The official opening of the library is now 10 days away. Almost all of the furniture has arrived at the Kerio Valley, and the library structure is now finished. This gave us our first opportunity to begin moving all of the new furniture into the space.
Eryll and I caught the 6:30am flight (5:00am wakeup. Unpleasant and yet nearly the same time Kenyan boarding students usually wake up every day), landing in Eldoret at 8am. Another 2 hours by car and we arrived at Kenya Fluorspar Primary School. With the help of several students, teachers, and carpenters (known here as fundis), we began to assemble the furniture – bookshelves, desks, tables, chairs. Electricians were busy doing final touches on wiring, while technicians were setting up the Smart Boards and computers.
The whole place was a wonderful, busy, chaotic, amazing mess as boxes were unpacked, holes were drilled, and books were unloaded. By the end of the day – muscles aching and hands raw, we began to see the outlines of how the Library will look once its fully set up.
We are still waiting on other furniture and book shipments to arrive, so they work has only just begun. But already, it is starting to look amazing.