And I'm Back...

Back to a life of buckets.  Back to the world where when a dinner turns out bad and I can’t force the fork to my mouth any longer, it’s popcorn for dinner.  (No pizza huts around here to save dinner fiascos.)  Back to being shoved in matatus with goats behind me, chickens underneath my feet, mamas breastfeeding their babies on my shoulder and people asking for the clothes off my back.

I’m also back to sitting under trees with students, laughing and telling stories, to pass the afternoon heat.  I’m back to softball, health club, malaria work, and helping out at the local dispensary.

It may be too early to say this, but I’m back to blogging.  (Maybe.)

In December, I was feeling senioritis setting in.  Besides the ungodly heat, I love where I am living and working.  I enjoy and believe in the work I am doing (most days).  But motivation was almost nowhere to be found. 

So I took a break and gave myself the wonderful gift of family and home.  AND delicious FOOD!

Besides my dad no one else knew I was coming home.  It was thanksgiving when I had a weak moment and told my dad of my plans to come home for a visit.  Plus I needed a ride from the airport.

(I had a great video, to post, of surprising my family but my computer broke and in the transferring of everything I lost a bunch of videos and pics.)

BUT I had a great time with my family and got the chance to see many great friends and people very dear to me.  

I was hoping when I got back I would be rejuvenated and ready to work like crazy in my final leg of my Peace Corps service.  Coming back to Kenya managed to be harder than I thought.  I locked myself in my house for 3 days missing my family and thinking about all the food that I didn’t get to eat while in America (just not enough meals in the day.)  Oh and I was still searching for the ever evasive motivation.

I finally got myself out the door and working again.  I have had great workday after great workday with some noisy political rallies in between.  I have been trying my best to avoid them but with an election in less than 5 weeks it is getting more difficult to avoid. 

Last year, much of my time was spent distributing nets.  This year I am making household visits to ensure the nets are hanging over sleeping areas and being properly used.  In the beginning of the month, every house that we visited had their nets hanging!   

In the middle of January, I had a meeting with USAID at the U.S. Embassy to talk about the malaria work I have been doing in the last quarter.  They were very encouraging and supportive with excellent feedback on how to remedy some problems I have been running into.  The meeting kicked me into high gear and there was the motivation I had been missing. 

Last week, I met with the regional net supplier for my area.  He has promised that he will personally deliver nets to me next week… that I have been waiting months to receive.  I also have finally managed to open communication lines between net supplier and OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children Association) to have an ongoing supply of nets delivered each month.   87 phone calls, many meetings, and endless conversations with people all over Kenya, and I have finally got this worked out.  It only took 10 months.  It’s the small things that are the huge successes here.  But this truly is a big deal.  I live in an endemic area for malaria and yet nets aren’t available to the community except for pregnant mothers and children under 1.  If my work ended tomorrow I would be satisfied knowing that anyone in the community now has access to mosquito nets for an incredibly low subsidized cost.  Oh and the OVC that will be selling them gets a profit.  It’s a win win. 

And I’m back…

Sweep the Shelves and Stock the Freezer

It was a sad day when I heard twinkies would be no more and then I was devastated when it clicked that this was also the end for snowballs.  This seems trivial that I am sitting in Kenya with pangs in my heart writing about the discontinuation of a silly snack cake.

BUT, Snowballs have been a huge part of my childhood.  For as long as I can remember, my dad, brother, and I have shared this delicious snack cake.  (I don’t recall my sisters being too crazy about them.)  Snowballs are more than the cream filling inside a chocolate mound with marshmallow covered in coconut. 

Snowballs were for good days, for bad days, rainy days and sunny days.  They were for celebrations after winning a softball game, they were for making bruises and scrapes hurt a little less.  They were for sharing over board games; they were a quick dessert after dinner.  Snowballs hold a special place in my heart but really it has always been about the people I was sharing them with.  While I enjoy snowballs, they have never been a snack that I eat alone.  They have always been connected to those I share them with.  It was a happy day when my nephew, Roman, enjoyed them as much as I did (but really what food doesn’t that kid like?)  They were for special occasions or no occasions at all, they were for just because.  I just picked up a box from the posta from my Dad and Karyl.  They sent it to me before this life altering news hit and do you know what was in there….

 SNOWBALLS! 

They are instant happiness and childhood memories remembered.  They are so much more than a snack cake. 

Dad – Sweep the shelves and freeze them for me. 

And yes, I totally did just blog about this.  I apologize that you even opened this blog post. 

But seriously why am I not there, in America, to gorge myself with snowballs over the fact they are soon to be extinct. 

You know what would make this news easier to swallow.  Yep, exactly.  A snowball. 

To bathe or wash dishes? That is the question.

Ok so a few months back I was asked to write about my water situation since I don’t have running water.  I know crazy right.  Honestly, I don’t even notice. (except when my buckets are empty and I don’t have a magical faucet that is always ready to dispense way more water than I need.)  And well I figured I’d get around to that so H2o is what’s happening in this post.

Instead of a sugar daddy I have a water mama.  She brings me 60 liters of water at a time and the going rate for someone to deliver is 30 bob (a little more than 30 cents.)  She works at the school near my house, which is convenient for me to tell her when I need more water when school is in session.  However, when school is on break sometimes I have to go looking for her and sometimes to no avail.  So I have to be even more careful with my water usage.  A couple months ago there was a school strike making it difficult to find her and I had to choose between bathing or washing dishes.  This is a regular occurrence.  Definitely not an issue I ever had to think about in the States.  Most weeks I can get by with 60 liters of water.  And this is for drinking, bathing, cooking, cleaning, washing my hands, and doing laundry.  The UN states that every person needs 20 liters of water a day.  That would be 140 a week.  So I am doing more than my part to conserve. 

And now it is picture time. 

This is where I store my water. 

This is how I do my laundry. 

 After I do laundry I use that water to mop.  When I first got to Kenya I couldn’t do laundry without getting bloody knuckles.  Those days are long in the past.  Jeans and sheets are let’s just say a pain to wash.  I will never again complain about having to switch my clothes from the washing MACHINE to the DRYER.  Ahhh fresh warm clothes from the dryer.

Getting water from the pump.

Every time I go to the well or any water source I always get laughed at.  Like hey look at this white girl and she can’t even carry 20 liters on her head.  Seriously I have had this conversation a thousand and ten times of why I can’t carry 20 liters on my head.  They don’t understand that because I haven’t been doing this since I was 3 that it will snap my neck.  Because I can’t perform this task they think I’m weak and they find it quite amusing.   It really is quite impressive though, sometimes I will see a mama with 20 liters on her head and then carrying 10 liters.  The water pumps are crazy busy in the mornings and when the sun is going down.  There is almost always a line to get water during those times since it’s not as hot. 

Up until 5 months ago I was using PUR packets to purify my water.  That consisted of dumping chemicals in my water, stirring 5 minutes, waiting another 5, then using a funnel and handkerchief to keep out all the dirt and gunk, then waiting another 20 minutes till I could drink it.  See for yourself this is what was pulled out of my water. 

Now I use a lifestraw.  You dump water in and let it filter down and drip into a bottle and it is ready for drinking… so much easier and much less time and effort. The only thing is it takes about 7 minutes to fill a liter so I always start doing something else around the house and forget about it only to come back to water on my floor.  Which is a complete waste.  So that means its time to mop.  I’ve gotten better about how much water I pour in and have perfect pours these days.  Yeah me!

 

Sometimes when it rains really hard I’ll take my buckets and set them under the edge of my roof to catch water and it’s free!  The short rainy season is back.  Thank goodness.  Rain makes it so much easier for me to have access to water.  I was able to catch 100 liters today after work.   

My dishes and I will both be clean this week!  

Bless the rains down in Africa.  

Ya, that pretty much sums up water for me.  

Stand up and Shake Yourself

Malaria bit me bad in January if you remember.  (and if you don’t feel free to jump back a few months and check that blog out. )  Since then my life has been malaria malaria malaria.  Last week my living room was overflowing with 650lbs of mosquito nets, with more on the way.  Again, you may recall from earlier posts that the kids at my Church in Franklin and another Church in Franklin were learning about malaria and raising money for nets during Vacation Bible School in June.  Also, this is really cool.  Two of the teenagers in Franklin decided to ask their friends to donate money for nets instead of giving them birthday presents.  Mad props for being that thoughtful and generous, living in a world where “stuff” is everything, especially when you are a freshman in high school.  Because of the kindness of some very dear people and even others that I don’t know, since June I have passed out about 600 nets and visited hundreds of homes and masses of people have been educated on malaria.  In the beginning, some of my Kenyan counterparts and I distributed nets by going home to home like we were avon.

That was great 1-on-1 time but took up A LOT of our time and while malaria has become my focus I still have 5 other projects with more always piling up that I’ve got my hands in.  Last month The OVC (Orphans & Vulnerable Children Association) that I’m working with decided to have mobilizations and educate by sub location.  And I have to say I will never want to attend another meeting for the rest of my life if it is not modeled after these.  Let me walk you through a typical malaria mobilization. 

We arrive to the meeting and get this… everyone is already there!  I know my PC friends understand this and what a big deal it is.  It’s not unusual to wait hours for members to arrive before the meeting starts.  The 5-minute rule where you can leave if people don’t show doesn’t exist here.  Not only are they there waiting they usher you in to the house and feed you lunch. Always way more than you want and of course it was just lunch time and you have already eaten.  (Hence the 18 lbs I’m packing that I wasn’t when I arrived, but I’m not complaining.)  When you finish lunch you go join the community members, of course they have special seats for you, in the front of the church where you are meeting or outside in the shade.  Oh and when you enter the church or walk down the path if the meeting is outside everyone is singing and dancing for you.  (Where can I work where that happens every time I walk in the door?!) 

Then you do greetings and introductions for the next 10 minutes and everyone cheers for you because you can greet them in the local language.  It’s crazy all I said was Hey, How are you? in Kisamia.  They also love when I introduce myself using my village name, Nahulu, which I was given meaning someone of value.  It was explained to me that it means you are valuable and strong like when the sand is wet from the waves of the ocean and cannot be moved.  Ok, so then we dive into the bit about malaria and the importance of using a net and how it saves lives.

Then I say a few words about how children in the States raised money for nets for them and how much money a family and community could save on hospital fees, medicine, and transportation costs etc. if they slept under nets every night.   We sing and dance some more.  Nets are distributed.  Pictures are taken.  And then many times I am given a chicken.  I really should build a coop for all these chickens I’m acquiring.  But for now I take them to a friend’s house and she keeps them until they are ready to eat and we enjoy a good meal. 

Meet my latest chicken.  I named him Dinner. 

I learned the hard way by not sleeping under a net while on vacation and I got malaria (AND I am taking malaria pills everyday.)  I’m not saying that I’m glad I got malaria but it has made this project even more personal for me. 

Oh and I almost forgot, this was said to me in the meeting today: “Stand up and shake yourself.”  Can we just agree to start every meeting that way.  

I told the members at one meeting that my dance moves didn’t come out until dark.  They laughed at me as they often do and it’s not because I’m funny.  But really I just imitate their moves (poorly) and they love it.  Yes, please cheer and laugh at me for my weak attempt at having any sort of rhythm or moves.  I will take it. 

Each meeting lasts about 3 hours but it never feels that long. 

Showing up to all this at work is a great way to beat a bad case of the Mondays! 

I’m already dreading mundane meetings back home when I have to be a grown up and have a job. 

Thank you to all my peeps back home.  I couldn’t 

do what I do without you.  And because of you, all these kids and sooooo many more are sleeping under nets tonight.  

A League of their own

 If someone had told me when I was 16 wearing the #9 on my back and playing 2^nd base that 12 years later I would be coaching girls softball in Kenya from scratch I would’ve asked where that crazy idea came from.  I am working with a great group of girls in Namboboto.  I started teaching softball last October and since then we have had 3 months of holiday breaks.  I have the girls for 3 hours a week.  So roughly we have been playing now for 90 hours.  The point at where we started is unrecognizable to where their skills are now.  But it is not their understanding of the game that is the success of this story. 

I have watched the girls gain confidence and come out of their shells.  The field was heavy with insecurity when we began.  Many girls sat on the sidelines watching and were too scared to put a glove on their hand or pick up the bat.  We have new members joining each month.  They have learned to be comfortable with one another and I have gained their trust.  Through this sport they now come to me with problems and issues they are facing in their lives.  Ten months ago it was hard to get a smile and laughter was not heard.  The field is a different place now with laughter, girls calling out plays, and encouragement for fellow teammates. 

The progress that has been made in such a short time is phenomenal.  I have 11 more months with these girls (but with breaks really only 8).  They will be pros by the time I say my goodbyes (and that comment reflects them and not my coaching skills.).  I am incredibly proud of them.  Who knew that with a simple game of hitting, throwing, and catching a ball a group of girls could gain such a sense of empowerment.  (Of course this was my hope.)  It has been my privilege and joy to get to watch and be a part.  I look forward to looking back a year from now and being just as amazed at their growth as stand out community members and fantastic softball players. 

And now for the bloopers reel.  I wish I had these on film.  Over the course of our practices all these things have happened…

- Of course the infamous how do I put this glove on?  Ok coach, I’m ready.  Umm, you only need one glove go ahead and take that second one off.  Also, your glove is on backwards.

- Ah when you are up to bat you don’t need your glove as well, just the bat will do. 

- My first base woman ran to second after the opposing team member hit the ball.  First base where you going, yo?

- My pitcher loves to windmill about 7 times before she pitches the ball.  So you are standing at home plate thinking is she gonna throw the ball?  Is it coming now?  Now?  How about now?  Ah man there was the pitch. 

- One of my players ran right into the second base woman.  She leveled her.  Let’s leave American football out of this one girls. 

- I have a girl who still insists on hitting like she is golfing.  She keeps the bat down to the ground then brings it up at the pitch.  She hits it though so I guess I’ll quit trying to tweak her style. 

A couple months ago some nearby PCV’s came out to play with the team.  We had a great time and the girls absolutely LOVED it! 

I know a bunch of youth back home who play that I wish I could put on a plane and have them help me.  Up until now I’ve basically been coaching a peewee league but they are 17!  It’s been interesting/hilarious/entertaining to teach a sport that your players have never seen.

Oh I get this a lot too…If it is called softball, why isn’t the ball soft?

We still have much progress to make.  They still struggle with first tagging their base, for the force out, before throwing the ball to another base.  But we are working on how to make double and dare I say triple plays happen. 

A couple months ago they received mosquito nets from Calvary and FFUMC in Franklin, KY.  After a show of hands all but 1 of the girls have had malaria at some point.  A lot of people are working to change that. 

Speaking of nets and malaria.  I have been asked by PC to be a Stomp Out Malaria volunteer for my province in Kenya.  I’m crazy excited and honored to partner with others and work further towards eradicating malaria.  Oh and the training is in SENEGAL!  Don’t mind if I do.

Back to where it all began

 The new Public Health group arrived in country early June.  I was asked to attend training and lead a couple sessions last week on HIV/AIDS and working with supervisors and counterparts.  I was psyched to get to meet the new trainees and to return to Loitokitok to visit my host family.  It was weirdly awesome to be back where it all began a year ago.

When I was trapesing the path to where I lived for my first 10 weeks in country and sinking in a foot of dust I was wondering if my then 6 year old brother, Jeremy, would remember me.  When I turned the corner to my street Jeremy and the neighbor kids were outside kicking a futbol made of plastic bags and twine.  It was just as I remembered.  Jeremy saw me and even though it had been a year and my hair had grown about 7 inches he shouted Sarah!  We shared a high 5 and I couldn’t have been happier that he knew who I was.  In fact the neighborhood kids recognized me as well - asking me to take their picture.  It was as if I hadn’t even left.  What’s funny is I now have pictures of the neighborhood crew doing almost the exact same poses from a year ago and now present. 

My mama and baba weren’t home that evening so I returned the next day.  However, that evening my baba called me and wanted to come and get me from the hotel PC had put me up in.  He told me that PC didn’t need to put me in a hotel.  When I was there I should stay with them because that is also my home.  The next couple days while I was in town I stopped by after the 9 hour training days for way too many cups of chai and some goat I choked down.  I couldn't get my mama to look at the camera or smile, but that's how you take pics in Kenya. 

I was glad for the opportunity to spend some time with my host family.  After all much credit goes to them for getting me started in Kenya.  Oh and I spent probably an hour with my neighbor girl Beth talking and catching up.  She was so much help teaching me Kiswahili.  She remains one of the coolest 12 year olds I know.  She visited with me while she did chores and cooked dinner for her grandmother and brother who were in the market selling vegetables. 

My first morning there I woke up to a picturesque view of Mount Kilimanjaro.   It never got old during training and I was looking forward to seeing it again.   It is on my top 10 of coolest things I have seen.  I count myself lucky to have had Kili as my view for 10 weeks of my life. 

Before I went to training I met up with some friends for the weekend for a birthday celebration of one of my PC besties.

It takes me a couple days to get to my site from LTK so I spent the night in Nairobi.  I had a hot shower and ate yummy food and decided to continue my treat-yo-self day.  My hair has grown pretty fast and well it's not as easy washing it in a bucket so I got up the courage to walk in a hair salon and ask if they could chop my hair off.  I had a picture with me and this dude that was a swanky L.L. Cool J look-a -like swore to me he could do it.  By that point it was too late for me to get out of the chair and leave.  His techniques didn’t exactly capture my hair from my picture but it’s cool I live in a village.  It had been over a year since I had been in a salon.  Most hair cutting places here are tiny metal shacks that you can stretch your arms out and reach both sides.  Also, no kidding they have sweet names like Cleaver Hair Salon.  So you can get a chop of meat and your hair did with the same knife.  They washed my hair with 3 different products.  I forgot how awesome that part is.  They were probably wondering why I hadn’t washed my hair in over a year. 

In 7 days I stayed in 4 different locations and traveled for 34 hours.  It felt great to be home and felt great that when I say home I mean Namboboto.  (Of course I still long for home home…America!)

I had chalk drawings on my stoop and a bouquet of weeds stuffed in my padlock from my village kids when I returned.  And of course it was only minutes before this little one came to give me a hug . 

You get a net! Yo mama gets a net! EVERYBODY gets a net!

This is Brian he is in class 8.  He has 3 younger brothers.  At 14 years old he is the head of his house.  Brian and his brothers lost both parents to AIDS.  They have since had to drop out of school because they can’t pay the fees.  The boys have a few income generating activities they are trying.  As you can see in the picture they are raising rabbits to sell. 

This is Lillian.  She is living with HIV and a single parent to 4 children.  She teaches early child development at the local school. 

This mama is a caretaker for total orphans who have nowhere else to go.  I have run into this more times than I have wanted and yet, thankful for generous people willing to take in children that are not their own.

As you can see in this picture this family can only afford to send 4 of their 6 children to school.  You may have noticed that there is a set of twins.  How do you decide which twin gets an education and which one stays home to tend to the house?  Can’t be easy.

This little girl is 1 of 7 in a single parent household.  They live in a single room no bigger than a dorm room. 

Over the last 2 days I have visited 22 homes with field workers from an OVC (Orphans & Vulnerable Children) organization.   Many of the children are infected with HIV, but all of them are affected by it in some way, either they have lost a parent(s) or their parent(s) are living with HIV. 

I have been way out in the bush, hiking through weeds and thistles sometimes up to my waist earning the scratches on my arms and legs that I have acquired.  However, I was repaid with insanely gorgeous views from the hills. (Pictures just can't capture it.)

I will be passing out nets at least through the end of the year, thanks to some amazing people in Franklin. 

It has been interesting getting to sit and talk with so many, sharing stories, and educating on malaria and what it can cost (both monetarily and in lives.)

This week I have been to some homes of the poorest of the poor that I have seen in my district (and well probably in my 28 years.)  I still can’t get over 7 children plus a mother living in a space the size of my college dorm room.  At some point I have partially shut myself down.  I think you have to, to be able to witness these stories before your eyes over and over again.  At least for me it has been a necessary tool.  I have been coming home the past few weeks after handing out nets exhausted and I can’t say that it is entirely from the heat and all the walking. 

One of the things that is so good about working with this OVC association is that they have fieldworkers that will make visits to the homes to check on the kids.  They will also be checking that the mosquito nets have been hung and are being used.  You can pass them out and educate but can’t always be certain people are using them.  At least with these 700 kids we will be able to continue the malaria discussion and encourage the use of a bed net. 

I can only hope that these families will recognize how much they could save (not to mention the life of their child) if they just use their nets. 

Shout out to all my peeps in Franklin.  These are just a few of the people you are helping!