chica Jan

Hello All! My sabbatical is coming to an end. I should have my feet on the ground in Calgary early December - almost 5 months since last I was there. I am in Nairobi finishing up some loose ends and enjoying the last few days with friends. Rachel and Tereneh have kindly opened their flat to me. I left Kisumu last Thursday after hosting a party for my adopted family at the Imperial Hotel. My timing was also good because I learned yesterday that the airport is closed until the runway can be repaired. (I thought our take off on Thursday night was a little rough!) Had I left it any later to make my way to Nairobi - chances are I would have had to bus it. We are talking a 10 hour bus ride ... read more

This is the salary of a nursery school teacher in Mombasa - assuming that the community can afford to pay the $16 that month. In Kenya, primary school (level 1 to level 8 -- British system) is free. But nursery school is not. Neither is secondary school. And by free I just mean school fees -- not the fees for books or uniforms or feeding programs. So sending your children to school is both a sacrifice when living in extreme poverty -- 80% of Kenyan families. But sending your kids to school is also hope for a higher standard of living -- so famililies are sacrificing and the primary schools are bursting at the seams. Free primary education was introduced in Kenya 4 years ago. The system is still trying to adjust because it was a ... read more

Let's play safari jeopardy! You know the game. What are the correct questions to the following answers? 1) Wildebeest Tail 2) Leopard and 3) Pink Flamingos. Questions are provided at the end of the blog! The week of October 30th was spent on safari with the Safari Chicas: Sheila, Janet and Kim and what a special time! We can proudly say that we have all seen in the wild Africa's Big Five: elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. The latter being the most illusive and we were blessed to see two! Our certificates are in the mail! We also enjoyed seeing giraffe grazing on trees, wildebeest & zebra grazing on the plains, hippos snorting, vultures eating, crockodiles sunbathing, baboons grooming, and elephants racing. We also saw jackals, hyenas, monkeys and several species of gazelle and deer ... read more

Jambo from Zanzibar! This is a stunning island..the color of the Indian Ocean is photo shop azure blue - that deep and that beautiful - hard to believe it is real. I am in heaven mostly because I am in the company of dear friends. The Safari Chicas - Sheila Weaver, Janet Brown and Kim Searle arrived 2 days ago..travelling some 3 days via Toronto, London and Nairobi to hook up with me in Zanzibar. I met the chicas at the airport after spending 4 nights in Stone Town touring Aga Khan healthcare and education projects. More on my travels in Mombassa and Zanzibar in a follow-up blog. We the chicas have been enjoying beach time and catching up time. The gals arrived with a bag full of notes from dear friends and chicas in Calgary. ... read more