New Year's Day, 2014, dawned partly sunny and warm ... in Kijabe, that is. The AIC (Africa Inland Church) church across the street from RVA was hosting its annual New Year's Day picnic on the lower athletic field of RVA. The lower field is just down from Jeff and Joyellen's house, so we didn't have far to go to join the festivities.
Pictured here is the lower field. This is home to field hockey, junior high soccer, and junior high rugby. The grass this term is lush and green due to the rains earlier this term break. People are gathering for the festivities. By the time lunch is served at around 2:00, the expected attendance will be about 1,000 people. This crowd is a bit larger than the church picnic we host in our back yard. The two people standing near the rugby goal post are the Superintendent of RVA, Tim Hall, and LeAnn, his wife.
Many games were planned by the church picnic organizing committee. For the adults, several races were scheduled. 400 meter runs and sprints were held for various ages as well as a 1500 meter run. At left, you can see several men crouching down at the starting line waiting for the signal to start a race.
RVA staff on campus are encouraged to participate in the AIC church picnic. The women on campus are asked to bake some cakes for the lunch. Grandma and Joyellen baked two and brought them to the kitchen/dining building of the church. Pictured at right is Todd Dubber, in the cap, starting a 400 meter run. He had a respectable finish after that long dash across the field.
For the "kiddos", the church obtained a bounce house which proved very popular. The line remained long most of the morning. At one point, a group of little boys were launching themselves at the side of the house and bouncing back onto the grass, laughing and giggling. They repeated this process over and over. I wondered how their mothers would get the grass stains out of their clothes.
Just before lunch, adults were encouraged to gather near one of the rugby goal posts for games involving both men and women. While the bounce house continued to entertain the youngsters present, the adults were engaged in activities which often pitted the men against the women. The women held their own in many of the competitions. One of the races I saw had members of two teams race to the goal posts;
grab an upright bar with one hand and race around the bar 10 times; then race back to the starting line. I was amazed that any of the runners were able to run in a straight line after running around the uprights for 10 revolutions.
In the afternoon of New Year's Day, I ventured down to the clock tower courtyard. This area is bounded by the Cafo, the CB (classroom bldg.), Library and Science bldg. and Centennial bldg. in which church services and other large group gatherings occur. This courtyard was under construction during the first term of 2010 when Grandma and I taught here at RVA. The designer was the Videography teacher, Jimmy Hendricks.
The courtyard is beautifully landscaped with grass and flowers many of which are growing in hand hewn brick flower planters. There are three sitting areas designated by picnic tables and umbrellas. The area involves multiple levels providing plenty of space for people to gather. The courtyard invites large groups as well as being attractive to small and intimate gatherings. The trees provide not only shade, but beauty as well.
The centerpiece of the courtyard is the clock tower. The clock has three faces each representing the geographical locations from which students and staff at RVA come. One face displays the time in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, the country in which RVA is located. To the left of that face is the clock showing the time in New York City. This clock face represents the geographic area from which most RVA staff and many students come: The US and Canada.
The third clock indicates the time in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. About 20% of the student body comes from South Korea. This country sends a substantial number of missionaries abroad to spread the Gospel, many to Africa.
The clock faces are each powered by "C" batteries. When first installed, the winds of Kijabe blew the clock hands every which way interfering with accurate time. The solution was to cover each face with plexiglass thus preventing the elements from affecting the operation of the three clocks.
Between the Cafo on the left and the CB on the right and Kiambogo, the administration bldg. in the background is another feature designed by Jimmy Hendricks: the Chai Tree and the Giraffe. In 2010 when we were last here, the long brick concrete planter in the background was home to shrubbery. However, over time, this area became a litter collector. To rectify that, Jimmy had the planter covered over in concrete and placed two rocks on it. To replace the seating area provided by the planter, he had constructed two round seating areas; one with a chai tree and the other with a giraffe.
This area has historically been the gathering point for students to drink their chai (tea) and eat their snack during the scheduled morning chai break. What better place than to design a "Chai Tree". Here the students can hang their cups after drinking chai and they'll be there at the ready for the next break. The "tree" is the Baobab tree. There is a legend behind this tree. Seems after God created this tree, it developed quite a prideful attitude and let all the other created trees and plants know how beautiful the tree thought it was. God did not approve of this attitude. Therefore, He uprooted the tree, putting its beautiful foliage in the ground and its roots sticking up into the sky. So today, we see its ugly roots, rather than its pretty foliage. Pride is not a virtue!
The other sitting area features a giraffe stretching to eat leaves from a nearby tree and a warthog rummaging in the foliage. Both are well known animals of Africa. The giraffe is recognized by its long neck (which contains the same number of vertebrae as our own necks. Believe it or not!) and the warthog is known for running away from danger with its tail sticking straight up into the air.
The giraffe likes to eat the foliage of the acacia tree which protects itself with long thorns on its branches. So how does a giraffe eat the acacia leaves without hurting itself? God ingeniously designed the giraffe to use its long, dry tongue (kissing a giraffe is not a slobbery process) to get the leaves. The giraffe extends its tongue as seen to the right. The tongue wraps itself around a branch. As the giraffe retracts the tongue, it pushes the thorns flat against the branch while at the same time ripping the leaves from the limb. As the tongue passes over the flattened thorn, the thorn snaps back into position too late to impale the tongue. The giraffe enjoys the tasty leaves with nary a poke. God's creation is really wonderful!!
The remainder of New Year's Day was spent relaxing with family. Hopefully, your first day of the new year was enjoyable also. If you were a Michigan State fan, the day was really a great one!
Will be posting again later because ... there is more to come.
