March 6th
Last night was not a good night for sleep. It was
miserably hot and even with a fan I just couldn’t
get comfortable enough to go to sleep until
somewhere around 1:30. I finally made it to sleep
only to be woken up at a little after 2:30 by a
thunderous rainstorm. It’s not supposed to be
raining, it’s dry season, but I guess the weather
wasn’t quite aware of that fact. It helped cool off
the air considerably but it was raining so hard and
was so loud that I couldn’t sleep anyway, it took
me almost another hour to get to sleep. We went
to Katherie church this morning. It was the first
service for the churches new pastor that I attended.
I believe he began last week but we were at the
mother church and so we missed his first
appearance there as pastor. It wasn’t terribly
different than any other service I’ve been to,
though his sermon wasn’t so much a lecture on a
topic using a selected passage as a repeated
re-iteration of lines from the text over and over.
(I couldn’t think of more ways to coherently
include any other references to the repetitive
nature of the sermon in that last sentence, but be
assured, I tried). Anyway, it wasn’t the most
enlightening of sermons, though the intention was
there and that made it somewhat better for all its’
incidental shallowness. I have to say, I would give
quite a bit for a nice calm quiet reserved traditional
worship service, I’m about sick of all of the (what I
feel anyway) excessive noise. After church I walked
over to Kamakwie 2, then back to Kamakwie 1
where I had to stop in the market to pick up some
fabric for Karen that was “African” which meant it
needed to have images that evoked African settings.
I managed to find two types of fabric. I did go out
for a walk this afternoon after it had gotten to be
late afternoon and the sun was on its’ way down.
I was going to go map out the abandoned
president’s house (which is now used as the Muslim
junior secondary school). I think I’ve told you about
it in the past, but it was going to be the pre-civil war
president’s retreat, but it never got finished due to
the war. It would look spectacular if it were finished
I think and I wanted to draw it (to measurement)
cause I think it would be fun. However, as I
approached the school I saw some kids were
congregating for an evening class so I scrapped that
idea and decided to just continue walking, I’ll have
to go back next Saturday probably, it will be my only
available time. Anyway, that’s about all for my
Sunday.
“Every day is that special day you’ve been waiting
for. Seize it!”
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
Sunday, March 13, 2011
March 5th
It was 112 degrees today, and it felt like it too. It
was a miserably hot day and it was hard to feel
like doing much of anything. I did make a massive
batch of bread, six loaves, for Karen. She has been
on a real kick to have home baked bread lately,
which is ok by me because I love making bread
almost as much as I love eating it. Not too long
after I had finished making the bread Saidu and
Foday stopped by and wanted me to go with
them to the games but it was too hot to go out
in the sun and I had already gone yesterday and
Abu told me most of the events would be
repeated today. Also, I didn’t want to be there
when they concluded because I was told that
the games had led to fighting and general
disorder on the part of the losing house since
only the fourth place house won nothing, the
other three houses got money I guess was
supposed to go to the house masters to pay for
food for a celebration, I could never get a clear
answer so I refused to give anything to it. I have
a sinking suspicion that most of the money that
goes to the house masters stays there, based on
the other things I’ve seen here. Now, I may be
mistaken, and I would be glad to be mistaken,
but I couldn’t be certain and I didn’t want to see
money that I might use to help go there. Anyway,
this afternoon was not the most productive
afternoon. I laid down to rest for a little bit, and
managed to sleep for around three hours instead.
Unintentional but it occurred nonetheless and so
I didn’t do a whole lot. With Solomon gone and
the 6 girls pretty much sequestering themselves
over in their house I don’t have a whole lot to do
at night so it was a relatively short day.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ”
-Philippians 1:2
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brook
It was 112 degrees today, and it felt like it too. It
was a miserably hot day and it was hard to feel
like doing much of anything. I did make a massive
batch of bread, six loaves, for Karen. She has been
on a real kick to have home baked bread lately,
which is ok by me because I love making bread
almost as much as I love eating it. Not too long
after I had finished making the bread Saidu and
Foday stopped by and wanted me to go with
them to the games but it was too hot to go out
in the sun and I had already gone yesterday and
Abu told me most of the events would be
repeated today. Also, I didn’t want to be there
when they concluded because I was told that
the games had led to fighting and general
disorder on the part of the losing house since
only the fourth place house won nothing, the
other three houses got money I guess was
supposed to go to the house masters to pay for
food for a celebration, I could never get a clear
answer so I refused to give anything to it. I have
a sinking suspicion that most of the money that
goes to the house masters stays there, based on
the other things I’ve seen here. Now, I may be
mistaken, and I would be glad to be mistaken,
but I couldn’t be certain and I didn’t want to see
money that I might use to help go there. Anyway,
this afternoon was not the most productive
afternoon. I laid down to rest for a little bit, and
managed to sleep for around three hours instead.
Unintentional but it occurred nonetheless and so
I didn’t do a whole lot. With Solomon gone and
the 6 girls pretty much sequestering themselves
over in their house I don’t have a whole lot to do
at night so it was a relatively short day.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ”
-Philippians 1:2
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brook
February 21st – March 4th
Wow, I’ve really gotten behind. As I write this it is March 4th. These last two weeks were long weeks largely in part due to the lack of classes to teach
due to the sporting events that take place on the 4th and the 5th (today and tomorrow). It wasn’t a bad week, just slower. We had three German
engineers come in on Monday. They are Johannes, Sebastian and Jacob. They’ve come to work on the SVoc center, the Sella Vocational center. They are
installing solar panels into the center in order to supply power for an internet café. Things are moving at a pretty fast rate here in Kamakwie all
things considered. The hospital is constantly trying to grow and improve, the town always has something new going on and now the town vocational center has undergone a big upgrade. They installed 20 solar panels on the roof and huge
batteries to store their power. They have also come to teach classes on electricity and computers (very basic ones of course) and they are meeting
with much of the same frustrations I have. Lack of knowledge in general added to poor problem solving and critical thinking skills as well as abysmal
math skills just to name a few of their biggest frustrations. Anyway, I’m sure you’ve heard enough of those complaints from me that you don’t want
to hear more of them from their perspective. I got to observe another C-section, but that’s not really new news either. As for teaching, like I said I haven’t
had a whole lot in that department. I spent so much time ranting to other people about my unhappiness with the situation that I forgot to write it here.
Monday last week they decided that they were going to cancel school for two weeks so that the students could practice for the upcoming games, which made
me very unhappy to say the least, so I decided I was going to try and arrange some classes myself with my students. That didn’t go terribly well. I arranged
for my SS 3s to meet with me on Tuesday, one came. Then I made arrangements for my SS 1s to meet with me on Wednesday, 4 out of 30 kids turned up so I just did a review with them. I thought about teaching them but I knew that I would end
up just having to re-explain everything again, and decided a review would be most beneficial to the few who came. Thursday was supposed to be my
SS 2s, but 3 of 23 showed up for that. Friday I had class with my SS 3s again, one showed, a different one but only one nonetheless. This week I tried to
have class with the SS 2s on Monday and no one came, so I gave up on them for this week and just focused on the SS 3s, who need it more anyway. I managed to get 4 to come around this time. We worked on some problems of the type they will
have to face on the WASSCE. This past Saturday the engineers, the med students and I went to the game park. They wanted to go and Tom wasn’t feeling up to it so I escorted them and made sure they got where they were supposed to be and all
that jazz. It was ok, I waited around for two hours by myself while they were out on the river to see the hippos. I explored a little bit and sat playing
solitaire for a little while, nothing too exciting. After they returned we had lunch. While we were eating we decided to go on the elephant safari
they have. You have to cross the river and then you walk around the countryside and finally going up on a hilltop. We were not fortunate enough to see elephants however, but the countryside was quite beautiful (if dried and shriveled). I don’t
know if I’ve mentioned it lately but it hasn’t rained since mid-December, it’s getting quite dry here. The vegetation around here is really hardy though,
it has to be really, because some of the trees and other plants are still going strong and green. I’m hoping we’ll return to school on Monday, I’ve seen
some of my students and made comments about having class on Monday and the responses I’ve gotten haven’t been the most reassuring. I can imagine that even if they do have classes attendance will not be exactly stellar. Karen left this Monday to Freetown for a day to pick up three new medical students, Katy, Courtney and
Aileen. While Karen was gone I did the cooking for lunch and dinner, which I find quite enjoyable. Cooking is a fine leisure activity as far as I’m concerned and I know I don’t cook as much as I would like to even at home, but that will change
if I ever get my own place, we’ll see how that goes, one step at a time. During this time I baked some bread that, everyone loved I might add. I was even
impressed with the result, and those of you who know me very well know that that sometimes I can be very hard on the outcomes of things I do, thinking that I should have done better, and this is especially true when I cook. But in this case I think
I could hardly have done better (minus the small addition of some bugs in the flour, oh the luxury of buying bags of flour at a supermarket). With the addition of these new students that makes 6 medical students here. Sadly, Laura, Emily and Sara
are leaving in 5 days. I still don’t like that about being here, getting to meet all manner of people and just getting to know them only to have them leave. I get attached too easily I know, but knowing that doesn’t make it any easier. Things here are more complicated than I could ever want in my life. I can make it 12 more weeks here but this is not something I could see myself doing long term. I was doing really good after the first two months, then time started flying by almost too fast, but now it’s seemed to slow since I passed month four or so. On top of that the frustrations seem to just build up, people wanting things, wanting you to do things, always placing expectations on us (anyone who has come here to help really).
I’ve been working on getting the Kakamba church project going, they have made 800+ of the 1500 bricks they decided they needed for the church. Hopefully tomorrow they will do some or all of the rest. There has been some political nonsense going
on around this project. It’s a youth project, they came up with it and have done almost all of the legwork involved in getting the foot in the door, starting having church services there even without a church and everything else involved. However,
a particular member of the church leadership has been trying to edge in and take the project out of their hands and getting it into his. He’s got an unfortunate need to receive credit. The Asher’s have received some instruments to be donated
to the Katherie church. However this person has two problems, one there is no drums, and he almost demanded that they get some, which is outrageous considering what they’ve already given. Also, one of the instruments is with someone else because they are the only one who can use it and he pretty much demanded that he be given possession of it. So it’s causing some problems right now but hopefully the
church will handle it. The Asher’s and I have already talked to some other church leadership about it. Unfortunately it’s an attitude that’s not restricted to just a few members of the church, or even people not in the church. The desire to
lay claim to anything and everything they can. Sorry, I’ve gone griping again… I don’t mean to. My frustration level is just a little high with this
whole sports thing. Anyway, things are going ok beyond that I think, I’ve spent these last two weeks playing plumber, electrician, chef, baker, teacher, bike mechanic and probably a few other things as well. There’s always something to do,
never a dull moment.
“We can do no great things, only small things with
great love”
-Mother Teresa
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
Wow, I’ve really gotten behind. As I write this it is March 4th. These last two weeks were long weeks largely in part due to the lack of classes to teach
due to the sporting events that take place on the 4th and the 5th (today and tomorrow). It wasn’t a bad week, just slower. We had three German
engineers come in on Monday. They are Johannes, Sebastian and Jacob. They’ve come to work on the SVoc center, the Sella Vocational center. They are
installing solar panels into the center in order to supply power for an internet café. Things are moving at a pretty fast rate here in Kamakwie all
things considered. The hospital is constantly trying to grow and improve, the town always has something new going on and now the town vocational center has undergone a big upgrade. They installed 20 solar panels on the roof and huge
batteries to store their power. They have also come to teach classes on electricity and computers (very basic ones of course) and they are meeting
with much of the same frustrations I have. Lack of knowledge in general added to poor problem solving and critical thinking skills as well as abysmal
math skills just to name a few of their biggest frustrations. Anyway, I’m sure you’ve heard enough of those complaints from me that you don’t want
to hear more of them from their perspective. I got to observe another C-section, but that’s not really new news either. As for teaching, like I said I haven’t
had a whole lot in that department. I spent so much time ranting to other people about my unhappiness with the situation that I forgot to write it here.
Monday last week they decided that they were going to cancel school for two weeks so that the students could practice for the upcoming games, which made
me very unhappy to say the least, so I decided I was going to try and arrange some classes myself with my students. That didn’t go terribly well. I arranged
for my SS 3s to meet with me on Tuesday, one came. Then I made arrangements for my SS 1s to meet with me on Wednesday, 4 out of 30 kids turned up so I just did a review with them. I thought about teaching them but I knew that I would end
up just having to re-explain everything again, and decided a review would be most beneficial to the few who came. Thursday was supposed to be my
SS 2s, but 3 of 23 showed up for that. Friday I had class with my SS 3s again, one showed, a different one but only one nonetheless. This week I tried to
have class with the SS 2s on Monday and no one came, so I gave up on them for this week and just focused on the SS 3s, who need it more anyway. I managed to get 4 to come around this time. We worked on some problems of the type they will
have to face on the WASSCE. This past Saturday the engineers, the med students and I went to the game park. They wanted to go and Tom wasn’t feeling up to it so I escorted them and made sure they got where they were supposed to be and all
that jazz. It was ok, I waited around for two hours by myself while they were out on the river to see the hippos. I explored a little bit and sat playing
solitaire for a little while, nothing too exciting. After they returned we had lunch. While we were eating we decided to go on the elephant safari
they have. You have to cross the river and then you walk around the countryside and finally going up on a hilltop. We were not fortunate enough to see elephants however, but the countryside was quite beautiful (if dried and shriveled). I don’t
know if I’ve mentioned it lately but it hasn’t rained since mid-December, it’s getting quite dry here. The vegetation around here is really hardy though,
it has to be really, because some of the trees and other plants are still going strong and green. I’m hoping we’ll return to school on Monday, I’ve seen
some of my students and made comments about having class on Monday and the responses I’ve gotten haven’t been the most reassuring. I can imagine that even if they do have classes attendance will not be exactly stellar. Karen left this Monday to Freetown for a day to pick up three new medical students, Katy, Courtney and
Aileen. While Karen was gone I did the cooking for lunch and dinner, which I find quite enjoyable. Cooking is a fine leisure activity as far as I’m concerned and I know I don’t cook as much as I would like to even at home, but that will change
if I ever get my own place, we’ll see how that goes, one step at a time. During this time I baked some bread that, everyone loved I might add. I was even
impressed with the result, and those of you who know me very well know that that sometimes I can be very hard on the outcomes of things I do, thinking that I should have done better, and this is especially true when I cook. But in this case I think
I could hardly have done better (minus the small addition of some bugs in the flour, oh the luxury of buying bags of flour at a supermarket). With the addition of these new students that makes 6 medical students here. Sadly, Laura, Emily and Sara
are leaving in 5 days. I still don’t like that about being here, getting to meet all manner of people and just getting to know them only to have them leave. I get attached too easily I know, but knowing that doesn’t make it any easier. Things here are more complicated than I could ever want in my life. I can make it 12 more weeks here but this is not something I could see myself doing long term. I was doing really good after the first two months, then time started flying by almost too fast, but now it’s seemed to slow since I passed month four or so. On top of that the frustrations seem to just build up, people wanting things, wanting you to do things, always placing expectations on us (anyone who has come here to help really).
I’ve been working on getting the Kakamba church project going, they have made 800+ of the 1500 bricks they decided they needed for the church. Hopefully tomorrow they will do some or all of the rest. There has been some political nonsense going
on around this project. It’s a youth project, they came up with it and have done almost all of the legwork involved in getting the foot in the door, starting having church services there even without a church and everything else involved. However,
a particular member of the church leadership has been trying to edge in and take the project out of their hands and getting it into his. He’s got an unfortunate need to receive credit. The Asher’s have received some instruments to be donated
to the Katherie church. However this person has two problems, one there is no drums, and he almost demanded that they get some, which is outrageous considering what they’ve already given. Also, one of the instruments is with someone else because they are the only one who can use it and he pretty much demanded that he be given possession of it. So it’s causing some problems right now but hopefully the
church will handle it. The Asher’s and I have already talked to some other church leadership about it. Unfortunately it’s an attitude that’s not restricted to just a few members of the church, or even people not in the church. The desire to
lay claim to anything and everything they can. Sorry, I’ve gone griping again… I don’t mean to. My frustration level is just a little high with this
whole sports thing. Anyway, things are going ok beyond that I think, I’ve spent these last two weeks playing plumber, electrician, chef, baker, teacher, bike mechanic and probably a few other things as well. There’s always something to do,
never a dull moment.
“We can do no great things, only small things with
great love”
-Mother Teresa
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
Sunday, March 6, 2011
February 19th – 20th
Not the most exciting weekend ever.
We were going to go to the animal park
Saturday but Tom was supposed to drive
and he was too tired so we decided to
postpone it for next weekend. So I spent
most of my time just doing some reading
and some other stuff. On Sunday we drove
to Kagboray (where I’ve gone a couple
times with Solomon) to go to church there.
With the Asher’s, the medical students,
pastor Alfred (the DS) and I there were too
many people for one trip so Tom and I
waited at the house for Karen to take the
other then come back and get us. It’s not
very far, like 7 miles, but it still takes about
25 minutes or so due to road conditions.
The district superintendant was pastor
there and now he’s coming to be a pastor
here at Katherie church and so he invited
us to his last service there. They made us
all sit at the front, which still makes me
uncomfortable and just a little bit annoyed,
I know it’s out of respect and all but I hate
being treated with deference, especially since
they kicked a bunch of kids off the bench to
make room for us. It was a different service
due to the handing over to the new pastor.
After the service they invited us over to eat
at the parsonage. The wife of the new pastor
made the food and it was pretty good. After
we finished, Tom, the med students and I all
headed back and Karen waited there to speak
with pastor Alfred. The rest of the day was
pretty uneventful as a whole, with a lot of
downtime, but with the heat lately it makes it
hard to want to do much. We finished up the
evening with a game night.
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
Not the most exciting weekend ever.
We were going to go to the animal park
Saturday but Tom was supposed to drive
and he was too tired so we decided to
postpone it for next weekend. So I spent
most of my time just doing some reading
and some other stuff. On Sunday we drove
to Kagboray (where I’ve gone a couple
times with Solomon) to go to church there.
With the Asher’s, the medical students,
pastor Alfred (the DS) and I there were too
many people for one trip so Tom and I
waited at the house for Karen to take the
other then come back and get us. It’s not
very far, like 7 miles, but it still takes about
25 minutes or so due to road conditions.
The district superintendant was pastor
there and now he’s coming to be a pastor
here at Katherie church and so he invited
us to his last service there. They made us
all sit at the front, which still makes me
uncomfortable and just a little bit annoyed,
I know it’s out of respect and all but I hate
being treated with deference, especially since
they kicked a bunch of kids off the bench to
make room for us. It was a different service
due to the handing over to the new pastor.
After the service they invited us over to eat
at the parsonage. The wife of the new pastor
made the food and it was pretty good. After
we finished, Tom, the med students and I all
headed back and Karen waited there to speak
with pastor Alfred. The rest of the day was
pretty uneventful as a whole, with a lot of
downtime, but with the heat lately it makes it
hard to want to do much. We finished up the
evening with a game night.
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
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