Everything comes to an end

Back in Ruaraka, we went straight to the computer room so as not to lose any time with the installation. We found that Michael had done a good job of removing all the bugs from the software. Mike and Werner were able to install the software as well as the backup partition within record time. Everything got done by evening time, and all the computers were checked again the following day. The work stations were all good to go, apart from Epoptes (a classroom management application) and file sharing within the network. Richard, the IT teacher, is going to have to handle this, but “It won’t be a problem, I can impress the students that way”, as he puts it. The final tasks consisted of sorting out the hardware that was no longer required and fixing the electric sockets in place using cable ties.

The following day, we visited Prioress Sr. Rosa Martia and Sr. Jacintha in Karen. Our plan to send new teacher Sr. Anuarite from Chesongoch to Ruaraka for a few days to sit in with IT teacher Richard was met with approval, as did our request to make sure that the project be given to a sister (or father) with basic IT knowledge in future. Fingers crossed!

We needed 2 hours for the 35 km return trip from Karen – traffic in Nairobi is getting worse and worse. Luckily Werner’s return flight to Germany was after 11:00PM and the streets were emptier, the there was no stress in getting to the airport ahead of time. By now, Werner is back in his bed at home.

Birgit und Mike made use of the final few days in Nairobi to meet up with acquaintances and handle the removal, or rather the resale, of the hardware that was no longer used. Some widths of material are going to be put down in the IT room in the future to protect the computers whenever they won’t be used for a longer period – just as is being done in Chesongoch in exemplary fashion.

We’re not going to wrap up these reports without mentioning the weather. When we were here in the past years it hardly ever rained, but this time there were a fair few downpours. The sisters told us that this had been happening since October, affecting both the crop and the quality of the fruit and vegetables. For example, the mangoes that we like so much aren’t quite as sweet.

Finally, before we catch our flight on Saturday, we’re going to cook for the sisters. We’re making coq au vin with tagliatelle and vegetables. We hope they’ll like it just as much as the Benedictine liqueur from Beuron.