Thursday, February 4, 2010
Happy Birthday!
Monday, February 1, 2010
A Day in the Life: Episode 4
This is the final installment in the Day in the Life series. Please vote for your favorite in the sidebar!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
After managing to fall asleep through the racket the local church was making when I went to bed around 10 I was awoken by it at 2am. The most prized possession of most churches here seems to be a POWERFUL sound system. Not necessarily high quality, but loud. So when the local church has any activities I get to hear them without even attending. Apparently this church was having an all night praise-a-thon or something because I was up from 2am until they finished around 5am. I don't know how I slept through the first part but I must have been just that tired. It mostly consisted of a man praying super fast (auctioneer style) into the microphone in Kikuyu. I started praying that he would need a drink of water or get tired himself but it didn't happen.
I dozed off about 5am for a solid hour of sleep before Stephen sent me a text at 6am to get on Skype early. We can't always connect so I'm happy to try anytime we are both awake...or almost awake :) We talked until 7 when I decided I might as well get out of bed as I needed to laundry and clean the floors before my language teacher came at 11am.
I pulled out the buckets, filled them with water, and got to work washing every piece of clothing I own except the ones I was wearing. They would go through a quick wash tomorrow morning as I only have 3 pairs of pants and depending on the amount of mud I encounter during the week, I might need them all. Around 8 I took a break for a peanuut butter and banana sandwich an then pressed on.
I did 3 "loads". A load means that the water gets too dirty to actually clean more clothes in it. That water gets dumped on the cement along the front of my apartment and swept into the gutter with a traditional hand broom of long twigs tied together. Everyone in my apartment complex does this to keep down the dust so I just try to fit in. The rinse water is usually too soapy to rinse at this point so it gets recycled as mop water or water for flushing the toilet. After another hour I finally I got to stand up straight and hang the clothes on the line!
Next chore was to clean the floors. Again with the twig broom I swept the apartment, careful to also search and destroy any new spiderwebs (and also kill any new spiders that had dared enter since my last killing spree). Next was mopping. Most people here do this with a bucket of dirty water and an old t-shirt but I splurged and got myself a mop and bucket in Thika since it is so dusty here and I knew I'd be mopping at least once a week.
At 11 the house was spotless and the laundry on the line so I sat down to study my Kikuyu before my language teacher arrived. Around 11:30 I got a text that she wouldn't arrive until noon. No problem, more time to study my vegetables and numbers. She arrived at 12:30 and we got started practicing interactions in the market. I would tell her what vegetable I needed and ask how much it costs then she would tell me and I would have to hand her correct change from a bowl on the table. A fantastic lesson really. And since Saturday is market day we headed out for some practical application after she was satisfied that I could remember the three different words for banana in Kikuyu.
We had a great time in the market and I was high entertainment for everyone there. I had been to the market many times before but mostly got by with pointing and showing numbers by hand so the vendors were very excited to hear me speaking Kikuyu. We bought onions, limes, tomatoes, zuchini, carrots and a pot. When someone asked me if I wanted to buy an arrowroot I was actually able to understand what she was saying and reply that I already had one. I was very proud of myself :)
Exhausted from our efforts Martha and I headed back to her apartment for a Coke and a roll, the lunch of convenience here. (I realize this is not a healthy choice but I figure I'm making up for it with my regular diet of organic vegetarian...however, I see why type II diabetes is such a problem with the elder generation here.) Then it was back to my apartment for me to become the teach and Martha the student...Internet lesson. Last time we had set her up with an e-mail account so this time she was to practice sending e-mails and attachments. She doesn't know anyone with an e-mail account so we sent e-mails to some fellow volunteers who had gone to 14 Falls with us last weekend. The biggest challenge was learning how to manuver the built-in mouse but she did a great job.
After Internet lessons we became absorbed in the People magazine my parents had sent me. She didn't know any of the people but was enthralled with the captions and the ads of all things. She absolutely loved it! Obviously she was given the magazine to take home and I'm sure she'll be up all night reading every inch of copy.
By the time Martha left it was 5 and I wasn't sure where the day had gone but we had so much fun and laughed a ton. I brought the laundry in so I'd be ready for my pre-set phone call from Afganastan at 5:30. There were a few botched tries but at 6 we finally got a good connection and I got to have a good conversation with my sister. A very nice end to the day.
And yet again I realized the day had gone by and I hadn`t done any exercise. I did my own personal mix of yoga and calestinics while preparing dinner but it`s just not the same as a nice long run. For dinner I decided to use the strange yellow squash I had purchased the week before. I wasn't sure how to cook it but I'd been told they were delicious so I was going to give it a try. When I cut into it I realized it was incredibl hard and it smelled like an unripe canteloupe so I wasn't sure if I should be making dinner or desert with it but I forged ahead. I chopped it into small pieces and sauted it for a bit before adding zuchini, onion, tomatoes and fresh thyme to make a pasta sauce. It was actually quite delicious and I will be eating the rest of it tomorrow. I`m really starting to enjoy experimental cooking...except when I`m really hungry and it doesn`t turn out well.
By the time dishes were done it was 8:30 so I wrote a letter, read my book and was in bed by 9:30pm happy knowing the church noise wouldn`t start tomorrow until 8am!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
After managing to fall asleep through the racket the local church was making when I went to bed around 10 I was awoken by it at 2am. The most prized possession of most churches here seems to be a POWERFUL sound system. Not necessarily high quality, but loud. So when the local church has any activities I get to hear them without even attending. Apparently this church was having an all night praise-a-thon or something because I was up from 2am until they finished around 5am. I don't know how I slept through the first part but I must have been just that tired. It mostly consisted of a man praying super fast (auctioneer style) into the microphone in Kikuyu. I started praying that he would need a drink of water or get tired himself but it didn't happen.
I dozed off about 5am for a solid hour of sleep before Stephen sent me a text at 6am to get on Skype early. We can't always connect so I'm happy to try anytime we are both awake...or almost awake :) We talked until 7 when I decided I might as well get out of bed as I needed to laundry and clean the floors before my language teacher came at 11am.
I pulled out the buckets, filled them with water, and got to work washing every piece of clothing I own except the ones I was wearing. They would go through a quick wash tomorrow morning as I only have 3 pairs of pants and depending on the amount of mud I encounter during the week, I might need them all. Around 8 I took a break for a peanuut butter and banana sandwich an then pressed on.
I did 3 "loads". A load means that the water gets too dirty to actually clean more clothes in it. That water gets dumped on the cement along the front of my apartment and swept into the gutter with a traditional hand broom of long twigs tied together. Everyone in my apartment complex does this to keep down the dust so I just try to fit in. The rinse water is usually too soapy to rinse at this point so it gets recycled as mop water or water for flushing the toilet. After another hour I finally I got to stand up straight and hang the clothes on the line!
Next chore was to clean the floors. Again with the twig broom I swept the apartment, careful to also search and destroy any new spiderwebs (and also kill any new spiders that had dared enter since my last killing spree). Next was mopping. Most people here do this with a bucket of dirty water and an old t-shirt but I splurged and got myself a mop and bucket in Thika since it is so dusty here and I knew I'd be mopping at least once a week.
At 11 the house was spotless and the laundry on the line so I sat down to study my Kikuyu before my language teacher arrived. Around 11:30 I got a text that she wouldn't arrive until noon. No problem, more time to study my vegetables and numbers. She arrived at 12:30 and we got started practicing interactions in the market. I would tell her what vegetable I needed and ask how much it costs then she would tell me and I would have to hand her correct change from a bowl on the table. A fantastic lesson really. And since Saturday is market day we headed out for some practical application after she was satisfied that I could remember the three different words for banana in Kikuyu.
We had a great time in the market and I was high entertainment for everyone there. I had been to the market many times before but mostly got by with pointing and showing numbers by hand so the vendors were very excited to hear me speaking Kikuyu. We bought onions, limes, tomatoes, zuchini, carrots and a pot. When someone asked me if I wanted to buy an arrowroot I was actually able to understand what she was saying and reply that I already had one. I was very proud of myself :)
Exhausted from our efforts Martha and I headed back to her apartment for a Coke and a roll, the lunch of convenience here. (I realize this is not a healthy choice but I figure I'm making up for it with my regular diet of organic vegetarian...however, I see why type II diabetes is such a problem with the elder generation here.) Then it was back to my apartment for me to become the teach and Martha the student...Internet lesson. Last time we had set her up with an e-mail account so this time she was to practice sending e-mails and attachments. She doesn't know anyone with an e-mail account so we sent e-mails to some fellow volunteers who had gone to 14 Falls with us last weekend. The biggest challenge was learning how to manuver the built-in mouse but she did a great job.
After Internet lessons we became absorbed in the People magazine my parents had sent me. She didn't know any of the people but was enthralled with the captions and the ads of all things. She absolutely loved it! Obviously she was given the magazine to take home and I'm sure she'll be up all night reading every inch of copy.
By the time Martha left it was 5 and I wasn't sure where the day had gone but we had so much fun and laughed a ton. I brought the laundry in so I'd be ready for my pre-set phone call from Afganastan at 5:30. There were a few botched tries but at 6 we finally got a good connection and I got to have a good conversation with my sister. A very nice end to the day.
And yet again I realized the day had gone by and I hadn`t done any exercise. I did my own personal mix of yoga and calestinics while preparing dinner but it`s just not the same as a nice long run. For dinner I decided to use the strange yellow squash I had purchased the week before. I wasn't sure how to cook it but I'd been told they were delicious so I was going to give it a try. When I cut into it I realized it was incredibl hard and it smelled like an unripe canteloupe so I wasn't sure if I should be making dinner or desert with it but I forged ahead. I chopped it into small pieces and sauted it for a bit before adding zuchini, onion, tomatoes and fresh thyme to make a pasta sauce. It was actually quite delicious and I will be eating the rest of it tomorrow. I`m really starting to enjoy experimental cooking...except when I`m really hungry and it doesn`t turn out well.
By the time dishes were done it was 8:30 so I wrote a letter, read my book and was in bed by 9:30pm happy knowing the church noise wouldn`t start tomorrow until 8am!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
A Day in the Life - Episode 3
Side Note: I think I've realized why I don't write about work that often...when I analyze it daily it's simply too depressing.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Jumped out of bed this morning as I was excited for my early morning Skype date with Stephen. It's always a nice way to start my day but I was left feeling a little down as he was super tired after a long day and had to cut it short. It's definitely a challenge communicating through an 11 hour time difference. But there's always the next time so I'll look forward to that.
I was off to work at 8am as usual, ready for all the challenges I knew the day would bring (or so I thought). We started with our daily meeting between me and my employer where we take stock of what we have done and plan what we need to do today. We haven't advanced to planning more than one day in advance yet but this is already a huge improvement so as they say in Kenya, "slowly by slowly".
At 9 our treasurer arrived for a special financial meeting I had called to determine how exactly the money was being processed. Turns out I was only getting 80% of the documentation and 20% was being disbursed with no record. This was a scary discovery as documenting finances is a critical component to maintaining the grants we are receiving. It was a productive meeting though as everyone agreed on the importance of accurate tracking so it was decided that we would have a cash box made by the welder in town (you can't just buy one at the store) and start keeping the money in the office rather than in the treasurer's pocket. We also agreed that nothing could be taken out of that box without leaving some sort of documentation in its place. I'm feeling optimistic about this project so hopefully this problem has been sorted.
At 9:55 we started discussing who should go to a 10am meeting at the local school that Francis had been invited to. This turned out to be a rather heated 20 minute argument about who we would send and what they would need to know. Finally the office manager was sent and Francis and I set out on what was to be a 2 hour job. We first had to stop at the mechanic and have the odometer fixed as it wasn't working and we need to document our mileage for the funder. He also tightened and oiled the chain and the entire job cost only 100 shillings ($1.30). Then we went to the welder for an estimate on a grill for the front of the bike to protect our new baby. We then had to head back to the office to let the accounts clerk in so she could take care of things while everyone else was away.
At noon we finally got on the open road and started our chore for the day. We needed to visit 5 homes of AIDS patients that we had targeted to participate in our food security project. Our goal was to see what land they had chosen to have the kitchen gardens planted on and give them instructions on preparing it before we deliver seeds next week.
Our first stop was a woman that I have met a few times in the office. At that time she was refusing to take ARVs and was in terrible shape (too thin, slurred speech, drooling, etc.). I was happy to see her looking much better today as she had finally agreed to start taking the ARVs. She is still far too weak but I was encouraged by the improvement. However, I was discouraged by her living situation. She lives in a very remote area on the side of a steep hill in a mud house. She has no bathroom, not even a pit toilet so she has to climb the hill and walk down the road to use a neighbor's. We discussed the area she can used for the garden and came to realize that her only water source is at the bottom of the gully her house sits on. I can't really describe how steep the hills are here but I have trouble walking down them without slipping so they are no place for a very weak woman to be trekking on.
Her 18 year old son lives on the property as well but he works long days to try and support them so she is alone most of the time. I felt absolutely terrible leaving her as she followed us down the path still talking, obviously incredibly lonely. The kicker was when, on the way out to the gate, she showed us where her husband was buried in an unmarked grave under a coffee tree. He died of AIDS of course.
On to the next heartbreaking story where we stopped to investigate a reported case of child abuse. Another very remote location with a small mud house where we found 7 children under the age of 12. Some of them definitely should be in school but education is not completely free here and they were being kept out over a matter of 300 shillings ($4). Probably also because the older ones were needed to watch the younger ones. The father has left the family and the mother was out doing day labor. She comes home around 8pm and they don't eat until she comes home.
Francis had come and rescued these same children 6 months ago when they all had chiggers so bad they couldn't walk. A local community health worker has been coming by to administer their medicine every day so they are looking much better but the youngest is suffering the most. He is 2 years old but had chiggers so bad when he should have been learning to walk that his legs have atrophied and he can't even stand up. The living conditions are appalling and the children were sleeping on a dirt floor before Gatanga Kiiga donated a bed. We weren't able to find the daughter who had been abused and were told that she was staying at the local CHW's house who had put her in school. So off to the school we went.
We pulled the girl out of class and sat with her, the principal, and the local CHW to take down the details. I can't imagine how tough the interview must have been for this 12 year old girl and I was wishing Kimberly was around to talk to her as a professional. She showed us where she was bitten in several places by the mother. Francis wrote down her testimony and will refer her case to social services in Thika on Monday. It's an impossible situation really--the mother has recently found out she is positive, she is dirt poor and is supporting 8 children on her own. She had a history of neglect and abuse so I don't really know what the best possible outcome is in this scenario but I'm wondering if Stephen wants to adopt 8 children...
Back on the bike and back to the food security project. The stories continued until 6pm as we rode around the countryside visiting our various clients. One man was positive, two of his children are positive, and his wife has already passed away from AIDS. They are living with the grandparents and the children are taking their drugs every day for the rest of their lives. Another woman is positive and her husband has left her so she is living on her parents' land but the mother wants nothing to do with her. One couple is discordant, the wife is positive and the husband is not. Still he refuses to wear a condom, and while Francis is convinced we should get scientists to study his genes for immunity, I'm concerned that his luck will run out soon.
We stopped for a brief lunch of Coke, a roll, and a banana at a road side stand but otherwise pressed on. We visited 7 homes and were joyfully welcomed into all. We were generously given what little they have which was touching. You hate to accept but you certainly can't refuse. Although though bare bones of the story are tragic the day was actually so much fun because everyone was so enjoyable to meet with.
And as it often seems to happen in Africa a sad situation can turn hilarious in the blink of an eye. We arrived home on the motorbike with me trying to hold onto all my gifts from the day: a bottle of fresh milk, 2 arrow roots, 2 ears of corn, 8 baby bananas, a few sprigs of thyme, and a pumpkin...without falling off. Grace and Martha had to laugh at us as we pulled up to the office as did the rest of the neighborhood.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Jumped out of bed this morning as I was excited for my early morning Skype date with Stephen. It's always a nice way to start my day but I was left feeling a little down as he was super tired after a long day and had to cut it short. It's definitely a challenge communicating through an 11 hour time difference. But there's always the next time so I'll look forward to that.
I was off to work at 8am as usual, ready for all the challenges I knew the day would bring (or so I thought). We started with our daily meeting between me and my employer where we take stock of what we have done and plan what we need to do today. We haven't advanced to planning more than one day in advance yet but this is already a huge improvement so as they say in Kenya, "slowly by slowly".
At 9 our treasurer arrived for a special financial meeting I had called to determine how exactly the money was being processed. Turns out I was only getting 80% of the documentation and 20% was being disbursed with no record. This was a scary discovery as documenting finances is a critical component to maintaining the grants we are receiving. It was a productive meeting though as everyone agreed on the importance of accurate tracking so it was decided that we would have a cash box made by the welder in town (you can't just buy one at the store) and start keeping the money in the office rather than in the treasurer's pocket. We also agreed that nothing could be taken out of that box without leaving some sort of documentation in its place. I'm feeling optimistic about this project so hopefully this problem has been sorted.
At 9:55 we started discussing who should go to a 10am meeting at the local school that Francis had been invited to. This turned out to be a rather heated 20 minute argument about who we would send and what they would need to know. Finally the office manager was sent and Francis and I set out on what was to be a 2 hour job. We first had to stop at the mechanic and have the odometer fixed as it wasn't working and we need to document our mileage for the funder. He also tightened and oiled the chain and the entire job cost only 100 shillings ($1.30). Then we went to the welder for an estimate on a grill for the front of the bike to protect our new baby. We then had to head back to the office to let the accounts clerk in so she could take care of things while everyone else was away.
At noon we finally got on the open road and started our chore for the day. We needed to visit 5 homes of AIDS patients that we had targeted to participate in our food security project. Our goal was to see what land they had chosen to have the kitchen gardens planted on and give them instructions on preparing it before we deliver seeds next week.
Our first stop was a woman that I have met a few times in the office. At that time she was refusing to take ARVs and was in terrible shape (too thin, slurred speech, drooling, etc.). I was happy to see her looking much better today as she had finally agreed to start taking the ARVs. She is still far too weak but I was encouraged by the improvement. However, I was discouraged by her living situation. She lives in a very remote area on the side of a steep hill in a mud house. She has no bathroom, not even a pit toilet so she has to climb the hill and walk down the road to use a neighbor's. We discussed the area she can used for the garden and came to realize that her only water source is at the bottom of the gully her house sits on. I can't really describe how steep the hills are here but I have trouble walking down them without slipping so they are no place for a very weak woman to be trekking on.
Her 18 year old son lives on the property as well but he works long days to try and support them so she is alone most of the time. I felt absolutely terrible leaving her as she followed us down the path still talking, obviously incredibly lonely. The kicker was when, on the way out to the gate, she showed us where her husband was buried in an unmarked grave under a coffee tree. He died of AIDS of course.
On to the next heartbreaking story where we stopped to investigate a reported case of child abuse. Another very remote location with a small mud house where we found 7 children under the age of 12. Some of them definitely should be in school but education is not completely free here and they were being kept out over a matter of 300 shillings ($4). Probably also because the older ones were needed to watch the younger ones. The father has left the family and the mother was out doing day labor. She comes home around 8pm and they don't eat until she comes home.
Francis had come and rescued these same children 6 months ago when they all had chiggers so bad they couldn't walk. A local community health worker has been coming by to administer their medicine every day so they are looking much better but the youngest is suffering the most. He is 2 years old but had chiggers so bad when he should have been learning to walk that his legs have atrophied and he can't even stand up. The living conditions are appalling and the children were sleeping on a dirt floor before Gatanga Kiiga donated a bed. We weren't able to find the daughter who had been abused and were told that she was staying at the local CHW's house who had put her in school. So off to the school we went.We pulled the girl out of class and sat with her, the principal, and the local CHW to take down the details. I can't imagine how tough the interview must have been for this 12 year old girl and I was wishing Kimberly was around to talk to her as a professional. She showed us where she was bitten in several places by the mother. Francis wrote down her testimony and will refer her case to social services in Thika on Monday. It's an impossible situation really--the mother has recently found out she is positive, she is dirt poor and is supporting 8 children on her own. She had a history of neglect and abuse so I don't really know what the best possible outcome is in this scenario but I'm wondering if Stephen wants to adopt 8 children...
Back on the bike and back to the food security project. The stories continued until 6pm as we rode around the countryside visiting our various clients. One man was positive, two of his children are positive, and his wife has already passed away from AIDS. They are living with the grandparents and the children are taking their drugs every day for the rest of their lives. Another woman is positive and her husband has left her so she is living on her parents' land but the mother wants nothing to do with her. One couple is discordant, the wife is positive and the husband is not. Still he refuses to wear a condom, and while Francis is convinced we should get scientists to study his genes for immunity, I'm concerned that his luck will run out soon.
And as it often seems to happen in Africa a sad situation can turn hilarious in the blink of an eye. We arrived home on the motorbike with me trying to hold onto all my gifts from the day: a bottle of fresh milk, 2 arrow roots, 2 ears of corn, 8 baby bananas, a few sprigs of thyme, and a pumpkin...without falling off. Grace and Martha had to laugh at us as we pulled up to the office as did the rest of the neighborhood.
Friday, January 29, 2010
A Day in the Life - Episode 2
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Didn't pull myself out of bed until 7am today but had no early appointments, no early morning Skype dates, and no empty promises to myself that I would exercise before work so it was no problem. I started the day with my first warm shower in this apartment. 3 months was a long time to wait but that made the experience so much sweeter! I made banana pancakes for breakfast and was out the door by 8am.
I met my employer as he was rushing out the door. He was supposed to have left by 7am to make the 3.5 hour trip to Nyeri to pick up the motorcycle that ICAP had been promising to provide the organization since my arrival 3 months earlier, but was running late as usual. He left me with some hurried instructions regarding my upcoming trip to Mabanda and disappeared. I went into the office, greeted the office manager and set about giving her some tasks for the morning. The treasurer arrived at 9 on the dot and we set out to run our errand in Mabanda.
We had received a grant from the government the week prior and were tasked by Francis to deliver the revised work plan and budget. We arrived at the office with reports in hand and submitted them to the appropriate person. She looked them over as if she was looking to find fault and then decided that the whole thing would need to be resubmitted because we had titled the project "Indigenous Vegetables" and in our budget we included money for banana trees. I didn't like this lady's attitude so I asked to see the original copy of our proposal which she produced and I pointed out to her that banana seeds were listed in the original proposal which had already been approved. She seemed unwilling to budge until her colleague piped in and said that Nairobi shouldn't have a problem with it if they had already approved it in the original proposal. She seemed annoyed and set about looking for something else to pick on.
She asked for our bank form and Julius and I had no idea what she was talking about as Francis hadn't left it for us. She proceeded to try to make us feel like idiots for not knowing what it was. I don't play that game so I asked for a copy that we could fill out right then and there and she seemed taken aback. I got the sense she was used to pushing country folk around and riding her power horse all over the place. She didn't have the form so we had to sit and wait for her boss to come to work and give us the form. We waited for 40 minutes and finally received a copy of the form which had no need of a signature and required only 3 pieces of information that we had already submitted to them in our report. Fine. Whatever. We filled it out and submitted it to the boss who looked it over and tried to make the same stink about our banana plants. I tactfully pointed out the obvious again and we got the hell out of there before they found something else to nitpick.
While waiting for a matatu back to Gatura we witnessed two guys fighting just outside a bar. It was the awkward pull someone around by the foot kind of fight that you can’t even break up so they were left to their own devices. I was told the one guy was crazy but I couldn’t tell which one they were talking about as they both seemed to be acting a little crazy to me.
We made it back to the office just in time to go home for lunch. I used my new soy sauce from Nairobi and made a delicious stir fry with all the random vegetables left in my cupboard and a few cashews thrown in for some protein.
Back at the office I checked in to see what had been done since I'd been gone. It turns out not much because the electricity went out shortly after we left. Oh well, this happens at least once a week so we readjusted our schedule and got to work. We had to send out 3 reports, type up the outreach schedule for February, and prepare for a financial meeting the following day. We were cruising along pretty well when the accounts clerk stopped in and told us of her good friend who had been murdered in a car jacking the day before. We obviously had to take time to discuss and offer sympathy. Car jackings are in the paper fairly often here but I had never actually had any connection to a victim so this was a sobering wake-up call on the dangers of travelling in Kenya.
5:0pm0 rolled around and we closed up shop. Still no Francis but we figured he would be back soon. The office manager is also my language teacher so we decided to have language lessons there in the office while we waited for Francis to return with the new bike. I learned the Kikuyu words for different items in the house and we were just moving on to family members when we got a call from Francis. He had run out of fuel in Gatunyu and wanted us to go buy some fuel and bring it to him.
So we walked across town to the gas station but were told we'd have to go to the store for a jerry can to hold the gas. Back to the gas station to purchase the gas...Francis calls. He has gotten a ride to the nearest town and we should hang out on standby with the fuel in case he needs us. We headed to Martha's place to finish our language lesson and wait to hear from Francis. We made it through members of the family and I had just learned that you pronounce the word cucu (show-show) when we got a call from Francis. He was at the office, where were we?
Back across town to the office to see the new bike and give Francis his keys. It's a brand new bike and I will have to try driving it tomorrow. It's been about 6 weeks since my motorcycle lessons now so I hope I remember how!
We decided to give up on the language lesson and try again tomorrow so I made it home by 6:30 and cooked more rice to go with my lunch leftovers for dinner. By the time I finished eating it was 8pm so I had some time to read before hitting the hay around 9:30.
Tonight I will dream of driving the piki piki!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
A Day in the Life - Episode 1
I have been asked by VSO to write an essay for their series of volunteer stories "A Day in the Life". This is supposed to showcase a typical day in the life of a volunteer. I'm happy to do it but I'm struggling to come up with a typical day since every day is so unique here. I've decided to let The People help me decide so I will write about a few of my days this week and you can vote on which is most interesting.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
I woke up at 6am to start getting ready for the day which would involve an early morning trip to Thika, the nearest town. I tried to start the day with a simple glass of water only to find that my water filter wasn't draining properly because the filters had become clogged. Since I'd been lazy about boiling water lately I'd already drank all my emergency back up water so this suddenly became a critical issue that needed my immediate attention. So I took the filter apart, scrubbed each cone, washed the entire thing, and put it back together and started boiling more water for filtering. This process took about 40 minutes so the workout I had planned to do before work was out. I got dressed, packed my bag, and prepared breakfast just in time to make my Skype date with Stephen at 7:15. We had a nice chat then I rushed to finish my dishes and be at work by 8am as my employer and I had plans to leave for Thika at 8am.
I really should have known better. I arrived by 8 but we didn't end up leaving until 10:30. First my employer had a long discussion with me about a new grant we would be receiving the following day. Then we moved directly into some business that was supposed to be finished the day before. Then the treasurer showed up and we realized that some of our finances haven't been reported so we set a meeting for Friday to take care of those issues. Then a client came in to see Francis so he went to the other room and we all sat around waiting for him for 40 minutes. I went in to remind him that we'd be late for our appointment in Thika and he realized he'd forgotten to tell me that it got moved to the afternoon. When he finally returned we prepared to leave and another client came so we waited for another 10 minutes...he doesn't do appointments and he rarely says no to people who come in to see him so this is a common occurance.
On our way to the matatu we stopped by the post office to finally pay for a post box. Francis had told me the wrong post box when he gave me our address (we didn't actually even have one) so it's amazing I was receiving any mail at all. Fortunately, this type of a thing isn't a problem here like it would be at home because not many people get mail from Canada or the States in my small town so the post lady had been holding my mail for me.
At 10:30, 2.5 hours later, we finally boarded the matatu to Thika. We arrived a little after 11 and our first order of business was to meet up with a partner and deliver our monthly report. Francis sent a quick text and we went to the city park to wait. Within a few minutes James arrived and we started chatting...then a fellow from social services happened by which was fortunate because we were delivering some paperwork to him that day to so we simply handed it off in the park. Of course a few other people came by that Francis knew so we had to chat with them as well. Our partner decided we should go to a hotel for tea so we wouldn't be disturbed. Being with Francis is like hanging out with a celebrity because he literally knows everyone. We talked shop for a bit in the quiet of the hotel and received our grant money for the month.
Next on tap was the rabbit exhibition. This was not on the schedule but Francis heard it was in town and decided we should go. We entered the soccer stadium to find several tables with absolutely packed crowds around them. We weren't able to actually see the rabbits but of course ran into several people that Francis knows. I never would have guessed a rabbit exhibition could draw such a crowd!
After extracting ourselves from the mass of people we headed back into town to find the Aphia II office. We had heard about several projects this organization was working on and they seemed quite complimentary to the work we were doing so we thought we should check it out. We were able to meet with the in-charge and learn more about the organization and walked away with the promise of a site visit.
Back on the street we got a text from James who realized that he didn't have us sign for the money we had received so we needed to meet back up with him. We met him in an internet cafe where a cousin of Francis works. But by now it was after 1 and we had decided we were hungry. We headed over to the Arcade and found a restaurant with a Githeri Special (beans and cabbage) that was fantastic. I invited a fellow VSO and Francis invited our next appointment (Monica) so we ended up a group of 5 and everyone enjoyed meeting each other and exchanged numbers at the end.
Monica wasn't quite ready for us so Francis and I rushed to the National Health Insurance office to pick up some blank application forms for the office before meeting her in a taxi downstairs. We then drove a little way out of town to a very run-down part of Thika that Monica described as a "mini-slum". We were here to visit a girls rescue home and explore a possible partnership.
The home houses 23 orphan girls from age 5-13. There are only 2 bedrooms and one indoor bathroom. The kitchen is very primitive and there is a family room but that is it. A very small space for that many girls and needless to say they are 2-3 girls in a single-sized bed. The yard has a large garden and 2 cows which they are able to get most of their food from. They have also built a very rough outbuilding that functions as a nursery school for the youngest children so they don't have to leave the compound for school. Most of the children were at school during our visit but we were able to meet the nursery students and one other student who arrived home early. We saw the need was incredible in this facility that has no permanent donor and has gotten by for 4 years on one-time donations month to month. We hope to assist where we can in sourcing shoes, clothing, sanitary pads, etc.
We would have liked to spend more time at the home but Monica had made another appointment for us with a local politician. We drove back towards town but turned off into the country where we met a brand new Range Rover with tinted windows parked in a cornfield. It all looked very suspicious to me but 2 guys in fancy suits came out of the car to talk to us. I found out later that Monica was showing them a piece of land out there but at the time I felt like I had gotten myself into a dicey situation.
At 5pm we were finally done! But then we realized James had given us too much money so we texted him to meet us at the gas station for a third time that day where we made the exchange. Then we remembered that we had a computer in the repair shop that needed to be picked up as we had a computer student starting class this week. The computer is ancient and we invested a decent sum of money to get it fixed but didn't really have other options as the organization can't afford a new one. I'm hoping it lasts at least until we can source money for some new computers.
I put Francis on a matatu with the computer and headed back into town to shop for a few odds and ends I can't get in Gatura (which is most things other than vegetables and plastic buckets). I returned to the matatu stage around 6pm and boarded a matatu that smelled like someone had an accident on it. I was joined by a local government official from Gatura who had been to the rabbit exhibition and thought it was amazing. We talked the whole way home about farming, family, religion, etc.
I arrived back at my apartment at 7:30 and no sooner walked in the door than my neighbor came by to see where I had been all day. This neighbor had promised to help me get hot water for my shower. Once he confirmed I was home he sent a missed call to the fundi as a signal to come over. He took a look at my equipment and informed me that he needed to buy some wire for the project. So I gave him some money and off he went to the store. Back 15 minutes later he started working and realized I needed a different shape of pipe. More money, 15 minutes later, really into the work. I loaned him my miner's lamp since he was trying to do the wiring in the dark and he was awed by the invention. I wish I could give him mine as it would be so useful in his job but maybe later, when I don't need it anymore. My neighbor and I had a good chat about Ugandan politics while he was working and by 8pm I had warm water in my shower!
Since it was already so late I decided to save the shower treat for the following morning. I made myself a light dinner of crackers and jam, just enough food so I could take my malaria pill as I was still quite full from the massive plate of githeri. I closed out the day by checking my e-mail and doing a little writing. By 9:30 I'm ready for sleep and ready to dream about my hot shower!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
I woke up at 6am to start getting ready for the day which would involve an early morning trip to Thika, the nearest town. I tried to start the day with a simple glass of water only to find that my water filter wasn't draining properly because the filters had become clogged. Since I'd been lazy about boiling water lately I'd already drank all my emergency back up water so this suddenly became a critical issue that needed my immediate attention. So I took the filter apart, scrubbed each cone, washed the entire thing, and put it back together and started boiling more water for filtering. This process took about 40 minutes so the workout I had planned to do before work was out. I got dressed, packed my bag, and prepared breakfast just in time to make my Skype date with Stephen at 7:15. We had a nice chat then I rushed to finish my dishes and be at work by 8am as my employer and I had plans to leave for Thika at 8am.
I really should have known better. I arrived by 8 but we didn't end up leaving until 10:30. First my employer had a long discussion with me about a new grant we would be receiving the following day. Then we moved directly into some business that was supposed to be finished the day before. Then the treasurer showed up and we realized that some of our finances haven't been reported so we set a meeting for Friday to take care of those issues. Then a client came in to see Francis so he went to the other room and we all sat around waiting for him for 40 minutes. I went in to remind him that we'd be late for our appointment in Thika and he realized he'd forgotten to tell me that it got moved to the afternoon. When he finally returned we prepared to leave and another client came so we waited for another 10 minutes...he doesn't do appointments and he rarely says no to people who come in to see him so this is a common occurance.
On our way to the matatu we stopped by the post office to finally pay for a post box. Francis had told me the wrong post box when he gave me our address (we didn't actually even have one) so it's amazing I was receiving any mail at all. Fortunately, this type of a thing isn't a problem here like it would be at home because not many people get mail from Canada or the States in my small town so the post lady had been holding my mail for me.
At 10:30, 2.5 hours later, we finally boarded the matatu to Thika. We arrived a little after 11 and our first order of business was to meet up with a partner and deliver our monthly report. Francis sent a quick text and we went to the city park to wait. Within a few minutes James arrived and we started chatting...then a fellow from social services happened by which was fortunate because we were delivering some paperwork to him that day to so we simply handed it off in the park. Of course a few other people came by that Francis knew so we had to chat with them as well. Our partner decided we should go to a hotel for tea so we wouldn't be disturbed. Being with Francis is like hanging out with a celebrity because he literally knows everyone. We talked shop for a bit in the quiet of the hotel and received our grant money for the month.
Next on tap was the rabbit exhibition. This was not on the schedule but Francis heard it was in town and decided we should go. We entered the soccer stadium to find several tables with absolutely packed crowds around them. We weren't able to actually see the rabbits but of course ran into several people that Francis knows. I never would have guessed a rabbit exhibition could draw such a crowd!
After extracting ourselves from the mass of people we headed back into town to find the Aphia II office. We had heard about several projects this organization was working on and they seemed quite complimentary to the work we were doing so we thought we should check it out. We were able to meet with the in-charge and learn more about the organization and walked away with the promise of a site visit.
Back on the street we got a text from James who realized that he didn't have us sign for the money we had received so we needed to meet back up with him. We met him in an internet cafe where a cousin of Francis works. But by now it was after 1 and we had decided we were hungry. We headed over to the Arcade and found a restaurant with a Githeri Special (beans and cabbage) that was fantastic. I invited a fellow VSO and Francis invited our next appointment (Monica) so we ended up a group of 5 and everyone enjoyed meeting each other and exchanged numbers at the end.
Monica wasn't quite ready for us so Francis and I rushed to the National Health Insurance office to pick up some blank application forms for the office before meeting her in a taxi downstairs. We then drove a little way out of town to a very run-down part of Thika that Monica described as a "mini-slum". We were here to visit a girls rescue home and explore a possible partnership.
The home houses 23 orphan girls from age 5-13. There are only 2 bedrooms and one indoor bathroom. The kitchen is very primitive and there is a family room but that is it. A very small space for that many girls and needless to say they are 2-3 girls in a single-sized bed. The yard has a large garden and 2 cows which they are able to get most of their food from. They have also built a very rough outbuilding that functions as a nursery school for the youngest children so they don't have to leave the compound for school. Most of the children were at school during our visit but we were able to meet the nursery students and one other student who arrived home early. We saw the need was incredible in this facility that has no permanent donor and has gotten by for 4 years on one-time donations month to month. We hope to assist where we can in sourcing shoes, clothing, sanitary pads, etc.We would have liked to spend more time at the home but Monica had made another appointment for us with a local politician. We drove back towards town but turned off into the country where we met a brand new Range Rover with tinted windows parked in a cornfield. It all looked very suspicious to me but 2 guys in fancy suits came out of the car to talk to us. I found out later that Monica was showing them a piece of land out there but at the time I felt like I had gotten myself into a dicey situation.
At 5pm we were finally done! But then we realized James had given us too much money so we texted him to meet us at the gas station for a third time that day where we made the exchange. Then we remembered that we had a computer in the repair shop that needed to be picked up as we had a computer student starting class this week. The computer is ancient and we invested a decent sum of money to get it fixed but didn't really have other options as the organization can't afford a new one. I'm hoping it lasts at least until we can source money for some new computers.
I put Francis on a matatu with the computer and headed back into town to shop for a few odds and ends I can't get in Gatura (which is most things other than vegetables and plastic buckets). I returned to the matatu stage around 6pm and boarded a matatu that smelled like someone had an accident on it. I was joined by a local government official from Gatura who had been to the rabbit exhibition and thought it was amazing. We talked the whole way home about farming, family, religion, etc.
I arrived back at my apartment at 7:30 and no sooner walked in the door than my neighbor came by to see where I had been all day. This neighbor had promised to help me get hot water for my shower. Once he confirmed I was home he sent a missed call to the fundi as a signal to come over. He took a look at my equipment and informed me that he needed to buy some wire for the project. So I gave him some money and off he went to the store. Back 15 minutes later he started working and realized I needed a different shape of pipe. More money, 15 minutes later, really into the work. I loaned him my miner's lamp since he was trying to do the wiring in the dark and he was awed by the invention. I wish I could give him mine as it would be so useful in his job but maybe later, when I don't need it anymore. My neighbor and I had a good chat about Ugandan politics while he was working and by 8pm I had warm water in my shower!
Since it was already so late I decided to save the shower treat for the following morning. I made myself a light dinner of crackers and jam, just enough food so I could take my malaria pill as I was still quite full from the massive plate of githeri. I closed out the day by checking my e-mail and doing a little writing. By 9:30 I'm ready for sleep and ready to dream about my hot shower!
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