Silverbeck and our Drive to Meru

Yesterday all of the AFK volunteers left Nairobi for Meru, a town in the mountains about 4 hours NE of Nairobi. On our way to Meru, we stopped off at the Silverbeck Academy, where the education team had worked the day before. The school had about 6 classrooms, each in its own building. Each dirt floor classroom was furnished with simple wooden benches attached to desks and a chalkboard. (I felt like I was looking at an American classroom back in the pioneer days.) Hanging from the ceilings in nearly all of the classrooms were large sheets of colored paper with information and/or drawings on them, like English words and their definitions, anatomy drawings, information about the solar system, a geometry lesson, and so on. In one classroom, cutouts of the planets also hung from the ceiling and there were geography and science projects on the floor at the front of other classrooms, including a replica of a water filtration system and a three dimensional replica of a game park. It was obvious that there was a lot of learning going on at Silverbeck Academy. In fact a son of one of our drivers (Lawrence) attended the school and is now in college at Purdue. Although Silverbeck is light years away from American schools in terms of appearance and resources (nary a textbook or a computer in sight), it seems to be doing a good job educating its students.

Wayne wanted everyone with AFK to see the school and he wanted to get feedback from the head of the school as well as from parents and teachers regarding the presentations the education team had made to them the day before. He also wanted to know if the books that AFK had shipped to the school earlier in the year were the kinds of books they wanted. He got positive feedback about everything.

The drive to Meru took us through beautiful country. We passed by large, lush green fields of coffee and tea plants, pineapples and banana trees, small farms, deep valleys and rushing brooks. We also passed by miles of fields of pale brown grass blowing in the wind -- like in the movie Out of Africa (I fully expected to see a lion or two emerge from the grass.) -- and goats, sheep and cattle grazing by the side of the road. Once we had reached a high elevation, we also saw huge, fluffy cumulous clouds hovering over mountain peaks in the distance.

We also drove through many big and small towns on our trip to Meru. In every town, the road we were on was lined with small shop after shop selling everything from clothing and hardware to car supplies, animal feed, grains and fruit. There were also countless tiny hair salons, bars, butcheries, restaurants and driving schools. (Driving schools in a country where most people cannot afford a car? Go figure.) Every business had its own hand-painted sign, some of which were very amusing.

We also drove through the town of Runda. It was very very different from every other town along the way because it was full of large homes and nicely landscaped grounds. Runda is home to diplomats, UN staff, and high ranking government officials from many countries, Cabinet Ministers, and the like.

We stopped at The Trout Tree Restaurant for lunch. It was such a cool place! The restaurant is built around a huge fig tree and is essentially a tree house a la the Swiss Family Robinson. There were trout ponds below the restaurant, wooden bridges over a stream, winding paths, and gorgeous trees and plants. It was beautiful.

The food and service at The Trout Tree matched the location -- they were great. After the so so food we had been eating in Nairobi, the wonderful food we ate that afternoon was a real treat. Another treat was the opportunity to see a number of Colobus monkeys close up when we were walking into the restaurant. The monkeys are black with white faces and and long, showy white tails. They are nearly extinct.

We arrived at the Three Steers Hotel in Meru in the late afternoon. It's a simple place, but clean and totally adequate. Later most of the AFK volunteers gathered in the bar to eat samosas, masala chips (fries covered with a masala sauce) and drink beer.