Blog 3 Kenya
Blog 3
Kisumu, Kenya
July 13, 2009
Hello all!
It is time to write again and update you on what we have been doing and seeing.
We are both well and we are doing well. Keeping pretty busy at work and we are pleased with our progress. One of our assignments with the organization we are working with here is to help with their fundraising efforts to raise money necessary to build a new facility.
With just a little bit of mentoring, and some capacity building, the fundraising campaign has taken off like a rocket, and everyone is very pleased, but no one more than us. For us, it has always been about empowering and capacity building, and while it can be easier to do it yourself, it really doesn’t work. The folks here are bright and capable, and sometimes, all it takes is a new set of eyes – not being able to see the forest through the trees.
The goal is to have the first phase of the building completed by January 2010, so that the programs can move in by then, and we think there is a pretty good chance of that happening. Wish us luck!!
For all of my life I have been wearing undershirts – and it wasn’t until very recently that I learned that in this part of the world they are called “wife beaters”.
Well, Barack Obama is of course in the news much recently because of his recent trip to sub Saharan Africa, but unfortunately not to Kenya, his ancestral homeland. Never the less, there is a lot of Obama presence here: “Obama Gate”, the entrance to the district hospital; Obama driving schools; Obama’s photo on matatus, and the naming of children, including the 8 month old daughter of one of our workmates – she is named Michelle, and if you count back about 8 months, it will be easy for you to figure out why. She is adorable and I (Hinda) got to hold her for some time on Friday, many of the babies are afraid of me because I am white and in the small, poor villages they have never seen someone of my color. This Michelle, however, took to me like I was her grandmother. We played and laughed and when her Mom came to get her she was surprised to see how happy Michelle was. I almost could not give her up. One of the men who works with this woman asked me if I had a baby the same age as Michelle, I said, “do you know how old I am? He said, 40?) I thanked him and told him my age and he was dumbfounded.
One of you recently asked us if we had any photos of giant insects. Unfortunately we don’t, but if you want us to we can take some photos of tiny ants in the packages of bread we buy. We have been told they are harmless, and they probably are. By the way, there are these tiny ants EVERYWHERE. However, accompanying this blog is a photo of a REALLY MONSTER lizard. Check it out!
We have finally found a place where there is really good cake, so if you want to have a good dessert with us, come on over. We do have an extra bedroom for you.
We live and work in a neighborhood named after one of Kenya’s early heroes during the time of independence – Tom Mboya who unfortunately was assassinated in Nairobi in 1969. I think he was a Luo, the predominant tribe from this part of Kenya. Speaking of Luo, Peter has also learned a few words of Luo, but is mainly learning Kiswahili and is doing well. He can even speak in short – very short sentences. Kind of like our grandson, Joseph who is 2, but people say his accent is good, and it always a good way to make friends. He now has 6 pages filled in his notebook of Kiswahili and Luo words and expressions.
One of the traditional dishes of Kenya is nyama choma – grilled meat, so last night we had great kuku choma (grilled chicken) and it was so good we ate the whole thing along with ugali, a doughy paste made from maize meal, and Hinda had chips (fries)
This past Sunday we took a very interesting and relaxing 3 hour boat ride on Lake Victoria. We went on a small boat with a “long tail” engine. Lots of very beautiful birds, some hippos, MONSTER lizards, and our guide Titus, was talking to all of these in their language. Did they understand and answer? Ask Titus.
We spent most of the time along the shore and photographed fisherman, women washing clothes, people bathing, men pulling in fishing nets and mending them on shore, and more. Unfortunately, the lake, the second largest in the world with Lake Superior the largest has many problems: being fished out slowly but surely, hyacinth which are not native encroaching on the shoreline, and Nile perch eating everything in site.
Floated past beautiful papyrus, (remember baby Moses who floated in a reed basket among the papyrus in ancient Egypt). Papyrus is used here and in Uganda for lots of things, including mats, rafts, paper, chairs, and more.
And after returning from our boat excursion on Lake Victoria we had delicious whole fried tilapia, and Hinda again had chips.
How lucky we are!!
Did you ever think how lucky those of us who live in the western world are? Aside from having access to everything we want and need, we usually have the money to buy what we want and need.
On our various volunteer assignments in the developing world we have seen abject poverty, sickness, heartbreak, death, and the difficulty of getting just basic needs met.
We spent one recent morning at the clinic of the organization we are working with in Kisumu, Kenya. It was the day of the week that mother’s bring their babies, who are in a program to help malnourished children. The community health workers go around the community and find children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, who are malnourished. They are entered into the program to bring them to the state of not being malnourished and having the ability to grow. How heartbreaking, the children are, skinny, lethargic and don’t even have the energy to cry. They are held by their mothers and just listlessly lie there. 80% of the mothers are HIV positive and have taken drugs to prevent passing on the disease to their babies. In these cases it is recommended that the baby be breast fed for only 6 months so they do not continue to drink the mother’s milk and perhaps contract the disease.
This is how the program works; an orphaned unmarried teenage mother of two is found in the community. Her children are malnourished and she has no means of feeding them. The children are enrolled in the program, they are given nutrient and vitamin enriched packets of special food to supplement anything the children eat. The mother is counseled on reproductive health and given family planning/birth control options. She is then put in touch with the food security program where she is taught to grow some food and maybe raise a chicken who will lay an egg a day by the time it is 4 months old. All the time the mother is being counseled the babies get their supplements and as the mother gets more food she is able to feed them as well. Once the emergency situation is passed, the mother is put in touch with the training program, where she can learn catering, hairdressing, or tailoring. She is also put in touch with the microfinance program where she can get a small loan to start a business.
The above story is how the program works, in most cases, Of the 338 children enrolled in the program last year, 298 of them successfully completed the program. Some of the children die and others just disappear.
For every one of the success stories there are just as many, if not more, children and mothers that never get taken care of, that die or just barely survive for long periods of time.
We have been touched by these people and their overwhelming needs. We continue to do our little bit to make things better, but sometimes feel overwhelmed. We are hopeful that the small things we do will make a difference in a few lives. And the skills we pass on to the organizations we work with will help build the capacity of those people to make changes in their own communities.
Ok for now dear friends and family, There is quite a lot here and lots of photos. Enjoy.
Talk to you again soon.
Love,
Mzee Peter and Mama Hinda
Kisumu, Kenya
July 13, 2009
Hello all!
It is time to write again and update you on what we have been doing and seeing.
We are both well and we are doing well. Keeping pretty busy at work and we are pleased with our progress. One of our assignments with the organization we are working with here is to help with their fundraising efforts to raise money necessary to build a new facility.
With just a little bit of mentoring, and some capacity building, the fundraising campaign has taken off like a rocket, and everyone is very pleased, but no one more than us. For us, it has always been about empowering and capacity building, and while it can be easier to do it yourself, it really doesn’t work. The folks here are bright and capable, and sometimes, all it takes is a new set of eyes – not being able to see the forest through the trees.
The goal is to have the first phase of the building completed by January 2010, so that the programs can move in by then, and we think there is a pretty good chance of that happening. Wish us luck!!
For all of my life I have been wearing undershirts – and it wasn’t until very recently that I learned that in this part of the world they are called “wife beaters”.
Well, Barack Obama is of course in the news much recently because of his recent trip to sub Saharan Africa, but unfortunately not to Kenya, his ancestral homeland. Never the less, there is a lot of Obama presence here: “Obama Gate”, the entrance to the district hospital; Obama driving schools; Obama’s photo on matatus, and the naming of children, including the 8 month old daughter of one of our workmates – she is named Michelle, and if you count back about 8 months, it will be easy for you to figure out why. She is adorable and I (Hinda) got to hold her for some time on Friday, many of the babies are afraid of me because I am white and in the small, poor villages they have never seen someone of my color. This Michelle, however, took to me like I was her grandmother. We played and laughed and when her Mom came to get her she was surprised to see how happy Michelle was. I almost could not give her up. One of the men who works with this woman asked me if I had a baby the same age as Michelle, I said, “do you know how old I am? He said, 40?) I thanked him and told him my age and he was dumbfounded.
One of you recently asked us if we had any photos of giant insects. Unfortunately we don’t, but if you want us to we can take some photos of tiny ants in the packages of bread we buy. We have been told they are harmless, and they probably are. By the way, there are these tiny ants EVERYWHERE. However, accompanying this blog is a photo of a REALLY MONSTER lizard. Check it out!
We have finally found a place where there is really good cake, so if you want to have a good dessert with us, come on over. We do have an extra bedroom for you.
We live and work in a neighborhood named after one of Kenya’s early heroes during the time of independence – Tom Mboya who unfortunately was assassinated in Nairobi in 1969. I think he was a Luo, the predominant tribe from this part of Kenya. Speaking of Luo, Peter has also learned a few words of Luo, but is mainly learning Kiswahili and is doing well. He can even speak in short – very short sentences. Kind of like our grandson, Joseph who is 2, but people say his accent is good, and it always a good way to make friends. He now has 6 pages filled in his notebook of Kiswahili and Luo words and expressions.
One of the traditional dishes of Kenya is nyama choma – grilled meat, so last night we had great kuku choma (grilled chicken) and it was so good we ate the whole thing along with ugali, a doughy paste made from maize meal, and Hinda had chips (fries)
This past Sunday we took a very interesting and relaxing 3 hour boat ride on Lake Victoria. We went on a small boat with a “long tail” engine. Lots of very beautiful birds, some hippos, MONSTER lizards, and our guide Titus, was talking to all of these in their language. Did they understand and answer? Ask Titus.
We spent most of the time along the shore and photographed fisherman, women washing clothes, people bathing, men pulling in fishing nets and mending them on shore, and more. Unfortunately, the lake, the second largest in the world with Lake Superior the largest has many problems: being fished out slowly but surely, hyacinth which are not native encroaching on the shoreline, and Nile perch eating everything in site.
Floated past beautiful papyrus, (remember baby Moses who floated in a reed basket among the papyrus in ancient Egypt). Papyrus is used here and in Uganda for lots of things, including mats, rafts, paper, chairs, and more.
And after returning from our boat excursion on Lake Victoria we had delicious whole fried tilapia, and Hinda again had chips.
How lucky we are!!
Did you ever think how lucky those of us who live in the western world are? Aside from having access to everything we want and need, we usually have the money to buy what we want and need.
On our various volunteer assignments in the developing world we have seen abject poverty, sickness, heartbreak, death, and the difficulty of getting just basic needs met.
We spent one recent morning at the clinic of the organization we are working with in Kisumu, Kenya. It was the day of the week that mother’s bring their babies, who are in a program to help malnourished children. The community health workers go around the community and find children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, who are malnourished. They are entered into the program to bring them to the state of not being malnourished and having the ability to grow. How heartbreaking, the children are, skinny, lethargic and don’t even have the energy to cry. They are held by their mothers and just listlessly lie there. 80% of the mothers are HIV positive and have taken drugs to prevent passing on the disease to their babies. In these cases it is recommended that the baby be breast fed for only 6 months so they do not continue to drink the mother’s milk and perhaps contract the disease.
This is how the program works; an orphaned unmarried teenage mother of two is found in the community. Her children are malnourished and she has no means of feeding them. The children are enrolled in the program, they are given nutrient and vitamin enriched packets of special food to supplement anything the children eat. The mother is counseled on reproductive health and given family planning/birth control options. She is then put in touch with the food security program where she is taught to grow some food and maybe raise a chicken who will lay an egg a day by the time it is 4 months old. All the time the mother is being counseled the babies get their supplements and as the mother gets more food she is able to feed them as well. Once the emergency situation is passed, the mother is put in touch with the training program, where she can learn catering, hairdressing, or tailoring. She is also put in touch with the microfinance program where she can get a small loan to start a business.
The above story is how the program works, in most cases, Of the 338 children enrolled in the program last year, 298 of them successfully completed the program. Some of the children die and others just disappear.
For every one of the success stories there are just as many, if not more, children and mothers that never get taken care of, that die or just barely survive for long periods of time.
We have been touched by these people and their overwhelming needs. We continue to do our little bit to make things better, but sometimes feel overwhelmed. We are hopeful that the small things we do will make a difference in a few lives. And the skills we pass on to the organizations we work with will help build the capacity of those people to make changes in their own communities.
Ok for now dear friends and family, There is quite a lot here and lots of photos. Enjoy.
Talk to you again soon.
Love,
Mzee Peter and Mama Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 10:18 PM
1 Comments:
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www.onlineuniversalwork.com
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