Settling in for the Long Haul

Let me start this post with apologies - I have tried multiple times in multiple ways to upload the photos I wanted to post with this entry, but have failed every time.  I have been able to upload them to facebook with very little problem, so I am hoping that this is an isolated incident and that all posts after this will contain photos.  For now, you can go to my facebook and see the beginning of my photo album "Kenya 2011."  Enjoy, thanks for reading, and feel free to keep checking out facebook for more photos and updates...http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=56903842&aid=2140586.  Now for the original post...

I really can’t believe it has been more than a week since I last posted.  Though each day has moved slowly, overall time is moving very quickly here so far.  This past week has been extremely busy and productive, though the tangible proof of that is just beginning.  The first part of the week was consumed by meetings and planning sessions, which still continue with regularity, and conceivably will throughout my stay, but those sessions have been complimented by work producing noticeable changes in the field in the past few days.  This work includes putting up a fence around what will become the children’s home tree nursery and marking off the area to be leveled in preparation for the seedlings that are now growing.  We have also planted what will soon become the shade trees to offer protection for the budding seedlings, and have measured and put pegs around the children’s home shamba to mark where the new, improved, standardized beds will be made.  I was given the honor of planting the first shade tree, which I am told will be very strong and beautiful as it grows.  By our calculations we will be able to hold around 250,000 tree seedlings, which will be sold through various avenues and bring in more than $30,000 per year to help support and even expand the various programs ELI has established here in Ilula that reach communities throughout the region.  The 60 new and improved beds of the shamba at the children’s home will produce enough fresh vegetables year-round to provide lunches and dinners for the over 100 children and staff, saving thousands per year in food costs.  Those are only two of the programs we are working so hard to get started and see continued success out of, and all of it would not be possible without the long overdue addition of free, local, and pure water that will soon be here.  I was told last week that the drilling rig will be here by the end of this week, and whenever it does come rumbling into Ilula, it won’t be a day too soon.

Another exciting addition to the compound in the last week has been my new little brother, Kiprotich, born on my real mom’s birthday last week.  I knew when I arrived that my Kenyan mom was very pregnant, expecting to give birth within 10 days, so I was checking probably too often on her status and condition.  I was surprised, then, to learn that she had been taken to the hospital during church last Sunday without so much as even a peep to me; they just quietly drove off in the middle of the service with very few people knowing.  When the kids told me later that day that she was at the hospital waiting to give birth, I was sure they were joking, though halfway because they were all giggling so much when they told me.  I found out later this was because it is not common for men to be so excited about a baby being born, even to the point that I was told we (I mean men; I know I am taking some liberties here) are supposed to show that we are strong and are not affected by the cuteness of a newborn baby.  Well, I couldn’t even pretend to show that, so I called my Kenyan dad immediately and asked him to call me when the baby was born so I could know the gender and that everything was alright.  He said he would, and took that request very seriously, apparently, as I was the first one he called, just minutes after little Kiprotich was born.  I excitedly ran from the football field, where I was failing miserably to keep up with the kids in an afternoon game, to talk all the other parents and staff, who I assumed would already know more than me, but they told me this was the first they had heard about it.  I felt honored, and out of place, to be the first on the list of important people to call.  At any rate, everyone here was very excited, and they returned home the next day with my new little brother, who is essentially a carbon copy of his older brother, Emmanuel.  I even got to hold him then, making him the youngest baby I have ever held by far.  To say I was nervous is a huge understatement.  I am happy to report that mother and baby are both doing well, and the only one who seems to be negatively affected is David, my Kenyan dad, who has taken over all the house duties while also taking care of his wife, and is noticeably frazzled.

I have been trying to do my part to help David and Priscah with their duties so they can attend to their newborn baby, but outside of all the work to prepare for the coming bore hole, I have had little time to do more than share a couple cups of chai with them and hold Kiprotich for a few minutes per day to give Priscah well deserved, but far too short reprieve and opportunity to bathe and get some fresh air.  Goof off time with the kids is always a priority, so I have been sure to make time for that before and after school, which never seems to get old for either party.  Another exciting development is that I am now a student at Samro Primary School, in class 3 Kiswahili, much to the amusement of anyone I inform of this, and especially the other students in my class.  My teacher has assured me that I am not taking too much attention away from the lessons, though we have decided the best approach for now is to have private sessions during the lunch break, with occasional regular class sessions, mostly during test revision time.  This addition to my schedule here has really completed it and made me to feel like each day is used to the fullest for all parties involved.  Here is what my daily schedule looks like, at least for the next 6 weeks or so, as we develop all the projects and before I head to southern Sudan:

6am – Wake up and run with Alex, our most promising and aspiring athlete, and any others that want to join

6:30am – Chai with David and Priscah and the kids as they get ready for school

7:15am – Walk the kids to school, especially little Joshua, who always is sure to wait for me, even refuses to go without me, and then walks slowly and smiles all the way without mumbling more than a couple Kiswahili words

8am – Breakfast in the kitchen with Joel and Angelina, our two amazing cooks

9am - Begin whatever work is on the agenda for the day in the tree nurseries, shamba, or other

10:30am – Short uji (millet porridge) break, usually with David and Priscah

1pm – Lunch in the kitchen

1:30pm – Kiswahili session

2:30pm – Continue work in the field

4pm – Short chai break

6pm – Devotions with the kids

7pm – Dinner and helping the kids study (but mostly goof around)

9pm – Evening chai with David and Priscah and then reading and relaxing before bed

As you can tell, I am very busy, but I am enjoying the work and the companionship, and am definitely settling into the pace of this place again.  It takes a few weeks to adjust and unwind from the American pace and mindset, which tells you that you must always be working exceedingly hard to get ahead, or at least pretending like you are.  This unwinding is slowly happening with me now, and I am feeling it more each day, as I find myself enjoying chai and uji breaks more, while thinking anxiously about the work I need to do less.  All the work will get done, and I know it will actually get done faster and better when I don’t push and try to impose my way of doing things on the people here.  These are their projects that they will be responsible for maintaining long after I am gone, so ultimately the most important piece of their development is making sure they are the ones who understand and take ownership of each and every piece, which they absolutely have thus far.  With that said, my plan for the next week is to complete the business plan for each program we are developing (I know I am late with this, but it was next to impossible to develop from half a world away while in Seattle), which will help a ton as we progress in development and even become operational.  Also, the first section of the children’s home nursery will be leveled, the training center’s tree nursery will be measured and outlined, and the new beds in the kitchen garden will be started.  I think that is pretty good progress for a week here, and I am excited for it. 

Thanks for checking in.  Please let me know how you are all doing; I love getting messages from home and hearing updates on life from each one of you.  I will respond when I am able, probably fairly slowly, but what’s the hurry?  Let’s just have a cup of chai and enjoy the moments of rest we are given together.  Until next time, be good to yourself and those around you.