Asante and Kwaheri

Well, there are many more stories to tell but I have to cut it off at some point and after more than a week at home I think I’m ready. This is the final entry for Erin In Kenya.

Someone recently asked me how my holiday was. This question perplexed me as I certainly wouldn’t consider my experience in Kenya a holiday. But after some reflection I realized that for someone following my blog it might appear that way. I definitely have a tendency to focus on the positive in life so the blog is more of a “best of” chronicle than a comprehensive description of my experience in Kenya. So I apologize to my readers for not painting a more accurate picture of my volunteer experience but I just can’t help myself :) Thanks to all of you for reading my stories and e-mailing me over the past 6 months. This blog has been a great way to stay in touch and a nice release for me when work got too intense.

During my 6 months in Gatura I was incredibly lucky to have a satisfying work experience, make some great friends, and live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I was there to contribute my skills and knowledge but I learned plenty myself in the process. I think the most life-changing skill I learned was the tendency to laugh, smile, and find enjoyment at work. For whatever reason it always seems easier to do that at home but Kenya taught me that work doesn’t need to be nearly as frustrating as most of us make it out to be. Maybe it has made me a tiny bit lazier but I like the attitude we have in Kenya of not getting upset when something doesn’t go how we expected (because things rarely go as planned) but adapting and enjoying whatever happens if we can.

Being back in Vancouver feels a bit strange but I’m settling back in. All the Olympics construction was finished during my absence and the city looks amazing. Plus it’s my favorite time of year in Vancouver when there is still snow on the mountaintops but the weather is sunny and warm from where I sit admiring them. Stephen made it through my absence but I’m a bit surprised he didn’t die in a fire from not emptying the lint filter in the dryer for 6 months or eating expired food as I recognized most of the contents of the fridge from before I left. I also found his Halloween costume still in the laundry... But we both did survive the 6 month separation and though we are grateful for my experience in Kenya we don’t think we’d like to be apart for that long ever again!

As for the future, I’m not sure what it holds for me. I don’t have any plans just yet but I now have my Canadian residency so I guess the possibilities are endless!

Thanks for sharing Erin In Kenya with me.

Cheers,

Erin B.

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My final project for Gatanga Kiiga was to create a website which you can check out at http://gatangakiiga.wordpress.com  I haven't proofread or tagged it yet and there are still some more adjustments I'd like to make but any feedback you have is appreciated. The site is designed for donors to learn more about the organization.

New Digs

Lucky for me VSO managed to coordinate my replacement volunteer before I left. Kirsteen joined me in Gatura a week before my scheduled departure so I had a chance to show her the ropes and pass my unfinished projects on to her. It was perfect for all involved. Kirsteen got to be gradually eased into her new position, Francis got to make the transition of having someone new in the office before I was gone, and I got the peace of mind that comes with trusting the capabilities of your successor.

It was a typical crazy hectic work week and I found myself wishing Kirsteen had been with me all along so we could have gotten twice as much accomplished. There is so much untapped potential still remaining at GKHBC that it is very hard for me to walk away from this project after only 6 months. But it helps knowing Kirsteen will be there to continue the work (and keep me posted through e-mail).

But there is absolutely never a dull moment at GKHBC and on Kirsteen’s first day Francis decided that we needed to move the office to a new location...by the end of the week. The landlord had locked us out of our toilets (again) and Francis had enough. I completely agree with his decision to find a new space as we had several issues with that landlord but I was a bit nervous that he promised the landlord we would be out within the week. We talked him out of a completely new town and convinced him that any office involving a new landlord would do the trick. We then spent a good chunk of time that last week looking for offices and found one on Friday that we liked and had cheaper rent than our current office.

I needed to do an exit interview with VSO Monday morning and Kirsteen would be moving all her things from Nairobi that same day so we had made plans to meet up with some other volunteers over the weekend in Nairobi so we left town not knowing what exactly we would come home to.

Francis kept Kirsteen and I updated with texts during the weekend and when we arrived at work on Monday afternoon we had a new office complete with a new desk and room divider Francis had built and a sign that had been painted on the wall outside. He is a whirlwind of activity and there is no possible way to keep up with him. Fortunately one of my last tasks was to hire a new office manager who started the day I left. Between her and Kirsteen they should be able to keep tabs on the frenzy of action that is Francis and keep him somewhat in check. GKHBC could never exist without his incredible energy and it continually amazes me.

Il Ngwesi

I thought my free high-end vacations were over when Amanda quit her job with the luxury real estate magazine but I’ve managed to eke out one more. One of the volunteers is placed at a Masai lodge helping them with a website and marketing. The lodge is owned by the Masai people and proceeds benefit their local community. Money goes to conservation, water projects, education, small business development, etc. So you can really feel good about staying at this place...except that it is a bit too spendy for me so when Carter invited some volunteers to stay the weekend at a super VSO price I was thrilled.

The lodge is located on Lewa Conservancy near Mount Kenya. The weekend started with the 4-hour drive from Nanyuki to the lodge, 2 hours of which was through the conservancy so we saw tons of animals. One of our first spots was some cheetahs eating a zebra. I don’t know why I’m so macabre on safari but Stephen refers to this type of sighting as “sports action” and he’s absolutely right. It’s quite exciting to see wild animals in action.


When we arrived at the lodge we were greeted by some singing and dancing by the staff. The Masai have done an amazing job of maintaining their unique culture and they still wear traditional clothes, carry spears, and live in traditional huts. While they value their culture they are also keen to be a part of the ever changing world they live in and seem to have struck that almost unachievable balance between tradition and progress. This is the only reason an experience like Il Ngwesi is even possible. I don’t know about most people but if I know people are performing for me I feel a bit of a voyeur. But at Il Ngwesi you know that when these people go home they are wearing the same clothing and dancing and singing to welcome visitors into their own homes. The scenery, wildlife and accommodations were incredible but for me the best part of the experience was the opportunity to share in the Masai culture rather than just observing it as an outsider.

I think the Masai are a true inspiration to cultures everywhere and they prove that quality of life can be improved through progress without abandoning culture.  I was happy to see a couple of women on staff and although they were a definite minority I think their mere presence shows the Masai are open to new ideas and a new definition of human rights. I suppose what I admire most is the Masai’s ability to distinguish between the parts of their culture that need to be changed because they were discriminating against certain members of the tribe and parts of the culture that aren’t harming anyone and can be maintained. I like their flexibility.

But back to the lodge. It was probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever stayed (and keep in mind Amanda has taken me to some incredible destinations so my bar is sky high). The lodge is set on the side of a mountain and you can’t see another light even with binos. There are very few walls so there is a thatched roof over your head at all times but even sitting on the toilet there might be nothing between you and the incredible view. And the views are fantastic. From my bedroom and my outdoor shower I could view an idyllic elephant watering hole. Unfortunately no elephants showed up during my stay but plenty of giant birds made their appearance. My bedroom was another work of art.  I got to stay in the bed that Prince William stayed in when he visited.  I wish Stacey could have been with me :) At night the bed rolled out onto the terrace and I could sleep under the thousands of stars littering the sky.

The weekend was too much fun and I felt extremely spoiled the whole time. We went on a bush walk, splashed about in the infinity pool, and ate delicious food. The staff completely spoiled us and slaughtered a goat for us the last night and baked us a cake.  That night there was also some amazing singing and dancing. Each person has a different sound and they blend together to sound like actual musical instruments. I could swear there were drums somewhere if I couldn’t see with my own eyes that no one had any instruments. And the dancing! I could really get into that kind of dancing. It mostly consisted of very pogo stick style jumping but it was quite graceful. I’m not sure if it’s because we were friends of their volunteer and they felt more comfortable or they do it this way with all their guests but they seemed to be having a blast. They would stop mid-song and crack up laughing and challenge each other to the jumping dance teasing the manager as he was obviously not quite as fit as some of the others.

This is the view from the toilet.

 

The ride out was another mini-safari and we saw herds of baboons, ostrich, elephants, giraffe, warthog, dik diks, and others. If you find yourself in Kenya and can afford the stay I would highly recommend Il Ngewsi as the perfect way to experience the natural beauty of Kenya and the unique culture of the Masai. http://ilngwesi.com/

Kids and Kiondos

One of my last days before my replacement showed up I had an interesting/depressing/uplifting day of work. The work days here are such a variety of highs and lows I fear working in Vancouver is going to feel very sedate in comparison.

Our task for the day was to do some defaulter tracing. I’m not sure if I’ve explained this before but this is when we drive around the countryside trying to track down HIV/AIDS patients who have stopped coming to the facility and are presumably no longer taking their ARVs. Francis goes to the local facilities every Tuesday to pick up their latest list and does his best detective job to find these people. It is very challenging because many people are transient workers not from the area, children who don’t have full names listed with the facilities, and married women whose names have changed. Additional challenges arise when people use fake names at the facility because they don’t want anyone to know they have HIV/AIDs. Incredibly Francis can still find some of these people but it is not always possible. Some Tuesdays he comes home empty-handed and other days he is able to trace 5-6 patients.

I hadn’t been with him on a defaulter tracing mission for several months so I decided I should come along and see how things were going. We got only a few miles out of town when a hysterical women came running out onto the road. She was screaming and crying and pulling at her hair so we pulled over at once assuming is was some sort of physical assault. We couldn’t make out anything she was saying and then she started rolling around in the dirt back and forth over and over. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such anguish. Her mother came out of the fields after her and told us that she had lost her baby. At first I didn’t understand the horror of the situation. I figured it couldn’t have gone far, kidnapping is extremely uncommon, and we just needed to calm down and search for the child.

Then the grandmother told us they had looked in the toilets and I started to realize just how horrifying it would be to lose track of your child in rural Kenya. Most people have pit latrines and it would be so easy for a small child to fall in and drown. And then there is the tea. It stands about 3 feet high in most places and if something happened that the child couldn’t call out you might never find them in such an expanse of thick growth.  Once I started I couldn’t stop thinking of different ways you could lose a child in the area and I decided that although I enjoy living in Kenya I didn’t want to raise a child there.

Fortunately there was a happy ending to this story. The kid had wandered down the road and another rider brought him back within a few minutes. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the desperation of that young mother though.

I felt like I’d had a full day emotionally but we hadn’t even made it to our first stop...

Highlights of the day included tracing a 12-year old defaulter and finding that he had simply switched clinics because he had gotten a scholarship to a boarding school. Because his name was incomplete on the facility list we didn’t realize that he was actually one of our orphans so it was a pleasant surprise to get to visit him at home. He is a deaf mute and when we pulled up to the house Francis started speaking to him in sign language. Is there no end to this man’s hidden talents? I asked Francis if he spoke sign language and he replied, “Not really but I try.” They seemed to be having a pretty involved and animated conversation for someone who was just trying... We gave the boy some school supplies that Christian Children’s Fund had supplied for our orphans and headed on our way.

We stopped by a client’s house to help them plant their kitchen garden. I planted the beet seeds and I hope they sprout or I'm going to feel really terrible. I always find the directions on the back of seed packets very unclear...

Our final stop of the day was Jane’s house. Jane is a woman in one of our community groups who makes traditional handbags called kiondos. We are trying to see if we can help her market her product so she can create a business with her women’s group. She demonstrated her craft and her rapid fire finger action was even faster than my aunt Vanda’s when she crochets. She had offered to give me lessons but I think it would have taken me more than a few weeks to learn her craft.

As with almost everyone in the area she had a family member who needed serious assistance. One of her daughters is mentally and physically challenged and like so many others in Kenya receives no special care or education. There are government  programs for the disabled but their capacity isn’t nearly big enough to handle all the cases. Disabled people who live in rural areas seem to be at a particular disadvantage when it comes to accessing these services because they aren’t as visible. Sadly we weren’t equipped to help Jane with her daughter but Francis gave her advice on the process of accessing government services.

We made it home just before dark and decided all the paperwork that goes along with defaulter tracing would have to wait for the next day.

Gatura

I don't think I've really ever posted any photos of Gatura on this blog so heere's a tour of my tiny town!

Gatura is the biggest town around but it only has a population of around 6,000. However, the community is mostly comprised of farmers so it feels much smaller as most people live in the country. The town really comes to life on market days as it is the biggest town for several miles around so other villages come to Gatura to do their shopping.

Above you can see the local car wash and me and Francis cruisin the strip :) The "town" portion of Gatura basically consists of one section of one street (pictured below). Although it's a local hub Gatura is not a path to anywhere. The road turns to gravel just past our office so to get anywhere you have to first take the 45 minute matatu ride to Thika, the nearest real city. Gatura is located between Nairobi and Mount Kenya map.

Gatura is at 5,488 feet so you can definitely feel the altitude which may explain why I didn't totally destroy myself in the 10k I ran 3 days after arriving home. The surrounding countryside is all tea farms. The tea is an incredible color of green all year round and it makes for a beautiful landscape.The photo just below is the type of house you will mostly find in town.

My last week in Gatura I think we saw 5 rainbows!

The Story of Esther

On my last week on the job we were finally able to finish one of our projects we had been working on for several months. Francis really pushed it to make it happen before I left and I appreciate his hard work as it was satisfying to have such a project actually finished within my 6 month stay.

I believe I have mentioned Esther before in this blog. She is one of our HIV/AIDS patients and she first started coming to our office only a couple of weeks into my stay in Kenya so I’ve been able to see this project through from start to finish. When I first met her she looked terrible. She was denying her status and refusing to take her ARVs. She was dangerously thin and very weak. She couldn’t take without drooling and I wasn’t feeling very positive about her outlook. However, with counselling from one of our members and some additional help from Francis she finally accepted her status and started taking ARVs.

While Esther initially started looking much stronger and healthier when she started her ARVs she suffered a noticeable decline a few months in due to lack of nutrition. When taking ARVs it is incredibly important that you are simultaneously getting proper nutrition so the drugs can have optimal effect. She is now back to the weight I met her at and looking weaker each time I see her.

On our first home visit to her place we realized that we had a lot of work to do if she was ever going to improve even with the drugs. We were at her place to involve her in our kitchen garden program which is a project sponsored by ICAP. We provide some training on organic gardening and supply patients with seeds. We try to do as much follow-up as we can and ideally after a few months the patients have small kitchen gardens they can feed themselves with. I love this project because it is so sustainable and has a direct effect on their health.  

A kitchen garden was critical in Esther’s case due to her poor health and normally it’s a fairly simple project to help someone with a kitchen garden but we hit a lot of roadblocks with Esther due to her complicated situation. The first problem we encountered was the lack of water on her property. She lives on the side of a very steep hill and the only water is down at the bottom of the ravine. It’s a long difficult walk even for me so there is no way Esther can do it carrying water.  Her son would carry up a bucket once a day but since he had to go to work to make a little money to buy food for them he couldn’t do much more. She was surviving this way but we didn’t want to invest in a garden for her and then have it ruined because she had no ability to water it. So we decided to hire someone to dig a borehole for her. Francis contributed the money from his own pocket and the labourer began the work. This progress was short-lived as the father-in-law chased the man away after he’d dug only 5 feet.

Why would a relative chase someone away who is doing free improvement to his land? This is a prime example of the dramatic effect stigma can have on an HIV/AIDS patient’s life. Let me give you a bit of background on Esther. Near as we can figure out she is 47 years old. She has 4 children and her husband died 12 years ago of AIDS. He is buried in an unmarked grave about 20 meters from her house. She talked about him all the time and loved to hear about Stephen which just broke my heart.

She now lives in a mud hut on her father-in-law’s land. There is no toilet and she has to walk a ways down the road to use her neighbor’s pit latrine; an inconvenience for most of us but a true struggle for someone as weak as Esther. One of her sons lives in a shack just next to her but he goes out to look for manual labor during the day so is gone most of the time. That leaves Esther alone for an unhealthy amount of time. She is very social so when we come to visit she is always thrilled to see us and I always feel bad leaving her. There are other social issues. She lives in a very isolated area and is also shunned by neighbours and extended family due to stigma. It seems that people around her are just waiting for her to die so no one tries to help her or even socialize with her. The father-in-law is particularly unhelpful as he plans to take the land back as soon as she dies thus the uncooperative nature when we were trying to improve her situation.

We had to get the local chief involved and then have several meetings with the father-in-law and after a month or so we were able to get the father-in-law to consent to the plan. At this point Esther’s health had deteriorated even further and we were concerned about her ability to even draw water up out of the borehole so we changed the plan to a tank instead.

So Francis, her son and a friend met one day to build a platform for the tank, put up gutters, and install the tank. The entire neighborhood watched from high on the hill but didn’t offer to help. It was an excellent day’s work and Esther was very happy. 

The garden has been planted and is doing well and Esther absolutely loves tending to it so hopefully we will see an improvement in both physical and psychosocial health very soon.

This project was made possible by some of the donations we received from readers so I thank you for your generosity and you can feel confident that this donation will change Esther’s life forever.

What's for Dinner?

Since I'm feeling a bit lazy tonight and it's a nice follow-up to the last post I thought I'd show everyone what I've been eating here. These are all dishes I have made for dinner while in Kenya. I like to try everything new I see at the market since there isn't much variety here. I've been a very experimental cook with all the new food and different cooking facilities. As you can see from the photos some things turn out and others are barely edible :)

Arrowroots are a very common vegetable here and is mostly served as a main course. Once it's peeled it looks like a giant potato with purple veins running through it. It is almost tasteless and quite crumbly. I am not a fan but I am given them from time to time so I eat them upon occasion.

Mukimo is a very traditional Kenyan dish and this one is served with a side of chapati. I love mukimo but I don't cook it often because it is a lot of work. It is mashed potatos/bananas/pumkin with spinach/carrots/maize in it. The combinations are endless and I like them all!

Cabbage and Carrots is not a nice meal. I am often given cabbages when we visit local farms and one cabbage lasts one person for several meals so I'm always trying to find new ways to cook it. This must have been the day before market day though because this is a sad effort.

Cabbage and Potatoes may sound Irish to most but it's fairly common in Kenya. I went crazy and added a little pepper which is a very non-Kenyan thing to do. Here in central Kenya the most exotic spices people use are cilantro and salt.

Peanut Butter and Bananas on Toast is a favorite. I have to go to Thika for the peanut butter but it is my emergency food. When everything has to be cooked from scratch having at least one option that is "fast food" is critical! I included the bananas in the photo so you can see how tiny there are. We have many types of bananas here but this is my favorite. They are very sweet but you should only eat a max of 2 a day or they will stop you up. I was well into my stay here before anyone mentioned that...

Eggs are my main protein source here so I eat a lot of them. I probably won't eat eggs for a few years after I return to Canada. The fresh pineapple is delicious though.

Barley Chili was an experiment. I made chili with just beans but didn't feel like I was getting full so I added some barely flakes to it the next day on the reheat and it really beefed up the dish. I was pretty proud of my ingenuity but I wouldn't recommend trying this at home. I have the feeling I won't choose barely chili over regular chili when I have the choice.

Well, that's a week of food...I'm definitely excited to get back to my kitchen with an oven, multiple burners, and a refrigerator!

Chapo

As part of my Kikuyu training Grace has taught me how to make chapattis. Chapattis are a staple food in Kenya and are served with most meals like bread. They'll even chop it up into little pieces and put them in your fried eggs which is really quite a treat. They are similar to a tortilla but much heavier and greasier. They are a cheap, simple way to fill your belly so we love them here! I've posted step by step instructions as given to me by my friend Grace so you can make them at home. (No, she was not more specific than this.)

Step 1. Put water and flour in a bowl and add grated carrot for an extra treat.

 Step 2. Knead the duff (dough) with your hands until it's ready.

Step 3. Roll the duff into balls and roll them out on a stool with a rolling pin. Grace can roll these quickly into perfect little circles but mine had some pretty irregular shapes.

Step 4. Melt some cooking fat into liquid and pour onto an iron plate heated over a fire. Put the chapos on to cook and flip them when ready. Grace has a clever flipping system where she can cook 3 at a time but I don't think I'll try to explain it here.

 Step 5. Get someone else to wash the dishes :)

 Cooking chapattis is a lot of work and they tend to be cooked in large quantities so I usually eat them at other people's homes or buy them in hotels but it was fun to learn how just in case I have a chapatti emergency someday.

Art School

I leave a week from today! And I'm so behind on my blog :) But I've decided to make an entry every day before I leave so get ready for some serious blog action. I'm going to have to backtrack to February 14th for this one.

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I'm a big fan of holidays so when Valentine's Day rolled around I thought I should celebrate even though people in the rural areas don't observe Valentine's Day. I was headed to my friend Grace's that day so when I went to the city earlier that week I bought some colored paper, a glue stick and some markers and planned to make Valentines with her girls.

When I showed up at the house I told the girls I had an activity for them and I asked them what they knew about Valentine's Day. They'd never heard of it so we were definitely starting from square one. So I explained that you make cards with hearts on them and they could each make one for their mother. I demonstrated how to fold a piece of paper in half and cut out a heart and I thought we could take off from there. I assumed I would help the six-year old twins and the 9 and 10 year old could make their own. There was a great deal of hesitation so I made one to show them what it could look like. We got started and I realized the 10-year old didn't even know how to use scissors! Apparently the Kenyan education system has no room (or funding) for art classes.

I ended up doing all the cutting so we didn't have to take anyone to the clinic but they started to get the hang of designing and gluing and had a blast. There was a lot of copying of my Valentine but I guess you have to learn how to do things one way before you can find your own way. We became a Valentine factory and they kept making Valentine's until we ran out of supplies.

Then we let their mom come into the room and she was absolutely thrilled. They don't have arts and crafts and had never seen anything like them so the wow factor was huge. The mom decided they were so pretty they should be hung on the wall and from the ceiling. Since the walls in rural homes are papered in newspaper they actually are quite lovely decorations.

I left that day knowing I had blown their minds with art and knew I would have to do it again!

Since then I've tried my best to introduce something new every time I visit. When I arrive they always want to know if I've brought an activity. I've taught them how to play Slap Jack, put together a puzzle (a very difficult and foreign concept), make Easter cards with moving chicken beaks, and paint.

Every time we start a new activity I'm surprised at the lack of creativity but I suppose that has to be taught as well. When I first taught them to use watercolors they only painted words, then I got them to paint pictures of what they were drawing, then they started copying pictures from a sign on the wall and finally moved to just drawing pictures they could make up.

I'm totally jealous of Shaela's job teaching art to little kids now. I had no idea how much fun it could be!

Do You Trust Me?

I mean, I'm wearing a Trust t-shirt and sitting in a Trust truck so how couldn't you trust me? We had a very successful event with 150 people today discussing mpango wa kando which, literally translated mean "a little something on the side." This is the term for extra marital affairs which are a serious problem in the spread of HIV/AIDS among married couples so we partnered with PSI to do some behavior change and some informal research on the problem. A great but very long day.

And today was a big day for another reason... My replacement volunteer has arrived! Kirsteen will be taking over for me when I leave on May 4th so she has moved in with me and I will spend the week training her and introducing her to the community. I'm quite relieved to have that all settled and now I'm just a little concerned about how I'll fit everything in before I leave! I have several projects that I'd like to have finished before I go plus I'm creating a website for the organization. Only 1 week left!

A rainbow heading straight into Gatura.

Cousins Meeting

I believe I have mentioned my co-worker Martha. She is lovely and we have a lot of fun but I am always learning new things about her. The other week she had to leave for the weekend to go to a "Cousins' Meeting." I was intrigued...
I had to know more! Our conversation went something like this: 

"What is a Cousins' Meeting?" Erin asks innocently.

"You don't have cousins' meetings?" Martha says in surprise.

"Well we get together about once a year but we don't have formal meetings," explains Erin.

"But what do you talk about?"

"I don't know, we just hang out."

"You don't take minutes at your cousins' meetings?!" asks Martha in shock.

After much discussion I learned that Martha and her cousins (over 40 of them) are a registered group and get together 3 times a year in different cities to meet. And they truly meet. Martha is the secretary and she takes notes. She let me look at her minutes book and here is an excerpt.

"It was resolved that those who had not married to try as much as possible to do so and involve parents colsutation while exercising due care."

At this meeting is was also decided that they would have a secret friend for the the next meeting which was a big hit because that is now a regular event and was the focus of the most recent meeting. So, Kyle, Hannah, Kristie, Grant, Aloy, what do you think? Cousins' Meeting next year? :)

Back for More!

After a whirlwind trip to the States to attend my brother's wedding followed by a great 4-day conference in Nairobi I'm finally back in Gatura! Thank you so much to all of you who sent donations back with me. We are in the process of organizing and planning for their use and I will post pictures in the next few weeks as we start sharing them with the community. We are still missing a few things from our list so anyone who missed the deadline but still wants to donate is welcome to pledge money and I can do the purchasing. Just send me an e-mail with the amount and I'll let you know what it can be used for.

Collins "reads" a book about Canada that Stephen donated to the library.

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I can't believe I have only 1 month left! There is still so much to do but I'm working on finding a replacement volunteer so he/she can continue building the capacity of GKHBC as there is so much potential yet untapped. This month will be incredibly busy and I'm looking forward to it. We are opening our library next week, beginning a free tutoring program for orphans the week after, organizing a community event with free HIV testing, and continuing to improve our HIV/AIDS support programs.

When I'm not at work everyone is busy stuffing me with food since I'll be leaving soon. Everyone I've met thus far wants me to come visit and at every home I have to eat until I'm too full to move and then I'm sent home with a bag of food. Tonight I left work early as there was no power again and went to a former co-worker's grandmother's house where I was given 3 manazi (like a giant puffy glazed doughnut without the glaze), an arrowroot, and 2 sweet potatoes. I couldn't finish it all and I was sent home with 2 manazi and 5 sweet potatoes. I've been invited to another person's house for the day tomorrow so I won't be able to eat my leftovers plus I'll come home too stuffed to do anything but sleep with another bag of food again!

I feel a bit overfed but really the hospitality is simply amazing. The honor that is given to visitors is touching and people truly appreciate your willingness to travel to see them. Here that often involves matatu rides, long walks through the mud, and/or extremely long days but it's a sacrifice of something anywhere you live so I have learned to truly appreciate all visitors and I think I'll be a much better hostess when I return home. So anyone who wants to travel to Vancouver get ready for some Kenyan hospitality that will knock your socks off!

The woman I visited today is "60 something", has 13 children, many grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren and no wrinkles?! She spent all day in the tea fields in the pouring rain and then hiked 1 hour home to cook dinner for me in a smokehouse kitchen. Her floor is made of mud, ash and cow dung and she has to hike down to the river to fetch water daily. I don't think I could handle all that at 60...could you?