Dancing to the Drums at Graduation 2012

My recent posts have shown that I have spent a lot of time galavanting around East Africa, and I figured it was time to share a little about the students at KEMPS as they are, after all, the reason I am here.

The past 5 weeks the school has been on holiday so that the national census could take place.  As teachers are well educated, they are expected to run the census, which is why the school has been closed.  However; this past week we have reopened and been busy preparing for Standard 7 Graduation which took place yesterday.

The day was filled with songs and dances from each of the classes from pre-school to Standard 7.  I led Standard 1 in singing Frere Jacques complete with actions and chimes for the bells ding-donging at the end.  They finished by wishing Standard 7 good luck and saying "Au revoir!"  Although not quite in key, they were enthusiastic, remembered all their words and actions, and my three chime players came in right on cue.

Below are several videos from the day which show the pupils drumming, singing and dancing. The first shows two Standard 5 pupils drumming for their class entrance song.  The second is of the Standard 6 exit song.  The third is the school choir.  In many choirs here it is common for one dancer to address the audience.  The pupil who does this is in Standard 4.  The last video shows pupils from different standards dancing a traditional dance called ngoma (which means "drum").  Unfortunately I don't have a video of Standard 1 as I was busy directing.  Enjoy my kids!

Trekking Gorillas in the Mist

The mountain Gorillas of Dian Fossey have always had a certain aura of mystery about them.  They live in the foothills of Volcanoes National Park which are often engulfed in mist.  The roads to reach the different groups are rough lava rocks.  The paths to trek the gorillas are equally non-existent.  Our guide used a machete to cut a path through extremely tall and vicious stinging nettles.  All of us were wondering if the gorillas would ever appear when one slowly came lumbering into view.  The male silverback was followed by a mother carrying twins and a mother with a newborn less than a month old.  As we followed the gorillas and peered through the brush, we were surrounded by the pleasantly busy sound of tearing and chomping as the gorillas pulled down stalks of plants, stripped them and ate the interior. 

Enjoy the photos and video below of the gorillas we observed.  Pay particular attention in the video to catch a glimpse of the newborn!

Sunset over the volcanoes.

Our hike began with a wonderful stroll through the
bamboo forest along a stream.

Our trail through the nettles.  Can you see it?!

Mama and baby give us a look as we watch them eating.

This silverback is stripping the outer part of the the stalk before eating
the rest.  After eating, he came walking right past us while we
scrambled into the stinging nettles to get out of the way.

The Susa group has three silverbacks.  This is the 3rd silverback and the
lowest in rank.  One of the most impressive things was observing the length
of their arms and the size of their fingers.

Posing for the camera.

Unfortunately I did not get a picture as the male silverback
walked past; however this time I was ready, both to jump
into the brush and to take a picture! 

They were close.  I was a bit nervous to face the camera instead of keeping
my eye on the Gorilla.