A week of planning...

Hello everyone!

Thank you for the prayers and kind comments. It has been an encouragement to hear from you all, and know that your prayers are being heard. I have had a good week and have spent a lot of time with Mbuvi, the administrator of MITS and with the department heads for education and skills making plans for what I will be teaching while here. I will summarize what it seems my typical week will consist of an mention what I did this past week as well.

First, let me address the issue of safety and the current situation at Kamulu/Eastleigh/Nairobi. I continue to feel safe where I am in Kamulu. I have been watching the news some and talking to some of my Kenyan friends who seem to be in the know of the political situation. I still seem to get the same response...things are not reaching Kamulu. Things at Kamulu seem absolutely normal, and no one has given me any impression otherwise. I will continue to be checking information from the U.S. embassy (they sent no emails this week with any new information), talking to the other American missionaries here and keeping an eye on the news as well as discussing things with people at Kamulu. However, thanks to God, things are very calm and normal. Even the work in Eastleigh has been continuing now. The Conways have been going regularly, and I went this past Monday with a few of the MITS staff. I did not feel any difference there from when I was there before in terms of feeling tension, etc. I have discussed with Mbuvi (who told me he thought it was fine for me to go) and with the Conways. Thankfully, the programs are back to normal there. So, I still report that things seem fine in Nairobi, Kamulu, Eastleigh. There are many displaced and some of the camps are in these areas, so when I say things are back to normal, I mean business is going. Those displaced do not know normalcy. Please keep them in your prayers. We do pray that things remain peaceful and that peace is restored to all areas of Kenya.

So far, my typical week will include the following:

On Mondays, I will be going into Eastleigh and working primarily with the mothers program. This past Monday, I spent time in the room with the mothers and young women. A program has begun since I was here last to have their children (those old enough to pay attention and participate) in another room participating in their very own class. I was so impressed at the arrangement. The students, under the direction of a talented lady named Jane, have class and sing songs. They even came and performed one of the songs for the mothers. There was quite a good turn out for the mothers and many children also attend! Though that class takes the older children, there are still many (I believe I counted almost 20) children who are too young and cause disruptions. So, I spoke with Hollye, Anne and Mbuvi about bringing a student on Mondays to run a "nursery program" for those children. We agreed on six students who have demonstrated leadership ability and are good candidates to lead such a program. We will rotate each week with one coming to lead the program. I will assist to occupy these children in another area of the compound so that the mothers can focus on their lesson. Tomorrow, Annastacia will be coming, so we will see how it goes. I believe this will be great to allow the mothers to focus and to begin giving the children some structure to prepare them for the other class. It will also be great to give the students leadership opportunities.

Back at Kamulu on Tuesday through Friday, I plan to teach the following courses for the students:

English writing skills and Composition for the Literacy II students and the Fast Track students (an advanced educational offering that prepares students to take an exam that will give them a certificate proving they have reached a certain level in their education)

Library - I will be incorporating writing with this course to continue practicing their writing skills and to ensure the students are retaining information from their reading.

Public Speaking - It is invaluable that the students gain confidence in their abilities to use the English language and to speak in front of a crowd. This will enable them to have more opportunities when they graduate.

Graduation course - Mbuvi wants me to teach this so that the students who will be graduating in the next year or so are focusing on what they need to be doing to prepare for that major step.

Journalism - I am going to have 1-3 students in a journalism course two hours a day Tuesday through Friday. This week, I spent time familiarizing myself with the computer program the computers have for designing the student newspaper. I also went ahead and developed a template for the newspaper to get ready for my journalism student(s) to have one ready to print this month. I taught Annastacia as a skills rotation the last time I was here. She developed a great interest in this skill, so I will be working with her again and with the other students in their classes to make the paper one of the ways their writing is published and public.

In addition to these courses, I plan to work with the staff to refine their writing skills. I am going to discuss this with Mbuvi some more to figure out the best format for this. I taught them in Report Writing when I was here last time, so I may focus on working one-on-one with them to really put a practical application to what they learned instead of having them all in mass classes.

This past week, I taught the Literacy II courses in Library (the library was in a bit of a mess with books not organized and some not on shelves, so we spent time at the beginning of class getting them straightened), Composition (we discussed paragraphs and practiced writing them) and Public Speaking (they presented the paragraph(s) they wrote on Thursday to the class on Friday).

I am attaching some photos of the students playing UNO and reading before classes began one day.

As for my adjustments to being here, I have had some moments of weakness in the last couple of days - feeling lonely and feeling the culture shock. Overall, I have had an overwhelming knowledge that God is with me and things will be fine. I suppose this will just always go with the territory of leaving the familiar and coming to a place that, while I love, still is more foreign to me than where I've lived all my life. Mostly, I got frustrated when it rained and there was a leak in my house (it's a tin roof, and I know from working at Dollar General Store Maintenance - it is almost impossible not to have leaks in a tin roof...not a big deal but in culture shock, the little things get you), when I had to walk in the mud (for those who know African...or at least Kenyan mud, :-) you know why this can be frustrating...again not a big deal though), and when I couldn't just drive down the road and get some Taco Bell. :-) So, as you see, nothing major...just remember to pray that I stay focused on why I am here and that I do not let Satan discourage me and that I am able to overcome culture shock as it comes.

The kids are delightful. I am so glad to get to see the students I've worked with before really growing into mature adults. It is also wonderful to get to know new students. They are all so special. I brought Francine Rivers' "Redeeming Love" and have given it to Irene to read. She and I then plan to read it to the girls and have devotional discussions using it as a basis. It is an amazing Christian book that I believe will offer great discussions with these girls. Above all, please pray that the students' hearts are ready to hear the great news of God and His promises and that the staff and I are being prepared by God to be in the right place to share that news with them when they will hear it.

Thank you again for the love, support, comments, and most important the prayers.

Love, Katera