Morning visit to Kakamega High School;Afternoon meeting about fish delivery.

SURPRISE! We thought we were having a meeting with just Minishi Oliver school principal for Kakamega High School about future Rotary Projects this morning.  He wanted us to both speak to all 1300 students. So after a rousing song and prayer we made our speeches (I got a few laughs speaking swahili and saying I was a fast runner for "an old white guy"). I made a video of Tanya speaking, but she wont let me post it.  She did well. We described all the Rotary projects we were working on.

Principal Minishi is eager to do a Rotary project that brings a bakery and fish ponds into the school to raise money (and food) to sponsor poor, but high achievers.  KHS has a very good reputation.

Meeting (at Tour Africa of course with passionfruit juice) with KASFOOC's Matano setting up logistics for next Tuesday's fish and feed delivery.  We start at 630 am on trip to Dominion farms 4 hours away to pick up feed and fish and distribute to 4 Rotary-sponsored fish farmers in the co-op.  Its going to be a long day.

On the fish pond - very hot day

This what i came home to yesterday: Tanya reading to the neighbour's kids. Don't worry , I kicked everyone out right away. "Scram" I barked. ;)

The sticks near my left hand are a compost pen holding cow dung to fertilize pen. Normally it would be removed for seining as it catches everything.

Yesterday, Thursday, was play in the pond day.  It was 33 degrees.  Tanya got pretty woozy, but she manned the camera well. Had a good Rotary meeting, all issues sorted out nicely.  Big weight off our shoulders.  We REALLY pushed to finish the 8 springs while we were here.  As a consolation prize I do get to focus on fish ponds Rotary District Community Grant, which has been great.

 Today was 7 hours of paper work at the Golf Hotel.  That's Grace from RC Kakamega, we completed the first draft of our online Global Grant report, then met with treasurer Pillai and sorted out the finances. RCK has 501,000Ksh ($6000 CDN) to get 8 more springs built. We met with all 3 fundis (contractors) and got final, official, receipts.  I gave them Certificates of Appreciation that they can use for future client wooing.

Great news.  We are 45 min into a lightening rain storm.  Yahoo. Longest so far has been 15 minutes. Two of our ponds can really use the water- as can the whole area.  Our protected springs are receiving extra use as unprotected springs dry up.  This is the very driest time of year.

fistfulls of tadpoles- unfortunately we didnt take a pic of our first seine where we caught lots of frogs and tadpoles. I was teaching seining techniques and ridding pond of tadpoles- fish due next tuesday

This is Carolyne's pond (widowed mother of 5). That rock to the right is going to be tricky come harvest time. Its huge.

WAAAY easier to seine a fish pond than a fish pen on a 100'x100' steel ocean pen with tides and wind waves- WAAYY

Seining for tadpoles & malaria tests for TnT

Esther A's newly expanded fish pond.  The structure in the corner is where cow dung is placed to fertilize the water, to create algae for tilapia fingerlings to feed on.

The pond above is 1 of 4 sponsored by the Rotary District Community Grant. Its empty except for tadpoles.  Fingerlings coming net Tuesday.

Tomorrow I will teach beneficiaries some fish seining techniques practicing on the tadpoles.  I will be a little rusty but I want them to know how to move and use their seine net around for fish sampling and harvesting purposes- plus we want to get rid of these tadpoles which are munching on the good algae. Also the dipnet pictured above is one of ten purchased through the Rotary grant.Its going to be a muddy day.


Things are looking good on the Protected Spring side of things.  The RC Kakamega had a board meeting last night.  They are not going to let us build the 8 springs we wanted.  They want to select and build 8 of their choice.  That's OK, a little disappointing, but I have alot of paperwork, accounting and fish pond work to do.  We are ahead of schedule on the springs will get built.  Tanya and I want to get our Rotary reports 90% done before we return as life will be very busy back home, and everything is fresh on our minds. 

I spent a couple hours today at Golf Hotel this afternoon getting press release and report for Comox Valley Road Runners donation to Kip Keino underpriveleged athletes in Eldoret.  The motivation is back.

Malaria
So we were feeling a bit logey and we have lots of mosquito bites and neither of us took vaccines or malaria meds.  We are at a cafe today and our waitress who we vaguely knew so i started a little chat- she turns out to be a 4th year med student who has been in Houston the last 10 years!  Long and amazing story.  She is back home in Kakamega working at her parents cafe for 6 months, taking a break.  Anyway, that amazing tale aside, we tell her our malaria concerns and she , after tea, walks us down to a clinic and for $2 each we get our blood tested.  We were found to be clean, no parasites in our blood.

Has anybody seen my motivation?

We seemed to have misplaced our motivation.  We arrived back in Kakamega on Thursday for a bonus 2 1/2 weeks to wrap up our projects.  On the agenda is:  Final 8 springs, Delivery of fingerlings and feed for fish farmers, Put together and distribute manual for Asset Based Community Development Facilitators, and print photos to leave behind for our friends and members of the community who were kind enough to let us snap.  We've met hurdles at every step and so far on day 4, we haven't really accomplished a thing.

I did sleep last night after a short rain shower freshened the air, though I woke up this morning to Terry clapping at fat mosquitoes trapped inside our net.  He said they were easy to catch because they were full of blood.  And I am covered in bites.  Damn it.

We have both been napping every afternoon, weird, and Terry has headed out for his morning run... which for the past three days has turned into a morning walk after he shuffles along for the first 5 or 10 minutes.  Also weird.

My camera is on day two in the shop, fingers crossed I haven't lost all my pictures since February 21st :o(

The Kakamega Rotary Club is stalling on the springs.  :o(

Two of the fish ponds are still filling up with water... pole, pole -- slowly, slowly.  And the Chairman of KASFOOC is sending us texts that sounds like he's mad at us, but we can't make any sense of them.  :o(

I haven't opened the document to work on the manual.  TODAY!  I am determined.  :o(

And yesterday Fredrick called to meet me in the morning.  He told me he has sold a bed, a three person chair, and a stool.  Good news!  And then he told me that he went home on Saturday to find his house completely empty, except for a bed, one chair, and his clothes.  Josephine and the children are gone.  :o(

What are we doing here.    

On another note... the sun is shining, birds are singing, there is music in the streets.  We had enough water this morning to make tea and have a sponge bath.  Life is just o.k.  :o)

Free Range Chickens

I am sitting on our little porch in our new compound watching the 20 or so resident chickens do their thing.  They are much more beautiful (and funny) than one might imagine.  They have been good for no less than an hours entertainment so far.  Unfortunately I have no pictures to post as they are trapped in my camera which has been infected by a nasty virus since late February.  I will be quite heartbroken if my pictures are lost.  Fingers crossed that our Kakamega IT guy can retrieve them.

It is odd being back after a week in Mombasa.  I got a cold while we were there which challenged my ability to sleep the last two nights due to lack of oxygen when I lied down.  We've had three nights in our little ground level apartment here... and so far no sleeping.  Breathing is better, but no airflow, stifling hot, and a stupid mosquito net that drapes over our faces and never quite closes, trapping mosquitoes and air.  There is also a little bug zapper here, so I spend hours each night swatting mosquitoes and flies, chasing the small sense of satisfaction that comes with the pop and zap accompanied by the unpleasant smokey smell of triumph.  Sigh.  What lengths I will go to for the illusion that I have things under control.    

So, Mombasa was just ... delightful.  We were hosted by a lovely, spunky Rotarian, Leah Bryant, and her 10 year old daughter Tatyana.  We met Leah at the PETS conference in Nairobi a few weeks ago and she invited us to come... so we did.  Pictures will say so much more than I will be able to here, but I'll give it a go.  She lives in a big bright pinky-orange house that was build in the 50's.  Leah is a practicing Buddhist and has a lovely alter with mediation cushions, candles, artwork, and bowls. She and her daughter chant every morning and every evening.  I asked Tatyana if her mind feels calm after she chants and she confessed with a smile, "I mostly do it for my mom."

We had breakfast every morning on the veranda in the warm, muggy, Mombasa air, served by Janet, Leah's Luhya nanny.  Having "workers" is something that would definitely take some getting used to.  It was strange hearing, "Janet, get me my (fill in the blank)... NOW," many times a day.  Leah lived in New York for 22 years and has definitely carried some of the get-er-done attitude home.  She is much like Terry -- staccato pace.  When she returned to Kenya after so many years in the states, her mom warned her about her soft attitude toward workers -- Leah was saying "slavery is over."  But, over the years she has come to set clear, strong boundaries, otherwise she would be helping long lost family members from all of her workers (as she did for years), while less and less work was being performed at home.  It is a different world.  We have learned, as with many things here, to hold our judgements because there is no way we understand all the layers of complexity here.  Nothing is as it seems at first glance.

Leah's driver, Ali, gave us a good peek.  It is so wonderful to have a driver at the ready, never having to worry about traffic, or parking...  but the tricky part is that Ali is a devout Muslim and a very heavy sleeper.  On more than one occasion when we returned to the car we would find Ali sound asleep and it would take much knocking on the car widow to wake him, or he would be gone... car locked, no where to be found.  Muslims pray 5 times a day and there are mosques on nearly every corner, so Ali would often slip away to pray.

Leah has 5 dogs, 2 cats, 2 parrots, one big tortoise, lots of little tortoises, hedgehogs, pea hens... I think that's it.  Her big tortoise was run over by a truck a few years ago.  His shell was cracked and is held together with wire twist ties.  She has to shellac his shell and bring him in in the rain since his shell has been compromised.

Our week in Mombasa included much lounging on the beach, eating delicious seafood, drinking cappuccinos, watching movies in a big luxurious theatre, riding camels on the beach, buying lots of curios, site seeing, visiting Rotarians, sipping sodas under the stars on a boat on the creek.  Total decadence.  We were quite surprised how easy it was to switch from $3 a day on lunch for two to $30-$50 for a meal.  Yikes.  We didn't even skip a beat. 


 

Met ODOH KEEF boy

Tanya, Antony and Alinda- this is ODOH 3rd year of sponsoring Antony. He is the top of his 300 boy class academically with a hobby of running

Tanya, Alinda, and I took a 1 hour taxi ride out to the boarding school of One Drope of Hope's kid, Antony, 17yrs old, Form 3.  This what all those weekend craft fairs Julie and Tanya went to to sell jewellry paid for.  Amazing to hear about a day in his life at school:

Their days are scheduled from 430am to 1130pm

We are having trouble with RC Kakamega- they want to proceed slowly to complete the remaining springs.  We want to complete before we leave- that was the deal.  They have a board meeting Tuesday that has bene delayed for 2 weeks.

Fish ponds are filling, fingerling delivery due next Tuesday.

We are not enjoying our new apartment. No water, lousy mosquito net, unscreened windows means we cannot open them so the nites are a sauna. Not getting much sleep.

Last day in Mombasa

Today is the last day of a 6 day holiday on the Kenya coast.  Its been relaxing and refreshing- like being in Puerto Vallarta in a way. Its hot! Palm trees, beautiful ocean.

Yesterday we toured the old town. A 400 year old fort was great, Fort Jesus.  Then we attended the Rotary Club of Bahari Mombasa and felt really welcomed.  They have the highest attendance rate in 4 countries quite regularly.  31 members, 96% were present that day. Waterfront meeting room next to Fort Jesus. This club is happening and we want to partner with them.  They have several ongoing matching grants and sponsor 40 kids through school from primary to university.  They did a huge adotpt a village project and are looking to build and supply a high school- a group out of UK will finance the building, the land is free, got will pay teachers.

Then we did errands with Rtn Leah- that was neat, bombing arund with her and her driver.  Then we went to a Rotary meeting at night where a new group is being chartered in Mtwapa .  It was great to talk to non Rotarians about to form a new club.  We sat around chatting under a starry sky on a boat moored in a river- very peaceful.  All of them are do-gooders already, looking forward to getting Rotary back up to help their community on a larger scale.

Tomorrow we head back to Kakamega, arriving at our new apartment- our previous digs got rented out.  We will hit the Kakamega Rotary Meeting tomorrow night and see if the new spring locations are selected.  The fish ponds are ready for stocking.

Sorry no pictures. I gave my camera away (and GPS, memory stick, computer, phone) and Tanya's has a virus, so once back in Kakamega we'll clean her camera and I'll get mine back so stay tuned.

Hi ho hi ho, back to work we go.

Return to Kakamega

We are currently in Mombasa having a break from a gruelling 2 weeks getting ready to go home.  We had some loose ends, but the cost of changing tickets was too much.  We had already broken our personal budget one too many times.  But after our goodbye party Wednesday nite, at about 11pm, an anonymous donor offered via email to pay our ticket change fees.  I sent a note to my boss and after a tense 24 hours wondering if he would OK my extension we got the news he was ok.

So after a few days of sunning on the beach and being entertained by a lovely Rotarian, Leah Bryant, in Mombasa we will head back to Kakamega to finish off the projects.  Today we cancel our flight and book a new flight home.  There are no more paycheques for Terry so we will try to wrap things up quickly- back to work April 23rd at the latest.

Mombasa is incredible. White sand beaches, monkeys, paradise.

Last Day in Kakamega

Wah!! Going out the door for my last Kakamega run til Novembe 2013?

Today will be nutty.  We have a ceremony at one of the springs with local government, plus a big wig from the Provincial government. Then we have the final purchases, accounts settling (receipts) and meetings with KASFOOC to manage fish farm widows co-op sponsored by Rotary and discuss stand-by by springs to build using budget surplus.  At 5pm local time I'm going to give a live CNN-style Skype presentation to my home club in Courtenay BC.  Right after that we have a 7pm dinner with local Rotarians celebrating the construction of the 50 springs and a general goodbye to the Canadian Muzungos who have been here for the past 6 months. Then we pack.

Oh, for a few more days to tie all the loose ends.  My run this morning will include taking pictures of 4 springs that I guess the virus ate.  I'm armed with camera and clunky GPS, both of which I will be leaving here for KASFOOC so they can provide me with good info once I am back home.

We are so busy I have not been able to keep up with what Tanya is doing today (she is involved in all the above).  For the first time this trip she is out the door before my morning run. She just left now  to go see Frederick's workshop that she raised money to help outfit.

Fish Farm supplies and new project request Rotary purchased 2 more harvest nets

Rotary purchases 2 harvets nets for KASFOOC fish farmers Moses, Matan and me display

 Our last day in Kakamega is TODAY!!!  Lots to do.  see pics from yesterday- VERY busy.

Yesterday I met with Ebby, principle of Mukumu High School for Girls, she is asking for a bakery and fish ponds to provide food so they can save $ and sponsor more smart impoverished girls.

Ebby shows Alinda and I where she would put fish ponds.  The school grows their on this farm across the road.

The daily fried greens (skuma wiki) being prepared in the smoky kitchen of the school

Rotary buys scale for fish farmers for marketting and weight sampling of fish.

Started the day meeting Esther Ath and Matano to discuss the inputs into her fish pond provided by Rotary.  Esther expanded her pond to a economically viable size.

A 4 hour drive from Kakamega is Dominion Farms Ltd.  The largest tilapia fingerling supplier in the region, perhaps the country.  Purchased 4500 masculinized, large fingerlings today for $400 CDN

The fry are reared in tanks until they are big enough for the ponds.

Meanwhile the KASFOOC widows were learning table top banking and co-op business strategies at a farm near Bondo (2 hrs away from Kakamega)

Big Weekend

Our days are numbered now and I have not been taking it well!  I had been having mini-meltdowns all week... but this weekend, while tiring, was such an affirmation for our efforts.  Three big things happened:

1. Completion of the 50 Protected Springs:  Terry's been giving the play by play on this one, so I don't need to say anything more about it.  Other than, thank you to all the Rotary Clubs that participated in making this happen.  And I am so proud of Terry.  He really is the driving force for bringing clean water to so many people.  Can't say enough about this project.  Along with bringing clean water, which will improve health, the project was a collaborative effort between Rotary, KASFOOC, the fundies (contractors), and the community -- rare here.  Again... wow.   
   .
   
2. Two-day Train-the-Trainer workshop:  Since October, about 300 people have attended the Asset Based Community Development Trainings with Alex. The sessions have been amazing, but the fear, as always, is about follow up.  What happens when the mzungu goes home?  At the end of this two days, each participant left armed with action plans, timelines, and scheduled follow up sessions once a month for the next three months.  Soon they will have certificates and a facilitation manual (as soon as I write it).  Not all groups will be able to make the changes that are needed (the dependency attitude is soooo deeply entrenched), but some will.  And that is thrilling!  I am in awe of the determination in some of these women.  They are thirsty for knowledge and hungry for change.  I do believe, at least for a few of them, they are unstoppable. 
   .
3. International Women's Day at MMUST:  Just a few weeks ago, six young women accepted my invitation to hang out with me on a blanket under a tree and talk a bit about what it is like to be a girl in university in Kakamega.  And this weekend, the group (which has grown to 16) organized an event to celebrate International Women's Day.  They chose the theme "Women and Men Unite to End Violence Against Women and Girls."  They joined with the Rotaract Club, hired the marching band, and marched around the university campus in white t-shirts with purple ribbons.  They had an mc, a dj with perfectly selected songs (Strength of a Woman and the like), performed skits, recited poems, gave speeches on the topics of educating the girl child, women in leadership roles, domestic violence, and rape.  They held a debate inviting the men to share their views ... unfortunately they chose the topic of how to dress and I had to leap out of my seat a few times to stress that HOW A WOMAN DRESSES HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RAPE... phew, that was a tough one to get across.  But the beautiful point is... that they were talking... openly sharing their views on really serious, really controversial subjects.  It was amazing. 
   
   Terry and I met with a couple of the guys from the Rotaract club who participated in the Women's Day event (there were actually more men than women there that day) and they both said the day will stay with them and they hope to continue with what they started next year.  Athenasius, Rotaract President, said the day will be especially memorable for him.  Around midnight on Saturday, he received a call from a student at MMUST who was about to deliver a baby.  She wasn't able to reach any of the faculty or security by phone, so she called the Rotaract officials.  Athenasius and a friend hopped on a motorcycle and rushed to find the ambulance.  They ran into some troubles, but eventually were able find the ambulance, which was some distance away, and get the young mother-to-be to the hospital.  She gave birth to a "bouncing baby girl".  
   
   See Alinda's blog for some pictures of the event... mine are trapped in my camera while my computer struggles with a virus.  http://wareskakamega.blogspot.com/2012/03/went-to-first-parade-and-ceremony-for.html 

As for today, I started packing :o( and got through quite a bit of paperwork.  We also took a really long, really bumpy, really dusty piki piki ride to meet our Rotary Club's Form 1 student, Sheldon Siema.  He told us his birthday is April 14, 1995, so he is just about 17.  Form 1 is equivalent to our Grade 9.  When we asked him how old he was, he said 14.  Hmmm?  We had a quick chat, as Sheldon strained to catch Terry's lightening speed accent, we took a photo or two, gave him a few shillings for pocket money, and chased the light home.  Terry commented when we got home that it feels strange to be looked at the way these students look at us when the meet us.  Presence I think is the word Terry used.  It seems to me more like ... something just shy of fear... or anticipation.  Sheldon said, as they all say at some point, that "money is the only problem."  Terry asked him what he needed money for.  He said there is a canteen and mndazi are 5 bob each.  He needs three mndazi (kind of like doughnuts, though not sweet) everyday. 

Anyway, as we rode home to the sounds of "Mzungu!  How are you?", I was kind of thinking about how strange it is that a little wave or a smile can illicit shrieks of joy and laughter.  We have star status here, which is kind of sad actually.  But, enough of that!  This was a good weekend.  I'll be happy with that.

Tomorrow is another trip to Bondo, this time with KASFOOC.  Our last big outing, then just to organize fingerlings and feed and I do believe we will be able to wrap up in time to head to the beach for a couple of days before we come home.  Sigh.

Esther Shitambasia's Family -- potential fish farm candidate.  Her pond is expanded and ready for fish and feed.

Sheldon Siema, RC Strathcona Sunrise's new, and second, sponsored Form 1 student attending boarding school.  We will support him til he graduates- gotta keep selling Skyrocket, beers and burgers!

Tanya with Sheldon after a VERY long, bumpy piki piki ride out to Shikunga High School

Today was fish ponds being dug

150 sq metre pond extended to a 300 sq metre pond just finished today

This pond was constructed for Grace , its 490 sq metre and gradually being filled.

I did not lose 100's of photos...

They are as fast as they are poor...My run club is supporting a few of these young guys from Kip Keinos nearby boarding school

Coach Christophe telling the boys about the work out

Me and Kip and some of the high level athletes

Me giving a cheque for $600 from CVRR to Olympic champion Kip Keino

50 springs complete

Mission accomplished.  All 50 springs have been completed. 

My computer is virus free so I may have some videos and pics soon (camera card is still being cleaned- its a tricky job)..I hope.  If I lose what is on the camera then I, I...I don't want to think about it.  I have not labelled or sorted through my last 100 pictures.

Be proud Rotarians.  Literally 1000's of children are now drinking clean water for the first time in a generation (or longer) as of the past few days and weeks.  The water cleaning system is no longer wiping at the surface to clear the scum before dipping in a bucket.  This will reduce the amount of diarrhea type sicknesses by huge amounts resulting in....you all know the impacts and benefits.

Now its planning a celebration with virtually zero budget and about 10,000 people wanting to join in to say thanks.  Good problem to have.

1 more protected spring to go!!

I had a big day, yesterday. Never before had I visited so many springs in 1 (long) day. I got to 16 thanks to a very skillful, cheerful motorcycle driver. Three grown men on one bike, going through crowded, technical trails. Hanging on for dear life actually takes alot of energy. Its weird knowing this at the same time as seeing your driver talking on the cell phone, missing trees and schoolkids, climbing rocks and picking routes with one hand.

But here's the good news: 49 out of 50 springs are done. The last, if the rain holds off, will be complete this Friday. The turn over ceremony to the local big govt wigs and elders will be this Saturday.

If my virus problems are solved I hope to have some pics to post.

Sleepless night

Clock ticking.

Crickets making there cricket noise... one might call it singing.

Frogs doing their thing.

Dogs barking.

Mind spinning.

Mosquitoes buzzing outside my net.  Or are they inside, trying to get out.  Sometimes it is more like a mosquitoe trap.

Could it be the full moon... well, almost full moon that's causing my insomnia?  Or maybe the cup of green tea I had at four o'clock this afternoon (yes, I found green tea at Nakumat :o)?  Or is it that I am super bugged about a bloody trojan virus that is threatening my camera with .exe files called Porn and Sexy and Secret?

Or is it that Terry saw a boy die today.  At least he thinks he did from the back of a piki piki as he was driving past on the way to view protect springs... past a big truck, a crowd gathered around a boda boda, driver lying on the ground with a pool of blood around his head.  Terry said it was weird that the traffic didn't slow down.

We had a bit of a fight today, Terry and I, about the computer.  His keeps overheating and shutting off, it's old.  Mine keeps warning of a virus.  I think maybe we weren't really fighting about the computer tonight.  Kind of like the lulu lemon socks.

We lost a couple of days in Nairobi -- god damned simosas got us again.  I don't think I have ever been so sick.  We have kind of made a decision to leave Kakamega on the 15th and spend a couple of days on the coast before we head home.  The rains have come and we want to come home with a tan... or maybe we want a couple of buffer days, something resembling a holiday, on our way home.  But if we leave on the 15th, that means we only have... 8 more days here. 

See what I mean about mind spinning.  Sorry to drag you through this.  Feel free to skim this post as I don't know how coherant I am sounding... did I mention it is 2:15am?

The springs project is going so well.  Terry really really really wants to see it completed before we come home -- remember, we thought this project would take up to a year and a half!  And it is soooo sooo close after only two and a bit months.  He definitely gets the credit; the ever ready bunny in him really keeps things moving.  I do believe we (the collective "we"... namely Rotary) have really done something worthwhile with these protected springs.  At one site, we had a long stairway put in as it was totally inaccessable, and the only other water source nearby was on private land (the owner of the land charged people to use his spring... grrrr, just another thing that makes me mad).  During Terry's visit today, one woman told him that she had never been able to "go down there" or cross over to the other side of the village.  Not only do people in the area now have access to free, clean water, but children are using the stairs as a short cut to get to school.  Women can visit the other side of the village without a long journey.

I read today that the Millenium Development Goal of improving access to safe drinking water by 50% has been achieved.  That's pretty amazing.  From where we are sitting, though, there is a long way to go.  But as far as this spring project goes... I am all smiles.  This is very, very good.

Our fish farm grant isn't going as well as we'd hoped.  I feel lke blaming the Kenyan men for this one. 

This is what I do at two in the morning when I can't sleep, by the way... have you noticed?  I look for people to blame, for somewhere to point my anger.

My piki piki driver made me mad tonight.  First time.  He was just a kid, we were heading down the main street too fast over the speed bumps -- I don't know if we've mentioned the speed bumps here, but basically that is how they control their speed here.  Speed limits have no effect, so town centres or past schools and markets there are speed humps and little speed bumps that are three in a row.  Anyway, it's super irritating at the best of times when you are on the back of a piki piki, but going fast over them just sucks.   

"Hey, polé polé," I said, that means slow down.  And then I saw him in the side mirror -- he was DANCING!  Grooving along with NO HANDS!  The little bugger.  Then his bike stalled.  I wanted to get off, but didn't.  It started right away and we were just about there.  When I got off I gave him shit.  "Hey, you have to hold on to the handlebars when you have a passenger.  You are carrying precious cargo -- ME!"  He laughed, and told me not to worry, he has been riding since he was little.  I paid him (ugh, why did I pay him???  I really have to do something about the polite Canadian in me!) and he said, "Welcome, anytime."

On my way home, I was chasing the rain and the light, so I looked for a boda boda.  It was close to 7pm, so things are kind of changing gears in town... it is always busy, but at this time of the evening it is a different kind of busy.  People are winding down to shop on their way home.  So, I found a boda boda -- I had to find one, usually you can't walk past without being offered a ride (offered isn't exactly the right word).  He got me home safe and sound.  I handed him a hundred and said asante.  He looked a little surprised at first and then actually clenched his fist and gave a little Yessss!... with a big smile.

It's getting late... I think I might sleep soon.  Tomorrow is meeting with the "Co-operative Group" in the morning, lunch with Katie (she wants to hear what's up for International Women's Day -- I'm so proud of the girls who are putting it together, though I do have my fingers crossed that they are allowing themselves enough time to prepare...), then checking in on the progress of the fish ponds, and Rotaract meeting at 5pm.  Thursday is training all day with Grace and her Village Enterprise Group (I told you about them... they give 9,000 shilling grants to rural women for income generating activities).  Friday and Saturday is a two day intensive Train the Trainer with Alex which will serve (we hope) as continuity for the Community Development work we have been doing through Tembo.  Saturday is also the celebration at the university for International Women's Day, and I think the Rotary Club of Kakamega is hoping to hold the handover ceremony for the springs on Saturday as well (I'm going to my vote in for Sunday).  Monday we have a trip to Bondo planned for the KASFOOK widows (I hate that word widow... they are so much more than the absence of their husbands); we also hope to order and pay for the fingerlings on the same trip.  Then Tuesday I read to class 8 with Marie and Bondini Primary... and, is that it?  Pack on Wednesday.  Nairobi on Thursday, Mombassa Friday-Sunday, then home Monday, March 19th.

Phew.  We'll see.  

Nairobi

We arrived in Nairobi this afternoon feeling very well taken care of after traveling with two Rotarians from Kakamega -- Minah and Holland (his dad was in Holland when he was born... the name stuck).  We left at 7ish this morning and stopped for an early lunch of nyma choma (roasted meat, more like barbeque, only with no spices and done indoors, smoke and all in the restaurant) and ugali.  I ordered my usual skuma wiki and chapati, but the boys shared a leg of goat about the size of my left arm complemented with ugali, chips, and a tomato, onion, and herb salad.  I took a picture of Terry with the goat leg, but he won't let me post it.  Minah and Holland told us this is a Kenyan delicacy, and the goat meat is very nutritious.  Terry peeked at some goat intestines on the grill, but passed on that one.  Nothing is wasted here, Kenyans even enjoy Goats Head Soup (made me think of the beloved Rolling Stones) which they say is quite delicious and an excellent remedy for hang overs. 

After lunch, we continued the drive (soooooo much better to be in a private car with friends than crammed into a matatu with blaring music and springs in your seat) into Nairobi.  After a quick (one hour, nothing is really quick here) stop for Minah to do some business in Westlands, they dropped us off at the Parkside Hotel.  This is where Holland stays when he comes to town.  It's cheap (3000Ksh), safe, and clean enough.  Holland asked that they give us a room on the quiet side of the hotel to avoid the noise from the night club across the street.  It didn't work.  One night we can manage.  Will make the dogs barking at home in Kakamega seem peaceful.

We are hear for the PETS (President Elect Training Seminar) for Rotary.  I was coming along to go to the Vagina Monologues, but the date has changed, so I will meet the organizer for lunch instead.  I am hoping she can point me to a good bookstore that sells something other than The Greatest Secret (African knock-off of The Secret) and other white, be-all-you-can-be books...  There are so many notable African authors... I can't believe how hard it is to find them on the shelves here!

We are really noticing the time slipping by.  It will be a busy couple of weeks trying to wrap everything up.  We've hit some snags with our Fish Farm project... mostly fear, disputes from family members over land (god damned Kenyan men... sorry, there are lots of good ones, but jeesh they cause so many problems)... so it will take some juggling to spend our Rotary Community Grant and still follow the rules -- I DO NOT want to bring Rotary money home.  

KASFOOC Widows Group meeting under a tree at the Chairlady's home

Next weekend the girls I've been meeting with from MMUST are putting on the International Women's Day Celebration (I'm so proud of them), and that weekend is also Train the Trainer for a select few with Alex to lay the road to keep the Asset Based Community Development work alive and growing in Western Province.  Oh, and we are trying to arrange a field trip to Bondo for KASFOOC too.

Some of the V-girls in my front yard.  Trees make the perfect meeting places!

And, of course, there is Fredrick.  I've had the difficult, I'm cutting you off talk, but my no may not have been strong enough.  He is pitching a business plan for a loan.

Feeling grateful for all of it.  Even the noise, the grime, the helplessness, all of it.

.....................................

Side note:

At the last Health and Sanitation Training for the springs project on Thursday, Grace was killing time until the teachers arrived (the session was scheduled to start at 9am, the teachers rolled in at 10:45am and participants continued to trickle in until 12:30pm -- it was over at 1pm).  Blue chlorine dispensers have been installed by another group at some of the springs we have protected.  They are afraid to use them because they think they are somehow for family planning. 

Another glitch in the springs...  There was an announcement on the radio thanking Rotary for buying springs.  We have asked each community to gather stones and sand to contribute to the project.  It is important that they have a sense of ownership so that they take care of the project -- otherwise, as has happened so many times in the past, when a well or a spring breaks down, they figure it belongs to someone else (i.e. Rotary) and they will just leave it broken.  Anyway, after hearing the ad, this one community didn't want to bother gathering stones; they wanted Rotary to buy the stones from them.  Grrrr.  And in another case they were mad that Rotary didn't hire and pay them to build their own springs.  Grrrr again.

Just some of the goofy things we are up against.   

Technical Difficulties

The last couple weeks have plagued me with computer and camera problems hence the lack of posts.  My folders of pictures on my camera and thumb-drives have all been converted to *.exe files so I cannot access them.  Virus scans do not seem to help

Had a great time at Eldoret on the weekend visiting with elite athletes (Herbert Stiffny)  and Kenyan running icon Kip Keino.  too bad I can't show you photos.  I worked out with the coach there how my run club can have its $600 best applied.  No shortage of needy, even orphaned athletes to help out.

Today 40 out of 50 springs are complete.  Today was the last training day of the 5 we put on.  All were very successful, but glad they are over.  I gave the same speech 5x  saying Rotary loved them and telling them how much work bagging and selling 1000's of fertilizer is.  My message being that it was now their job to look after them.  Local public health officials tell me over and over how much of an impact all this clean water will have.