Kiptopeke 2018 – Day Four

    The 2021 EDI Fellows went to Kiptopeke for their first summer adventure.  Here is Olivia Danielson to describe our fourth day.  

    Waking up around 6:00am, I got ready for our last day at Kiptopeke. After packing up clothes and other stray items around my room, I walked out into the living room. I grabbed some strawberries, raspberries, and cherries and sat down at the table with the rest of the Fellows for breakfast. Not a sound was made while we all ate our breakfast. As 8:00 drew closer, we washed the dishes and got ready for the day ahead.

    First on our list was to finish spray painting the planter that Caitlin and I are building for Kiptopeke Elementary. We piled into the bus and drove over to the garage where our boxes laid. Caitlin and I spray painted the planter and then had to wait for the paint to dry.  We worked on finalizing the dimensions and design of the wood base for the hydroponic garden. The healthy debate was facilitated by sunscreen bottles and peanut butter, which served as markers for us to visualize our design. When the paint dried enough, we loaded both of the planters into the bus and drove to meet Ranger Bill, who had purchased the plants and soil.

    Arriving at Kiptopeke Elementary, Caitlin and I carried our planter to the front of the Kiptopeke Elementary for all of the kids to see when they walk in everyday. We filled the planter with dirt and passion plants. After a few pictures with school administrators and Ranger Bill, we drove to Ebenezer AME Church so that the guys, Keon, AJ, Charlie, and Christopher, could set up their planter with dirt and passion plants as well.

    When everyone was finished, we went to the Brown Dog to get ice cream. (We were told we could get ice cream one day, so why not make it our last.) I got 3 medium scoops in a cup, coffee, butterscotch, and vanilla. It was so good! We talked for a little bit in the shop then left for the bus to go back to the lodge. (Most of us were so tired and full of ice cream that we fell right asleep on the bus)

    At the lodge, everyone had to clean up the whole cabin. The floors were swept, the kitchen was cleaned, and bags were put on the bus.Then we boarded the bus and headed back to NA. (Most of us slept on the way back as well.) When we got back to NA, we unloaded the food and brought tools and wood into the art room.

    We began the second phase of our trip by brainstorming how to improve our design of the hydroponic garden that we started back at Kiptopeke. We had come up with a hexagon that had a triangular opening in the middle. The hardest part though was coming up with the amount of 2X4 boards that we needed to purchase. After we had come up with a list of supplies for  frame of the hydroponic garden, we went to Home Depot and gathered our supplies, the pieces of wood and a lot of screws. Bringing all of our supplies back to NA, we unloaded the wood and waited for our parents. While first part of our trip was coming to a close, the next part started tomorrow.

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