Tonight I rode on the back of a piki piki (motorcycle taxi)to Rusinga Island for a “Happy Hour” and chat with friends. On the way back to the Guest House where I was staying, the sun was setting over Mfangano Island. Nice breeze. New meaning to waiting till the cows come home. They seemed to be coming home too! Enjoy the ride.
In the past few days I have visited many elementary schools in rural Kenya. Most are overcrowded and in need.
If a family has money or are in an urban centre, there are private schools that may provide a reasonable teacher-student ratio, clean surroundings and teachers that are not well paid but at least can eke out a living teaching school.
This classroom in a Government-funded school is for about 60 kids. They sit on the floor.
Unfortunately that is not the case in many rural schools, particularly those in the public system. The government-funded schools may have 60-80 students per classroom. Often the infrastructure is quite simply deplorable.
Some classes at this school are held outside. It is better than the classroom that is hot and dirty and crowded.
Classrooms are in poor repair. Latrines are full or dirty or both. There is little access to clean drinking water and classes are not well ventilated, crowded and hot. Teachers are poorly “motivated” by very low salaries. There is a general lack of supplies, text books, even syllabus books for the teachers.
These pupils are being taught in a CanAssist-funded school. Class sizes are manageable, the students have desks. The classroom is rudimentary but clean and the kids receive good teaching.
Privately run schools do better. The children are in smaller classes but the teachers are even more poorly paid, often by contributions from the parents. In one privately operated school I visited the fee for the 40% who can afford it is 600 Kenyan Shillings ($6.50 US) a month. Another 30% pay half and an even more vulnerable 30% pay nothing. I challenge you to run a school including supplies and salaries for 120 children on $450 a month.
This is a classroom constructed by CanAssist in 2012. The school still lacks complete furnishings for these classes.
Through CanAssist we have attempted to help several elementary schools, private and public by constructing classrooms, providing furnishings, latrines and water. Today I bought a few text books for one of the schools and will buy more next week.
These kids need help. There are so many of them and their government is stretched to provide only rudimentary support. Those in rural areas go unattended. It is sad.
The children and teachers are grateful for even modest contributions to help them continue. Sometimes it is frustrating but we will continue thorough the CanAssist African Relief Trust to attempt to improve educational opportunities for as many East African children as we can. Would you like to help?
This is my 14th trip to Kenya since 2003. On my first visit I would never have imagined that I would return so often. Between visits there are things that get shelved in the back of my mind but quickly come back when I return. Anyone who has traveled here will relate and if you have not visited East Africa here is a taste of what I hope you get to experience some time.
Eating pineapple every day, every meal. Pineapple that was picked yesterday and actually tastes like pineapple.
Sitting in the dark in my room at night so not to attract the little lake flies that are everywhere but drawn to the light.
Being the only mzungu on the Main Street and not realizing it until someone says “good morning white man” or a woman shakes your hand and then scampers away to yell to a friend “I just greeted a mzungu”.
Piki piki motorcycle drivers who want to take you anywhere, everywhere.
Hearing the occasional hippo grunt in the lake just in front of my room.
Incredible sunsets every night.
Waking up to the sound of birds outside my room. Seeing fish Eagles along the shore of the lake every day.
Sleeping under a bed net and remembering to take my meds every day because of the significant risk of malaria.
Kids wanting to pet my hairy arms.
Chapati.
Thinking I am getting a tan but finding that it all washes off I’m the shower.
Sleeping with the patio door beside my bed wide open and listening to the waves and the fishermen out on the lake at night.
Stoney’s Tangawizi, a Coca Cola ginger soda I have only found here.
The occasional 3 ft long monitor lizard suddenly scurrying out of my way through the long grass.
Kids squealing with glee when I show them the photo I just took of them.
Little drops of lizard poop in the bathroom but no sign of its owner.
No ice cream.
Frequent Electrical blackouts.
Remembering to brush my teeth with bottled water.
Donkeys and cows wandering unattended in the market, Main Street and even in the middle of a highway.
Feeling embarrassed and almost ashamed that I am often treated with special privilege only because I am white. Actually pink is more accurate after the equatorial sun exposure.
It is always a treat to visit the Kanyala Little Stars School on Rusinga Island. I have been dropping in to this school for the past 8 years and it has been interesting to see it grow and prosper. The school was started by Benta Odihambo, a local widow and ex-teacher who poured her heart into trying to improve the education of vulnerable kids in the community.
For a long time, she struggled to make it work but in the past few years, with support from CanAssist and other individuals and organizations the school has grown to 290 students all the way from age 4 to Grade 8.
The newest addition of classrooms to Kanyala Little Stars school. Still a bit of outside finishing to to but it is a sturdy and spacious building.
This year we were pleased to provide funding for a building that houses two classrooms. Since the property is running out of space, provision was made with a strong base to eventually be able to move upward.
The school has had academic success with their grade eight students standing at the top of the local district and third out of ninety in the sub-county in standardized exams done to determine admission to secondary school.
Benta Odihambo’s sons, Blasto and Samwel accept the donation from the St Mark’s congregation in Barriefield to purchase sanitary pads for the older girls at the school.
The women of St Mark’s Church in Barriefield, just outside Kingston, have formed a special bond with Kanyala Little Stars and I was pleased bring money from these women to the school for purchase of sanitary pads for the older girls – a program that has dramatically improved attendance for these girls, one of whom topped the girls marks for the district.
I have missed having a visit with Mama Benta this year – she died unexpectedly in mid 2013, but the family continues to manage the school and attempts to keep the high standards.
Yesterday I paid a visit to the S.P. Geddes Early Childhood Development Centre near the fishing village of Kamin Oningo on the shore of Lake Victoria in Kenya. The school has been named after my late father who, through the CanAssist African Relief Trust, funded construction of classrooms, a latrine, water tank and fencing for the school.
Dad’s name is emblazoned on the school gate and a Canadian flag flies proudly beside the Kenyan one in the school grounds.
In addition, when I visited the school two years ago there was a little fellow who they had named Stewart Geddes, in honour of my Dad. This child is now about 2 1/2 years old and wanders around the school like he owns it.
When you ask him what his name is he replies “S.P”. Now this is particularly endearing to me since my mom always lovingly called my Dad “S.P.” I got to have a visit with him and even a cuddle when he fell asleep on my lap. Any parent/grandparent will know just how special this is.
I also visited the community fishing village where CanAssist provided a latrine where before there was none. The Beach Management Unit Chairman reported that it was being used and maintained and that just the day before the Public Health Officer visited the community and commented how this was a grand health improvement.
I plan to return to the school next week. A Kingston family has asked me, on their behalf to set up a small feeding program at the school to set up better nutrition for the 120 kids who attend. I will work on that and hopefully have photos of the children enjoying a nutritious lunch later in my time here.
I first started to feel like I was back home in Africa when I got on the Kenya Airways plane in London and was greeted by polished, professional, friendly flight attendants, all dressed in bright red blazers. They are just so welcoming and gentle and I knew I was in good hands.
The new Kenya Airways 787 Dreamliner.
The flight was a special one, unbeknownst to me. When I arrived at the departure gate there was cake and champagne to celebrate the inaugural flight of a brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner added to the Kenya Airways fleet. There were even two lions in the hold, being transported back to Africa from a circus in Germany. (You can read about it here – http://travel.aol.co.uk/2015/01/21/two-lions-rescued-cruel-circus-germany-moved-south-africa-born-free/)
After 35 hours of travel, like the lions, I needed some rescuing so I was excited and pleased to be met at the Kisumu Airport by Mary Etuku, the manager of the ICIPE Guest House where I will stay for three weeks.
After a brief stop to get my mobile phone working properly, we drove to Mbita, about 2 1/2 hours from Kisumu.
I had come to Kenya to visit but also to check on some of the projects we have been doing in the last year and realized as we bumped along that we would pass one of our school projects near Kendu Bay. Our driver, Kennedy , kept his eyes peeled and found the sign for Kamser Primary School so we did a U-turn and headed back , unannounced.
Desks at the Kamser Elementary school provide in 2014 by CanAssist.
The students were away from the school on their lunch break but three teachers sat under a tree marking notebooks. They took me into the classrooms to show me the desks that CanAssist had funded last year. This was a bit of a win-win since the desks, rudimentary but functional, we’re all made by local carpenters, thereby providing some modest local employment as well as providing the desks for the students. CanAssist had also provided a rainwater catchment tank. The teachers told me that after a good rain, the tank fills and can supply drinking water for the 500 pupils at the school for several weeks. Prior to getting the desks, the students, usually 60-80 per classroom, were sitting on the floor to learn.
I was delighted to start my 2015 Africa trip this way. My Jet lag dissolved. I was pleased to see how these teachers were appreciative of our support and their report of how this contribution to the school had made a difference to the well-being of the students.
After a good rain, this tank will be full and provide clean drinking water at the Kamser school for several weeks.
I may have brought them something else – another blessing. About 10 last night there was a 2 hour torrential thunderstorm that dumped much-needed water on the community. There has been no rain for weeks. I smiled as I lay in bed, my screened patio door open, and listened to the rain pour down, knowing that around this community there were water tanks filling up.
The sunsets over Lake Victoria from the lawn in front of the ICIPE Guest House are wonderful.
Today has been a beautiful, cold, crisp, clear wintery day in Kingston. Fresh white snow, blue skies, lots of sunshine. My friends in Africa would find this unbelievable. The sun is shining and it is minus 10 degrees. But if you bundle up and soak in the beauty it is truly incredible.
A few photos to prove it.
A post-Christmas tradition for me when I spend a few holiday days in Sarasota is to go to a couple of movies. If the weather looks dull, I jump on the Longboat Key trolley into town to catch a matinée.
Here are some of the films I have seen this week.
Gone Girl.
Generally I like this kind of film with convoluted plot lines and the peeling off information like layers on an onion. When I got to the end, however, I left the theatre feeling generally uneasy. I was not sure why. I think that by the end of the movie, I was feeling like I had spent two hours with characters, none of whom, I liked. I liked the acting. I didn’t like the characters. Maybe this is a credit to the movie that they could get under my skin so much.
I had the initial plot twists figured out almost from the word go. So I enjoyed the second half of the movie more, not being sure where it was all heading.
I looked online when I got home to find that there has been quite a bit of discussion about the ending of the book (and movie). It seems that I was not alone in finding it unsatisfying. It is difficult for me to say much more without a lot of spoilers. So I will let you see for yourself. 3 1/2 Stars out of 5 from me.
Into the Woods
I will start by saying that I am generally not a Sondheim fan. I find his music lacks tunefulness. And Into the Woods is particularly lyric heavy with the music fitting the lyrics rather than the other way around. I have also said before that there are very few stage musicals that adapt well to film.
This one is an exception. The fantasy and story-line(s) of Into the Woods worked better for me as a movie than when I have seen it performed live. In a movie you can make a real Giant, a beanstalk and a witch that disappears in a whirlwind of dust. This visual stuff was lots of fun.
I liked Meryl Streep when she was witchy, Johnny Depp when he was Wolfish and the two princes made me laugh out loud when they were singing “Agony” while splashing around in a waterfall. The kids in the movie were fantastic and I liked it that the actors were not all people I knew. In Les Mis I was put off by the fact that I was very much aware that I was watching Hugh Jackman and Sasha Barron Cohen and Russell Crowe.
I came away thinking that there must be a life message here somewhere but the problem is that there are hundreds. Lots of overlapping themes – parent and child, good and evil, old and young, rich and poor, right and wrong, lost and found – you named it, it’s there. Then again, isn’t that like life itself. We are wandering in the woods and never sure what is coming next or where it will take us. Life just isn’t a straightforward story.
This movie may become the 21st century equivalent of Wizard of Oz. It must have been tempting for director Rob Marshall to shoot this film in 3D but I am glad he did not. No need to overwhelm us.
If you like the stage play you will probably like the movie. If you can’t let your fanciful self go into the muddle in the woods or you don’t like people singing their dialogue you may find this one over the top. I liked it and give it 3.5 stars of 5.
The Theory of Everything
Stephen Hawking is certainly an unusual phenomenon and this movie outlines the earlier part of his life extremely well. Sometimes it is a struggle to watch but then you think what a struggle that life must be to live, both for him and his family. Incredible, really. I am sure there were many moments in the lives of Hawking and his family that would not make for good cinema so we are just witnessing the tastier bits.
Eddie Redmayne is consistently in character and gives a realistic portrayal of the disabled Hawking. His contorted facial expressions are all that he has left near the end to tell us what he is thinking and feeling and he does this extremely well. Oscar bait here.
Felicity Jones (who is she, anyway?) also gives a strong, moving and credible performance as Hawking’s wife, Jane.
Cambridge as a backdrop is elegantly perfect.
Warning: you will shed tears. 4 stars of 5.
PK
I picked this one to see as I thought it would be different. It was.
It is a mash up of Mork and Mindy/ET/Fred and Ginger meet Austin Powers done up Bollywood style, set in Bruges, Belgium and Delhi, India and all in Hindi with sub-titles. It is a 2 1/2 hour story about a big-eyed, big-eared alien from another planet trying to get home and two star-crossed lovers who need his help to find themselves again – with social commentary about religion and a few song and dance spectacle numbers thrown in. The film is awash in pastel colours, almost cartoonish at times but very pleasing to watch. And I must admit that I like the Bollywood production numbers, if just for their vitality.
Although it has broken the record for Bollywood films internationally I was alone with two women who did not need sub-titles in the theatre watching it the afternoon I went. I have no idea how many stars to assign to this movie. I have nothing to compare it with. I did find it entertaining. And it was drizzling rain on the beach so this was a bright alternative.
I have been in Florida for the past ten days, enjoying some warmth and sunshine and wandering barefoot in the Gulf of Mexico. The sunsets here have been colourful most evenings and I have taken a drink and my camera to the beach at 5:15 to just sit and soak them up.
Next month I will be enjoying equally spectacular sunsets overlooking Mfangano Island in Lake Victoria almost on the equator in Kenya.
I will share a compilation of photos of the past week with you here. Sit back and enjoy.
johnageddes 