Woke up quite excited today as we were going to head to the school and find out what we are going to be doing for the next 3-4 weeks.
We had breakfast, which consisted of chai (very milky tea which is not that much like the gumboot tea I’m used to), bread slices with nothing on them, and a couple of small bananas – banana sandwich it was then.
Joseph phoned the school principal to let him know we were coming only to find out he wasn’t there that day so he asked that we meet with the deputy principal when we got there.
We wandered off, out of little gated community and down (and up which will make me a bit fitter) the dusty ‘road’ to our school, past all the shops, little roadside sellers, milling people, rubbish and various other sights. Being white we were clearly a bit of a novelty as we were stared at quite a lot but I just smiled and stuck by Joseph. No one hassled us at all. We just got a few hellos and how are yous. We crossed the previously-mentioned motorway (Fun Fact: Mlolongo is a truck weighing stop so there are always loads of trucks about, loads of truck drivers and consequently loads of brothels frequented by the aforementioned truck drivers. Apparently Mlolongo is the biggest brothel district in Nairobi) and got to our school. It was basically rows of tin sheds together and broken up into classrooms and big open spaces but to me it looked wonderful and I couldn’t wait to get in there.
We got to the office to meet with the deputy principal, a woman by the name of Josephine who was very proper and seemed to view us with a bit of suspicion. Joseph told her the principal had asked us to see her, as he wasn’t there. She didn’t seem entirely sure about the whole thing and asked us what is was we did. We told her we were pretty happy to do anything to help out, not necessarily take a class on our own although I would love to, but help with individual students, take games, read to them, whatever. It was as if she was hearing it all for the first time. Ah well, it will work itself out I’m sure. Joseph asked if she would do a bit of an orientation with us, show us around, take us to the meet the teachers etc and she agreed. Joseph left us and we asked if we could go out to meet the children as they had come out for break time. Many of them had looked in the office, had seen us and stopped in their tracks with a look of surprise and fascination on their faces. I waved. They all broke into the most beautiful smiles and waved back and many ran away giggling.
The school caters for 1400 students aged from 3 to 14 years so it is huge but doesn’t look it from the outside. The only reason they were still open this late in the year was because they had had strikes earlier in the term and had three weeks to make up. That worked out well or we would have had nowhere to go! They have all but finished their curriculum work and currently have student teachers with them so I’m not sure what Caitlyn and I will be doing (when asked if we could do PE I volunteered Caitlyn, she’ll be fabulous I’m sure!) but hopefully on Monday when we meet the principal, we’ll get a better idea.
We headed outside to meet the kiddies just before the bell rang to take them back to class. A few came running up to us, giving us high fives. When we returned their greeting and started talking to them, a lot more came running up and before we knew it we were surrounded by beautiful little children all wanting high fives and handshakes. I tried to tell them in Swahili that my name was Marcella and although some giggled I think they got it. I asked their names, again in Swahili and was answered so I guess I was understood. Many of them just touched our arms and wanted to be near us. I felt like a celebrity! We couldn’t keep up with all the little hands stretched out to us. The bell rang but they still stayed crowded around us until a teacher came and told them to get to class J
After they had finally gone in, Caitlyn and I went to the staff room (another tin shed with a few tables and chairs) to meet some of the teachers. They were all polite enough but seemed to be quite unsure of us. Josephine then took us to meet the student teachers who didn’t look much older than about 16. They had their own ‘room’ where they were working. They each stood and introduced themselves as ‘teacher Thomas’, ‘teacher Elizabeth’ etc. After saying we were keen to help in any way we were taken to another teacher’s room to meet more staff. Again they looked at us as if we were there to take their jobs or something or perhaps assess their work. We tried to be as friendly as possible and said we just wanted to help. One teacher suggested we might mark some comprehension so we sat at one of the tables with a little pile of English comprehension and a red pen each.
The children were asked to write about telling the truth to the head teacher about something that had happened and some of them were just gorgeous! We corrected spelling, tenses and the like and gave them a mark out of 40 all while chuckling and sharing the cutest bits with each other. One that made me smile included the line “within two shakes of a lamb’s tail”. Bless.
We had finished and thought we might go home as there wasn’t a lot more to do when the teachers said they would like to give us tea so in came the thermos (they are everywhere) and a plate of bread slices, again plain like at breakfast. We washed our hands in water poured out of a container of water and sat down to enjoy our tea. It was so lovely of them. Although they still seemed somewhat suspicious of us they were really sweet.
After our snack we said we would like to go out and see the children again and would then probably head home. Again we were surrounded by beautiful little faces who were eager to talk to us and give us many, many, many high fives and handshakes.
We met some older girls who were a bit more talkative than the little ones. Two girls in particular were very keen to chat. One was called Alice and the other Fresha. They asked us where we were from and were delighted to hear we would be back on Monday. It really was like we were magnets to these gorgeous little children who crowded around and just watched us.
After making our way slowly through the crowds, we said goodbye to them and let the office know we were heading home.
Neither of us could wipe the smile off our faces. Bring on Monday I say!
We headed back the way we had come, through Mlolongo, to try and find an internet café and head to the supermarket. Again people stared and said hello but at no time did we feel uneasy. We found an internet café but the power was out so we went to the supermarket instead. It was excellent; everything we needed and will need is there. When we got to the checkout the power went out again so it was an awkward few minutes while they fixed the problem. I tried to ask the checkout lady how she was but she just laughed. Ok, maybe not then.
Eventually it came on, I paid and off we went home. Caitlyn has a great sense of direction so we made it back safely and were greeted by Ann (did I tell you about Ann? She is the live-in housekeeper who moved with Geraldine and Joseph when they relocated). She is quiet but so very lovely. She made us lunch – rice, stew and avocado salad – the avocado here is sooo yummy, far better than at home, so creamy. It’s gooood.
It turns out that there are 3 Canadian boys here in Mlolongo also staying in the estate. The guy that contacted me (through FB he saw I had chatted to another volunteer and mentioned I was here) has been here 4 times. The first time with IVHQ then on his own as he started up a clinic here. They distribute condoms, test for HIV and other safe sex things. As I mentioned this is a huge brothel area so they are really making a difference keeping the woman and guys safe. He comes back every year to do the paper work and make sure everything is running well while he is gone…and he’s only 22. Amazing! He invited us out for a beer (Caitlyn was extremely keen!!) that evening but it was only our second night and our host parents weren’t back yet. It turned out he was just around the corner so came to meet us. Joseph and Geraldine came back just as he arrived so they invited him in and we chatted for a while. He is a good guy to know! He knows how everything around here works, where to go for dinner, how much we should pay for transport, all sorts. Fantastic, our own Mlolongo guide! He headed home and we had dinner. Rice, ugali (I’ll tell you about that another time), beans and more salad. It was really good.
We all just chatted until bedtime. My mattress was a little threadbare so it was a bit uncomfortable to sleep. Might need to buy them a new one. Lights out.
Lala Salama
