bonus blog -- The flavor of our days

 Here is bonus posting from John giving some background information about the rhythm of our days here.

The first chapter – staying in hotels and getting to know each other – seems long ago, and now we spend the entire day at Banjika School before we head home for the homestays. As of this writing, we are two nights into the homestays (although it feels like it has been longer than that, because we have spent so much time with our host brothers and sisters that we are feeling quite comfortable with them). Things are going well. Those who reported awkwardness on the first night now report things are going even better.  Extensive time together has a way of melting away shyness and language barriers.

We are also comfortable on the Banjika campus. We have our own classroom, which is where we have our meetings and eat our meals. It is home base. We know where the bathrooms are; during breaks the soccer ball and football are always in use; all the people here – students and teachers – are super welcoming.

What is our day like?

Wakeup is pretty early, 6:00 or 6:30, to get to school around 7:00. Maybe a bucket shower to start the day and a breakfast at home before the walk to school. For some most of us that walk is about 15 minutes. We walk on rutted, hard-packed red clay roads through mostly farmland. They grow a lot of corn here, and we see plenty of cows and goats (and many other young kids walking to school). The countryside is lush rolling hills. It is quite pretty. Mornings are mild and invariably cloudy.  The temperature is mostly in the low 60s and not much cooler in the evening. When the sun breaks through, it can feel warm, but it is mostly overcast so far.

Aside from when we circle up at the start and end of the school day, we are with our Banjika brothers and sisters all the time.

First thing in the am and at the end of the school day before we separate for homestays, we circle up and share appreciations and reflections on the past day or evening. Students, on a rotating basis, lead us in an exercise WLS calls ANCHOR:

 Appreciation (name something or someone you appreciate)

 News (the plan ahead)

 Concerns (share a concern)

 Health (basic check in to be followed by more pointed questions (see below))

 Oh-wow (share a revelation or wonder)

 Reflection (comes with a prompt question and students write in their journals)

Everyone participates.

Then, still in our circle, the WLS leader asks a series of wellness questions. 

Have you had enough water?

Did you eat well at the house?

Have you been able to figure out the bucket shower?

Have you figured out how to use the toilet? (for some of us those are inside the house, but not for others, but for all of us it is some version of a squat toilet) 

Then, the WLS leaders has them close their eyes and answer with a thumbs up or down:

Did you have high quality sleep?

Is anyone feeling homesick?

Would you like to talk to an adult?

And then, using their fingers, on 1-5 scale:

Have you had a bowel movement in the past 24 hours?

How have your bowel movements been? (1 = diarreha, 5= normal)  

How are you feeling emotionally?

So far, the group is doing well on all the wellness measures. Knock on wood that it stays that way. One student had a rough night and day with a bad stomach, but that student is back in the fold today.

The rules are that everyone is to be home by 6:00, before it gets dark. As we are near the equator, there is a very short period of dusk. We are staying in four different areas, each has a Menlo or WLS teacher nearby. Some of our students staying very close to each other and visit each others’ houses at night, but most of us are just at home with our host families. Several of the families are large, so there is a lot of action – more game playing and other activities – at home. Some students have been able to do some laundry at home or help around the house; others are not really provided that opportunity. In some instances, the family just washes some of our clothes while we are at school. They definitely are gracious hosts. Dinner seems to be fairly late in most homes – 8:30 or 9:00 – and my sense is that most of us go to bed pretty soon after dinner, as we are out of gas and have an early wake up.

I was worried about food and brought 20 or so power bars; I have eaten none of them. I feel we are eating very well. The hotel food offered a lot of choice, and the lunches we are served at Banjika are very good. We are also served a breakfast and mid-afternoon snack here at school. Then at home, in addition to dinner, we are (or at least most of us) also served a snack when we arrive home and a breakfast before heading out. So two breakfasts, a big lunch, two pm snacks, and a dinner -- there is ample food. The homestay meal can be a wild card, but the food is cooked and safe. The avocadoes here are large and excellent. There is rice with every meal. Some of the boys are asking for more protein, and we have supplements for them.

Karatu’s elevation is about 5,000 feet. And those of us who are a bit older definitely felt the altitude running around the soccer field. That the grass was also five inches high also conspired against any soccer skills I might have had. But I did not pull a muscle, so that is its own victory.

There is a lot of down time at school, and the students fill it quickly with Uno and card games, kicking the soccer ball around, friendship bracelet making, etc. Our students are showing a lot of flexibility and patience. The pace of Banjika is quite a bit different from Menlo’s, and our plans often require adjusting: we were going to visit classes yesterday, but Banjika was in exams (high stakes exams), so we postponed; we were going to install the solar panels we assembled, but we pivoted and decided to disassemble them so Banjika’s science teacher could have all his students assemble them and learn about circuitry. 

Your kids are great. They are getting along with each other well – boys and girls, younger and older. There is no cliquishness or social hierarchy, just a sense of we-are-in-this-together, and everyone is rooting for their peers to have a good experience and to lend a hand or ear when needed.  Supportive and up for whatever is coming next, they are having fun with each other, with their host sibling, and with the experience.