Opanga Means Steel

-In the morning we headed over to the Mercy school, which has a mix of regular community students and orphan students. The program seems to be very well put together, as even Chief Michael has enrolled his son in the program. The kids were all really cute and they used the opportunity to demonstrate their singing voices! Their song topics ranged from a song of greeting to educational songs that taught about AIDS. The children at the Mercy School are quick learners and right from the beginning to teach them English and Swahili whereas most schools begin to learn in grade 7. Following the introductions, we presented the students with exam books and pencils, which the teachers were very happy to receive.
-After the Mercy school, we started work at the clinic. During the days work we were able to finish the back east building and get started on the back west building and the front building. As all the gutters were handmade, figuring out how to join two pieces to turn a corner proved to be an interesting task. After a few bumps, however, we were able to figure out the best way to join two gutter pieces while minimizing the amount of water lost. We put in a lot of hardwork today but were very satisfied with our efforts. It also gave us a great opportunity to teach the local handymen the importance of certain design components, such as the first flush system to clean away dirty water from the first rain off the roof.
-Scott