July 8th: Sunday was a rest day, as classes are not compulsory in the schools and many people were still away from work at the hospital. We helped make our midday and evening meals with Grace in the guesthouse. We also walked down the road away from Lake Victoria to explore for some distance. There are many schools and churches in the area, as well as families living dispersed throughout the rolling hills all around.
July 9th: In the morning, we went to Nyaburi Integrated Primary School where we prepared and then taught two classes. The first was Class 7 Science, in which we did revision of the human body circulatory system. In the next class, Class 6 Maths, we introduced the students to a new topic they are just beginning: percentages. Both the teachers of these classes are university students studying special education and are doing internships at the school. In the afternoon, we assisted with arranging the financial files in one of the financial rooms of the hospital as well as filing new entries. For some hours in the evening, we helped Grace, one of our hosts at the guesthouse, with preparing a grand meal for many guests who are staying at the guesthouse and in other houses on the compound.
July 10th: In the morning, we returned to Ruby Kraft Primary School, where we completed our work organizing the library, which we had started during the previous week. This was with the help of Deborah, a university student who is on a break right now and is visiting her family here at the Kendu Adventist Hospital. She is spending her time volunteering with administration at the school. In the afternoon, we worked in the finance department of the hospital, ensuring that all the files are present from previous years for the preparation of audits.
July 11th: In the morning, we returned to the finance department, to continue our work going over financial files. It’s a project that will likely take us a couple weeks to complete. It was one of the coolest days so far while we have been in Kendu Bay. We spent our afternoon at Nyaburi Integrated Primary School, in the physiotherapy gymnasium with many of the students boarding at the school. We are beginning an index of students and equipment, so we met many of them. We were working alongside and with the help of Bernard, the physiotherapist, Daril, the young occupational therapist, and Michael, the rehabilitation assistant. There are many students living in the dormitories of Nyaburi, and they can all use care and help from these professionals.
July 12th: Earlier than usually, we walked down to Nyaburi Integrated Primary School, to assist with lessons. First we prepared for Class 8 Maths, in which we went over some problems from a recent exam the students completed. The Maths teacher hoped that the young girls in his class would be inspired to continue learning and using math knowing that other young ladies around the world use it for their education and careers. After this inspiring class, we spent some time preparing for Class 6 English, where we went over adjectives and adverbs with the students. This was a learning experience for us as well, in that we had never spent as much time learning grammar and sentence composition in English in Canada. With English being our first language, it was in some ways taken for granted that many of these parts of speech came naturally to us. In the afternoon, we worked in the Stores with some hospital staff, doing the monthly stocktaking, which is the lengthy process of taking inventory of all the pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for the hospital. We are glad we brought a laptop with us for this adventure, as it was very helpful to have, and meant that that data entry could be completed before dinnertime!
July 13th: Again, in the morning, we worked in the finance department, continuing our review of the files. For the afternoon, we attended the physiotherapy session at Nyaburi Integrated Primary School, where we interacted with the children. We are beginning to get to know students’ personalities and are looking forward to spending more time with them. They are becoming less shy now, which is rewarding! Partway through the afternoon, the regular physiotherapy time was interrupted for a student election of leaders in the dormitories. During this time, there was the opportunity to meet with a community member who came to the school to get physiotherapy assistance for her pain and we also got a chance to speak at length with the occupational therapist, Daril, about his work at the school.
July 14th: The morning again was a time for church in the Kendu Adventist Hospital compound. This week, we had been volunteered to join the finance department in leading Sabbath School for the children, which included acting as ushers and performing a ‘special item’ song with the regular members of the department. We had a relaxing afternoon around the guesthouse afterwards.
