Cordelia Visits Nyumbani, and PiAF Takes on Nairobi
The Wednesday after my mother and Evan left (March 2, for those of you keeping track) Cordelia, who’s the head of PiAF came for a visit. We spend most of Wednesday in Nairobi, Thursday and Friday morning at the Village, and then the weekend in Nairobi for a PiAF retreat with Theresa and Victoria (from Mpala, near Nanyuki, and IRC in Nairobi, respectively), Allie (WFP in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Tony (Lutheran World Federation in Bujumbura, Burundi), and Helina (Generation Rwanda in Kigali, Rwanda).
Cordelia took lots of pictures while she was here, so in deference to the mantra all of my high school English classes I’ll let them speak for themselves.
Loading gutters for the Village from Metro Plastics in Nairobi's scenic Industrial Area
A street in Machakos, the big town on the way from Nairobi
Alright then
Some of the landscape on the way to the Village
Some of the primary school kids
Primary School Library
The carpentry shop at the Polytechnic
A tailoring classroom at the Polytech with some of the students
And another
Faith, who teaches the tailoring classes
Some susus with their baskets
Me with one of the water tanks
Monica, at 97 the susus' elder statesman
Another of the susus prepares some sukuma for dinner
Some volunteers from the Rotary Club of Scotland who were building outdoor cooking shelters for some of the houses - note how well-coordinated they are
Sweet peppers growing in Nyumbani's newest greenhouse
One of the Village's newest family houses nearing completion
All houses cook outdoors with firewood- a difficult proposition in the rainy season
Cordelia was insistent on pictures of me with the kids
A volleyball game out back of Cluster 6
Some kids heading to town
Friday morning, Cordelia gave her camera to some of the kids who were waiting around with us. The next several photos are all taken by them.
Cordelia with a susu and one of the kids
As I uploaded these pictures I realized that not much of what I’ve written on this blog has given a good description of what Nyumbani Village is like. Being here day in and day out I can sometimes lose sight of what this project is about and how special it is. Its good for me to see it, and be able to share it with you, through someone else’s camera lens So I’ll save the story of Nairobi for the next post, and leave you with a picture of Monica (a different Monica than above). Monica’s house in cluster 18 was where I built the first one of the rainwater harvesting tanks, so I’ve spent more time with her than any other susu in the Village. All our conversations go something like this:
Me (in Kikamba): How are you, Monica?
Monica (in Kikamba): Fine
Monica : ?????(Lots and lots of stuff I don’t understand)
Me : Good?
Monica : ?????(Lots more I don’t understand)
Me: Ok, good, [laughs], ok.
Monica: ???
Me: [Waves and walks away]
Monica is one of my favorite grandmothers, and I think its safe to say I’m her favorite muzungu over 6’5.
They need some Peru-style “improved biomass stoves” so that rain doesn’t interfere with dinner. Inside, BUT no (or minimal, depending on your level of stove construction skill – Ellen and I are/were masters) smoke! And apparently they use less firewood because theoretically the flames burn hotter and there is cleaner combustion…but I don’t know how true that is in reality.
& yay more pictures!
Glad my photos came to good use!
I loved seeing Nyumbani first hand and seeing the incredible impact you are having on the village!
I like all these photos, Chris! It makes me feel like I should be taking more people photos. Nyumbani is much greener than Mpala… hopefully I can make it out for a visit one of these days!
Thanks for the pictures. You are right, they convey a sense of village life that words can’t quite capture. By the way, I have had many conversations like the ones you have with Monica but mostly in boardrooms.
CP
Hi Chris! This is Marián Alvarez from Nyumbani Spain (www.amigosdenyumbani.es), I love your photos, do you mind if I use some of them for our web and Facebook? thanks!