Back to Kasigau

We've made it to the Kasigau community, five small villages around Mt. Kasigau. We "picked" the WWU interns at the Nairobi Airport before 7 am on the 16th, and drove for about 4.5 hours to Voi, the nearest market town to Kasigau on the highway between Nairobi & Mombasa. A short stop for banking and groceries became an arduous 4 hours when the local bank machine ate someone's card, but this group of students are all troopers. Every one of them, despite being exhausted and jet lagged, was cheerful and gracious.

Our banda accommodation is quite nice, with the five women (Amy, Chanda, Julie, Madeline, and Molly) in one large dorm-type room, and Jesse in another with John, the student we sponsored at Moi High School. Ken and I have a room in another building close by, equidistant from the main structure and the loo/shower building. The food is great; we have a local cook who is a cousin to our friend Abs who owns/operates the banda. These photos are of the banda complex from above, with our host, and our cooks Lucy & Elizabeth.

Our "program" has been very busy to date: we have visited each of the five schools "around the hill": Jora, Makwasinyi, Rukanga, Kiteghe, and Bungule. Our banda and base of operations is in Bungule. We've met with all the headmasters and teachers, made a schedule for being in each school, and Ken has organized the students for screening and evaluating students in Kasigau schools who need extra support to be successful. The mother tongue in this region is Taita, and the school curriculum is mainly in English, so everyone is teaching and learning in their second or third languages (English; Kiswahili).

There have been many, many changes and developments in Kasigau since my last visit in 2006. There is electricity as close as Jora, about 5 km from the banda, and an internet/mobile phone signal from Rukanga (9 km). It has been rainy so there is a good maize crop and people have incomes from the crops, which shows in the increased number of water collection tanks, motor bikes, and other goods. Life is still simple and hard, but the general standard of living has improved greatly.

An NGO named African Promise has built new schools, preschools, school libraries and kitchens, which is a tremendous advantage. Our host and mentor, Abraham Jumapili, coordinates a club called A Better Education, and supports over 70 students at Moi High School. More on all that, and hopefully some photos, on my next trip into town.


We have returned to Voi today for weekly grocery shopping, internet, telephoning home, and market. I am happy to be among old friends in a place where so little goes so far, most of the power comes from people's brains and bodies, greetings take longer than meetings, and "hakuna matata" (no problems) is the response to most unanticipated difficulties.

Bye for now.
Kris