CANADA

Well, here I am sitting in my parents house on the computer. It feels weird to be here - that's for sure. Africa certainly was going from one extreme to another. After an 11 hour flight from South Africa to Amsterdam, an 8 hour flight to Detroit, a 7 hour layover, and another hour to Toronto - I'M EXHAUSTED! I have news that I'm going to announce soon but not quite yet. Just to keep you on the edge of your seats. Since I can now take advantage of a quick internet connection I'm going to put up some before and after pictures of my time in Africa. It's amazing what changes were able to happen while I was there. I never really realized it myself until now.

Enjoy :)

One mud room. One teacher.

FIRST THE SCHOOL. The changes here are incredible. We went from no uniforms, sitting on mud floors to cemented classrooms with lots of teaching materials, uniforms, blackboards, meal programs, handwashing stations, toilets, a kitchen, a well... where does it end!?!?!

ABOVE AND BELOW: One mud classroom. Still holes in the wall.... kids sitting on the floor, crowded, no uniforms. This is what I found when I arrived in Kenya... and so I thought, "What can I do now to make some changes around here?"...

PROGRESS: A portable blackboard, cemented floor (and one wall while we ran out of supplies), glass windows.

NEW ADDITIONS: Building new classrooms. Getting ready to mud. Class three and an office.

THREE CLASSES UP AND AN OFFICE: Well it might not be pretty yet but we're functional! Wooden doors, steel/glass window... coming along nicely!

CEMENTING TIME: Fundy's are called in to cement over the mud structure... makes it more permanent (rains can wash a mud house away!) and looks nice too!

IN THE BACKGROUND: the school fully cemented! AND UNIFORMS!

UNIFORMS!

LUNCH PROGRAM: "Look, I need MORE"!!!!

BUILDING TABLES: To eat and learn!

AND WE LOVE OUR TABLES :)

CLASSROOM!: Finally, it looks like a proper learning environment. Hard to believe that this is the very same classroom in the first picture. RECIPE FOR A SCHOOL: Take some mud.... stick it to some branches, add a roof. Cement the floor, and the walls. Add children. Dress in uniforms. Build some pretty tables and benches. Get them some pencils. Decorate the walls. Hire a couple teachers. VOILA!

SEE, It's not SOOOO hard!