furaha

I'm writing this before the world here (the world I'm living in Lwala) wakes up, or gets out of bed, or leaves the tall sugar cane and maize canopies of their shambas (gardens). As I'm writing this, by the time I'm finished, the grounds staff will be slashing the grass, the clinic staff will all be up and looking "smart" (well-dressed/put together) and ready to work, there will be music coming from some obscure thatched-roof home, there will be the smell of fires cooking breads and warming tea...

My day yesterday was the type of day I've been needing... Like last sunday when the old man stopped me while I was on a walk and on the phone to give me two of his papaya and tried to talk (all while Aurelien was on the line!) But it was so much better than that!

First, we were supposed to go and visit 2 schools (the last schools to make the 10 we needed for the baseline surveys). The furthest school was almost a 2 hour walk and I was really not looking forward to it : / Austin came up to tell me he was sick and unable to go with Susan and I to the schools. I was secretly glad Austin wasn't coming because I was looking forward to having a good conversation with Susan!

It ended up that the ambulance was going into town for some repairs so we rode it to the first school, Tuk-Jowi. Tuk-Jowi had 700 students, 10 government-paid teachers and 5 or so PTA (paid by the parents) teachers. There were 2 latrines for girls and 2 for boys. I always feel conflicted going to these schools and meeting with the head teachers, collecting data on what always ends up being the poor state of water and sanitation and hygiene, asking to see the latrines and water sources... The only thing I can think to compare this to would be going to an old widow's run-down home, and asking her about the state of the home, why there haven't been repairs made, asking to see the cracks and the dirt and the archaic fridge/oven/toilet, taking pictures of it all, and just leaving. Luckily we've decided to do some follow ups with these schools so we're not JUST collecting data, hearing about the poor state of things, and then leaving!

Anyways, then we went to Oridi, another local school about 45 mins from Tuk-Jowi! Unfortunately I slipped and fell on our way their and Susan forgot her bag at the school so we had to turn around about 15 mins in, and then keep on with our trek. Oridi is a little smaller, about 400 students, and when we arrived at the school the kids had already been let our for tea/lunch. A lot of the children, especially the younger ones, were still around the school (I guess they're sent with lunch since their total school day ends a few hours earlier than the older children.) They kept saying to me "picha picha, muzungu how are you muzungu how are you muzungu how are you" and "I am fine thank you" I decided after several minutes of high-5's and this same "how are you- I am fine thank you" it would be fun to play a game with the kids. I asked the head teacher and he was enthusiastic about the idea so we proceeded to teach the kids "duck duck goose" but with th'luo words. In a matter of minutes there were probably a hundred kids around the circle, shouting and laughing and cheering on their fellow students. Needless to say, it was a blast. One of the other interns, Tina, is going to go back with me on Monday to play more : )

After leaving Oridi we rushed back to Lwala (another long walk) and had some rice and kale for lunch- easily my favorite meal here (other than chapati!) We left for Minyenya Primary at 2pm to hold the weekly health club meeting : )

Walking around here is one of the best ways to fall in love with Kenya and with the people. Susan decided to take us on a "short cut" to Minyenya which meant walking on narrow dirt paths, weaving through shambas of maize and under canopies of sugar cane, and jumping over creeks and streams. Walking through these narrow paths, the air is infused with scents; a mixture of flowers and dirt and herbs and green. Its the best smell; a scent from nature that you could never attempt to bottle up and sell in stores. All along the way we passed people who expected to be greeted, to hear where we were coming from, where we were going, why we were going there, and of course to test me on my knowledge of the language. People here will welcome you, verbally, through hand signals, any way possible, to come into their homes, meet their families, see their shambas, try their prized crop, and call you a friend. Its beautiful.

It goes without saying that I treasure these walks and these people. When we finally get to Minyenya, we have a successful healthclub meeting! We make a schedule for daily latrine-cleaning and we made tippy taps! The kids brought their own jerry cans and sessile rope (from this cool plant that looks like a bigger version of the top of a pineapple) and so we were able to make a lot!! Minyenya will now have handwashing! The kids were hilarious. They've got that "too cool for school" 'tude going and its great. The health club kids are warming up to us- you can tell they like showing us what they've learned, but they look to their classmates for approval and laugh AT us more than WITH us. They font have to like me... I like them : )

Just as we're leaving Minyenya, the afternoon rain comes. It hasn't rained all week so this rain is hard and heavy and doesn't stop for 45 mins! By the time we leave (430) its already the time when I was supposed to be meeting with the town WASH committee (participants from the prior training). I felt bad because I knew a lot of them walked a far way to attend our meeting and I was at least a 45 minute walk away! Susan and I decided to take the shortcut to speed up the trip. This was a terrible idea! The mud was extremely slippery and I fell so many times, grabbing for maize stalks and sugar cane and cassava branches or anything, but with no success! We finally got to a river to wash off but my dress was covered in mud. When we got to the main road and began crossing paths with everyone headed home from the shamba or the market or the clinic, everyone wanted to know why I was covered in mud. They were mad at Susan for taking me on the short-cut but at the end of every conversation there was just a big laugh about the whole incident of us rushing and it raining and me falling and that we'd walked for about 4 hrs already that day.

Susan and I had the most incredible conversations the whole day. We talked about serious things and we talked about funny things... We laughed and laughed and laughed as she asked me about America and I asked her about her views on several controversial topics. She told me about her heartbreak upon getting pregnant at the age of 19 and moving back home just 2 weeks into college. This is a woman who is strong and wise and responsible, yet gentle and humble... She's experienced more in her 21 yrs of life than I may ever experience. And she was most interested in asking me about my boyfriend, about my life at school, and what I knew about family planning. She told me that she loves me because I laugh so much- I laugh when I fall. She provided me with enough solid, deep conversation and genuine happiness to last me for weeks.

We finally got to the church where we were to meet with the WASH committee and sure enough, no one was there. Just as we went separate ways, back to our homes, dirty and wet and exhausted, I saw this little boy who is the son of a woman from the WASH training. I had gone last weekend to visit the woman, Leah, in her home, and to take her a Papaya that was given to me by the old man I met the day before. She wasn't home when I went, but I got a chance to meet her family and the people in her compound (lots of times houses here are in groups and hers is in a big group). Her son and his friends grabbed my arms and were saying "how are you, how are you, how are you" with their adorable kenyan accents, as they led me toward Leahs house.

I walked into her house with them and set down in one of the chairs in her lovely house : ) I tried to play with the kids- tickling them and joking with them and they were soooo precious! Finally Leah came, with another woman from the training, Elizabeth. She made the kids leave and we sat around and talked and she scurried between the kitchen and the living area. She went into the kitchen and came out with a plate of avacado, cut into fourths (from her garden) and a plate of hot, whole sweet potatoes (from her garden) and a cup of hot milk (from her cow). It was by far the best thing I've eaten here... Simple but delicious. Over the amazing food, we talked about HIV and TB and about her family. We talked about struggles and joys and she proudly told me about how she's been telling everyone about WASH and how she has made plans to do a training at her church and a training with the women's group that meets monthly at her house! We had an amazing time talking- she made me feel so at home in her house. At one point she said "when people have a friend over they want to give them something nice. When I saw you were here I thought 'I don't have anything beautiful enough for hannah,' but then I decided 'I'll give her what I have!'" The Avacado and sweet potato and milk were perfect. The kenyans who have invited me into their homes have shown me such a good example of how we should take in guests, greet strangers with open arms, and be gracious enough to give them whatever we have. That sense of friendship and community that is extended to everyone, inclusive to all, is something very beautiful.

As if the day couldn't have gotten better, we taught Jielle how to make grilled cheese sandwiches (the second day of our deliberate experiment to learn to cook eachother's favorite foods- kenyan and american- she taught me chapati yesterday). She went to the supermarket with a list of ingredients for grilled cheese, pizza, stir fry, and eggplant parmesan. she returned with broccoli, soy sauce, eggplant, bread crumbs, tomato paste, and cucumbers, all of which she's never tried!! I'm so excited to cook with her!!

Finally, the day ended with an incredible phone conversation with Aurelien. I never expected we'd be able to talk so much, but between gchat, email, and calling cards we've talked almost every day. He is such a great listener, giver-of-advice, encyclopedia of knowledge about basically any question you could ever have, and on top of all that, he's incredibly supportive of my wanderlust and really appreciates me for the person I am, flaws and all!

To top it off, my beloved family seem to be doing great- dad is recovering well, mom's attitude is phenomenal, and Kaitlin seems to be really happy!

I hope everyone back home is doing great! I'm sure summer is perfect (much needed) change for everyone- whether its a change in place, in routine, or just a change in feeling! There's nothing like that hot, heavy summer heat, warm nights, watermelon, peaches, and lazy summer weekends : )

I have a lot to write, it's been a very exciting week, but should save this post for info about the project!! This week (and for the rest of the summer) Austin and I have suddenly stumbled upon/worked out a huge list of things to do! We're both really excited about it:
1. Applying for a 25,000 dollar wat/san grant. This will fund water and sanitation projects from rainwater catchment to latrines to WASH education in 4 community centers (the clinic and 3 schools). This is SOOO very exciting- the kind of work I see myself doing for a substantial portion of my life!! So now we're compiling info from every possible source- surveys, clinic history, oral history, etc to try to get some good baseline info to use. We're also looking up cost-effectiveness, availability, sustainability, etc etc of different interventions from education to rainwater catchment to biosand filtration to VIP latrines. We're calling all possible resources/experts to try to plan these projects so that we can apply for funding for them!! I feel SO thankful for the water policy class I took this semester. Never in a million years did I think I would be using Dr. Whittington's infinite knowledge (well not this soon!!!) but it's really been useful!
2. Health clubs at Minyenya and Lwala primary schools. This is a follow up from the training last week since the participants were teachers, parents, and community members from these two schools. We started these this week and it was sooo much fun!
3. Follow up with participants from the last training- this is almost like a health club but with adults! From this group we're hoping to possibly start the soap-making group!! They're also hiring a public health worker from the community (prob someone who has completeled secondary school but needs money to go on to college) who will work alongside Austin and I on all of these things in hopes that this will make our projects more sustainable and ensure that the work is continued after we leave. This person will have a salary of about 50$/month (which is a pretty average salary here) to put towards University AND this will give the person a better chance of recieveing a scholarship from the Lwala Village Development Committee (a group of Lwala-ers who give scholarships for high school, make decisions on behalf of the community for various projects, etc.
4. Baseline surveys and tippy taps at 8 other nearby schools- one of the staff, Susan Ocof, is helping us with this- she's awesome so I'm excited to get to know her better walking around the beautiful western Kenyan landscape (Ive never seen a place SO green!! in search of this info)
5. Mobilizing Kamije and Katianga for the training to take place July 13-16th at these schools/communities.
6. WASH education at the clinic
7. Designing a flier with "quick facts" about WASH such as diff facts about the SODIS method of disinfection, cost of latrines, 6 steps of handwashing, local potable water sources, etc. Interestingly, this will be in English bc apparently more people can read English than Luo.
8. Completed WASH training at Lwala and Minyenya (I learned and Laughed more in these 4 days than i have in a while!!)

More silly stories to come soon!!

ps: most Kenyans pronounce Feces (fisheys) and soap (shoap) Imagine how hilarious this is during a WASH training. haaaaa!!!

the start of something great

Oyaore (good morning) from Lwala! Its been about a week since I left the US for this beautiful country that has held a big piece of my heart for the past 4 or so years. Its incredible to me that in just 4 flights and about 24 hrs, anyone can be tossed from the US with electriicity, toilets, being the majority, variety in food, fast food, highways, cold drinks, computers, etc... To a place with no electricity, a rectangle in the floor to use as a toilet, no refrigeration, and basically everything you would see in a national geographic magazine. I've been to Kenya before but I think I was probably the most culture shocked this time... Maybe because after spending the last 3 years in school working for a development project in Kneya (very close to where I am now) and taking classes on public health, global issues, etc, I feel overwhelmed by the size of it all. That being said, there is a palpable feeling in Kenya of strength in mind and body yet a light-spiritness, and tremendous joy (furaha) yet calm contentment. These things can't be pictured in a photostory and they're the aspects of Kenya that I think will create the change in Kenya that Kenyans want. This week has been a blur! Its been incredible. The beginning of the week I spent meeting people in the village (its very rural here) and learning some of the language and helping out in the clinic wheereever I was needed. Elizabeth, the water sanitation and hygiene expert Austin and I are working with arrived Friday and we've spent every second since planning our education and research program (to start monday!) We'll be working at 8-10 schools doing a survey on current resources and practices and following it with a series of a 4-day, all-day training program where we'll train 10 reps from each school (each representing a different community). We'll have about 20 participants at each training (2 schools/communities at a time) and we'll be doing a participatory type of education where they, the participants, design the program based on what the feel is most feasible and preferable for their community. We'll be ending each training by starting a health club at each school where they can make handsoap, tippytaps, latrine patrol, etc and mobilize their school to create changes for themsel
ves. We might also do a training of the trainers type thing so certain ppl who are really excited and motivated can train others in the future. I'm also trying to think of some kind of business that can work here and in the US to empower the impverished in both places and provide a means to make more capital in both : ) its important to say, I am incredibly impressed by Lwala Community Alliance. The clinic and the work they've done for the community is beautiful. They serve about 1200 patients a month and there are no other clinics for these people. The brothers, Fred and Milton Ochieng, are so compassionate, intelligent, and loyal to their home community of Lwala. Only Kenyan staff are employed in Kenya, and the very few people who lead the group commit themselvees fully to their work... They do a lot with a little! The clinic is expanding to add a maternity ward (there have been 5 births in the past week and a half!) And you should look into helping them out financially! Lwalacommunityalliance.org! Finally, I have the overwhelming feeling of how blessed I am... In a narrow sense, blessed that I am here and enjoying it so much and that I have a community in the US that I love and appreciate and where I am loved, and further that I can communicate with them bc technology is so amazing that I'm living in a house without electricity, with a hole in the ground to use as a toilet, and I'm online on my blackberry. But more then all that, I feel so grateful for everything I have... Guilty maybe sometimes, but incredibly grateful that I was born in the US and that my day to day reality is soooo different from that of anywhere here. I can get on a plane and leave at any time and return to my life with hot showers and crepes and salad and equal rights with men and quality affordable education, but for all the people I meet here, this is their life, this is their escape. Not only does it make me feel thankful and blessed, it motivates me to spend all my time and thoughts on changing their reality (the way they want it to change) because they have just as much grace and blessing but are somehow stuck in this reality. Don't get me wrong, kenya is beautiful and the people are so intelligent and kind and vibrant... but some of their reality is completely unjust. Keep thinking of ways to inspire big change in the sheer poverty in kenya : )