Kenya: a year later (part 3)

Happy St. Patrick's Day all!! Yesterday, I woke up, put on a green sweater, some green shorts, had my nails all done in four shades of green and I tried to find my bright green rain jacket but couldn't. Only when I was waiting at the bus stop heading to school did I realize that today it was NOT St. Patrick's Day. -_- Oh well. I redid my nails in green but didn't wear any becauase I already did :P


Part 3 of Kenya stuff :) I don't feel like typing much, so I'm just gonna post pictures with explanations from about March 16th to March 19th 2010.

Wheelbarrows in the school yard

View from the school yard

First day of working

Sooo much mud. It would rain daily for about half the day in the afternoon.

It gets everywhere. I even had to throw out my shoes by the end of the trip (the brown ones).

Where the village gets their water.

My attempt at the water walk. This is how the women in the village transport their water.

Our guide demonstrating

The dining tent

Nasty bugs were everywhere at night in the dining tent. Big, scary flying nasty things.

Community Day - cooking and making a tomato flower

Just doing some laundry

a shower tent

me doing some laundry

Cooking our lunch. A concoction of kidney beans, maize (in kernel form) and potatoes, all seasoned.

yummm

a few days into the construction

outhouses/washrooms being built at the top of the hill on the school grounds

Working on an almost complete school house (the school is made of various "houses" - they are not connected)

Building around windows

The school grounds

Recess

heading back to camp

The school sign

Fences are made out of cacti because they grow naturally there and quickly too. Barbed wire is placed in between. 

The kitchen - lunch is provided for all children

The teacher's quarters, office and storage places. It was the old high school (i think) and is across the road from the current school.

We decided to place a loonie into the wall, because we're Canadian and that's what we doing (like the loonie in the ice at the Olympics). We all kissed it before we put it in the cement. This is me...

Poster in the classroom

children in school - all schools have uniforms

The colours for Salabwek are Blue and Yellow

The loonie

It's location, once buried

Still hard at work! Almost the end of the trip

Closing ceremony :)

The parents and elders gave us all bracelets :)

Our last dinner

The FANTASTICALLY super awesome cake that the camp staff made for us!! The outline is Canada and they baked the whole thing over a fire!

I don't remember what it means but I'm sure it's something awesome in Swahili

Salabwek

On our way home

♥ Turtles

p.s. These photos are pretty cool :)

Kenya: a year later (part 2)

More journal entries and photos :)

March 13th

…We went to the tree nursery, which was not what I had in mind but fun none the less. There were little saplings everywhere, of different types of trees and flowers arranged in boxes. … Two guys talked to us about how trees were the 5th FTC pillar, not frequently mentioned but important: the environment. He told us about how every school has an environmental club and each child is provided with 3 saplings to care for. Each group has 40 members, 20 boys, 20 girls. All the saplings are planted in biodegradable milk cartons, which are donated for free by a company. 

 

 March 14th

SAFARI DAY!!

entry to the safari

So basically we woke up @ 3:30 am to go on the safari because it's such a long ways away. … the ride was probably around 3-4 hours. … The safari was on the Masai Mara Reserve, where a lot of Masai people live. … The view on the ride to the gate was amazing. So many mountains, green and luscious, apparently "hills". We saw many gazelles, zebras and other animals before we were even entered the actual safari part. … Just outside the gate, we saw two lions. We, along with a few other lorries and safari trucks, crowded around, apparently making the lions nervous. When we entered the gate I had to go to the washroom and basically the toilet was a hole in the ground. … where you have to squat and aim. Not to pleasant, but when you gotta go, you gotta go.

The safari it self was amazing! Soooo many animals and unique things you would not normally got to see. … The animals we saw were: zebras, elephants, tikis, lions, giraffes, jackals, hyenas, gazelles, cheetahs, baboons, hippos, a crocodile, warthogs and antelope. 

Why is the green thing licking the cherry?

… It had started to rain a while back and we were taking the drive kinda slow. We were on the major (or rather only) road to Salabwek when our lorry got stuck in the mud and two wheels were in the air on one side. [Note: the roads are dirt roads, so when it rains, it becomes mud]. It was really scary when we were actually in the truck cuz everyone was leaning and sliding to one side. We got out and stood in the pouring rain, … and walked for 45 mins to Salabwek, which we could see in the distance. … It was a totally new experience getting soaked to the bone, walking up and down hills, beside maize crops, along side the locals, who came prepared for the weather with umbrellas and raincoats. It was so refreshing, supporting each other as we slipped in the mud and enjoying the beautiful view and scenery at the same time. 

The lorry stuck in the mud

♥ Turtles

p.s. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye. - Miss Piggy.