Day 49 Maralal June 26, 2011

Greetings

This morning we left Eldama Ravine at 9 am for the five and a half hour drive down into the Great Rift Valley and back up the other side to Maralal.  As the crow flies its 98 miles from Eldama Ravine to Maralal.  By road it is much longer.  There was maybe an hour on the tarmac road until we got onto the dirt road.  Granted the tarmac road was not the best but there were some good sections.  Once we got on the dirt road it was like what I thought Africa should be like.  We were now in the bush and in the middle of nowhere.  Very beautiful country and this area is very sparsely populated.  Along the way back up the east side of the Rift Valley there were some excellent views of Lake Baringo going up the escarpment.  I think we went though maybe one or two villages along the way.  During the 4 or 5 hours on this road all the way to Maralal I think we came across no more then a dozen other cars along the way.  This was not a place where you would want to break down.

After we arrived in Maralal we unpacked the Land Rover and had a quick bite to eat.  Talked about the week ahead and made the decision to make the new school desks for the children at the school out of Cyprus and threaded pipe.  There are three classrooms and each class room will have twelve six by two bench desks with a two foot aisle in between.  This should accommodate somewhere between 60 to 72 kids per classroom.  We will also need to make some tables for the teachers and some office furniture for the office.  Later in the week we will have an electrician come in and set the breaker.  I guess this has to be done for the certificate then I can wire the classrooms and office as needed.

Tomorrow we will go out to the school and kitchen site to get our list of items that we need.  Then we will head into town shop for the items we need and start to build some desks.  We plan to have two one by eight by six boards planed down flat with another one by eight by six underneath for support.  Then we will put a four hole flange (if we can find them) with ½ inch pipe and make a U shaped structure support from the table to the one by eight by six bench seat.  Should be fairly simple and sturdy for the children.  The children are all pre-school and are so tiny.  They presently sit on a bench and write on another bench.  The kids will be so happy to have real desks.

Take care and God bless

Dave