Mombasa visit

I'm so glad I decided to take the side trip to Mombasa.  I had a lovely, relaxing time with Stephanie and her family, got to observe at Stephanie's and Diane's schools, and collected memories that will remain with me for a long time. Even got an extra day there, courtesy of the Horizon Bus' "mechanical difficulties" on the return trip.

Some of the highlights:
 - walks along the beach during low and (nearly) high tide. I never tire of the incredible vistas, or the immediate sense of calm the sea brings. How can you beat this?

     

 - rousing games of Spot It! (seriously, this is the BEST game - fun, challenging, easy to learn and portable - it can't be beat.
 - cake baking on a jiko ( a small coal/wood burning hibachi-like stove). Sure, it was from a Betty Crocker mix, but only because that was cheaper than the combination of ingredients we would have had to buy. Think super-moist chocolate cake topped with Stephanie's special mocha sauce - heavenly.
 - our midnight encounter with the praying mantis atop the laundry basket of clean clothes;
 - delicious kachoris at a small Indian snack shop;
 - long discussion about Kenyan politics with Stephanie's dad.

I spent much of Thursday and Friday observing at Stephanie's and Diane's schools. Steph has a class of five special needs children at Mombasa Academy. They range in age from 5 to 17. Two have behavior issues, one significant. Two communicate appropriately, using full sentences. The 5 year old, who was totally non-verbal when  I saw him last year, had been started on a donated single-message device to request "toilet." He now initiates a few verbal requests, and has been naming pictures in books. He follows directives, and is able to stay seated when asked. Huge progress.

Few schools have workbooks for their students. Teachers hand write pages  of  exercises for their students each week. Here are two pages of exercises  Stephanie prepared for one of her students.

Diane runs Angels on Earth, a school for special needs children she opened in August of 2011. She began with 18 students and is now up to 31 ( 3 new students were enrolled during the three days I visited). The school offers services to students with a wide range of ages, needs and abilities. In addition to Diane, who works with each child individually at least once a week, there is a head teacher, several assistants, and in-house speech, occupational and physical therapists. Diane has a hard time turning away students who cannot afford the monthly fees, so it has been a struggle to continue to grow. She's a great woman with a great vision (www.angelsonearth.za.com).

Angels on Earth  - Diane's special needs school in Mombasa.