Kadzinuni Library Opens

My goal was to open the library, with a marginal amount of books, by the first of December. The Kenyan school are closed for the entire month and I decided it was appropriate to open by the first no matter what. I am including photos here - as you can see, we have plenty of shelves to fill. I am still working on finding a reasonable way to have books sent here. The children helped me clean the room and I have been pleased with the number who have returned to read anc check out a book.

It has been impossibly hot here and I really don't get much done during the day. I am glad to just hang out in the library!

More Peace Corps Training

Dear Friends;

This blog entry finds me in Nairobi for more Peace Corps training. So for the past week I have been living with running water, sometimes hot water, electricity and free wireless internet. I also have a TV and feel a bit more current on what is going on outside my world. Some of the news I would rather not be aware of! PLEASE, no one send a copy of Sarah Palin's book for the Kadzinuni library!

Before my arrival here in Nairobi, it was extremely hot on the coast. I don't think I have ever lived in heat and humidity like we were having. Nairobi is much cooler and it is nice to have a break from that heat. I will be returning to Kadzinuni this coming Sunday (Nov. 22nd) and sure hope that the heat wave has passed.

Our training here has focused on how to effectively convey public health messages in our sites. There are numerous obstacles: traditions and religious beliefs, witch healers, poverty and lack of education, suspicion of outsiders----the list goes on. We are constantly encouraged to interact with community members. I think I get a star in that area; I think most people in Kadzinuni know who I am and most greet me by my name. They have quit just calling me "mzungu" (white person). Before I left for Nairobi, I was pleased by the number of adults coming up to me and expressing excitement over the library opening. I have no idea of what the average reading level among adults is but I will probably soon find out.

I am including a random selection of photos of some of my Kenyan friends. I am so proud of many of the young people I meet. Despite grim family and financial situations, they seem so focused on getting an education. Also, it is common to have a wide age range in any given class. Children are often held back from going to school; they are needed to work in family farms or care for younger children. At the primary school by my home, I see teens that appear to easily be 16 -18 and they are in the 7th grade. Here is a slice of Kenyan life for elementary aged children: they are required to help gather fire wood that is used to cook a very simple lunch for them each school day. One morning I looked out and there were several children, high up in a tree, wildly swinging their pangas (very long, thick knives that are used in farming, etc.) to chop off large branches of the tree. My mind went back to all the safety regulations for American schools; I wish I had a picture to show you.

This entry looks weird I know; just haven't mastered blogging yet. But I wanted to add a lot of pictures since I have free wireless internet. So the following is a list of picture titles, starting at the top and going left to right:

1. view from my front door
2. my good friend Victor who is hoping to get into a good high school next year. he is an orphan who lives in his own house but within a very loving village
3. part of the path I walk down to get to the paved highway
4. the primary school RIGHT behind my house
5. the dispensary RIGHT next to my house (I live in a fish bowl)
6. a view of a nearby resort where I can go to relax
7. my friend Nimrod who is about to finish high school (he attends a private boarding school, common for those who can afford it) he hopes to go onto college to study agriculture
8. baobob trees
9. my home!
10. a family of friends
11. my best friend Ibrahim with his two nephews - their mother died last year so they are cared for by Ibrahim's mother and whoever else is available
    

That is it for now. I hope I am able to artistically place photos and wrap the text around them all fancy like for my next entry!!

Settling in to Kadzinuni

I have been here over 2 months and feel like I have settled in. I have my house completely furnished now and feel quite comfortable. I finally decided I just had to purchase a comfortable chair as I have so much time in the evening to read. Now getting furniture up to my home is no small endeavor. I bought the chair along side the road near Mombasa. I got the seller to carry the chair across a very busy and dangerous highway where I stood in the dirt for sometime before finding a matatu that would transport myself and the chair. Ofcourse the tout tried to over charge me but they get all flustered when you can argue with them in kiswahili. OK, the chair is tied onto the back of the matatu and off we go. When I arrive at my stop, the chair is untied and loaded onto a motorcycle and driven up a steep and bumpy dirt road. It did arrive in good shape and I am very pleased. Am currently reading The Bone Setters Daughter and Abraham Lincoln (by Carl Sandburg). Also have numerous New Yorkers by my bed.

I am slowly developing a social life! I have several Kenyan friends; tonight I went to a soccer game in a nearby village. Very competitive these Kenyans! I also joined a bunch of other Peace Corps volunteers for a weekend party. Despite the fact that I was the only person over the age of 30, I had lots of fun.

I am learning to dispense medications at the health center. I am discovering that although I do not find the mosquites a problem, many people are coming down with malaria. The incidence of HIV is low but there is no way of knowing for sure since most people haven't been tested. The stigma attached to being HIV positive is huge and many ignorant people choose not to be tested.

We had some incredible rains this past week but now the weather has turned back to dryness. Most people at Kadzinuni have their own shamba (small farm) and totally depend on it to provide their own family with food. If the rains don't come, this area will be in a dire situation.
The public water faucets I have mentioned before are managed by the government and they often choose to turn the water off!! Also, have a habit of turning it on only during the very early morning hours. So, I often wake up to the sound of women carrying 20 liter water cans on their heads at 1am and this done without any light!

The pictures I am including here have titles (sorry, I haven't figured out how to put the title right with the photo): children with their babies: man fetching palm juice for this disgusting palm wine they make and drink constantly: book club time at Kadzinuni.

I have had numerous responses to the article in the Mammoth Times about my need for book donations for the Kadzinuni library. I have even received a very generous donation from a Mammoth resident to help cover shipping costs of the books. Besides all the local donations, I currently have a box being sent from a non-profit group in Darien, Co. Am hoping the Kenyan customs fees aren't too outrageous.

More to follow - and in less than a full month this time!

Beginning Projects at Kadzinuni

Dear Friends;

I am slowly beginning to do some work! I held my first community meeting this past Thursday. Hum ----it didn't turn out as planned but this is Kenya. I prepared for the meeting by making some posters and taking them around to several of the villages. I nailed them up to the sides of several mud dukas (very small shops) and hoped it wouldn't rain. Well, ofcourse it rained and blew and two days later, not a one was still in place. On Monday while walking thru a village, a small child proudly ran up to me with a poster that she had rescued from the rain. No way was she giving it back to me ----well, despite all, 92 people showed up for the meeting which was truly an amazing turn out. I expect they mostly just wanted to see what the white woman was up to. The agenda was to allow me to listen to residents talk about their community needs. Well, the sub-district chief didn't tell me that he was expecting to come and hold a 2 hour meeting before letting me take center stage. Also, we waited an hour and a half for people to arrive. The few folks who arrived on time certainly didn't seem bothered by the wait! Get this - the outdoor meeting area (see picture attached here) was RIGHT next to the primary school. So, after waiting a half hour, the chief had the head master of the school send all the kids home to get their parents to attend the meeting -----the school has 1000 students!! So now, children are running everywhere; I'm not sure just how many of them made it home. Some of the students live a 45 minute walk from the school! But, I must admit,more people did show up.

So what community needs did they mention? Most of them centered around the lack of water and the unreliability of the system. There are community "faucets" that give out treated water but the people have to pay for the water. There are very few free locations for water. One woman wanted a community bank and the local drama enthusiast wanted a stage for productions.

I would like to mention the fact that I am going to be reopenning the Kadzinuni library and will be asking for book donations. I am especially wanting stuff appropriate for early teen girls. Remember, these children are taught all subjects in English. All the books currently here were donated by a British family who funded the construction of the health clinic; actually, it is a dispensary. Nothing too racy for any age group; there are many muslims here and other religions are well represented also; very conservative.

Comments on the photos attached here: the chameleon was right outside my door! They have eyes that rotate 360 degrees. The small boy beside the small house ---why that is nine year old Davis who told his Dad he wanted to build his own house! The Muslim girls are right outside the door of the library ---they are excited about the prospect of it reopenning! And then a shot of my first community meeting.

Bye for now ---Mary

Trip to Mombasa and More

Hello Friends! I have become friends with the nurse here at the health clinic and she and her boyfriend and daughter took me into Mombasa for the day this past Saturday. Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya and has gotten a lot of press in the past year. Mombasa has a big port and it is where a couple of the pirated ships have finally come to shore. Mombasa is a big, noisey, dirty, congested city but is in a beautiful location. For our day in the city, we visited an historic site; a fort built by the Portuguese in 1537. Very well preserved - see photos below and yes, the black people are my Kenyan friends! Also, here is a photo of a mud house in it's early construction stage. I will follow this house along and post a series of photos when it is completed. This will help you really visualize what a mud house is. You know we are predicted to begin an El Nino cycle starting at the end of this month. I have heard that during the rainy season some of these mud houses colapse!

I am currently organizing a community meeting; I have the task of writing a community needs accessment report so will have this meeting to solicite comments from the public. And, wow, what a public I may have in attendance. It will no doubt range from the illiterate to the college educated. Also, the meeting will be held outside in their usual meeting place ("under the big mango tree") and flip charts are unknown here and it likely will be windy. I will give you an update on this event after it takes place. I ofcourse will have an interpreter ---my kiswalhili has sort of stalled in its progress. I can speak, really I can, but I have a very hard time understanding people and have just become aware of the local dialet which is different from what I studied in Loittokitok. Oh ---would someone send me Karen Ingram's e-mail ----Steve actually lived in Loittokitok when he was a teenager.

Here are photos: Fort Jesus & Friends; random shots around where I live featuring shots of the sisal plantation that surrounds this area; and the first in the series on mud house construction.

Until next time -----

Fetching water at Kadzinuni

Today's topic is fetching water. Now, since I am such a princess, I only have to walk outside with a bucket, go about 15 yards, and turn on a faucet. The water I get is rain water stored in a large tank. I treat the water with a product called "PUR" and it is truly amazing to see all the stuff that settles to the bottom after treatment. The water looks so clean coming out of the tap! I have only been sick once, a brief one day thing, but I am very careful in how I treat my drinking water and also VERY careful to always have my own drinking water with me wherever I go.

So - the photos here show my new friend, Clara, and how she fetchs water, EVERYDAY! She has told me that young girls, by the age of 5 or 6, begin training in carrying just about anything and everything on their heads. I have tried several times, with different items, draws lots of laughter from the women!

Here are a few snipets from my life here:

I have been invited to a dinner of roasted field mice. Can you guess my response?
I saw several women with plastic 50 gallon drums on their heads, WALKING UP HILL.
Today I was asked over 20 times, "Where are you going?"
There is something alive in my house that sort of looks like a small lizard.
I went to a very upscale Kenyan wedding and the wedding party consisted on 19 people,not counting the bride and groom.

I will close for now. Next time I may even include a video of the inside of my house. Also, hope to have a shot of the Kenyan men climbing the coconut trees to collect the coconuts for their disgusting coconot wine.

A day in my life at Kadzinuni

I will give you an idea of what my daily routine looks like for now. The sun rises over the Indian Ocean and I get up around 6:30 and have a great cup of coffee (coffee sent to me from Stellar Brew in Mammoth, it may have originally come from Kenya, who knows - have finally found great coffee I can purchase here). I fix breakfast on my trusty kerosene stove - clean up - and then head next door to the health clinic. I am currently assisting with weighing babies. People begin lining up on the clinic porch around 7am. The clinic serves the 20 villages in Kadzinuni, with a population of around 7000. If the day isn't busy, I wander around the villages meeting people or I wash my clothes (by hand in cold water) or I study more kiswahili. I have a Community Needs Assessment report to complete by the end of October and to be ready to turn into Peace Corps. So, I am beginning to think about getting started on that project. I take a vigorous walk from around 5 - 6:30 and then return home. The sun sets around 6:45 and since no one has electricity up here, it gets dark quickly. I fire up my kerosene lantern, cook dinner and then e-mail if my laptop battery is charged up. I read some and then call it a day!

I attended a Kenyan funeral this weekend and here are some photos. You can get a clear idea of what the houses look like from these photos. It was so weird at the funeral - some family members came in cars and they just drove right on the dirt paths ----there are no real roads, except the one to the health clinic. The 20 villages are just connected by foot paths. It is rather charming! Now at night I can hear traffic on the tarmac road below where I live. So when I go into Mombasa, I walk for about 1/2 hour downhill and then get a matatu. I will describe this mode of transportation another time, just let me say for now that they don't use seat belts in Kenay! Pray for me please!

Here are photos!

Well, I think I forgot how to enter photos - hope I am successful this time. Am including a few from my time in Loittokitok.

News Update as of August 4th

Dear Friends, After two rather long and arduous months of Peace Corps training, I am now all settled into my work site. First a few words on Peace Corps training ------it was tedious being with so many young people just out of college. They would interrupt the instructors, laugh outragiously at things that really weren't that funny and drink beer every night (OK, that last comment isn't really a complaint! I DID occassionally join them for a Kenyan Tusker brew).
There were six of us "seniors" in the group and only one of them was a beer drinker, so I did have to join the youngsters at times.

The training itself was good but long and gosh, it had been so long since I had to attend classes! We were in class from 8am till 4 or 5pm everyday. The language instruction was so intense - I finally did pass. I am now speaking kiswahili everyday ----had to stand in front of hundreds of school kids and introduce myself. They understood me!! I need to greatly improve my kiswahili but am hoping it will come along as I have to use it constanty. I can tell you a lot about HIV in kiswahili.

The training was in a "town" at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. That view was spectacular but the town itself is covered in plastic bags stuck in bushes and other trash everywhere. Some PC volunteer needs to have a town clean up day for them. I lived with a host family that was interesting but, like being in class all day with younger people, living with a family is something I hadn't done in years. I was thrilled when the two months ended.

I am now living at my permanent work site for the next two years. Pity me ---I am right on the coast of Eastern Kenya, slightly north of Mombasa (of pirate fame). I live up a "sort of" dirt road, about 2.5 miles off of a paved road. I live in a cement block house, no electricity or running water, but the house is just fine. The roof is metal and doesn't leak! I am right next to a health clinic that I work with. But other than these two buildings, I am surrounded by mud huts. The villagers are quite poor but extremely friendly and happy to see me. As I walk around the villages (there are several separate villages up here but within sight of eachother - most of the villagers are from the same tribe) the children scream out my name. I am teaching them to call me Mary rather than the ubiquitious chat of "Mzungu" - white person.

It is incredibly beautiful here. I am surrounded by baobob trees, coconut palms, a huge sisal plantation, banana trees, and a spectacular view of the Indian Ocean. The down side is that the two professional people who work at the clinic live outside the area. After 5pm everyday, it is just me and the villagers. It gets dark every night (year round) by 7pm - it is a good thing I can recharge my laptop at the clinic---blogging could become a big past time for me! I have a kerosene lantern and cook stove and am very glad I brought my solar shower. It is so hot (and it is winter here) that I don't even heat the water but it does allow me to shower.

I will close for now but check again in another week or so for pictures from my new home. For now, enjoy these few shots from around Loittokitok. Yes, that is me in the traditional Maasi dress - a gift from my host family. EVERY American said I looked like Pocohontas!

Friends - I am sending this first blog account from Philadelphia where I have been for the past two days - learning about what the Peace Corps expects and meeting the other 25 people in the Kenya group.  We all kept waiting for President Obama to arrive and wish us well on our travels, but he never showed up.  

The above photos are from my final days in the states.

This is a bit boring but I wanted to get something sent out before I leave the States.  I won't have internet access for at least a couple of months so wait till at least August to read an update.  

Kwa Heri  !

Mary