Taking a break from transcribing answers from the answer sheets into excel. (for those of you that know me well you can imagine the many mistakes I am making as I try to do this).
So what to say about Ugenya. First of all. Here I have had my first up close real life encounter with rural poverty. And in most ways it is exactly what you would expect. Lots of children and adults with out shoes or good clothes. People sitting along the road selling whatever little fruits they are growing or nuts and other little things (mangos and bananas are in season here). Los of "non-permanent" structures, these are huts made of mud with thatched roofs. and "semi-permanent" structures, which are mud walls but covered with plaster and with tin roofs. Its pretty hard to give a through description, but basically you turn off of the main road, onto the unpaved dirt road part and you might have an little village area with stores then you keep going and there will be fields of maize and people homes and animals, then you keep going and there might be another little village area. You can just keep going into the interior like this.
Here in Kenya there are definitely a lot of schools, you pass them frequently. Most are day and boarding, some mixed (coed) and some all boys or all girls. All of the students wear uniforms and have to keep their hair short. There are also a fair number of brick making business, and of course lots and lots of maize.
Other way to describe Kenya (at least this area) is that everything just seems old. The buildings look old, people homes, bicycles, bags, and clothes all look old. I started to wonder if there is anything new in this whole area. The school rooms look old too, and most don't have electricity. I was in one that looked old, just like all of the others, but then the principal commented how excited he was about this particular building, it was built a year ago.
The people are friendly for the most part, if you walk by they smile and greet you. But from a distance we get a lot of stares. There are a few other NGOs in this area so the people aren't shocked to see us, but they do stare because its rare to see a mzungu (white person). Young children get really excited to see us, and will wave happily for ten or fifteen minutes, if we stay in one place long enough. People frequently want to shake our hands, which is an important form of greeting here, probably more important than it is in the US, even if you not actually meeting someone you still shake their hands.
I've also learned that, despite what I always thought, I do in fact have an accent and it is rather amusing. When kids want to imitate us they plug their noses and speak in high pitched voices. At first I thought this was a very poor imitation, but now I realized that compared to the Kenyan English (derived from English accents) it is fairly accurate.
We have traveled around the area a lot visiting schools for the research project. We have four schools involved here, which is one more than our target of three so thats great. We haven't really had time to do much else here in Ugenya. We did visit the SOTENI banana farm on Thursday, which was a nice thing to get to do, but the bananas didn't have much to say.
Giving the talks has gone fairly well. The students have a hard time understanding us at first, but after a few minutes they get used to our accents. Most of them have been interested, but its pretty clear that the standard "HIV Education Package" has been deliveredto them before. They all know what HIV stands for, how its spreads, and the basic ABC's of prevention. They enjoyed the condom demo (Pat puts a condom over my fist and upper arm) I don't think thats something that they have seen before. And I think we did clarify some finer points, and hopefully gave them a little more of the science than anyone has bothered with before (Pat is a bio-chem major so thats nice). It might be very different in the next village we are going to which has a much more conservative society, where HIV is not as big of a problem, and there is much less NGO penetration. Basically its clear that they know they can get HIV, but its also clear that some, especially some of they guys, are unwilling to wear condoms. They also all enjoyed the "why being faithful isn't a good prevention strategy" diagram I like to draw (I show that if your partner is unfaithful its as if you are having sex with a whole bunch of other people).
Okay, breaks over, I really want to finish getting all of this data entered before we leave for Kuria tomorrow. There is obviously a lot more to say about Ugenya. Maybe I'll get a chance to post more of my thoughts later today.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Week in Ugenya
Hi Everyone.
Sorry it has been so long since I've posted, I've tried a couple of times but the internet has given me trouble. The connection is good today, so I might even try to do more than one post.
This week I've been living and working in Ugenya. This is a district in Nyanza province between to big cities called Busia and Kisumu (Kisumu is actually the thrid biggest city in Kenya). I've been staying at a hotel here called Camunya, its about a ten minute walk from Ugunja, one of the main towns in this district. Let me define "town." Its an area with a couple of resturants (which they call hotels), a chemistry or two (pharmacy), it also has other shops, many small convincience stores, places to buy tires for bikes, and lots of women and men selling shoes, fruit, and other things infront. Here in Ugunja there is also a VCT (volentary counseling and testing center) which is a place where Kenyans can get free testing and counseling that then refers them to hospitals where they can get free ARV's (thanks to PEPFAR and bill that granted funding from the US government, so its your tax dollars). In Ugunja there is also a place where the Matatus load up with people. (Matatus are the 14 person vans that travel along the main roads, they are the "public" transportation, a 15 minute ride basically costs 20-40 ksh (76ksh to a dollar). Also there are the boda bodas which are bikes that people pay someone else to pedal them around in. Along the main road there are other "towns" like this.
We have spent the week going to the various schools in the area, doing the first evaluation, an HIV/AIDS education program, and the second evaluation. Today Pat and I are spending in the hotel, inputting all of the data into the computer. I'm going to go do more of that right now, but I'll be back later today and I'll write more about the time in Ugenya.
Sorry it has been so long since I've posted, I've tried a couple of times but the internet has given me trouble. The connection is good today, so I might even try to do more than one post.
This week I've been living and working in Ugenya. This is a district in Nyanza province between to big cities called Busia and Kisumu (Kisumu is actually the thrid biggest city in Kenya). I've been staying at a hotel here called Camunya, its about a ten minute walk from Ugunja, one of the main towns in this district. Let me define "town." Its an area with a couple of resturants (which they call hotels), a chemistry or two (pharmacy), it also has other shops, many small convincience stores, places to buy tires for bikes, and lots of women and men selling shoes, fruit, and other things infront. Here in Ugunja there is also a VCT (volentary counseling and testing center) which is a place where Kenyans can get free testing and counseling that then refers them to hospitals where they can get free ARV's (thanks to PEPFAR and bill that granted funding from the US government, so its your tax dollars). In Ugunja there is also a place where the Matatus load up with people. (Matatus are the 14 person vans that travel along the main roads, they are the "public" transportation, a 15 minute ride basically costs 20-40 ksh (76ksh to a dollar). Also there are the boda bodas which are bikes that people pay someone else to pedal them around in. Along the main road there are other "towns" like this.
We have spent the week going to the various schools in the area, doing the first evaluation, an HIV/AIDS education program, and the second evaluation. Today Pat and I are spending in the hotel, inputting all of the data into the computer. I'm going to go do more of that right now, but I'll be back later today and I'll write more about the time in Ugenya.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Out to the Rural Areas
Hi again,
Haberi? (that means how are you) and you answer mazuri (good)
On Saturday I started my journey out to the rural areas where I will be spending most of my time. I traveled with Marion (the business manager of SOTENI Kenya) from Nairobi to Wubuwye. Wubuwye is a relatively big town (big enough to have its own bus stop anyway). We traveled west out of Nairobi, by Easy Coach. Easy Coach is a private bus company that has lines that stop in major towns all over Kenya. Our ride took about 8 hours, which was considered "making good time." The roads immediately outside Nairobi are good, but once you get farther out they get bumpier. At times you have to switch from the paved road to the unpaved road next to it, because they are paving the main road, or the paved road turns unpaved. It get pretty bumpy, which didn't bother me too much but I could see how some people who are used to smooth rides might have a big problem. Traveling out I saw what we would call "urban" and "rural" poverty for the first time. Basically all along the road there are shops that are made out of mud and often painted with the name of the store or to advertise one thing or another. That might me the "town" area, then it could transition into just houses along the way. And behind the "town" as you move farther into the country you can see the mud and metal houses that people live in. This goes from being tightly packed with no breaks (urban poverty) to being spread out with lots of trees vegetation and long stretches of nothing at all (rural poverty). There is live stock everywhere, we were still in Nairobi when we saw the first goats and cows tied to rocks along the road, and you see them for the rest of the trip.
I am in Nyanza Province now, one of the Western most province that boarders Tanzania, but to get here I had to cross through the Rift Valley Province, and the Western Province. So we came out of Nairobi, and had the most incredible view of the Great Rift Valley. Then we drove down into the Valley and continued West to end up where we are now. The scenery is gorgeous, and sadly marred by the poverty that takes the foreground. Everything is green here now, because it is "winter." Which means it might rain in the afternoon and temperatures stay between 75 and 80. Everywhere along the road and as you move into the interior people are growing maize. Maize is the staple grain in Kenya. Here it is ground into corn flower in Posho mills and then it is boiled with water to make a slightly thicker than cream of wheat substance called ugalye. Ugalye is eaten at almost every meal, chapati, which resembles the indian bread it shares a name with by has more of a scallion pancake feel and is friend is also made out of corn and eaten with meals.
When I arrived in Wubuye I met Pat Metz. The other intern who is here this summer and will be working with me the rest of the time I am here on my research project. He and I then met with Dr. Ngome, an professor of Education and deputy minister of Education in Kenya and a member of the SOTENI board. I gave him copies of the questionnaire and my original research prospectus. The next morning we met with him at the primary school he manages outside Wubuye. After getting some good feedback and advice about the project from him we met the boarding students at the school (who were the only ones there on Sunday). The boys naturally gravitated toward Pat and the girls towards me. Pat brought out a few frisbees, which we had fun with. They all wanted to ask me questions about Obama, and wanted to touch my hair, which they said I could sell for a lot of money in Kenya. They sort of didn't know what to do or say with me at times, so I just kept asking questions about their lives. One girl wants to be a pilot, which I think is a pretty cool goal (I also taught them the word cool). They taught me some of the songs they liked to sing, and showed me the Guava trees they are growing behind their dormitories. When we were shaking hands goodbye I told them they should have firm handshakes, they thought that was funny but obliged (in general I don't think firm handshakes are a big part of Kenyan culture).
We left the schools and set off for Ugenya. The trip took four hours, the roads are paved but have lots of pot holes and bumps. In Ugenya we stay in a hotel not with families. The hotel is really nice and has a good restaurant where we can eat dinner.
Today Marion went back to Nairobi, and Pat and I went with Calvin (the SOTENI coordinator here) to meet the principals of the schools that are going to participate in the research. The principals were accommodating and we managed to schedule times with four schools which is great.
Its late here and I have an early start tomorrow with the first round of the research project. So I'll say good night.
I'll try to update after the first part of the research so I can tell everyone how it goes.
Haberi? (that means how are you) and you answer mazuri (good)
On Saturday I started my journey out to the rural areas where I will be spending most of my time. I traveled with Marion (the business manager of SOTENI Kenya) from Nairobi to Wubuwye. Wubuwye is a relatively big town (big enough to have its own bus stop anyway). We traveled west out of Nairobi, by Easy Coach. Easy Coach is a private bus company that has lines that stop in major towns all over Kenya. Our ride took about 8 hours, which was considered "making good time." The roads immediately outside Nairobi are good, but once you get farther out they get bumpier. At times you have to switch from the paved road to the unpaved road next to it, because they are paving the main road, or the paved road turns unpaved. It get pretty bumpy, which didn't bother me too much but I could see how some people who are used to smooth rides might have a big problem. Traveling out I saw what we would call "urban" and "rural" poverty for the first time. Basically all along the road there are shops that are made out of mud and often painted with the name of the store or to advertise one thing or another. That might me the "town" area, then it could transition into just houses along the way. And behind the "town" as you move farther into the country you can see the mud and metal houses that people live in. This goes from being tightly packed with no breaks (urban poverty) to being spread out with lots of trees vegetation and long stretches of nothing at all (rural poverty). There is live stock everywhere, we were still in Nairobi when we saw the first goats and cows tied to rocks along the road, and you see them for the rest of the trip.
I am in Nyanza Province now, one of the Western most province that boarders Tanzania, but to get here I had to cross through the Rift Valley Province, and the Western Province. So we came out of Nairobi, and had the most incredible view of the Great Rift Valley. Then we drove down into the Valley and continued West to end up where we are now. The scenery is gorgeous, and sadly marred by the poverty that takes the foreground. Everything is green here now, because it is "winter." Which means it might rain in the afternoon and temperatures stay between 75 and 80. Everywhere along the road and as you move into the interior people are growing maize. Maize is the staple grain in Kenya. Here it is ground into corn flower in Posho mills and then it is boiled with water to make a slightly thicker than cream of wheat substance called ugalye. Ugalye is eaten at almost every meal, chapati, which resembles the indian bread it shares a name with by has more of a scallion pancake feel and is friend is also made out of corn and eaten with meals.
When I arrived in Wubuye I met Pat Metz. The other intern who is here this summer and will be working with me the rest of the time I am here on my research project. He and I then met with Dr. Ngome, an professor of Education and deputy minister of Education in Kenya and a member of the SOTENI board. I gave him copies of the questionnaire and my original research prospectus. The next morning we met with him at the primary school he manages outside Wubuye. After getting some good feedback and advice about the project from him we met the boarding students at the school (who were the only ones there on Sunday). The boys naturally gravitated toward Pat and the girls towards me. Pat brought out a few frisbees, which we had fun with. They all wanted to ask me questions about Obama, and wanted to touch my hair, which they said I could sell for a lot of money in Kenya. They sort of didn't know what to do or say with me at times, so I just kept asking questions about their lives. One girl wants to be a pilot, which I think is a pretty cool goal (I also taught them the word cool). They taught me some of the songs they liked to sing, and showed me the Guava trees they are growing behind their dormitories. When we were shaking hands goodbye I told them they should have firm handshakes, they thought that was funny but obliged (in general I don't think firm handshakes are a big part of Kenyan culture).
We left the schools and set off for Ugenya. The trip took four hours, the roads are paved but have lots of pot holes and bumps. In Ugenya we stay in a hotel not with families. The hotel is really nice and has a good restaurant where we can eat dinner.
Today Marion went back to Nairobi, and Pat and I went with Calvin (the SOTENI coordinator here) to meet the principals of the schools that are going to participate in the research. The principals were accommodating and we managed to schedule times with four schools which is great.
Its late here and I have an early start tomorrow with the first round of the research project. So I'll say good night.
I'll try to update after the first part of the research so I can tell everyone how it goes.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
First Day in Nairobi
Jambo Everyone!
I landed safely in Nairobi last night. Our flight was long but mostly uneventful. One of the other interns and I traveled together, which was really nice. Her name is Grace and she goes to Bowdoin. She and I oriented togeher in Cincinnati and we are going ot fly back together, but we willl actually be spending most of our time in different villages.
Orientation in Cincinnati was very nice. I stayed with the Chairwoman and founding member of SOTENI, Vic Wulsin, and I got to meet her hust band, mother and father. I spent th eorientaiton learning aobut Kenya, Soteni, and the projects that SOTENI is working on in Kenya. I also spent a lot of time maknig final changes and organizing for the research project.
Traveling to Kenya took a total of 22 hours (Cincinatti to Detroit, Detriot to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Nairobi). When we got to the airport they made us rearrange our bags and boxes of donations because we were one pound over weight (moral of the story is that the airlines are realy serious about the weight regulations now, we tried to look really innocent and then even to make the guy feel guilty for not letting us take medical supplies to Africa, but he didn't care). The flights weren't bad though. The internation flights no whav tons of really good movie choices, so I was pretty occupied. We flew KLM, a Dutch Airline between Amsterdam and Nairobi, and that was the classiest flight I have ever been on. They even brought us Hot Towels before the meals.
Now I am in Nairobi, I'm staying at the Unu .. (I forgot the rest of the word) Centre-Christian Student Leadership Inn. It's sort of a cross between a bed and breafast, a conference, center an a hostely. It's modest, but very clean and there is a security Guard at teh door and a gate before teh driveway, so it is very safe. Its right nex to the University of Nairobi. Which is in Summer SEssoin right now, so there are many students there. WE have taken cabs so fare between the SOTENI office and the Hotel, but it is a very short walk and I think tomorrow we will wak through the campus. There is a shower, clean towel and sheets, and a mosquito net of the bed. Iwas shore that sleeping under a mosquito net was going to feel strange, but it doesn't (either that or yesterday I was too tired to notice). One oddity is that in every bathroom there is a large blue bucket. Mo, Grace and I discussed this and cannot come up with a good reason why there should be the same one in every bathroom. As we were walkin in tonight we heard a big cheer coming from the dorms. The security gaurd told us that there is a big game between the USA and Egypt. He is rooting for the US.
The two people who work a the SOTENI Kenya office are Edward (the Program Manager) and Marion (the buisness manager). They have been really great and have helped Grace and I orient to Nairobi, lean what we need to know about the SOTENI projects we are going to be working on, getting around Kenya, using cell phones and internet modems, and keeping track of our expenses.
This evening Mo, another inter who has alread been here for three weeks came to Nairobi from SOTENI Village of hope (SVH) Mbakalo. The trip took him eight hours by public transportation, but he made it. He and Grace are goin got be wrking together in SOTENI Village of Hope Mituntu while I work with Pat (the other intern who has been here with Mo) in SVH Ugenya.
Nairobi is a big city like any other. When we arrived last night, very exhausted, Grace adn I jokeed that we did not even feel like we were in Kenya, just in any big city. I know that this will definitely not be the cae in the rural villages that we are gointo move out to next week, but for now I just feel like I am in a big city anywhere in the world, not necessaraily in Africa.
Part of the reason I feel that way is probably because the only places I have been sofare in Nairobi are cabs, my hotel, three resturants, and the SOTENI office. Hopeuflly, walking through the campus tomorrow, I will get more of a feel for the city, and maybe Edward or Marion will come out a bit with us tomorrow afternon before we move out to the rural areas on Saturday.
I guess that's it for now. To answer eveyrone's inevitable questions:
1. I feel safe
2. I feel fine
3. I am drinking only bottled water
4. Yes I am taking my malarai medication
5. No, I have not eaten any fresh fruits or vegetables
6. I am having fun
7. I have not walked into traffic coming from the wrong side of the road, yet.
Cood night, I'll try to update again soon!
I landed safely in Nairobi last night. Our flight was long but mostly uneventful. One of the other interns and I traveled together, which was really nice. Her name is Grace and she goes to Bowdoin. She and I oriented togeher in Cincinnati and we are going ot fly back together, but we willl actually be spending most of our time in different villages.
Orientation in Cincinnati was very nice. I stayed with the Chairwoman and founding member of SOTENI, Vic Wulsin, and I got to meet her hust band, mother and father. I spent th eorientaiton learning aobut Kenya, Soteni, and the projects that SOTENI is working on in Kenya. I also spent a lot of time maknig final changes and organizing for the research project.
Traveling to Kenya took a total of 22 hours (Cincinatti to Detroit, Detriot to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Nairobi). When we got to the airport they made us rearrange our bags and boxes of donations because we were one pound over weight (moral of the story is that the airlines are realy serious about the weight regulations now, we tried to look really innocent and then even to make the guy feel guilty for not letting us take medical supplies to Africa, but he didn't care). The flights weren't bad though. The internation flights no whav tons of really good movie choices, so I was pretty occupied. We flew KLM, a Dutch Airline between Amsterdam and Nairobi, and that was the classiest flight I have ever been on. They even brought us Hot Towels before the meals.
Now I am in Nairobi, I'm staying at the Unu .. (I forgot the rest of the word) Centre-Christian Student Leadership Inn. It's sort of a cross between a bed and breafast, a conference, center an a hostely. It's modest, but very clean and there is a security Guard at teh door and a gate before teh driveway, so it is very safe. Its right nex to the University of Nairobi. Which is in Summer SEssoin right now, so there are many students there. WE have taken cabs so fare between the SOTENI office and the Hotel, but it is a very short walk and I think tomorrow we will wak through the campus. There is a shower, clean towel and sheets, and a mosquito net of the bed. Iwas shore that sleeping under a mosquito net was going to feel strange, but it doesn't (either that or yesterday I was too tired to notice). One oddity is that in every bathroom there is a large blue bucket. Mo, Grace and I discussed this and cannot come up with a good reason why there should be the same one in every bathroom. As we were walkin in tonight we heard a big cheer coming from the dorms. The security gaurd told us that there is a big game between the USA and Egypt. He is rooting for the US.
The two people who work a the SOTENI Kenya office are Edward (the Program Manager) and Marion (the buisness manager). They have been really great and have helped Grace and I orient to Nairobi, lean what we need to know about the SOTENI projects we are going to be working on, getting around Kenya, using cell phones and internet modems, and keeping track of our expenses.
This evening Mo, another inter who has alread been here for three weeks came to Nairobi from SOTENI Village of hope (SVH) Mbakalo. The trip took him eight hours by public transportation, but he made it. He and Grace are goin got be wrking together in SOTENI Village of Hope Mituntu while I work with Pat (the other intern who has been here with Mo) in SVH Ugenya.
Nairobi is a big city like any other. When we arrived last night, very exhausted, Grace adn I jokeed that we did not even feel like we were in Kenya, just in any big city. I know that this will definitely not be the cae in the rural villages that we are gointo move out to next week, but for now I just feel like I am in a big city anywhere in the world, not necessaraily in Africa.
Part of the reason I feel that way is probably because the only places I have been sofare in Nairobi are cabs, my hotel, three resturants, and the SOTENI office. Hopeuflly, walking through the campus tomorrow, I will get more of a feel for the city, and maybe Edward or Marion will come out a bit with us tomorrow afternon before we move out to the rural areas on Saturday.
I guess that's it for now. To answer eveyrone's inevitable questions:
1. I feel safe
2. I feel fine
3. I am drinking only bottled water
4. Yes I am taking my malarai medication
5. No, I have not eaten any fresh fruits or vegetables
6. I am having fun
7. I have not walked into traffic coming from the wrong side of the road, yet.
Cood night, I'll try to update again soon!
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