I am Nafula...

  Bungoma/Kabula, Kenya
Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Boda Boda

Hello!
Thank you for the wonderful comments and emails. It makes me feel like I am still so close to home. This week has been crazy! My school is testing, so the days go by so slowly. I had to give six tests, fifty questions each, and then grade them by hand. I miss scan-tron tests. Then we have to add the totals, find the average, find the average of the last three terms, and then write it down on each report card. I feel like I am back in the Little House on the Prairie days. The tests are taken once a month, and sent to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

There is a little boy  in my class, who has problems with his eyes. I am not sure what is wrong, but he is slowly going blind. He is in my second grade class, but he should really be in grade three (age does not place you in a grade, test scores do). Since he can not see well, he fails his tests. Oh by the way, his name is Levin. He is a very smart boy, and he is the only one that raises his hand, EVERY TIME I ask a question. I asked my supervising teacher if I could read the tests to him, and she replied, "No, you will give him answers." That of course ticked me off, so I went to Mama Betty (she is my host mother and the director of the school). I told her the little boy's situation and she told me that was fine if I read the tests to him. So on Monday I told my supervising teacher that Mama Betty said it was okay to read the tests. She gave me the tests and I took him outside to sit on the steps. As we were walking, another teacher comes over to me to see what is going on. I told him the situation, and he told me that if Levin is having eye problems, he needs to go to the clinic and lay down. So he took Levin to the clinic. Meanwhile, I am ticked off because the teachers do not understand that he has a serious eye problem.  After ten minutes of waiting, I went to the clinic and asked if he was ready to go. He told me yes, jumped off the table and held my hand. It was the sweetest moment ever. We went back to the classroom to get the test, and we were then stopped by another teacher (the headteacher of the school). He asked me what was going on, and I told him. He told me that Levin must have a phobia of tests, and if he does not stop crying he needs to go home. I told him that Levin was not crying and that his eyes are like that everyday. The teacher then sent Levin to the clinic, again. At this point I was frustrated. I went back to my hut, crying the whole way there. I wanted to call my mom, but it was about 2am in Indiana.  So I wrote in my journal and tried to figure out what to do. I went back to the school, took a test from my classroom, took Levin out of the clinic, and read the test to him.  I also read the tests to him today. Levin was so thankful, and appreciative, that I didn't care if the other teachers did not agree. I know in my heart that was the right thing for me to do. I am going to Levin's house next week to have dinner with his family. I can't wait!

I am very excited about the next few weeks. In two days I be will traveling to Uganda. We (all of the volunteers) are going water rafting on the Nile River. We will leave Friday and return Sunday evening. I will try to post pictures on Monday.  I have never been water rafting, so this should be very interesting.  The following weekend we are going to the Coast to relax and swim in the Indian Ocean. There is supposed to be a huge coral reef in the Indian Ocean. Our students are on break the week we are going to the coast, so we will be leaving on a Thursday and returning home on Sunday. The town we will be staying in is Mombasa. It is where the International Cross Country race was held last week. It is supposed to be amazing there! I can't wait.  In three weeks, we are going to boat on Lake Victoria. It is the largest lake in Africa. There are tons of hippos there. It's also a great place to shop till we drop....YES!!!!  I will definitely take pictures.

I am starting to understand the saying, "it's a small world." One of the other IU volunteers, who I have never met until this trip, is engaged to a guy who lives three houses down from my grandparents in Barrington, IL. Isn't that crazy? Also, I met a man who was roommates with a professor I know in Indiana. This really is a small world.

So, today I started making birthday invitations. I am having a bonfire. I am trying to get everyone in the village to join me. I am going to have an African cake made, which I am so excited about. To really make things interesting, I am thinking about making "tacos." So many people still think I am lying when I tell them that we eat tacos in the United States. I try to explain a taco to them, but they just laugh. (If you don't know what taco means in Swahili, read my first or second entry).

Maryann, thank you for the letter. It was the funniest thing ever. I sent one to you, so let me know when you receive it.


Take care and I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. I think I am going to paint rocks and have an Easter egg hunt around the school. I'll let you know how it turns out :-)

Love ya bunches,
Nafula
(My African name, meaning Rain)