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.