A Kenyan Summer

The End of the Journey

2008-08-26T04:37:00.012+03:00

On August 10th, I arrived home. But not before having a spectacular goodbye to a place that, as I've said time and time again, utterly shattered my expectations and imaginations of what my experience would be like.

After leaving Bungoma for Nairobi, I went to two national parks, and some requisite wildlife pictures are featured below. We were in Amboseli National Park and then Tsavo West National Park. Jill, Brett, Ingrid and I then went to Mombasa for a night, explored the Old Fort, and rested. Next we headed north to Watamu, an Italian resort village in Kenya...where everyone spoke Italian and where the foods were all from Italy. We stayed at a hotel/resort that was shockingly nice for the $30 or so for a room each night. Also from Watamu went to the Gede ruins, which were every which way ancient and mysterious, with gargantuan trees--one of which had a platform to view the site. It was generally a fantastic experience, despite the odd insects (after all, the forest there hasn't been affected all that much by humans in the last 400 or 500 years; it was precisely like going back in time).

Brett and Ingrid left from Watamu and Jill and I continued the trek north up the coast to Lamu, a paradisaical island with a traditional and gorgeous old town in typical Swahili fashion. No cars [the main street was never more than 5 or 6 feet wide], but literally thousands of donkeys paraded the island for transport of people and goods. Jill and I, for a ridiculous price in the neighborhood of $15 each, essentially had two floors of an amazing villa. Each level was littered with Swahili-carved day beds and chairs. A full breakfast was also served. We took a day trip on a traditional dhow, sailing to Manda island and having fresh caught fish for lunch.

We decided that instead of taking a round-about 18-20 hour bus ride back to Nairobi, we would fly. So I had some extra time to do a bit of tourist-style shopping, relax, and contemplate my journey--both as an individual traveler, as part of the project to start a VCT center; Ultimately, as a person genuinely interested in how people everywhere on earth are so enormously different in their styles and beliefs, I was once again was impressed with the common threads that are part of a greater 'humanity'. Anyway, that's a bit of stereotypical "everyone is different but also the same" sort of speech, but it's hard to genuinely capture the kind of education that can only come from experience.

In travels and work, I wonder if anything will take me back to Kenya--, to Kisumu, or to Bungoma; to see all of the people there that I found to be like family by the end--like Joyce and Mama Betty and the Lubanga kids and Epico Jahns Primary school. Now I only hope I can keep in touch until I am there once again!

Here are some shots from the last 10 days of Kenya!, in completely random order...

Sand castle I spent probably an hour creating on the empty, vast stretch of Shella Beach on Lamu island
Tito, Brett's carved giraffe from the gate of Tsavo West, at the Old Fort in Lamu
Tree in Amboseli National Park
View of rooftops from the terrace of our villa in Lamu looking east
Zebras in Amboseli National Park. They were everywhere...
Me, riding Watermelon. When I was traveling, I rode Carrot (the donkey in the background). The guy sitting there is Lemon, our guide and dhow captain
Standing next to a gargantuan tree at the 13th-17th century Gede ruins on the coast near Watamu--home to a surprisingly advanced town for that time in Western Kenya that must have had an extensive trading network given the articles found there. Everyone left in the 17th century though; no record of why
The iconic tusks in Mombasa; photo taken from the middle of the street--there's a matching set over the road to the right of the line of trees
This little guy and several others were near our campsite in Tsavo West National Park
Near the Old Fort in Mombasa, there was a photogenic vining plant taking over a traditional Swahili Mombasa-style carved door
The typical sights of Lamu: donkeys and a dhow--, and Manda island across the water where the mangroves are
Night view from the Lamu villa. Flowering vines crawled up and over the alleys, from rooftop to rooftop, littering the streets with their blossoms--usually pink and yellow
One of my favorite Lamu shots, taken from a few feet off the ground (sometimes I took the phrase "shoot from the hip" to heart when looking for good candid shots)--there were maybe thirty or forty donkeys off to the left
Me, sitting on a platform overlooking the springs in Amboseli National Park. Were it a clear day, Kilimanjaro would have been off to the right
Standing on a 200-300 year old volcanic lava flow in the midst of the Chulu hills, where there were many dormant cone volcanoes
Left to right: Brett from Tenneessee, Jill from Pennsylvania, Ingrid from D. C., and me; this was our safari group. We toasted our trip at Carnivore (one of the top 50 dining experiences in the world), and toasted the end in Watamu, the strange Italian resort town, over pasta.
The Chulu Hills; this was truly an experience of sublimity--utterly awe inspiring in its scale and grandeur as we tooled around in our van with removable roof surrounded by animals usually confined to zoos
A hippo--the most dainty creature I've ever seen walk, as if on its tip-toes
A poor quality photo of Kilimanjaro from the ground in the early morning of our second day in Amboseli
A nice view of Lamu, the town--on Lamu, the island--part of Lamu, the archipelago (in Kenya, East Africa?)
These carved doors were incredible. Most were not nearly as elaborate as this one; however, many were carved rather delicately with lovely artistic discretion
A nice panorama at Amboseli, where the hordes of elephants were sunk down into the water that the grass and plants were emerging from--the baby elephant could easily inspire a rousing "Circle of Life" chorus if you were feeling like a tourist
First course of breakfast at the villa in Lamu was always fruit...often these three were substituted or supplemented with fresh papaya or mango
The first large animal we saw after leaving Nairobi was this giraffe just outside the car window
This sign is excellent all-around, but I particularly like "The National Parks are not responsible for any eventuality"
The wildlife, however fun to look at, was often just standing in the middle of the road. It was weird, we were looking at them and they were looking at us; and sometimes they took a while to move--this one looks perfect, bordering on artificial
This is a hill of volcanic ash. There are three people in this photo: Ingrid closest, then Jill nearing the bottom of the path, then Brett still up almost on the hill horizon line. Spot all three?
The sunset while waiting for the plane in Cleveland to go back to Dayton
Guess which safari van was ours? Hint: Our safari company was for the fiscally conscious. Basically, I mean the super dirty one.
This is a dik-dik, an insanely small (30-40cm high) and light (3-6kg) antelope that were hard to spot most of the time. This one is on the lava flow in the Chulu Hills

Through the Lens: Bungoma Town/The Clinic Update

2008-07-30T12:35:00.008+03:00

Opening ceremony and songs at Epico Jahns; every Monday and Friday mornings.
Me and Melchzedek--the number one math student in the 4th grade math class I taught! I gave him pencils, pens, an apple, and a pencil sharpener.
This is the 4th grade math class I taught while here in Kabula/Bungoma, Kenya.
Basically, I just liked this photo...I told them to jump or look happy, and they loved the results so we took so many shots...
Me and some of the Epico students.
This is the consultation room in the VCT part of the clinic. Notice the curtains, walls, floor...we re-did them all and this is the result!
Me standing in the clinic entry with the new curtains...
Here I am in front of the main hut. Mostly this is just a 'for memories' picture.
Here's the hut I lived in, with me in front of it! I lived in there for two months minus a few weekends and the trip to Zanzibar.
These are the kids that were jumping...This is the well that we filter water from to drink; also the water we bathe with.
The street in Bungoma Town! Note the boda-boda on the left.
Boda-boda drivers waiting in front of Shariff's plaza--where I'll take the Easy Coach bus to Nairobi tomorrow. The bus company's slogan is "Experience Dignity".
Boda-bodas, and a woman riding side-saddle.

The other VCT consultation room!
This is Joyce! I'll miss her.
Matatu stand in Bungoma town.
Selling oranges!
Another selling of oranges!
Me; and the grocery store Khetia's.
The newly painted ceiling. I painted two rooms of ceilings.
Lilian, the cook; and me!
Me on the matatu, fields going by.
And here I am with Elizabeth, who will be the manager of the VCT. Back and to the left you can see the storage room with new door and shelves.

Other news: The ICODEI dog, Luii, died--it was terrible and there was nothing we could do. Also, I spent the night at Joyce's last Saturday and attended a Catholic church on Sunday. It was under construction and huge, and we went at sunrise--beyond beautiful, especially with the incredible singing. The whole congregation is one big, talented choir singing in who-knows-how-many part harmonies. Lastly, there have been noises and music at night. Western Kenya has a lot of ceremony around circumcision when a boy reaches a certain age (14-ish?), so they're having all of those parties now.

Tomorrow I head out!
Time for last-goodbyes on the farm.

Rushing Toward the End/Full Stop.

2008-07-26T11:15:00.003+03:00

The past week has been quite busy, with things at the clinic really coming together for the VCT. Also, Elizabeth is developing a 5 year plan so that we know where we're going. The idea is that we eventually would like to serve as a Comprehensive Care Center where we can offer home-based care and anti-retrovirals, as well as extended counseling for people who are HIV positive.

All of the work is basically done. We have all the materials for the finishing touches, and we're meeting with Reuben to work on setting up a visit by the District Health group that will do a final inspection and let us know how to go about securing the final resources we need to open, which will hopefully come in the next few weeks. The whole clinic looks so nice since we 'renovated' it! The next post I'll add some pictures of what's finished and how things have changed since the first pictures that I added of the VCT center and clinic as a whole.

Notes on living at the Lubanga farm and Bungoma Town:
Bathing-
Get a plastic bucket and a pitcher, go to the outdoor kitchen [filled with smoke, a coal fire and a jicho with a large pot on top, hard to tell how clean the water looks], if you're lucky there's hot water. Otherwise just get well water. Then, go to a shower stall and that's that.

Sleeping-
While originally I was quite concerned about mosquitoes, ends up that there aren't as many as I expected. Still, use the bed net. And try not to get tangled in it. If there's a lump on top of the net when you wake up, it's the cat. It's name sounds something like "Crispy-nuts", and she's pregnant and makes weird noises so just leave her there. One of her earlier children, the tiny gray cat, may also come and stay with you.

Eating-
Breakfast is red plum Zesta, Supa loaf, chai [sweet, lots of milk], and Blue Band 'butter'. Mandazi [doughnuts!] come on Saturday mornings. On rare occasions, there are boiled eggs from the many, many hens that wander the farm. Lunch is rice, cabbage, beans, maize, sakuma wiki--in some combination. Tea is served in late afternoon. Dinner is lentils and chapati Wednesday and Sunday, sometimes spaghetti and tomato sauce with mashed potatoes, occasionally chicken [Isabelle and Neeraj killed the chickens we ate two nights ago. I took a video with Isabelle's camera]--, and ocassionaly we'll have goat or beef. Also with dinner, any of the items I mentioned for lunch. On rare occasions, we have ugali. I think I've had it served only three times on the farm while I've been here. For dessert, melon or fruit--but only two or three times a week. If you go to town, Coffee Garden has decent inexpensive lunches. Red Hat will fix a stellar buffet if you call ahead. Shariff's Center has a restaurant overlooking a park, and they serve boneless chicken curry. Khetia's and Shariff's have two locations each in Bungoma Town,--decent grocery stores. Most often, oranges and mangoes are best purchased on the street. Kisumu is the closest place to get pizza or a burger.

Shopping-
Khetia's and Shariff's have anything a really small Wal-Mart would have. The Nakumatt, in Kisumu, is much more complete as far as a 'Western' grocery is concerned. The market in Bungoma Town happens on Fridays, but there is some fraction of the outdoor market open every day, and Saturday is fairly big too. There are bookstores, 'Agro-vets', electronics stores, hardware stores, tailors, etc. lining the main street of Bungoma, as well as many banks. The only one that always accepts my ATM card is Barclay's.

Through the Lens: Zanzibar II, Sunsets

2008-07-19T10:41:00.013+03:00

This is a shot of Mt. Kilimanjaro rising from the clouds. I have many shots of the mountain, looking so surreal!--as if it were floating on the textures of sunrise clouds. I had a 6AM flight from Zanzibar to Nairobi. I'll upload a few more of the mountain later. This capped off the trip rather nicely--iconic Tanzania, perfectly and dramatically from the sky.

I have five or six shots of the sun sequentially, sinking slowly into the clouds and glowing for hours after.

The little dark building on the right is Mercury's, named after Queen's Freddie Mercury who was born in Zanzibar. It was the perfect location for sunset dinners.

The open theater on the right was the center of the activities of the Festival of the Dhow Countries and the ZIFF. The venue is the Old Fort, built by Portugal in the 1800's. This is the view of the harbor from the top balcony of the House of Wonders, a palacial building where many of the ZIFF films were shown.

The sunset had endless variations, and was clear and distinct and always stirring--every single evening.

One of my Zanzibari friends who I met a few nights at the harbor to watch the sunset took this one. The palace of Princess Salme is in the background on the right.

Another night, another sunset; Nungwi, Zanzibar--over the Indian Ocean.

A frequent place to sit and relax by the water in Nungwi.

From the balcony at my hotel in Nungwi.

The lighthouse on the northern tip of Zanzibar as the sun was glowing low and golden.

These are a mere fraction of the photos that I took--[almost 400!]--so I'll pick through them and include others later. Much has been done on the clinic as well, enough to have a full set of photos on its own.

Through the Lens: Zanzibar Part I

2008-07-17T18:18:00.006+03:00

Impossibly clear water in the harbor in Zanzibar.
A dhow in front of prison island, where we fed the tortoises.
You can see the star fish? There were hundreds, and all of them neon!

I have arrived safely back in Bungoma, and realized how much I missed the family and all of the other volunteers. I'm glad to be here again. Also, almost all of the painting is done in the clinic and Elizabeth (the VCT manager) will be bringing the curtains in the next day or so. Also, they opened up a segment of the fence and have redone the floor. I'm so excited--we're quite close to a final District Health inspection and then opening for testing!

I have some incredible photos from the trip that I went through last night but haven't put on my jump drive for upload to the blog yet. I took about 400 photos during my week in Zanzibar, and some from the plane from Zanzibar to Nairobi! I have some breathtaking shots of Mt. Kilimanjaro from the plane, emerging rather like a giant floating mountain on top of a sea of clouds. It's was a stirring early morning flight with the sunrise to starboard and Kilimanjaro to port; and the flight wasn't very full so you could move around a bit to get an incredible view. I can't wait to upload the photos!

ZIFF/Kenyan Homecoming

2008-07-15T19:53:00.002+03:00

I spent the weekend in Stone Town going to the events of the Festival of the Dhow Countries, listening to Taarab music, eating ever more seafood, and watching loads of films at the Zanzibar International Film Festival.

Other highlights included making friends with a tour operator, going to his house and meeting all of his family, and moderating a debate for a class he teaches! The students are learning English, and many of them hadn't ever met a native English speaker. The students were all ages--mostly secondary school aged though--and from a moderate Muslim community. The debate was essentially "Is it a good idea to be dating someone while in secondary school?"--

I'm now back in Kisumu and greatly anticipate seeing what progress has come on the VCT center tomorrow when I get back to ICODEI/Kabula. Also, it'll be nice to see the family again, and the other volunteers.

I have loads of rather nice photos that I'll be posting soon!

SCUBA

2008-07-09T18:06:00.006+03:00

This is in the evening, about an hour after sunset, in Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania.

This turtle is 108 years old, and has paid down to eat a leav I dropped. They moved so slowly, but you could tell when they were 'chasing' you. They squeaked when their shells moved and made weird breathy noises when they were grasping for food.

So, I've been in Nungwe on the northernmost tip of Zanzibar for the last few days. I finished my Advanced Open Water PADI SCUBA certification dives just a few hours ago--I did a dive to 100ft., drift dive, night dive, fish identification dive, and navigation dive to complete it. The reefs are quite stunning and make me feel like I'm in an eltra-panorama National Geographic photo.

Mostly I just wanted to post a bunch of pictures, but as usual the internet is slow and fickle. At least there are two!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

2008-07-07T09:40:00.002+03:00

"If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it", sung in the mellow Gene Wilder-as-Willy Wonka voice has been running through my head all morning.

Yesterday I went to the "House of Wonders" with Jessie and Nicole and learned all about the dhow, the sultans of Zanzibar, modern Zanzibar culture, etc. On our way back to the hotels, we saw the Spice Tour van that Lonely Planet recommended--so I asked if they had room, and they did. So, I went on a spice tour--Nicole and Jessie had to take the ferry back to Dar Es Salaam, so we said our goodbyes and off I went! The spices were incredible, I could write a list a mile long of all the leaves and flower, fruits and roots that we smelled and tasted.

Upon return after a spice-filled lunch, I checked into a charming hotel, with all of the amenities of Maszons where I had been staying, at less than a third of the price! Also, the furniture and decor was all very Arabic/Swahili and had so much character.

I then walked to the main local market, where I was looking for some traditional Zanzibar leather sandals, and I found a guy that was able to help me find the 'factory' that made the sandals they sold in Stone Town, but at a fraction of the price. I got two pair, and headed back to the Warere Guest House.

For dinner, I had marlin, and barracuda at the street vendors which cater to the flurry of tourists. The night before, we sampled every kind of seafood that you can imagine--so I really only went back for the favorites. Also, passion fruit Fanta--I haven't seen it in Kenya, but I've been drinking so much of it here in Zanzibar.

Today, I'm in Nungwe, where I'll be staying for a few days--it's the northernmost point of Zanzibar. I'll return to the Stone Town area Friday for the start of the film festival, and take day trips from there.

Pictures still on hold--the internet places here aren't as cooperative as those in Bungoma.

Zanzibar

2008-07-05T17:40:00.003+03:00

So I've been in Zanzibar since yesterday afternoon, but it seems like a lot longer.

This isn't exactly a place that I can put into words. Things like "brilliant", "breathtaking", and any of a number of words that might be used to describe approximations of paradise come to mind.

I'm staying in a lovely hotel with unbelieveable wood work right in the heart of Stone Town. The narrow streets and combined East African/Arab cultures stir together blindingly--it's an assault on all senses, dripping with tropical marvelous heat, astouding views at every instant, all terrifically varied.

Today I fed hundred-year-old giant tortoises (250 kg giant), gazed into the crystal waters a color of cerulean/blue that I had never fathomed, and plucked huge neon starfish from the water off an island coast. Photos forthcoming.

The hotel I'm staying in is quite a place, ideally located (and out of my budget for more than these first two nights). I'm going to try to get a reservation somewhere else for at least tomorrow night, and I'm thinking about doing a spice tour tomorrow [while I'm still based in Stone Town/Zanzibar Town].

Nicole-a classmate two years younger from the Miami Valley School--is here; she just finished her first year at Vanderbilt, and has been near Dar Es Salaam and elsewhere in Tanzania doing medical-related work through a program she's part of. A friend of hers is also here, who has been teaching in a primary school and started a library there--Jessie.

This week, I hope to explore the other towns on the island and go to the beaches. I'm going to try to set up a SCUBA trip tomorrow for sometime this week, and then the Zanzibar International Film Festival starts on Friday. Depending on how the week goes, I may try to go to Pemba--another island to the north of Zanzibar--there are some ZIFF events that will be going on there. Otherwise, I'll just get a cheap place north of Zanzibar Town and enjoy the sights and divine snorkeling/SCUBA day trips!

I haven't heard anything from anyone at ICODEI yet--they all went to Uganda this weekend to go rafting in Jinja, and a few were staying at the farm [that had gone when I did a few weeks back]. I'll probably talk to them on Monday and see how it all went, and I can't wait to watch the video of them!

A Week of Slow Progress

2008-07-03T17:42:00.003+03:00

At this moment, I'm down the way from the Oginga-Odinga Rd. Nakumatt in an internet cafe/cake shop.

Progress on the clinic updates to get District approval has been rough. Tom has proven to be quite difficult to work with, keeping his own schedule--working irregular hours, disappearing for too-long periods of time when he should be getting materials, and then just going really slowly. We've now hired out segments of the work to other people, so it should be done sometime in the next two weeks. The partition wall, records room, ceiling paint, cabinet locks, and consultation chairs are complete.

Curtains: I had a bit of sticker shock when I saw the initial quoted price for the curtains. Who knew that 17 hand-made bi-layer curtains would cost so much? Elizabeth, the hired VCT 'manager', is making the curtains and she estimated that it would take her about a week. I gave her an installment towards the curtains to pay for materials.

So why am I in Kisumu again? Well, after a bit of uncertainty on the dates and times, I have a ticket to Zanzibar tomorrow. I'll meet Nicole, who I went to high school with, and I believe one of her friends. This is a bit of a detour from the ICODEI/Kabula VCT, but I think it's well timed since now it's a waiting game until the finishing touches are taken care of. When I return, Krishna will arrive--and we can get the District Health people out to approve us and get going with the first few weeks as a testing center before we leave at the beginning of August.

Cultural tidbit of the day is the matatu. I don't know if I've mentioned them before, they're such an unusual and highly-effective means of transportation. Essentially, these are private vehicles that serve as busses throughout all of Kenya, as well as what I saw of Uganda [I wonder what other places in Africa use matatus?]. You stand by the side of the road, almost hitch-hike style, and they pick you up. They make money by cramming as many people as possible into these things. There are fourteen seats. My personal record is sitting in the back of a matatu, with someone in my lap; a total of 23 fully grown people were on board. Some of the other ICODEI volunteers reported riding on a 29-person packed matatu, though that included children/babies. These vehicles go careening down the rough roads and the frame shudders with local music blaring. All matatus have a name, many of which are religious in nature. "Temple of God", "Praise to Above", "Blessings"--all matatu names. Also, though, there are some really racy names and many famous Kenyans/Africans are featured in the names as well. Some are just catchy slogans. Some are Western celebrities--like "Britt Spears", one that I've seen. Matatu culture is also great. People on them are so friendly and all help each other out, much more than people on the street--it's like an "all of us are in this together!" sort of mentality. One of the Canadian water filter team volunteers says that this is the only country where she's ridden as a lone female and not felt uncomfortable or been uncomfortably assaulted physically or verbally (and she's traveled quite extensively from what I gather). Certainly not to say that it never happens, but her sentiments don't surprise me from my personal experiences.

Joyce, the clinic business manager (I included a picture of her early on in the blog) is going to call and keep me updated on VCT progress, and Elizabeth is going to call and let me know how the progress goes with the curtains--which means I shouldn't have a dearth of information about ICODEI while I'm away. The other volunteers who have arrived in the last few weeks are using this weekend to go to Uganda and go rafting. I can't wait to see their photos.

In other news, I submitted my primary application to medical school a few days ago. I've already gotten two automatic secondary applications, which just means more paperwork. It's nice to move to the next steps though!

Until next time!, when I can include pictures of tomorrow's journey to the farthest south I've ever traveled, and the third country I'll have been in Africa.

Kisumu,Through the Lens

2008-07-01T11:24:00.009+03:00

Me, on a boat, in Lake Victoria.
Boats at the shore of a fishing village on Lake Victoria.
On the shore of the Lake.
A fisherman in the middle of the Lake.
A hippo in the Lake.
The local carwash? Lake-side!
In a tuk-tuk coming back from the Yacht Club where we went to watch the sunset. Until we were asked to pay 2,200 shilling temporary membership or leave. It was amusing, because we just asked the tuk-tuk driver to take us somewhere that we could watch the sun...

Sorry for the uncreative captions! Just a few pictures to make up for the lack-thereof yesterday.

Kisumu, and the Almost Complete Clinic

2008-06-30T17:30:00.002+03:00

The clinic is almost complete. The records room with the desk, segmented door, and shelves...the cabinets with locks...the proper furniture...the fence is complete as of today. Now we need curtains and to enlarge the road-side entry. We need to buy gloves/labcoats and get an incenerator or incenerator contract. Today I painted with Tom. His progress is so unpredictable...some days rapid, some days nonexistant.

The weekend in Kisumu was excellent. Lots of good food, a boat ride on Lake Victoria where we saw wild hippos, and the sunset at the Yacht club were some highlights. It's nice tobe back though.

There are so many volunteers now! Four American medical students from PA arrived; I can't remember if I mentioned that there were two girls from Australia--one doctor (Melissa) and one for the MDP (Lucy).

This Thursday will mark my fourth week in Kenya. I will fly out Friday hopefully to go to Zanzibar and meet up with a friend from the Miami Valley School (Nicole) who goes to Vanderbilt, and a friend of hers. They'll be therefor the weekend, then I'll stay the rest of the week before flying back to Kisumu and returning to ICODEI.

I met with Elizabeth today, who is going to be the manager of the VCT center, and she's going to aquire the curtain material and make them herself.

Pictures: An Exclusive

2008-06-27T10:23:00.014+03:00

A view of the fied and sky at a school near the house of a Kenyan member of Parliament.

A dusty road at dusk.

The hills near Kitale, about a 1.5 hour drive from Bungoma

In Uganda, these monkeys and about 10 others were playing in the trees overlooking the White Nile.

View from table's edge at Red Hat.

Down the road from the Kalenjin/Nandi village I visited last week.

Sunset one evening out the front window of the Prado; Martin driving.

One night we built a fire. Long exposure times with Wendy and Pauline's glowing sticks making shapes in the air.

Trucks and a mountain near the Kenya/Uganda border.

One of the Internet cafes that I go to is upstairs in this building. In fact, I'm there right now. Also, great cow don't you think?

One of the nicer roads--many/most are really pockmarked with car-sized holes.

A typical classroom. Two or three students usually sit at one of those wooden desks. The walls are brick, the chalkboard and chalk are the only teaching equipment. The students have pencils/pens/notebooks to take notes and complete homework. This school was really out of the way--probably a 2 hour drive from Bungoma on dirt roads.

A fence? It's progress!

2008-06-26T17:10:00.003+03:00

Today is Thursday--and no pictures! The computer doesn't seem to lwant to upload them. This week I've been teaching in school, and I did an awareness HIV/AIDS program at a secondary school near Kitale. Oh, and I had the most amazing conversation with a group of probably a hundred children. They wanted pen-pals from the US, and they started handing me their names and information! If you know anyone who would like to write a letter to a 6-8th grade student in Kenya, here are some names and the address! Be warned, though, that sending a letter back to you will be ridiculously expensive for them. If you want a response, include an envelope with proper postage addressed to yourself. Oh, and beware--they'll probably ask for money, school fees, even a car! They get really excited about the US though, and every child's hero seems to be Obama...

Anne Akinyi
Nyamira Primary
PO Box 183
Kitale, Kenya

Mariga Silas
Bramuel Waswa
Machuma Lydiah Waswa
Simiyu Nelson
Annah Awoh
Daisy Tenae
Njordge Ernest Njogu
Khadya Elizabeth Nasimiyu
Diana Hafula Winny
Winny Hafula Muhus
Hekesa Hoei Khaemba
Kalabayi Wycliffe
Annet Atipo
Bunambo Primary School
PO Box 12
50212 Ndalu, Kenya

Other things of note...I washed my clothes by hand today. I figured it be a hassle, but it ended up being quite relaxing. All of my shiurts dried fairly quickly, but it started raining while I've been in town. I think Mary was going to bring things in if it started raininsh, so I have my fingers crossed.

Due to poor connectiopn today, no medical school progress. Tomorrow, though, I hope to get the last little bit done. I feel like I'm operating on Africa time...I say it'll be done tomorrow, but what does that really mean? It means that I'll finish sometime in the next week.

The fence posts were put up today around the clinic and we measured the 17 windows for curtains. Inside, Tom finished putting locks on a few cabinets an built shelves for the records room.

This weekend, we're heading to Kisumu for fish, Hippos, and trinket-hunting. There's supposed to be an incredible market there, and excellent food. This morning when I spoke to KJrishna (whose ETA is mid-July) he raved about the myriad of restaurants with better variety than Bungoma. I'll probably update from Kisumu, with pictures.

The Uganda Weekenders

2008-06-23T17:56:00.006+03:00

Martin (left), Okumu, and the mobile clinic vehicle.

A nice sunset after one of the mobile clinic/awareness program days.

Eastern Uganda, out of the window of a matatu. There were lots of low-lying, swampy areas that were planted.

This is a picture of me. And the White Nile, very near the source of the Nile: Lake Victoria. This is where its long journey to Egypt and the Nile river delta begins with a thunder...

Last Friday, we waltzed over to Uganda. The border crossing was surreal, and for a while I felt a bit like I was on that thick black line on the map, and then! Suddenly I was in Uganda. There are 60 Kenyan shillings per dollar. And 24 Ugandan shillings for 1 Kenyan shilling. So, everything was listed in really large numbers...there were 100 and 200 shilling coins. The visa into Uganda was $50 usd.

The campground was a bizarre oasis of American/European travelers and tourists that were in just for the rafting. The deck overlooking the White Nile was incredible, and the view was of our first class 5 rapids of the day; there were four total. The only time we fell out was going down a 4 meter waterfall that was after a 3 meter drop that wasn't quite a waterfall. The video at the end made me wish that we had flipped more often.

We reached the campground using a motorcycle (pikipiki; also: motor-boda), after the matatu ride into Jinja, Uganda. All the tourists made the place feel quite strange, and while it was nice to have a change in pace as far as food is concerned (bacon cheeseburger?! Eggs and real butter?!), and to meet other traveler/volunteers...but I was glad to lget back to ICODEI. I was enormously impressed with Ugadan ifrastructure though! And I had a traditional Ugandan dish of dried and the smoked fish in a nut sauce in Jinja that was one f the best meals I've had here...accompanied by Marinda, a pineapple softdrink.

The one stand-out as far as people are concerned in Uganda was this guy that was selling bananas at the border. We talked for a while...he initialy walked up to me and said, "You need to get some potassium...how about a banana?". He was all about the healthy foods...he's in std. 5 in school, and probably will be Uganda's equivalent of Bill Gates one day as far as I can tell. That was Sunday, on the return to Kenya.

Today I taught math to std. 4, and Tom was in the clinic working on the ceiling. He put a board in for another new door over the weekend, and now he just needs to show up often enough to get it all the rest of the way complete!

Tonight we're going to Red Hat again. We had some new arrivals: two from Canada (Quebec) for MDP, and a medical student from Australia. Another member of the water filtration team just arrived.

My phone number here, if for some reason I need to be reached, is 254738269872. Also, I have CelTel as my service; I think it's only 3Ksh/minute if you also have CelTel and are in Kenya between certain hours...

I don't think I've mentioned Martin's twins...In short: The picture at the top of the page is of Martin and Okumu. Okumu is the Clinical Officer and goes on the mobile clinics. Martin is a driver and translator, and his wife gave birth to Patience and Precious (twins, of course!) last week. We visited them in the District Hospital twice to check on them, and to find the cost for having a C-section delivery and 5 nights in the hospital. The total was 6500 Ksh, which is just about $110. They went home last Friday and all are doing well. They now have 6 children and he says that they're "probably done"--that's probably about normal sized for a family here. Reuben and Betty have 8.

The rest of the week will be more of the same as today: teaching, inproving the clinic, and maybe an awareness. This weekend, we're going to try to go to Kisumu--see some hippos, get some good fish [Kisumu is on Lake Victoria], and have a look around. For now, it's time for dinner!

Mzungu, Mzungu!

2008-06-19T12:30:00.001+03:00

I gave one of the Epico Jahns students my camera, and he took this picture.
At the ICODEI farm, toward to sugarcane.
Bungoma Town!

Last weekend, nothing really happened. I wasn't quite feeling completely well, but it was probably the guava I got when I traded half an ear of roasted maize...

Monday, I taught math to standard 4 and standard 6 in the morning and painted the ceiling of the clinic with Tom in the afternoon. He told me the story of the Protestant reformation and we talked about women's rights in Kenya.

Tuesday, I went to a Kalenjin/Nandi village near Eldoret--which was more than an hour away from ICODEI headquarters. Okumu ran a mobile clinic. We were invited to someones home for lunch, and I ate far too much ugali trying to be polite. I had an hour long conversation with a runn who had trained in south America...in Spanish, because he couldn't really speak English that well.

Wednesday, I taught two HIV/AIDS Awareness programs at a schools near Kitale. I have no idea where we were. We got off the paved road onto a decent dirt road, which we got off of and went on a really terrible dirt road, and then took a road that looked like no car had ever passed hat way. The first school was held in a 1930's plantation built by a Brit and abandoned in the 1960's. There were two albino students--there is a much higher rate of albinism in Western Kenya, at least that I've observed, than anywhere else I've ever been. The second school was incredibly charming; the students had such warmth and curious energy. Many hadn't seen a mzungu/white foreigner before. I snapped the large picture at the top when I was showing them my camera. The expressions on their faces tell the story of their thoughts quite pricelessly.

Let me just expand on this 'mzungu'-ness for a minute, because it's a ridiculous experience. Imagine being the only representative to another world, because that's sort of what it feels like. Here we are, looking over the verdant hills together at hand-hewn land of maize and bananas, where no cars growl or internet streams; where cell phones are the only phones. Where school is in a language that you've never met anyone who is a native speaker of. And then there we are, with this funny accent and goofy grins. They circle around, numbering even in the hundreds, and look. Are they real? Let's touch it! So the hands shoot forth and they all want to say hello. But they won't shake always, too scared, and other times you shake their hand and they shriek and run away laughing/weirded-out. Sometimes I'm just really embarrassed--well, most of the time. I don't know what to do, so I try to make conversation. Which is hard with hundreds of people. And you know that some of them are making fun of you, others strangely in awe. Well, I try to be gracious and understanding about it; but sometimes I feel pointless--just a curiosity. I guess the problems are redeemed when I know that this feeling they have about me at least makes them pay rather close attention to the HIV/AIDS awareness presentation that I gave with Mary, the translator.

I tasted black currant Fanta for the first time. It was essentially grape soda, but was good.

Today I can to town early and have been doing e-mails for almost two hours. I'm trying to complete and send in my medical school application, and it's slow going and stressful looking over all of this information. I may have to take a break and come back.

We're leaving tomorrow to go to Jinja,Uganda/rafting on the Nile. I hope I'll be able to post a few good pictures of that!

Commence the Carpentry!

2008-06-13T15:39:00.011+03:00

That's the main hut on the left, where we eat and sit in the evening, where we watch TV and read and put together 1000 piece puzzles. You can see the ICODEI vehicle. I am staying in the hut on the far right, where there are two bunk beds in two separate rooms, and a little sitting area just inside the door.
This is the dirt road going from the ICODEI farm to the main road where we catch the matatu to Bungoma.
This is one of the loads of birds...they make these hanging spherical nests that have a little hole for an entrance on the bottom. There are maybe 25 such nests in the tree next to the main hut at ICODEI.
This s Tom, doing some carpentry at the clinic.

The wazungu party...at Red Hat. Going around from left to right, it's Abdullah, Katherine, Ben (not with ICODI), Andrew, me, Ruth, Tope, Brett, Tabrez, Katie, Sabrina, and Lorris. Abrahm took the picture.

This is just one of the ICODEI vehicles for the mobile clinic. You can see another one of the vehicles in the reflection in the window. This picture is taken on the side of the clinic.
Just the lamp at night on the table before the generator comes on.
These are some kids who wanted their picture taken.

I think the internet at this place doesn't like me. It's the first time I've been here, and it's by far the slowest. Also, I have been unable to send e-mails from this computer. I guess the only good thing is that the upload speed is surprisingly quick.

We started carpentry work yesterday; the carpenter, Tom, is finishing putting up the ceiling. I've been teaching 4th and 6th grade math classes, which have gone surprisingly well. I think I vacillate between giving them too much work and being unsure if I've given them enough (so then I just assign more...) Basically, though, the kids are learning the same thing as 4th and 6th grade students in the US--

The papers here have at least 2 to 4 pages of Obama news everyday. Occasionally, pictures of his grandmother in her village are posted.

The food is excellent--it's all very subsistence level stuff, so really hearty. Lots of rice and cabbage and everything is nicely spiced. The fresh fruit is incredible, and there's a surprising amount of passion fruit to be had around here.

People love having their picture taken here...every time I have my camera out, people say things like "take photo please!". The only rule is that you have to show them after you take it. Only once did we have a guy ask for a copy of it sent to him-he was thinking that we could just make it come out of the camera like a Polaroid.

Last night we all went out for an incredible buffet at a place called "Red Hat". A guy that's from Minnesota working on the other side of town joined us.

One day this week I spent with the mobile clinic, where Dr. Katie from Scotland and Akumu--the clinical officer--were working. It was very interesting, and the people (despite living quite far from a hospital) were very keen on certain things--malaria medication and antibiotics. Many of the kids at the school where the mobile clinic set up had never seen a mzungu--white person--and so they were totally intrigued by us, and even a little scared. They would go to shake our hands, and then pull away. Andrew once tried to scare them, and they scattered--laughing--and regrouped. We went to another school and Andrew did an HIV/AIDS awareness program. I was amazed by how much the students at the particular school we went to already knew about HIV and AIDS.

This weekend, I'm not sure what we're going to do...but next weekend we're planning on going to Uganda and rafting on the Nile; the weekend after that, we're planning on going to Kisumu.

Hopefully, I'll be able to have e-mail access this weekend.

Two extra pictures...

2008-06-10T16:39:00.006+03:00

The guy on the right is Josh--he's one of Betty and Reuben's kids that hangs around the volunteers a lot. We do puzzles, play cards, etc. Those are their school uniforms.

The doors to our two examination rooms are on the right. You can hardly see the second door; it's back there by the storage closet (the storage closet/records room is actually quite a bit bigger than it looks from this picture with all the beams laying there).

The weekend, getting settled

2008-06-10T15:57:00.007+03:00

This is a shot of Joyce in her office in the clinic. She comes in so early and works incredibly hard. She is the volunteer coordinator that I worked with, and she did my orientation and has helped Elizabeth and I get things planned out with Reuben.

Yesterday I worked in the school, Epico Jahs Academy, which is probably 200 feet from where I'm staying. The picture below is of the children is of the playground as seen from the door of the clinic where the VCT center will be. I listened in on standard 6 math and helped with standard 4 math, and worked with standard 2 science in the afternoon. I would have gotten started on the VCT work, but Elizabeth (who we hired to lead the program)--her son broke his arm when he fell out of a guava tree. He's 11, I think; she has two other children. I met her this morning.--and there's work to be done!

Yesterday I worked in the school, Epico Jahs Academy, which is probably 200 feet from where I'm staying. The picture above of the children is of the playground as seen from the door of the clinic where the VCT center will be. I listened in on standard 6 math and helped with standard 4 math, and worked with standard 2 science in the afternoon. I would have gotten started on the VCT work, but Elizabeth (who we hired to lead the program)--her son broke his arm when he fell out of a guava tree. He's 11, I think; she has two other children. I met her this morning.--and there's work to be done!

So here's the deal. I met with Joyce, the volunteer coordinator, and Elizabeth this morning (Tuesday), and we have our requirements all set now. We have to have the rest of the ceilinbg installed by the carpenter, the cabinets will be fixed, we will build a fence and a gate, wall off our part of the clinic so it's totally separate for the privacy of the people being tested. We have three rooms, and we're having shelving installed and have some chairs. We'll have to finish off the reception/lobby area. We also will need to paint, get an incinerator, and purchase a bunch of other things--curtains (for privacy), lab coats and gloves, etc. The photo of the clinic gives you at least some sort of idea what the place looks like. This clinic was built in 2002. The wing on the left is where the VCT center will be; I'll try to upload some pictures of the inside soon. I took a whole bunch of photos because Elizabeth and I want to have 'before' and 'after' renovation shots.

Hopefully after we make the last remaining improvements and develop our filing system, we can get the health ministry to approve everything. We still have to hire two more people. The biggest challenge is the money--making sure that they all get paid! We'll see what we can do. The carpetry should be done by Friday and we should be able to get the inspection in the next two weeks.

I'm here in the internet cafe with a guy from New York, who is working on microenterprise development. Their program provides loans to people who want to start small businesses at very low interest rates; they're really more like grants than loans. They have quite a large set of groups that they help.

Only two hotos today; the upload speed is slower.

The Candian medical students arrived; there are 5 of them and they brought a guy who is a potter. They're making ceramic water filters in a kiln--trying to get a whole operation going to provide a really cheap way to make filters to provide clean water. Three or four more people will be arriving with their group soon.

Tomorrow, I'm going out with the mobile clinic to get an idea of what they do ad how we can integrate our VCT services on a mobile basis. Also, Elizabeth really wants to have a long-term comprehensive care center; so that would mean that we would provide anti-retroviral treatment and several other programs related to HIV and AIDS (for pregnant women, for example, one of the groups with a high rate of infection).

Time to venture back out into the sunny weather and head back to ICODEI. I'll see what the carpenter has been up to.

Touchdown! Bus Ride, Move in! Bungoma town!

2008-06-07T13:01:00.005+03:00

So yes. That's out the window over Ethiopia, at the hostel, and the hut I'm staying in.

I made my way here marvelously. Any trepidation was ill felt.

The weather delayed my first two flights mildly, but I made it The views from the planes were excellent--I've never seen something from 40,000 feet so magnificent as the deserts of Northern Africa. Kenyan countrysde is such a great experience. The bus from Nairobi was beautiful. The stay at the hostel was very brief, but nice, and cost less than 10$.

The ICODEI farm is amazing. Sugar cane all around, the schoolyard nearby, and everyone is so nice. Two Canadians, a Scot, and a guy from Tennessee at present.

I really get to start working on the VCT stuff net Monday. I met Reuben, but need to talk with him a bit more before deciding how to proceed. We have a few rooms in the Bill Selke Memorial Clinic just on the farm. A wonderful lady named Joyce gave me an orientation and tour yesterday.

The food is amazing, and yes I've had Ugali. It's actually quite bland and not a common thing to feed the volunteers; I was worried because dad said he didn't really enjoy it when his dad made it when he was young. Had great dough nuts this morning. All the food is so fresh, pineapple and cabbage and rice and beans. I hope to have to have some time to wander the fields and volunteer in Epico Jahns Academy, the school on the grounds where I'm living.

The time difference as rough on the first night, but last night I slept normal time quite satisfactorily. Today we came into town on a matatu--these vans that are sort of like big taxis. Also, got a phone. May call mom and dad/Patrick before they all go to work.

The scenes, smells, everything. Amazing. And the people have been so helpful, it's practically overwhelming. This is going to be a fantastic summer.

More volunteers are arriving soon. A group of a bunch of Canadian doctors I believe. Can't wait.

I'll try to update the blog with a picture or so as often as I'm in town! There are so many things I want to show everyone.

I met some HIV positive people that are an organic farming collective. They offered to teach me to fish with nets. Gertrude and Justus. Also, a little boy with Malaria.

The temperature is quite ideal, the hut that I'm staying in so comfortable, and plenty PLENTY of time to read etc.

I met some interesting people traveling here, a runner that was coming back from Italy, an administrator from Grinnell, and the South Dakota high schoolers going to London...

The only thing on my mind, other than getting to work on the VCT stuff and the idyllic scenes/temperature, is medical school. I think aplying from here will pose some unique challenges, but hey. It's a necessity, and I think it'll work fine.

Wow, this internet cafe smelled so terrible when we came in. The other two that we tried to go to (that were actually cheaper) were really nice, but they were full. Well, this place doesn't smell anymore. I rather like it.

The other volunteers are so interesting, and were so welcoming when I arrived! The ICODEI compound is such a nice place.

Okay, enough for now--I'll update again soon. Sorry if this sounded disorganized. It's really not that much to digest when you're doing it, quite another story to try to distill a few days into words!

12 Hours and Counting

2008-06-03T05:40:00.003+03:00

A trip to the bank, some final trimmings for the suitcase, and a few delicious meals have rounded out the day nicely.

I read through the information on the Volunteer Kenya website and double checked that I had my debit and credit cards in working order and not ready to expire or anything. I have enough cash to get me a good distance. Also, I had quite a productive chat with Krishna, who will arrive in Bungoma in late June after taking the MCAT.

Pending unforeseen circumstances that could alter course, here will be the series of events!
3 June
AM
6:30 wake up
8:45 leave the house
10:50 fly to Chicago
PM
depart Chicago

4 June
AM
arrive London
depart London
PM
9:00 arrive Nairobi
overnight in Nairobi

5 June
AM
7:30 meet taxi, get bus ticket
8:30 bus departs
2 breaks and 8 hours later
PM
arrive Bungoma

Other things I need to make sure happen include changing dollars to Kenyan Shillings (KSh), and having an uneventful night and morning in Nairobi.

I've been thinking, when I get back home: my aunt, uncle, and cousins that have lived within 10 minutes for the last...must be almost 10 years?--they're moving to Atlanta in July. They had a beautiful Victorian home with a 100-year history--moved on trucks from one location to another back in 1950. There were so many good memories that we all had in that house. It will be weird to not see it again, decked out in extravagant Halloween or Christmas decor. I'll miss the birthday parties for my cousins there--the tea parties, pizza parties, just-for-fun occasions//in the neighborhood where the neighbor walks up to the door and comes right in. The afternoons we spent walking to the library or going to the candy store, the Fourth of July parades, or just the random times watching movies or playing with the intercom in the former dentist's office...

Well, the point is: it'll be different when I get back and they won't be here; they'll be off on another adventure too!

For now, goodnight. I should try to enjoy the last night of having a really comfortable bed.

"I'm leaving in June", and...it's June!

2008-06-01T20:01:00.003+03:00

I think to say that I'm excited would be an understatement, and to say that I'm not nervous would be a lie.

Amid the graduation party fervor of my freshly-graduated brother and the Class of 2009, I've been getting things ready. I wired the money a little over a week ago for the fees for staying with Volunteer Kenya. My passport with multiple entry visa arrived and sits downstairs on the counter with papers and information about medical school. The AMCAS medical school application is almost finished, ready to be sent June 4th; the flag on the next ship to sail [the adventure of medical school is preceded by the hazards of the Straits of Medical School Applications...]

I've spoken with Krishna for packing tips, and gotten in contact with a few people that will be in Kenya and Tanzania this summer. Erin, also a Miami Valley School 2005 graduate, has a friend that lives in Nairobi and will be there this summer--hopefully I'll meet Anna at some point! Also, a Miami Valley School 2007 graduate, Nicole, is in Tanzania. Currently in Moshi, she's climbing Kilimanjaro for five days and then will be in Dar Es Salaam. There's a possibility that I may be able to meet her at some point in Zanzibar/Tanzania, so that's something else to look forward to.

Today, I'm going with dad and grandma to pick up odds and ends. I got a laptop battery after church, and have a short list of other things that will be necessary. Then, I'll be ready.

My flight on Tuesday leaves at 10:50AM--that'll be June 3rd, 2008. I will arrive at 9PM on June 4th.

So, off, away, commence! I'm leaving in June.

On your mark!

2008-05-20T18:04:00.003+03:00

I've settled in at home in Dayton, Ohio after an excellent close to the school year. An increasing number of e-mails have been coming my way from ICODEI (that's what Volunteer Kenya is called in Kenya--stands for Inter-Community Development Involvement). I have my orientation information, how to travel from Nairobi to Bungoma, medical release information, and instructions on how to wire the fees. I'll be going by the bank later today, but I'm not sure if I should wire the money yet since they request sending no more than 10-14 days in advance of arrival.

Otherwise, there haven't been any new developments. It looks like limited internet connectivity will be available, but there's a place in town where access is about 1.5 Ksh per minute (or about 2.5 cents a minute, which amounts to $1.50 an hour; not bad at all). I have to call Josh and Krishna to get their packing suggestions and tips for following the directions given in the Volunteer Kenya orientation information.

How far We've Come

2008-05-04T17:52:00.003+03:00

One month from today will be my first day in Kenya. Flying from Dayton, Ohio to Chicago to London to Nairobi won't exactly be a quick trip--I leave on the 3rd and arrive the next day. I won't have any long layovers or anything of the sort. Between now and then, however, I will take two more final exams and move my things home from Dayton after the Cleveland school year.

In fall 2006, Josh and Krishna met me at Arabica, a coffee house across from where I lived at the time. They pitched an idea to me that night about international health and HIV in Africa that I never dreamed, a grant and a year and a half later, that we would have come so far. Krishna and Josh were in Bungoma, Kenya in the fall of 2007 setting things up, staying in the quarters provided by a non-profit organization, Volunteer Kenya. Krishna was to return in the spring, but the political instability delayed his trip and he worked at home in Texas to return with me this summer. The summer of 2008!

The project's incarnations have been quite varied. The group of four of us--in addition to myself: Josh, Krishna, and Phil. An entry alone could be spent on the quirks of the eclectic group we are--from Ohio, New York, Texas, and Oregon with multifarious interests, passions, experiences, and life trajectories.

There are still a few things I have to make sure are taken care of--I have to fill my malaria medication prescription (I had yellow fever and tetanus vaccines last week), make sure everything is fine with my visa, and send any advance money necessary for room and board while there.

I leave June 3rd. I return August 10th.

Penye nia ipo njia. Where there's a will there's a way.