Weeks 8-10

Hi all,

Sorry for the slack blogging- the weeks just seem to fly by!

So..the last few weeks… I learnt how to make traditional Kenyan food. The volunteers on my project, Mary Alice and Sarah, and I spent the day at our special needs teacher house from our school. Our two teachers taught us to make popular Kenyan meals- chapati, ugali and sukuma, even grading us on our ability to make these local foods! The bus ride home depicted a typical journey in Kenya- a man hanging out of the bus window to inform me that he loved me, a bus driving past with a series of mattresses and sacks of flour tied to the top, and a man on the side of the road with a set of household scales, asking people to pay for him to weigh them.

The volunteer on my project, Mary Alice, had one of the staff members at the school name their baby after her. The grandparents wanted to meet the Mzungu their grandaughter was named after, so she travelled to Kisumu to meet their family. As a thank you present she was provided with a live chicken, to be transported the 8 hour bus journey back in a plastic supermarket bag with a head for the hole. The chicken was too young to cook, so an NVS worker is raising it at his home,and the boys here went to the markets and bought a live chicken, which they proceeded to kill out the front of the house, and we ate for dinner.

At school I have been working on a variety of projects. I have written the physical therapy program the physio volunteer designed into the student folder's and created various games the teacher can use with the students to improve comprehension and English skills. The carpenter volunteer come to the school and I discussed our plans for the adapted over toilet aide. He took measurements and went with one of the NVS staff members to get wood supplies, having to carry back the heavy planks through the streets. He has started construction on it, however the tools he borrowed broke, and I went to our local supermarket and went saw shopping- another first I can add to my list! Did I want an 18 inch or 20 inch saw? I have also printed a 2013 calendar so the staff members can keep track of when volunteers are leaving and hung a 2014 Australian calendar mumma donated. I also contacted Gav to send my interview training documents so I can run an interview skills session with one of the NVS workers. A curtain now hangs in front of the toilet so the girls can have some privacy when they visit the bathroom.

I met with the men from the car wash for ex youth offenders and we discussed what items they wanted, carried out approximate costings and quantities and receieved quotes. We went together to order a new sign, put down a deposit, set out specifications, and organized to pick up the sign the following day. Myself, an NVS staff member and 2 representatives from the car wash took a bus into the city to buy the replacement supplies for the rubbish collection service they provide. I find the city very overwhelming- for the amount of people walking around, for having to watch the pavement closely as randomly 1m wide chunks of it will be missing, for the sewers running onto the road, for parts of the path being blocked by people selling vegetables, for cars who mount the sidewalk when overtaking and for people carrying 50kg sacks of potatoes on their head speeding past and you have to duck to avoid being knocked clean over.

The car wash men decided a giant hand cart would be more beneficial over the 2 wheelbarrows we had spoken about providing as they could rent it out to members of the community for further income. The men made me hide in a different section as if I was spotted we would be charged mzungu price- where the cost is highly inflated due to clearly being a foreigner. We then went and bought several rakes and shovels through a contact they had. The men carried the shovels back on the bus, and paid $2 to put the giant hand cart on top of a bus and driven back to the slum! On the way back to the bus I misstepped, and the ground that had been dirt underneath the rubbish turned into sewerage without any warning, and I ended up knee deep in the sewer! The NVS staff member took me to a public bathroom, stood me over a squat toilet and, using his hands and soapy water, scrubbed literal poop off my legs. I was caught between wanting to burst out laughing and burst into tears. I have now had a true Kenyan experience- getting closer to the Kenyan community than most volunteers have been before! This was the same NVS worker that took us to see his family in Kisumu, so I printed pictures I took as a thank you present. I wasn't sure what gift was appropriate for that particular circumstance!

The car wash boys organized for me to attend for a thank you visit, and they had painted the sign I had bought them and had it cemented in- it stood 6 feet tall and looked fantastic! Over the weekend the boys had also painted the cart, advertising its rental opportunities, and adding a ''donated by cathy'' section. The men were very thankful, and one was taking a video with his phone as he wants to make a thank you CD for me! Afterwards we went to the beading school, and I paid the course fee for one of our students. The student and her father were very thankful, and excited to hear I had paid for the entire 6 month course. I also contacted the lady from the children's HIV centre about whether she would have room if I donated a bunch of pads, and she was very excited to hear that she would soon receive donations. We then visited the local doctor and ordered pads for the children's HIV centre.

Last week I completed a lot of trips run by the volunteering company- I realized I'm running out of time! I went on a Massai walkabout- a tour of one of the traditional Kenyan villages. We had tea and chapati with the locals and had a quick tour of their house, land and livestock. We then hiked to a lookout- armed with the cooking pots and pans for lunch! Hot work! We witnessed a goat killing, and were offered to drink the blood - a typical Massai activity. I chickened out on the blood drinking- after hearing the poor thing choke to its death I just couldn't bring myself to down its blood. They then proceeded to dissect it and cook EVERYTHING- no part is spared, even the lungs and hooves. After lunch we had the opportunity to have massai burns on your arms or legs. We then hiked back to the house, and took motorbikes back to the city in the icy, pouring rain- without helmets, naturally.

I also participated in a 2 day outreach program. We visited Kitendo (translated to small acts of kindness) Children's Charity- a program set up by a former volunteer to provide schooling to children of the KCC slum. This volunteer set up the program in 2009, and has taken several trips to Kenya, sometimes up to 12 month in length, to continue fundraising to construct buildings and raise money for land (http://kccslumproject.org/ ). He is very dedicated to his project, and experiences malnourishment himself when he visits for such long periods. We had the opportunity to visit the slum. After working for so long in Kibera, the largest slum in Africa and the second largest in the world, KCC seemed spacious and clean. Here we were able to participate in a beading workshop, where the women showed us how they make gorgeous bracelets from paper and lacquer. The women are saving the profit from these bracelets to get out of the slum and buy land and animals. After the tour we participated in organized games with the kids- playing sport, flashcard games or spelling tests. The children are taught outside on the grass, and write on small blackboards- a smart alternative to using paper!

In the afternoon we visited Hells Gate National Park and did a long bike ride. We rode to pride rock (yes, the one from the Lion King), and climbed to the top. I am quickly learning I am not a heights girl and don't even recall taking pictures at the top! We then continued biking through the park- passing Zebra's and wilderbeast!, to a gorge. We climbed down twisted paths, steep rocks and under fallen trees to the spectacular gorge- and then had to ascend up the steep cliffs! Afterwards we had to ride back, however we all ended up riding through the park in the dark- a scary experience! Me, with my fantastic sense of direction, riding past live animals, when I cannot see the road in front of me was certainly an interesting experience!

The following day we visited an internally displaced person's camp- an intense place. One of the residents took us on a tour of the tents they live in. When I say tent I don't mean the lovely ones we camp in, I mean clear plastic nailed to wobbly pieces of wood, that heats inside to the temperature of an oven. After just a few minutes inside I felt like I was going to pass out! The man that was giving us the tour told us of his story, how after the 2007 election riots his region succumbed to violence, and his family was forced to flee. He was bordering on tears, saying that they are stuck until the government provides assistance- something they have been waiting for for 5 years. We then were able to play with the children from the school at the camp- gorgeous little ones hungry for mzungu attention. We gave out donations of biscuits to the kids, flour to the adults, and pads to the women. In the afternoon I went on a boat safari and saw flamingoes and hippo's- so beautiful!

I'm behind on my blog, so I will save the weekend adventures for my next entry. This weekend we were planning to visit the beach in Mombassa, somewhere all the other volunteers have raved about, however a travel warning has been sent out over the weekend, saying that Mombassa, the roads into Mombassa, the main club and its beaches are a current terrorism threat, following finding the white widow (residing walking distance from where I am staying…) listing plans to bomb Mombassa. So we are seriously rethinking our trip! Today an alert was also released for our 2 local shopping centres- Junction and Prestige- and our volunteering company has informed us not to travel there at all in the next two days. I'm safe, but things like this remind me where I am!

Until the next entry- love to you all. Not long now until I'm back down under!

XXX