“Pat! It’s 5 a.m.!!!” was the first sound I heard this morning. That’s not my favourite hour to get up but considering we were to be on the ‘courtesy van’ ($20) at 5:15 a.m., the announcement was a shock! Fortunately, we had put some bags in the Hilton storage and paid the bill and showered last night. We just had to get dressed and somewhat presentable, pack up the few things strewn about and get downstairs in 15 minutes! We made it only to find that the driver insisted on seeing our card…which reception had not given. There was some question as to whether we had cleared the bill. Amber produced the receipt and after careful inspection, we were allowed in. The three people already in the airport vehicle were not happy to see us when we climbed in. The couple was on their way to Entebbe, the Brit to Zanzibar and we were dropped at the domestic terminal for Kisumu, not nearly as exotic!
Our short flight entitled us to a snack. They brought juice and a small packet. Stamped on the biscuit/cookie was “digestive”. Amber asked ‘just what are these?’ It is what the British call graham crackers. She was afraid it might be a “prune cookie” by the name and was sure she didn’t want any of that!
It was fun to see this flight through Amber’s eyes. The Great Rift Valley is obvious in the view from the air. It is a sudden drop off and then ridged like a brain. There are volcanos and lakes in the part near Nairobi and huge green fields of tea on the slopes of the mountains near Kisumu. It was a 40 minute flight coming in over Lake Victoria. Kenya has only 6% of Lake Victoria but from our small plane that looked pretty big! The water hyacinth are getting much worse. Five years ago they threatened the fishing. While they are lovely with lavender blooms, hyacinth are invasive! Our drivers were not at the airport so I called Muhanji and he assured me they were on the way. We took a seat under the trees and ordered tea (Amber had juice…can’t get her to order tea) and just about the time the tea arrived, so did our transport--two men who have positions in the hierarchy of the Friends’ Church Ministry of Education. We loaded up our bags and drove downtown where Wesley Sasita had an appointment. We waited in the vehicle for him and then we were on our way….from sea level Kisumu, up the escarpment to the 5000 ft altitude Western Province.
We went directly to Vihiga Friends Secondary School and met the principal. We spent the next six hours with him. First, we had introductions and were served “tea” (tea, mandazi, peanut butter sandwiches, and boiled eggs). {Mandazi are Kenyan doughnuts} “A cup of tea” usually means a full spread. We did not have biscuits (cookies) or ground nuts (peanuts) or bananas. Any and all of those things are typically served at tea.
After our tea we went to the teachers’ lounge where they were having tea…they only had tea. All 45 teachers were introduced. We were introduced. Long on form here! Then the tour began. We went into several classrooms, every laboratory, every workroom, the kitchen, the library, the computer lab and the original church structure that is in a bad state of disrepair but it is over 100 years old and had no interior work ever. I must tell you about the computer room. It is the dry season so it is very dusty. The windows were open with no screens, of course, no air conditioning is available. The students had left their shoes outside the open door. I asked Ezekiel why the shoes were there and he said that it was so the students do not carry dust into the room because the computers are sensitive to dust!! And…there was fire burning just across the way so the smoke was coming toward the computer room. I asked the principal if we could move away from the smoke…Amber has allergies and the smoke was pretty miserable to me. The smoky kitchen was even worse with 6-8 wood fired sufurias going. These sufurias held twenty to thirty gallons of food. Someone was chopping sucumawiki (collard greens). Can you imagine cutting greens for 1100 students, 45 teachers and 40 support staff? Amber asked many questions and took opportunity to teach the teachers various techniques. They need more teachers but have no funds. Most classes are 40 or so. They have compulsory classes of English, Swahili, math, physics and chemistry. Humanities consist of history, French, art design, CRE (Christian Religious Education) and then there is a computer class.
We had met up with John Muhanji and Joyce Hollingsworth (visiting Kenya from Illinois, 80 years old, spunky but maybe ditzy too). John left after tea with the teachers as he has another group at another school. John is the FUM Director of the African Ministries Office of Friends and made most of our appointments for us. A side note: John pronounces Amber as Ahm behr but then I am Pa tree cee ah
Returning to the office, Amber interviewed the principal, Ezekiel (I didn’t get his last name). He was wonderful! Amber told him he has many progressive ideas. After an hour she finished up the interview. She had a small gift for him and had left it in the van so I went out to get it. When I returned, they were bringing in lunch. It was 2:30. We had rice, beef, sucumawiki (collard greens), kuchambari (kind of like salsa), roasted potatoes and chapatti (flat bread) and a mixed fruit salad (pineapple, papaya, watermelon and passion fruit). Ezekiel gave us all calendars and Amber gave him his gift. Then we did the speeches. Everyone around the table gave an appreciation speech. There were other administrators and our team so we had seven speeches, two to five minutes each. Later Amber told me she was very surprised at the goodbye speeches. She had expected the welcome but not the appreciation. I hadn’t given her a heads up on that one. Now we were ready to depart. It was another twenty minutes as people showed up to walk us to the vehicle and were asking for our contacts. We got away and after 6-8 kilometres, Joyce realized she had forgotten her folder so back we go.
Vihiga Friends Boys School is on the Majengo Road to the west. We got back to the junction at Majengo and crossed the Kisumu Road to continue on the Majengo Road to the east. I heard Henry who was driving say to Sasita, “I think it should be around here” so I leaned forward and pointed out the Sosa Guesthouse. I doubt they have ever had reason to know where it is. Our room is small and not air conditioned so in the afternoon, it was hot but there was a breeze coming in. Now that it is dark, it has cooled off and I will soon close the windows. There are no screens and I wanted to be sure we have no mosquito friends with us.
I was so tired from our early morning mad dash. The clerk brought us mango juice and we sat on the verandah at the restaurant. Three Britons came up. They are on another Quaker education team. Basically the two men are rude and ruder. So much for Quaker education! John Muhanji, Henry and Wesley joined us. Amber had gone to try to call Madison but John wanted to have a meeting. He sent the clerk to collect Amber. The pompous Brits droned on and on about their trust funds and tried to make jokes. The Africans talked long with their monotone voices. As I said, I was tired, I had just had a big meal and I was sitting in the sun. Very soon I was asleep. Sitting up. At the table. I left poor Amber to deal with it by herself. She could hardly contain herself choking down guffaws while she tried to stay in the conversation. Or so she told me later.
I think Sosa will be nice, certainly more than adequate. The grounds are beautiful. The shower has no curtain…it’s just there. The beds are hard but and the cottages comfortable. We have a tiny verandah with chairs. The dining room has a decent menu. They ask that you order an hour ahead so we are having samosas tonight. That will be plenty after that big lunch! Later Amber said she would not stay her by herself. It is less than adequate for her although the grounds are beautiful, sitting outside on a verandah at 8 pm with the breeze and the quiet. However, the ants are not making her happy.
The shower is called a “widow maker” because it heats at the spout. One turns the heater on and when it gets too hot, turn the control to cool, then back to hot….. The small heater is wired direct. The water flow is slow.
John had scheduled Amber’s interview with him for Wednesday so I made plans for Tuesday afternoon in Kaimosi to visit FTC and some friends. John told her tonight that he needs to meet with her tomorrow so she is doing that interview now. The wi-fi is not working here but they told us we could use the modem (internet connection through a device that looks like a flashdrive) at no charge but of course, when I went to get the modem, Job, the desk clerk, was on break. How can I complain since the Hilton didn’t have free wi-fi?
Later…it didn’t work. And at this point, what good would it do to complain? Actually, it is the carrier.
Wed., 5 pm. As it has taken 20 minutes to load the blog, I will not include photos....that might be another hour and I have another blog to post. Be very grateful for your internet connections. It is not easy on this side!!
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