Jen asked me that this evening -- morning for her, evening for me -- as we skyped and im'd stories over an intermittent internet connection.
A girl knocked on my door this morning. I recognized her, but still am not sure where from. No one other than Sammy (who lives in a little house on our property) has ever come to our door before. It was Sunday morning, I was still in my house coat, she was dressed in a nice peach coloured outfit (long skirt, jacket, and white blouse). She said my name and then asked if I was going to church. When I said no, she reminded me that it was Sunday.
"How can I help you?"
"My father has died and I don't have fare to see him."
"So, your father has died?"
"100 shillings to get to hospital."
"You need fare to get to the hospital?"
"Yes."
So, I gave her 100 shillings... I'm wondering now why I didn't give her more... she took it, the same way our gardener takes small gifts I sometimes bring home from the store, like a bag of sugar and tea leaves, or maize flour, or rice, with both hands out and her head bowed, with a quiet thank you.
"Take care of yourself." And I watched her walk away.
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I've been meeting with a few young women from the university. I wanted to know what it was really like to be a young woman in Kenya. I was hoping that, I don't know, maybe there was some relevance to Life Coaching here.
We talk about what it means to be an empowered woman and what are the barriers to women's empowerment in Kenya -- culture and men, according to the girls. They told me that women are seen as children with small minds. They are here to have children, cook, and do house chores. Even your son is above you. Even a 5 year old son will call his mother stupid.
They did not have a lot of good to say about Kenyan men. As one of the girls shared, "According to where I am, there are no good men."
We talk about what is so great about each of us (this one took a little coaxing). Among these women are self-proclaimed qualities like... being responsible was a big one, an important attribute to each of these girls. One is the best hockey player and the best cook. Another is "small in body, but can stand in front of big people and talk to them." One is a "sports lady", is independent and will be finished her studies at 22. I love this one... "no one can sit on me, I know my rights."
We are planning an event for International Women's Day. I gave them the idea and they are running with it. They have chosen the theme, "Men and Women united to end violence against women and girls." They want to invite some of their guy friends... it seems there are a few good men in Kakamega (I had a hunch!).
They told me stories, some from the newspaper and some from the community, of a 7 year old girl being raped by her grandfather. And a 10 year old girl, in class 5 at a local primary school, who had been driven to school every day by the same piki piki. One day he took her into the maize fields and raped her. A teenage girl and her boyfriend were walking in Kefinco (our area) at night and were attacked. The boy ran away to get help and came back just in time to save his girlfriend from being raped. One story, the last one before we changed the subject, was of a 7 month old baby girl. She has spinal damage from the violation and will never walk again.
I asked them why it is that people smile, even when they tell these tragic stories (we were not smiling at this point, we were all bewildered). My friend Joyce told me that maybe they don't want to upset me. One of the girls said that smiling helped to motivate them to go on. They all assured me that they are suffering inside.
We talked about body image and is it an issue here. Yes. Women want western fashion. They want light skin and will use bleach, fairing cream, and pills to try and achieve it. They don't accept what they are and they look worse when they try to change. If you look, you will see women with light faces, but if you look at their arms and their legs, they are dark. You can't change what you are. One girl hates her stomach, another has promised herself that this year she will get fat. She is eating chips at least two times a day. Seems some things are universal.
Words like widows and orphans and HIV are part of everyday conversation here. Not being able to pay school fees is a daily struggle. This week is registration week for schools. If you do not pay your registration, you will just be sent home. It is a stressful week. One of the girls in our group has not paid her registration... I want to offer, but I don't. I'm just quiet. If she asks, I will say yes.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
This morning's run - multi tasking
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| Centre of our latest finished spring. Pretty hilly terrain all connected by little paths and narrow single track dirt roads impassable by vehicles except motorcycles. |
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| Close up of the above finished spring, 18 to go out of 50 |
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| Found this one using GPS on my run this morning |
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| Close up of above spring |
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Field Trip to Bondo
Monday we loaded a 14 passenger matatu with members from the co-operative group and headed off to Bondo in Nyanza Province (about a 2 1/2 hour drive) to visit some of Alex's groups. Our first stop was Dala Rieko, "a meeting place for sharing of knowledge and good practice". The site is run by a Norwegian NGO headed by Tor Rafoss. Alex has been working with Tor for 7 years and tells us that he used to be a very large donor -- now he has shifted all of his efforts into training and capacity building.
The centre was so impressive. They train youth in permaculture and organic farming. They make their own feed for kukus (poultry) and fish. They are experimenting with spirulina, goji berries, pomegranate, and aloe vera which command a high price in the export market. You can't erradicate poverty by only selling to each other, you need to bring money in. They have a brand new eco-san toilet -- separates "long call" from "short call", composts and both make excellent fertilizer. They have an inexpensive, manual irrigation system when used with mulch means that you can have one harvest after another without having to wait for the rains. Now you might get one good harvest, plus one small one if you are lucky, of maize. With this system, you can expect 4 harvests!
Alex promises to get the recipes for mulch, compost, chicken and fish feed, and organic pesticide. Simple, inexpensive, totally do-able solutions that can be implemented immediately without donor support. They were really excited about this stop. We are going to arrange a visit with KASFOOC and Fredrick before we leave.
We also visited a women's group that is doing extremely well -- with no donor dollars! They have two main income generating activities; both are doing extremely well. First is omena (tiny dried fish). These are plentiful in this region, right next to Lake Victoria. The women add value by frying and packaging them. They sell them to Nakumat and bring in 10,000 Ksh every two weeks. "How did you get them into the store?" asked one of the visitors. "We just spoke to the manager of the store." Simple. They did have to get a certificate from public health in safe food handling, a course offered for free.
The group did a demonstration of their second income generating activity -- table banking. This was quite a long process, but we watched the group raise 3,000 Ksh in the course of a single meeting. They have a cash box, with three locks. Three different members each take a key and another member takes the cash box -- for security and transparency. The group has two treasurers and keeps impeccable records.
Once the box is open, each member contributes, one at a time, 20 bob to the "social fund". This fund is used if a member falls ill or there is a funeral to contribute to. At the end of the year, if they haven't needed to use the fund for support, they may choose to have a Christmas party or divide the money up amongst the members. The second step is savings. Each member, again one at a time in front of everyone, buys "fish". They speak in a language that makes sense to them. In this region one fish goes for 100 Ksh. So, instead of buying "shares", they buy fish. For each 100 Ksh they put into savings, they get one "fish" or "share". Members "buy" as many "fish" as they want and their passbooks are updated.
The next step is micro finance; paying back loans that were taken out the previous month. Loans are available to each member based on how many fish (shares) they have in their savings. Loans are always for one month and are charged a 10% interest (that's 10% per month). They have never had a default on a loan. The final step is to lend out new loans. When we started, the group announced that they had 8,000 Ksh in outstanding loans. At the end of this meeting, after savings and loans were paid back, they had 11,860 Ksh in loans. All the money that comes in is loaned out again. If it's not, they deposit excess into the bank. The group has a goal of buying a tractor within two years; that will cost a couple of million shillings. No one in our group had ever imagined that a group of rural women like themselves could even dream of buying something so expensive.
We celebrated with a meal and a song before we headed for the long drive home.
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| Rod looks on as Alex shows off home-made chicken feed and organic pesticide. |
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| Irrigation system (only 10,000 Ksh) and no-till bed with water hyacinth mulch |
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| Meeting under the shade of a fragrant tree. |
The group did a demonstration of their second income generating activity -- table banking. This was quite a long process, but we watched the group raise 3,000 Ksh in the course of a single meeting. They have a cash box, with three locks. Three different members each take a key and another member takes the cash box -- for security and transparency. The group has two treasurers and keeps impeccable records.
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| Table banking: three padlocks, pass books, coloured money bags each fund. |
The next step is micro finance; paying back loans that were taken out the previous month. Loans are available to each member based on how many fish (shares) they have in their savings. Loans are always for one month and are charged a 10% interest (that's 10% per month). They have never had a default on a loan. The final step is to lend out new loans. When we started, the group announced that they had 8,000 Ksh in outstanding loans. At the end of this meeting, after savings and loans were paid back, they had 11,860 Ksh in loans. All the money that comes in is loaned out again. If it's not, they deposit excess into the bank. The group has a goal of buying a tractor within two years; that will cost a couple of million shillings. No one in our group had ever imagined that a group of rural women like themselves could even dream of buying something so expensive.
We celebrated with a meal and a song before we headed for the long drive home.
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| Celebration Feast -- ugali, potatoes, rice, omena, fish, kuku, stew, skuma, cabbage. |
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| Don't forget about us! |
ABCD -- Session Two
Saturday was the second session for the second group -- we have two groups: "new group" and "co-op group" which started their trainings in October -- of Asset Based Community Development Training. I wasn't sure how many would show up because I had told Joyce, Carolyne, and Bibiana to let the groups know that I was not going to pay fare this time. Kenyans are used to being paid a sitting fee or at least having their transport reimbursed when they are called to a seminar. I went way over budget on the first session (with over 100 in attendance), and wanted to make up the difference. Not paying fare would also serve to be sure that those who attended were really serious about learning something. Alex made it clear in the first session that there was no money to be had from this training, but then I did pay fare, so that was something of a mixed message -- I'm learning too.
We were scheduled to start at 9:30am, and at 10am we had 48 present; I guessed my plan worked. Alex told me not to stop counting until noon. He was right, people trickled in until after noon and 112 was our final count.
This session was focussed specifically on smashing the illusion that there is no money in Kenya. Self Help Groups are common in Kenya. We've mentioned these before. Groups get together, register, elect a board (Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, etc.), and work together ideally on income generating projects, but at least in supporting each other. These groups get together about twice a month and each member usually contributes 100 Ksh each meeting. Alex did the math with the group, assuming there are 20 groups in Kakamega (there are way more), and assuming each group has 20 members, meeting twice a month, contributing 100 Ksh each meeting. That's 400 people X 200 Ksh/month X 12 months = 960,000 Ksh/year. ALMOST ONE MILLION SHILLINGS PER YEAR. The crowd loved that one.
And then he asked if anyone drank in this town. The group agreed that there might be 100 people that drink in Kakamega (there might be one or two more than that given how many bars there are in town, but 100 is a nice round number). Let's say these 100 people have one drink everyday, yes, even on Sunday, and a drink costs 50 bob. 100 X 50 X 7days a week X 52 weeks a year = 1,820,000/year. ALMOST TWO MILLION SHILLINGS PER YEAR. Don't tell me there's no money in Kakamega.
Throughout the course of the day participants worked in small groups to identify the projects that they engage in. What are the coping strategies? We came up with poultry, small scale horticulture, and merry-go-rounds. There is also a group doing fish farming (our KASFOOC group). Some want to expand to bee keeping -- bees can be kept on small plots of land and honey demands a high price.
Alex went through a KAP analysis -- Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice. He believes it is the attitude that is killing this country... the continent. And once the attitude shifts and Africans see their own capacity, they will be able to seek out more knowledge, like this training, and put into practice what they are learning. The feedback from the session is so positive -- they are hungry for more. But with only one Alex, and the Canadians leaving in just a month, we are concentrating on how to keep the momentum. The next session will be to train trainers -- leaders selected from each of the small groups, that can carry this work through.
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| The girls that pull it all together -- Carolyne, me, Bibiana, & Joyce |
We were scheduled to start at 9:30am, and at 10am we had 48 present; I guessed my plan worked. Alex told me not to stop counting until noon. He was right, people trickled in until after noon and 112 was our final count.
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| Late arrivals hustling to their seats |
And then he asked if anyone drank in this town. The group agreed that there might be 100 people that drink in Kakamega (there might be one or two more than that given how many bars there are in town, but 100 is a nice round number). Let's say these 100 people have one drink everyday, yes, even on Sunday, and a drink costs 50 bob. 100 X 50 X 7days a week X 52 weeks a year = 1,820,000/year. ALMOST TWO MILLION SHILLINGS PER YEAR. Don't tell me there's no money in Kakamega.
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| Alex painting a clear picture of the wealth waiting to be exploited here |
Alex went through a KAP analysis -- Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice. He believes it is the attitude that is killing this country... the continent. And once the attitude shifts and Africans see their own capacity, they will be able to seek out more knowledge, like this training, and put into practice what they are learning. The feedback from the session is so positive -- they are hungry for more. But with only one Alex, and the Canadians leaving in just a month, we are concentrating on how to keep the momentum. The next session will be to train trainers -- leaders selected from each of the small groups, that can carry this work through.
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| Let's remember who we are doing all of this for! |
The fish farm co-op is coming together
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| L -->R Grace (widow), Joyce (KASFOOC exec),Tanya, Joyce Makaka (fish farm expert) and Esther (widow) talk about how to expand a pond to make it a viable business |
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| Looking at Graces pond |
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| Respa is 91 and ready to expand her pond |
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| Lots to talk about on our 4 hour hike from farm to farm |
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Sweatin' the Small Stuff
Terry and I had a fight this morning. He was wearing my socks (again)! My once white, Lulu Lemon socks. I was really mad. Not only are they all dirty now with red dust that gets into everything, but they are all stretched out. And they are mine.
I realized as I was walking into town to meet someone, that I really needed to be mad at Terry for wearing my socks... my Lulu Lemon socks. This morning I needed a cadillac problem. I needed to feel like I had control over something. The socks weren't the last straw for me, they were something of a lifeline. Some normal, ridiculous problem that is easy to place blame (Terry's fault) and easy to solve (Terry will have to buy me new socks). I got to assert my will until he said sorry and promised to buy me new socks. Just like that, problem solved.
Sigh, if only everything were that easy.
I realized as I was walking into town to meet someone, that I really needed to be mad at Terry for wearing my socks... my Lulu Lemon socks. This morning I needed a cadillac problem. I needed to feel like I had control over something. The socks weren't the last straw for me, they were something of a lifeline. Some normal, ridiculous problem that is easy to place blame (Terry's fault) and easy to solve (Terry will have to buy me new socks). I got to assert my will until he said sorry and promised to buy me new socks. Just like that, problem solved.
Sigh, if only everything were that easy.
Checking on springs
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| The girls are coming with their containers (proportional to the size of the girl) to get the (now) clean water |
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| Nice to see some boys collecting (now clean) water. The blue chlorine dispenser was installed about a week ago coincidentally at the same time the spring was completed |
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| Our hero was out verifying more completed springs today (Feb 21) |
Friday, February 17, 2012
Just Another Day
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| Started the day with a visit to local fish farmer Joyce Makaka- nursery pens hold the newborn fry inside larger pond |
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| Tanya looks at Tilapia broodstock being fed |
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| Right after fish farm visit back on the motorcycle to our 3rd Hygiene training session. |
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| After I gave my rousing speech at training I went back out to inspect more finished springs. |
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| Happy customers, should spend alot less time being sick in the future. |
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| The bag is to protect the cement. The Chlorine dispenser was just installed by IPA, an NGO doing a big scale study. |
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| This is the driest time of the year, so any water now is a very good thing. |
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| Back to the training session to hand out 62 certificates (they LOVE certificates here) with Rtn Grace |
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| They all have evidence that they now have been trained by the Dept of Health of how to maintain these protected springs |
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Hell's Gate
We actually took an afternoon off purely for recreation! After saying good bye to the CR Rotarians, Terry and I went to Hell's Gate National Park at Lake Naivasha. This park has no preditors -- well, there are leopards, but they assured us we wouldn't see any -- so you can ride bikes through the park. At the bike rental place (about 2 km from the front gate -- why they wouldn't just rent bikes at the gate is beyond me) I said hello to two young mzungus. I am making a point of introducing myself to mzungus -- it just felt too weird being ignored. Anyway, these two young guys had been camping in the park. One was and Auzie named Jono! I told him that my Jono was heading off to Vegas in a couple of days with his buddies. This Jono said that he will regret not coming with me one day. The other guy said that he regrets that Vegas even exists.
Anyway, the road sucked (bouncy), and so did the bikes (clunky and slow), but it was so worth it. We passed zebras, gizelles, wart hogs, and water buffalos. I didn't get any pictures of the buffalos because ... yep, I was too scared. After hearing that the most dangerous animals in the game parks are hippos and WATER BUFFALOS, I wasn't about to stop and take a picture. I just made Terry come back and get me (he only has one speed and that's faster than me) and pedalled my little heart out passed them. I was pretty sure that the park folks wouldn't let us in with bikes if anything was likely to attack us, but logic doesn't really get a voice when I scared!
It was about an 8km ride to the gorge, where we went for an hour guided walk -- would have liked to have taken the three hour tour, but I wasn't at all interested in getting caught in the park after dark, though Terry would have been all for it. We were chatting with our guide, John, about his life as a Maasai. He says things are improving as more schools are being built. When he was in school, he had to walk 25 km each way to and from school every day. He quit in class 6 after too many of his friends had died from animal attacks on the way to school. Education wasn't worth risking his life. Now, though, his younger brother is finishing Form 4 as a school has been built closer to their home. John will look for work after he finishes the "community service" time (he is a volunteer at the park). All Maasai are expected to do community service for a number of years before they are free to go an work. We asked John what he will do for work -- he is up for anything. He knows his options are limited because of his limited education. He hopes to get something better than working at a flower farm because they only make 6,000 =/ per month (about $70/month).
Anyway, LOOK AT THE GORGE! Flash floods keep carving the gorge deeper and deeper. John is pointing to graphite from "Phil 1992" at least 10 metres up where the ground used to be.
I might have been a little scared climbing out -- hey, it was slippery and I was in flip flops -- so John took my hand (he was wearing dress pants and dress shoes) and just marched me right up! I'll put more pics up on fb, ugh, this was SO COOL!
After biking back to the gate, we were having a drink before we headed out and look who we ran into!
Anyway, the road sucked (bouncy), and so did the bikes (clunky and slow), but it was so worth it. We passed zebras, gizelles, wart hogs, and water buffalos. I didn't get any pictures of the buffalos because ... yep, I was too scared. After hearing that the most dangerous animals in the game parks are hippos and WATER BUFFALOS, I wasn't about to stop and take a picture. I just made Terry come back and get me (he only has one speed and that's faster than me) and pedalled my little heart out passed them. I was pretty sure that the park folks wouldn't let us in with bikes if anything was likely to attack us, but logic doesn't really get a voice when I scared!
It was about an 8km ride to the gorge, where we went for an hour guided walk -- would have liked to have taken the three hour tour, but I wasn't at all interested in getting caught in the park after dark, though Terry would have been all for it. We were chatting with our guide, John, about his life as a Maasai. He says things are improving as more schools are being built. When he was in school, he had to walk 25 km each way to and from school every day. He quit in class 6 after too many of his friends had died from animal attacks on the way to school. Education wasn't worth risking his life. Now, though, his younger brother is finishing Form 4 as a school has been built closer to their home. John will look for work after he finishes the "community service" time (he is a volunteer at the park). All Maasai are expected to do community service for a number of years before they are free to go an work. We asked John what he will do for work -- he is up for anything. He knows his options are limited because of his limited education. He hopes to get something better than working at a flower farm because they only make 6,000 =/ per month (about $70/month).
Anyway, LOOK AT THE GORGE! Flash floods keep carving the gorge deeper and deeper. John is pointing to graphite from "Phil 1992" at least 10 metres up where the ground used to be.
I might have been a little scared climbing out -- hey, it was slippery and I was in flip flops -- so John took my hand (he was wearing dress pants and dress shoes) and just marched me right up! I'll put more pics up on fb, ugh, this was SO COOL!
After biking back to the gate, we were having a drink before we headed out and look who we ran into!
Naivasha Trip
We travelled by matatu on Saturday morning to Naivasha via Nakuru, leaving at 6:30am for a 6 hour journey. We took the Blueline as recommended by a friend. The Blueline is an express line whereby everyone gets their own seat (a rare luxury here)... turns out, though, that the Blueline doesn't stop in Naivasha. This we found out quite by accident after we had passed the town by about 20km. I had seen a sign awhile back saying Naivasha 17km, but when the bus continued to drive for another 45 minutes with no other signs to Naivasha, we asked the driver. "Naivasha? No, we are almost in Nairobi!" So, after much yelling in Swahili on the phone, the driver pulled over and pointed to the other side of the road and instructed us to catch the next matatu. Grrr. Anyway, after a little bickering, we managed to find one that took us where we needed to be and after a short, squishy, bumpy ride, we arrived.
We were surprised when we met our contact, Richard, from the Naivasha club -- we had both been expecting a Kenyan. Well, after 16 years living in Naivasha, Richard is now a Kenyan, but he has the skin of a mzungu and the accent of a Brit. Richard whisked us off to the Sports Club (seems every town has a sports club -- 9 hole golf course with "browns" rather than "greens", racket club, restaurant) for a quiet lunch.
The Campbell River Daybreak Club is working on a global grant with Naivasha Rotary Club (about a dozen members) on an Adopt a Village Project. The Adopt a Village Project has a water, medical, and educational component. Terry is helping write the grant application... after dotting i's and crossing t's for our Protected Springs Grant, he's a bit of an expert in wording answers in just the way the powers that be want to hear them -- all while telling the truth, of course! CR Daybreak will be taking on the "water" part. I'll let Terry fill you in on the details as I am sure our club will want to be a part of it. It will serve many many people in desparate need of water. Right now they have no access at all to water and have to buy it from one of these guys (who are not very nice to their donkeys by the way).
We met some of the CR Daybreak Rotarians and their spouses on Sunday -- they were easy to pick out, just look for the ones with the hats. Ah, we always get a kick out of mzungus in safari gear! Kenyans are dressed in satin and sequins and we are dressed in khakis and tilley hat! Rats, they took off their hats after I teased them.
The RC of Naivasha's pride and joy is their Children's Safe House that they fully support. This is a home for children who have been rescued from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. The children stay here on a temporary basis until rehabilitation with their families is possible. One little guy was brought in after being neglected by his single mother who had turned to prostitution. The boy was three and weighed the same as Richard's 15 month old baby. He reminded us that this is the outcome of desparation, not of bad people. The children were a little reluctant at first (so were the Rotarians), but after some time, there were smiles all around, only a few tears.
We were surprised when we met our contact, Richard, from the Naivasha club -- we had both been expecting a Kenyan. Well, after 16 years living in Naivasha, Richard is now a Kenyan, but he has the skin of a mzungu and the accent of a Brit. Richard whisked us off to the Sports Club (seems every town has a sports club -- 9 hole golf course with "browns" rather than "greens", racket club, restaurant) for a quiet lunch.
The Campbell River Daybreak Club is working on a global grant with Naivasha Rotary Club (about a dozen members) on an Adopt a Village Project. The Adopt a Village Project has a water, medical, and educational component. Terry is helping write the grant application... after dotting i's and crossing t's for our Protected Springs Grant, he's a bit of an expert in wording answers in just the way the powers that be want to hear them -- all while telling the truth, of course! CR Daybreak will be taking on the "water" part. I'll let Terry fill you in on the details as I am sure our club will want to be a part of it. It will serve many many people in desparate need of water. Right now they have no access at all to water and have to buy it from one of these guys (who are not very nice to their donkeys by the way).
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| Wouldn't want to be a donkey in Naivasha. |
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| Richard (on left) with CR Daybreak Rotarians in front of water tank they sponsored. |
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| Curious, but not quite sure... |
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| Warming up |
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| Ready to play (I played "football" with a bottle cap with the little girl on the right, after I put her shoes on the right foot). |
Friday, February 10, 2012
Baby Class
Brenda has started baby class (3-5yrs). Baby class starts with Stream 1, on the left side of the class, and in year two, they graduated to Stream 2, the right side of the class. I think you'll see the difference in the actions of the song. This is almost more cuteness than I can handle!
Children are in school from 7:30am to 3:30pm. There are about 90 kids all day and another 50 come for a feeding program at lunch. School fees (only about 3,000 =/ for a 3 month term) pay for the food, and donations from the church pay the teachers salary.
It is a nice school full of happy children (can't fake kids having fun!). I asked Fredrick if Brenda was scared to go to school. He told me that when he took her the first day, the teacher asked how she is doing. In Swahili, she answered, "I've come here to learn."
Fredrick came by this afternoon. He discovered at 10:30 this morning when he went home for tea that Josephine is not feeling well. She later called him in the early afternoon to say that "the pains in her womb" were getting worse. I told him he had better take her to the hospital, but I knew it was getting close to the time when Brenda would be coming home from school.
"How does Brenda get home from school?" I asked. "She usually just walks home with the other children who live near."
"If you are taking Josephine to the hospital, who will care for Brenda?"
Fredrick answers, "Remember I told you there is a young girl next door, sister to Augustine, that cooks for the other childrens. I can talk to her and just tell her to let Brenda in to the house." "Or, I can just come back and open the door for Brenda." The girl we are talking about is in Standard One (6 years old).
"Brenda stays alone in the house?" I ask trying not to sound too alarmed (Brends is four).
"Oh, she just likes to play around, so it is just o.k."
Children are in school from 7:30am to 3:30pm. There are about 90 kids all day and another 50 come for a feeding program at lunch. School fees (only about 3,000 =/ for a 3 month term) pay for the food, and donations from the church pay the teachers salary.
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| Circle song -- Brenda is the one on the right in the blue shoes. |
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| Brenda is really good at hopping! |
Fredrick came by this afternoon. He discovered at 10:30 this morning when he went home for tea that Josephine is not feeling well. She later called him in the early afternoon to say that "the pains in her womb" were getting worse. I told him he had better take her to the hospital, but I knew it was getting close to the time when Brenda would be coming home from school.
"How does Brenda get home from school?" I asked. "She usually just walks home with the other children who live near."
"If you are taking Josephine to the hospital, who will care for Brenda?"
Fredrick answers, "Remember I told you there is a young girl next door, sister to Augustine, that cooks for the other childrens. I can talk to her and just tell her to let Brenda in to the house." "Or, I can just come back and open the door for Brenda." The girl we are talking about is in Standard One (6 years old).
"Brenda stays alone in the house?" I ask trying not to sound too alarmed (Brends is four).
"Oh, she just likes to play around, so it is just o.k."
48 Protected Spring Recipients Receive Hygiene Training
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| Feb 9th grads of 'how to maintain your health and protected spring' |
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Terry's Update to Rotary
For any non Rotarians reading this: Terry and Tanya's Rotary Club, RC Strathcona Sunrise, has an International Committee that meets regularly to coordinate the club's International Projects (we have projects at various stages in India (2) and Mexico (proposed) as well -and maybe more since we left). They have a meeting Fri Feb 10th and this is our update to them. We won't hold it against them if they turn down our request below, they are tasked with stretching the dollars that club members work so hard to raise (selling beer, burgers and ...very heavy bags of soil conditioner).
Hi Guys,
Project Update (feel free to skim Pippa, I don't want to eat up the meeting):
1) Protected Springs GG (PSGG)
Based on previous experience and the scope of this project I expected it to take 12-16 months to complete. I now expect we will be 90-100% completed by March 20th (our return date). 20 are complete, 20 under construction and 10 not started. Thanks to local Rotarians we are under budget. Extra money will go to build steps for some (~3) of the insane access springs (see blog for details) and perhaps a few extra springs (we'll see).
Don't tell Lynn, but I just signed 130 very formal certificates as President of RCSS. I TOLD them I was only PE, but they didn't listen, or spell my name right. These will be given out tommorrow and Friday as we provide Hygiene & Protected Spring Management Training to the recipients of the first 18 springs now complete. The course is taught by Dept of Public Health, but sponsored totally by Rotary (cost is $9/ per participant, for training materials, transport, lunch and certificate (they LOVE certificates down here)). After this 3 more training days to do.
2) Fish Farm DCG
Assessment stage is done. All farmers and would-be farmers have been spoken too, technical training w/ field trips has occurred. One of 3 days of business training has taken place so far- next class feb 18th. Terry has met with local fingerling and feed producers. We have 47 days to form a women's co-ops for widow-headed households.Tanya has taken the reins. The speed of the PSGG is such that it is consuming alot of Terry's time monitoring,administrating and mostly dispensing payments to contractors (via RC Kakamega) and keeping everyone in the loop. Its a good problem to have.
3) Students
Our form 2 student, Mathias, we have met and updated you on. Moses, for whom Michael Pontus is providing medical coverage, has ongoing issues with his now amputated leg, but they are being addressed. Both Moses and Mathias seem happy, clothed, school supplied and marks look good. Our form 1 student will not start at Musingu High as the fees are too much. This was Alinda's recommendation and she went ahead and started him at another school before I could object- but she says the alternative school is very good and she knows her stuff. We will meet him soon.
I concur with Tanya that we keep Mathias at Musingu High school until he graduates at a cost of $700.00 a year (we budgetted for $600). We have until next Dec to decide about our 2013 Form 1 student (Student #3).
4) Other Rotary related.
(i)Tanya is working closely with Rotaract; it is a very $ poor, but very active club. She did a garbage clean up day with them last Saturday and she has not missed a meeting. They were blown away to see her actually picking up garbage. Video on our blog. She is meeting weekly with female Rotaracters starting tomorrow.
(ii) We travel to Navaisaha ( 5 hrs on bus 1 way) to meet Campbell River Rotarians and discuss a ~$50K clean water GG proposal this weekend.
Request : Could RC Strathcona Sunrise sponsor two Rotaracters to send to RYLA in March?
In 2009 we sent two for $150.00 each. This year I expect the fee will be $200 each. Covers travel, registration, room and board for weekend in Nairobi (9hr bus ride from here). RC Kakamega will likely send 1 or 2. These will be 1st or 2nd year students who will be being groomed to run Rotaract in 2 years (older Rotaracters cannot go due to exams). Tanya would select lucky recipients with Abraham, Winnie and Athanacious (VP, Treasurer and President). They are all excellent. Will ensure females are represented (club is 30 strong, with about 40% women). If yay, please record in minutes to reimburse me when I get back after I provide reports and receipts from students.
Have a good meeting, skype probably won't work at Plates, but I am available if it does. My skype handle is Farmsalmon4ever.
Terry
PS Did I ever tell you that the first thing we saw on our first day here at KASFOOC office was a picture I took of about 20 RCSSers bagging Skyrocket? Each beneficiary was told, and shown, exactly how donors worked for the money to provide springs and fish farm supplies. Thanks to that opicture and KASFOOC, they really understand that this money was worked for and, perhaps a little forcefully for my taste, are told that theyhave to work hard to make projects sustainable tosay thank you to donors. Pretty cool, and yes, they make sure to thank us, as we walk around out there, for working so hard to raise the money to build these springs.
Hi Guys,
Project Update (feel free to skim Pippa, I don't want to eat up the meeting):
1) Protected Springs GG (PSGG)
Based on previous experience and the scope of this project I expected it to take 12-16 months to complete. I now expect we will be 90-100% completed by March 20th (our return date). 20 are complete, 20 under construction and 10 not started. Thanks to local Rotarians we are under budget. Extra money will go to build steps for some (~3) of the insane access springs (see blog for details) and perhaps a few extra springs (we'll see).
Don't tell Lynn, but I just signed 130 very formal certificates as President of RCSS. I TOLD them I was only PE, but they didn't listen, or spell my name right. These will be given out tommorrow and Friday as we provide Hygiene & Protected Spring Management Training to the recipients of the first 18 springs now complete. The course is taught by Dept of Public Health, but sponsored totally by Rotary (cost is $9/ per participant, for training materials, transport, lunch and certificate (they LOVE certificates down here)). After this 3 more training days to do.
2) Fish Farm DCG
Assessment stage is done. All farmers and would-be farmers have been spoken too, technical training w/ field trips has occurred. One of 3 days of business training has taken place so far- next class feb 18th. Terry has met with local fingerling and feed producers. We have 47 days to form a women's co-ops for widow-headed households.Tanya has taken the reins. The speed of the PSGG is such that it is consuming alot of Terry's time monitoring,administrating and mostly dispensing payments to contractors (via RC Kakamega) and keeping everyone in the loop. Its a good problem to have.
3) Students
Our form 2 student, Mathias, we have met and updated you on. Moses, for whom Michael Pontus is providing medical coverage, has ongoing issues with his now amputated leg, but they are being addressed. Both Moses and Mathias seem happy, clothed, school supplied and marks look good. Our form 1 student will not start at Musingu High as the fees are too much. This was Alinda's recommendation and she went ahead and started him at another school before I could object- but she says the alternative school is very good and she knows her stuff. We will meet him soon.
I concur with Tanya that we keep Mathias at Musingu High school until he graduates at a cost of $700.00 a year (we budgetted for $600). We have until next Dec to decide about our 2013 Form 1 student (Student #3).
4) Other Rotary related.
(i)Tanya is working closely with Rotaract; it is a very $ poor, but very active club. She did a garbage clean up day with them last Saturday and she has not missed a meeting. They were blown away to see her actually picking up garbage. Video on our blog. She is meeting weekly with female Rotaracters starting tomorrow.
(ii) We travel to Navaisaha ( 5 hrs on bus 1 way) to meet Campbell River Rotarians and discuss a ~$50K clean water GG proposal this weekend.
Request : Could RC Strathcona Sunrise sponsor two Rotaracters to send to RYLA in March?
In 2009 we sent two for $150.00 each. This year I expect the fee will be $200 each. Covers travel, registration, room and board for weekend in Nairobi (9hr bus ride from here). RC Kakamega will likely send 1 or 2. These will be 1st or 2nd year students who will be being groomed to run Rotaract in 2 years (older Rotaracters cannot go due to exams). Tanya would select lucky recipients with Abraham, Winnie and Athanacious (VP, Treasurer and President). They are all excellent. Will ensure females are represented (club is 30 strong, with about 40% women). If yay, please record in minutes to reimburse me when I get back after I provide reports and receipts from students.
Have a good meeting, skype probably won't work at Plates, but I am available if it does. My skype handle is Farmsalmon4ever.
Terry
PS Did I ever tell you that the first thing we saw on our first day here at KASFOOC office was a picture I took of about 20 RCSSers bagging Skyrocket? Each beneficiary was told, and shown, exactly how donors worked for the money to provide springs and fish farm supplies. Thanks to that opicture and KASFOOC, they really understand that this money was worked for and, perhaps a little forcefully for my taste, are told that theyhave to work hard to make projects sustainable tosay thank you to donors. Pretty cool, and yes, they make sure to thank us, as we walk around out there, for working so hard to raise the money to build these springs.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Some Miscellaneous Photos
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| After about a 1000 years(?) of providing questionable water this spring will be protected next week. |
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| Centre is the village elder. He will let contractor store materials on his land and make sure they don't get pinched. He will also ensure big rocks and sand is collected and labourers will get fed a hot lunch. |
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| This homemade protected spring is constantly failing and having to be re-assembled |
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| Zico the contractor getting a read of a spring to be started on Feb 7th (today) |
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| One of 1000's of beneficiaries from our spring project |
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| RC Kakamega Meeting poolside |
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| Homemade toy: a truck made of wire being pushed with a stick |
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| Signs of stress on the "running gear"- no infection yet |
Monday, February 6, 2012
Google Map of Fish Ponds and Protected Springs
Can someone click on the link below and send me a comment to tell me if the link below works? You should see a google map showing the exact locations of each pond and spring we are working on. With Norms help all my GPS data was loaded in. Now I am trying to stand on my own two feet and add a before and after picture for each point. Don't hold your breath. You can see the name of the spring or the pond by clicking on the marker or scrolling down (I think). Our house is about 3km due south below the biggest cluster of points.
Google Map of Rotary projects near Kakamega:
http://batchgeo.com/map/f7c919ede59cc1f147199dd13c0abecf
Google Map of Rotary projects near Kakamega:
http://batchgeo.com/map/f7c919ede59cc1f147199dd13c0abecf
Wanted: Cement Steps
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Mzungu Weekend
We had a delightful weekend with two social do's in a row. Saturday afternoon we were in line at Nakumat and smiled at a mother and son in the checkout next to us (mzungus). Nakumat is kind of mzungu central, but they are not always friendly. We always give a Canadian smile, but are often met with barely a glance or even an outright "I'm too cool for you" snub. Our smile Saturday, though, was met with an invitation for dinner and games night. Against our introverted nature, a smile is as far as we usually go, we accepted the invitation and arranged to meet later at Naku to be guided in.
At the appointed time and place, we were met by two boys who hopped off their piki piki and began chatting up a storm. I asked the older one, Eric, what it was like being a young guy in Kenya. I was quickly corrected, "I'm not actually that young. I will be 14 in June." The young one, Joel, asked me if I had money and it's o.k. if I don't because he can pay for me. We hopped on a couple of piki pikis and headed off. They were as comfortable as can be, smiling and chatting the whole time.
We hopped off the bikes a couple of blocks before we reached the house to walk with the boys' friend, Meghan, who was also coming for dinner. Meghan is just a regular American 24 year old girl; kinda soft, glasses... who is a member of the Peace Corp. She is living with a Kenyan family in the middle of nowhere, teaching at a rural school. She is a 700 shilling taxi ride from town -- the Peace Corp doesn't allow the youth to ride pikis. When we asked her why, she said because they used to have a mortality rate! O.K., so it was probably only one, but the western safety mentality couldn't take it. Her stories blew us away... you would never guess by looking at her that she would have the adventurous spirit that she did. Throughout the evening she and Brent, the 16 year old son, exchanged war stories of nightmare flights to China and other world adventures.
Dennis and Michele have lived in Kenya for three years with Michele's four boys (her 19 year old daughter went home to the states) Joel (10), Erick (13), Brent (16), Jeremy (18). They are missionaries who work with a rural school and also teach dairy farming to local mammas. Their cows produce 17 litres of milk a day. Michele whipped up some butter right before dinner. I asked the question a little reluctantly, but I really wanted to know... "What exactly is a missionary." They told me that basically it can be any type of humanitarian project, often involves building a school or a church, with some element of teaching about God. Some missions have a stronger proselytizing factor than theirs. In fact, they are getting quite a bit of flack from their organization for not thumping the bible hard enough. We ate, played Turkey Foot (a dominoes game), drank tea with fresh milk, laughed, and exchanged stories. They were possibly the nicest, friendliest people we have ever met. Glad we accepted the invitation.
This afternoon we went to CHES for a potluck. The usual mzungu suspects were there -- Rod & Pat, Alinda, Marie, Norm & Cheryl, Sandra, and the young couple from the states, Miles and Katie. Miles and Katie delighted us with some toe-tappy songs. Ah, another lovely social afternoon.
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| Erik & Joel |
At the appointed time and place, we were met by two boys who hopped off their piki piki and began chatting up a storm. I asked the older one, Eric, what it was like being a young guy in Kenya. I was quickly corrected, "I'm not actually that young. I will be 14 in June." The young one, Joel, asked me if I had money and it's o.k. if I don't because he can pay for me. We hopped on a couple of piki pikis and headed off. They were as comfortable as can be, smiling and chatting the whole time.
 |
| Leading the way to Miraba |
We hopped off the bikes a couple of blocks before we reached the house to walk with the boys' friend, Meghan, who was also coming for dinner. Meghan is just a regular American 24 year old girl; kinda soft, glasses... who is a member of the Peace Corp. She is living with a Kenyan family in the middle of nowhere, teaching at a rural school. She is a 700 shilling taxi ride from town -- the Peace Corp doesn't allow the youth to ride pikis. When we asked her why, she said because they used to have a mortality rate! O.K., so it was probably only one, but the western safety mentality couldn't take it. Her stories blew us away... you would never guess by looking at her that she would have the adventurous spirit that she did. Throughout the evening she and Brent, the 16 year old son, exchanged war stories of nightmare flights to China and other world adventures.
 |
| Joel takes care of the calves -- Daisy is 2 weeks old |
This afternoon we went to CHES for a potluck. The usual mzungu suspects were there -- Rod & Pat, Alinda, Marie, Norm & Cheryl, Sandra, and the young couple from the states, Miles and Katie. Miles and Katie delighted us with some toe-tappy songs. Ah, another lovely social afternoon.
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