Recent News

I thought I’d give a few updates on news, ranging from global to family.

First the global: we woke up Monday morning to the news that Bin Laden had been killed.  A group of our neighbors crowded around a television to watch Obama’s address live.  Viewing the news were Carey and me, a Tanzanian, several Kenyans, and three Somalis.  People were very interested in the news and many people watched for quite a while.  I wondered how we looked through the eyes of those from other countries.  I felt a little embarrassed for the college age students behind the commentators dancing to get their faces on TV.

Everyone is very excited and positive about the news.  I met another parent today while taking the kids to school.  I told him I was from the U.S. and his response was “Ah, the great nation that killed the evil terrorist.”  Al-Qaeda carried out an embassy bombing in 1998 that killed 250 Kenyans.  Even last week there were warnings that a terrorist from al-Shabab, an Islamic extremist group from Somalia, had entered Kenya with intentions of carrying out an attack.  A friend of ours who is a police officer had to stay on duty over the weekend because of the warnings.

The Somalis are very positive about Bin Laden’s death.  We have three Somali neighbors, all of whom fled Somalia to live in Europe.  Mohammed, who left Somalia most recently about 2 years ago, said that in the past Somalia was suffering from civil war and warlords.  Recently, Islamic extremists have come from other countries and are bringing a different kind of violence to Somalia.  Mohammed said that extremists have created a bad image for Muslims everywhere.  “Sometimes even when I tell people my name, it is a problem,” he said.  Overall, people are very excited and positive about the news.

Puddles after a steady rain last night.  Neighbor Sammy (2:11 marathoner) walks by.

Second, the local news: We are in the season called the long rains, but so far it has been pretty dry.  We’ve had some evening showers, but overall the water has evaporated quickly without infiltrating the soil.  There is so much subsistence farming here that a drought can be devastating.  We’ve had pretty good rains in the last week: two nights of heavy rain (about an inch a night) and last night a steady Seattle-esque rain all night (almost another inch).  The roads are muddy, but the farmers are loving it.

Waiting for the morning matatu on the first day back to Salaba.

Finally, the family news: Apollo and Uhuru are back at school at Salaba.  They are going to attend for the next 4 weeks.  Classes run from 7:20-3:10.  The school bus comes at 6:15, so instead I’ve been riding with them in a matatu (we can leave at 7:00 and make it there comfortably).  After school they have games and then they take the school “bus” home.  The bus is a pickup truck.  Most students sit in the back under a canopy.  The dashboard is missing and there is a snarl of wires.  It takes a while to start.  But it drives slowly.  Yesterday the roads were muddy so the head teacher sent everyone home before games.  They usually arrive home about 5PM.

The children stay in the same room while the teachers move from class to class.  The students stand when a teacher enters the room.  The following dialogue occurs at the beginning of each class:

“Good morning,” says the teacher.

“Good morning sir,” say the students in unison.

“How are you?”

“We are fine, thank you sir.”

“You may sit down.”

“Thank you, sir.”

There appears to be a lot of copying lessons into their lesson books.  There are very few facilities; a blackboard is painted onto a wall in each room.  Salaba is unusual in that it has a computer lab with about 15 computers.  I was shown the lab, but neither Uhuru or Apollo has had computer class yet.

I’m very proud of them for attending.  Apollo has ended up in 4^th grade (he was in 2^nd in the U.S.).  Uhuru is in 6^th grade.  It is challenging for them to understand the Kenyan accented English and to make themselves understood.  It is also difficult for them because they are really the center of attention.   Despite the fact that Salaba is a private school, I think Uhuru and Apollo are the first white children that many of these students have ever talked to.