That means animal, animal. It is the phrase that you may have heard several times in The song Circle of Life from the Lion King. I feel that this post is long overdue about the animals that I experience here.
The commonly raised animals are punda (donkeys: used for transporting water from the community water points), ng'ombe (cows: their milk is a big part of my nutrition), mbuzi (goat: local meat of choice), and kuku (chicken: both for meat and eggs). I have also seen ducks, although I am not sure the kiswahili word, or what people do with them. People also keep paka (cats: to chase away rats/mice) and mbwa (dogs: to chase away thieves). There are bees also, and I am investigating honey-related projects.
In terms of wild animals, I see ferrets scurrying in my area from time to time. At least I think they're ferrets. We have jumbo (elephants! Isn't that a great name for them?), but I haven't met them in the village yet, I think they come out at night. Their scat is definitely unmistakable. There is also the dikidiki (a small deer-like animal that people enjoy as bushmeat), which periodically scurry across the roads. The birds come in all manner of colors and sizes and are really delightful. Most importantly, let's not forget the lizards that come into my room and help control the insect population
Then there are the ones that I would call less pleasant animals. I have mentioned the cockroaches and termites in earlier posts. The bats are not actually unpleasant, they just have a habit of catching me off guard and flying very close to my head. Mice and rats seem fairly sparse. I think that means that the cats are doing their job. I have seen relatively few snakes and scorpions, and I hope to keep that streak alive. Then there is the nest of wasps next to my bafu. We usually have an understanding that I will stay away from them, and they will stay away from me, but sometimes, when I open the door, they think I am breaking our truce, which leads to some anger from them and from me. Only one sting so far. The moths love to visit me at night, since I have a light. I am grateful that they don't bite, but they are still rather pesky. In terms of biting, the flies and mosquitoes are everywhere. Everywhere. Good thing I have hydrocortisone.
During various parts of my time here, I have also seen lions, elephants, camels, zebras, gazelles, giraffes and buffalo. It's absolutely amazing!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Exam Week
I had to write 8 exams last week to give to the students this week. Poor Mariam (the school secretary) had to decipher my handwriting in order to type it. For every exam, she has to use a type writer and prepare stencils for every single page and then use a mimeograph (I think that's what the machine is called) and make each copy while fighting the machine every step of the way. Actually, my handwriting is not the worst in the school. I hope she gets a good rest after these last two weeks.
Exams have been an unfortunate awakening for me. I think that a big part of them is an indictment of my ability to make myself understood. My accent doesn't help. (I sometimes speak as an American, but when I try to speak like a Kenyan, I think that it sounds like a very very bad Irish accent.) Still, I am up to the task, and I will do what it takes to convey the material. I just hope that the students are also willing to meet me part way. The exams where they scored the best were their agriculture exams. I think that is for two big reasons: 1) I was only testing them on about 10 lectures worth of material, which is much more manageable. 2) It is relatively independent from understanding of the other subjects. Many students struggle in chemistry because they have had bad math teachers, so some of the fundamental concepts are insurmountable.
This experience without email is definitely nerve-wracking. I've made it one and a half weeks, but on Friday, I will feed my addiction. Hopefully I will also get my mobile fixed.
I am finding that one of my colleagues at school strongly reminds me of one of my fellow shop foremen. For those of you unfamiliar with the intrigues of the OPRFHS Stage Crue during the 2003-04 schoolyear, suffice it to say that it was one of the most frustrating work experiences of my life. There is a certain attitude towards work, colleagues and pupils, and I simply cannot fathom how people can hold such an outlook. I think discretion requires that I not say any more, and simply keep hoping that this situation will resolve itself in a manner that is beneficial to all. And, in fairness to the other foreman, I have not seen or spoken with him in more than four years; it is certainly possible that he has taken a new outlook on work and interpersonal relations.
On a more cheerful note, I should be going to Voi for the long weekend. Since the students have midterms, we take Friday off. I may also get to see several other volunteers.
Exams have been an unfortunate awakening for me. I think that a big part of them is an indictment of my ability to make myself understood. My accent doesn't help. (I sometimes speak as an American, but when I try to speak like a Kenyan, I think that it sounds like a very very bad Irish accent.) Still, I am up to the task, and I will do what it takes to convey the material. I just hope that the students are also willing to meet me part way. The exams where they scored the best were their agriculture exams. I think that is for two big reasons: 1) I was only testing them on about 10 lectures worth of material, which is much more manageable. 2) It is relatively independent from understanding of the other subjects. Many students struggle in chemistry because they have had bad math teachers, so some of the fundamental concepts are insurmountable.
This experience without email is definitely nerve-wracking. I've made it one and a half weeks, but on Friday, I will feed my addiction. Hopefully I will also get my mobile fixed.
I am finding that one of my colleagues at school strongly reminds me of one of my fellow shop foremen. For those of you unfamiliar with the intrigues of the OPRFHS Stage Crue during the 2003-04 schoolyear, suffice it to say that it was one of the most frustrating work experiences of my life. There is a certain attitude towards work, colleagues and pupils, and I simply cannot fathom how people can hold such an outlook. I think discretion requires that I not say any more, and simply keep hoping that this situation will resolve itself in a manner that is beneficial to all. And, in fairness to the other foreman, I have not seen or spoken with him in more than four years; it is certainly possible that he has taken a new outlook on work and interpersonal relations.
On a more cheerful note, I should be going to Voi for the long weekend. Since the students have midterms, we take Friday off. I may also get to see several other volunteers.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Mobile + Water = Bad. Who knew?
First off, I'd like to put get well wishes to my uncle Mike here. Hopefully he will have a speedy recovery.
Also, I have been going through email withdrawal this week as I decided to drop my phone in my water while I was watching my clothes. It's stopped making funny noises, but it still only has a white screen when I put the battery in. I wish I could claim this was the first time that I've done this. I will go to Voi next weekend, I think and try to find some kind of phone repair shop.
And a quick shout out to Elfa (sp?) for calling me yesterday. That definitely made my week. It was nice to hear a familiar voice, and she definitely understands the time difference better than certain sisters of mine...
I remember volunteers attesting that whatever qualities you are most emphatic about when you try to make requests for your site placement, you are sure to get the opposite. Now, while I think Eric did pretty well on his requests (he is teaching near Lamu right now and got pretty much exactly what he requested), my main request was that I go somewhere that would not overburden me with schoolwork so that I could work on community projects. And I definitely got the opposite. I am now slated to teach 30 lessons a week and supervise the laboratory, and I am using every fiber in my body to resist setting office hours as an English tutor (the school English teacher covers literary analysis of Ibsen, and the students still don't understand commas). I also missed school on Wednesday to go to a meeting for the zonal science congress. Apparently I will be judging the math projects for our zone (think sectionals for those of you in the US) and advising students in my school as they start on their projects. The congress is in two weeks.
I spoke with the Board of Governors (school board) last week, and they seemed generally supportive of me taking up lots of projects, I just need to find time and maybe funding.
Finally, our school has gotten rid of the math teacher, which means I am teaching math classes now. Also, the physics teacher is taking some math classes, so I am also teaching some physics. That brings my current load to Agriculture: 3rd and 4th years (8 lessons/week)
Chemistry: 3rd years (5 lessons/week)
Math: 2nd and 3rd years (13 lessons/week)
Physics: 1st years (4 lessons/week)
As you can see, I spend a lot of time with the 3rd years, and I think they have concluded that I'm pretty wacky. I guess their pretty perceptive. The 2nd years are warming up to me a lot (they were disappointed to go to lunch today before I could finish explaining why fractions give repeating decimals). The 1st years are still unsure of me, and I think the 4th years find me pretty serious, since I am always stressing their exams (I think they would find it frustrating if I weren't so serious about them).
Also, I have been going through email withdrawal this week as I decided to drop my phone in my water while I was watching my clothes. It's stopped making funny noises, but it still only has a white screen when I put the battery in. I wish I could claim this was the first time that I've done this. I will go to Voi next weekend, I think and try to find some kind of phone repair shop.
And a quick shout out to Elfa (sp?) for calling me yesterday. That definitely made my week. It was nice to hear a familiar voice, and she definitely understands the time difference better than certain sisters of mine...
I remember volunteers attesting that whatever qualities you are most emphatic about when you try to make requests for your site placement, you are sure to get the opposite. Now, while I think Eric did pretty well on his requests (he is teaching near Lamu right now and got pretty much exactly what he requested), my main request was that I go somewhere that would not overburden me with schoolwork so that I could work on community projects. And I definitely got the opposite. I am now slated to teach 30 lessons a week and supervise the laboratory, and I am using every fiber in my body to resist setting office hours as an English tutor (the school English teacher covers literary analysis of Ibsen, and the students still don't understand commas). I also missed school on Wednesday to go to a meeting for the zonal science congress. Apparently I will be judging the math projects for our zone (think sectionals for those of you in the US) and advising students in my school as they start on their projects. The congress is in two weeks.
I spoke with the Board of Governors (school board) last week, and they seemed generally supportive of me taking up lots of projects, I just need to find time and maybe funding.
Finally, our school has gotten rid of the math teacher, which means I am teaching math classes now. Also, the physics teacher is taking some math classes, so I am also teaching some physics. That brings my current load to Agriculture: 3rd and 4th years (8 lessons/week)
Chemistry: 3rd years (5 lessons/week)
Math: 2nd and 3rd years (13 lessons/week)
Physics: 1st years (4 lessons/week)
As you can see, I spend a lot of time with the 3rd years, and I think they have concluded that I'm pretty wacky. I guess their pretty perceptive. The 2nd years are warming up to me a lot (they were disappointed to go to lunch today before I could finish explaining why fractions give repeating decimals). The 1st years are still unsure of me, and I think the 4th years find me pretty serious, since I am always stressing their exams (I think they would find it frustrating if I weren't so serious about them).
Sunday, February 15, 2009
I may be in over my head
This week has actually seen a lot of action. Coming back from Voi on Sunday, the matatu went over a bump and one of the wheels fell off. We just sat in the middle of nowhere and waited two hours until it was fixed. All part of the experience, I suppose. I was a tad wary of getting back on this vehicle, but much more wary of staying in the middle of nowhere.
I did a chemistry lab on Wednesday on equilibrium involving chromate and dichromate solutions. The point I didn't realize is that chromate leaves a healthy stain on the skin. No damage or anything, but I still have 5 big yellow splotches on my hands from the cleanup.
We have a new teacher starting next week. Ms. Constance will be the only woman on the faculty. She is a biology teacher, but she will also teach some chemistry lessons after she settles in. This is to allow me more time to plan and teach agriculture lessons. That should only be a temporary plan, though, since we may be in need of a math teacher soon, so I may abandon agriculture in favor of math.
On Thursday, I was in the chemistry lab, and I noticed a strange yellowish-brown fluid on the floor below the chemical cabinet. When I went closer, I noticed a noxious smell. And when I opened the cabinet, I traced the spill to an unlabeled bottle that I suspected was an acid. The yellow-brown fluid, I think was the chemical reaction of concentrated acid and varnish. I picked up the bottle to inspect, and it started leaking considerably. I spent a minute catching my breath and trying to figure out what to do. I went and found an empty bottle that used to contain hydrochloric acid. When I poured the acid inside, it turned brownish (leading me to suspect that it's nitric acid). Then I opened all the windows to air out the noxious fumes, and tried to call any qualified chemistry person I could find. The first place I tried was Peace Corps Medical. They suggested that I talk to the lab technician. I told them that I was the lab technician, so they suggested that I try not to come in contact with it. Feeling more anxious, I looked through the chemical cabinet, and poured a lot of sodium carbonate powder on it to neutralize the acid and prevent it from eating through the floor. Then I called Gavin, who is another Peace Corps volunteer and also a chemical engineer. He suggested that a glass container would be a more permanent solution, and suggested a few basic tests to figure out what the chemical was. After he hung up, I heard from my cousin Jonathan. I had to call my parents at 4:30 in the morning and tell them to call my cousin (for whom it was 5:30 AM) to help with my chemistry emergency. After I gave him the details, he used his chemistry contacts and put me on a good course of action. I was just glad to be done at the end of the day.
Today we had the first meeting of the conservation club (official name to be decided at next meeting). It was actually really exciting. Apparently I will be the faculty sponsor (in other words, there will probably be projects involving: charcoal, biodigesters, beekeeping, rainwater harvesting, maize shelling, moringa, jatropha and maybe some other things). Our community partner works with the Kenya Wildlife Services, and he is a really great guy, so I am excited to be partnered with him.
As a final note, I think I have become too accustomed to sending emails on my phone. A few times during this post, I tried to insert a period by pressing 1, since that's how it's done in T9. Godd times.
I did a chemistry lab on Wednesday on equilibrium involving chromate and dichromate solutions. The point I didn't realize is that chromate leaves a healthy stain on the skin. No damage or anything, but I still have 5 big yellow splotches on my hands from the cleanup.
We have a new teacher starting next week. Ms. Constance will be the only woman on the faculty. She is a biology teacher, but she will also teach some chemistry lessons after she settles in. This is to allow me more time to plan and teach agriculture lessons. That should only be a temporary plan, though, since we may be in need of a math teacher soon, so I may abandon agriculture in favor of math.
On Thursday, I was in the chemistry lab, and I noticed a strange yellowish-brown fluid on the floor below the chemical cabinet. When I went closer, I noticed a noxious smell. And when I opened the cabinet, I traced the spill to an unlabeled bottle that I suspected was an acid. The yellow-brown fluid, I think was the chemical reaction of concentrated acid and varnish. I picked up the bottle to inspect, and it started leaking considerably. I spent a minute catching my breath and trying to figure out what to do. I went and found an empty bottle that used to contain hydrochloric acid. When I poured the acid inside, it turned brownish (leading me to suspect that it's nitric acid). Then I opened all the windows to air out the noxious fumes, and tried to call any qualified chemistry person I could find. The first place I tried was Peace Corps Medical. They suggested that I talk to the lab technician. I told them that I was the lab technician, so they suggested that I try not to come in contact with it. Feeling more anxious, I looked through the chemical cabinet, and poured a lot of sodium carbonate powder on it to neutralize the acid and prevent it from eating through the floor. Then I called Gavin, who is another Peace Corps volunteer and also a chemical engineer. He suggested that a glass container would be a more permanent solution, and suggested a few basic tests to figure out what the chemical was. After he hung up, I heard from my cousin Jonathan. I had to call my parents at 4:30 in the morning and tell them to call my cousin (for whom it was 5:30 AM) to help with my chemistry emergency. After I gave him the details, he used his chemistry contacts and put me on a good course of action. I was just glad to be done at the end of the day.
Today we had the first meeting of the conservation club (official name to be decided at next meeting). It was actually really exciting. Apparently I will be the faculty sponsor (in other words, there will probably be projects involving: charcoal, biodigesters, beekeeping, rainwater harvesting, maize shelling, moringa, jatropha and maybe some other things). Our community partner works with the Kenya Wildlife Services, and he is a really great guy, so I am excited to be partnered with him.
As a final note, I think I have become too accustomed to sending emails on my phone. A few times during this post, I tried to insert a period by pressing 1, since that's how it's done in T9. Godd times.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
A Calm Week
Blog logistics:
1) No comments since my last group of posts :( Do people dislike this format? Is my life no longer comment-worthy? Is your life no longer worth posting in sound-bites on my comment board?
2) Pictures are still being figured out. They may never appear on this blog, but hopefully in a few months (I know that's a while, target is late April) they will be up on Picasa or Flickr or Facebook or some such site.
3) For immediate contact, shoot me an email, I'd love to hear from you.
Not much to report from school this week. The first years (freshmen) arrived, but apparently we don't start teaching them until next week. Yesterday was my first full day as an agriculture teacher (2 lessons). I chose to talk about agroforestry, since I actually know a few things there, and land tenure, since I can pick that up. Now I'm in Voi, visiting with two of the volunteers here. We went out to another community where the primary school has 1000 students and 16 teachers. Yikes!
The teachers here use the cane a lot. :(
Take care for now. I'm sure you've got enough to read with the other new posts...
1) No comments since my last group of posts :( Do people dislike this format? Is my life no longer comment-worthy? Is your life no longer worth posting in sound-bites on my comment board?
2) Pictures are still being figured out. They may never appear on this blog, but hopefully in a few months (I know that's a while, target is late April) they will be up on Picasa or Flickr or Facebook or some such site.
3) For immediate contact, shoot me an email, I'd love to hear from you.
Not much to report from school this week. The first years (freshmen) arrived, but apparently we don't start teaching them until next week. Yesterday was my first full day as an agriculture teacher (2 lessons). I chose to talk about agroforestry, since I actually know a few things there, and land tenure, since I can pick that up. Now I'm in Voi, visiting with two of the volunteers here. We went out to another community where the primary school has 1000 students and 16 teachers. Yikes!
The teachers here use the cane a lot. :(
Take care for now. I'm sure you've got enough to read with the other new posts...
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Books 1.0
Instead of interspersing my book reviews throughout the month, I think that I will just have a big post titled book reports at the end of each month. I'll even try to use stars for a rating system ( * = :-( , ***** = :-) ). Less relevant to my adventures, so there is no harm in skipping over these posts. When I was heading off to site, a Peace Corps staff member saw my armful of books and gave a laugh as though there was no way I would finish the books in two years. I will be lucky if these books last me two months.
**** I finished and really enjoyed a book called Agroforestry in Dryland Africa; it gave me a good sense of where to go with some of my schemes. It is written by a group called ICRAF (International Council for Research into AgroForestry, I think). They have a series, and I hope to read most of them. The book defined agroforestry in all of its different flavors, such as growing trees with crops, growing trees for animal fodder, using them to improve land and climate conditions and so on. It talked about good techniques, and trees that are appropriate. It even came with some cartoons interspersed throughout and a guide at the back with properties and alternate names of about 100 common/useful trees.
*** I read the book Small is Possible by George McRobie. He started ITDG with E.F. Schumacher and the book basically chronicles examples of people putting into practice the things described in Small is Beautiful. The book is written in 1981, and its age shows. I liked it for the most part, but they are overly critical of nuclear power, and it seemed to universally decree Big is Ugly because it will exacerbate the gap between rich and poor. While that is the case in some enterprises, I feel that things like the internet can be big (enormous) without exacerbating the gap between rich and poor.
* I read a book called A Tree for all Reasons. The book is also by ICRAF and in the same series as Agroforestry in Dryland Africa. This one was actually incredibly dry and not all that practical. It basically gave comprehensive details on how agroforestry experiments are done to make sure that the results will be useful.
During the bus ride across Kenya, I brought two books totaling 300 pages. It was way too little. Even reading two days worth of newspapers, I wished I had brought more books. The books were my father's college books from when he was at Detroit Mercy.
**** The first book was called An Introduction to American Education by Paul Woodring. The book was written 44 years ago, but it was still fairly relevant to the present. It made a lot of good points, and I would recommend seeing if you can find it. One of my favorites was about the fact that most people around the country cannot actually agree on what the goals of education are, and that is the first step towards developing a successful education system. It was also very foresighted in its discussion of educational technology.
** The second book was called Teaching in a Changing World by Anderson. It was a tad less insightful. It mostly harped on the issue that teachers in a school need to collaborate more, and then it went on long diatribes about the evils of grading and exams. It also talked a lot about elementary schools in Lexington, which made me wish that I had read it while I was still in Boston. I don't think they mentioned Hastings, but if he knew Nancy Alloway, he would have made a point to mention her. :)
**** I finished and really enjoyed a book called Agroforestry in Dryland Africa; it gave me a good sense of where to go with some of my schemes. It is written by a group called ICRAF (International Council for Research into AgroForestry, I think). They have a series, and I hope to read most of them. The book defined agroforestry in all of its different flavors, such as growing trees with crops, growing trees for animal fodder, using them to improve land and climate conditions and so on. It talked about good techniques, and trees that are appropriate. It even came with some cartoons interspersed throughout and a guide at the back with properties and alternate names of about 100 common/useful trees.
*** I read the book Small is Possible by George McRobie. He started ITDG with E.F. Schumacher and the book basically chronicles examples of people putting into practice the things described in Small is Beautiful. The book is written in 1981, and its age shows. I liked it for the most part, but they are overly critical of nuclear power, and it seemed to universally decree Big is Ugly because it will exacerbate the gap between rich and poor. While that is the case in some enterprises, I feel that things like the internet can be big (enormous) without exacerbating the gap between rich and poor.
* I read a book called A Tree for all Reasons. The book is also by ICRAF and in the same series as Agroforestry in Dryland Africa. This one was actually incredibly dry and not all that practical. It basically gave comprehensive details on how agroforestry experiments are done to make sure that the results will be useful.
During the bus ride across Kenya, I brought two books totaling 300 pages. It was way too little. Even reading two days worth of newspapers, I wished I had brought more books. The books were my father's college books from when he was at Detroit Mercy.
**** The first book was called An Introduction to American Education by Paul Woodring. The book was written 44 years ago, but it was still fairly relevant to the present. It made a lot of good points, and I would recommend seeing if you can find it. One of my favorites was about the fact that most people around the country cannot actually agree on what the goals of education are, and that is the first step towards developing a successful education system. It was also very foresighted in its discussion of educational technology.
** The second book was called Teaching in a Changing World by Anderson. It was a tad less insightful. It mostly harped on the issue that teachers in a school need to collaborate more, and then it went on long diatribes about the evils of grading and exams. It also talked a lot about elementary schools in Lexington, which made me wish that I had read it while I was still in Boston. I don't think they mentioned Hastings, but if he knew Nancy Alloway, he would have made a point to mention her. :)
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