Dear friends;
As I sit here sweating profusely, I fully realize that many of you are shivering. Well, that is life, right? I did want to come to a place where I would no longer be cold and believe me, I have not been cold since last winter in Mammoth. But , I must report that it does feel ever so slightly cooler these past few days. The Kenyans say that very soon the rainy season will begin and it will be cooler but then I will have tons of mud to complain about!!
As for my work here, I continue to feel wonderful about the progress with the community library. I located a teacher who had previous library experience and she has helped totally organize the books. Last Friday, I had my first "student day" and over 100 students from a neighboring village came all at once. The library room is so tiny; we had to limit their entry to 10 students at one time. It was so fun to watch them pour over the shelves and make their selection. Luckily two teachers accompanied them and helped to insure that they picked books on their own reading level. Bye the way, all the books are in English. I was able to purchase some books by African authors but they , too, are in English. While the Kenyan government maintains that all students be taught all subjects in English, I know that is not the case, at least not at Kadzinuni Primary. But I am surprised to realize just how well some of the students can read English. I wish my kiswahili was moving along as well!
The running club I started is also going well and the boys are improving. The girls dropped out but I am hopeful they will return soon. In May, there are school competitions for track and field and that should raise every one's interest and willingness to run with the club.
Here are more photos: some Kenyans primary school students in "Sunday attire", a group of Kadzinuni students in their uniforms on the school grounds; myself and three other PCV's at a bird sanctuary outside of Kilifi, and lastly a shot of where I am sitting now while composing this blog entry.
Hope this finds everyone doing well in the States. The Atlantic Monthly assures me that I will return to a much different America than what I left. Do you agree????
kwaheri,
Mary (in Kenya)
