HIV/AIDS Outreach as a PCV in SED/IT

At first look, it would seem that helping to develop jobs and the economy in Mariakani, Coast Province would not lend itself to the fight against the increased incidence of HIV/AIDS in my community. And yet, HIV/AIDS outreach is a part of my primary project as well as several of the smaller efforts in my community.

I am assigned to LifeWorks Shukrani. Our mission is to make things and build people up for safer lives. The things we make are table top items and fashion accessories. We build people up by providing employment, education and life skills to make better choices. Mariakani has a higher than normal incidence rate for HIV/AIDS. We are a trucker community right at the first weighbridge out of the Mombasa port. Trading sex for food and money to buy food is a routine activity here. By providing jobs (we now have 32 people gainfully employed) we break the cycle of poverty that results in acts of desperation by women and older orphans to feed their families.

An integral part of our orientation program for new hires is a two hour segment on HIV/AID that takes an interactive approach to information sharing. The group is broken into teams of 2 - 4 people and they are given 5 -10 minutes to write down everything they know about HIV/AIDS and at least two questions on what they want to know. It is interesting to watch the groups cross share. I only have to act as a "color commentator" or be consulted to clarify information put forth by the teams. Their questions spur good group discussion. It limits the need for me to be the only subject matter expert in the room. My ending question is not about what they know, but about how they can incorporate the information into their personal behaviors and then lead a discussion on the difficulty level of implementation and how to overcome barriers they might face.

Additionally, I have been working with the Orphans and Vulnerable Children's Cluster Leadership. There are over 6,000 orphans in our sub-district and many more that come from single parent homes as a result of AIDS. The cluster has been very effective in providing educational opportunities, nutrition programs and home support to this very needy group. Their programs are similar to HeadStart programs in America. Almost all the outreach is a result of the churches, mosques and other religious groups coming together to tackle the devastation to our children as a result of the HIV/AIDS. Making sure that in every service provided by the group, the children are receiving good information that is age appropriate. The leaders act as role models; blend in education on gender roles, alcohol abuse and other issues that effect our community.

Since HIV/AIDS affects all of us, I often ask groups I work with if they understand the implication for our community of our prevalence rate. It is always shocking to them to learn that as many as 2 out of ten people in the room are probably HIV positive. Talking about how that effects the person, their families and the economic development of our community is a powerful way to get them thinking about what role they can play in fostering personal responsibility.

HIV/AIDS is a part of life in Kenya, lowering the number of new infections and coping with the results of "life with AIDS" must be a part of every ones role, even a PC SED/IT Volunteer.

December 2007

Well, last month certainly had its ups and downs. The family I stayed with in Kitui brought me a live rooster all the way to Mombasa for me to cook. After carrying it around town all day (yes, I carried it to some meetings and did some fabric shopping for the factory) the chicken and I took a matatu back to Mariakani. I have absolutely no where to keep a chicken and I definitely was not going to slaughter it and eat it, so I took it to one of the families that have befriended me and me them. They are very poor. Mama Shiru is a very bright, industrious lady. Most people would have killed it and eaten that night, not her. She decided it was too good a rooster to eat (nice and healthy from up country) and she went in search the next day for some chicken wire to pen it in. Then, she went on a quest to see if some relative or friend might have a hen. I caught up with her a couple of days later and she told me she wants a hen so she can have eggs to feed her three little girls. Well, I just had to buy her a hen. She was so excited.

It must be my month for animals and such. I had my first run in with a poisonous snake - gratefully it was already dead. Its’ belly was still swollen from some rats it ate. What I did not know is that it has been seen around the factory for a few days - a puff adder kind of thing about 4 feet long. The guard at the gate finally saw it in the open and banged it on the head with a rock.........he, of course, left it by the gate as a sign of his bravery and to remind us all, snakes are out there.....

We had a major flood at the factory. I have been unsuccessful in getting the original contractors back to fix the faulty plumbing and the whole thing finally let loose like a breaking dam. I got to work early that morning (go figure) and Thabu did as well. She speaks no English. Together, we had an exhausting time trying to find out how to shut off the water (we never did) and stem the tide of rushing water from the flexible pipes that broke. We were soaked and ankle deep in water. By the time the rest of the work team started arriving, we had moved to the clean up stage and were trying to minimize the damage to inventory. It took a half day to dry the place out and put everything back where it belongs. It was quite a 3 ring circus for a little while!

It has been great to watch the unfolding economic prosperity of our employees. First new clothes, then new hairdos, stories about their families not going hungry at night, about being able to buy school uniforms for their children, etc. I have even watched some of our employees begin to pick up some weight and get healthy looking. But, the biggest sign has been the purchase of mobile phones! 4 months ago, only two had mobile phones, now everyone does! Another great sign is that they have started their own merry go rounds! The weavers have divided into two groups and the others are planning to start one in January.

I got the most wonderful letter from my oldest son last week. It made me cry. He is a little worried about me because I have allowed him and a few others to shoulder my intermittent feelings despair and isolation. He reminded me not to get so busy that I forget to take satisfaction in what I am facilitating in the lives of others. It is easy to lose sight of what has been accomplished when I spend too much time looking at the overwhelming needs in the Mariakani community. Mike, just so you know I could come home tomorrow and know that I have made a difference in at least 42 lives. Thanks for the reminder.

And, some of you are helping me make a difference in the lives of the young girls living at the Mariakani Girls Rescue Center. These young girls, ages 4 -17, have been rescued from physical abuse, sexual abuse, forced early marriages or abandonment. They stay for as long as they need to, some just a few months and others for two or more years. Since my first visit, I have been wondering how to assist them. I met with the woman who has donated the land and house the shelter sits on. All she asked for was help in getting beds so all the girls had a bed to sleep in and maybe a little something for Christmas. Several of you have donated or promised to donate funds, and I have ordered 8 beds to be built and ordered 8 mattresses. I am going shopping for bed linens and the extra will go towards personal hygiene items and school supplies for the girls.

If enough funds come in, (My personal goals is 12, 000 USD) I will apply them to helping the orphans and vulnerable children in Mariakani. They have many needs and I am trying to coordinate with the leadership to prioritize any capital improvements to the early childhood learning centers. They run day care and pre-kindergarten classes for the children. I am working with some wholesalers in the sub-district trying to organize a donation program so each child can have a cup of porridge every day. For some it will be their only regular meal each day.

My travel plans for the holidays have shifted so many times; even today I do not know what I am going to do. I had hoped to go home, not happening. I had hoped to travel the country, not happening. The Peace Corps is on lock down for the week of the Kenyan elections. Only limited travel outside your province and absolutely no travel from the 26th to the 29th. Ugh!

Heather, the new PCV who will be doing sales and marketing, arrived yesterday evening and we have been busy getting her settled. Yesterday was also World HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. There was a big gathering at the Army barracks outside of town to educate, celebrate the small successes and dream of the day this epidemic gets under control. All the District and community leadership were there and LifeWorks was recognized as one of the successes – reducing HIV/AIDS prevalence by attacking one of the root causes – poverty. Kind of sweet. I am now known as Mama LifeWorks……..

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! My deepest appreciation goes to all those helping me with the donated funds, personal cards, letters, and care packages. You make it much easier for me to be here; knowing you care about me and the Mariakani community. God bless you.

November

There are lots of ways of being miserable, but there's only one way of being comfortable, and that is to stop running round after happiness. If you make up your mind not to be happy there's no reason why you shouldn't have a fairly good time.
- Edith Wharton

Interestingly, this month I have had the opportunity to have some philosophical conversation with other PCs in Kenya. About 15 of us had to show up in Nairobi for mid-term physicals. Happiness, loneliness, isolation were frequent topics. It seems my adventure in Kenya has been a long lesson in practicing reliance on God, grabbing joy from within myself and combating loneliness through constant outreach efforts. I feel fortunate to have developed some friendships here. I was in Nairobi for 7 days and each day one of my friends in Mariakani sent me an SMS to say they missed me, wanted to know I was okay and to check when I was coming back. Sweet.

Even the Village Chief, who has a very busy schedule, took time to contact me. Each day she (yes a woman chief!) sees between 80 – 120 people and works at resolving disputes in the community before they end up in litigation or violence. She has a couple of assistant chiefs in the sub-district who also handle many complaints each day. I have helped her with the little orphanage that she runs. She has about 10 young children and 6 older teenage girls who live on her compound. She is building more housing and trying to start an early childhood development school (daycare or more akin to a HeadStart program). Together we have gotten some beds made for the girls to sleep on and some uniforms for them to wear to school. The vegetables she planted with seeds sent by one of my friends are still yielding crops. The turnips are ready!

I am blessed with good friends in America as well. Several people have sent me things to ward off the mosquitoes. One friend sent this nifty little plug in thing that warms up and sends out something into the air. It pretty well keeps the mosquitoes at bay in the evening. Someone else sent me a pump action bottle of Cutter with lemon and eucalyptus in it. And, even my sister sent me some Off Wipes I can carry in my back pack for the unexpected need that frequently occurs. Beware mosquitoes; I am armed and dangerous!

We had our dedication at the factory last month and it went beautifully. The Ambassador came and we had lots of media people there. Unfortunately, with the elections so close, the Ambassador chose to focus most of his interviews on that process rather than promoting LifeWorks. We trained about 6 of our employees to be tour guides and hostesses. They had such a good time dressing up and interacting with the 50 dignitaries who showed up and the other 100 people who came to help us celebrate. KTN TV is coming back later this month to video us for a news segment they do each week on the fight against AIDS.

We have just received a second Peace Corps volunteer at my site and she is a young woman with good marketing experience. Heather is going to focus on implementation of our marketing strategy and East African sales. Our goal is to have $150,000 in revenue next year and 120 plus employees. We are currently at 45. Additionally, I am hoping to help the Youth Cluster start a business. I will be networking with my NGO to see if we can get some funding to start a silk screening business. Then, they can supply the LifeWorks factory with our own khanga designs. The big manufacturers of khangas want us to order in quantities of 10,000 meters, which is way too much for us. So, if we can help the Youth, we help ourselves. We also hired a full-time account with good experience so I no longer wear that hat. I am very grateful.

I have begun teaching a monthly computer classes. I am teaching students at the Poly Tech to understand the value of the internet in their lives and how to actually use the internet. We are getting a cyber café in Mariakani, so they will have opportunity to use the internet soon. What a giant leap forward for Mariakani. Even better, the cyber café that is opening is going to be carrying ice cream – fudgesicles and other ice cream on a sick. Yummy!

I get many questions about how I spend my days. Mostly, it is on work. I get up between 4 and 5 AM and show up to work by 7 AM. I get home around 6 or 6:30 PM. In the intervening hours, I work in the production area monitoring quality, manage employee and production issues, and review financials. Yes, it is a real job with real hours and responsibilities. I also spend a lot of time on further development and monitoring of our marketing and sales strategy (of course, our new PCV will take that over soon). I am also the chief procurement officer at this time. So at lot of energy is used finding vendors who can serve us long term, finding the right fabrics and supplies and generally running around Biashara Street in Mombasa for last minute things we cannot order in bulk. I also have meetings in the community on my secondary projects which necessitate me taking the 3 kilometer walk back into town…. Bummer. On the Saturday, I clean my house (laundry is washed by hand daily in the evening), cook an American dish to share with a couple of families who have adopted me and generally visit others in the community. Sundays involves church and sometimes meeting up with other PCVs in Mombasa. I read for two or three hours each night since I retreat to the mosquito net every early. When I get bored, I crank up the music on my laptop and have my own private dance marathon in my kitchen. I sing along (which I am sure my neighbors do not appreciate) and wind down or up depending on how you look at it. I am also keeping notes and a journal for a couple of books I hope to complete either here or when I get back home.

Life will change for me soon. The new volunteer will live with me temporarily while we look for appropriate housing for her. So, I will develop some new routines and have someone handy to share a meal with and a laugh. I shall never get over missing home and family and daily life is hard and yet I am okay. I love you all.

September 29, 2007

Surprise surprise! I was called beautiful several times this month. Granted, one was from a 6 year old and one of them from a very old man (yes, even older than me). And yet, it has been so long since anyone called me beautiful, I just smiled all day. I do not get very many personal compliments here. People are always impressed with what the team has accomplished at the factory, but personal comments are few and far between. Gratitude is one feeling I have received from many. Brenda, the tailor, and I are now looking at her selling some pre-made gauchos made from lesos and some wrap around pants made from beautiful silk scarves from India. She is always making me feel good because she gets so excited about the small successes. That’s beautiful!

Not so beautiful in my world is my little laptop. Some of my keys are sticking a lot and I fear the keyboard has finally been overtaken by the blowing sand or ants or I have just plain worn it out. I am betting it is more about the sand and ants. I am considering taking the keys off one by one and seeing if I can clean under them. Does anyone know if that is okay to do? Would it turn an almost beautiful little machine into an ugly little machine?

The town had a clean up day. That was a beautiful sight. Employees from Mabati Rolling Mills, the Town Council, the Village Chief’s office, school children and even some of the LifeWorks team showed up and spent half a day sweeping streets of trash, cutting back overgrowth and burning, burning, burning anything they could find. The town did not smell so beautiful that day, but it looked pretty clean that afternoon.

I have beautiful friends and family in the United States. They are constantly sending me all kinds of treasures. Several people have sent flower and vegetable seeds. Unfortunately, I have no place to plant a garden, but the Village Chief does. She has been the recipient of the vegetable seeds and some of the flower seeds. It is beautiful to watch the faces of the many people I have blessed through each of you with flower seeds. They love them. The Chief is quite the gardener. They have never seen lettuce in the town. So, she planted some it and when it matured she was cooking it like spinach or kale. She let me harvest some of the veggies, so I made her a stack of BLTs (without the bacon – none here in a heavily Muslim area) for her and the several orphans she feeds and cares for at her homestead. There was so much lettuce; I ended up making sandwiches for several others as well. I used avocado spread I made instead of mayo. Beautifully yummy!

We are in the middle of Ramadan here. Muslims can only eat or drink right before evening prayers or before morning prayers. It means they fast from about 6 AM until 6 PM each day. They break their fast with special treats. So, I have gotten to share sandwiches, homemade veggie chili, popcorn and a few other things as special treats for my Muslim friends in the village. They in turn have been bringing me bajias (a Swahili version of a Southern hush puppie), samosas (deep fried meat or vegetable pastries – like fried ravioli) and several other special things. Sharing is a beautiful thing.

Two of our group left this month. One, Gibson, left to go back and finish his secondary education. He entered what is the equivalent of a freshman high school class a few weeks ago. We are all proud of him. Another young woman has been struggling getting to work on time and has been missing some days. When we spoke to her about it, she said she was sick. We knew she was not. She had been lapsing back into her old lifestyle. It was affecting her work and one day she just did not show up. The second day we had one of the students from the Technical School who lived by her go to see what was wrong. She told her she was not coming back. Several days later she called and wanted to know if she could have her job back. When she came in to talk to us, she still pretended like she had been sick and her old lifestyle was not the problem. I asked her to talk to the counselor at the school and be honest with him. I needed a good reason to bend the rule and bring her back. Well, he was able to get her to talk and sure enough, she had picked up 3 or 4 of her old customers and that was interfering with her coming to work. They developed a plan to get her moved to a new location and make some needed changes and we brought her back to work. That is so beautiful; it makes me want to cry.

I have had some not so beautiful scary things happen as well. A friend of mine, a young mother of two got cerebral malaria and almost died. She pulled out of it with extended medical treatment in the community hospital, but had several weeks of recovery. The tsunami scare was not really a big scare for me since I am so far inland, but it does give you pause to think about how vulnerable each of is to the fury of nature. It drives you a little deeper on your knees.

Less than beautiful was our last merry go round meeting. For the first time since the ladies have been together, one of them defaulted on a loan the group made. She had gotten very ill and was in the hospital for two weeks and spent all available cash on her medical bills. They have a strange rule here; no one is released from the hospital until you pay up…… anyway, the ten sisters had some very un-sisterly like behavior. I think it would have been better if she had told people in advance she could not pay, but instead she just skipped the meeting. That gave each of them time to worry and fret over whether or not she would ever pay it back. When she showed up at the next meeting, still without the money, the sisters got rowdy. It was ugly. They did not have any rules around what to do if there was a default so they did not even have a procedure to follow. In the end, a settlement was negotiated. She will have another 3 months to repay the loan and will pay double the interest to the group. That catastrophe taken care of, we are back to being beautiful sisters without malice.

Carl Jung said, “What you resist persists.” Well, once I gave into not having water – letting it go and getting on, guess what? The water came come September 1. It does not work everyday, but it is working more times than not. BEAUTIFUL!

I have attached a photo of two beautiful women cooking in their outdoor kitchen in Central Province. They are blessed. Most women in Mariakani just cook outdoors.

September 2007

G.K. Chesterton says, “An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.” I have certainly had many things that can be considered inconveniences and even hardships. Chesterton has reminded me yet again (I must be one slow learner) it is all in how you perceive it. August has been a busy month for me, lots of adventures and adventures in disguise as inconveniences. I have had a couple of mini-vacations and work at the factory has continued to provide all kinds of stress. Quality is still not where it needs to be and we lost 3 more team members this last month. The weavers in training are doing a great job with quality and yet they have lost 3 team members in 4 weeks. My granddaughter began crawling and walking around furniture and having all kinds of fun with her Mom and Dad. I am sure I shall never get used to missing my sons, their wives, my granddaughter and my good friends. It is the hardest part of being here and I struggle to find the adventure in this inconvenience.

I had the opportunity to visit Central Province which includes Mt. Kenya. My community counterpart. Mwengi, (he is the person who guides me through cultural situations, helps me stay connected to the community and generally keeps me out of relational troubles) and his family are from Thika and Nyeri. I attended a family reunion of sorts at his Mama’s homestead. She has a beautiful farm on a hillside and at 83, she still actively farms. Crops include about 4 different kinds of potatoes, corn, beans, coffee and various other vegetables for her family’s consumption. She sells the coffee to a large coffee exporter. It is her only cash crop. This is a Kukuo tribal area, so I got to taste some new foods and be exposed to cultural norms for that area. They are a happy group and the family embraced me very warmly. We had lots of eating, singing, dancing and praying together.

I did not get to climb Mt. Kenya since I was still recovering from bronchitis and my traveling partners never really intended to do the climb. They had a very different agenda, which turned out to be okay. I met lots of new people and saw beautiful countryside. I plan to go when my family or friends come to visit. It is a 3 day climb if anyone wants to go with me. We can camp in tents or can arrange to stay in some permanent camp sites on the mountain. The entire trail is switchbacks.

I also visited with the grandmother of Mwengi’s wife, who lives at the base of Mt. Kenya. That is her in the photo with me. She is a mother of 14, was a member of the MauMau’s and is very proud of her contribution to Kenya’s independence. She was imprisoned, beaten and raped daily. Her joints are knotted and swollen from being beaten with sticks across her hands, knees, elbows and spine. She is able to walk, but is always in pain. She is living history of the colonial times and the struggle for independence and never gets tired talking about the MauMau experience. In her 90’s she has total recall of her past life, but has trouble remembering what happened a few minutes ago!

A Peace Corps friend and I visited the island of Lamu to celebrate her birthday. It was a great vacation. We read, walked the beaches, shopped like American tourists, ate fresh seafood everyday – twice a day, got pedicures and massages and generally just kicked backed and enjoyed. And, it was pretty cheap – 5 days on the island plus travel to and from was only $300. Lamu is 99% Muslim so there is no nightlife except for one restaurant that serves alcohol and the askari club (for the policemen). They have a disco at the club on the weekends. With 15,000 inhabitants they have 46 mosques – that’s a lot. My town is half Muslim and it has only 4 or 5 mosques.

One of the “inconveniences” of Kenya is the corruption that still exists with government officials. The country has made great strides in trying to overcome this barrier to social and economic growth. However, in a two day period of time, I witnessed it 3 times. My exposure to it is usually around bribing police (askari) to pass through a check point. They grab the licenses and keys of the matatu drivers and will not give them back until they pay them a little something. For most Kenyans, the trouble goes deeper. Sometimes it affects their ability to get birth certificates, national ID cards, passports or other official documents. For truckers it may mean having to bribe weigh station officials to be allowed to pass through. It is a problem the government is working hard to overcome, but after decades of abuse, it is difficult to change the behavior in a few years.

The adventure of LifeWorks continues. We have started the assembly line, produced our first orders for Serena hotels, sent our sample lines off to the New York International Gift Show and have been working on our quality control process. The biggest hurdle is the quality. Something as simple as ironing the fabrics can involve many steps to assure we do not stretch or harm the fabric. It is my living nightmare on a daily basis. Mainly it is because our work team does not see the small imperfections and cannot understand why each quality step is so important. And, from day to day, they lapse back into doing it “their” way rather than the right way. On the upside, I have had the benefit of a Harvard MBA helping out on documentation of production process, quality process and examining cost structures. Jennifer will begin her consulting career in October with Bain and decided to spend her summer helping out an NGO in a developing country.

The Lunganya Women’s Savings and Loan Association is moving along. The women are doing the final review of the by-laws and gaining approval from each of the 100+ merry go rounds. We have developed a draft budget and excitement is pretty high to get the training going. The Weighbridge project is still floundering, but the Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s leadership team is energized around finding ways to sustain their teaching programs for pre-kindergarten children. So, we have been busy identifying needs (salaries for teachers, equipment, etc.) and trying to develop some solutions. This groups services approximately 6,000 orphans in Mariakani subdistrict (like a county). I also had the opportunity to start working with a self help group that makes beaded jewelry and help them begin to visualize how they might improve their business.

Brenda, the tailor I have been helping to grow her business, got her new sewing machine. With a minimal amount of tutoring on saving and budgeting, she was able to buy her own sewing machine, increase her revenue through consignment fabrics and taking on a couple of students to teach tailoring. She is considering finding a larger shop and wants an American pen pal very much. So if any of you are interested please email me.

Shabbon, a young man in the town, has the use of a Hulux pick up truck and has a small business transporting people and stuff around the area. He is my newest “adventure.” Budgeting and saving are the fundamentals that most Kenyans have trouble with since they live hand to mouth, literally. He is father to his own 3 children and has taken on his sister’s two sons as his own. Together we are trying to figure out if selling kerosene to the smaller villages 4 – 10 times a month will substantially increase his revenues after allowing for the cost of the kerosene, higher maintenance costs and a helper.

Samira, my friend, who I have been helping apply to colleges, was accepted at 3 schools in Kenya. She is going to start medical school in a couple of weeks. Her adventure is just beginning! Her Mama hosted a harmabe last Saturday and raised her first year’s tuition and school supplies.

I marvel at the ability of Kenyans to use the expression “it is just there” to identify a location 10 feet away or two miles away. Strangely, most people seem to understand what that means, except for me of course. Several times I have been caught in the “just there” directions and have been on a not so pleasant adventure wondering if I would ever get there. Since I have no sense of direction, I have always navigated based on landmarks and there are not many landmarks in Kenya in the rural areas. Giving directions here hardly ever includes turning left or right or specific distances. With a wave of the arm, a point of the finger and a “just there” is about as much navigation advice as I get. I have had to discipline myself to ask a lot of questions rather than take their word for it being “just there.” Even so, many times I walk around in circles or misjudge the real distance and time to get somewhere. It is an inconvenience, but it does give me time to think and “venture” into new areas.

I have been potea cabisa (completely lost) in Kenya now for one year. It is hard to believe. Life among family and friends has continued on without me, for which I am truly sad. Life here in Kenya has moved along with me, which gives me joy. And, I am pretty close to the half way mark of my service in Kenya, so the adventure is half over!

I certainly would not have been able to sustain this adventure without your continued support through prayer, cards, letters, packages, phone calls and emails. Thank you, from my heart to yours.

August 2007

Including a picture last time drew a lot of comments, so I have put in a picture of my granddaughter and me taken last April. It seems like such a long time ago. She has two teeth now and is sitting and crawling everywhere (mostly to grab the cat food according to her Mom).

I was reminded by a friend this last month of our hike on part of the Appalachian Trail. She wondered if being in Kenya kind of felt like that trip……you want to be there but it is hard, hard work. You only make it by remembering to put one foot in front of the other whether you feel like it or not……yes, friend, living here is like hiking the Appalachian Trail. The daily effort takes it toll, and the rewards are just as sweet as that feeling of accomplishment we had when we completed our trek. At days end, there are things to celebrate even with an achy body and spirit. It is the small pleasures that sustain.

One note of celebration is that my sense of smell is coming back. I do not know if it is the African climate or if it is the result of the long term therapy I have been on for my sinuses finally kicking in. If it is, thanks Dr Merrell and Dr Winder. My sister sent me a Yankee candle air freshener for my closet and the first time I opened the door and smelled it, I almost fainted…..it was too grand for words. I can “smell the coffee” now and food I have cooked. Of course, now I can also smell the choo (outdoor bathrooms) and all the crowded sweaty bodies on the matatu….eek…I can even smell myself!

At my former company, HCR Manor Care, we show a video called Minnie to new hires. It helps remind them that our patients have names and a life history to be honored as a part of their stay in our rehab center, and how important a name can be to someone. That lesson is driven home to me everyday in Kenya. I get called a lot of different names, Patricia (pronounced Pah tree see ah), shangazi (auntie by the teenagers), the ever ugly muzungu (white person) and everyone’s favorite, Mama. Every woman of a certain age and bearing are called mama if their name is not known. I often wonder how can they spot the mamas – is it just an age thing or do they check out the expanded hips, saggy breasts and the leftover rubbery baby pouch we all carry as a part of our tummies before they call you a mama. What is in a name???? I miss being called Patty. For some reason, Patty is a difficult word for Kenyans to say so they never call me that…….some days they do not call me anything, they just ask for sweets like I carry candy around with me……....weird.

Hey, more strange news, we have rats at the factory…..no real cause for celebration on this one. They keep eating our hand soap. Once they whittle it down to a small enough size, they pick it up and carry it back to wherever they live…..they have not started eating our fabric yet, but it is only a question of time. So, our quest is to catch the ones in the factory and plug up the openings so no more can get in. A friend sent me some rat traps. She mailed them months ago and like a miracle from heaven, they arrived the same week we discovered the rats. I am always the first in the office (some habits are hard to break) and so naturally I am the one who “discovers” the catch each day. I am all girl about this. I refuse to go near the traps. It gives me the willies (whatever that is).They are glue traps so the rat is still alive…..eek!

I think I am not adapting too well to some of the cultural practices. Kenyans really do not know how to keep time. It is not unusual for people to show up to meetings one to three hours late or even not at all. Worse, people sit around and wait for everyone before they start the meeting. I have begun too lose patience for this and have taken to leaving if people have not arrived within one hour of the agreed start time. It doesn’t make them more compliant but it does keep me from sitting there and getting angry about it. The other cultural practice is the handshake. Everyone gets a handshake whether it is a group of two or thirty……I am not that friendly a person to begin with so shaking many hands just wears me out, but it is a daily occurrence here. Every employee at the factory expects a handshake when I greet them each day. Every meeting includes a big round of handshakes. All “jambos” on the walk to work come with a handshake. It is rude not to shake hands. Even if you are eating at a table, you still offer your wrist for them to touch.

Some days I feel ashamed I behave like such a wretch when people are so kind to me. The young man who keeps me supplied with water each week does so with a smile and never complains or whines about carrying 120 liters of water up to the second floor. My friends in the community feed me, entertain me and generally look after me like family. I have to remind myself that life has its little pleasures and just like in the USA, it is wrapped around relationships, not the tasks or the trials of the Kenyan lifestyle.

Oswald Chambers, a great spiritual writer and teacher, says we get caught up in the concept of God leading us to some desired goal when in reality God’s goal for us is the process. I feel like this whole 10 months has been a classroom in process for me. I learn new things about myself (most of them are things I cannot brag about) and I am learning the hard way, in whatever state I am in to be content in Him. I am not sure I have ever appreciated that as I do here.

More cause for celebration, we have 35 people at the factory now and have sent our sample line to New York hoping we can capture the attention of a very big store. Our products are selling right now in the Serena Hotel chain (owned by the Aga Khan). Their gift shop is stocking our stuff! Serena is the premier hotel of Kenya. My Weighbridge grocery store is still lagging behind. I think the treasurer might have “borrowed” the funds and that is why the meetings have not been held. The SACCO is in the process of obtaining registration and we are working on their budget and figuring out the training schedule for running one.

And, I had Christmas in July – 6 packages arrived in one day! I got stuff from friends in Georgia, Virginia, Ohio and New York. The workers at the Posta were amazed. I had to hire a tuk tuk (a small three wheeled vehicle, kind of a taxi), to haul the stuff from the Posta to the matatu staging area for Mariakani. I am ever grateful that you all continue to remember me. I was running out of reading material and between all the packages I ended up with about 10 books and other delectable items such as beef jerky, jelly beans, energy bars, peanut butter crackers and other yummy stuff; and of course, the rat traps (useful stuff!).

I ended the month sick, but am on the road to recovery. I plan to hike Mt. Kenya next week if the bronchitis is cleared up enough. Otherwise, I will just look at it and enjoy the view. Enjoy your “dog days of summer” in the US; we are nearing the end of winter. Each day gets a little hotter and the rains are almost done. I miss you all more than you can know.

July 2007

July 2007

Well, here it is July! We are in the throes of winter which means it is cool, in the 80’s and the rain has lessened somewhat. We now have showers instead of the monsoons. Although, last night it poured pretty good, but I was already tucked under my mosquito net reading a good book sent by a good friend. Good dreams and cool nights.

We have had several deaths in my immediate community of friends in Kenya. Death is heart managed so differently here. No tears allowed. It might make someone uncomfortable. But then, death is a daily occurrence here. Either someone you personally know or someone you know has someone they know who died. When you think that of the 30 million people living in Kenya today, there have been 10 million who died over the last ten years of AIDS and more still dying every day. Then, there are almost 100 children dying of malaria each day. This forces them to have a very different perspective on death. They do not talk about it or share their grief the same way we do. They seem to slip through the grief process in moments rather than weeks or months or even years as we sometimes do in America. Half the population is Muslim so there is no visitation. Muslims are buried the same day they die and then everyone gets on with life. The Christian community here plans the funeral around when relatives can get there and if the body has to transported back to their homestead in some other province. Often there is up to a two week delay before burial. There is no carrying in of meals to the bereaved family in Kenya. The family bears the burden of feeding and housing all the visitors. There could be as many as 20 or 30 people a day. It is financially burdensome and requires the family to seek donations for the process.

The harambe for burials is more like a stealth asking and giving process. Nothing is openly done. Harambes for school fees, weddings, building programs, or anything else that no one can afford are done with big meetings, sometimes refreshments and arm twisting as part of the giving. I sat through a harambe at church for the Women’s Guild. It extended the Sunday service by an hour and half and had a series of collection processes by groups. So the men of the church were asked to give, the elders of the church, the youth, the women, the choir, the Sunday School classes, the visitors, the members of the congregation; it went on and on. Of course, everyone present is a part of many of the identified groups, so you give multiple times. It was an expensive Sunday.

I have decided I am one spoiled American………I miss running water. I miss driving a car. I miss having money and stores and washing machines and choices of all kinds! My friends here really do not get it because they have never had it. When I was home, my son John got on the Internet and we did a quiz on how much of the world’s natural resources we use each day. In Kenyan I use so very little compared to when I was living in the US. I make do with 120 liters of water a week for everything, drinking, cooking, washing me and my clothes, cleaning, etc. At home in the US, I am sure I probably used that a day…….

Work is getting a little crazy. Since my site is a test site for East Africa, we are already working on scalability. In addition, we have the daily craziness of any start up operation of training, improving processes around quality and production, inventory management and, procurement process or lack thereof, etc. I get to influence but not make decisions and as you know, I like making decisions. So, the craziness is as much a personal struggle as the actual work.

The young man I am mentoring who is managing the production process at the factory has told me several times old women cannot be trained. What does that really mean? I have to remind him I am an old woman, at least by their standards. He has been reluctant to hire any trainees past the age of 30. Of course, we did anyway. And guess what, the older women are having a terrible time fitting into the schedules, learning the process and are very hesitant in everything they do. I believe it is from the lack of formal schooling and the language barriers. For many, their tribal language is the first language. Even their Kiswahili is not so good. And, they have never had to juggle work at home and a job

Mold is my new enemy. The raining season has caused mold to grow overnight on floors, walls and furniture. My address book and event calendar have been consumed by mold with little salvageable. Bleach continues to be my friendly cleaning tool, but sometimes I just have to laugh out loud at the speed and viciousness at which the natural elements conspire against me. You would think as few resources as I am using while here, they would show more kindness towards me.

I get asked many times about what foods I eat here. I do get a good assortment of vegetables like carrots, peas, onions and sometimes, string beans. Cabbage and greens are always available. I have started keeping cleaned chopped up veggies in my little refrigerator. On lazy nights, I simply add them to the Ramen noodles I buy in Mombasa. On nights I feel like cooking, I make mac and cheese (thank you my dear friends who continue to send me cheese packets), pasta primavera or something similar. . I have also started to eat eggs more frequently. I scramble them and make egg sandwiches or an omelet. The egg yolks are such a funny color here, more beige than yellow. For breakfast, I live on nutrition bars and oatmeal (again, thanks for all those instant packets of oatmeal) and lunch is usually some kind of fresh fruit and bread.

It is mango and avocado high season here. My sons have an expression for the Mexican restaurants they love. They say the burritos are as big as your head. It is an overstatement when they say it; but, it is not an overstatement here to say that about our avocados and some types of mangoes. It is high season for avocados and mangoes and they really, really are as big as your head! One avocado can easily feed 4 people and some types of mangoes can feed a large extended family. The small green skinned ones are eaten like candy – spilt and peeled back with chili pepper on them. Adults and children alike walk around the market eating them. It is a tasty, cheap treat, just a few shillings. .

I have a new secondary project to go with the many others that keep popping up. I am assisting the Lunganya Women’s Leadership Group in helping to start a savings and loan cooperative. It is similar, but not the same as a traditional micro-finance. It will be more affordable in terms of membership and amount of savings and shares a person or group must hold. We hope to have it up and running by the end of the year. Funding for start up has been secured through USAID via Family Health International. The SACCO will target at risk woman and eventually will be open to community. Its’ first members will be the over 400 women who make up the smaller merry go rounds that comprise the Lunganya Women’s Group.

So, I continue to keep busy. This is a good thing or my spoiled American persona would cause me more havoc than it already does. I am hoping to get a visit back home sometime late this year. I need approval from the Peace Corps, from FHI and from my son (if I can afford another visit or not!). All business in Kenya literally shuts down from December 15th through the first of the year. Even the schools close from the last week in November until the middle of January. So, there is not much that will be happening around here. And, the lives of my family keep pushing on so I really need to catch up with them.

Thanks again to all those who continue to support me through their prayers, packages, phone calls and emails. You brighten my life here more than you can ever know.

June 2007

May was a month full of smiles, frowns and tears. Our opening ceremony was cancelled. It was a big disappoint to the team and the community. The Ambassador and the two Kenyan Ministers could not attend since President Kabaki cancelled all public ceremonies as part of the national day of mourning for the victims of the Kenya Airways crash. So, we cancelled everything except the actual opening! We are three weeks into being up and operational and we have 23 women and older youth (18 -24) in training. It was smiles for the 23. I also frowned with disappointment because 3 of our trainees have already been eliminated – one for lack of a national ID card and two for being no shows. One never came and one came two days late…..

While I am back to my Kiswahili lessons, I am still not fluent enough to carry an 8 hour training session on my own. So, I hired my tutor as a translator for the work/life skills training I did with our trainees. She knows my American accent better than anyone else. The women are also forcing me to use my Kiswahili so I am smiling about that! The work/life skill training is very important for our trainees. Something as simple as coming to work every day and on time is a frequent challenge. Showing initiative and keeping focused on work is a continual struggle. The culture is such here, one woman wanted to know if she had time to go home 3 times a day and check on her family…….I frowned…….and then just had to laugh.

Speaking of family, I must give my thanks to my daughter-in-law, Darah. She not only helped me to pick out a very good pair of hiking sandals that have kept me from slip sliding away in all the mud around here, but she has kept a running blog on my grand-daughter’s weekly adventures for me. It is my best smile of the week when I get out on the web and discover an update. The words and pictures do not need translating. Gus’ smile says it all.

I am not smiling at the mud (I am just plain tired of it). My toes and feet may never come clean again. It is a good thing the sandals can be soaked in soapy water and cleaned many times during the week. And, they dry out very fast. I did smile when I walked to church in the rain one Sunday morning and found out no one else was brave or foolish enough to go out in the downpour to come to church……just me, the preacher and the song leader……we had a good laugh, a short prayer and then even we went home.

I am definitely not smiling about the indoor water situation (which is to say, I still do not have any). I was not smiling in my 3 encounters with the water department and may have to adjust my thinking to never having running water while I am here. Now, that’s a frown.

I do smile when I think about God’s plan for all this rain and the very short dry periods where the good people can go out and actually dig up their gardens and get them planted before the next torrent comes. How the seeds stay in place or how they do not rot is beyond me, but God knows. I see evidence of growing maize and beans everywhere. God’s plan for sowing and growing are definitely at work here in more ways than one.

I am not smiling at the US government who has audited my returns for 2005 but I am smiling because I do not have to deal with it. My son, Mike, has gotten stuck with sorting out the issues with a little help from his brother, Aaron. So the burden and headaches rest with them. I have had to adopt the attitude, what will be will be. God is trying to grow my ability to let go and let others pick up the slack and grow themselves in the process. Who would have thought that letting go was possible for me!

I am not smiling at my Weighbridge women’s project. They are still not operational because they cannot decide who should be hired as the two employees. They have saved their share of costs for start up and got the donated space we were praying about. It is an excellent location and I smiled the day we drew up the memorandum of understanding with the NGO who has control of the property. It is very disappointing (see Patty frown) to have the project slow down to a virtual stop while they try and agree on their next steps. Of course, they have also been distracted by planting the community garden, so I have had to lighten up a little about the whole thing. I am guessing this is another “sowing” on God’s part in my life but I am not feeling the growth…….

I had good smiling time with the geckos this month as I watched three of them play follow the leader across my walls and ceilings. I think it was a mommy gecko and two babies. The larger one took a few steps and the other two would take a few steps. It looked like a game they were playing. It went on for at least a half hour with the small ones copying momma’s moves and then waiting until she moved again. I was smiling as I watched them crawl along the ceiling and down walls, but not smiling when they got too close to me. Of course, any movement on my part scares them so badly they scurry away or freeze where they are with the hope they are invisible. I did get startled by an albino gecko about 4 inches long at my front door one morning. The gecko was very white, pinkish and appeared translucent. I wasn’t smiling then.

I did smile very big when I got malted milk balls and a puzzle from a friend back home. And I really smiled when another Peace Corps Volunteer came and helped me set up QuickBooks for the little factory. The PCV is a CPA and a retiree, like me. We had a good week together and I learned a lot about accounting I hope to be able to forget one day! But it was fun having company and sharing meal preparation and small talk in the evening.

I got lots of smiles when I made my mother-in-laws’ holiday fruit salad for one of the merry go round meetings. We did not have grapes or apples for it, but I had lots of other fruit; mangos, pineapple, bananas, avocado and even some walnuts from the Nakumatt! I made the pudding for it. Next meeting I have promised to try baking chocolate chip cookies for them if Damaris’ oven actually works. She is one of the members who has a chicken farm. She has about 100 chicks and chickens in some stage of development at all times. She has had the oven for a couple of years and has never turned it on.

Most days this month I have had times to smile, frown and even cry. This has been a very emotional month for me for a lot of reasons I still cannot even talk about. Kenyans do not like to see anyone cry. A couple of times this month I was just so sad, I could not help myself from crying right at work. The trainees were very uncomfortable and pretended not to see me. One of my devotionals for the month of May said that moods don’t change by praying about them, they change by kicking them out; making a choice to act better than we feel. I knew that, but it was a meaningful reminder. Another one was about being carefully careless with the things of this life. I like that expression, carefully careless. People and things come and go and our rock through it all is God’s love for us. I have needed those messages this month. Keep me and my family in your prayers. I am sure they are doing some crying of their own and yet I know there must be some laughter and smiles, even in our grief.

May 2007

I can hardly believe it has been about three weeks since I was in the United States hugging and cuddling my grandbaby and visiting with my family. And, yes I ate ice cream everyday and had lots of green salads and fresh brewed coffee and pizza and double chocolate brownies that Darah made (yummy). As with most vacations, the glow wears off pretty quickly when the realities of work and every day life catch us up in a whirlwind and spins us back into our “normal” lives. My trip home was definitely a gift from God and my family was like the energizer bunny, keeping me powered for the work at hand in Kenya.

And that is good, because the work is mounting each day as preparations unfold for our opening next week. The U.S. Ambassador to Kenya will be the guest speaker at the dedication ceremony. It will be a huge event with about 545 people in attendance made up of community and District leadership, and governmental representatives, including, the Kenyan Minister of Tourism. It is a lot of important people for one small factory.

While all the last minute “fluffing” up of the factory is taking place, I am still trying to finish setting up the books, establishing some processes and a personnel policy handbook. We have not hired a managing director yet, so right now I have the unenviable position of being every office position we have in the budget, including receptionist. If any of you believe corporate America has a wide, long roll of red tape, try getting decisions made when you are dealing with a very large non-government agency, coupled with the enormous paper trail required by US AID. I am still learning how to unravel the roll without getting the sticky all over my hands…….on the upside, the website did roll out and you can visit it at www.lifeworkspartnership.org

My weighbridge grocery store is also almost ready to go. The local lumberyard donated materials to build the racks and bins, a friend in the US has underwritten the start up equipment and the women have almost all their share of the cost for the inventory. Space is probably going to be donated until the group can afford to build or rent a duka in a high traffic area. The donated space is perfect to capture buyers from the weighbridge and the surrounding villages on both sides of the road. The women are feeling very proud of themselves.

The rainy season has begun. It turns out they are called the long rains because it can rain off and on all day for 3 months– torrents of rains. Rain hard enough to knock you down if you are standing out in it. Rain hard enough to wash away what little walk paths and byways we have in Mariakani. Rain hard enough to awaken long hibernating frogs and weird insects. Unfortunately, the rain is not hard enough to drive away the mosquitoes. The rain, of course, has produced more mosquitoes because of the standing water in ditches; which brings me to my love affair with my mosquito net.

My mosquito net is my protector. Some evenings I go to bed very early and curl up with a book and my trusty flashlight (a very good gift from my coworkers – no batteries required) just to escape the little bitsy biters. They are so small; they can come through the screens and do. My mosquito net also protects me from any other creepy, crawly thing that might pass through at night. Most people just let the net hang over the sides of the bed. Not me. I tuck it in all around my bed earnestly believing this process will keep any and all things off me. How surprised I am when something bites me or lands on me in the night. Usually ants are the culprit.

Those pesky ants continue to invade. Now, with the rains, there are 4 or 5 more varieties to deal with on a daily basis. The most annoying ones right now are the almost microscopic ones that bite. Some of them have taken residence up inside my laptop. Do you think spraying DOOM on my keyboard will have long term harmful effects?

The rains have made a lovely mess of our garbage, although it is hard to mess up garbage……. Garbage collection in rural Kenya is almost nonexistent. So, we pile it in heaps in the street, on grassy areas, next to homes or any where else someone wants to build a personal dump. The goats, chickens and cows eat some of it. Someone will occasionally burn a pile off, but mostly it just sits. That is until the rains come. Now it gets beat down and soggy. Even so, the high winds are still able to pick it up and blow it around. The rivers of water flowing through the town also carry it around and leave it where it may.

It seems the Kenya Posta flows slower than our teeming streets of water. A friend sent a Christmas package in November and I just got it at the end of April. It was a very nice surprise. She even sent along a hand crafted Ohio State Buckeye cowbell and some Junior Mints (or at least that is what the box said…..the mints were not in good shape….anyone remember the movie The Blob?). She also included giant size containers of hand sanitizer.

I do love the stuff, but with all your generous contributions, my house runneth over with hand sanitizer. I have enough for me for the next 18 months and have even helped out another PCV who is not as fortunate as I. So, do keep sending packages, just omit the hand sanitizer. And, keep praying for me. My son, John told me when he took me to the airport for my return flight, if I did not think this was all worth it; I should just come home for good. I have thought about that many times in the last few weeks. Worth is a relative term. It may not be worth it to me, or to him or to my grandbaby (I am missing all the “firsts” - she is sitting up now), yet I can see it is worth it to the people I am serving. And, it is a blessing to me that so many of you have chosen to be a part of this work through your prayers, support, encouragement and even those slow to arrive packages. Thank you.

April 2007

April 2007

I can hardly believe it is April. Time is moving very fast in general, although some days and weeks drag on forever. We are now more than several weeks without water in Mariakani. All the rumors about it being turned off to build a good supply in Mombasa for the marathon were not correct. The marathon was a week ago and we still have no water. So, we are back to telling ourselves the road workers have broken another main line and the District hasn’t gotten around to fixing it yet. Although, this does not seem logical to me since 2 times during the past weeks, the water came on for one half hour. Whatever the reason, we are still hauling water great distances and the price of a 20 litre geri-can has escalated to 100 shillings.

One of the savings mechanisms in Kenya is called a Merry Go Round. They do not have traditional savings and loans. Normal bank fees are around 300 shillings a month just to have the account so are prohibitive for most people. They also charge extra for every transaction. It costs me 200 shillings just to cash a check. The micro-finance institutions here serve a valuable purpose to guarantee loans to individuals based on a group co-signing for a loan. Unfortunately, you must buy shares in the institution, pay monthly service fees and you cannot withdraw the savings without huge penalties since they are part of the group’s collateral. A merry go round is a social group with a purpose of saving money a no cost. The groups meet weekly or on a regular schedule, are usually single gender, and each member contributes the same set amount every time they meet. The amount of money they contribute is as low as 10 or 20 shillings a week, like the group of prostitutes at the weighbridge I am working with, or it can be as high as 5,000 shillings for successful business people. In a traditional Merry Go Round, the meeting is held at the home of that meeting’s recipient for the money. At the start of the each merry go round period, members draw numbers to find out what order they will receive that meeting’s collections. Some merry go rounds are just to help women save to buy household furnishings or pay school fees. My host stay mother in Kitui belonged to such a group. The business women use their cash to re-invest in their businesses. The beauty is that there are no fees and although your money is not earning any interest, it is a fast way to save without being tempted to spend what you can stash away yourself. The merry go round name is taken, of course, from the visiting around to each person’s home and socializing over chai and biscuits (really just vanilla wafer like cookies). In some groups, the refreshments are a little more extravagant, but then the members usually take up a small collection to help defray the cost. In women's groups, socializing goes on for a couple of hours or more. I have joined a merry go round myself and am looking forward to next week’s meeting when we will draw numbers. Most members always know in advance what they are going to spend their money on. I am still thinking about it. But, it will be important to have it figured out since there is testimony time at the meeting and speeches about how the money will be used. It is a good time to bond with other women, laugh and share our lives.

My other good news is that my main project is really picking up motion. The renovation is complete on the work space, the machines and equipment are being installed this week and we have hired our production manager and 25 women and older youth to start work in late April! My weighbridge side project is moving along as well. We have identified a space to rent, are looking at having the start of equipment and costs covered by a donor and the group has saved in their merry go round 8,000 shillings to buy inventory. They still need about 8,000 more to stock the store and pay the workers for the first month, but we should be up and operational by the end of May. A local successful grocery store owner has offered to train our workers and teach them how to purchase, display, keep the books, etc. She is even going to help us transport our veggies from Mombasa until we can afford transport on our own.

By the end of June I will have been helpful in creating jobs for about 30 people. A small dent in a community with a 65% unemployment rate, but a good start! I have also worked on creating a business plan and set of pro formas for a textile factory in Mlolongo. It is right outside of Nairobi and would be an expansion of an existing small business. If it takes off, Kinanda will increase its workforce over the next year from 15 to 150. Our target labor market is a very large group of prostitutes working in the Mlolongo weighbridge area. Be praying our grant proposal to the Bill Gates Foundation is approved!

A quick thanks to David Roth and Bill Chenevert, budget gurus at my old job. Over the years they have taught me enough to survive in creating good budget worksheets, pro formas and proposals! I would be way behind the curve here in Mariaknai without their good tutelage during my work time with them.

I have taken a special interest in helping our OVC cluster leadership (Orphans and Vulnerable Youth) find a new path to becoming more self sustaining in keeping their nutrition programs going. For some of our orphans, ages 2 to 9, their only real meal of the day is a cup of porridge made from maize flour (unga) which the pre-schools try and supply through grant money or local donations. The schools are all run by local churches and have no regular funding for the teachers or the nutrition programs. I met a couple of the teachers at two of the schools and they rely on handouts as their paycheck. Last month, one teacher only received 300 shillings. That is less than 5 dollars. He is supporting himself and a family of three. Now that is volunteerism in action. My side project with them will be initiating a commercial farm for the sale of veggies and use the profits to underwrite the nutrition programs. If successful, we could also employ about 5 older youth to run the farm. It is just an idea at this time in discussion with the leadership team. We need to identify donated land, training money for the youth and more structure to the plan before proceeding.....

At one school, they service 400 students a day and the children have to eat their porridge in shifts because they have only 200 cups. Some children bring a plastic wash bowl from home and several children will scoop the porridge out together. I have tried very hard not to become a donor since everyone asks for money and stuff all the time, but I had to go out and purchase more cups for them. It broke my heart to see them. A cup costs as little as 8 shillings a piece. The schools are pre-dominantly mud and stick structures with benches if they are fortunate, no floors and having a blackboard board is a bonus. The children are taught their numbers, alphabet, some English, and reading skills before they go to primary school. Primary school is free but the poorer children do not have the social advantages of the small middle class, so these early childhood development centers help prepare the students to succeed in primary school. The government here is proposing to offer free secondary schools sometime in 2008. Right now, after 8th grade, if you can’t pay, you can’t go.

I have found one aspect of primary schools here very disturbing. Corporeal punishment is a way of life. I live very close to two schools and almost daily I witness children being hit with sticks in the yard or at classroom doors for being late to class, laughing or doing something childish. It breaks my heart to see these small children abused, but it is one thing the Peace Corps has been clear about. You can educate teachers in private when opportunity presents, but never open confrontation. …bad results for everyone if you push too hard.

I had the privilege to participate in an HIV/AIDS Awareness Day last Saturday. Our Youth Cluster Leadership and Magnet Theater Group educated, entertained and fed over 4,000 youth ages 7 – 24 a meal of pilau (a rice dish). It was wonderful. We had 119 people tested for HIV, had a blood drive that collected 70 pints and many games and sports events for the youth to participate in. Of course, we had many tables set up with educational materials and had trained youth counselors from our group doing peer education throughout the day on the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The event started with a big parade (big in terms of Mariakani) to the open field by the Mariakani Secondary School at 10AM and lasted until after dark that night. One impressive group that performed was 8 area youth who have formed an acrobat team. They were wonderful considering they are self trained. I will post some pictures on the web and send out the link.

I have had two giant lizard engagements since I have been walking around town. The first one frightened about two years off my life since I stumbled across it on a very narrow path bordered by two deep ditches and tall grass. I had no where to jump. The rule with the giant lizards is to not act like you are chasing them, since then they will chase you. Apparently I startled him as much as he startled me, and he took off for the ditch after a few seconds of eye contact. My next engagement was in a different part of town and this one just stared me down and I backed off and took another path. I walked for quite a ways with my head shifting around repeatedly to make sure it was not following me. They can move faster than me and it would not be a very fair foot race.

Everyone always asks for a weather update – it is hot and hotter. We reach the high 90’s and low 100’s most days with a very high humidity rate. I have learned to sleep without air conditioning, but need to sleep under a wet leso to keep cool. The rains should come in another 4 weeks and cool us off for a while. It signals the start of our fall, temps should drop into the low 90’s and high 80’s and then we hit winter in June or July. Temps stay the same as the fall, but the humidity lowers considerably. Not very clear, and neither is anyone else, if we are entering the long or the short rains. The rain here is not as much as they get up country so it may be there is no discernable difference here in the short or long rains.

I have had some fine friends send me major supplies of single serve Kool Aid and Crystal Light packets. They have been a life saver to me as I try and force as many liquids as possible everyday. Dehydration is my enemy and I have gotten a little weak and puny a few days when I forget to drink, drink, drink. The flavored drinks really help me to push one more bottle down.

I send my love and best wishes to all of you. I leave for the States for a quick 5 days on the ground to hug my sons, daughters-in-law and my new grandbaby. I am so psyched!

Kwaheri!

Patty G.

March 2007

Well, it has been more than a month since I last updated everyone on my adventure. In late January, we had a series of town meetings to look at the issues we would like to address in the coming year. Gender based violence was one of the topics. I was shocked to hear women identify this as an area of cultural concern. A local tribe thinks it demonstrates love to beat your wife. As I was sitting there contemplating the absurdity of that belief, a local male leader got up and said his wife needs to be slapped occasionally and if he did not do it, she would lose respect for him. Unfortunately, I lost my sanity (not unusual for me) and got up and spoke rather passionately through an interpreter. Not all beliefs are truth and when armed with facts these beliefs change. It was only a couple of years ago my community thought sleeping with a young virgin (10-14) would cure you of HIV/AIDs. After my small speech, I did receive a good round of applause from the women in the group…….Next year there will be money available from the government to promote Women’s Rights.

On the encouraging side, I met with the prostitutes from one of the poorest areas around the weigh station for the trucks. They wanted to start a charcoal business. After some discussion, they figured out for themselves that no one in their larger community can afford charcoal. Lakini (But), they did figure out everyone has to walk all the way into Mariakani for their fresh vegetables and Unga (maize flour). So, we are working towards starting a grocery store out there. We have two ready made customers in the hotels that spend 1,000 shillings a day for fresh vegetables. Most families in the area spend 50 shillings about two times a week. They buy a 2 kilo bag of Unga everyday if they can afford it. So, now we are looking at how to raise the $500 dollars American to start the business. It seems a small amount for us, but for them (a group of 25 women have saved $3,000 shillings or $43 American in 2 months) it is a significant amount of money. We are hoping to get some donated space to start with and that will save us rent. Most of the homes are mud and stick in this area and are not secure.

Valentines is celebrated in Kenya, but gift giving of any kind is not normal. I received a proposal, a rose and many well wishes. One friend from the US sent Valentines from her children’s church group she teaches and I passed them out to my small friends here. They were a big hit.

I have been visiting many churches in the area still trying to find one I can live and grow in over the next couple of years. I sat behind a family in the Catholic Church a couple of weeks ago and the little girl could have been in an American Church. She had on her Mary Janes, a bright frilly dress and squirmed around appropriately throughout the service! In Africa, parents are not so quick to quiet children or keep them still. They have embraced the idea that after all, they are just children and should not be required to behave like adults.

My daily life is as much of a stable routine as is expected in Kenya. Some days you have water and some days you have not. I am on day number 4 without water and have been in the same spot several times. Steam, or electricity, comes and goes as well, but is not the same inconvenience. I wake up every morning wondering if I have water or electricity, while you are waking up wondering about the weather and traffic. I have gotten very adept at recycling water….bucket bath for me, wash my clothes in it , use the the same water to flush out the toilet and then use the clean rinse water for me and my clothes for the next day’s flush. Ants and dust are also daily staples of my life in Kenya. If I was a good Kenyan woman, I would be sweeping and mopping and dusting everyday. I am not, so it all waits until Saturday morning. You cannot imagine the depth of sand that accumulates in my house (nyumbani) or on my furniture. When wiped off with a wet rag, it creates mud……

The ants come in all colors and sizes, but the small red ants or small white ants are very vicious. They come from no where and seem to be able to withstand any pesticide sold in Kenya. They are biters and sting. I am having a difficult time making peace with them.

I am still a daily oddity. The children love calling me mzungu and pointing at me or following me through the town. I have been giving lessons to them on not calling me by that name. I am Shangzi (auntie) to some, Madam to others and for those who can remember my name, Patty. Of course, they still ask for money for “sweets”. Today as I was walking home from church, I bought 3 bananas and they wanted those as well. As a side note, the bananas in Kenya are so much sweeter than you could ever find anywhere in the U.S. They are almost (but not quite) as good as a chocolate fix.

Alcohol consummation is a major problem in Kenya, particularly in the transit corridor towns such as Mariakani. So, of course it would not be right for me to drink in public. Only women who are prostitutes drink in my town. However, there is opportunity to tip back a cold one if I am off site. I spent last week in Tiwi Beach at a Peace Corps meeting with about 25 other volunteers and we had a wonderful vacation of sorts. The meetings only went to about 3PM each day so we made use of the pool, the Bahari Hindi (Indian Ocean) and had a wonderful time. Most of the volunteers bought in a bottle of some sort and one volunteer arranged with the hotel to bring in Manazi (a local brew made from Palm flowers). It tastes really bad, but they drank it anyway. It is safer than other local brews found across Kenya. Manazi is totally organic so no going blind if it is a bad batch. It is not uncommon to read in the papers of people dying or getting very sick from local beers (pombe) made in other provinces.

I have a new mailing address. The trip to Mombasa is long and dusty and costs a lot of shillingi! So, I rented a box here in Mariakani. My new address is:

Patricia Gillette
P.O. Box 201
Mariakani, Kenya

My Kiswahili lessons have been paying off. I understand much more than I can say, but I can carry on short conversations now about more than just the weather and common courtesies. Kiswahili is a very rich language, predominately from the Arabs and Bantu tribe. They are able to make complete sentences into just one word by use of prefixes, suffixes and infixes. Very difficult to grasp……

It is good to have things to keep me busy since I am beside myself with homesickness. I have received permission to visit my new grandbaby, sons and daughter-in-laws in April from both the Peace Corps and the organization I work with. I was hoping it could be June when it would be easier for everyone stateside to get time off, but I must go for a week prior to the start of training and production at the textile factory I am working on getting up and running. I will only have 7 days so I cannot take time to visit all of you who have been so supportive to me with cards, letters, emails and wonderful surprise packages. Know that I appreciate your support and would not have survived even this long in Kenya without it. Kwa heri for now. Tutatutana tena (Until we meet again, I think I got that right……).

January 20, 2007

Date

January has been a busy month with some sad news as well. Of the 53 volunteers in my group, we have lost 5 to date, and one more is thinking seriously about going home. Most of them left because their housing situation was not what the organizations committed to the Peace Corps. PCs call it the bait and switch. They show you something during site visit and when you show up it is a totally different housing arrangement. The volunteer closest to me, about a 30 minute walk if I dilly dally around, has been battling rats and bats since she came on site. They have been so invasive; she had to take up residence at my hotel for a few days. The fundi (handyman) for the school and the school where she is working, has been very slow to respond and take the necessary steps to get the place cleaned of the vermin permanently. She finally had to threaten them if they did not get it done this week, she will not be teaching. It is sad to lose good volunteers over housing issues. It makes my not having a house for a while seem like a much easier burden, particularly when my new house is wonderful!.

It is back to school time in Kenya! The children here in all grades get a very long break. It starts in the middle of November and goes until the first full week in January. At my hotel, where I have been staying, there are a total of 13 children between the owners, the hired help and a couple of grandchildren. Two of the children have left for a Christian boarding school, two go to a private Muslim day school and the rest are in public schools. The first day of school, the children were up early after having spent a restless night in anticipation of the first day of school; another evidence that life is very much the same here as in the U.S. There was lots of scurrying around getting the girls’ hair braided (it is either that or they have to shave it off – it keeps the head lice population down in our town!). The owner of the hotel pays their tuition and shopped for the school supplies. I chipped in the pencils, erasers, and some pencil sharpeners and got uniforms for two of the smallest girls whose parents cannot afford it. Interestingly, the kids like the point on the pencil they get from using a razor blade rather than a sharpener…….. it is all in what you get used to! Everyone wears uniforms. Each school has its own colors and the children usually have only one, two if they are lucky. So, they get washed multiple times a week and get a little raggedy, but they wear them proudly! With all the dust and dirt around here, the walk to and from school means they need washed everyday and that does not account for any dilly dallying they might do on the way home!

When I arrived in Kenya, I came with a bad knee and an ankle that hurt if I walked on rough terrain or in unsupported shoes. I walked like a very fragile, old lady on the paths and in the mud as I roamed the villages. My steps were tentative and guarded. The ever present fear was that I would fall and break something or my knee would go out. The more ditches I have jumped and the more mud I have slid my way through, has actually improved my balance, my strength and my agility. Be proud Mel, all the good advice you gave me at the HCR Manor Care gym was right on target! More bad news, I have stopped losing weight. The really bad news, people tell me I am getting “stronger” and “am well fed.” That is Kenyan talk for getting fatter! That may change when I am consistently responsible for my own cooking or I might have to pick up my pace when I travel around town! The sun is jua kali (fiercely hot) so fast walking is almost counterproductive because you dehydrate and tire out so much faster.

I introduced my extended host family at the hotel to wonders of cooking with olive oil. It is cheap here by U.S standards, about $2.50 for a bottle, but still too expensive for them since they use cooking fat in everything. I made pasta primavera using local vegetables, lots of garlic and basil and, of course, the olive oil. It took the 20 of us about 30 minutes to eat 5 lbs of spaghetti topped with the veggies and the pesto sauce. I added some avocado which really made a lovely presentation. But, as fast as it disappeared, I do not think they had any interest in the presentation……

I have finally moved into my apartment this last week. God has totally blessed me. I have electricity and running water in a town where water is a scarce commodity. Almost everyone has to buy it for 6 shillings a 20 liter container and then lug it home. Some carry it for great distances, easily a 30 or 30 minute walk. I live near the only well in the community. My house has pipe water from the government. Maybe 15% of the homes on this side of the road have piped water, but not any on the other side of the road. My apartment is three rooms plus a bath, very big by Kenyan standards. I spent my entire move in allowance from PC on living room furniture. The local vocational education school built me two futons, a coffee table and two end tables. My community of new friends donated a bed, a gas container for my two burner table top gas stove, a kitchen table and three plastic chairs. When you come to visit me in Kenya, you can sleep on my futons! Someone even donated a small washer and dryer they got from somewhere. I cannot figure out how to hook up the washer since I do not have electricity and water in a single location……the dryer is very small and they tell me it works, although I have just been hanging my clothes on the line after hand washing them. I bought a water purifier so I do not have to boil all my drinking water. It is a great time saver.

Take care and thanks to all who keep sending me reading material, Crystal Light and other items that make me smile!

Patty G.

Postscript: I spoke to soon about being agile and peppy! During the move-in to my new apartment, I sprained my ankle and had to visit a great doctor in Mombasa. I am now on the mend and should be totally back to normal (whatever that is) in about six weeks!

January 2007

Greetings from Mariakani, Kenya!

January, 2007

I have finally started work in Mariakani. I arrived right before Christmas and have been diligently working on modifications to the business plan. I have managed to get in some shopping in Mombasa for a few things for my new home. Unfortunately, I am still not in my home. I was hoping to be in it by New Year’s ay and now I am hoping for this weekend………I have seen the apartment a couple of times and have a short list of things I need to do once I get into it. I want to paint the concrete floors and fix the screens on the windows to keep out bugs and stuff! My neighbors all seem friendly and there is a convenient area to buy food. I ordered a table to be built to put my two burner gas stove and water purifier on. It cost about 20 USDs and if it turns out okay I will ask the woodworker to make me another one. Two of the new families have offered to loan me a bed frame and a kitchen table. One is insisting on buying me a small set of dishes. People are very kind here.

Wildlife in Mariakani is somewhat different from Kitui and the area has many more bugs and flying insects. The mosquitoes come in all sizes, from as big as small flies to almost microscopic. Thank God for repellent and mosquito nets. Even with these luxuries, I am still managing to get a couple of new bites a day. The cockroaches also come in the small and giant size and with continual diligence; I am able to keep them at bay. We do have bats, but most of the night songs here are by the toads and frogs and crickets. Of course, the local dance hall/saloon, not far from my hotel, adds to the musical overtures of the night and into the morning hours.

I have introduced the home cooking of popcorn on jikos and everyone has been amazed at how inexpensive it is to cook your own. Unfortunately, Mariakani has no market other than the small dukas or outdoor stands selling fresh vegetables. Popcorn kernels must be bought at the Nakumatt in Mombasa, the Kenya version of Wal-Mart or Kmart.

I have begun searching for my tutor for Kiswahili so can pass the language proficiency exam in April. The PC will pay for a tutor 4 hours per week, whether you pass or not. I plan to take full advantage of this opportunity since Kiswahili is a requirement for being effective in my job.

The really good news is that my NGO is willing to pay half the cost to have me hooked up to the internet. Since they are in Nairobi and I am in Mariakani, email is the most efficient way for us to pass documents and information back and forth. I will be hooked up to wireless through one of the phone companies here. My half will stretch my budget a little, but it will be so worth it to sit in my home and be able to stay in touch with family and friends and to surf the web for news of home.

I have visited 3 churches so far and will try the Catholic Church this Sunday. I am praying I find a church home where I can be comfortable in worship and get involved in the work of the church. I met an elder at the Miracle Church this last Sunday and he is working with a group of people in the area by the weigh station to start a daycare so that when the sewing factory is hiring, the women will have a safe place for their small children. He stopped by today to ask for 2.5 KSH, which is about 36K in USDs. I think he thought I had it in my pocket to give him………

I helped him understand the group needs to establish some costs to erect the building and develop a budget for its on-going maintenance. These figures are needed before they submit their proposal for funding. He had not thought about how they would pay other expenses like teachers, utilities or what the real cost of construction would be. The group had not even considered how many children are in the weigh station area that could benefit from the daycare. He was very open and excited about planning and promised to come e me next week to review what his group has put together. I think I will have to help them research where they can get funding as well. I am sure there is no room in my budget, but if the women do not have child care, it is not likely they will be able to show up to work consistently.

The generosity of local families towards the needy is inspiring. At the hotel where I am staying, the owner has given shelter to a woman and her 3 children while she convalesced from an illness. She is a single Mom that was stranded in Mariakani by a husband who ran off with a European. She got very ill, almost died, and had no means of paying for health care or feeding her children. She has been on the mend and has started working at the hotel. For Christmas, the owner’s daughter, who runs a successful hair salon, bought each of the children a new outfit to wear. They were squealing with excitement.

I will close by telling you how much I enjoy your emails, letters and packages. The snail mail and packages take forever to get here, but that does not limit my excitement (yes, practically squeal like the children) when I receive them. Your kind words and support motivates me to keep hanging in there despite my homesickness and the “expansion of my personal comfort zone.”

At the Posta in Mombasa, I learned I can be fined 5,000KSH if the customs label is not accurate. So much for the advice from the PC about labeling everything books! The good news is that you can just put books and miscellaneous items. As long as the contents do not have re-sale value, I do not have to pay custom fees. All I have been sent so far has been determined to have no monetary value!

My love and prayers go out to each of you in this New Year.


Patty