My story

I wrote a story about my favorite place and that place turned out to be Humble Hearts. Here is the story and I hope you like it.

School, Kenyan style

Sheets of metal and wood is all you see in this school. The classrooms are crammed by kids and desks because of the lack of space. The courtyard is rocks and dirt the same thing as some of the floors. To many kids this is paradise compared to what they have at home. But this is school, Kenyan style.

The beginning of school is a rush. The kids are dropped off and have to find their classrooms through all the other kids. It is very crowded, with a lot bumping and shoving to get where you have to go. In the courtyard, it’s like herding cattle. After the kids find their classes, everything goes quiet and class starts. You walk in and all you see are bright purple shirts and black shorts. In this school, this is dress code and you have to wear it, or else. Here we don’t have a dress code. So imagine having a dress code, and looking just like everybody else.

The lunch area is not big-it is the size of a dumpster and a half. The room has a charcoal fire that holds a decent-sized pot. The pot is about three feet wide and about two feet deep. There are about three people in this room at one time preparing food for the kids. Then, when it is lunch time the people have to deal with kid’s right outside in a long line. The pot is always packed to the brim with beans for lunch. The beans for lunch have to cook for about 3 hours. Then the kids come get the food and eat it in about twenty minutes. They love the beans but it is a lot of work for not much reward. Every now and again the kids get a fruit day. The cook goes and gets the fruit from a market just up the road. They are very lucky kids compared to the kids that don’t go to school that live around it. The kids outside the school eat very little to absolutely nothing. Some of their bellies are empty as the bean pot after the kids have lunch. They go hungry.

During class time it is deathly silent except for the teachers. The doors are closed to everybody and the windows are generally shut. This makes the class room like an oven. This makes it very hot and with little way to cool it. Since the doors and windows are shut it makes the classroom dark since there is no electricity. The school looks like a fortress made out of wood and steel. The teachers are very stern but love the kids all the same. Since it is very quiet you can hear all the cars and smell all the nasty black poisonous diesel fumes from the road. The kids work very hard and share textbooks but have a lot of fun. There are some deaf classes there, and they are very quiet for the obvious reasons. They talk in Kenyan sign language. While they have fun and learn a lot of stuff, they are very crammed. They don’t have a lot of desks. They are squished into desks that are meant for two but they fit four. Even though they are crammed it doesn’t affect how much they learn.

At the end of the day it is very chaotic. All the kids that walk home leave but since there are a lot of them they have to squish and squeeze through the gate. At the same time as the kids that walk home the kids that are being picked up by there parents leave at the same time. They also have to squish through the gate. The teachers try to create organized chaos but it doesn’t really help at all. After awhile all the kids are gone and the teachers go and plan for the next day of school. They have to report how many kids are there and how many of each gender.
There are many different times of the school day. There is the beginning when it is very crazy and insane. There is lunch time when everybody has to wait outside in a very long line to get food because of the small kitchen. Then there is class time where it is clam, cool, and collected. Then last but not least there is the end of the day. It is very chaotic and crazy with absolutely no organization what so ever. The school life is a busy life and this is a school life, Kenyan style.

Again hope you like it,

Justin

even more pics

<-----Me doing homework

I LURVE you------>

This is me and Nile categorizing books

more pics

These are kids trying to say hello to us

this is all the school supplies we brought ------>

<---------- this is a hand dug well

These are kids playing

pics

PHHHHHHHHHHH --->
Lots of food----->

Lots of charcoal

Day 9

Hello,

I am really behind but this is the post for Sunday down in Kenya. Today we leave, but not until 10:00 tonight. So instead of packing, we did the same thing as Friday. We had to work and work and work and work some more. All we did was work all day. We took pictures of kids and teachers alike. We wrote up teacher bios for all of the teachers and put the pics together with them. Then on the computer we renamed all the photos so that the kids names were on it. After that we went downtown and exchanged all of our money back to US dollars. Then after that we went and we picked up a bunch of exercise books for the kids. By now it was pouring rain. It started to hail and we were worried about our flight. We got back and went to the hotel to pick up our bags. We were soaked and got a towel to dry off. Then we went to Beatrice's house and had the same thing we had at the Appreciation dinner. It was very good and very fun.

For food we had we had the same for breakfast, the same for lunch, and the yummy mukimu, chapatti, and the yummy rice with beef in it. It was all very good and we had a very fun time.

After that we went to the airport and waited for the plane. It was going to be a very long time before it showed up.

All for now look for picture posts after this,

Justin

Day 8

Hello from Kenya,

Today we had fun bargaining at a market. We went to the market to find stuff for my mom's auction that is in Oct. As my dad said I had my own money and I brought it down to do a little shopping myself. I had about 100 US dollars. I went down and bought 10 small animals that are black for 800 schillings and my mo bought me two necklaces for 100 schillings or all together about 13 dollars worth of stuff. you wouldn't believe how tiring bargaining is at a market. Everything is set at a very high price and you have to work them to get it lower.

Then we went back to the hotel and rested before dinner. I worked on homework while my mom was in a makeshift meeting. Just as a side note it actually rained today. Then we went to dinner and figured out what we have to do tomorrow. The list is very long and sounds very tiring.

For food we had the same for breakfast, pizza that was very good we had for lunch, and for dinner we had roasted chicken, potatoes, and chapati. They were all very good and yummy.

Gotta run,

Justin

A Dad's Perspective

As Justin is currently sleeping for his last night in Nairobi, I am taking the opportunity to usurp his blog and tell you a few things that you might not know.

Justin's 8th grade class will be taking an optional trip to Washington D.C. next spring. We offered Justin the choice of the class trip or going to Nairobi with Kari. The deal was that whichever trip he wanted to go on, he would have to raise $500 to help pay for the costs. Justin chose to go to Kenya.

He has been mowing lawns all summer to raise money. We told him that he didn't have to have the money all paid back before going to Kenya as he had a much shorter time frame to earn the money. Not only has he fully paid the $500 dollars, but he also raised another $100 that he took with him for spending money. This is on top of the money that we require him to put in savings. He has done such a terrific job. As a parent it is wonderful to have people tell you how impressed they are with someone his age, the job that he has done for them, and how much it encourages them about kids his age.

Things that he has written about he has been doing, not just seeing. I know that he was taking the photos of all of the sponsored kids and helping with many of the different tasks that you have read about.

I am proud of him!

When he has talked about buying things like the small soccer balls, toys, etc. that he took to the kids at Humble Hearts, he bought these things out of the spending money that he raised and took with him. When I was talking to him on phone he told me that he was surprised actually at how little of the money he took he has spent as the exchange rate makes many things inexpensive. I had to giggle a little as he was quoting everything to me in schillings.

To the teachers at school that are following his blog... THANK YOU!!! for your confidence in him that being gone would be no problem, for working with him to modify assignments, like allowing this blog to take place of his daily journal, etc. I checked in with him the other day and he has been doing some homework while there. He plans on doing more on the flight home, and has set some aside that he has questions about. THANK YOU for helping him to have this opportunity.

I can't wait for he and Kari to be home.

Have I mentioned how PROUD of him I am?

Justin, I love you and can't wait to see you and hear about things even more than the phone conversations we have had.

Day 7

Hey there,

Today was very fun and we all had a very good time. We went to the elephant orphanage to see them eat lunch. My mom didn't drive since our friend came along. We took our friend and her daughter to the orphanage. We saw the elephants eat and play soccer. They were very funny a cute. There was one that was 3 months old. There trunks were very small. Then we saw the rhinos that they also have. One is blind and the other comes and goes as he pleases. The one that is blind can't leave for the obvious reasons. Then we left and went to the giraffe center. It was way cooler then the elephants. Sorry to all you elephant lovers. What we got to do at the giraffe center was we got to feed them handfuls of food. We could throw it into there mouths, just give it to them or have them kiss you were you hold it in your mouth. It was very fun and entertaining. Then we went and we saw the crocodiles. We got to hear there jaws pop since the teeth interlock in the mouth. They were cool to. Then we saw the ostriches they were very funny.

To speak in terms of food we had the same for breakfast, the same for lunch, and then for dinner I had two 8 inch in diameter pancakes that were homemade and very good. All for now more later

Justin

Day 6

Hey there,

I can finally post from here but it has to be quick. Today we worked and worked and worked and worked some more. We had so much to that we actually skipped a trip to the archives to work on stuff. That was how much stuff we had to do. For the most part we just hung around Humble Hearts and worked on stuff there. Last night I bought the kids two mini soccer balls and gave them to them today at lunch break. They had popped one in about fifteen min. Then in the afternoon we left with Beatrice's mom and went to go get food for Angel Cottage and Humble Hearts. We got bags of food that were about 4 feet long and 2 feet wide and they were filled to the top with beans, corn, and rice. Then we got 4 bags of charcoal that were the same size.

The food that we ate was very good. We had the same breakfast that we have had for the last couple days. Then for lunch we had a zone bar and peanut butter crackers. Dinner was also very good. We had potatoes that were fried and had caramelized onions on top. Then we had chapatti and a stew with a chicken leg in it. It had a kick to it :-) in terms of spice. Then to finish it off we had a bowl of fresh fruit again. YUM!!!!!

All for now check back tomorrow.

Justin

Day 5

Hello

Today we started by going back to the school and sorting through all of the suitcases that we brought.  Lets just say that it was a lot of stuff.  There was stuff all over the table.  After we sorted it all out I handed out toys to a lot of the kids and they were very happy.  We gave all the stuff to the teachers and they were also very pleased.  Then after we sorted through all that stuff we went to a different school and brought them stuff.  They were also very happy.  We saw a well that a man was digging by hand and it was about 12 meters deep.  They plan to dig it to 30 meters.  Then we went and saw the chicken coups and the cow shed.  The cows were stolen when all the violence was going on and the chickens were hit with a disease, so a lot of them were gone to.  After that we went and shopped for the kids at Humble Hearts.  We bought boots and backpacks, and socks.  Then we dove back to the hotel and got stuck in a ton of traffic.

To speak in terms of food again,  I had the same stuff for breakfast that I had yesterday.  Then for lunch I had a zone bar and peanuts.  For dinner we went out to eat and had chicken quesidillias.  They were very good.

That is all for now but check back for more.

Justin

Day 4

Hey there!

Today we went to Humble Hearts that is the school that my mom helps.  Then we went down and bought a ton of textbooks and school supplies.  There was a ton.  We took pictures of all of it but we have to wait until we get home to show you.  We came back to the school and got it all out and took pictures.

Just to get a picture of the school in your head, the walls are sheets of metal instead of concrete.  The stuff that holds the metal up are sticks.  The roofs are metal and the desks are put together.  They hold about 3 kids a desk.

After we came back we went to Angel Cottage where the kids sleep.  After we went to the current one we went to the construction of the new one.  It is much bigger and can hold a lot more kids.  The current angel cottage is like the school but has beds.  The are enough beds to hold 8 boys but they actually hold 19.  The girls area has the same amount of beds but has 16 girls instead of 19.  They are very cramped but won't be when the new Angel Cottage is done.

To speak in terms of food I had eggs and sausage for breakfast.  For lunch I had bananas and a package of peanuts.  For dinner I had chicken, potatoes, fresh and juicy fruit, and onions that were on top of the potatoes.  That is all for now but check back tomorrow for more.

Justin

Day 3

Jambo (Hello),

Today we went downtown and looked around. We had an employee appreciation dinner that was very fun. We so many foods today. For breakfast I had toast with jam, a little egg, sausage, watermelon that was very juicy, I had tea with milk instead of water, and some freshly squeezed OJ. For lunch I had a coke, peanuts,and some pizza with tomatoes. For Dinner we had some traditional Kenyan food. We had some chicken, Chapati, coke, ugaliee, rice with beef, And some green food that had peas, corn, potatoes, bananas, and some sort of green. That had the texture of mashed potatoes and tasted like mashed potatoes. The ugaliee looked like styrofoam. After dinner we danced and had a lot of fun. Here is a question. What is the national language of Kenya? Think about it and I will tell you tomorrow. To say "how are you" in swahelili then you say "habarhee". To say "I'm fine" then you say "musurrie". Just if you want to know a little Swahili for class.

Well that is all for now.

Justin

Day 2

I am here in Kenya and it is about 1 pm. I don't know if I will be able to get on tonight so will talk about what have done so far today. We went to the school that my mom sends money to and the kids that were there were very happy to see us. We got to the hotel and I crashed for 12 hours strait. We are 9 hours ahead of Denver time so I was very tired. Just as a piece of info The total time it took to get here was exactly 24 hours. We got on the plane in Denver at about 11:15 and we got through customs in Kenya at about 11:15 am Denver time. The traffic down here in crazy. It is worst then Denver. Our hotel is nice. We have to sleep with a mosquito net around us so that we don't get malaria while we sleep. That was a little annoying but I would rather have that then malaria.

I have to go and eat lunch now so tootles till Tuesday.

Justin