A Small Tour

This has to be a small tour, just the tiniest taste of what we see from day to day. There are not enough pictures to convey the whole--believe me, we have taken plenty.

This is our admin building, Kiambogo--the first building of Rift Valley Academy. Theodore Roosevelt laid its cornerstone. At one point Kiambogo was RVA's classrooms, dormitory and cafeteria.





Flowers...yes, I cannot say enough about the flowers. I am taking this shot under a poinsettia plant.








A few blossoms are low enough for me to take a close-up.








This is a impatiens BUSH. Yes, you read this correctly...a bush at least four foot high.










Around the corner there are lantana shrubs and the butterflies love them. I heard one long-timer airily dismiss the shrubs as weeds and I have seen them in the wild. I can only say I pay a pretty price for these weeds in nurseries back home.







This is an olive parrot--called so because he eats wild olives--not because he is olive green. He and his buddies roost in an tree by the gym until school begins.





This is a Passion flower (think Passion of Christ) and soon this vine will bear...








...Passion fruit. These will turn purple as they ripen.








Rain finally came and we finally came to see why they call RVA the school in the clouds.







Water lilies in the rain in the science pond.








Centenniel Chapel where Jim preaches from time to time and where we both speak for daily chapel services.








Hibiscus in the rain.








Ceramic bricks made by art students over the year. These are adjacent to sinks at the art building. RVA boasts a fine pottery studio with a resident Kenyan potter, Zed.






Rain over the football (soccer and rugby) field.








Kijabe--the neighboring village






This is downtown Kijabe. You can see Dorothy's--the largest duka or store.




























Creative fencing for the peek-a-boo sheep.








Kijabe's preschool.









Sisal plant








The clown of the bird world--mouse bird.




























He's dirty and he's proud--the hiker returns...














Donkey's are everywhere in Kenya. Jim photographed these on a hike that took him outside the gate and higher up the escarpment towards Old Kijabe Town. The town shifted closer to RVA when the railroad moved higher up.






Here's the train to Nairobi.







Back home--flying ants

Yes, it's true. The kids fry these up in cheap margarine and eat them. They swarm out of rain-soaked earth and hover over the ground. They move to light and then...





They lose their wings and crawl away to lay eggs and munch on wood.

Second Term--Outreach Day

Buses and vans were lined up outside Centennial Chapel and getting ready to roll for Outreach Day. We loaded our bus with cabbages, balls, balloons, hula hoops, cases of soda, bags of mandazies and young people ready to use their muscles and talents to bless an orphanage in nearby Kimende.
Our assignment was only one of several meant to serve the many needs in our area. Girls, elementary through ninth grade, were going to play with the children.

Jim and several ninth and tenth grade boys came to pound large stone to bits, so that the girls could walk on a gravel walkway in front of their dorms, instead of mud.

The RVA bus carefully eased through the tunnel under the railway bridge and then jolted up the rough road to the highway. Soon it pulled in front of rustic storefronts in Kimende. We all walked down a dirt alley carrying the cabbages, equipment, and treats to the orphanage--mainly serving young girls orphaned by AIDS and other tragedies.


We entered the compound and soon the boys went to work smashing the large donated rocks, while we ladies gathered the children and walked to a school yard.

The ninth grade girls jumped right in and enthusiastically made sure these kids had a much better than average play day. Language was a small problem as we women and girls played. We had to play "chicken, chicken, goose" rather than "duck, duck, goose" for there is no Swahili word for duck. Soon we were all ready for some refreshment and headed back. When we returned, our RVA guys had created half of the gravel walkway.

Together we celebrated our Saturday with sodas and mandazies and then a rousing concert--our young friends sang and danced for us.







Chicken, chicken, GOOSE!















Soccer--one on one
















Back to the orphanage















Fellow staff member and neighbor, Charlotte chats with Edwin about orphanage needs--simple things like a water tank.
















The boys bless with their manly strength.

Singing with joy and flair!

Natural Wonders -- Second Term

We're playing blogging catchup now this vacation. We were warned that the second term would be the most hectic part of the school year and that was an understatement. The H1N1 virus hit our campus and our infirmary was filled to overflowing. Even younger staff members became ill, and the rest of the faculty stepped up to fill the gaps. Jim and I dodged all the illness, but our term was filled with covering important material and helping barely recovering students make up work.



Even in hectic moments, we had to stop at rejoice at the natural wonders about us.

This wonder was exceptional--even for Africa: A once-in-a-life-time solar eclipse.


Our students gathered on the upper rugby field with telescopes and protective eye gear to view this event.








Usually leaves will act as prisms which leave little round images
of the sun.









Today we saw, not crescent moons, but crescent suns displayed on our neighbor's wall.




The annual trip to Hell's Gate Park is a major highlight for eighth grade students. The whole Rift valley is filled with volcanoes and hot springs. Hell's Gate is a real hot spot for geothermal activity. Fifteen percent of Kenya's electricity is fueled by geothermal power.


This volcanic "plug" was created as liquid magma solidified. The outer soil eroded leaving this rugged stone column.









Don't let the remains of extinct volcanoes delude you; this is still a very active area with hot water steaming from the rocks throughout the park.







Jim and the kids also enjoyed wildlife--some rather large, from this locust...







...to this rather sizable pumba. From the looks of things, warthogs like mud just like all other piggies. The Thompson's Gazelle looks disapproving.






JAMES--intrepid wrangler of reptiles and amphibians

This beautiful green and black snake with the big innocent-looking eyes is a boomslang, a poisonous, reclusive tree snake that mostly feeds on bird-eggs and insects. We figure he must have fallen out of a tree near our elementary school. Jim helped contain and then release him.



He looks like he's puckering up, but I wouldn't give him any "sugar" if I were you.







This teensy little skink scampered out of a sandal in our closet. A local business card gives an idea of his size. Again, nature guy released him in our flower box.

A New Year--2010 begins with a parade

Right before school began, Kijabe began the New Year with a celebration. Hours before you watched the Rose Parade or a bowl game, we enjoyed the parade that began in Kijabe and ended on RVA's lower soccer field. Here we celebrated the successes and the enterprise of a small community who loves its young people just as we love ours.





John Njane leads the parade on his "piki". John also houses and feeds five street boys, three of whom are succeeding with top marks in their local school.








The local chapter of Awanas in Kijabe.