He's keen to sell his remaining cows to buy a 50 x 100m plot in town, to build a complex of 4 shops in front, + a house behind. Here it costs 2 million Ksh, & would be rented out for 20,000 KSh/month; in Nairobi the cost would be 5 million to gain 40,000 Ksh/month. He hasn't decided which town to build in: Ewaso has electricity + water but no good road access; Suswa is on the Narok road, has water but no electricity; Duka Moja is also on the main road – but has no electricity or water!He’d also buy a plot to live on & farm, he still has 20 children to educate! There are 15 families around him each with 30 acres. He told us an Mzungu wants to buy a plot on the mountain to build a tourist hotel – getting them to stay out in the wilds could be a problem!
We were told how some of the old men just can’t cope with losing so many cattle. One had sent his 134 head up into the highlands with a younger relative as he couldn’t take them himself. When only 25 returned, he asked: “Where are my cows?” When he was told the rest had all died, he fell face down on the ground in a faint, & every time he hears or thinks about his loss, he suffers some kind of fit. Another old man ran off, others have even considered hanging themselves – unheard of in the Maasai.
When we arrived at the school, we waited in the small makeshift office, partitioned off from one of the three main classrooms, and signed the Visitors’ Book while the students assembled. We spent a short time with them: they sang us a song of greeting; I sang them one in Kiswahili which they knew so they all joined in, then I shared briefly about NZ then Bruce encouraged them to study hard.
Some of School Board were there: Ezekiel (treasurer), John Nkalo (chairman), Pastor John ole Punyuk (Harvest Church), Pastor Moses ole Kishau (Festival Harvest Church, he'd been one of the speakers at the seminar).
Ezekiel shared how the school began in 2001 as a joint project of Festival Harvest Church & CCF Australia, who built the main building + provided some water tanks. He was the first teacher (untrained), and taught them all he knew of English and maths. He was very relieved when a government teacher turned up!
John Nkalo shared re the school’s problems – out of 220 students, only 120 are still attending - but there were only 70 today. Some had stayed home knowing the two government teachers weren’t going to turn up! As there aren't enough S7 pupils to start the higher classes, they go to Ole Sharo or repeat S6!
Rosa, the cook, told us how she started working there to try to earn some money to help her family – but she hasn’t been paid all term. She wants to help the children but without being paid, her own children suffer.
Some of the students shared how they are being affected: one boy, in his mid to late teens, shared how desperate he is to proceed in his education, & how frustrated he is, repeating S6 for the 3rd time!
Pastor Moses prayed for everyone, then the students went for lunch: a cupful of ugali + beans, provided by the government. I think they also get some chai.
We walked round the school, talking with Ezekiel and the three Johns. A couple of Ezekiel’s children came up to greet us and to walk with their father. Nine of them attend this school, but the eldest goes to Ole Sharo and there are still two at home. The main building consists of three well-built stone classrooms with concrete floors. There is a separate iron building with dirt floors and no glass in the windows: it was supposed to be the staff room & student common room, but has to be used as classrooms. The teachers’ accommodation is a two-room metal
shack – about garden shed size – with no kitchen or toilet! One window has a hole in the mesh large enough for an elephant’s trunk to reach in! There is no fencing anywhere on the grounds so it is open to wild animals. We then went to look at the clinic (right), started three years ago, but unfinished due to lack of funds.Ezekiel listed the school’s problems as follows:
1 Water The plastic tanks are now split, the stone tank contains just a little green water. The large reservoir dug by bulldozer in 2005 by the government is used by elephants - the children are too scared to use it. The broken-down bulldozer is still there, it hasn’t been repaired.
2 Fencing The school grounds need fencing, any wild animal can enter – the chief danger is from hyenas.
3 Teachers There aren't enough for all eight Standards, so students who want to go to High School are repeating S6 or have gone to Ole Sharo. They need at least two more teachers, Maasai dedicated to the community, as well as better housing (outside teachers are unwilling to live there).
4 Classrooms They don't have enough, & the two dirt-floored ones without glass windows or shutters are bad in windy, wet weather.
5 The clinic It needs funds to complete the roof and plaster inside so it can be used.
6 The Cook She's been unpaid for a whole term - fewer fee-paying students means trouble for her as well as the teachers.
Shumbai came up as we were leaving, limping badly, telling me how sore her leg was – so I promised to see her back at the manyatta. I was really worried thinking about blood poisoning/osteomyelitis etc. + how she’d get home.
We had chai at John Nkalo’s and talked about the food aid: even if someone had only received a cup of flour, they were very thankful. One old man wanted to give us a goat to bring back home to slaughter but we had to explain it wasn't possible.We had lunch at 4 with Ezekiel & the 3 Johns. Pastor Punyuk had some interesting questions re the Bible - the significance of Mt Sinai, Christ’s infant dedication & why God was called “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. Bruce explained their significance, assuring him that Christians don’t have to follow Jewish practices. It’s easy for people to get ‘hung up’ over the Old Testament and to want to follow Jewish ceremonies which are no longer necessary.The pastor told us he’d never before seen any Wazungu ready to go into Maasai houses and eat with them, they just come to look around, then go away again.
We were given a large watermelon by John Nkalo on behalf of the School Board, Ezekiel gave me an ndege (beaded ornament representing the Holy Spirit) and Bruce a belt. Pic: one of his wives + child, Pr Ponyuk, us, Ezekiel, John Nkalo.Back at Luka’s, we were invited to Susannah’s hut: she was cooking ugali and gave us a taste - it's very different from other types we’ve had, being quite dry & crumbly, + they add beef fat & sugar! It's actually very nice and tastes rather like bread!
I eventually found Shumbai just before dark – so had to use a torch to look at the wound. Unfortunately the skin was getting quite discoloured around the wound, + the lower leg was very painful to move. Bruce cleaned it out again, rebandaged it, then we prayed for her healing, telling John if it got any worse she needed to see a doctor immediately or go to hospital - not easy in these parts.
We had a lovely time of fellowship after tea, people squeezed into the living room: children on the floor/chair arms, adults standing or on chairs. There were some touching farewells, I got hugged by most of the mamas too.
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