Day 7: Visiting Ogilgei High School 

Our apologies for the past due posts. We have been experiencing some technical hiccups on the ground here in Kenya. Although we are happy to announce we have returned to our limited internet access and will be continuing with our blog updates! We will start with Wednesday the 16^th, day 7 of our short trip here.

That morning we continued our regular schedule of waking up at dawn and eating a traditional Kenyan breakfast consisting of chai, eggs, and bread. This morning was the first time Moses’ mother made delicious Kenyan coffee of Kahauwa, as it’s known in Kiswahili, at the request of Kain. After settling into the morning Moses’ mother left for Nakura town to spend the day fixing the car and the rest of us started our second trip to the Ogilgei schools.

We arrived at the Ogilgei schools greeted by the more than generous Mr. Songol, the principal of Ogilgei Primary. With him we walked to Ogilgei Secondary School to meet with the faculty and students to learn about their history and of another prospective partner school of Hope 4 Africa. After introducing ourselves to the teachers we stood in front of one of the classrooms to give a brief summary of why we are here personally and explained how Hope 4 Africa aids other schools in the area. Fortunately for us we arrived just before their classes were released for lunch and we were able to talk and hang out with the students informally. We learned many things about who they are, what their future plans are in respect to their studies and even exchanged names and emails to send their teachers the many pictures we took.

Since we were there for a specific reason to learn more about the school and how they could benefit from partnering with Hope 4 Africa, we split into two groups where Rachel and Meredith continued to interact with the students and Chad, Moses and Kain went inside to discuss with the principals of both the Primary and Secondary schools. We were given a firsthand summary of how the school is doing academically and discussed the many needs and problems facing the students and teachers currently. The principal was even very positive with giving us her personal strategy of changing things to meet their future goals. The meeting at this school was a learning experience for all of us. We took away a lot of information to be discussed back in the States, though we are really feeling positive about potentially helping Ogilgei Secondary School. The faculty of this school and even the students were very welcoming and also feel very fortunate for having us. We know they will be very cooperative and appreciative of meeting and hearing from us in the future.

Our initial plan for Wednesday was to visit two schools, but we ran out of time because we had such a great experience at Ogilgei. Before we left we met again with Mr. Songol in his office over soda and Chapati, a home-made Kenyan bread eaten at most meals, to discuss with him one last times our history, plans and goals for Ogilgei Primary. He was so happy to hear we are making such quick progress with our limited time here and he told us the school is very excited to host us again next Tuesday.

After a long day at school we came back to Moses’ house for 4 o’clock chai and another delicious Kenyan meal. We even played some basketball and soccer (futbol) outside before it started raining. After dinner, we finished our day with some traditional Kenyan card games (Kain won on his first time playing!). We are all really enjoying this sometimes culturally overwhelming learning experience here in Kenya. We cannot wait to share our stories and memories with all of you at home. Likewise, we look forward to discussing with the clubs and Board everything we have taken from meeting with the schools. ‘Til next time!

DAY 8: Meeting Shangaman

Today, Shangaman aka “the bead man” graciously traveled to Moses’ house to visit us. He is the mastermind behind our Hope 4 Africa bracelets. While he was visiting, we held an interview with him discussing his history in creating his innovative bead business. This interview was videotaped so that we will be able to bring back his story to everyone at home. Throughout the interview, Shangaman patiently worked on his bead work and gave us his story at the same time, while Moses translated for the rest of us. In his life story, Shangaman told us of the trials he has had to face starting from January 2000 to the present.

Over the 12 years of bead working, Shangaman has dealt with a few business partners that have and have not been beneficial for him and his work. He has had to learn who to trust and work with so that he can make the most profit possible from the beaded products he makes. He also discussed the issue of finding available, quality beads and materials at low costs to make his bracelets, necklaces, etc. Shangaman is a proud worker and he told us if a buyer does not offer a fair price that will reimburse the materials needed for the item, he will not sell to them. He would go as long to hold on to items for weeks, months, and even years until he finds the right buyer. He remembers every item he makes and takes pride in each one as any artist would in his or her artwork. Because he has a family to support it crucial for him to provide an income, but unfortunately it is sometimes hard to do so. He talked about his 6 year old daughter whom all his efforts support. If there isn’t a market for his beaded items, he is unable to support his wife and daughter. They live on a little over 100 US dollars per month, which covers food for the three and other expenses of the family.

However, his story and his life struggles do not end here. We would like to see that Shangaman prospers in his business and his daughter receives the quality education that she needs. But he is unable to provide this for her schooling on his own.  After converting her school fees to dollars, we were surprised to see how little the amount was, but to him it is so much more than his beadwork can support. The amount is equivalent to $87.50 per year. Unfortunately, he is behind on his daughter’s school fees and he is afraid she will no longer be able to continue schooling until he is able to earn enough to send her back. As a group, we all decided that we would like to help Shangaman with his daughter’s education, so all five of us chipped in our own money to cover over half of what he needed for her school fees. He was very humbled and grateful. After the interview, we ordered several beaded works from him, which we will pick up before we leave for the States. We designed a sample Iowa State University bracelet for Shangaman to make that we plan to take back to Ames to possibly use as a fundraiser for Hope 4Africa and support for Shangaman’s business.

After our discussion, Shangaman was gifted with a few t-shirt bracelets for his family made by Rachel and a bag of Skittles for his daughter. Shangaman joined us for tea and lunch and then headed back to Nakuru before the rains could prevent his travel home.

Later that evening Moses’ dad, Lawrence, arrived home from Nairobi for the weekend. We all sat down for a big dinner with the Bomett family, consisting of over six dishes. The rest of the night, everyone was consumed in reading their books. Chad and Rachel were both intensely reading the second Hunger Games book.  Meredith is currently reading the book The Lucky One if anyone cares.

Overall, we had such a humbling day listening to the story of Shangaman. His hard working ethics are such an inspiration to all of us, which we admire. We know our connection and friendship with Shangaman will not stop here, but continue in the future. We want to continue supporting Shangaman for the years to come by purchasing his bracelets for Hope 4 Africa.

~Kenya Summer 2012~

Today Moses, Caleb (Moses’ Brother), Chad, Kain, and Moses’ Mom went in to town to figure out the logistics of the Music programs that we are implementing in Ogilgei Primary School. In town they met with John Ndumia, a good friend of the Bomett’s family who is knowledgeable in the music industry. He was very excited and enthusiastic to assist us in any way that he can. After a few calls he got us set up with a friend of his in Nairobi who will help with purchasing the musical instruments. We decided it would be best that we do all these on Friday and officially launch the program on Tuesday at the school. After meeting with John, Moses met with another guy, Tom, who is a potential recruit to serve as a liaison on the ground for the organization. The organization has identified that it would have better communication with the schools if we have someone on the ground assisting us with overseeing the past and current programs. Therefore, one of the goals of this trip is to find someone who can assist in this capacity. While the boys were gone, Meredith and Rachel stayed back and had a relaxed morning, helping peeling potatoes for lunch, watching Despicable Me and getting to know Moses’ sister Sarah and her friend from school, Winnie. When the guys and Moses’ mom got back we ate lunch and then went to visit the second of the three schools, Kirobon Primary School.

At the school we were able to meet with the administrators and interact with the students. We were given a tour to see how our past programs at the school were continuing. The trees looked great and the books looked well kept. Last year we also donated some soccer jerseys, soccer shoes, and some soccer balls. It was great to see that everything was in great condition and used accordingly. We learned that the school improved this year in their national examination placing 3^rd in their division of 24 schools. The school’s mean score was the highest it has been in the past 5 years. Moses met with the head teacher of the school and the board chairman of the school management committee and decided we will be purchasing the materials for the electricity program on Monday, when we will officially launch the start of the program.

When we arrived at the Bomett’s home after visiting Kirobon Primary School, Moses took everyone for a tour of the property. We looked at their gardens, cows, sheep, dogs, cats, fish, and chickens. Rachel and Meredith found four little chicks that had been bullied and abandoned by the hens, so the two of them and Mama Moses took them in, feed them, and kept them warm for the night. For supper we had the chicken that Moses, Chad, Kain, and Caleb caught in the morning (actually, one of the workers caught it, but the guys tried). Following supper, all of us settled down for a game of Monopoly. After a long and strategic game, Rachel dominated the board.

It is exciting to see all our efforts fall in to place to assist these schools in their work. This experience is showing us that it is all worth every dollar and minute that we spent for these schools. They are all very humble and thankful for the work we have done so far and they are always looking forward to working with us. As Mr. Songol, the head teacher of Ogilgei put it the other day, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” We have made our first step and we cannot wait to see the day that we reach the thousand miles.

~Kenya Summer 2012 Team~

Today is Monday the 14^th. Back home now, we comfortably slept in this morning until 7 am. After eating another traditional Kenyan breakfast consisting of papaya, African waffles and chai we all squeezed into the car with Moses’ mother and drove to town. There we went to the outside market where we walked, or should I say dodged people and raw food stalls, through a muddy mess. During our 30 minutes at the market Meredith and Rachel were asked many times for their hand in marriage (although it didn’t always sound this nice.) We picked up some fresh vegetables then headed back to the house just in time for our first meeting at Ogilgei Primary School.

Upon arrival at Ogilgei Primary we were graciously greeted by the head master and given an informative tour of the compound. We passed by many filled classrooms and were able to interrupt two class sessions where we were given a firsthand report of how our past programs were being applied to their curriculum. Books 4 Hope was a program Hope 4 Africa completed two years ago at this school which donated a few hundred books. We found a cupboard with Hope 4 Africa’s name on it in one of the occupied classrooms where all of the books were neatly organized. It was apparent the students were using and appreciating them by keeping them in such great condition. We also walked into a classroom where computers were being used by the children. The same computers Hope 4 Africa donated last year. The teacher there explained to us how they have adapted the computers into their educational program and are utilizing Microsoft programs including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Encarta. Unfortunately it started pouring rain during our visit followed by the power going out so we were unable to interact with the students using the computers.

After our tour we sat down with the head master and the school board directors for a brief meet and greet over Fanta and Kenyan cookies. We learned so much about the history of Ogilgei Primary and the Kenyan education system. Soon after we were able to interact with the some of the students. It made us so happy to experience firsthand how much our hard work and fundraising was being appreciated. The students and teachers couldn’t thank us enough. We are so delighted to have visited Ogilgei today but we know this is only the first experience of many on our Kenyan tour. We look forward to sharing more of our stories and adventures with you soon!

~Kenya Summer 2012 Team~

Today we woke up the earliest of any day so far to get out on our safari well before sunrise. While we were out we saw more giraffes, elephants, zebras, and a water buck which we had not come across before. After we drove around for a little while we had to go track down the car jack that we had accidentally left behind yesterday when “The Beast” broke down. Thanks to a Fanta cap that Moses had tried to plant we were able to find where we were and find the jack with ease. After that we had our breakfast delivered to us in the middle of Maasai Mara and we set off to find the perfect spot to eat on our last day. We drove past the hippo pond and then down an airstrip towards the Mara river. We drove close to the river and saw about 100 baboons walking around. We found a spot next to the river to eat. When we stopped we spotted about a twelve foot crocodile getting some sun on the bank. Everybody got some nice photos and then Moses decided he wanted to see it move into the river so he threw a stick and hit it in the head. The croc didn’t seem to like that very much. We finished eating breakfast and then it was time to head back to camp. We relaxed for a little while, ate lunch, and then it was time to head back to Nakuru.

We decided to take a different route than the way we came. After the first 80 km of rough dirt road we finally hit pavement. The scenery around was beautiful. After a while we were soon in the hills surrounded by tea plantations. There were tea fields for as far as the eye could see. We stopped in a small town so Uncle Julius could buy some pineapple, and our car was soon swarmed with people wanting us to buy from them. He bought a slice for all of us and it was delicious. Hawaii might have some competition. A short time passed and we reached Kericho, a very nice town known for its tea plantations. At this point we were only about 115 km away from Moses’ house and we thought we were in the home stretch. Oh how we were mistaken. Much to everybody’s surprise, the next 100 km stretch of road was under construction and had been completely torn up. There were dirt roads on the side that we could still drive on, but it seemed to be in worse condition than the road just outside of Maasai Mara. To top off the situation it started raining when we got to this horrible stretch of road. Our easy 5 hour drive turned quickly turned to 7, but we still made it back safely. By the time we got back to Moses’ houses we were all carsick, tired, and cold, but Mama Moses had a fire going and dinner waiting for us when we walked in the door. We were all exhausted and shortly went to bed to prepare to visit our first school the next day.

~Kenya Summer 2012 Team~

This morning our day started before the sunrise. We ate a brief breakfast and headed out for the safari range to get a few photos of the rising sun. As we headed further into the range, we ran into some car troubles. There was a noise coming out from underneath one of the tires, so Uncle Julius stopped The Beast to take a look. After a quick fix we were on our way back to cruising. This all changed when the left back tire fell off…literally. We came to an abrupt stop and Julius jumped out to see what was wrong. There was nothing he could do to fix it and 3-4 hours later, help arrived. During those hours of waiting for our rescue we had our second breakfast, made music videos, took many photos, and got plenty of sun. Inch by inch a herd of elephants came closer into view as we waited. Finally help arrived and the repair began. Once The Beast was fixed and its tires all fastened, we left to head back to the camp. While driving back we got to see some animals that we hadn’t been able to see yet, including a giraffe, eagles, and many other birds.

When we arrived at camp, we all showered and ate lunch. After lunch we headed to a Maasai village to observe their culture. Upon arrival we were greeted by Alex, a Maasai warrior. He gave us a tour of the village compound, explaining their way of life along the way. He explained that a daily meal consisted of goat/cow milk, cow blood, and meat. Their diet grows strong, long-lived people, so they say. One woman in the village was said to be 105 years old and we were told that a man had lived to be 134 years old. We toured a manyatta, which is a hut made out of cow dung and mud that the women build for the family. It takes a woman around two months to build this hut and it only lasts five years. The village consists of 44 manyatta surrounded by thick, thorn fences that hold in the cattle and goats as well as protect everyone from the wild animals. Meredith and Rachel joined the women in a traditional song and dance, followed by Kain and Chad participating in a jumping competition with the warrior men to see who gets first pick in choosing a wife…both went home wifeless. The women brought out their handmade jewelry and wooden sculptures to sell to all of us. Meredith and Rachel browsed the bracelets and necklaces while Kain, Chad, and Moses played soccer with the children. It was 20 children against them and the guys were defeated. Later, the children sang us some songs they had learned from school. After some intense negotiations of Kenyan shillings, we all headed back to camp with some souvenirs.

As we arrived back to the camp, we thought our night had come to end until we were told some lions were out and about close to our camp. We quickly set off into the range to see if we could spot them. To our amazement, we found seven lionesses getting ready for their nightly hunt. Unfortunately, our patience and sunlight had reached its limit and we returned back to camp. Our last dinner at the camp awaited our arrival, consisting of butternut soup, chips (fries), samaosas, and fish with a fruit desert. After dinner we uploaded photos and headed to bed completely exhausted.

TIA

~Kenya Summer 2012 Team~

Today we woke up at 6am, had a light breakfast and set out for our morning game drive. Our goal was to leave before sunrise to view on the drive, however Rachel and Meredith may or may not have slept in and held up the rest of the team. During the first part of the morning the roads were very muddy and uneasy but Uncle Julius had full control of the Beast “Land Cruiser” and powered through. We drove to a nearby swamp/pond covered in green plants, where we saw numerous hippos. We also saw a lot of impalas and herds of buffalo throughout the morning. As we kept driving further in the reserve, we saw many elephants with their young ones, and stopped for a while and observed them interacting with each other. Around mid morning we stopped at a tree in the middle of the reserve and had breakfast. The view and the weather was amazing, allowing us to appreciate the beauty of the wildlife around us before we continued on again. As we kept driving we saw gazelle, topi, warthogs, hyenas, ostrich, buffalo, mongoose, Maasai cattle, and more elephants. Amidst all of this, we witnessed a very interesting sight of a Hyena carrying a head of another hyena in its mouth. Uncle Julius, whom is very knowledgeable and experienced of Maasai Mara, said that seeing this is extremely rare, even for him. This was pretty neat for us! Eventually we found what we had been anxiously searching for…Lions! We found two brothers under a tree, who had been chased away from their home pride to fend for themselves and form their own pride. After observing them for a long time, and exhausting our cameras, we headed back to our camp for lunch and a little relaxation.

Around four we set out for an evening game drive, in which we found a pack of baboons with cute little babies! We continued on to see more elephants, impala and eventually found the two brother lions again and observed them being lazy and beautiful. As we drove back to our camp we saw the sun setting, which was breathtaking, especially the view with mountains in the distance. When we arrived back we were all exhausted and sunburned…except Moses. We finished up the night with a nice dinner and are heading to bed. Tomorrow we are all looking forward to another game drive, as well as a chance to visit a Maasai Village and meet some Maasai people.

Keep looking for updates and new pictures!

TIA (This is Africa)

~Kenya Summer 2012 Team~