Back to the cold!

I haven't written anything for a while and in that time so much has happened!

On 1st December I flew back to England, although I feel like I have left my heart in Africa and it has caused many tears!

Since returning I have managed to get some supply work which has been really good as I now have a little bit of money to spend on Christmas presents! I knew that English classrooms were very different to Kenyan classrooms but until I returned once more to an English one I hadn't remembered how different they are! The biggest shock was the difference in behaviour-if the Kenyan teachers think they have discipline problems they should see the English classroom! Also the abundance of resources and the amount of wasted caused by the children in their lessons!

I think that Skype is the best invention as I've been able to talk to all my friends and even see them on the other side of the world!!

Hannah the cow update!

Earlier this year we gave someone a cow and they decided to name it Hannah after me! This was all alright until they began to tell people that they were hoping that Hannah would be pregnant before Christmas. I had to make sure that they ket people know that it was the cow they were talking about and not me!

Today at church the owner of the cow went and told Glyn that 'Hannah is now a fat cow!' Glyn found it very amusing!! The good news is that Hannah, the cow, is pregnant and the calf is expected before Christmas!

Baby names!

Had a strange request made today. I've been asked to name someones baby. Wasn't expecting to be naming babies just yet!

We have been calling the baby 'Bubbles' as the mother told us that it feels like bubbles in her tummy every time the baby moves. She doesn't feel that its a suitable name for when the baby is born though!

The crash

Well. we began the week with a complete wall around the compound and then the lorry delivering stones decided that he was going to reverse quickly across the compound and crashed into the newly built wall, knocking it down!

Fortunately it was able to be rebuilt on the same day so the compound was able to be kept safe!

The sack race

These are more photos from the sports day that I got from someone elses camera. I just thought they were very cute!!

Sports Day

On Friday we had a sports day with the whole school. It was great fun and everyone fron Nursery to High School and all staff took part. The best part was the Nursery tug of war, they just looked so little and cute!

Staff managed to win football, basketball and tug of war but we were beaten by High School in the table tennis!

Here are a few photos of the highlights of the day!

Everyone helps to build a wall!

The wall is now nearly completed! Can't believe the difference a week can make! Last week we had the nursery kids helping to clear the land and then we also had all of upper primary coming out toeach carry a stone from one side of the compound to the other. They all seemed to enjoy themselves and they saved the builders hours of time in moving stones! I don't think that health and safety in England would allow them to be doing this though!

It has amazed me that many of the builders are only wearing flipflops, or even bare feet. I just keep thinking how painful it would be if a stone was dropped on their foot.

Yesterday most of the day was spent removing a huge tree that was blocking the wall. It was massive and all they had to remove it with were axes and panga's! Then lots of strength to lift the huge trunk out of the ground. It was managed in the end!

More wall stories

Last week there was a meeting which ended up with us being told that we wouldn't be able to build a wall around our own land despite having all the correct paperwork! Fortunately Glyn and Jane had already been to see someone who was higher than the person who was trying to stop us and he had said that everything was in order and we could build! He did ask us to wait for an extra day for one final meeting with the original person though! During the waiting day it was decided that although we couldn't build we could begin to clear the land. This started on Monday afternoon and loads of staff and even some nursery kids who had gone home came and helped! They were very cute!!

Yesterday we were still waiting for things to be finally resolved so nothing happened, except that we told the people who have been trying to stop us that they are having no money and that we would begin building the next day.

This morning the building all started. No one knew if it would be peaceful or end up with a big fight for the land. Fortunately God was looking after us and we had no trouble at all!

The wall surrounding the new plot will hopefully be completely finished by Friday and then the land will be secure.

Happenings in High School

It has been an interesting week in High School. We had to sack a teacher who hadn't been doing what she was supposed to be doing and then had other interesting incidents to deal with the students.

One of the girls has accused one of the boys of dropping his trousers in front of her. Initially he was going to be suspended but I questioned how honest the girl is as she has also made up stories about teachers that had not been true. I think our final decision is to suspend them both for a week as we have no evidence to prove that either of them are guilty or innocent.

Mwinyi is out of hospital!!

Mwinyi, a boy in our school, was taken to hospital a year ago to have operations on his lege. He was only supposed to be there for a month but it has taken a year for him to get out of hospital. It is really lovely to see him around school and at church again. He can now walk with crutches and he has callipers on his legs. He is enjoying the freedom of being in his wheelchair and being able to get around the village and the other children are loving having him back with them.

Building Walls

I never thought that building walls could be so interesting but when people are trying to steal land from you it becomes very exciting!

Some people are trying to claim our land as their own so that they can sell it and make lots of money!

We have started to build a wall around the perimeter to stop them from building but they threatened to stone the builders so Glyn went out and started digging the foundations himself. This caused a lot of shouting so Jane went out and threatened to call in Securicor! They said "Go on then!" so Jane went back and called them in! They ran away quickly after that!

Parachute Games

I managed to get a parachute from the RAF in England and bring it out to Kenya with me. Last week I spent some time with the teachers explaining how to use it. They all acted like excited children and had lots of fun and this week I was really pleased to see that it was being used with the children so that they could also enjoy it!!

Return to Kenya!

Well, I've now been back in Kenya for two weeks and what an eventful two weeks it has been!

Week One: Threat of a tsunami. I decided it would be safer to sleep upstairs, just in case, so I packed up all my important belongings and slept in the spare bedroom upstairs. When I woke in the morning everything was just as it had been the night before so all the drama had been for nothing!

Week Two: The builders at school were threatened with a bow and arrow so the police had to be called in and then the next day the police arrived trying to arrest Glyn and Jane, saying they hadn't got a piece of paper that they did have.

This is just a brief outline of events, in full they are much more bizarre!

Life here is definitely more interesting and exciting that life back in England!!