A week off

This week has been interesting. The Members of Parliament voted as to whether laptop funds should be reallocated to teachers' salaries, and voted against it 98-75.  No end in site. Some students have started study groups to teach themselves so they don't fall behind private schools. Some classrooms have been filled with cows as students are made to work for their parents during their time off.

On the other hand, I've discovered I get a little homesick when I'm in a foreign country and am not kept busy. And when all of the other interns leave for 10 days, it gets worse. Well, Monday I'm back at Logos, and that'll keep me occupied until everyone is back.

I was actually able to do something yesterday. I went to a developing day care in Dandora, a part of Nairobi with the highest crime rate. The daycare, run by Nairobi Chapel, is the type of place I would actually really love to work with. It hasn't been around long-- they are trying to buy a new plot of land to expand from Preschool-8th grade. Right now they've made it up to 2nd Grade.

Since it is a private school, the students pay tuition to go and the school gets no money from the government. They hope, with the new plot of land, to become self-sustaining in time. Right now every student has to pay 200ksh a month, the equivalent of $2.33. The school is located in an area that this is actually a struggle for some parents to pay. The money doesn't actually fund much at the school, but it holds the parents responsible for their kids' education.

Besides that, Emily and the rest of the interns at Nairobi Chapel (ie all of my friends here) have gone for a 10 day missions trip to Kitale. It's made my time off even more boring... but a 40 minute FaceTime with the family is always good for boosting the spirits. The extra sleep has been ok too.