A few more internet issues - sorry for the delay! Today we drove into the Nyungwe National Forest, a beautiful protected forest south of Kigeme. We saw lots of baboons as well as another monkey. It was beautiful. They have a guided canopy walk partway through, but our timing was off so we didn't do it! Afterwards we stopped and had lunch at a really neat little 'resort' just outside the gate. The scenery was beautiful, and the time spent with friends invaluable. On the way back to Kigeme we visited a handful of selling points that sell the milk for the MCC.
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When we were at the school in Kenya, we got an idea of what the day was like for the students - it is a long day! Thought we would post it here to give our friends at home an idea! Tumaini Student Schedule Day normally starts at 7am – teachers are at the school. Parent work days start early, so everyone is up and out of the house. Have the morning remedial classes from 7 to 8am 8 – break to go stretch etc then the day starts! 8:10 – 8:50 – 1st lesson 8:50 – 9:30 – 2nd lesson 9:40 – 10:20 – 3rd lesson 10:20 – 11:00 – 4th lesson 11:00 – 11:30 – break – porridge 11:30 – 12:10 – 5th lesson 12:10 – 12:50 – 6th lesson 12: 50 – 1:30 – LUNCH 1:30 – 2:00 – self studies 2 – 2:40 – 7th lesson 2:40 – 3:20 – last lesson (8th) 3:20 – 4:00 – Games time & cleaning of the school
4:00 – 5:00 back to class for self-study & remedial Grade 7 & 8’s stay for at least one more hour for self-study as home is too difficult for study. There is no room and lots of distraction (some won’t have lights or proper materials). Most of these students live in a single room apartment with the rest of their family, so they would not have a very good place for study. We had a great day today. In the morning we started with meeting the paravets. We met with the original seven whom we trained in 2012. They updated us on the progress in the areas in which they work. We heard many great updates. They say they are very busy and get called on by lots of farmers to help with numerous things including general animal husbandry, treating sick animals and helping the local veterinarians with vaccinations against some of the more common diseases in the area. They say that the incidence in disease has decreased considerably and the milk production of the cows has increased as a result. One of the main issues still lies with the ability to get enough bulls in the area or trained people to perform artificial insemination (AI). To be able to perform AI, you need a certificate in order to get needed supplies from the government. So, we are looking into costs per person to take the course. Overall, there were many positive reports from the paravets. They are receiving attention from local government officials and the paravet program of the Food Security Program is something that the local government wants to adopt in different areas. We will see more of the paravets when we travel to the different Food Security Sites In the afternoon we met with the farming group APAP who we have been meeting with since 2006. They have had a rocky year in regards to some conflict amongst members but, they are strong and determined to persevere. They have enlisted some new members and they are seeing some good increases in the milk production of their cows.
Tomorrow we are off to see some selling points for the Milk Collection Centre. We are also going to travel a bit into Nyungwe Forest to check out some beautiful scenery and possibly see some monkeys!! Today we travelled an hour and a half on some very rough Rwandan roads with gorgeous Rwandan scenery to join 3000 of our Rwandan friends at the dedication of Taba Parish. It was an amazing service led by our Bishop Assiel along with a number of leaders in the Kigeme Diocese. It also included the confirmation of about 40 people which was cool to witness. From start to finish the whole thing was a little over 5 hours. To the Rwandans this is normal. But, we must admit, that we were a bit tired and sore from sitting after the service. Afterwards we were treated to a wonderful lunch. We were amazed at the organization to feed quite a few people (not 3000, but we would guess 200). We met with many old friends whom we had not seen in awhile. It was so lovely to see them. We then made the trek back to Kigeme. It was a long but wonderful day with many new memories created. Tonight it will be an early night as we are pretty beat.
Tomorrow we will meet with the paravets in the morning and APAP committee in the afternoon. All will be held in Kigeme so we will not need to travel far!! Today was another fantastic day here in Kigeme. We had the morning to ourselves, so after we were able to borrow the modem from our good friend, Jean Chrysostome, we caught up on the blog and spent some time generally getting the lay of the land. We also discovered that the trees across from us are just loaded with bats - they are quite fascinating, and noisy! After a delicious lunch, we headed off with Felicien to the Milk Collection Centre to see the new pasteurizer and to catch up on new things there. The pasteurizer is installed and works well. It can process 500 litres at a time with quick efficiency allowing more milk to be pasteurized, with less effort, than using the old method of boiling over open flame and then cooling. But, during the dry season, the cost of electricity makes running of the pasteurizer expensive. So for the time being, they will do a combination of using the old technique and using the pasteurizer. In the rainy season, the cost of wood is very dear and so they will use the pasteurizer exclusively then. We met a member of Rwanda's police force today who says that many of the police officers working in the area are purchasing milk from the MCC - many litres per day. He says that they enjoy the quality and taste of the milk. We chatted about the progresses being made at the MCC and things we will be looking at during this trip to increase productivity. We will see the pasteurizer at work one of the mornings we go there as well. So many exciting things coming up!! Please stay tuned!!! When we returned to our home, Rachael went with Felicien to look at and treat one of the Bishop's cows. She was suffering from mastitis (inflammation of the teats of the udder) and needed an antibiotic injection. So, we took some photos of Reverend Doctor Felicien doing his thing!! Mom and calf are doing well!! Afterwards we had a lot of fun interacting with a few of our friend's children outside of our place. Alayne taught a couple how to make noises with a blade of grass (might backfire in the early am, as these kids are up early!)
On Friday we were up extremely early, 3am, to get ready to leave for the airport! Our driver came and picked us up (with a second vehicle for all the luggage) at 4 and off to the Nairobi Airport. We waited in numerous lines; to get into the airport, to check our luggage, to get through customs and then we were able to sit and relax a bit with coffee! Our flight to Kigali, Rwanda was short and very smooth! We came out of the airport and were met by Pst Dr. Felicien and our old friend and driver, Ezekias, what a treat!! After a stop for tea and to exchange some money, we were off on the drive to Kigeme! The drive was about 3.5 hours - the distance is not that huge, but the highway can be hilly and we got stuck behind a number of trucks who would have to slow right down on the hills! Our driver was fantastic and we arrived safely! We have been given a house to stay in for the time we are here - it is actually the place Carolyn stayed in her very first time visiting the area back in 2005! When we arrived there was no water or power, apparently lines were cut due to the road construction. But there was some scrambling, and by the time we went to bed we had both! We certainly are well looked after here! We also had lunch served for us and the team from here so we could do some catching up. We spent a bit of time in the afternoon sorting our stuff and getting organized for the next three weeks, then had a small walk around and connected with other friends.
We also scouted around the grounds to find a spot for pull ups! We were successful - on the door between our house and the Bishop's! And the Bishop showed us how good he is at pull ups! Sorry for the gap in blogs, we experienced some technical difficulties trying to get this entry out, and then because of traveling, we had limited internet access! Now we are up and running again! Stay tuned for more updates. On Thursday we spent the day once again at Tumaini. We were able to spend some time in the morning gathering a bit more information! We interviewed one of our students so we could give everyone an idea about the students being supported at Tumaini.
Joyline has both parents at home! Her Mother supports the family by working in a factory packaging French beans for export. Her father is an alcoholic and does not support the family at all. They live in a single room apartment – they all sleep and eat and cook in the same room. Joyline walks 30 minutes to get to school. She likes reading and following her subject teachers. She likes Math, English and Swahilli the best. She feels she is doing well in school, and wants to do well and get a ‘nice grade’ so she can go to university. She would like to study journalism. She plays football and likes it very much. Being sponsored has helped her go to school as her parents would not have been able to pay school fees. She is a very hardworking girl who is ready to learn. She would like to say to her sponsor: “Thank you for the support, and may God bless you and God continue to give you a prosperous life!” We then had a meeting with the Tumaini Primary School board and received a report from the Head Teacher. The school seems to be doing very well. We discussed needs, the 2 main ones being support for the feeding program and getting more technology for the students. The school is working hard to implement a new curriculum, and as part of this curriculum there is a need for more on line access. For example - all grade 3's need to write an online exam this year, Tumaini is not the only primary school without the computers to manage this! Presently they have 10 tablets. In the afternoon we had a group of students who had just finished their secondary schooling this past November come to see us! We had our whole group of sponsored students from that year - it was great to see them and hear what they are up to now. Most of them have spent the time between then and now taking short courses, lots on computer skills etc to get them prepared to enter university. All but one have a plan to start university in September, 3 actually started their programs already! One of the boys, Brian, is already playing field hockey for his university.
Also seated with them on the left is Dennis, our friend who is now going to be entering his 3rd year of engineering university, specifically focusing now on mining and mineral processing. We ended the day at Tumaini by causing absolute chaos in classes handing out candy! It is so much fun, and the students love their sweets. Today we drove to what felt like the other side of Nairobi to the Kazuri Bead factory. A few more 'jams' and we got there! When we arrived, they had rolled out the red carpet for us! Okay, it really was for the First Ladies of Kenya and Botswana, but it could have been for us! We were given a tour of the factory starting from the beginning, the clay, and how it is processed, to the shaping of the beads and pottery, to the painting and firing! Then we went shopping (with the first ladies)! After that we enjoyed some drinks and a bite to eat before making our way back to the guest house.
Tomorrow we are back at Tumaini School for a meeting with the school board as well as spending more time with the children!! This morning was our morning to go shopping at the Masai market here in Nairobi! It was within Nairobi City itself so the adventure started with watching our excellent driver, Ken, negotiate through some of Nairobi's finest traffic jams! We had a great time as usual. We are becoming good at this bartering business, trying to pay less than the typical muzungu prices. Below are some of the fine artists at the market displaying their talents. We were fortunate to haver Esther and Ken help us with our selections and the pricing. After the market we took a break for some lunch at the local Java House. Esther had to say good bye to us after that!
We then headed out to the Living Kids Educational Centre. Some of you may remember this school. We have not visited it for several years but, Kids for Kids secured funding for several years in a row to help them build the school. There are now 8 grades plus the pre-school levels in the building and over 350 students attending the school. Last year was the first year they graduated grade 8's, there were 4 of them who all did well on their national exam and earned a place in a good secondary school. The children put on a wonderful show for us that we enjoyed very much. Tumaini Primary SchoolToday the day was spent at the school. We spent the morning touring around to the different classrooms and greeting all the students and staff. We had a lot of fun; the younger classes all sang for us, while the older classes had a lot of questions about Canada! Then we were treated to a nice lunch compliments of the school's kitchen. After lunch we met with all our sponsored students and gave them their letters from their sponsor, they are always so happy to receive these. We also took an updated photograph to give to sponsors. After that we visited the bead ladies to put in our order for more beaded bowls. We returned back to the guest house tired, but happy with the day's events.
Tomorrow we battle the Masai market with Esther! We need our rest for that!! |
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