We finished up the Pangea part of the trip on Monday, when we drove from Kisumu to Nakuru where our driver dropped Allan, Jerry, and myself. Bob and Duane Edwards (Pangea's newest member who joined us for the last 5 days) went on to Nairobi where they caught their planes home that night. Our last few days continued the trend of visiting very interesting and inspiring projects.
We spent Friday with GWAKO, a group that does water projects for communities who are providing comprehensive services to orphans and caregivers. They are a faith-based group, which made some of us nervous, but they assured us that their water projects were to help everyone, with no strings attached. To be realistic, this part of Kenya is so Christian that any evangelism would be preaching to the choir. In the end, even the most skeptical were impressed by their work. They took us to visit a women's group in a fairly remote village--their proposal to us last year was to put in this well, but we turned them down; luckily they found other funding. Their services are very complete and very organized...we saw some of the best record-keeping we've ever seen among African groups. While we were in the obligatory ceremonial welcome, the venue was invaded by a "small snake", which freaked me out and that, in turn, amused them. As has happened several times on this trip, the women "bonded" with me, especially the leader of this group. She asked me how many children I had. When I replied "two", she looked sad and said "why so few?" She really didn't understand when I tried to explain that it was a choice and quite common in our country. Later, when Bob introduced himself and said he had 2 kids, she pointed at me and smiled, as if to say "I guess you were telling me the truth."
We got back to Kisumu about 2:30 and spent the next couple of hours roaming the market, shopping for a gift for Rabuor Village, and relaxing. The next morning, we headed out with two representatives of World Neighbors to visit one of their projects. We were all impressed by their approach, which is to provide lots of training to build the capacity of the local organization. In this case, the CBO works in 18 villages that are working together on a reforestation project to rescue their land from some severe soil erosion (there are big gullies that "eat" the land whenever there are heavy rains upstream). Again, we connected with the community members (maybe we're getting good at this?) and had some very interesting side conversations.
That afternoon, we arrived in Rabuor Village (Loyce's home) where we spent the next two nights in her parents' home. They've outfitted the former homes of her two oldest brothers as guest houses, and that's where we stayed. We toured the many aspects of the Rabuor project, had a chance to really talk with people about the sunflower project, and have the rare privilege of seeing how the family lives (pit latrine, bucket showers, and all). Loyce and her crew on the ground are starting to expand their dreams, already working with 10 neighboring villages and expanding the sunflower business.
We look forward to showing some of our pictures and telling some of the best stories when we see you all in Seattle. Best, Chris and the rest of the team
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Kitale - Common Ground Project
Hello from Kisumu, where it's a hazy day in the mid-70s. I hear it's hot in Seattle. Tuesday we left Dar es Salaam on a 5:25 a.m. flight (groan) and flew through Nairobi to Kisumu, where we met our driver Kennedy. We did a little shopping, and met with Rose Waringa, who heads a new organization named Precious Tears Initiative. Kennedy had nixed our plan to visit her site before driving to Kitale, so we had her join us for lunch to hear about her program working with orphans and grandmothers. It sounds like an interesting approach, so we arranged to go there at the end of the day today. After lunch, we drove 3 hours to Kitale, where we were greeted by Joshua Mashinga, the director of Common Ground. The children from Pathfinder Academy, the school run by CG, entertained us and presented us with a beautiful woven wall hanging of the Pangea logo. After a quick cup of tea, we went to our hotel, which is a golf club most assuredly built by the British. The facilities were straight out of the 50s...the shower has an on-demand heater built into the showerhead. You turn on the heater with a switch outside the bathroom door, but a big sign says you have to start the shower running first or "the boiler will blow up!" The club is too far from the center of town to walk there for food, but there is a dining room with very cheap food. This is a case of "you get what you pay for"--the chef must be British trained, because the food was bland and poorly prepared. Oh well. Yesterday we spent the entire day with Joshua, touring numerous community sites and meeting with quite a few self-help groups. Most of what we saw was centered around bio-intensive gardening, which is really effective. It increases yield by 5x, it emphasizes a balanced kitchen garden that will provide all the nutrients, and each group that is trained sees an immediate increase in health and revenue from their small farm. Joshua is somewhat of a renaissance man, who has incredible energy and must not sleep much. We feel that anything he does will be helpful to the community, but currently much of his time is absorbed by running the school. He wants to get out from under that, and we hope he can, so he can return to his passion. We talked with him about the future and about ways we might be able to help him leverage his time. All in all, a very impressive program and an amazing leader! Best to all, Chris
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Days 3-6: Mombasa and Dar es Salaam
It's just before 8am on Monday morning and we're in Dar es Salaam. Chris, Allan, and I (Bob) have finally found an Internet cafe that works (!) and has a ferociously fast net connection, at least by African standards.
We met with Harvest of Hope on 7/5. Impressive. Dr. Okemwa, an oceanographer, has made this school his retirement project. The school has been in operation for five years, and the grounds are a former farm. The chicken pens have been turned into classrooms, and the stable is the meeting hall. That sounds jury-rigged, but the result looks tailor made for a school -- maybe a dozen nice-sized and tidy classrooms going from primary school through secondary. The kids looked happy and healthy. The administrator asked them to introduce themselves, which they did (shyly). She said that introducing themselves to the "distinguished visitors" was a big deal for them.
Our flight on Thursday from Mombassa was uneventful, though delayed. We stopped in Zanzibar en route and got a nice view as we flew in.
On Friday (7/7/07) we saw Mama Rhoi's One Stop Center. Had a nice BBQ. We brought Nerf footballs, a Frisbee, and horseshoes. We had to show the kids how the games were played. I had a lot of fun showing the kids how to throw the various toys (too bad you throw a football the opposite way from a Frisbee). And here I was worried that I wouldn't find kids my own age...
Once some of the kids got it, they'd then show the others. There's quite an age range at the school -- roughly 6 to 16, I'm guessing. It's a surprisingly big orgnization. 150 or so students, a couple of dozen or so who are boarders, teachers and admimistrators. Rhoi has big plans to build a new 3-story schoolhouse.
Friday was the last day of the week-long HIV training (for both students and adults) that Pangea paid for, and we were at the "high table" at the awards ceremony. Looks like good community presence and participation (which we're increasingly seeing as important). There appears to be the inevitable friction between an organization and the local government, but perhaps our presence gave the One Stop Center a higher profile in the eyes of the officials.
Sunday was a break day. We visited a crafts bazaar and shopped in the local grocery store. Today (Monday) we're going back to visit the Teens Against AIDS camp. Rhoi had wanted to run a water pipeline (the well runs dry around December), but it seems to make more sense to drill a new well. They'll be able to irrigate more crops and perhaps sell water to the community. She should be able to get a much deeper well with a water tank to hold two weeks of water (electricity isn't reliable, especially in the dry season) for the grant money that we have given.
More football and Frisbee, perhaps? Allan has been asked to teach a yoga class and we'll also install the software we brought as gifts, and maybe do a little computer training. We met the three young adults who lead the Teens program on Saturday, and we'll start with a longer chat with them to learn what progress they've had.
Tuesday we have a 5:30am (!) flight back to Kenya. Won't be getting much sleep that night. Duane Edwards, a new Pangea member, is planning on meeting us when we get back to Kenya.
Everyone's healthy here and jet lag is behind us. Wish you were here!
We met with Harvest of Hope on 7/5. Impressive. Dr. Okemwa, an oceanographer, has made this school his retirement project. The school has been in operation for five years, and the grounds are a former farm. The chicken pens have been turned into classrooms, and the stable is the meeting hall. That sounds jury-rigged, but the result looks tailor made for a school -- maybe a dozen nice-sized and tidy classrooms going from primary school through secondary. The kids looked happy and healthy. The administrator asked them to introduce themselves, which they did (shyly). She said that introducing themselves to the "distinguished visitors" was a big deal for them.
Our flight on Thursday from Mombassa was uneventful, though delayed. We stopped in Zanzibar en route and got a nice view as we flew in.
On Friday (7/7/07) we saw Mama Rhoi's One Stop Center. Had a nice BBQ. We brought Nerf footballs, a Frisbee, and horseshoes. We had to show the kids how the games were played. I had a lot of fun showing the kids how to throw the various toys (too bad you throw a football the opposite way from a Frisbee). And here I was worried that I wouldn't find kids my own age...
Once some of the kids got it, they'd then show the others. There's quite an age range at the school -- roughly 6 to 16, I'm guessing. It's a surprisingly big orgnization. 150 or so students, a couple of dozen or so who are boarders, teachers and admimistrators. Rhoi has big plans to build a new 3-story schoolhouse.
Friday was the last day of the week-long HIV training (for both students and adults) that Pangea paid for, and we were at the "high table" at the awards ceremony. Looks like good community presence and participation (which we're increasingly seeing as important). There appears to be the inevitable friction between an organization and the local government, but perhaps our presence gave the One Stop Center a higher profile in the eyes of the officials.
Sunday was a break day. We visited a crafts bazaar and shopped in the local grocery store. Today (Monday) we're going back to visit the Teens Against AIDS camp. Rhoi had wanted to run a water pipeline (the well runs dry around December), but it seems to make more sense to drill a new well. They'll be able to irrigate more crops and perhaps sell water to the community. She should be able to get a much deeper well with a water tank to hold two weeks of water (electricity isn't reliable, especially in the dry season) for the grant money that we have given.
More football and Frisbee, perhaps? Allan has been asked to teach a yoga class and we'll also install the software we brought as gifts, and maybe do a little computer training. We met the three young adults who lead the Teens program on Saturday, and we'll start with a longer chat with them to learn what progress they've had.
Tuesday we have a 5:30am (!) flight back to Kenya. Won't be getting much sleep that night. Duane Edwards, a new Pangea member, is planning on meeting us when we get back to Kenya.
Everyone's healthy here and jet lag is behind us. Wish you were here!
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Days 1 and 2: St. Marg., MMAAK, EAC
As I sit typing this, a small lizard is crawling on the wall in front
of me. We're in Mombasa, Kenya and it's Tuesday evening, the end of
our second full day.
Our first visit was with St. Margarita's. (That's the group on the
shore of Lake Victoria, and we bought them tractors and pumps to work
their idle fields.) We met with four of them (at the hotel rather than
on site, unfortunately) and the discussion was quite informative. They
began in 1986. Sounds like their success has been contagious, and
neighboring communities are clamboring for the government to provide
what St. Margarita's has done.
Their focus is on the upcoming generation, not the present generation
of adults. Even though ARVs (anti-retroviral medicine) is becoming
available for free from the government, stigma has kept many adults
from even getting tested. Seems like tough love, but practical.
From a big picture standpoint, their focus is evolving from water
(success) to health (success) to education (the current focus), and
they're working to get kids from primary school into secondary school
and then even to college.
Later on Monday we met with the Movement of Men Against AIDS of Kenya.
This is a group that we *didn't* fund last time, and one new twist on
this trip is to see a few of these almost-but-not-quite groups.
We were quite impressed with this group also. Their focus is behavior
change in the HIV+ men (getting them to help with the nursing tasks of
relatives, reducing domestic violence, etc.), boosting their optimism,
and reducing the stigma. "Positive masculinity" is their motto, which
sounds odd to American ears, but seems to work here.
They work in 5 provinces and have a total of roughly 3000 clients
(either direct or indirect). They're loosly affiliated with similar
groups around the Lakes area (DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania).
[Seen on the way to dinner last night: the Jesus is the Answer Dental
Clinic. (I don't think so, unless Jesus has a DDS degree...)]
Today (Tuesday) we flew to Mombasa, on the coast. We visited the East
Africa Center and Suzanne Jeneby showed us around. Their current
location is well used but cramped, and she showed us a new 6-acre plot
nearby. No buildings yet, but they have plans and are working on the
permits. They expect to break ground on the Pangea-funded clinic in
about a month. Suzanne is returning to Seattle to work on a Master's
program at UW, and she's eager to visit us at one of our meetings or
lectures. We met Francis and Kennedy, the two men who will be taking
over day-to-day operations. Looks like the EAC will be in good hands.
More soon!
of me. We're in Mombasa, Kenya and it's Tuesday evening, the end of
our second full day.
Our first visit was with St. Margarita's. (That's the group on the
shore of Lake Victoria, and we bought them tractors and pumps to work
their idle fields.) We met with four of them (at the hotel rather than
on site, unfortunately) and the discussion was quite informative. They
began in 1986. Sounds like their success has been contagious, and
neighboring communities are clamboring for the government to provide
what St. Margarita's has done.
Their focus is on the upcoming generation, not the present generation
of adults. Even though ARVs (anti-retroviral medicine) is becoming
available for free from the government, stigma has kept many adults
from even getting tested. Seems like tough love, but practical.
From a big picture standpoint, their focus is evolving from water
(success) to health (success) to education (the current focus), and
they're working to get kids from primary school into secondary school
and then even to college.
Later on Monday we met with the Movement of Men Against AIDS of Kenya.
This is a group that we *didn't* fund last time, and one new twist on
this trip is to see a few of these almost-but-not-quite groups.
We were quite impressed with this group also. Their focus is behavior
change in the HIV+ men (getting them to help with the nursing tasks of
relatives, reducing domestic violence, etc.), boosting their optimism,
and reducing the stigma. "Positive masculinity" is their motto, which
sounds odd to American ears, but seems to work here.
They work in 5 provinces and have a total of roughly 3000 clients
(either direct or indirect). They're loosly affiliated with similar
groups around the Lakes area (DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania).
[Seen on the way to dinner last night: the Jesus is the Answer Dental
Clinic. (I don't think so, unless Jesus has a DDS degree...)]
Today (Tuesday) we flew to Mombasa, on the coast. We visited the East
Africa Center and Suzanne Jeneby showed us around. Their current
location is well used but cramped, and she showed us a new 6-acre plot
nearby. No buildings yet, but they have plans and are working on the
permits. They expect to break ground on the Pangea-funded clinic in
about a month. Suzanne is returning to Seattle to work on a Master's
program at UW, and she's eager to visit us at one of our meetings or
lectures. We met Francis and Kennedy, the two men who will be taking
over day-to-day operations. Looks like the EAC will be in good hands.
More soon!
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