Final Goodbye at Jamii

 The final celebration at Jamii is always a highlight for the team.  Each class presents a verse, song, or dance.  Jamii now goes from preschool through 8th grade.  The baby classes are so cute.  The 8th grade class is Jamii's first graduating class and several of the students have been with Jamii since the very beginning when Basilus and Esther began teaching students in their living room.

Teacher Ruth and Jackie and their preschool class. 

The dancing is amazing. During this one, the main dancer gave out flowers to several team members, including Judah!

Lance led the students in the three songs they had been practicing with him during the week.

Here is Basilus addressing the whole school and our team at the end of the program. 

After the program we each went back to our classes to say goodbye and to give them gifts. Saying goodbye to my 5th grade class was hard.  They received new spiral notebooks that were donated by one of our supporting churches in Washington.  Each one had a special note of encouragement inside the front cover.  Teacher George does such a good job with his students.  I will miss them!

I had to get one more picture of the cuties in the baby class.  

As we were leaving on our bus, several of the children came running after us, including little Esther, waving right in the front.  I have been checking in on her since she was run over by a car three years ago.  She was all smiles and talking this year, a big improvement. 

Good bye from the children of Jamii!

That afternoon we had our last teacher training session and the closing ceremony with the teachers.  After we handed out certificates, they presented us with beautiful Maasai blankets and Kamba shawls.  We were all immensely grateful for the time with these precious teacher who pour their heart and soul into the Jamii students.  See a short video of the celebration:  https://youtu.be/pGXyqPXhkeU

Teacher Training

 Teacher Training is always exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time.  Anne and Ingrid provided instruction on reading comprehension and writing, always good topics.

Because there were a lot of new teachers this year, it was good to delve into these once again.

Kay, our team counselor, also provided a continuation of her trauma training from last year at the end of our first day.  She was able to meet with teachers individually during the week which was especially appreciated. Kay was so helpful to our teachers who respond so well to her gentle spirit. 

We had a great time with fractions with the teachers who were very engaged and appreciative of the training.  

We used so many of the materials that I have been bringing over the last several years.  It was good to show them how the same materials can be used for a variety of purposes and across grade levels. 

 A few times we had babies join us. So cute!

My time with the teachers was especially meaningful. I have completed providing training for all levels and strands of elementary math with the Jamii teachers.  Inga says I should take my dog and pony show on the road. Ha! 

Jamii

We have three days at Jamii to participate in their Vacation Bible Camp, sing songs...lots of songs...provide some very fun crafts to go with the story of Moses and just play, play, play with the kids.  So much joy and smiling faces.  Our verse for the week is Jeremiah 29:11.  For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord.  Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future.  

The students arrive at school every morning around 6:30 am (along with the teachers).  They pray daily for us (and for a break in the rain) and for their school.  So far the rain has held off and we have had beautiful sunny days.  Evenings can be another thing.  Last night we had a tremendous thunder storm followed by rain most of the night and howling cats outside our hotel rooms.  Let's hope the rain stays away for the program the Jamii kids put on for us today.

This year I was placed in Class 5.  At first I was a bit disappointed to not be with Teacher Veronica in Top Class (Kindergarten) but when I entered Class 5 I began to recognize faces.  These were the same kids that I began with 4 years ago at Jamii.  It brought me to tears.  The group included little Jane whom I played with last year and teaching an impromptu math lesson with using pattern blocks!

That's Jane right next to me. So glad I had the chance to connect with her again. 

Lance was once again in his element, gathering hordes of children and teaching them songs. 

We created Hats of Hope and Burning Bushes to go with our Moses story. 

Showing off for the camera is the biggest highlight. 

Team-mate Inga has been dubbed "The Cute One."  She has the gift of connection with kids and teachers alike.   

Stephanie the Kid Magnet!

Lance's son Judah (All three of their boys are on the  trip) was busy making new friends.

Play time before lunch.  Judy brought several new recess games to share. 

Kenya 2016 - First Few Days

 

Welcome to the new International wing of the Kenya airport! Rebuilt after the last one almost burnt to the ground a few hours after we arrived in 2014.  Better lighting! Lots of luggage carts! More space to collect our luggage! Much easier to congregate waiting for it all to arrive.....which...we are still doing as of Monday. Four bags didn't make it along with the bags of about 30 other passengers from our flight. Two bags are still missing, including Stephanie's personal bag (she is borrowing clothes and toiletries) and a ministry supply bag which means we are short some supplies for teacher training, New Dawn student gifts and Kangundo families.

Our first morning was the usual re-packing of all the supplies and sending our education team off to our school site for the beginning of the teacher training.  This is beautiful, but LONG drive.  6 hours to be exact, which didn't help my strained back muscles. But I was glad to have the majority of our teacher supplies coming along with us.

The drive includes lush views of the Rift Valley, local hawkers with fresh vegetables (carrots, peas, potatoes, oh my) and the usual grazing livestock with small children herding them along.

 

It was great to see our teachers again today.  There were several new faces however.  It has been a challenging year for our Jamii school with the death of one teacher, one moving too far away and others who have left for government sponsored schools for better pay (now that they have some experience).  All understandable, but still sad. 

Our first day of teacher training included team mates Ann and Inga discussing reading and writing strategies.  At the end of our time, Kay provided additional training on addressing trauma with their students. 

I managed to find a very small "student" in need of entertainment, so of course I obliged with my usual stash of math supplies.  

We had the teachers first make a name tag and then go around and introduce themselves by saying where their name comes from or what their name means.  Sweet stories! 

 

Tomorrow Inga teaches more about writing and then I will begin my math training on fractions.  Woo hoo!

Kenya 2016 Here we come!

Count down has begun.  Our 2016 Kizimani Team leaves this Friday, July 29 for our two week mission trip to Kenya.  This will be my 5th year!

We have 26 wonderful team-mates who will be bringing school supplies, children's books, curriculum and math supplies, art and craft supplies, clothing and other supplies to our three communities in Kenya.  We are looking forward to seeing our friends at Jamii School and holding our teacher training during our first week.  Our second week we will be visiting and helping out at our medical clinic, distributing food and supplies, teaching sewing classes, and hosting a healing arts camp with students at New Dawn.

I look forward to keeping you all as up to date as I can, depending on decent wifi! Feel free to visit our website for updates:  www.kizimani.org and our Kizimani non-profit organization Facebook page (it will be the one with large red Kizimani title.)

We heard today that the children at Jamii have been getting up at 6:30 am every morning to pray for our team since the beginning of their school year (January).  Now that is humbling.

Thank you for your interest in Kizimani and for your support of our ongoing efforts to make a difference in the lives of these beautiful people and to help as many as we can escape dire poverty.

Kenya 2015 Photo Book

https://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Bbtmbdq3ctGGA&cid=SM-PBAPP

Last Day in Kenya

On our last day we took the New Dawn senior class to the baby elephant sanctuary.  The sancturary is in Nairobi and is currently caring for 28 baby elephants who have been orphaned due to poaching (which is on the rise), human interaction, or other unknown causes.

The youngest ones must be fed milk every 3 hours by the keepers, even through the night, until they are about 3 years old.  At about 5 years they begin to reintroduce them into the wild at a nature preserve.  The overall process to rescue, rehabilitate, and release takes a minimum of 8 years.  

After our field trip we had lunch together back at our FPFK guest house, gave out our gifts, and said our goodbyes.  We will miss our students, teachers, families, and all our friends in Kenya. 

I will also miss the amazing team we had this yeaar.  So many wonderful people who all pulled together, watched out for one another, and kept giving their best even when tired.  So blessed to have been with you.  

And that's all for Kenya 2015!