Rounding Third...

I have little in the way of excuses but here I am, coming up on a week late for my post. My apologies! Given that we’re at the end of a break, I find I have two options for things to talk about. I could discuss my break, which included a trip to the states as well as Matema Beach. However, I think it’s better to look to the future. Especially given that my remaining time here is shrinking incredibly fast. If you do the math, I have about a quarter of my time left so in the spirit of baseball, I'm rounding third. I kind of view it like my senior year of school. You have that one last go around where you’re both capable and in control. You can take the easy way out and coast through on easy classes, try to get a head start on future work, or you can acknowledge the opportunity sitting in front of you, which you are better qualified to take now more than any other time ever. I suppose if I was considering an extension, that experience could be the entire time beyond my two years of service I stay in country. However, I am blessed with a fantastic future back home and, as was proven to me on my break in the states, I will be ready to move on when my service ends. Therefore, to summarize what lies ahead I’ll go through my projects one-by-one with a goals list that I can reference on my way out of country. Teaching: My first priority has to be being an effective teacher. It has been a challenge fighting through materials that I was never fully comfortable with, however, I feel that I have a solid understanding of what concepts are beyond my ability to self-educate. Things like quality lab experiments and the higher ends of electromagnetism and circuitry are responsibilities I am hoping to share with someone who has taken the class before. I will see the results of my work with the first class in a few weeks when national exam scores are released. Hopefully, they will be positive. We shall see exactly how my work load turns out soon, once the schedule is set. It is possible I could return to a full-time math teacher which would bring in some more interesting and complex geometry and calculus work. Library: A major project of mine over time has been an upgrade to the library here at school and to say it hasn’t seen progress would be unfair. But it is equally unfair to imply that the library has been improved at all. It has moved from its small room in the back of a building to a series of four rooms, two recently constructed, in the front of the building. However, the books are still found in piles and boxes and are difficult to access for the students. The inability to use the library as a resource has not changed at all and its check out process still deters students. If work should continue on the building, I will actively get involved yet again and try to implement a system that is student friendly and effective. It’s possible this is a project that could extend beyond my time in Tanzania, as it wouldn’t be too hard to send books to the school in the future for use in the library. However, I have to see motivation on the part of the school administration to complete the project before I put significant effort into it. Gardening: I am still working through the preparatory processes of starting a garden project at the school. So far, a dedicated group of students has shown me they are willing to put in effort to maintain a garden and meet with me to work through the challenges we might face. The project still has to get a green light from the headmaster but I could see this being a success if for no other reason than that I would be in charge, cutting out bureaucracy, and we can start work immediately after approval. I also have counterparts that would be interested in this activity and be there when I am not, which is a sustainability factor that I haven’t been able to produce so far. Ministry of Water Cooperation: Recently, I’ve made a contact with a man in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation here in town. He currently works with a community education project on preserving the water resources here in the Rift Valley. Part of their work is to explain why we want to keep the watersheds clean and what actions are keeping them dirty. This affects everything from trash removal to farming techniques. In fact, it’s possible the garden and this project could merge into one if my friend finds the techniques useful in improving yields without fertilizer or farming immediately adjacent to the streams. Student Life Improvement Lectures: I gave my sleep lecture several months ago and I would consider it somewhat of a success. I think the information was taken to heart by some of the students who realized that sleep is as critical a part of succeeding in school as studying. I am working on a Time Management and Study Skills seminar currently, with plans for nutrition to be a third lecture that will hopefully coincide with the beginning of produce from the garden project. Conferences: Mbeya region has a Girls’ Empowerment Conference scheduled for June that I hope to participate with. While my role is more one of support than leadership, the function is quite large with upwards of 70 girls doing various events from education on appropriate social interactions, to goals planning, to health education. It is a fun week at camp for girls who might otherwise find themselves misguided and even taken advantage of in everyday society. Additionally, I’ve been working with a Scottish volunteer to put together a set of heath weekends that teach early college-age students simple heath facts that they may not otherwise learn. HIV and AIDS is a huge problem in Africa but it, along with malaria, can often overshadow other health issues to the point where they aren’t even considered, sadly, sometimes at the expense of a life. The health weekend would work to pass on information about issues such as diabetes and mental health that might otherwise be ignored to students in teachers’ colleges who could then further distribute the information to the classes they teach once they graduate. It’s interesting to compare my goals now to my goals just a year ago. I had just left my big training that occurs three months into service and had ideas for what I could do with the school. Those turned into focuses on the library and my Swahili skills, which, for better or worse, have fallen in the priorities list. I may not speak fantastic Swahili but I can get by, and the library has moved along at a snail’s pace. Yet, I think I can still accomplish a significant amount between now and my return to the states, even potentially starting new projects that could live beyond my time here. It’s both exciting and sad to think about the end, but my window is closing whether I like it or not. It’s time to make something of my two years here :P

Sorry

Well, first off sorry for this being so late. Spring break started out well with Andrew coming home. It wasn't for long but we had fun. Monday night my band opened for some other bands in the Wichita area. It went well. For our last song we covered Sloop John B. Then once Andy left I, well my body, decided that it was time to catch up on sleep. First day I wake up and I thought it was around 10 but I go downstairs for breakfast to find that it is actually almost 3. I played Ultimate over the break, slept, and just thoroughly enjoyed doing anything or nothing at all. On the subject of Ultimate our team sent in a bid earlier for the National tournament in May for the Midwest region, somehow it's in Oregon, and today we found out that we got our bid so now we just have to take care of transportation. We had our orchestra concert which was really cool because we played a mix of phantom pieces, and East has a pipe organ. So, we got used the organ for the phantom theme. There's a video on Facebook I believe. It started with the curtains shut so we could set up and turn the smoke machines and lights on. Then we played that first note and it all went into motion and was just amazing. Yesterday we played at city festival and got straight 1's as usual. Later on in the month of April I believe, Tri-m is holding a benefit concert so some friends and I are putting together the song Foreplay/Long Time by Boston. So far it sounds awesome! Other than that not much has happened. Sorry for this being short and late.

-Samuel

Spring Break Fun

We had a very busy spring break last week seeing all of the children and grandchildren. What a blessing they all are! We started our spring break with a trip to New York to see Mary and Kurtis. They have a very nice apartment and we got to enjoy their neighbors upstairs sleeping quarters as they were gone. This allowed Randy and I to sleep in the upstairs bedroom of their brownstone. Charles slept on the Ikea bed - great peice of furniture. We saw two shows on Saturday, enjoyed good meals together, chatting and a show on Sunday before heading to Washington, D.C. by train on Monday. Monday evening we had a wonderful visit with Donna and Al Holsopple, our old neighbors, which we sure miss. Tuesday we got to enjoy two of the museums at the Smithsonian and some cherry trees just coming into bloom. They will be beautiful! Wednesday we headed home and Dave, Cassi, and Addie came to stay with us till Saturday. What fun to have them and to play with Adelynn! Then I had more fun as I babysat Olivia for Sarah on

Thursday plus did some spring shopping in Wichita with Sarah, Olivia, Cassi, Dave, and Adelynn. The granddaughters did great. They could be shoppers - the Dad's better watch out ! :) Friday and Saturday we enjoyed being home plus having Charles' friend here, Jinger Ferguson. Sunday we returned Randy to the airport and Jinger to Wichita to catch a ride home. Charles left this morning when I went to work so the house is quiet again except for Clara and Longstreet, who stayed by my side last night for some reason - oh, to know how they think :)

A Rivers Ripple

Olivia--sporting Adelynn's outfit...

When last we were blogging here, we were waiting.  Well, as all of you know there is no more waiting!  Olivia arrived in November and we have spent the last few months adjusting to life with a baby. 
Sarah is now staying home full time.  And is so glad she is able to do so.  She had a few moments at the 6 week mark which made her question this decision and then hit the 7 week mark and hasn't looked back.  She loves being able to spend her days caring for Olivia, playing, and attempting to keep the house running smoothly.  She did keep her PRN job with Via Christi and has worked one Saturday so far.  This will keep her OT skills up and give Dan a chance to enjoy some time with Olivia.  On Mondays and Tuesdays, Sarah also watches Alexander.  He is a week older than Olivia. 
Dan heads off to work most days and has been busy re-designing parts of the KWCH website and making sure CatchItKansas is working.  He's also working on an iphone app.  He continues to play his bass guitar every other Sunday and with Threads of Three.  His new title is "bath-giver" for Olivia and Brisco.

Brisco is still a little upset that he has been de-moted to second behind Olivia, but he secretly keeps close watch over her. 

Olivia's personality is very easy-going and sweet.  She loves to "talk" and is recently really enjoying exploring anything she can get her hands on.  She's getting better with her tummy time and will just chill there for awhile.  Hard to believe she will be 4 months old next week!!  WOW. 


Olivia and Brisco on the couch today.




Olivia and Great Grandma on one of our visits to Hutch.



Olivia and Great Grandpa



Big Smiles!

To find out more of what our family has been up to, or to see more pictures of me check out: theriverscurrent.blogspot.com