Visiting friends near Nairobi
While in Nairobi last week we visited our Kenyan friends. The family had spent three years in Goshen-Elkhart area while the father attended AMBS and the mother attended GC. She was a student in two of Ron’s classes. We attended their church near Brackenhurst Center. He is pastor of the Baptist Church. (Brackenhurst is near Limuru and Nairobi. While we lived in Kenya many years ago, we had our MCC annual retreats at this center so there were many memories of the spot.) We had lunch and spent the afternoon with family.
On Monday we were invited to Rosslyn Academy where the mother teaches second grade. She has 17 children with 15 countries represented. What a fascinating class! Sally Jo read a book to the class—what fun! After school we had a tour of the grounds. Sally Jo’s father was principal here in 1971-73 and her mother taught in the primary grades. We recognized their home. However, from a school of only elementary and middle school grades with about 130 students, there are now over 600 students from kindergarten to 12th grade. Next year they are expecting 800. There are many new buildings and construction continues, especially for staff housing.
The school was developed in a coffee plantation in 1967 to serve mainly the children of Mennonite missionaries in East Africa. The large farm house served early on as a dorm, classroom, dining hall, and more. The building still stands and now houses the administration plus a few classrooms. The school continues to use an American curriculum and these days has many students from the diplomatic community.
(Some of the following photos are mainly for those of you who know Rosslyn.)
