Mr. Onditi

This is Mr. Onditi, Class 2 Teacher, Extraordinaire.

During PE,

he coaches his students on the finer points of football from the sidelines.

Then he jumps in and schools them on the field.

They always ask him to go first in every game,

and if a student tries to jump in line, the others are indignant.

Then they follow in his footsteps, every fiber bent on doing their best.

They give it their all.

They do it with style.

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

I would have to agree.

The Fall of Sennecherib

Class 6 seemed to be a bit preoccupied at the end of last term.  They decided to do a drama for recitation, and then jumped full swing into all the work that a drama entails: casting, script, memorization, props, and costumes.  The morning of recitation, they allowed me to come in and observe their antics of preparing for the moving drama "The Fall of Sennecherib."  I'm so glad I brought my camera.

Laudamus Te

At Term 2 Recitation, the Junior and Senior Secondary Schools Choir performed "Laudamus Te" for the finale.  This is a recording from the dress rehearsal the day before.  (Thanks Liz!) It is in Latin, which our students did a great job of learning.  Props to Richard for beefing up the men's section and to Julie for her excellent piano skills.  I think all of us enjoyed working on this song.  Happy listening!

Field Trip: Part Mbili

After visiting the museum on Friday, we went to the Snake Park at the same location. Inside were several aquariums and several glass cages for various dangerous snakes.  The students were checking out the largest pythons I have ever seen.

I thought we were going to watch these three chicks get eaten right then and there in a different cage, but apparently Mr. Snake had already had nine the day before.

I think the two Mommas who came as chaperones were a little grossed out.

More interesting than the glassed in snakes however, were the snakes in the central courtyard.  We were looking over a high wall into a grassy courtyard with well-trimmed trees.

There were snakes everywhere.  They were sticking their heads up out of the trees, crawling on the ground, trying to climb the wall, jumping from the trees, and climbing over the peaceful turtles.  There were buckets of snakes.

Sometimes, when there are buckets of snakes around, you need a friend to hold on to.

For lunch, we headed to Uhuru Park right off the City Center of Nairobi.

We spread Masai blankets on the ground, and ate PB&J's, bananas, and biscuits (which we call cookies).  There were a lot of other people around.  Some were selling things, others were sleeping on the ground, families were enjoying time together, and lots of people seemed to be just walking through.

I think for Kennedy, the sights were definitely more interesting than the lunch!

Field Trip

Hey, look!

We made it to the Nairobi National Musuem!

We were shocked and amazed at what was inside. (This is a chief's coat made from monkey fur and tails, with a stuffed monkey for reference.)

And pretty excited, too. (I was pretty excited about this horn made from ivory in 1688.)

Our guide had a captive audience in our Class 5 students who behaved themselves excellently.  As a teacher, you always wonder how the behavior part is going to turn out.

Mrs. Mutuku, the class teacher, passed out paper for note taking.

What kind of notes do you take on a angry stuffed zebra?

The "Humonoid Skull Room" was a bit freaky.

The bird room, however, was the best, even according to the students.

There were hundreds of beautiful, stuffed birds found in East Africa.  These are the largest eagles and hawks.  Word on the street is if you leave your baby under a tree, one of these might eat it for lunch.  They are so strong, they can make off with a baby antelope.  Yikes!

We were finally ready to head outside.

This beautiful gourd sculpture showed us out.

More art met us outside.  This is a mural by Kenyan glass artist Anselm of Kitengela Glass.  It's pretty incredible.

Mrs. Mutuku wanted me to take this picture to prove we were really there.  I think we will have many memories to prove that for a long time!



Lunch

I think I've mentioned before that every Tuesday I have lunch duty during the Class 1-3 lunch shift.  I always walk away smiling.  Here's how it goes:

Soap is dispensed and hands are washed.  I mean really.  How many little boys do you know that consistently wash their hands before they eat (or any time) without having to be reminded?

Next comes the best part: FOOD!  The kitchen staff serve the plates and then one of us puts a piece of fruit on it and hands it to the child.  Big smiles from Clinton on getting his plate of ugali and sukumawiki!

Once the food is in hand, the student grabs a mug with a fork and a serviette (napkin).

The teachers on duty help the students fill up the tables and know where to sit.  This is Mr. Onditi, Class 2 teacher extraordinaire.

The minimissionaries and other visitors usually eat lunch with the kids.  They pick a different table to sit at every day.  The students are so sweet about wanting guests to sit with them.  They will do just about anything to secure you at their table!

Once the table of students has said grace together, the kids dig in.

This is Christine, hamming for my camera.  One day, I will do a video post of her so you can meet her.  She's the student who named my elephant key chain "Susan Wanjiru."

Students are encouraged to drink water with their meal, even though this isn't always a cultural thing.  When you have PE in the afternoon in 90 degree weather, drinking water becomes important.

For our resident kids, eating in the dining hall is a way of life.  For our community kids (above), having toast and tea in the morning and lunch everyday might really be the only true nutritious meals they get.  I am so glad that these meals are provided free of charge to all of our students.  I'm also glad I get to share it with them every Tuesday!

Power of Suggestion

I have lunch duty every Tuesday with classes 1-3.  After making sure everyone is taken care of, the other lunch duty teacher and I pick different tables at which to sit.  It's always a really big deal for the kids if you choose to sit with them, and they treat you like royalty.

Anyway, this Tuesday I sat at a table with four Class 2 boys.  They all tried their best to hold their forks correctly and be little gentlemen.  Towards the end, one boy confessed, "Mrs. Brueck, I'm full."  He still had half a plate of food, so I replied, "I bet your stomach is full, but do you think your leg has any room in it?  Why don't you eat a bite and see."  Lunch was almost over, so I walked around directing traffic.

A few minutes later I came back to see if he had finished.  His plate was clean. "Your leg must have had lots of room in it!" I remarked.

"Yes," he replied very seriously, "lots."



Choir Concert

We had our very first official Choir Concert last Friday afternoon. Both choirs performed for the rest of the students in the school, the teachers and staff, Mommas of the cottages, the Home Office who happened to be traveling through and a few guardians of community students. I am so very proud of our students and the hard work and extra hours they have practiced to prepare this recital. It truly was a concert of praise to our heavenly Father and you can hear the joy in the students' voice.

 

This is a video of the Primary School Choir, made of 30 students grades 4-6, singing a capella "A Canon of Praise."  They were so happy when all was said and done! 

This is a video of the Junior and Senior Secondary School students singing an arrangement of "Simple Gifts" with "Canon in D" accompanied by our great friend Julie.  She didn't laugh in my face or hit me or stomp on my toe or anything when I gave her the music just a week ago.  She should have, but she didn't.  Anyway, this is also about 30 students with Richard in the back helping the "man sound" as we have started calling the guys' section.

When everything was over, Richard pulled the choir members outside for me to talk to privately.  I called them all around in a serious voice and said I had something to share.  Then I jumped up and down and shrieked for joy and did a happy dance.  They just grinned and grinned. Now that the students have the feeling of a concert under their belt, I think they will be ready for many more to come.  So will I.



Construction Zone

Construction started on our new Senior Secondary School (that's high school for all you non-Kenyans) a few months ago. The ground was cleared and trenches were dug for the foundation.

 

Walls and such were marked off with incredibly eco-friendly materials.

 

They used the branches from cleared trees as posts.

Now, our SSS looks like this. Walls are going up!

The floor has been poured!

And larger sticks are on hand as supports!  Does this count as a "green" construction site?