Practically Mt. Kenya (6/21/09)

On Sunday we expected to meet Edward and George, former Chairman of Mituntu, at 10 in the morning. In yet another example of Kenyan time, they came at about 1 pm, and we left with Barnabus to meet a poultry farmer. The purpose of our visit was to learn all we could from Beatrice Karimi Mwilaria, the successful farmer. She is a mentor to other women in the community, and has taught them how to raise chickens and then how to “pay it forward” by sharing both their knowledge and chickens with other women. Isabella Kaiedo was also with us, as she is one of the women who was taught by Beatrice and now is a “trainer of trainees,” or a TOT. They served us tea, of course, before we got down to business. We tried to get as much information as possible so that we can write a report detailing how Beatrice started, how she cares for her chickens, how the practice is sustained, and how she shares her wealth with others. I took pretty detailed notes so I think I know all the tricks now. As soon as I get home I’m starting my chicken farm!

Beatrice lives on a 5 acre shamba, or farm, where she grows staple crops like maize and peas. Unfortunately, she, like everyone else in the area, is suffering the effects of three years of drought. While her family’s home has the capacity for running water, the pipes are dry and she and everyone else who lives in the area must hike to a single spring daily to get water. There are about 20 families, over 100 people, who use this single spring.


Another project that Beatrice and the women’s group with which she is involved are working on is a nursery school for local children, as the regular schools are too far away for the youngest community members. Beatrice and Isabella wanted to show us where the school is, and when they pointed “just up the hill,” Mo, Barnabus and I thought it would be a nice little walk. (Note: I am wearing old crocs and a skirt.) It began easily enough, and slowly the road narrowed more and more until we were walking on a trail up to different very small communities. At the top of one path a crowd of children stared at us, and shouted “muzungu!” meaning white person (we hear that frequently). At first the kids just followed us from a bit of a distance, and then crept up and posed for photographs and started surrounding us. Each time we passed more children they joined the crowd. As our following grew, the “hill” got steeper, and when we got to one point, we started going down. This is when my crocs really began to fail. The sandy ground would have been fantastic sand skiing terrain, but unfortunately I was not prepared for that and started slipping down the path. As kids ran down the steep hill past me in bare feet, I felt pretty pathetic. I’m definitely one to refuse help when I feel like I need to prove my abilities, particularly in challenges like this, so this was especially embarrassing for me, especially with 35+ children watching my every move.


At one point, we had to jump over a ditch. The sides of the hill slanted into the ditch, and the closer I got to jumping, the more I slid. Eventually Barnabus tried to help me, but that failed miserably and honestly I wish I could have seen the catastrophe that ensued. In one swift turn, I was being pulled up the side of the ditch, Barnabus was struggling to keep his balance as he straddled the ditch, and Beatrice somehow ended up falling into the ditch (it was a deep ditch). Luckily the event ended in laughter and no serious injuries. Next time there is a risk of going for a hike, I will wear more appropriate footwear (although the fact that kids in bare feet had mastered the art of running up and down these paths made me think that I just shouldn’t wear shoes anymore).

Anyway, as the sun began to set, we still seemed to be going away from Beatrice’s home. We kept taking random turns and visiting more people and shaking hands with everyone we met. Needless to say I do not remember ever seeing a nursery school! The last stop we made was at the well dug near Isabella’s house. While there was water available at the bottom of it, it was muddy and not drinkable. Everywhere we’ve gone, access to clean water has been a huge issue. Beatrice put us on the spot at one point, asking what could be done about it. Without water, children cannot drink, there is harder to cook, fewer chickens can be supported, clothes for school cannot be washed, contaminated water brings sickness, individuals already suffering the effects of HIV/AIDS with weakened immune systems are at even greater risk. Even getting what little water there is requires so much energy and can be dangerous (at one point during our hike they asked if the path was too steep, adding that it was the same one they used when they carried jugs of water to their homes). It is unbelievable how much water plays a role in daily living. Access to clean water is quickly becoming one of the issues most important to me. Mo and I both had a little food and bottles of water that we would have loved to take out of our backpacks as we were hiking, but with all the children around, neither of us could bring ourselves to do that without being able to share with them.
The kids all seemed to lighthearted, though, and were just in awe of our presence, as muzungus. They even started singing, “I love you Jesus, you are my Savior!” to us at one point. I tried so hard not to laugh because they were treating us as though we came from some heavenly place, and they were so sweet and excited. At the same time I just couldn’t believe the whole thing was happening. Beatrice and Isabella gave them all a little piece of candy as we passed a small shop, and that was our farewell.

We were served lemonade and chatted for a while (by chatted, I mean Mo and I sat next to each other as all the Kenyans gathered conversed in Kiswahili. We have developed a game out of it, “translating” what they say into English).

As we left, we looked up at the sky and saw more stars than I have ever seen. I even spotted the big dipper on my own! Anyone who has ever tried to show me a constellation, I apologize because I was probably lying when I said I knew which stars you were pointing to. This time I was certain!
Sorry for the lengthy post – I still don’t think this description of the day does it justice!

Baadaye!

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Thanks if you’ve already left one, and thanks for reading!

Across the Equator! (6/20/09)

Mo and I got up at 4:30 on Saturday morning, expecting to meet Muthee, the Mituntu liaison and a SOTENI board member, at 5 to drive to Mituntu. Of course, since we are in Kenya, 5 am actually meant 5:45 am, and so we sat with the security guards for a while before being picked up. Edward joined us on the way, and we drove out of Nairobi at about 397 kilometers per hour, swerving around matatus and pikipikis that drove “too slowly.” It was on this drive that we passed two trucks on a curve, headed uphill, going very fast, over a bridge.

Part way through the trip we drove over the equator! We decided to be as touristy as possible and document the moment.

We are staying with Barnabus Mwiki, the Chairman of the Local Management Committee (LMC) of Mituntu, and his wife, Ann and five-year-old daughter, Linda. As soon as we walked in the door, they served us tea, something I am getting used to as it is served whenever someone visits. They are wonderful and incredibly welcoming and concerned about our well-being.

Barnabus even took us out to experience a traditional Kenyan beverage…

Unrelated but thrilling for me was the logo of Java, the restaurant just below the SOTENI office. Anyone who’s seen the Bowdoin sun can probably relate.

Baadaye!

Things I just don’t understand about Kenya (6/19/09)

1. Winter hats. It is winter here. The temperature is probably at least 75 degrees F during the day. I am hot walking around in a t-shirt, and today I witnessed several individuals wearing winter hats around the city. I even saw one man getting off his motorcycle wearing a dark winter coat and a hood with a helmet on top (as he parked his motorcycle on the sidewalk).

2. Speaking of parking on the sidewalk, the traffic here is incredible. I know I mentioned before that there are traffic lights, but either they don’t work or they are ignored. The cars drive on the opposite side of the road, and today I rode in the front seat of a taxi. I was afraid to take my eyes off of the road, especially when our driver sped between a bus and a car to change “lanes” and then proceeded to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting a pedestrian. Being a pedestrian is probably even more dangerous, and Marla, Mo and I have taken to following other people across the street because we figure they know when it’s safe. There’s a market right near the SOTENI office, so when we went to buy water, we tried to blend in with a group of students all wearing uniforms. I don’t think anyone noticed. Plus, every time I glance at a car it looks like there is no driver since they’re sitting on the right side of the car. (ps – Since writing this Mo and I traveled to Mituntu in the car of a SOTENI member. I was terrified more than once, but an especially notable moment was when we passed two trucks around a curve, on a bridge, leading uphill, with a clear solid yellow line in the middle of the road. I had been warned about the traffic here, and it has not failed to disappoint. Even yesterday we rode home in the dark going very fast downhill on a dirt road with scattered rocks and ditches. Yet another death defying vehicle experience.) All of this before even getting on a pikipiki (motorbike sans helmets).

3. Walking up stairs. Since they drive on the opposite side of the road, I wasn’t sure if they then walk on the opposite side of the sidewalk, up stairs, in a hallway, etc. While this may seem like a minor issue, it has actually caused a few moments of confusion. I still have yet to figure it out.

4. Why the name “Mo” is so difficult. No matter how he says it, no one gets his name right immediately. Some still just cannot get it. Who knew there could be so many variations in pronunciation!

5. The bucket. When I first saw the large bucket in the shower, I thought maybe there wasn’t a drain and I needed to try to collect the water there. Then I saw the drain and realized how difficult catching the water would be, and decided that couldn’t be right. Then I thought maybe it was for filling with water so you could conserve water, but warm water only comes out of the shower part after you flip the water heater switch, and catching water from the shower was illogical. It would make sense to fill it from the lower tap, but that only seemed to have freezing water, so that didn’t make any sense either. Thinking I was the only one perplexed by the presence of the bucket, I mentioned it last night when Marla, Mo and I were at dinner. As soon as I brought it up, Mo started laughing hysterically, Marla and I looked at each other and burst out laughing, and none of us had any explanation for them.

Nairobi Orientation

Tuesday afternoon Marla and I travelled with Randie and another SOTENI intern who’s working in the Cincinnati office, Mark, to the Cincinnati airport. We spent the morning packing up the donations we would bring. We had a box filled with medical supplies (mostly sutures) and then boxes of papers for Marla’s research study. Every time we packed a bag or box we put it on top of a scale to make sure it was less than (or exactly) 50 pounds. Eventually we had to rearrange luggage and placement in order to fit the maximum amount of donations we could.

Our first trip to the check-in counter left us with this tally:
Box of medical supplies: 52 lbs.
Bag of documents/donations: 59 lbs.
My suitcase (actually my bag fit inside a larger suitcase so that we could fit more donations we needed to bring): 51 lbs.
Marla’s suitcase: 50 lbs.
Word from the check-in employees: No sympathy.

After cutting open the box to take out a few items, removing some donations from the document bag and taking out three SOTENI t-shirts from my bag, we made the limits. Of course, we didn’t want to waste any bag, so we stuffed everything we could in one of Marla’s carry-on bags. Good thing they don’t weigh carry-on, though, because we probably had as much stuff in our backpacks as in our checked luggage.

Total luggage:
Checked: 4 items
Carry-on: total of 5 laptops (going through security twice was absurd), to loaded backpacks, one duffle-like bag weighing about 8938 lbs that we could wheel on top of the laptop bag, and one plastic bag that originally only had snacks but soon accumulated one stolen airplane pillow and two similarly acquired blankets. Heck of a load.

The plane rides themselves were pretty uneventful. We did get to fly over the Alps and then Marla happened to open our window shade as we were crossing over the African border, which was pretty spectacular. Beyond that it was desert until we landed in Nairobi. Favorite quote from the plane ride: Danish safety talk – “High heels must be removed before exiting a plane in an emergency.”
After getting off the plane, filling out our swine flu form, and waiting in the visa line for a while as one family kept sneaking into the front of the line, we got to baggage claim. We had strategized this process and got two carts beforehand. We were pretty pleased with ourselves when we managed to get all of our luggage successfully. We pushed it all through customs (which meant passing our customs forms to a security guy who never looked at us as he spoke to another traveler), and met Edward, the Program Director.

We squeezed into a taxi, dropped our things off at the Ufungamano House and the SOTENI office, and went to Fiesta (an Italian restaurant, much to my surprise) for dinner. We had our first real miscommunication when we tried to ask the security guard at the Unfungamano House where the restrooms were, which he didn’t really know and thought we needed to shower and went off to find the answer. Turns out the bathrooms were in our rooms, we just hadn’t realized it yet. The same security guard, who was probably younger than I am, was kind enough to struggle to the third floor while carrying two of our suitcases. It was clear that they were very heavy, but he refused to let us lift either bag. It was after 11pm when we got back. Sleep was in order for sure.

We spent today in the SOTENI office where we met Marion, the Business Manager, and Edward again, and went through more information regarding the work we will be doing here. We went to lunch at mid-afternoon, which cost three of us approximately Ksh450 (Kenyan shillings) total, equivalent to approximately $5.76 (1USD=Ksh78). Pretty remarkable.

The only bad news so far (knock on wood) is that my cell phone and wallet were stolen sometime during our flights. Nairobi itself is pretty similar to most cities, although traffic is incredible. I’ve seen several traffic lights, and I think only one was operating and I’m pretty sure we went through it even though it was red. They also drive on the opposite side of the road, which has been a little unnerving so far! I’ll be in the city until Saturday, when Mo, another intern who got back from the village of Mbakalo today, will travel to Mituntu. We’ll be there for almost two weeks, and we’ll be staying with one of the village coordinators there.

If anyone’s interested in sending mail, you can send it to this address (it takes about 10 days to get here from the US):
c/o SOTENI KENYA
Grace Hyndman
P.O. Box 26412-00100
Nairobi, Kenya

Baadaye! (see you later!) (I’m sitting next to a Swahili dictionary…)

Cincinnati Orientation

After spending the weekend with my Mom visiting my grandmother and some of my Mom's friends in the Cincinnati area, I started orientation yesterday. I arrived at 9:30 in the morning at Randie's house (Randie is the Director of SOTENI) where I met Marla, my traveling partner. We spent the day there learning about culture, history and life in Kenya, SOTENI's projects, safety, etc. We had lunch with Patrick, a native Kenyan involved with SOTENI who is now living in the US and working as a social worker. He gave us some insider tips and perspectives on the educational systems and the attitudes and lifestyles of Kenyan students.

At the end of the day, Marla and I headed to the Wulsin's (Vic Wulsin is the SOTENI founder), where we spent the evening with Vic's parents, Betty and Howard. They were fantastic and we spent most of the evening listening to their stories from visiting Kenya and talking about our plans for the next two months. They had some great stories, which of course I can't remember right now, but they were hilarious.

Today we spent a long time at the SOTENI office getting caught up on the villages we'll visit and programs we'll be working on. We practiced doing an HIV/AIDS presentation, enjoyed some of Cincinnati's finest Skyline chili spaghetti, and spent a loooong time printing documents for Marla's research study (Marla's a student at Tufts who's leading trying to determine the efficacy of SOTENI's AIDS education program). It was a long day but I'm feeling much more prepared for hitting (gently, I hope) the ground in Kenya on Wednesday.

Tomorrow we'll head to the office early with our luggage, we'll pack up the bags of donations, which will include primarily medical supplies on this trip, and we'll finish up any last-minute stuff. Then off to the airport and a bagillion hours later, after passing through the lovely Detroit and then the promiscuous Amsterdam, we'll hopefully arrive in Nairobi.

So that was a very boring update, and I'll try to work on spicing it up in the future (although hopefully the trip itself won't be too spicy...).

Gettin' Ready!

So here I am on the east coast of the US ready (almost) to head to the east coast of Africa for the summer. I am preparing to work as an intern with SOTENI, an organization dedicated to mitigating the AIDS/HIV crisis through education, treatment and community development in Kenya. I was lucky enough to receive a grant from Bowdoin's Preston Public Interest Career Fund that's helping me cover the costs of this trip, and I am very thankful for that support.

Today's my last full day in Maine before I take off to begin this adventure. Tomorrow I'll fly to Cincinnati, where SOTENI's US office is located. On Sunday morning I'll head to the SOTENI director's house to begin orientation with another intern. After three days of learning about the organization, our projects and Kenyan culture and history, we'll head to Nairobi. Once there, we'll go through our Kenyan orientation and begin our work. There are various ongoing projects now, and I will travel to different "Villages of Hope" to work on them.

To learn more about the organization and its goals, check out its website at http://www.soteni.org/.

Feel free to post messages here - I'll be sure to read them (assuming I have internet/battery power/electricity...)!