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……).