General Observations

On the weather:
Although I have only been here for 6 weeks, I can feel the seasons beginning to change. It has become noticeably cooler in the mornings, so much so that I have actually started to sleep under the covers and for the first time last Monday I put a sweater on to go to school assembly. Checking my lonely planet Kenya it says we are moving from the hot dry season (Jan-Mar) to the season of long rainfalls (Mar – beginning of June). Now when I say it’s chilly in the morning, it is still 10-15°c but compared with the mid 20s of Feb you really notice the difference

On mangos:
Sad news…the mango season is slowly drawing to a close. There are fewer and fewer to be seen on the trees, being brought to school and generally given out as greetings.
Every cloud though… the avocado season begins when the mango season ends. You couldn’t have scripted it better.

On the internet:
Getting on the internet is a challenge so normally I prepare mails and blogs in advance and log on on, paste/post, and log off again. In and out like a swat team except I don’t make those ridiculous “hut hut” noises. Surely the baddies hear them coming when they do that?

On hair & skin:
My skin : The children are fascinated by my whiteness (I am very white) but are all equally convinced that in 6 months I will look like them :-)
My hair: This is of particularly interest…on your head, arms, legs, my beard or Doru as it is called here…they love to touch it. The colour my hair also has a peculiar effect on most people I meet. I am invariably met with the question “what have I done to it?”

On the journey to and from school:
We have a school van than picks up and drops off the children who live furthest away. The van is designed to carry 14…I counted 34 on the way home this evening.

On taking a shower:
A shower is conducted as follows:
Step 1: You fill a bucket (topped up with a little from the kettle if you are not feeling brave enough),
Step 2: Slosh half the bucket over yourself
Step 3: Wash,
Step 4: Rinse yourself of with the other half

I have made a video for the benefit of mankind and future generations, but first need to figure out how to blur out my bits (for the benefit of mankind and future generations).

On timekeeping:
Simply put, there is no time-keeping; be it be meetings, deadlines or whatever.
For a football match announced to begin at 3h00 … don’t bother turning up until 4h30 at the earliest. For a rabbit hutch to be built in 4 days … count 8.

On Stephen Mwangi:
One of our orphan by name Stephen Mwangi Std 6 was admitted at Kenyatta National Hospital. Stephen is sponsored in Sweden by Göte Henriksson. His problem started with eyes problem whereby he couldn’t see the work written on the blackboard. He was later taken to the Hospital (District) he was given some medicine and he came back to school. He had been attending the clinic throughout.
After the school opened again in Jan, he came back to school with no improvement. His guardian decided to take him to Kenyatta National Hospital as he was swollen all over his body. He was later diagonised as suffering from Kidney failure.

On dogs:
Packs of wild dogs are known to roam and are best avoided. The day is no problem but beware ar night. Normally at around 23h00 they start to howl in chorus.
There are 2 ‘school’ dogs. One is called Bingo, and the second not knowing her name we have christened Bessy. Since we have been giving them bones and tit-bits, they now sit outside our door in evening.

On aid to Africa:
Since the 1940s, approximately US$1 trillion of aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. This is nearly US$1,000 for every man, woman and child on the planet today.

On being a role model:
Setting a good example for children takes all the fun out of middle age.