Swahili word of the day: “Una funya vizuri!” means “You are doing a good job!”
Kenyan culture fact of the day: Many Kenyans still place worth in the amount of livestock you have. John Lommel, LETU staff member, got asked today how many cows he owned. In previous years, the girls have even gotten asked how many cows they were worth! ;)
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Week two started out well! We are quite busy here at Joytown, but still on track. The skills team got six runs done today, and then we went over to the secondary school and prepped for the second batch of LLFQs. (If you need/want a refresher, see previous blog posts, cause I’m not explaining them again. ;)
Despite the fact that the questionnaire giving seemed like mass chaos (just like any "organized" activity involving 40 high schoolers), I think we did a good job getting data from the kids! We have the rest of the week to crunch that data…all 120 questionnaires! What better way to spend your evenings? ;) In addition, Ben, Elisa and I are planning on adding a study to next week where we compare Motivation and Hope Haven wheelchairs on just the curb test Fingers crossed that will encourage Hope Haven to make some adjustments to their footplate design (which I have a rather strong opinion about). Representatives from Motivation and Free Wheelchair Mission companies are coming in the next two weeks at some point to see what work we are doing and talk to our experts, which is very exciting! So there is quite a bit happening here, in addition to normal skills tests.
Speaking of, both of the kids I had today for skills tests were fantastic. Samuel completed every single one of the tests, even though he got tired very easily. He would politely ask me (in English, nonetheless) if he could have a break before the next test, and was determined to accomplish everything. Carolyne has the biggest, most rewarding smile ever! She could only complete three of the six tests, but she tried all of them that I asked her to with eagerness. I tried my best to encourage her and reassure her, and often received one of those smiles in return. Both Samuel and Carolyne giggled when I tried out my new Swahili phrase on them: una funya visuri!
Another high point of the day is talking to Ruth, one of the Kenyans who is helping us out. She is a hoot, always joking around with us. Today she asked about which of us had “significant others” and informed my teammates (who are single) that “we have good ones here too!” ;)
Kenyan culture fact of the day: Many Kenyans still place worth in the amount of livestock you have. John Lommel, LETU staff member, got asked today how many cows he owned. In previous years, the girls have even gotten asked how many cows they were worth! ;)
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Week two started out well! We are quite busy here at Joytown, but still on track. The skills team got six runs done today, and then we went over to the secondary school and prepped for the second batch of LLFQs. (If you need/want a refresher, see previous blog posts, cause I’m not explaining them again. ;)
Despite the fact that the questionnaire giving seemed like mass chaos (just like any "organized" activity involving 40 high schoolers), I think we did a good job getting data from the kids! We have the rest of the week to crunch that data…all 120 questionnaires! What better way to spend your evenings? ;) In addition, Ben, Elisa and I are planning on adding a study to next week where we compare Motivation and Hope Haven wheelchairs on just the curb test Fingers crossed that will encourage Hope Haven to make some adjustments to their footplate design (which I have a rather strong opinion about). Representatives from Motivation and Free Wheelchair Mission companies are coming in the next two weeks at some point to see what work we are doing and talk to our experts, which is very exciting! So there is quite a bit happening here, in addition to normal skills tests.
Speaking of, both of the kids I had today for skills tests were fantastic. Samuel completed every single one of the tests, even though he got tired very easily. He would politely ask me (in English, nonetheless) if he could have a break before the next test, and was determined to accomplish everything. Carolyne has the biggest, most rewarding smile ever! She could only complete three of the six tests, but she tried all of them that I asked her to with eagerness. I tried my best to encourage her and reassure her, and often received one of those smiles in return. Both Samuel and Carolyne giggled when I tried out my new Swahili phrase on them: una funya visuri!
Another high point of the day is talking to Ruth, one of the Kenyans who is helping us out. She is a hoot, always joking around with us. Today she asked about which of us had “significant others” and informed my teammates (who are single) that “we have good ones here too!” ;)