Proof of the pudding

Rift Valley Academy is in the second year of a four year set of themes, around which many aspects of school life are centred. Last year the theme was “Absolute Surrender” (to Christ). This year the theme is “Balance”. The following years’ themes will begin with C and D, but I don’t know (or can’t…

The Rift Valley Academy school sits on the outskirts of the small town of Kijabe. Lesley and I ventured down there to do a spot of shopping. This is our local shopping centre: From left to right, there is the Superduka (or supermarket) run by Sarah, where we were able to buy various groceries, and…

This week has seen a faculty meeting, a Maths department meeting, a school-wide staff meeting and a Professional Growth in-service training day. I have finished my lesson preparation for the period up to half term, and loaded all the information into Schoology, the school’s Learning Management System. Today saw the arrival of the first pupils…

We have finished our face-to-face New Staff Orientation, getting to understand the layout and operation of the school. In parallel I have been working through a self-paced training course for the on-line Learning Management System they use. Last week it was a blank canvas, with just a couple of training courses for me to work…

We have spent the past few days settling in to our new home at the Rift Valley Academy. We have been allocated a two-bedroom semi-detached house, with beautiful gardens. Fortunately we don’t have to maintain the gardens, because to boost local employment, we are encouraged to employ local workers for a few hours each week.…

Today is the last full day of our Africa Based Orientation in Nairobi. We have finished our three week programme of lectures, activities and outings. We have learnt something about the early history of Christianity in Africa, of African culture and world view, of spiritual warfare and African art. We have learnt that Africa is…

Last weekend was action-packed. On Saturday morning I was up at 0540 to join several others from the orientation training to go on SAFARI! Nairobi has an enormous wildlife park literally on its doorstep. They had to erect fences to stop the lions entering the outskirts of the city. We spent several hours being driven…

We are about one week into our orientation training here in Nairobi The training takes place at CORAT Africa [the Christian Organizations Research and Advisory Trust of Africa], a Christian hotel and conference centre in the outskirts of Nairobi. There are about 35 people on the training course, comprising a wide variety of nationalities, including…

We managed to get everything in our suitcases (some repacking needed over the weekend). After an hour’s delay on the tarmac in Frankfurt due to missing our takeoff slot, we arrived safely in Nairobi. Outside, our taxi driver, Joseph was waiting for us. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (named after Kenya’s first president) looks much like…