Monday 26 September

Last night, we went to a choir concert organized by Frank Odhiambo, the son of our friends Pastor Philemon Odhiambo and his wife (and our Egerton colleague in the Women's Institute) Rose Odhiambo. Here are a few pictures from an evening filled with music and fellowship.

Saturday, 24 September

Last night Jeanne, Emilia, and I celebrated my birthday at the ARC--the beautiful hotel on campus where we had just finished attending three days of a stimulating international conference: Transformative Research for Sustainable Development. The birthday dinner was lovely--I had chicken, chapatis, fresh vegetables, and, far more important than the food, wonderful company. It was a perfect way to cap off a week of researching and learning, celebrating my aging process, and looking ahead to many exciting days at Egerton and throughout Kenya. Next week, we're going to Nairobi to hear a talk by Gayatri Spivak.

All three of us attended strands of the conference dealing with education, socio-economics, agriculture, math, science, and technology. I was most interested in the education papers dealing with language and attitudes toward different kinds of schools and learning in Kenya, but the great fun of a multidisciplinary conference is learning for the first time about topics such as insurance, credit issues for farmers, and ethnic dress. In addition, we attended a number of plenary sessions covering everything from nuclear power to innovative banking practices. The highlight was an address on Friday by Prof. Amuka from Moi University on the importance of literature, language, and culture in sustainable development as Kenya moves toward an advanced economy as outlined by the Vision 2030 plan. We left the conference filled with ideas and issues to discuss, and with a desire to learn more about all the remarkable growth that is taking place in Kenya right now.

A Sunday at Egerton

Sunday, 18 September

Our first post! We arrived in Kenya eleven days ago, but with the rush of getting settled, getting accustomed, getting around, and getting started on our projects and lectures, it's taken some time to get this blog rolling.

We have been warmly welcomed by the students, faculty, and staff at Egerton University, especially our friend Prof. Emilia Ilieva; Prof. Mutiti, the chair of the Department of Literature, Languages, and Linguistics; and our many new colleagues at the university.

Andrew has made two initial visits to Kilimo Secondary School on campus, where he observed a Form Three literature class (reading Ngugi's River Between) and a Form 1 grammar class (subject-verb agreement was the lesson for the day). In the coming weeks, he'll visit more schools in Nakuru and, further down the road, in Nairobi.

Jeanne is on an amazing literary journey of her own, teaching Homer's Odyssey to fourth-year Literature students at the university. This is her third trip to Kenya and Egerton, having spent a year here on a Fulbright in 2002-03, and having returned last year for the wedding of our friends Jackie and Fred.

We're thrilled to be here and promise to pass along pictures, observations, and reflections in the weeks and months ahead. Please keep in touch and let us know what you'd like to learn about and from Kenya!