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.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Sunday, April 01, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
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……).
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……).
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