Thursday 6/7
The boys did not return today, which is fine. Today was the
first day Meshack and I went to schools to administer the water and sanitation
surveys. I spoke with the teacher and Meshack with the students. All in all, I
think it went well. We first went to a primary school called Uya. It is one of
the main schools, and I am under the impression they partner with Rusinga
Island Trust fairly often. When we had completed the surveys at Uya, Elizabeth
showed up and the 3 of us walked to a school called Eddie Memorial. Eddie is
situated at one of the highest points of the island, in an area I have never
been before today. The land around the school is semi-arid because of the
location. They are about an hour walk from the lake, and they are really
lacking in the area of clean water. They do not even have storage equipment for
water at the school. Since they are on this large hill/ Mini Mountain, there is
a really big problem with wind. Not just erosion, their school building is
missing a substantial piece of roof. This side of the island is one of the most
remote, but the teachers really seem to be trying to give the students a good
education. For some reason I cannot explain, I fell in love with Eddie and
really want to help them out. I can’t fix their roof, but if we planted trees
to form a windbreak of sorts perhaps future damage can be avoided. Hopefully we
can make that happen. We stayed there around an hour, and then walked back on a
longer path. We stopped in a place called Gumba Beach, and Meshack bought us
some mandazi, which is sort of like a binget or donut. By the time we returned
home I was quite tired. I was supposed to go back to Uya that afternoon for a
talk about conflict resolution, stress, and anger management, so Elizabeth said
she and I could walk together. So June and I are talking and eating lunch
together, and about 1:30 Elizabeth leaves. We were supposed to go together at
2:30, so I thought she would return. She did not. By 2:45 she was still not
back, so I decided to go by myself, even though I didn’t know the way. So I
start walking and I passed by this girl I met named Irene (she is the one whose
living room I danced in yesterday). I told her where I was going, and she said
she was going there too and we should walk together. I did not even tell her I needed help getting
there. God is so good. Even better, she showed me a shortcut. It isn’t like I
could find it again, but the journey only took half the time. So I arrived
before Meshack or Elizabeth and just hung out in the teacher’s lounge. I got to
spend time with some of those teachers, which was not only fun but very
beneficial for me. As it turns out Elizabeth was waiting for me at the center
the whole time, so it was nothing more than a miscommunication. Teaching the
class went ok, but the kids had a devil of a time understanding my or Elizabeth’s
accent. So I felt superfluous. That night Elizabeth joined us for dinner. The
four of us had a good time just being free in each other’s company. So
basically, another full and tiring and wonderful day!
