Off to a good start

Our maths project is up and running now and seems to have got off to a good start. I was a little nervous as the pupils split up into their new groups after assembly this morning but was very pleased with the organisation and prompt start that was evident  thanks to the two teachers leading everything. We are starting the day with a long maths lesson and finishing with a shorter one. One of our main focuses during the project is to get the children more actively involved in their learning. This was certainly evident in the lesson I popped into this afternoon where there was a lot of noise and participation. So far so good.

We are at a very nervous time of the year as far as our farm is concerned. We have been busy preparing our plots for planting for the last couple of weeks. Duncan, our farm manger, was planning to plant the first seeds today so we really need to see some evidence of rain soon. In our teacher training days I found out more about the ‘dry winds’ and the ‘rainy winds’ that blow and have been trying to decide which we have been experiencing over the last two or three days. As we were working in the classrooms with the children this evening we enjoyed a short flurry of rain. Just enough to make conversation difficult for about ten minutes and encouraging enough to believe that the real deal may not be too long in arriving. This would be a welcome development. Our water supplies are holding up well so far but could be stretched a bit if we have to wait much more than two weeks for rain. Rain would come as a welcome relief to the children as they are having to fetch and carry water in buckets and watering cans to make sure that the tomatoes, peppers and water melons in the greenhouse receive enough water.

Election Day looms closer now. One week today the nation will go to the polls to elect the new president. It’s a very keenly contested race to State House and there is serious chance that a run-off election will have to be held in April. The papers are full of speculation and electioneering is gathering pace – especially in the larger towns. The political pace has picked up a little in our community but could hardly be described as frantic just yet. Yesterday evening a pick up carrying a number of obviously drunk and quite raucous guys drove past our place then turned round and went back up the road again. Today a pickup with a very loud speaker system strapped to the roof drove past extolling the virtues of a local candidate. Nobody took very much notice. As Election Day draws closer we might see a few more candidates on the stump. Like the rest of Kenya we are praying for a speedy resolution to the poll without any problems.