Cool Pic

I thought this was a cool pic...two of the CTC volunteers, Sammy and Tony, in a sea of Ngeya students. Go boys!!!!!

Fuel Effecient Stove Installed

This past week, the first fuel efficient stove was installed at Ngeya Primary School. The first goal was to build the kitchen which was complete a few weeks ago. The women who prepare the lunch daily for the students used traditional methods of large pots on top of stones. They simply fed wood under the pot to boil the corn and beans. This is extremely inefficient in the amount of wood used. Also, as we all know from camping, the fire gives off a huge amount of smoke that fills the room. The women are constantly wiping their eyes and coughing. In addition, de-forestation is a major Kenyan issue. 70% of the countries forests are gone due to the need for firewood. So reducing the use of wood at Ngeya also impacts the environment. Another bonus is the school currently spends 5000 ksh $65 a week on firewood. For any school it's a huge amount. To this government school that is SEVERLY underfunded, it nearly breaks their back monthly. So reducing the amount of fuel reducing the investment.

Our third team arrived a week ago from Kansas. One of the projects they are part of is the purchase of a very large, 500 ltr., fuel efficient stove. It has been installed and just about to be put into use. We are waiting for concrete to fully dry. I have included a few pics of the old way the women cooked and the new stove. Also, a few pictures of the kids lining up daily for food. When the whole school comes out for lunch it's impressive. Over 1200 kids waiting patiently for food. Right now they serve food outside on the ground. But the next move for us when the stove is working is to purchase large tables so all food can be served through the windows to the students. Need to get the food off the ground.

How does the stove work? First it's built with a layer of brick and covered on the inside with concrete. The outside is covered in a layer tin. This insulates almost all the heat inside the stove. If you walk up to the stove and touch the tin when it's boiling water it's cool to the touch. Wood is fed through the the square opening and the large pot sits perfectly down through the hole. This allows no heat or smoke to escape through the sides of the pot or stove. What cannot be seen from the pictures is out the back of the stove is an opening that has a large tin pipe going out the back wall. This takes a quick L bend towards the roof and the exit of the smoke is many feet above the roof. This allows an escape for the build up of smoke within the stove and eliminates any smoke in the room. No coughing or teary eyes for the cooks. A stove like this this will easily reduce wood use by 60-70%. Because it's so effecient in keeping heat in, it will boil a large pot in a fraction of the time it takes for a normal fire.

Thank you to the Kansas team for working so hard to raise money for Maai Mahiu. This stove will be a huge help to Ngeya and Kenya for that matter. Not only do we affect the local community but we help eleviate a Kenyan problem, de-forestation. Without you CTC could not have completed this project.

First Classroom Complete

This entry is a continuation of the previous one. Great news!!!! The second team from our partner, Developing World Connections, completed the new classroom that was once the old kitchen. Take a look at the below picture from the previous blog. Smoky and very non hygenic... The picture included is of the pre schoolers who are now using the new classroom classroom. Thanks again DWC and the team of volunteers for the funds and VERY hard work. CTC is so proud of you.

Second Team Arrives!!!!

Our partner, Developing World Connections, is a volunteer tourism company. We work with DWC by giving their teams access to Maai Mahiu and development projects. The newest team is made up of 9 students from the University of Toronto. Many of them are journalism majors. This team is staying the longest yet for CTC, 5 weeks. This team is staying in Maai Mahiu and have come with the goal of building. All building projects this year are focused on Ngeya Primary which is the government school in MM that is severely under funded. With 2000 students and an average of 75-100 students per class you can imagine the chaos. The first team, Bodwell High School, finished a new kitchen as you have seen from previous blogs. Now the next goal is to turn the old kitchen, first picture, into what it was originally meant for, a classroom. The team is on their 3rd day of work today, Wednesday. This post will have many updates as they are here for many weeks and working on 3 distinct projects.

First, they will complete this classroom with a new concrete floor, windows, doors and blackboards. From there they'll move to the adjacent classroom and put in windows, doors and fix parts of the existing floor. Finally, they move across the school compound to finish a 3rd classroom with a concrete floor, dirt currently, windows, doors etc. In the end, they will have made 3 classrooms in good working order.

To put in a floor in Maai Mahiu is hard labour to say the least. I feel sometimes it looks more like a chain gang. There are no machines or electricity. So all the large rocks have to be pounded down to make a flat floor. All 40 bags of concrete have to be manually mixed, carried and poured. Walls have to be concrete spackeled by hand. The first two days have been A LOT of work for the team but they have stepped up. Rocky is really proud. I have included a few pics of these days and will update as things get completed. The kids at Ngeya, who are in school right now, find the visitors truly mesmorizing. It's hard for the DWC group to stay focused sometimes as the kids are hard to resist. But DWC has done a fabulous job staying on course.

Thanks to DWC and this team, there will be 3 beautiful classrooms for the students at Ngeya Primary!!!!!

Kitchen at Ngeya Primary Update

I promised an update once the kitchen at Ngeya was complete. Happy to say it is!!!! I have included a few pics of the before and after. The first picture was of the old kitchen that is supposed to be a classroom. Second, is the final outside view. Third, is the inside of the completed kitchen. Last, is the kitchen mid work. This project at Ngeya Primary School was funded by Bodwell High School in Vancouver who also was our first team of 2009. The kitchen will now feed all 2000 students out of a clean, proper kitchen. As always CTC is looking for additional funds for fuel efficient stoves and will eventually need tables and the like, so if anyone is interested you know where to find me.

Thanks again Bodwell for working so hard. Rocky and Mwaniki keep using the work of your team as a benchmark for each team this summer. So you really impressed us and knowing Rocky and how hard he works, you impressed Mr. Work. Thank you again from CTC and Ngeya, we could not have done it without you.

The bath is complete :-)

I have been working for some weeks now on a big bath tub for my backyard. Back in SF, we have a amazing hot tub in the back yard. Wow..... so spoiled. I used go home after a long days work and sit outside with a cigar enjoying the stars. It's actually one of my favorite memories with my Dad. We would sit outside for what seems like hours smoking cigars and well if you know my Dad listening to him and his stories. I figured why not make a poor man's hot tub. So I had Alex and his workers, build a BIG tub. It's 6'x4'x4'. Definitely bigger than the tub at home. As all projects seem to get more complicated as they proceed this was no different. The tub was easy to build but filling it was another issue. I had to install an new hot water heater. Now this sounds like a cost and it was, but I also realized the first time I tried to fill the tub that I could not see my hand just a few inches below the water line. Disgusting!!!!! The old heater was so rusted through that it simply poured out red water. I was wondering since I arrived in Kenya, why I always seemed to dirty. I'd take a shower and the water was brown at my feet with my funk. But now I realize I was actually taking a shower of rust. I don't know if this has any benefit to my skin but I am working to find that out.

I took my first bath the other night. FABULOUS!!!! Something about sitting under the African stars with my hookah pipe next to me was truly amazing. Only issue I had is that Julius, the Masai guard who watches my home every night, thought this was a great opportunity to chat. So here I am sitting in my tub, trying to relax and take in all that is a beautiful night, and Julius is sitting on the edge looking down at my naked ass and asking question after question. I like my ass and all but it did make a bit uncomfortable. Now that I think about it, maybe it's just the same as home. I had my Dad at home , now I have a Masai. So I guess who can really complain, I never knew my Dad would come back as an African :-)

Day of play for the Bodwell students

This past Friday the Bodwell students spent a half day with the Malaika kids and half with the kids at Good Shepherd children's home. It was truly a magical day. At the Malaika kids the students played the various educational games and bonded through play. The Malaika kids love having people around and bond so easily to strangers. Bodwell really adapted well in the situation, making connections so easily. We also had SEP that day working with some of the children, so Bodwell had a chance to watch very experienced special needs teachers work individually with the kids.

The second part of the day was at Good Shepherd. As you have seen in the previous posts, these kids also LOVE having people visit. We spent some time playing soccer of which turned into more of an adult game than for the kids. But they don't care, they just run around following the ball and giggling. Bodwell brought a bunch of kites of which the children absolutely loved. At first there was no wind so the kids would get the kite up by running as fast as they could through an open field. It was hilarious to watch, a group of children sprinting to keep a little kite up. Then the wind picked up and it really became an enjoyment for them. Watching their kites bounce around in the air. We also brought tons of art material and the two groups spent a long hour painting and drawing. Lots of Canadian flags of which I had to bite my tongue being the proud American. But hey who cares right? The kids loved it. They also were given a tour by Jane and the kids of their dormitories. Bodwell is also a live-in school and I think the conditions truly blew them away. So much we take for granted being priviledged and when you see conditions so polar to your experience, well it's heart breaking. But it's good for everyone to see. A great perspective making each of us appreciate what we do have and enabling us to help further.

What a fun day to watch. Most of the day I spent running kids back and forth in the car from the two facilities but that was a small price to pay for each group to have a once in a life time experience. Bodwell surely has made a mark on Maai Mahiu and I am humbled to have been part it.