitat for Humanity.

Tim went with a group of  Grade 10 students to Kaplong (about 250 km west of Nairobi).  The group spent 2 days helping to build a house for a an older gentleman and his family.  The house will be be 22' x 18' (four basic rooms).


The first task was to dig the footings.  All work is done by hand including mixing the concrete and then pouring it into the trenches. The students also learned to lay the bricks for the walls and were able to complete four courses.  The owner was very pleased with the work the students completed.  Another group from Canada is coming in  few weeks to continue the build.
 
Besides brick-laying skills the students learned about the Kalenjin and Kisii tribes of Kenya. 

This is also a beautiful area for tea farming.  We were able to visit a tea farm and a roadside market.

back yard in January

Last week my sister sent me photos of the beauty of her backyard in Nova Scotia.  This started the boys on a quest to tell all their best remembered stories of snow.  We laughed about Max losing his first tooth in the snow (he really LOST it).  We winced about Simon and Tim hitting a bump at the Rec Park and flying off their crazy carpet.  We marveled at the large snowmen we built in the back yard on Saywood Drive.   We really do miss the snow!

So I took a few pictures of our yard in Nairobi in January.  It is lovely but it can not compare to the beauty of the snow.....  Those of you living in the white stuff may beg to differ!

 This rubber tree was barely as tall as me when we moved in 18 months ago.  It now provides ample shade for our hammock. 

This hedge gets trimmed every 2 weeks or else it becomes a wild thing!  It is one of my favourites because of the variegated leaves.

This tree gets cut back to a stump every couple of months.  Then it grows and Timothy, our gardener, gives it a new look --never the same as the last time.  It has parge blooms on it that look lice Queen Anne's lace.