Ultimate Choo Makeover

June 4, 2006 by Steve Peifer

Like returning to America, there is that definitive moment when you know you are back in Kenya. That was a lot of competition this time. A guy stopped me in Nairobi and asked me:
Guy: Do you want to buy this box of chicken heads?
Me: What do you do with a box of chicken heads?
Guy: I do not know but they are very good.
My sister and brother in law had taken JT and I out to dinner and I had eaten...

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Great Moments in Strategic Planning: 19 Days in America

May 14, 2006 by Steve Peifer

This trip started better than the last short trip to America, because I was already fat; no unkind bets about how much I would weigh when I returned. Some colleges were hosting a conference and paying for me to attend, and we thought it would be a great opportunity for JT to visit some colleges for a few days before my conference started.
We flew into Boston where my conference would start and were met by old friends from RVA who...

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Michael Update

April 6, 2006 by Steve Peifer

We wanted to give you an update on Michael’s situation. The trial continued yesterday. It went very well for him again. The chief of police who signed the arrest papers was called as a witness and was forced (by the judge threatening to arrest him for perjury if he lied) to confess that he had seen the affidavit from our school saying Michael was at work the night of the incident. He further confessed that he had not...

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Road trip to Uganda

April 1, 2006 by Steve Peifer

At 12:30pm on Wednesday, March 22 I was asked to help chaperone a trip of 6 students to Uganda which would leave at 5:30am on the next day. One of the leaders who had been planning the trip since January had a death in the family and was unexpectedly on their way to the U.S. I amazed myself and was able to take care of affairs in the library, organize my family for a week without me, and pack myself...

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The Five Most Frightening Words a Father of Four Year Old Twins Can Hear

March 29, 2006 by Steve Peifer

When Nancy asked me about going to Uganda, I told her that I thought it was a great opportunity and that she should go for it. Ben was a little more reluctant.
Ben: How will we eat when Momma is gone?
Katie: Daddy will order pizza!
I had to remind Katie that the pizza man didn’t deliver in Kenya, and so more practical measures were called for. The staff at RVA has a prayer meeting every school day, and when it was time...

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Sometimes, it just takes a little rain

March 12, 2006 by Steve Peifer

Today was the last day of behind the wheel driving for the term. To say it was the happiest day of my life would be an overstatement, but not as much of one as perhaps it should be. If you have ever felt like your outdoor trash can is rude or has an attitude and you want to teach it a lesson, I have got just the class to do it for you.
ALL of the outside trash cans at RVA...

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Fast Update

March 5, 2006 by Steve Peifer

1.  Regarding Michael from the head of security at RVA:  Well. The trial for the 16 (increased by 1 last month) began this morning. The first witness for the prosecution was a bust and had no support for the prosecution’s case. He couldn’t identify any of the accused as people he saw the night the police sub-station was burned.
However, 2 Administrative Policemen failed to show up today as witnesses. So, after a brief delay to see if they would appear,...

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The Dying of the Light/ A Death in the Family

February 25, 2006 by Steve Peifer

The biggest and most honored tradition at RVA is the Senior Banquet. The junior class writes a play, builds the sets, puts together the music, cooks the food and serves it. It is a massive undertaking, and we have never been a part of it before this year. It was a wonderful success, not so much in the play and the food but in the unity that occurred in the class.
Perhaps the greatest part of it is how people ask...

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