Hello everyone, I finally have internet on my computer! Here are two updates from last week (note that I have posted two separate posts). Expect more tomorrow, including pictures!
Tuesday morning I had been told to be ready for the Headmaster to pick me up from Kakamega at 10 am. Per Kenyan Time, he arrived at 11:30, accompanied by the school’s counselor, Everlyne. They took me to one of the three Wal-Mart type stores in the town, and I stocked up on the rest of the things I’ll need in the village. Poor Everlyne had volunteered to take charge of my cart so she had to follow me as I criss-crossed the store a billion times looking for the items on my list. We then crammed my luggage, my groceries (including two large basins for bathing and laundry), the Headmaster, Everlyne, me, and another school employee that needed a ride home into the Headmaster’s tiny car. After running a few errands in town we finally headed in the direction of Shikokho! I can’t remember what the distance is from Kakamega (people keep answering me in kilometers so it goes over my head), but the drive took us around 25 minutes. Thankfully, Everlyne had picked up a nice, cold Coke for me to have on the drive. The group was not as impressed as I thought they would be when I told them that I lived in the city where Coke was invented, but I was impressed when the Headmaster, Thomas, took the cap of the (glass) bottle off for me with his teeth.
After some driving down bumpy dirt roads, which for the most part are impassable in the rainy season, we arrived in Shikokho! We went straight to the school, where I will be living in a house with two other teachers (both young Kenyan women). The house is a duplex, with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms on each side. It is roughly the same size and shape as the apartment I lived in at Davidson. The living room is about the size of a dorm room, and then the kitchen is half that size. Right now I am staying in the living room (there is a bed) because this side of the house, where the two other women live, only has two bedrooms. The other side has three bedrooms and the Headmaster lives there alone right now. Sometime next week we will switch sides so all of us girls can have our own bedroom. The other two have been out of town, so I have not met them yet. It is just as well that they are gone, as I don’t have to feel bad about cluttering up the living room with all my stuff.
After I got my things into the house Thomas walked me around the school grounds. Standing between our house and the school buildings are a small barn and a chicken coop. The school has seven cows and 100 hens! There is also a fishpond filled with Tilapia, which was a government-funded project. The school consists of a cluster of long, low buildings arranged in a U-shape. They are mostly classrooms, with an office building that houses the Headmaster’s office, secretaries, and the staff room. There is also a closet-sized computer room and a teeny little library. The cows are spread out and tethered to new spots throughout the grounds everyday, and the hens wander freely. The surrounding countryside is gorgeous—very green, with rolling hills in the distance.
That night was an adventure as I navigated my way through my nighttime tasks in a house with no electric appliances (only light bulbs) and no running water. You know what’s more complicated without running water? Um, everything. There is normally running water in the house, but as it is temporarily out some of the school’s employees carried in a few buckets of water for me. I made dinner on a single-burner gas stove I had just picked up at the store. We stopped at the gas station on the way out of Kakamega to fill up a gas can, and the Headmaster helped me hook it all up. For drinking water, I brought with me a SteriPen—a magic wand I found at REI. Shaped like an oversized thermometer, it is a UV lamp that you stick into your water for about 40 seconds. The light doesn’t kill the bacteria outright but it disables their reproductive systems, rendering them harmless. For bathing, I boiled a pot of water, added it to a basin of cool water, and commenced with my bucket shower. As the air was not too cold, it was actually rather pleasant. I would rather have to pour water over my head than stand under cold water like at Parkside and Sheywe.
Sleeping was rather comfortable, as I brought with me a fully-enclosed mosquito net that is basically like a one-person tent that pops up and fits on top of the bed. As there are spiders (and at night, lizards) ALL over the house, I was sooooo grateful to be able to zip up into my tent and not have to worry about sharing my sleeping bag with any creepy-crawlies.
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