Check Your Complaints at the Door

I just have a few things that I have been thinking about while here lately, so instead of putting up three different posts, I’ve thrown them altogether, let me know your thoughts.

True Perseverance

If there is one word to describe the people of Kenya it is perseverance. Every day I see another example of it and am truly impressed by the hard work, determination, and care for what these people do without a single complaint. There is much to be learned from the observation of just one person during their daily pursuit to make a living and provide a healthy household for their family.

It comes from seeing the elderly woman walking down the street with at least 6 huge sacks filled to the brim with whatever grain she is selling that day. She has one in each hand, one on her back, two on her head and ropes tying others in whatever places there are left. It is watching the men pull a cart filled with tons and tons of cartons, which could very well be filled with bricks by the way the beads of sweat look as they drip down their faces. He pulls and pulls up the hill and over the speed bumps along the way. Then it is from the children who wake up before the sun and start the journey to school each and every morning in order to get a good education, many not even eating a meal to start the day. It is like Walter (the community health worker I wrote about in one of my first posts) who does his amazing work of empowerment and outreach every single day, not sure if he will get paid for it or not, but willing to do it trying to ensure that a meal is on the table for his six children, without the help of his wife who has passed away.

These are the daily models of strength and perseverance that will help create a stronger Kenya. The NGOs, government organizations and all the aid in the world can try to do what it can, but it is the people on the ground that will make the real difference in the country.

Running Through Eldoret

So I’ve been going for a run each morning just to feel somewhat in shape while I’m here and to justify the twenty pounds of Indian food that we’ve been eating lately (seriously the best Indian food I’ve ever eaten in my life; I think the waiters are starting to recognize us). One morning when Lauren and I went out we met up with four Kenyan runners, two girls and two guys, randomly. We were running in front of the pack the whole time we were with them which I thought was pretty exciting. Here I am running along four real Kenyan runners and I’m actually leading the pack! Then one of the girls asked Lauren what time it was and she said 9am, so Lauren asked her how long they have been running for. She responded with, an hour and a half. So they’ve been running for 90 minutes while we just started and I was all proud that we were running alongside them. Oh well, I will still be happy that for a whole 2 km I was running along what could be legit Kenyan runners, and I’m sticking with that story.

Some other great running quips involve all the animals that I get to run alongside of. If it is a completely normal morning I will have a herd of cows walking on the road while I run by. It is also normal if one of those cows decide to walk in the middle of the street and cut me off. Then there are goats to another side and chickens crossing the road – why do they do that? There will be sheep at some parts, and then of course the remnants showing that all these animals were once there. I think I might miss this once I’m running down 16^th St or along Connecticut Ave in DC and there are just annoying tourists to hop around instead of a rooster getting in my way.

Market in Kisumu

So there are many of you that not only anticipate spring for its warmer weather but because of your love of the farmer’s markets (you know I’m looking at you Julia). Well during my time in Kisumu, it was like everyday there was a farmer’s market. We just had to walk down the street to pass by every fruit and vegetable that we could want. We would get the freshest foods we could find at every corner. We would get tomatoes and onions from one woman and then a huge pineapple, mangoes, and bananas from the next. Most people who sold the food were older women who would sit on the sidewalk and lay out all their goods for everyone walking by to see. The oranges would be stacked delicately, 3 on the bottom and one on top in the middle, the hot peppers would be placed in specific bundles, and every grain you could imagine would be stuffed into huge sacks all lined to pick from.

Most days we would walk down Kenyatta highway (it’s called a highway but it’s just a big road where most of the cars travel on) and we would pay 20 bob for a bushel of one thing and 50 bob for another. After spending what might be close to 3 or 4 dollars we would have enough fruits and vegetables to last for awhile. We would go back to our favorite stands for certain foods, like our pineapple lady, but otherwise we would just pick and choose along our walk. One of the most interesting moments was when we wanted to buy sukumawiki (also nicknamed skuma and is like a type of kale that I will absolutely miss in the States) and there was a small girl who was selling the food for her mother while the other child was sitting in the chair with her machete chopping the skuma into tiny bits in a big bowl. I’m thinking most kids we know don’t get introduced to a machete until they are a bit older. The girl who we bought it from was a trip too because she had her little apron on with all her money inside wheeling and dealing with her customers taking 40 bob from one and giving out 20 bob of change to another. Teach them young, it’s good.

I will remember these people when I go home. They are very strong individuals who work from sunrise to sundown, just sitting on the side of the road, no comfy chair to recline in or posturepedic whatcha-ma-callit to help them through the day. There is no clean up on aisle three just because a cow walked by and decided to, well, you know. They just hope they receive enough money to feed their family and will sit out there until it happens. And there are a LOT of them. It’s not that there are two or three women selling tomatoes and another three selling onions, there are twenty or thirty women selling each of these items, hoping that the people passing them buy their food instead of their neighbor. There is no complaining of course though; this is what they know and what they love. Ask anyone and this is the good life; we must all think about that the next time we complain about the air conditioning in our tidy offices failing because it’s easily 80* at its coolest out here in Kisumu. I am truly impressed by all those who do this work, and will continue to cherish the time I can just walk down the street and pick up my skuma for 10 bob (12 cents) and call it a day.

Fútbol, Much More Popular than Football

         So this past Saturday night was the Manchester United (Man U) game versus Arsenal in the quarter finals of the FA cup. For all those who don’t follow soccer that much, aka the vast majority of you, the FA cup is equivalent to any sports’ playoffs and this game that was being played was a very important one. Man U and Arsenal are among the two best teams in the world and it is assumed that whoever won this game would win the FA cup finals (soccer finals in England). Throughout my time here I’ve been trying to decide which team I’ve wanted to cheer for. I’ve been leaning towards Arsenal the whole time, so that’s what I decided to stick with. Sorry Ruby, I know you are a Tottenheim fan and don’t like Arsenal, but I have some friends here who do, so I had to go with them. I also wasn’t going to jump on the bandwagon of the Man U fans since they are number one, and well I’m a New York Giants fan so I’m not used to being number one anyways, sorry Dad.

We all sat down at the bar to watch the game, and surprise surprise it was actually pretty exciting. I watched a few games during the World Cup in the States, but this game was definitely better. Both teams were constantly shooting on goal and there was non-stop action throughout the field. I have to say I was kind of surprised because I normally picture futbol as a bunch of guys passing the ball around for 90 minutes. It probably helped that these were two of the best teams. We all had our Tuskers, some more than others, and were anxiously awaiting a goal from either side. Arsenal seemed to be dominating the ball, but all of a sudden a Man U player by the name of Fabio – yes Fabio – took the ball and scored! My table was pretty silent except for the one guy who was jumping up and down, with evil stares all around him. The rest of the place was yelling and cheering, and it reminded me of the Giants versus Eagles game at Buffalo Billiards this past year. Well Fabio and his Jew fro were the stars of the game. Man U ended up winning 2-0 even after the cute Arsenal player, Samir Nasri, with his bright orange shoes, kicked an amazing shot to the corner that the goalie must have had prior knowledge of before diving to the ground and saving it at the last second. But so it was, a loss for Arsenal, kicking them out of the tournament, allowing Man U to most likely go on to win it all. I still look forward to watching the remainder of the games with these guys though; I guess if American football isn’t around every Sunday then real Futbol will have to suffice. I’m even looking to see if I can go to a Kenyan game in Nairobi at some point. That would be very exciting; I can see if those fans really are worse than Eagles fans. :)

At the end of my time in Kisumu, Aduda introduced us to his old high school where he used to play field hockey (it is a guys' sport everywhere else other than the United States, minus the skirts). I was definitely excited since I haven’t played in years, has to be at least 6 or 7, and I was itching to pick up a stick. So that first day I went, I borrowed one of the guy’s sticks on the team and after their practice scrimmaged a little bit against some of them. It was soooo much fun. Just being able to wind up the stick and smack the crap out of the ball felt awesome. I even went out and bought a stick, so when I returned to the school I could use my own. I took it with me to Eldoret where I am now (just moved back!) and will see if I can use it while I’m here. Lauren plans on returning to Kisumu before she leaves so I will give her the stick to donate to the school, hopefully going to a great player who can use a better stick than many of the ones that were provided to them by the school. It has given me the motivation to join a field hockey league back in the states, if anyone wants to join with me let me know!

Not too many exciting things have happened in the past week, hence the shortage on blog posts, but I have traveled back to Eldoret and am excited to see everyone again. Lauren and I are living in a great guest house that Violet found for us, so we are still able to cook and have our own area to ourselves. Jess elected to go back to the IU house, which was nice because Lauren and I can go over there for dinner or whatnot when we don’t actually feel like cooking, or when we want internet that actually works. I have reconnected with our CHW from before, Walter, which I am very excited about. He remembered us and is more than willing to help out as much as he can. He continues to amaze me every time we have a chance to talk. His willingness to be there unconditionally for his community is inspiring and truly shows his benevolent nature.

With that I’m sending out a shameless request for whoever would like to donate or join my Servathon team back in DC. I feel like this may be a good forum for it since I think a lot of people read this, but I really don’t know who. Many of you probably already received some emails from me letting you know about Servathon and if anyone would like to join the team, so if you have you can disregard the next paragraph like you probably did the email :). For everyone else, Servathon is the largest volunteer day in DC and the greater area. It is run through the organization Greater DC Cares and last year there were over 7,000 volunteers in service projects at 100+ nonprofits and schools. Last year we volunteered at Boystown DC and we made benches, a volleyball court and did some landscaping around the area. The year before we painted the interior of an apartment building which provided permanent support housing to people living with HIV/AIDS and other disabilities. This year we are volunteering at the Ophelia Egypt Program Center where it is their mission to provide high quality, affordable reproductive health care; promote education programs that empower all individuals to make informed and responsible reproductive choices; and to protect the right to make those choices (yes I did copy and paste that). We will be painting landscapes and other murals on canvass to be placed around the program center and we will also clear out and build an urban garden space in a lot next to the center. Now I may be writing we in all this but in reality it is occurring on April 16^th so I will still be in Kenya at the time. Julia and Makeda have been my helpers on the ground in DC. This is the third year that my team will be going though so I didn’t want to miss out on having them return just because I was out of the country. I want to thank everyone who has signed up so far and encourage others to continue to do so. If you would like to join or donate you just have to go to: http://servathon2011.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=464521&lis=0&kntae464521=0962EC71D7AF47279BDCCD79B9C9A80B and either click Register Here or Sponsor Participant. My team name is Rescue Rangers (thank you Julia!). It should be pretty self explanatory from there, but shoot me an email if you have questions.

So… sorry for the self-promotion but I guess it has to happen once in awhile to get real results. Also it goes to a great cause by providing volunteer services to DC’s nonprofits and schools and having the residents of the community give back, which I guess is what I was going for at the end of this post. Also, I want to shout out to Minard for the cds he sent me half way across the world, always have to love the annual Music Man Minard mix.

Time is flying by like usual, only 6 weeks left on this amazing journey…

It's a Jungle Out There!

These past two weekends we've been trying to do as much as we can in Kisumu before we make our way back to Eldoret. This included a hippo hunt from Kiboko Bay (Kiboko means hippo in Swahili) and the Impala Park. The hippo hunt was really cool because the three of us jumped into a boat that looked like a large canoe with a roof on top and made our way through Lake Victoria. We passed people from the area doing laundry and swimming, as well as fisherman throughout the whole trip. There were some divers, guys with nets, and others on their boats. It was interesting to see all the different ways that people here catch fish. I figured in this post it would be more beneficial to see the pics throughout then try to read my descriptions about them. So I chose a few to put up, but I downloaded a bunch more in my gallery so everyone can see the whole trip.

Here are some pictures of the fishermen:

We also passed a lot of papyrus trees and other wildlife within it:

 And the hyacinth was taking over the whole area:

(there is water under there somewhere)

One of the major highlights of course was when we found the family of hippos. We were able to get within just ten or so feet of them, which was really cool. They didn’t seem to really care we were there, which is good because they are apparently the most deadly animal in Africa, even though they are vegetarians. 

After we got enough of the hippos we went to the fisherman shoreline. We got out of the boat to have some lunch and feast on the best fish ever. It was definitely fresh since we got to pick out our own to eat. Thankfully they were already dead when we picked, but as you will see presentation is everything. This is the first time I literally pulled the meat off the bones. You just have to forget that there is a face looking back at you and go at it. It was delicious!

So after our feast we got back into the boat, pulled ourselves out of the hyacinth, and continued on our way. Just a note about the hyacinth, it is seriously taking over all of Lake Victoria. One day Lake Victoria is going to be completely covered because of this stuff. It somehow got from South America to Lake Victoria – presumably from a human of course – and has now overrun the lake. There are many efforts to control the plant, but nothing has worked yet.

            After a very fun 3 hour tour :) we made it back from our adventure along Lake Victoria.

The following weekend we went to the Impala Park which is located not too far from the bay. We met up with Beatrice and her three younger children, who were very cute - see pictures of the little one with the ice cream. At the park, impalas can roam freely throughout, while more dangerous animals are kept in fenced in areas. There we got to see ostriches, monkeys, birds, cheetahs (we got really close!), a hyena, lions and lionesses. I have lots of pictures of these guys. Here are some of my favorites:

and the cute little one that did not need a fence:

Well all the rest of the pictures are under My Gallery in the upper right of this page. Enjoy!