Coming Home

Hi All,
I'm getting ready to come home. I began packing this morning although I don't leave until Monday. Tomorrow is a busy day, we are having a kids fun day for the children of the WEEP ladies. We are taking 150 people to the Giraffe Center. It will be a zoo! And after church on Sunday we are going to a mall, we will have a display to raise awareness for HEART's Freedom for Girls program.
Packing is going well, I have considerably more room in my suitcase. I'm leaving a lot of my skirts here in Kenya and I ate most of my protein bars (I don't want to eat another Cliff bar for a really, really long time).
I will miss many of the HEART staff members and I've also become close with my fellow interns. We have lived and worked together for the last two months, it will be strange to not see them everyday.
I will also miss Kenya. Random things like the smell of burning trash, or oddly named businesses. (Butcheries have the strangest names, some of my favorites include: "Fresh and Fleshly Butchery", "Welcome Hotel, Butchery, and Cafe", and "Answered Prayer Butchery"). I will also miss the rhythm of being on the Equator. The sun rises and sets at roughly the same time everyday, there is a calm in that. I imagine I will also have difficulty in adjusting to American time. Kenyan time runs about an hour behind schedule. For example we told the WEEP women to get to the Giraffe Center at 8:30 so we can count on most of them being there by 10:30.
I might make a post about the kids fun day at the giraffe center or tabling at Westgate Mall depending on whether I have time. Otherwise I wish you all the best.
Love,
Margaret

Safari

I just got back from safari, it was beautiful! The landscape itself was breathtaking. A vast expanse of land untouched by man. Mountains in the distance, and miles and miles of scrub brush alternating with stretches of brown grass. We saw the sunrise and the sunsets every day on our game drives.
We saw a fair number of animals: a leopard, two lions, tons of zebras, elephants, dik diks, baboons, giraffes, impalas, birds, warthogs, water bucks, and spring bucks. Eventually we saw so many zebras, giraffes, elephants, and baboons that we didn't even pause to take pictures when we came across them.
On our second drive we encountered somewhere around 100 elephants. William, our driver, joked that we arrived at the elephant conference. The road ran right through their 'gathering'. Ultimately we turned around, we didn't want to risk driving through their herd. Elephants can be dangerous, especially when they have their young with them. Our giant green vehicle would be no match for an angry elephant.
Our best sighting was a leopard though. Not only did we see a leopard but he was less than three feet away! He was just hanging out by the side of the road, and he hung around long enough for us to get some pictures. On our last drive we saw two lions, although they were fairly far away. Luckily they stood up, because it would have been impossible to spot them if they had been lying in the grass.
On one of the game drives we hired a guide. He was a wealth of information, we learned what the various groups of animals are all called. A coalition of baboons, a pride of lions, a sounder of warthogs, a raft of rhinos, a journey of giraffes, a clan of hyenas, a school of hippos, a harem of impalas, and a herd of zebras. My personal favorite is the coalition of baboons, they aren't strong enough to form a single party government; they require a coalition! (parliamentary politics joke). We also learned about various animals.
The dik diks might be my favorite (the picture of the dik dik is the little rabbit like thing in the road). They are tiny little creatures, about twice the size of squirrels. They bound along, nibbling on grass and seeds. The dik diks are endearing, aside from the fact that they are incredibly cute, they mate for life. If its mate dies a dik dik becomes despondent and dies shortly thereafter. This is in sharp contrast to the impala. Impalas travel in one of two groups, either harems or bachelor herds; and that is exactly what they are. Either groups of single males or one buck surrounded by a harem of females. Young males from the bachelor herds occasionally challenge the buck from the harem to unseat him as the head of the herd. Once a buck is unseated as the head of the harem he does not go back to the bachelor herd, he is forced to live a solitary life (and once he doesn't have a herd it is a short life, he is easy prey).
Seeing impalas, of course, reminded us of the song "Wanna be a Balla". We rapped "Wanna be a balla, shot calla/ 20 inch rims on the impala" as we bounced along the dusty roads. It was fantastic, and let me tell you, we can rap!
Today I am going to Kibera for the last time, I am sad to say goodbye but I am looking forward to coming home. I'll post any interesting tidbits from my time in Kibera.
Best,
Margaret

Graduation

On the twenty first twelve of the WEEP women graduated. WEEP (Women's Equality Empowerment Project) is designed to empower HIV positive women to support themselves and their families. It is an orphan prevention program.
HEART has several WEEP centers throughout Kenya, most of them are in and around Nairobi and there is one in Mombasa. The women come to work at the centers during the day, they do not live there. When they first come to the center HEART helps them get on their feet, they pay their back rent, feed them, and pay their children's school fees. Soon after wards the women learn to sew. Some centers specialize in sewing mosquito nets, others in school uniforms. Eventually the women support themselves through the income they earn from the pieces they sew. HEART buys the uniforms for its Kids for School Program and a donor from Massachusetts buys the nets to donate throughout Africa (to help prevent malaria).
The graduation was a major event for the women. They were so proud. Most of them have never had a graduation or a ceremony of any kind in their honor. And it was a proper graduation ceremony. We put up big white tents on the lawn, the women received diplomas with seals, and the head of USAID in Kenya gave a speech. (US AID, through PETFAR funds a large chunk of the WEEP program).
I missed most of the speeches, I looked after the children. It was really important for the children to be there, to see their moms as successful, important, and healthy women. Although the children did not sit through all of the speeches, they saw their mother's process in and receive their diplomas. We had a bouncy castle, games, and snacks for the children. The local rotor actors came to help with the children. I love the rotor actors! It was wonderful to hang out with a group of Kenyans who are my age and in my stage of life. And we could not have managed the children without them. They knew all the best Kenyan games, we played tribal chanting games, football (soccer), jump rope, and of course, we bounced.
The graduation is a significant transition for the women. They have to either find jobs or start their own businesses to support themselves, they can no longer count on income from the center.
Every woman intends to start her own business, jobs are very difficult to find. In order to help them start their new lives HEART is providing each women with capital to start a business. I helped some of the women put together business plans for their new ventures, I hope they work out. There is always a danger that the woman will just spend the money, especially since HEART is giving the money in the form of a gift rather than a loan. It is always difficult to instill a measure of financial savvy especially if someone has lived hand to mouth their whole lives. When they have money they spend it, when they don't, they don't. It is difficult to impress upon them the idea of investing. (Although a handful of the women are natural businesswomen and have already started investing the income they earned through the WEEP program). We take for granted the basic life skills that we learn from our parents, if you don't observe certain practices as a child it is hard to learn them as an adult.
Overall the graduation was a success. The ceremony went well and the women are well launched into their new lives. Of course there is risk that their new ventures won't work out, but they are healthy and inspiring women. They are survivors.
I just got back from safari, I'll post pictures tomorrow.
Best,
Margaret

This is another video from Oldonyonyokie. It is a traditional dance, typically performed by youths. I love the sound of their voices, it reminds me a little of a sea shanty. It certainly isn't melodic.

Oldoyonyokie Dance

This is from my trip to Oldonyonyokie. The dance is mostly a traditional Massai dance although they added a few contemporary aspects. I loved the singing and dancing! The video captured some of their spirit, I hope you enjoy it. Unfortunately they did not wear their traditional clothing, or jump (the Massai are famous for jumping).
Today is the WEEP graduation, I'll post photos.
Best,
Margaret

Expanded Vocbulary

Even my vocabulary has expanded over the course of this trip. Aside from the limited Swahili I have learned, my English vocabulary has changed. I find myself talking about stati. As in, "when did you learn your status" or "what is your status?". Status refers to HIV, whether someone is negative or positive. I have also talked more about 'sanitary towels' and 'monthly cycles' than I ever care to again. It is strange to casually remark over dinner that we just got another donation of 230 packets of sanitary towels. We discuss feminine hygiene products like you would the weather! I have also never talked so much about abandonment, rape, and hunger as I have on this trip. It is amazing how commonplace these phenomena are. Everywhere you turn there is another orphanage, overflowing with children who barely have enough to eat and who might or might not have the opportunity to go to school. I also think about water differently. Many places we have gone deal with constant water shortages, most parts of Kenya face perpetual droughts. In Oldonyonyokie we didn't even carry our water bottles around with us, we had to go to the car to drink, to carry around that much water would be garish.
Tomorrow is another office day, we are finalizing plans for the WEEP graduation and I will finish the business plans (huzzah!). I will keep you posted,
Margaret

Photos and Random Thoughts

Here are some random photos from my trip. All of these photos are actually all from my trip to Taita. The first picture is me with "the jean man" (his actual name is Issiah) . He wore jean from head to toe! I really enjoyed hanging out with him, he was so calm and sweet. At one point he walked up to me and gestured for me to pick him up. This is fairly rare; most of the time young children are afraid of muzungus (white people). This is especially true of children from rural areas, they rarely, if ever, interact with white people. Children will dash up to you and touch you but they usually don't want prolonged physical contact. The last picture shows children from an orphanage dancing to the bananas song. At the time I didn't think they liked the Bananas song too much, but looking at the photos I can tell they really enjoyed it. Apparently I was too into the song to really pay attention to their expressions! When you really 'go bananas' it is difficult to notice what is going on around you. The middle picture is mist surrounding the hills of Taita, it reminded me of the mist that comes out of the canyon at home.
Best,
Margaret

Business in the Slums

I have been helping the women of the WEEP program write business plans; it is an enlightening experience. I struggled at first, it was difficult to write plans for businesses I know nothing about in a market I am completely unfamiliar with. I am writing plans for businesses in the slums, the the economy in the slums is radically different from any western market. Business in downtown Nairobi operates in much the same way business in San Francisco or Chicago operates. There are malls, supermarkets, stores, banks, restaurants, and factories.
Business in the slums, however, is very different. There are no stores, people have stalls where they sell the most random hodge podge of goods. It is not uncommon to see a women selling packages of underwear, dried fish, and toothbrushes from a stall. Stalls are trees branches nailed together, they aren't even made from proper boards. Four branches serve as posts and another four branches are attached horizontally to re enforce the posts and to hang goods off of. And stalls are luxuries, the majority of people just sit by the side of the road. In the slums people buy consumer goods in medium sized quantities and then sell tiny portions to consumers. It is not uncommon for a person to buy a bag of charcoal and then sell one or two pieces to consumers. Needless to say it is horribly inefficient; but people don't have enough money to buy a whole bag of charcoal at once so they buy pieces.
Another reality of business in the slums is constant negotiation. There are no fixed prices, you haggle over everything. This has made it difficult to construct realistic business plans. A typical conversation goes like this:
Me: "How much are you going to charge for that?"
WEEP Woman: "It depends"
Me: "It depends on what?"
Weep Woman: "How much the person is willing to pay"
Me: "Is there a range of prices?"
WEEP Woman: "Maybe 50 to 100 shillings"
I have given up trying to formulate break even analysis for their businesses, I just have to trust that they know how much they need to sell an item for in order to make money. And they are certainly interested in making money; they have to survive. I have tried to remind them that they have to not only cover the cost of the good they are selling but they also need to factor in their overhead costs.
Another reality of business in the slums is that every person has to have at least two businesses. Most of the WEEP women plan to, in addition to their main business, tailor and sell vegetables on the side. So far I have written plans for tailoring, fish, tomato, school uniform, banana, milk, and grain businesses.
Many of the women I have been working with plan to enter the fish business. This is mainly because one of the WEEP women, Jane Akini, has been very successful in the fish business. Jane is inspiring, she owns two 'homes' (freestanding rooms) in Kibera. She lives in one and rents the other out. Jane self identifies as a business women. She started selling small dried omena fish by the side of the road, now she sells from a stall and plans to expand her business to sell fish wholesale.
Overall I have been impressed with the WEEP women. They have certainly taught me more than I have taught them. I now have a vague understanding of how business operates in the slums.
The WEEP graduation is on Saturday and I leave for safari on Sunday. I will keep you posted,
Margaret

Taita

I just got back from a trip upcountry to Taita. Taita is beautiful, large rocky hills dominate the landscape. It is an impoverished area and it has one of the highest instances of HIV in Kenya. Nearly every home has a grave in the yard and there are an overwhelming number of orphans. We stayed with Pastor Laurence, he is a remarkable man. The pastor and his wife, Mary, look after eighteen children. They have seven children of their own and they also care for their nieces and nephews. Both of Pastor Laurence's brothers died, he did not say of what, but I assume AIDS.
On our second night we had an impromptu party with the children, it was my favorite experience in Kenya so far. As we were heading to bed I mentioned to Jemima how much I had enjoyed her singing at the class presentations that day, this comment was changed in translation, they thought I was asking her to sing. Soon we were all standing around a gas lamp in a dirt courtyard singing to God. One of the younger boys drummed on a plastic water container and the rest of us sang acapella. One of the songs that they sang was "Melody in My Heart". One part of the song says "I am overwhelmed by the joy of the Lord." They did not simply sing about joy, they manifested it in their lives, they beamed. Here was a group of children, most of them orphans, with almost no material possessions and limited opportunities to improve their lives, but they were joyful, truly joyful.
Soon the singing progressed to singing and dancing, they tried to teach us various African dance moves. Dancing is not my strong suit, one of the boys pointed to the other two interns and exclaimed "they can move", he did not see fit to include me in his remark. It was fun all the same.
It is truly a blessing to be able to stay in people's homes. There are certainly downsides, no running water, you have to eat the food that they serve you (you end up eating entirely more than you want and occasionally it can gross you out) but it was a blessing to be included in their lives.
This week is busy, we are preparing for the WEEP graduation and are going to a luncheon. I will keep you posted.
Best,
Margaret

Election

On August 4th Kenya held a referendum on a new constitution. The new constitution passed overwhelmingly. The constitution seeks to address the structural issues that plague Kenya. The constitution institutes a measure of federalism, limits the power of the president, and has land reform measures. Although I have read the new constitution I don't have an opinion about it, well, that's not entirely true. I have an opinion, it just isn't a terribly informed one. I don't know the context that the constitution fits in, and I haven't read the old constitution.
The election itself went well, this was a huge victory for Kenya. By all accounts the election was fair and the NO vote took their defeat with grace. The last election did not go smoothly, the election was not fair and there was significant violence following the vote. Many people died, one of our drivers actually saw people burned alive in the Kibera slum. Much of the violence centered around tribal tensions; many people were approached and asked to speak in their mother tongue, depending on the language they responded in they would be killed. In addition to the thousand who were killed, a hundred thousand were displaced from their homes. I hope that this new constitution sets the foundation for a stable and properous Kenya; it is certainly encouraging that the vote went so well.
I am going to rural Thaita tomorrw. We are doing health teaching, HIV testing, and a 'kids fun day'. It will be busy! I will teach the children health education and then play games. We will play soccor, or football as they call it, jump rope, and sing songs. They especially love it when I teach them American songs or attempt to sing Swahili songs. My Swahili is improving though, so they probably won't find my attempts as entertaining.
Best,
Margaret

Daily Life at HEART

I have had a few request to describe my daily life; this is for you Uncle Tom! I spend most of my time in Nairobi, I am staying at the HEART lodge. HEART is a charity group but it runs a lodge to generate income. The HEART lodge is a compound, there are offices for the staff, rooms for some of the Kenyan staff who have to stay late at night, a condo for Vickie, a house for the interns and permanent guests, a dining room, and a number of guest rooms. The lodge can sleep up to twenty five, not including the staff rooms or the intern's house. We live very comfortably. We have hot showers, comfortable beds, and good food. Breakfast is served every morning at 8 and dinner is served at 6:45. Bacon, cereal, toast, and fruit are mainstays at breakfast (I have become absolutely addicted to mangoes) . In addition we have chapati pancakes, french toast, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, or porridge. Dinner is almost always western food, we rarely eat Kenyan food at the lodge. There is always a meat, at least one starch, a vegetable, and dessert.
Many missionary groups stay at HEART, it is a God centered place. There is a constant stream of new people coming through HEART. Right now there is a team from Southern California, and a mission group from Seattle just left. We have devotions every morning at 7:45, the staff, guests, and interns take turns leading devotions.
My days vary considerably. We frequently travel around to different schools to do health education and distribute sanitary towels, we go to different WEEP centers, we travel around with missionary teams, we have meetings with HEART supporters or potential supporters, and we go to different community events (Rotary meetings, teas held by NGOs etc. ). We spend a considerable amount of time in the car, Nairobi traffic can be brutal! It is not uncommon to spend an hour and a half driving someplace, and then of course you have to come back. We have many long days, frequently we are gone for ten hours traveling around, meeting people, teaching, or attending an event.
There are also opportunities to relax. Nairobi is a modern city, there are malls and western restaurants. The other night we went out to pizza and then bowling (I bowled a 99, so sad I didn't break 100). We go to the Village Market a few times a week (mostly to go to the Nakumatt, the large Safeway like grocery store). The Village Market is not a village market, it has jewelry stores, a movie theater, a pool hall, a Woolworths, a grocery store, and a number of restaurants.
My days are challenging, busy, stimulating, and fun, although I do look forward to coming home. Tomorrow is another busy day and we are getting ready to go upcountry on Thursday. I will keep you posted,
Margaret

Kibera

Today I went to the Kibera WEEP center. Normally we don't walk around the slum but today we went on home visits so we walked all around Kibera. Kibera is an interesting place, it looks like a shanty town. The shacks are made of mud with metal sheeting for roofs. Trash and human waste run through the ditches, combined with water it makes a murky sludge. The roads are hardened red clay, you have to look alive to avoid the waste. Kibera started as a military encampment, after World War I Nubian soldiers were given plots of land in that area. The settlement has grown into one of the largest slums in the world. It is estimated that 1.5 million people live in Kibera, although the area is not very large. None of the homes have running water or ventilated cooking stoves, it is not very sanitary. The vast majority of the people who live in Kibera are extremely poor, most live on less than $1 a day. Although the bulk of the people are very poor, some professionals do live in Kibera. The woman who runs the Kibera WEEP center, for example, lives in Kibera and she is a nurse. Another woman who works in the HEART project office lives in Kibera. The living conditions seem extreme to westerners, but for many they are just a way of life.
I also got an opportunity to speak to a WEEP lady one on one. I went to Rhoda's home to do a family evaluation. Her home was clean and beautiful, it was a single room divided by a curtain. The room was probably twelve by eight feet, and five people live there! Rhoda's home is spacious in comparison to most houses in Kibera, the other WEEP women who accompanied us kept commenting on how large it was. Rhoda also has access to a more private choo, the landlord built a choo for all the houses on the block. Choos are latrines, most people in Kibera use public choos. You have to pay three to five shillings (around six cents) to use the choo. Most people are so poor that they will only use the choo once a day, the rest of the time they will go to the bathroom in a bucket.
I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about Rhoda and her family. She has three beautiful daughters, Rhoda supports them entirely on her own. Her husband abandoned her after he found out her status. Rhoda's daughter are all HIV negative, generally healthy, and in school. Overall the visit was very uplifting, it was wonderful to hear how far Rhoda has come and that her children have the opportunity to go to school. Rhoda did mention, almost nonchalantly, that her middle daughter was raped in 2007. Curity, 9 at the time, was attacked on her way to school. She was found beaten and raped. Curity was lucky, Rhoda made sure she went to the hospital right away and also insisted that she get counseling. Curity seemed like a happy and healthy young girl, I hope that is the case.
Rape is not uncommon in Kenya, and it is often family members who rape young girls. A principal at an orphanage we went to mentioned that she expected that most of the girls at the orphanage had been raped at one time or another.
Tomorrow is an office day, we are working around the HEART compound but we head upcountry on Thursday. I'll post more accounts of my adventures.
Best,
Margaret

Elephant Orphanage, Giraffe Center

Yesterday we went to an elephant orphanage and a giraffe center! The baby elephants were adorable. The orphanage takes in babies for up to three years, they integrate them into herds and then release them into the wild. Most of the elephants were orphaned as a result of poaching, many of them were found standing by their mother's carcasses. Both poaching and selling ivory are against the law in Kenya, punishable by years in jail. Elephant's tusks do not begin to show until they are older so baby elephants are not targeted by poachers. The elephants which were not orphaned as a result of poaching were orphaned as a result of the drought. Last year there was a severe drought in Kenya, people, livestock, and wild animals all died.
Elephants are truly amazing creatures, they are social and intelligent. An elephant will always recognize its trainer, even after years in the wild. The orphanage does not tag the elephants, partly for funding reasons and partly because elephants live so long. The chips implanted in the elephants would die before the elephant (at least that is what the guide said). However, if the elephant comes back to the orphanage (which they do frequently) it will recognize its trainer and respond to its name. It was sweet to see the bond between the trainers and the elephants, the trainers sleep on a bunk in the elephant's stall, they spend literally 24 hours a day together.
After the elephant orphanage we went to the giraffe center. The giraffe center is just that, a place to hang out with giraffes. I petted a giraffe I nicknamed Leonard, it seemed like a lanky sort of name. You can feed the giraffes pellets so they come up to you and you can interact with them at their level from a balcony. There are even opportunities to kiss giraffes, you hold a pellet between your lips and the giraffe eats it from your mouth. I did not kiss a giraffe, Leonard and I kept the relationship strictly platonic.
Tomorrow I am going to the Kibera WEEP center and I think I will have an opportunity to travel to some of the women's homes.
Best,
Margaret

WEEP

I have been spending a significant amount of time working with the women of WEEP (Women's Equality Empowerment Program) , their journey's are incredible. These women have all literally come back to life. Jane, a woman from the Kibera WEEP center told me her story. When she first came to the center she was so weak she couldn't walk, and she couldn't eat because of thrashing. Jane traveled to the clinic several times to figure out why she was so sick. The doctors knew that she was HIV positive but they would not tell her, they told her husband instead. Her husband abandoned her and her children shortly thereafter. It took Jane two more trips to the clinic to get the doctors to tell her that she was HIV positive, finally Jane had to demand that she "wanted to know what was going on even if she was dying". At that time AIDS was a death sentence, it took unimaginable courage to face up to her reality. Jane is a powerful woman, she frequently wears a bright orange t- shirt that reads "I'm Positive" and on the back it says "Do You Know Your Status?" Jane is a leader at the WEEP center, she has several successful side businesses and owns her own home. Jane is one of many inspiring, dynamic women that the WEEP program has helped empower.

WEEP is an orphan prevention program, it seeks to empower mothers, like Jane, who have AIDS so that they can take care of their own children. HEART has a number of WEEP centers throughout Kenya, several in and around Nairobi and one in Mombasa. Each WEEP center has between six and fifteen members, the women stay in the program for a number of years. When the women first arrive at the centers most of them are near death. Through the WEEP program the women are given food, receive psychological support, and are taught to sew. Once the women are healthy they begin to sew either school uniforms or mosquito nets depending on the center. The women receive income for each net or uniform that they make. After a period of years the women graduate from the program. We are preparing for the first WEEP graduation, it will be held on August 21st. The women who are graduating will receive a sewing machine and $500 to start their own businesses. I am working with the women to finalize their business plans and think through the logistics of their businesses.
I apologize for neglecting to write blog posts regularly, I promise to write more frequently in the future.
Best,
Margaret

Namelok, Massai

Here are some pictures from my recent trip to Namelok. Namelok is a small Massai village near the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The landscape was similar to Oldonyonyokie, Namelok is also in the Rift Valley. It was extremely dry, lack of water is a major concern in Namelok. We drove by fields and fields of dead corn, caked in dust. The picture with the trees and hut gives a feel of the landscape. The hut in the picture is a typical Massai hut, the Massai live much as they did hundreds of years ago. The Massai herd cattle, they don't practice agriculture. Most of the Massai live in the Rift Valley which is very dry and barren, not conducive to growing crops.
The trip to Namelok was similar to the trip to Meru; we presented health seminars, performed HIV testing, and played with the children. The health seminars often get intense. We break the villagers into groups to do the health presentations. Although we almost always have the seminars at schools, we invite the parents and elders to come for presentations as well. I worked with the children, the presentation was fairly straightforward. We talked about HIV, stigma associated with HIV and the importance of being kind to those who are positive, emotions that might accompany illness, and hand washing. Most of the children know how HIV is transmitted, but talking about stigma and reinforcing the knowledge that you can't get HIV from playing with a friend who is positive is really important. It is also good to talk about emotions, culturally it is not acceptable to cry.
After talking with the children we played. I can't tell you how many times I was asked how many children I have, one girl asked me if I was a spinster when I told her that I wasn't married. Massai girls typically marry between the ages of 15 and 18. The children nicknamed me "Bisquick" because my hair is apparently the color of Bisquick. I don't know how they know what Bisquick is, but apparently they do. They loved to stroke and play with my hair. I was absolutely mobbed by the children. They loved to hear me sing, I sang "Bananas", "The Hokey Pokey", and "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" repeatedly. I have also learned a Swahili song called "Hakuna Mungu" which they all know and love. A sure way to get a laugh out of the children is to try to speak either Swahili or their tribal language, I am so bad at it!
The children's presentation wasn't very intense, although the young boys seminar got heated. Isaac, a HEART staff member did the the young ( 11-16) boys presentation. Out of the fifty some odd boys that were there, 34 were sexually active.
Overall the trip was a success, out of the 195 people we tested only 2 were HIV positive. Both of the people who tested positive are younger than 14, they received counseling and ARVS are readily available for free. There is still stigma surrounding HIV but hopefully the children will take ARVS and get follow up medical attention.
Tomorrow is a relaxing day at the HEART compound but Wednesday we go to the US Embassy. I'll post and account and pictures of my adventures.
Best,
Margaret

Random Thoughts

So far my trip has been wonderful and challenging. Several things about Kenya and the Kenyan people have really struck me. The Kenyan people are, by and large, very joyful. This is most evident when they dance or perform. Everywhere I have been children have performed for us. The dancing is amazing, even the young children move beautifully. Another striking aspect of Kenyan people is their faith in and love of God. Obviously not all Kenyans believe in God or are Christians, but the vast majority of the people I have encountered have vocalized their deep love of Jesus.This trend is of course more evident to me because I am working with HEART, a Christian organization. All of the staff at HEART are Christian and most of the people that HEART works with are Christian.
Another aspect of Kenya that is prominent is the poverty. The poverty is intense. When I was in Oldonyonyokie a girl asked me for a bottle of water. Even though the school we visited in Oldonyonyokie has a water tank and is connected to a water pipeline they frequently do not have water. The day that we visited was the first day that the children had lunch in three days; they had rice and ugali in the storage room but no water to cook the food with.
On my trip upcountry to Meru a councilman walked up to me as I was playing with a group of children and asked me if I wanted to "take the children home". I cannot fathom reaching a place of desperation where I would ask people to take my children away.
I continue to enjoy my time here in Kenya, and I will post my thoughts and impressions here. This coming week is going to be pretty low key; there is an election on Wednesday and we are staying at the HEART compound to avoid potential disturbances.
Best,
Margaret

Maasai , Oldonyonyokie

I'm just back from a trip to Oldonyonyokie, Massai land. The Massai are an interesting people; they are one of the last tribes in Kenya to maintain their traditional culture. Oldonyonyokie is in the Rift Valley. The Rift Valley is certainly an inhospitable place, it is difficult to imagine that it is the birthplace of humanity. It is barren. There is no water, the only vegetation is scrub brush and the occasional lonesome tree.
We visited a school; we gave health education seminars to the children, young adults and adults. HEART has an established relationship with this village, through HEART the school has received a water tank with a hookup to a pipeline, several new classrooms, and a library. The school was vibrant, the children and administrators have taken many steps to improve their situation. The head administrator and chief were clearly bright and effective. The school received an award for most improved school in its district last year, and 28 of the 35 students who stood for the nationwide form 8 exams passed last year.
When we first arrived we played with the students, usually we play with the children after we give the health seminars but it was so hot we wanted to play first. I played volleyball; my team won! The students are impressive athletes. A number of the older (13 year old) children were able to spike the ball (the net wasn't regulation height, but close). I was also impressed with how seriously the children took the rules of the game; there was a child with a whistle who made all the calls and kept score. Two younger children also stood on the sidelines and helped the referee make out of bounds calls.
After the health seminars the school children sang and danced for us; it was the most beautiful thing I have seen in Kenya. The songs were choreographed elaborately, the other performances we have seen involved dancing and swaying but the Massai didn't just dance, they performed. They performed three different dances, a dance traditionally performed by young people at weddings, a modern worship song, and a dance performed by young men. The students danced in line formations, there were three columns, they rearranged their lines throughout the dance. They moved in a unique way, they didn't moved their hips so much as their necks. They also slowly lowered themselves into lunges periodically, they did this as they moved their necks. I can't adequately describe it. They sang as they danced. They sang in a call and response system, the music was not melodic. The sound reminded me of a sea chantey, it had a mournful quality. The combination of their song and dance was powerful, it had a religious quality. I was near to tears.
The Massai are an interesting people. You know the pictures of women with stretched necks with elaborate beading? Those are the Massai peoples. The men wear red cloth draped around them and they carry spears. Traditional Massai culture has several unfortunate aspects, polygamy is accepted, girls marry young, and female circumcision is a right of passage. I was asked several times how many children I have, it was assumed that I was married. The girls were shocked when I told the that not only did I not have children, I was not married!
I will have another opportunity to interact with Massai people, I leave tomorrow to go up country for four days, we will be staying in a Massai village near Mt. Kilimanjaro. I will also take some pictures of people in traditional garb, I didn't really have an opportunity to take many pictures on my trip to Oldonyonyokie (playing volleyball is not conducive to taking pictures. . . ).
Best,
Margaret

Random Photos

Here are some random photos from my trip. It is not uncommon to see graffiti like the "Free with God's Love" scrawled on a building or door. The picture of the little boy holding his hand up was actually taken by another orphan, I showed the children how to take pictures and let them use my camera. I ended up with many pictures of the ground but I also got this beauty! The children love to take pictures, they call them "snaps". The picture of the buildings was taken from the car, but it gives an idea of the urban landscape of the slums.
I am headed to Massai land tomorrow. We are going to Oldonyonyokie, affectionately called Old Donkey. The Massai are a tribal group, they are among the last tribal groups in Kenya to preserve their traditional customs. I will post an account of my adventures.
Best,
Margaret

Meru

Hi All-
I just got back from "upcountry", we visited Meru. Meru is a small village on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. It was stunning, the mountain is covered in tropical vegetation. (Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of the scenery, if I find one as I'm going through my photos I'll post it.) It is surreal to see banana trees and bugambilia in the mountains.
We traveled with a team from Bayside Church, although the interns stayed an extra day.
I stayed at the pastor's house along with two other interns and two Bayside team members. I shared a bed with Katelyn, a fellow intern. The conditions were rustic; water is scarce. Today was my first shower in three days! We cleaned up with baby wipes every night. It was so dusty that a wipe was completely brown just from cleaning my face.
Pastor Joshua and his wife Unis fed us very well. We had chapati pancakes, oranges, bananas, hard boiled eggs, and chai for breakfast. Chapati and chai are both staples, chapati is like a tortilla, but it is fried and more moist. Dinner consisted of rice, potato and goat stew, kale, chapati, and chai. The food was delicious.
We participated in several projects while we we in Meru. We opened a Kids for School office, had a Freedom for Girls workshop, did health education for the children, and played with the kids. It was intense. Many of the children had never seen, let alone interacted with, a white person before. The kids kept running up to us, they wanted to touch our skin and hair. I felt constant little tugs throughout the day from kids pulling my hair. Some of the kids were shy and I would catch them looking at me if I turned around; but with coaxing they would usually approach us.
The children all spoke English well, some of the adults were not as proficient. The kids kept asking us to sing to them; I will be dreaming the song Bananas. (Grow bananas, grow grow bananas / peel bananas, peel peel bananas, eat bananas etc..)The Hokey Pokey was also popular.
The workshops went well. The children probably know more about HIV/ AIDS than I do, although I'm sure a reminder didn't hurt. We also did a hand washing demonstration, they knew far more about HIV than they do about basic sanitation. Culturally simply rinsing your hands is considered sufficient. To compound the problem, water is very scarce. Last year there was a drought and HEART launched a feeding program just to keep people alive.
The Freedom for Girls workshop is basically sex education. Through the FFG program girls receive health education and a year's supply of feminine hygiene products. This program has been especially effective; girls often drop out of school because they have no way to deal with their periods. The intern coordinator, Katie, did the presentation and Lydia, a HEART staff member, translated. They did a basic health education, showed how to use sanitary napkins, and took questions. The girls wrote their questions down on little slips of paper because many of them are embarassed to ask the questions in front of the group. Most of the questions were fairly routine, "how long will my period last?", "can I get pregnant on my period?", etc. The questions at this seminar were pretty tame, but at other presentations they have gotten pretty intense. One girl once asked an intern if she could get pregnant even though she had been raped seven times.
We also opened a HEART office in the town. The office is designed so that local HEART representatives can collect and communicate data and information to the main HEART office in Nairobi. The office is an 8 by 12 cube, it has a concrete floor and wood walls. There are two desks and a computer. Both the opening of the office and the presentations were big deals. The local chieftain came to both events, each event was opened with a long period of introductions. The first day we spent a little over an hour doing introductions, the HEART staff, the teachers, the HEART team, the HEART interns, and the local officials, were all introduced. It wasn't just a presentation, it was a ceremony.
The students also performed for us. Eleven schools came to the HEART seminars, each school prepared a performance for us. The performances were moving, many schools presented poems (all of the poems were about AIDS. One poem was called "AIDS the Destroyer"; I was impressed with how open the children were about AIDS. The children were not ashamed or bashful to talk about AIDS. Other schools performed songs, dances, and skits.
Tomorrow we are just hanging around the compound, I plan on doing laundry! We go to the Massai land on Tuesday, I'll post pictures and an account.
Best,
Margaret

Mombasa

I went to Mombasa. HEART has a WEEP center there, we spent a day at the WEEP center and then played tourist for two days. Vickie really wanted to visit the Mombasa WEEP ladies, a women from the program died recently. Sarah (the woman who died) left behind two children. Her children will be cared for by her family. This is not an uncommon phenomenon, more than half of the women in the WEEP program take care of not only their own children, but the children of dead relatives as well. I got the impression that it is pretty rare for a woman in the program to die; with ARVs and proper nutrition most of the women are healthy. The women at the Mombasa WEEP are fairly traumatized and it was really important that Vickie visit them.
I really bonded with a woman named Janet, she didn't speak much English but she taught me Swahili. I am terrible at Swahili, I mean absolutely terrible! I need to see a word before I learn it, I'm not an auditory learner. Janet had quite a bit of fun at my expense.
After we visited the center we spent two days playing in Mombasa. Mombasa is beautiful, it is right on the Indian Ocean. Mombasa is also significantly hotter than Nairobi, Nairobi is high in the mountains and not nearly as humid. Whenever I would comment on the heat a local would give me a puzzled look and inform me that it was, in fact, quite cold. It is their winter, it was easily eighty five degrees with eighty percent humidity. I cannot imagine how hot the summers are!
We had a ton of fun, I rode a camel named Mr. George, swam in the ocean, and took several naps under palm trees. We stayed at a beautiful hotel, the owner is a friend of HEART so we got a really great rate. We also did quite a bit of shopping on the beach. One of the pictures shows another intern and me wearing various scarves and wraps we bought from beach vendors.
I am going upcountry to Meru for the next three days. Meru is a really rural area in the mountains. We are putting on a fun day for school children, doing health education, HIV testing, and opening an office for the HEART Kids for School program. I'll post an account and pictures once I get back.

Orphanages

Over the last two days I have gone to two orphanages. The first orphanage we went to was Jehovah Jira. We went as part of HEART's Freedom For Girls project. Through the Freedom For Girls project HEART provides feminine hygiene products to poor girls. Through its ministry HEART discovered that many girls stop attending school not because they get pregnant but because they get their period and have no way to deal with it. We went to the orphanage to deliver sanitary towels and talk to the girls about health issues. Unfortunately we were not able to deliver the hygiene products because, due to miss communication the older girls were not at the orphanage that day. The orphanage was devastating, the building looked like a run down warehouse. The children sleep on tiny bunk beds in poorly ventilated rooms. Some of the children did not even have sleeping pads, they sleep on chicken wire. I would not be at all surprised if the children didn't eat every day.
The children greeted us with a performance, it was somewhat subdued. A general malaise permeated the place. Last year a child died at that orphanage, he was playing on roof and he stuck a piece of metal scrap metal on the electrical wires. I cannot imagine the trauma of watching your playmate being electrocuted and then fall from the roof into the play yard. After the boy's death a church took over the management of the orphanage, but the center is still really struggling. The children looked haunted.
Today we went to another orphanage called the Brydges Center. This orphanage was the polar opposite of the Jehova Jirah orphanage. The children were healthy, hopeful, and very lively. I attached a video of the children performing a song for us. The singing and dancing was amazing! When we arrived the younger children greeted us with a musical performance, "Welcome Visitors". I also got to hold the youngest member of the center, David. He kept stealing my sun glasses! The children were all wearing matching t shirts with the center's logo on it as well as jeans. It was the first place that I have seen where girls wore pants. Not all the girls wore jeans, however, some of the young girls wore wat looked like old party dresses. They were poofy with ribbons. The children were increasingly well behaved (as they were at Jehova Jira orphanage as well, but the children at Brydges had spirit, hope). We hung out at Brydges for over three hours, the children performed skits, and songs for us. We even had an impromptu dance party! After the older children arrived (they had been out at classes) they announced that they needed to 'loosen up'. They then proceeded to start singing and dancing. One young man was playing a guitar/ harp like instrument (you can see him playing in the video which I attached), and everyone started dancing. The younger children quickly got up out of their chairs to join the older kids in dancing, we followed soon after that. The younger children tried to teach me how to dance, I was less than successful.
The Brydges Center is a fantastic place, the children are very well taken care of. The dormitories are comfortable and well ventilated, there is a library, and they are very well fed. We ate with them, they fed the children very generous portions of rice with vegetables, they had cookies with juice with Koolaid for dessert. We ate with them, I went for seconds, it was delicious.
The older kids also performed a skit, it was clearly based on a true story. The skit was about a young girl who was abused by her alcoholic father and thrown out of her house by her father and step mother. The girl was then taken in and brought to the Brydges Center. The story was both moving and obviously true (the older children also threw in funny bits about a witch doctor to keep the younger children amused). It struck me as an excellent way to process their situations. Several young children also recited Bible verses for us. A five year old recited Psalm 40 and another said Psalm 23. Visiting the Brydges Center was an uplifting experience, the center has had some financial difficulties lately, but it is getting back on its feet and the children are all healthy and hopeful.
I will not be posting for the next few days, I am going to Mombasa. I am really excited! I will get to see the Indian Ocean and ride a camel on the beach!
Best,
Margaret

July 7th, Korogotho Slum

Today I went to the Korogotho Slum. We went to deliver books to two schools and participate in a ground breaking ceremony for a kitchen at a school. We went with Osnet, a friend of Vickie Winkler (the founder of HEART). Osnet is the wife of the Israeli ambassador to Kenya, as Vickie says, she is not the typical diplomats wife. She is involved with several schools in the Nairobi area; she has worked to improve health education and to bring clean water to 11 schools. As a result of Osnet's programs school attendance is much higher and the ranking of each of the schools has improved. Osnet is now working to expand the programs, she is are working on nutrition, self sufficiency, and general education.
It was a great experience to get to go into the schools. One of the pictures shows kids sitting against a school building the other shows a teacher dancing with students in the background. The schools were all extremely clean and had posters on the walls. (Clean considering they were in slums, they still had dirt floors in many areas). The students all shout out "how are you?" when you arrive, they exaggerate the you so it sounds like "how are youuu?". It is charming. The students performed for us at every school. At the first school one class sang a traditional song and then two students performed a poem. The school had a drama program and it was obvious in the way that the students performed that they were taking full advantage of the program. One of the poems was entitled "Silence". Two girls announced their poem, struck a pose and then thanked us for our attention; their comedic timing was perfect. At another school they danced for us, I can not fathom moving my hips that way!
The students were enthusiastic, grateful and clearly healthy. The kitchen will be really important for the school, it is going to be well constructed (not slum construction) and the students will be able to get a nutritious meal while they are at school. The school administrators are working out the lunch program so that the parents pay around 10 shillings (it is 80 KSH per dollar) for their child's meal. I didn't get the details but the parents are paying for the food and the upkeep of the kitchen, an assortment of NGOs and private individuals are funding the construction of the kitchen. The lending library is also going to be run by the school. They have worked out a system so that students from sister schools are able to check out books. The kids who have access to books do much better on their eighth grade exams.
Tomorrow I am going to an orphanage. I am going as part of HEART's Freedom For Girls program. HEART discovered that girls stopped going to school, not, as commonly assumed, because they got pregnant, but because they got their period. Girls are often forced to miss up to a week of school a month because they have no way to deal with their periods. HEART has partnered with Proctor and Gamble to provide girls with a years supply of feminine hygiene products. We will also be talking to the girls about general health issues.
I will post pictures and a report of my trip to the orphanage.
Best,
Margaret

July 7th, Kibera Slum

We went to the Kibera Slum yesterday, we visited a WEEP (Woman's Empowerment and Equality Project) center. Kibera is one of the largest slums in the world, around 1.5 million people live there. The streets were lined with piles of burning trash, there was mud and human waste everywhere. The slum did have navigable streets, we drove through to the WEEP center. Shacks lined the road, people were selling clothes, shoes, household items, and food stuffs. There were also a number of beauty parlors and pre schools.
The women at the WEEP center were inspiring. Gladys runs the WEEP center, she opened it in 2005. The center helps women with AIDS, there are currently 15 women at the center. When the women first arrive they are given food and taken to the hospital to get ARVs. Once the women are healthy Gladys teaches them how to sew. The women support themselves by sewing school uniforms.
One women, Lilian, just arrived. She recounted how she had arrived at the WEEP center. She was very weak but she traveled to Nairobi to live with her brother. Rhonda, a women from the center, befriended her. Rhoda convinced Lilian to go to the hospital and get tested, that way she "would know her status". Lilian was given ARVs with specific instructions to take them at the same time everyday, this presented a problem because Lilian had no way to tell time. Lilian was forced to ask her brother the time, once her brother discovered that Lilian had AIDS he threw her out of the house. Lilian traveled to go live with her sister but had the same experience.
Lilian is now at the WEEP center, she is getting healthy.
The women who have been there longer have assumed leadership roles in their communities. One women, Jane, has several businesses. Jane owns two houses and rents one out and she also has a tailoring business.
The women are truly inspiring. Most of them were left for dead by their families but they are now not only surviving but beginning to thrive.
Today I am going to another slum, the wife of the Israeli ambassador to Kenya is distributing aid to the people there. I will post pictures from my excursion.
Margaret

Lunch at the Riverforest Cafe

We had lunch at a lovely outdoor cafe. It was quiet and beautiful. There was a playground which had a miniature car; the car had slogans written on it. One of the slogans read "Children Obey your Parents in the Lord: For this is Right" another said "God is Love."The garden also had a metal sculpture of an alligator, you can see the picture of Katelyn (another HEART intern) and me on the alligator.
There are a number of nice restaurants in Nairobi, I have already gone to two of them. On Sunday we went to Java House. Java House is a celebrated Kenyan tradition. It is safe to have the ice there! There are several Java Houses in Nairobi, as the name indicates they serve coffee, but they serve a host of other things as well. I had a burger with a salad (salads can be dangerous. . . you can only eat them from certain restaurants). The Riverforest Cafe is more upscale than Java House, they serve steak, seafood, curries, sandwiches, quesadillas, and salads. The prices are quite similar to America, it was 950 KSH (Kenyan Shillings, the exchange rate is 80 KSH per dollar) for a steak panini and a salad. This is all to say that Nairobi is an economically diverse city, the majority of the inhabitants are very poor but jobs are available and there is an upper middle class.
I will see much more of the poverty tomorrow, I will be visiting a WEEP center in the Kibera slum; Kibera is one of the largest slums in the world.
Best,
Margaret

July 4th, Church

Happy 4th of July! It was strange being away from home on Independence Day, but we had our own celebration. We put red and blue streamers up over the fireplace, and we put up flags around the house. I also listened to patriotic music (not really out of the ordinary for me, I listen to God Bless the USA at least once a day anyways). Overall it was a pretty good 4th, I missed the BBQ and the fireworks, but we still had patriotic spirit.
We also went to church, we worshiped with Bishop Able's congregation in the Kyole slum in Nairobi. Church was definitely an experience, it certainly wasn't the "Father Flash" experience. We arrived at 9:30 and left at 1:30. We helped with the Sunday school, there were around 35 kids packed into a six by 10 metal shed. The children were well behaved and sang with gusto. We did the Creation story, a puppet show, and a craft. The kids were very excited about the craft, there was quite a bit of jostling for the stickers.
The church service itself was somewhat typical. There was much more participation by the congregation than I am used to. Many members of the church performed songs or gave little talks. The service was held in a tent with plastic lawn chairs. It was moving to see so many people praising God, especially under such materially wretched circumstances. Many of the parishioners are HIV positive, the Bishop's brother died last week of AIDS. I will probably go to Bishop Able's church again before I head home, although typically the HEART staff goes to Ridgeway Baptist.
Tomorrow I am going to the Kibera slum. HEART has a WEEP center there. I look forward to meeting the women who work there, I will post pictures from the excursion.
Margaret

Wedding, July 3rd

Jambo
Today was my first full day in Kenya! We arrived safely, the flights were uneventful. Today we got the opportunity to go to a wedding; it was a great introduction to Kenya. It was a fairly typical wedding, complete with unflattering bridesmaid dresses. The bride wore a typical white dress and the groom wore a suit. The guests were very welcoming, several people came up and introduced themselves. We were invited by a friend of the bride, we were a little reluctant to go because we didn't know the couple but we were assured that 'everyone goes to weddings' and we were not 'wedding crashers'. They were unfamiliar with the concept of crashing a wedding, apparently everyone, invited or not, really does go to weddings.
The Kenyan people have been incredibly welcoming and kind. On the way home from the airport we drove through many parts of Nairobi, it amounted to a driving tour of the city. (It took us over three hours to reach the HEART compound, the traffic was unusually horrible). Nairobi is large, according to our driver around four million people. It is definitely a city, there are hospitals, markets, restaurants, and hardware stores. There is a considerable amount of infrastructure, although there is also significant poverty. On the way back from the airport we saw many shacks by the road where people live and work. There were also chickens and goats running around by the side of the road. On Tuesday I will go to the Kibera slum. It is one of the largest slums in the world, around 1.5 million people live there. I'll keep you posted on my adventures,
Margaret

Departure

I leave for Kenya tomorrow! I'll post updates and pictures from my trip on this blog and on Facebook. I'm looking forward to experiencing Kenyan culture and working with HEART. HEART works with single mothers who have AIDS, it helps the women get on a drug regimen and provides economic opportunities for the women as well. One of HEART's goals is orphan prevention.

I will be in Kenya for two months, staying at the HEART compound in Nairobi for the majority of my trip. Nairobi is a fairly modern city (apparently there is even Chinese takeout). It is a 'mile high city'; its sister city is Denver.

I will also get opportunities to travel around Kenya, and I will also go on safari (I'll definitely post pictures).
I'm finally ready to go. Packing was certainly a process. Kenyan society is fairly conservative, I will be wearing skirts and dresses paired with loose t-shirts when I leave the HEART compound. I also treated all my clothing in mosquito repellent (powerful stuff, the plastic gloves that I wore while treating the clothing shriveled).

I'm excited and a little nervous. I can't wait to experience such a radically different culture. I'll keep you posted on my adventures. . . . .