Shinkou

June 24, 2011
Ol Donyo Nyokie School
Ol Donyo Nyokie, Kenya (Maasai country)

Today was a long drive upcountry. The drive along the highway proved to be boring, amusing and surreal. The scenery changed from green hills to flat desert. The highway did not have a speed limit, rather the speed was limited by the occasional speed bump. Heaven help the car who didn't see the bumps - they'd be airborne! And then the views became surreal. Every so often, we'd see monkeys hanging out of the occasional acacia tree. Then a herd of camels walked by. And were those orangutangs that marched by with the herd of cows?

We arrived at the school in Ol Donyo Nyokie. There are nearly 350 children who attend this school. We brought bottled water, bread, maize and other supplies that were so appreciated. Our main purpose besides bringing the supplies was to teach health classes to the boys and girls. Katie, representing Freedom for Girls, lead us in a health class for the girls. Maasai girls face female circumcision and do not attend class when they are menstruating, resulting in girls falling so far behind in school that they quit out of frustration. We gave lessons on feminine hygiene, general health and sex education. Hopefully through continued education Maasai girls will be graduating high school in the same numbers as the boys. While we were teaching the girls, John, Dave, Steve and Scott taught the boys.

This school was able to raise funds to build a girls dormitory. We took a tour of a building that will ultimately house 64 girls. The children in this area walk anywhere from 1-5 miles to get to school. Many of them get up at 4am to walk for water for their family and then walk to school. Class begins at 6am and dismisses at 4pm. By the time the kids get home, it is after 6pm. The school wanted a safe place for the children to stay where they would have more time to spend on homework and be supervised. The girls dormitory will be usable by the end of the year. Hopefully they will be able to build a boys dormitory within the next year.

During their lunch recess, we were able to play sports with them. Double dutch jump rope, soccer, volleyball - we played them all. We sweated, we fatigued. They wore sweaters, they ran circles around us, they didn't breath hard. Since water is more precious than gold, none of us drank water despite our desperate need! Wendy and I took a break from jump rope and went to socialize with the teenage boys. They were anxious to ask questions! "How do you compare Kenyan's parliament to your House of Representatives?" "What was Obama's role in the assassination of Osama?" "Would Canada, Mexico and Central America want to join the USA in a common currency like the Euro?" Okay - they take their studies seriously!

Wendy and I left the boys pondering our answers and socialized with the elder women of the community. Rebecca, Dorcas, Emily and Bettina (?). After handling a delicate issue on their behalf, Wendy and I had endeared ourselves with them. Their English was better than our Swahili and thank goodness there were students around us but our communication went well. We answered a lot of their questions concerning family structure, faith, men. Hopefully soon the Maasai women will be able to walk through the equality door side by side with the men.

The older students entertained us with a preview of their dance competition routine. That weekend they would be competing in a district level competition, one that they won the previous year. Their beadwork was beautiful, their movement was graceful. I was in awe that they could perform such complicated footwork without shoes on such uneven ground.

This school is like an oasis in the desert. You can see for miles. As we drove away, I realized why Maasai shepherds wear such bright colors - to be seen over great distances! This is amazing yet harsh country. Ant hills are like large sculptures and portions of distant hills have been hand carved to be rain holding tanks.