Getting Settled in Kenya

Hello from Kenya, everyone! 

After many years of planning and many months of tying up "loose ends" we (Richard and Andrea) are both settled on the ground in Kenya. The first few weeks have been taken up with trying to get settled into an semi-efficient routine and also getting various contractors in to give estimates and plan jobs that need to be finished before the school opens.

Presently, the government of Kenya has stated that schools opening for Form One (first year high school) students will be able to accept new students in April or May. So, we are hoping to open at that time. Covid has caused the whole Kenyan school calendar to be rearranged, so we are staying flexible.

In the meantime, we are settling in to our little house here. Andrea has taken on the job of getting the laundry done. It is washed by hand in a basin. I usually heat the washing water and then rinse the soapy clothes with cold rainwater from our outside barrell.

Rodent control in a wooden structure like our house is important. Rats are prevalent and pretty aggressive about getting into houses to eat food and chew up other materials. We don't like using poison and we don't want to live with rats, so we decided to bring in a household expert.

Our friend, Simon Koech, who is a tour guide by profession and has arranged tours for many of our volunteers, located Jimmy the cat to add to our household. Jimmy keeps the rats out and also provides free entertainment as he practices his hunting skills on his toys. We have not seen or heard a rat since he moved in!

We have also planted a garden and in addition to the traditional scarecrow, we have a kite scarecrow!  The kite blows around in the wind and looks like a bird of prey, which keeps the other birds from eating the seeds and plants. We are growing wheat to sell and beets, beans, peas, onions and collard greens for us to eat.

As we negotiate with contractors for final finishing of the school building, we are also working on completion of a new house for us and for visitors. This week a crew came to complete framing and roofing for the bedrooms. Next week we hope to get the cement slab floor in and then start exterior walls. Things move fast here!

I will try to keep everyone updated as we move along toward school opening.

Such a busy exciting time!

~ Andrea