Mwaka Mpya Wenye Mafanikio! (Happy New Year!)

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice"
      - One of the many signs 

          When we arrived at the ArchBishop Okoth Secondary School today Elvis and his workers had already started digging at the sites where the tank bases will be installed. At one of the sites a tall tree was in the way of the digging, so we needed to cut it down. Jay jumped at the chance to make himself useful and started digging at the roots around the base of the tree. One of the workers climbed the tree with ease and began chopping off large branches with a machete. Once most of the branches were gone, another worker with a chainsaw sawed at the base of the tree while our travel team and the community working together pulled the tree down with a rope. 

The stump of the tree remained when we left, but two men were still working on removing it. Hopefully it is gone tomorrow! 

Anyway during the day, many of us had some free time. Jay and Gautam have been wanting to get their hair cut, so today Gautam decided to go to the salon across the street from the secondary school. He tried to tell them that he wanted his hair cut, but he doesn't speak the local language very well and they didn't speak English very well, so they thought he wanted his hair styled and he ended up just getting his hair did. 

During lunch, Peter Mungai, our driver taught us a new way to open our glass soda bottles. 

After lunch, we all walked to Baria's new kindergarten classroom and met her daughter, nephew, and two nieces. They were adorable! Her daughter Megan is also one of her students. Baria teaches students between the ages of 3 and 6 before placing them in Primary schools around the area. 

Baria's new kindergarten school!

Meghan loves her new toy!

Her schoolroom is a small building on a plot of land not far from the Archbishop Okoth secondary school, filled with cute little chairs and books and posters for her children. She told us a bit about how her school operates and the difficulties of being a teacher in this region. Her school's floor is yet to be cemented, and a hand pumped well right outside the building has broken down. By the time we got back to the secondary school, it was time to return to our hotel.

Nicole caught sleeping !

According to Peter Mungai, the city is too rowdy for us to join in on their New Year celebration, so he suggested we stay inside. Now here we are in our hotel about to pop open a bottle and pour us some glasses of champagne! Cheers to a wonderful New Year!