Care packages, presidentail visits and birthdays

What a week its’ been.

Tuesday I accompanied Sr. Joy on home visits. The first one took us three hours to track down a father, first at his home and then at the school where he is the deputy head master. It ended up being worth the effort. It turned out the mother has been lying to us and stopped doing the therapy at home with her daughter and wants to send her away to boarding school. The father is very concerned, especially since now the child needs another surgery. It seems as if he’s going to work hard to stay on top of his daughter’s therapy to make sure that the next surgery is effective. The second visit took us to the home of a little boy who has plaster casting. While Joy talked with the mother and grandmother I played peek-a-boo with one of the other little girls. The grandmother jokingly promised I could take her back to the US with me since she seemed to like me so much. After no one was home at the third house, we headed home. Still it was long for a St. Julie’s day and we didn’t get home until almost 5.

We also got a visit from the president of Kenya this week. President Kibaki came through on Thursday afternoon. Of course all of us were excited at the prospect of seeing the president of another country so we got there close to 2, when they said he would arrive. We watched a two local men playing on homemade instruments while we were waiting, but soon after we arrived he began singing about us and the whole crowd of more than 50 people turned to look at us. It was a little uncomfortable. We moved across the road to get good spots, but I lost mine when I went to go get a little breathing room. Rather than pushing my way back to the front I sat on a blanket with one of the parents from St. Julies and listened to all the commotion. Luckily Michael, Tom and Jean got good pictures of the president. From what Sr. Joy told me, people were really upset with the whole situation. They were spraying down the ground to keep the dust from flying up on the president. Kenya is in the middle of a pretty horrific drought and people in our town don’t even have water to plant their crops. Then, when he showed up 2.5 hours later he didn’t let any of the local officials speak, he didn’t talk about improvements for the region and didn’t say thank you to all the people who stood in the blistering sun for hours waiting to see him. All in all, he spoke for less than 10 minutes. Thursday evening culminated in a joint early birthday dinner for Jean (March 29) and Tom (April 2). Eating with all the sisters is always so nice, not just b/c we don’t have to cook for ourselves, but to be able to sit at a full table with lots of interesting conversations.

Saturday I had the chance to meet with Martha Thompson from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. She was on a visit to Kenya and Uganda to check on the initiative that they partner with. The one in Kenya just happens to be in Kakamega, so Tom, Michael and I took the opportunity to learn more about the work they’re doing here. We met with Martha and Pastor Paul who leads the initiative here. He told us about how they’re working to find the people who came back to this area after the post election violence of last year with nothing. The NGOs who were here to help don’t really seem to be doing anything in this area so the work on this project is essential. Martha also filled us in on the other international projects that the UUSC is working on. The wonderful company combined with one of the best meals I’ve had since I got here made it a really enjoyable afternoon.

This Sunday was Jean’s 23^rd birthday so to celebrate she, Tom and I made the trip up to Webuye to see the beautiful Webuye falls. After taking a boda boda as far as we could, we walked the rest of the way. We didn’t see a straight forward path (although there was one) so we took a more adventurous route that involved a little bit of rock climbing. Finally we got to the base. We were going to try and hike up the right side, but there didn’t seem to be a place that was safe to cross the river. We ended up going up the left side, which involved more rock climbing. At one point I lost my grip on some mud and ended up with mud from head to toe after slipping about 4 ft. We finally made it to the top and were rewarded with some pretty amazing “I’m on top of the world” views. There was a nice little pool where the water wasn’t running too quickly and since the temperature had been steadily rising all day, we decided to take this opportunity to take a little dip. Maybe not the best decision to swim in unknown water, but the water was wonderfully cool and had the added benefit of kind of cleaning the mud off of me. After drying in the sun we worked our way back to town on the main road. I was happy we’d taken the boda boda there b/c it took more than an hour to walk the 5 kms back to town. Michael met us and we enjoyed a very good lunch and were rewarded with pouring rain. I’ve never lived anywhere where rain makes me so happy. We took a quick look around the market and then headed back to town.

Yesterday we also got two new occupants in our house. The new postulants- Susan and Elizabeth- moved in yesterday. I haven’t had a chance to talk to them very much, although Elizabeth was at Racecourse when we first got here. I’m looking forward to getting to know both of them better.

A BIG thanks goes out to my sister for my very first package in Kenya. I’m sure the customs official in Kisumu are enjoying the M&Ms that were taken, but otherwise everything else made it. I really enjoyed the treats (like Skittles) that we just can’t get here. It also took less than 3 weeks!

Thanks for keeping up with everything!

St. Patty's Day and a bount of new movies...

Last week went by so quickly, but it seems as thought that's become the norms. I keep thinking that it was just the other day I bid farewell to cold, snowy Cincinnati Ohio, and then I remember that its almost been 3 months. CRAZY!
Anyways...Tuesday Tom and I had a staff meeting at the St. Julie’s Center that lasted around 3 hours. After, we went to the boy’s house for St. Patrick’s Day. Tom made Corned beef and cabbage with potatoes, which was delicious! I think it was great mostly b/c it was so different from the food we usually eat. Most of the staff from the St. Julie’s center came, but left right after dinner. Since Jean and I weren’t getting pick up until 8 we stayed and hung out for a little while to watch the stars come out. Again, a big thanks to Tom and Michael for preparing a great meal.
Nothing really new to report from St. Julie's.We also had a meeting with Judi last week. She wanted to know how things were going at SJC and I was sure to let her know that we didn’t have much to do on a day to day basis while we’re actually at work but we’re working on changing that. Actually, Tom and I are starting driving lessons this week with an actual driving school. I’m really excited; it will be nice to be able to drive. I’m even thinking about getting a Kenyan license, apparently it’s very easy and can be used as proof of residency. I’m also picking up a little side project. There’s a man whose daughter used to come to the center but sadly passed away. He writes stories about local legends in the tribal language, but has recently translated them into Swahili. Anyways, he needs someone to type them so they can be published, and I told Judi I would be happy to do it. It’s a nice little project to have in the afternoons. Sissy also called Tom last week,to check in and offered some ideas about new projects to take on. There’s a center for neglected and abused children in Kakamega, and she’s thinking about us each working there one day a week. There are also a bunch of little side projects that need to be done in the course of the year, so there seems to be more work that we can do. We'll see how it all plays out.
This past weekend was uneventful, but a lot of fun. All four of us went to Kakamega so Jean and I could change the day we’re taking the bus on vacation and buy more bootleg movies. Gotta love Kenya…20 movies on one disc for about 200 KSH (about 250 USD). It’s awesome. Jean and I also got some new shoes…I got dressier sandals for vacation since I didn’t want to wear my chacos with everything. Friday I also had breakfast with Tom and two Masai warriors at the Honey Drop café. It was neat! And a little scary. We got there and it was so crowded that the only seats left were at a table with two Masai men who work as night watchmen here in the village. One of them even had a bottle of their goats milk/ cow blood drink on the table. They’re intimidating b/c they don’t even speak Swahili, carry knives on their belts all the time and some have some very interesting tribal tattoos. Saturday Tom, Michael and I headed out to Tumaini to get some indoor painting done and then had homemade pizza from Jean at our house. Sunday was spent playing outside with some of the local kids and watching Shrek 2 and 3 with Tom, Michael and a group of Kenyan children.
So thats life for now...thanks for keeping up with my adventures! Next weekend I'm going to Kakamega to meet a woman who's coming here from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee to see a grassroots initiative that the UUSC has been partnering with here. I'm super excited to see another UU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OWEN!

Happy 24th birthday Owen Reynolds!
I hope your first Nicaraguan birthday is wonderful!

It's laundry day

While my laundry is waiting to be washed, I wanted to do a quick update about life recently in Malava. Last week I went back to work after a week off with malaria. It was really nice to be back at work, even if the week was a little slow.

Last week I had a chance to go out to Tumaini where Michael and Jean work to help with the new orphanage they’re building on the site with the school. It’s really coming along and they say they should be able to move kids into the finished wing by the end of the month. It’s been so awesome to help with the painting and other work that needs to be done- helping to building a new home for children in need with my own hands. Michael also let me look in on his reading class on both days I was out there last week. On Tuesday he let me read “Lady and the Tramp” to his reading class and then I watched while he taught them new vocab words like “swoon” “frightened” and “creep”. When Michael was teaching them “creep” he snuck up on a kid who was sleeping and tapped him on the back of the head. Of course when all the boys were demonstrating the new word, they ran around whapping each other on the back of the head. Thursday Michael’s class sang songs to me and Tom and the class next door got so excited they had us come over to their class and sing to us too. Tumaini kids LOVE to sing and dance. They’re awesome kids, I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve been able to spend there.

This Saturday all four of us went to Kakamega to run errands and Jean and I had a chance to spend most of the day by the pool. Just a little taste of our upcoming vacation…it feels so decadent to just lie in the sun and swim in the pool.

Sunday Tom, Michael and I went to church with Angela, one of the therapists from SJC. She usually goes to the Catholic church, but wanted to take us to another one in town so we could see what an evangelical church in Africa was like. It was certainly interesting and the only thing I can think to compare it to is when we went to the Baptist Church in Georgia where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used to preach. Someone preached for about an hour, then there was a lot of singing. At the end of every song, the crowd dissolved into incoherent praising and rejoicing. Then someone else came up to preach for about an hour. They say it usually lasts 5 hours, but we only made it through 2.5. See Tom's blog for a more extensive description. After church Jean met us and all four of us headed to a delicious lunch at Angela’s house. We watched Nigerian music videos, chatted and played with her almost 2yr. old son Gracious. He’s such a sweet little boy and sobbed so hard when we finally left. I initially thought it was b/c he was scared of Michael, but it turns out he was just sad to see us leave.

Last night I discovered that “Chinatown” with Jack Nicholson is a great movie and the bootleg movie I bought awhile ago in Kakamega really does work. I had been apprehensive about using it b/c the first night I tried to use it was the night my old power cord stopped working. It looks like it was just a coincidence and I enjoyed a little bit of “Titanic” before I fell asleep. We’ve also firmed up all of our plans for April vacation. The boys are flying, but jean and I are taking an overnight bus all the way across the country. It should take about 16 hours. We’re bound to have some really cool story!

Back to laundry time…thanks for keep up with my story! It was great to talk to some of the Leininger/ Carpenter/ Kennedy/ Gomien etc… family on Sunday night. I hope Alaina’s tooth came out ok and you all had wonderful birthdays!

culinary victories

I wanted to post something short about how wonderful it is to cook here. Because there's a limited variety of the food we can eat, we're all forced to experiment with the food we do have to create new and interesting dishes. Today, I achieved two culinary victories in the field of tomatoes. A few weeks ago I tried making tomato sauce for pasta from scratch. It took about 3 hours, but I think what I made turned out pretty well. I worked on it again today, switching up some of the ingredients, changing the process a little and I have to say, it was a great success. Looking at it simmering away on the stove, you really wouldn't be able to tell that it didn't come from a jar in the supermarket. Please with this victory, I moved on to tomato soup. Again, it took several hours and a lot of experimenting, but I think it turned out pretty well. It doesn't exactly taste like campbells, but it's going to be pretty darn tasty with some grilled cheese sandwiches here.
Other culinary discoveries- grilled PB&J and Peanut butter, banana and honey sandwiches (a big thanks to the boys for that one. Jean also made chocolate frosting yesterday with hot chocolate powder since she couldn't find cocoa. Imagine eating a cake with frosting that tasted just like hot cocoa. It was delicious!
There's a woman in the market who sells coconuts and I want my next experiment to some sort of curry sauce that uses coconut. So if anyone happens to know of a simple recipe for a sauce that needs curry powder and coconut milk, please let me know.

Malarial Boredom...pt 2

Well there's really not alot to update this week.
I feel like I might have finally kicked the malaria (knock on wood), but being home from work for a week with absolutely no energy was not super fun. On the upside, thanks to honorable Tom and Jean for retrieving them for me, I saw several movies this week that I'd never seen before. Pineapple Express, Some Like It Hot, Indian Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and Pulp Fiction, just to name a few. Tom's extensive movie collection continues to come in quite handy.
I did manage to get out of the house a few times and a big thanks to Tom for coming out to the compound to entertain me. Friday all four of us went to lunch at Ismael's house. He's the foreman here on our farm and he wanted us to come see his bomas (homestead). We had a nice lunch of soda, biscuits, fried eggs and ugali. For those of you who know me well, you know that I don't eat eggs. It was my first challenge to Kenya hospitality, but not wanting to be rude, I ate as much of the lunch as I could (thanks Michael for taking some of my eggs!). Don't worry, I haven't had some revelations about eggs. I still think they're gross. But i've been told that here, when someone makes you something to eat, unless its going to make you sick, you eat it.
We also finalized some plans for our vacation in April. We're going to the coast for like 6 days and then white water rafting outside Nairobi before a two day retreat with Sr. Jane in Nairobi. It's amazing to think that we've been gone for 10 weeks already. It's amazing how fast the time has flown by.
Today we went to Tom and Michael's for a tasty brunch of peppers and sausage. One casualty of the malaria was my appetite, but its been coming back. Jean went home to do some laundry but I ended up staying the rest of the day and having dinner with the boys and the cat. It was a really nice way to spend the afternoon and nice to have two meals cooked for me.
I'm glad to be headed back to St. Julie's tomorrow. As always, thanks to all of you who are keeping up with my story!

Malarial boredom

Well, as Tom said in his blog, I have officially won the Kenyan Infectious Disease Lottery. I am the first of the four volunteers to come down with Malaria. Now, before any of you reading this become too worried, I’m really doing fine. Mostly, I'm just getting a little bored with all this bed rest. I’ve been out of work this week and went to the doctor on Monday. After a very brief consultation with the clinician, I was sent to the Lab to have my finger pricked for a blood smear. When I got to the lab, the man who was working was a man Sr. Joy had introduced me to on a previous visit to the hospital. Ironically enough, the only other time I have been to the Malava district hospital was with Sr. Joy to find a speaker for St. Julie parents on the prevention on malaria. But anyways, it was good to have an in with the lab man. There were lots of people wait (outside I might add…b/c the waiting rooms at this hospital is outside on the grass) but he saw me right away. I took my little book that the lab guy had written in back to the clinician. He started to ask me all these questions, without telling me what the lab result was. But when I stopped to ask, he assured me it was malaria. I have to say, although it might sound strange, I was a little relieved. I would have had to go to another hospital in Kakamega to see another doctor had it not been malaria, and I was honestly too tired to think about doing that. Assured that it was in fact malaria, I have spent the last two days in bed, watching movies graciously lent to me by Tom and reading. I’m getting a little bored and feeling almost all the way better. But I’m still pretty run down, so I’m going to wait at least one more day before I go back to work. But for my first time with malaria, it was a very light case. I’ll be back to myself in a few days, so any of you who might be worrying…there’s no need. It’s like a rite of passage in Africa.

Also, with all this time to just lie around, I’m officially on book #20. I’ve read 19 books in almost 9 weeks. I love all the time to read, I can’t remember I had this much.

Well other that this little illness, life here has been fairly routine. Work is starting to slow down a little bit b/c (finally!) the rainy season has begun. Many people are at home getting their fields ready for planting and don’t have time to bring their kids into the center. The others at the center have said this will continue for a while and we should get used to having more time on our hands. I can’t imagine having more time that we already have, but we’ll wait and see. I talked to Sr. Jane last week (she’s our site director here in Kenya) and I explained some of my frustrations with down time. I love working at St. Julie’s and love having a lot of free time, but I’ve been struggling to feel productive. When I go to Nairobi for retreat in April we’re going to talk about finding supplemental for me to do…maybe working in one of the schools around here. I think it will be nice to have something to do a few afternoons each week. I’m looking forward to it. In the meantime, I went back to Sabatia eye clinic with Sr. Katherine on this past Friday. Going out in the field, whether it’s during home visits or going to clinics has become my favorite part of working for St. Julie’s.

A short anecdote: we were driving to Sabatia on Friday and we were almost there when we saw an accident in the road. There looked to be a petrol tanker in the road leaking something and a lorry (a little semi) turned on its side. There were people scraping gooey black stuff from the outside of the tanker into cans while the police stood off to the side doing nothing. Well I was outraged. I thought that the tanker was spilling crude oil which people were scraping with their bare hands. It may not have reached the American news, but about a month ago, an oil tanker overturned near a town called Molo. People came out to collect it and the news sources have said that the police, rather than keeping people away from such a dangerous scene, were charging people to collect the petrol. The newspaper said that someone who was angry b/c they didn’t have any money lit a match. Needless to say, the entire thing exploded and more than 120 people were killed. Well after that terrible tragedy, I couldn’t imagine that the police would just stand by and do nothing, not even help direct the quickly piling traffic around the wreck. As we got closer and closer I got angrier and more scared. After all, we had a bunch of children with us. This anger last until we got closer and I saw that one of the children had the black gunk all over his face and was licking it from his fingers. It was not oil, but molasses, that was for some reason being transported in a petrol tanker. The Lorry had turned on its side b/c it slipped in molasses. I was still a little annoyed that the police weren’t directing traffic, but the whole thing was pretty funny.

View of the hillside from the orphanage

Hide and Seek

Violet with Doro (L) and Ruth (R)

Madam Susan with some new friends

Saturday Jean and I headed to the orphanage that is run by the same woman who runs the school where Jean works. We spent the whole afternoon there, eating lunch, playing hide and seek and stud. We taught them to play jenga and they drew pictures of school and Madam Jean and Mr. Michael (our volunteers who are their teachers). The whole day was really wonderful. The best word I can think of for these kids is charming. We had a blast and it was really nice to spend a day with kids who are healthy. Don’t get me wrong, I love the kids at St. Julie’s, but it was nice to spend the day running around in the sun with these kids.

Two other good points of good news; the first package to Malava reached us last week. Michael received a package with books and supplies for his school. It took just about 3 weeks. I’ve been thinking that packages will take 3-6 weeks. I’m expecting a package from home and I hope it comes as quickly. That gives all you birthday well wishers just about 7 weeks. Letters have been coming much more quickly. All the small padded envelopes and letters have come in 10 days-two weeks, although one of Tom’s letters took a month. I also finally got a new power cord for my computer last week! It’s nice to be able to watch movie and use the internet on my own computer again. It came just in time, I can’t imagine how bored I would have been if I didn’t have movies during my bed rest over these last couple days.

Well that’s about all the news for now. Thanks for keep up with my stories!