Back to School!

Today was the first day of the 2008-09 school year at Rosslyn Academy. Max, Simon and Tim all had a great first day.

Rosslyn Academy is a private international Christian school. Its mission is “to inspire and equip each student to develop God-given gifts for Christ-like service in the world community through a quality academic program, a caring committed Christian faculty, and a diverse cross-cultural environment”.

The school began 60 years ago with one teacher and 4 students. Today there are 515 students in grades K-12 and 120 teachers and support staff. The 40 acre campus proudly displays flags from each country represented by the students here. This year there are 37 flags. Max is the only Canadian in his class. Simon sits between a boy from Belgium and a Japanese boy.

Max is in grade 5 and his teacher is Mr. Kranik. Simon is in grade 3 and his teacher is Miss Winter. It looks like they are both going to enjoy the year, although the expectation for homework has everyone (especially mom) a little worried. Simon is nearly as tall as his teacher!

Yesterday we all attended an orientation for new students – the auditorium was full! As parents, we were asked to sign a “Statement of Support” indicating a commitment to the mission, policies, and practices of the school. We learned about the hot lunch program, music lessons, band and choir, intramurals, Spiritual Emphasis Week, weekly Chapel classes, and the upcoming Parent-Teacher Fellowship picnic and Open House. We are all excited about the expertise available to the students; they have special teachers for Art, Science, Bible class, Swahili, and Phys Ed. Classes start at 8:30 each morning. The boys have a 15 minute snack/ recess in the morning, 45 minutes for lunch, and a 15 minute recess in the afternoon. The day finishes at 3:30 except for intramurals on Mondays.
Tim is enjoying his new role as Middle School Principal. He will be teaching a grade 7 class of Christian Religious Education. He has a great Leadership Team and seems to be having quite a bit of fun! Today he learned how to turn on the generator on lower campus – right up his alley! Stephanie Weeks is the Elementary School Principal and this is her first day of school too.

This morning there was a school-wide worship time and assembly. One of the chaplains prayed a blessing over the students and teachers.

Family Night

On Friday night we went bowling at Village Market with the MacGavran family. This was a new experience and there were several differences from the candlepin bowling that we are used to. It was 10 pin but using very large bowling balls with holes for your fingers. You bowl only two balls for each frame. It was a busy night and everyone in the whole place had the same funky shoes! We had a great time. Lisa was on fire with one string total 133. Simon scored 101, Max’s high score was 93, and Tim scored 129.

Market Day

>Today I went to a large market in the city. It has many vendors selling fruit and vegetables. The items are cheaper than going to the grocery store and it helps to support local farmers. Tuesday is the day that fresh produce is delivered from the farmers to the market. Therefore, it is very busy because everyone wants to get the freshest food.

This cart is bringing in a load of bananas and other items. It is carried (through the busy streets of Nairobi) on this cart pushed and pulled by 3 men. I’ll tell you about the other obstacles on the road in another blog…..

At the market it is expected that you will barter for a price. Bartering is not one of my favourite things. Thankfully, I went with a friend named Jane who has already established friendships with some of the vendors. She introduced me and another teacher’s wife to her usual vendors, so they gave us their “best price” without bartering. For Kenyans, bartering is all about forming a relationship. They enjoy the chatting that goes with the bartering and hope that you will come back to them because you have formed a relationship. It is very interesting – Kenyans are incredibly warm and social people.

I bought mangoes, apples, tangerines – our usual fruit. I also bought tomatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, green beans, peas, cauliflower, broccoli, lemons, potatoes, chili peppers, celery, cilantro, green peppers. When I got home with my heavy bags of produce I had to wash everything in a solution of potassium permanganate crystals (a strong oxidizing agent and disinfectant). This is necessary to kill all the germs that may be on the food through handling or fertilizing methods.

Cooking and baking is a bit different at this altitude (water boils at a lower temperature, food takes longer to cook, need more flour for baking). And because the ingredients are a bit different, things just don’t taste the same. I have had success with tea biscuits, cornmeal muffins, chili, oatmeal cookies, pancakes…. But not so much success with spaghetti, cheese sauce, banana muffins. This afternoon I made a beautiful apple crisp and fresh tomato soup. I have recently received a copy of the famous Baptist cookbook “The Newcomer’s Guide to Cooking in Africa”. Tomorrow I am going to tackle salsa and tortillas. Cooking from scratch has taken on new meaning for me here. I have been ever-so-thankful to those families that have invited us for a meal in the last 3 weeks.

Kazuri and Kamili

On the last day of orientation for new staff we went to two local artisans.

KAZURI BEADS is a factory which started in 1975 for the purpose of teaching two single moms a skill that would bring an income. Today the factory employs 340 disadvantaged women and markets its beautiful beads all over the world. The Swahili word Kazuri means “small and beautiful”.

We toured the factory to see the process of making the beads and had an opportunity to speak with some of the women working there. The clay comes from Mount Kenya and is “refined” by adding water to get the rocks out, then pressing the water out. The women then take the clay balls and form them by hand into tiny beads.

Our tour guide indicated that the system could be automated to form the beads and require only a few workers; but the purpose of Kazuri is employment and income for struggling families so it remains a labour intensive process by choice. Kazuri also makes pottery (plates, mugs, vases, bowls, etc).

After the pieces have been formed and dried, they are hand painted by another group of women, each with a “pattern” of colours. Some of the beads are incredibly small and the women need excellent dexterity to hold and paint each tiny piece.

The beads are then baked in an oven overnight to give them a shine. Because this part of the process is run by electricity it is sometimes interrupted by the rationing of power. That is, at least once a week the city turns off power to different parts of the city of Nairobi in order to conserve energy. People can be without power for 12 hours. When this happens the beads just get fired the next day.

When the beads are ready, another group of women arrange the beads (according to shape and colour) to form necklaces, earrings, chokers, bracelets.

We also went to a fabric manufacturing operation called KAMILI DESIGNS. It is a cottage industry down a narrow muddy road (similar to our cabin road!). They make wall hangings, pillow covers, oven mitts, aprons, curtains, bedspreads. Again, all of the work is done by hand, including the painting on each piece!