Last Blog From Kenya
Last Blog From Kenya
September 28, 2009
Hujambo rafiki na jamii,
(Greetings friends and family)
We are about to leave this beautiful place with all of the beautiful friends and family we have made here, to return to our home in the USA and see our American family and friends whom we miss very much. So, we will leave with mixed feelings – sadness and happiness.
On our last weekend we traveled to Mombasa, Kenya’s port city on the Indian Ocean. This is the 3rd or 4th time that we have been at the Indian Ocean, but our first in Kenya. It is a very warm body of water, and the colors are quite beautiful: greens, blues, aquamarines.
Mombasa is very large compared to Kisumu and has about 2 million people, and is a pretty congested place. It is about as different culturally as it can be from Kisumu. The culture is Swahili – a mix of Arabic, Muslim, and East African culture, and is reflected in the food, dress, etc. There are many more Muslims than here. The food has a lot of Arabic influence and is nicely spiced. Many of the women are veiled, and only their eyes are showing. We also found many Somali’s who have probably left Somalia because of the problems there.
As we have told you before, we are helping the adolescent girls program make a CD. Last week at a party we had at our house we were told that one of the songs on the CD is about us. We were quite moved. It is a very very nice gesture, and one we will always treasure. We will send you the words after we return home and will also try to send you the music so that you can enjoy this beautiful music as much as we do.
Malaria and other problems continue to be a scourge here, and for us it hits home when one of our close friends and/or their infant children gets sick. While there is a lot of research going on, for the time being, as far as malaria goes, bed nets seem to offer the best hope. But the problem there is the affordability of them for so many people. It is a pretty simple solution and only costs $10 per net. There are lots of programs around that buy and give them to poor people in Africa. If you really want to save the life of a pregnant woman or infant, buy a treated net. It works!
There was just an interesting report in the paper about AIDS and circumcision which is supposed to reduce it by some 60%. However, the prevalence is still rising, and here on the coast, actually around Mombasa where upwards of 90% of the males are circumcised, the AIDS rate continues to rise. Many men have multiple partners and multiple wives, and so the virus keeps on spreading. Here where we work, our Reproductive Health Department spends a lot of time providing education to women and men, but it is much more difficult to reach men. Last week, we convinced a tuk tuk driver to give condoms to his friends, and he gave out 3 boxes (300 condoms) and came back for more. Anything helps. The key is not to give up and to keep on trying new things.
School is free here, but still there are uniforms to buy, shoes, notebooks, pens, pencils, etc., and lots of people just can’t afford it. When there is a family of boy and girl children, it is usually the boy child who gets to go. The girls stay home and help take care of the younger siblings, help with the chores, etc., and then the merry go round begins: early sexual activity without knowledge of what happens; perhaps rape; early marriage; the concept is that they don’t need an education because they will be taken care of by some man, and maybe this man has other wives and young girls and perhaps Aids/std’s, and round and round we go.
We were invited to dinner the other night at the home of a young man and his family – wife and 2 young children. Also his sisters. We have never felt so welcomed and comfortable, especially in a place where we didn’t know most of the people. This African culture is so warm and welcoming, and that is probably why we love it here so much. (And the food was delicious).
Here in Kisumu, there have been extremely heavy rains which brought flooding and some destruction. Last week 5 people died from the flooding. First there was drought and everyone prayed for rain, but the prayers must have been answered with a little too much rain. Still in the rest of the country and throughout most of East Africa there is a severe drought. People are starving; the livestock are dying by the thousands, and the fields are bone dry. Climate change, if that is what it is, is really taking a toll. So food security remains one of the most important issues. This is a tough place to be: it is difficult to find a job; aids, malaria, cholera, tb, malnutrition, flooding, drought. Kind of sounds like the 10 plagues that Moses wrought upon the Egyptians so long ago. But yet there is a lot of hope and people like us get up every day and come to work with our colleagues, and together we try to make a difference, and you know what – together we do make a difference. Remember, if you save one life you save the world.
Well, we came here to build capacity, empower and teach, and we think we did, but we were also educated and empowered, and our understanding of other cultures was once again expanded. It would be tough to see if we gave more or got more. Everyone thanks us, but I think that at our going away party tomorrow we will have a lot to thank you’s to say to all of the wonderful people here. This may be the only place that we would be willing to come back to for another volunteer experience, although, not the only place. We have once again made very good friends and strong relationships. There will be some tears tomorrow, probably from those of us who are going and those that are staying. I, Peter, have another family here – a sister, a daughter, a son, that I will never forget and that I will be forever close to.
OK, we will see you soon, and for some of you, even before you open this blog.
Oh yeah, one funny thing: A week or so ago, early in the morning I was checking email and I heard Hinda screaming: Help, Help, Come Quick! Apparently a frog had jumped up out of the drain just as Hinda was turning on the shower. Peter to the rescue. Our drains just drain out onto the ground, so it was pretty easy for Mr. Froggy just to up the drain, and also the shower drain has a hole in it so you know the rest of the story.
Love and hugs,
Mzee Peter and Mama Hinda
September 28, 2009
Hujambo rafiki na jamii,
(Greetings friends and family)
We are about to leave this beautiful place with all of the beautiful friends and family we have made here, to return to our home in the USA and see our American family and friends whom we miss very much. So, we will leave with mixed feelings – sadness and happiness.
On our last weekend we traveled to Mombasa, Kenya’s port city on the Indian Ocean. This is the 3rd or 4th time that we have been at the Indian Ocean, but our first in Kenya. It is a very warm body of water, and the colors are quite beautiful: greens, blues, aquamarines.
Mombasa is very large compared to Kisumu and has about 2 million people, and is a pretty congested place. It is about as different culturally as it can be from Kisumu. The culture is Swahili – a mix of Arabic, Muslim, and East African culture, and is reflected in the food, dress, etc. There are many more Muslims than here. The food has a lot of Arabic influence and is nicely spiced. Many of the women are veiled, and only their eyes are showing. We also found many Somali’s who have probably left Somalia because of the problems there.
As we have told you before, we are helping the adolescent girls program make a CD. Last week at a party we had at our house we were told that one of the songs on the CD is about us. We were quite moved. It is a very very nice gesture, and one we will always treasure. We will send you the words after we return home and will also try to send you the music so that you can enjoy this beautiful music as much as we do.
Malaria and other problems continue to be a scourge here, and for us it hits home when one of our close friends and/or their infant children gets sick. While there is a lot of research going on, for the time being, as far as malaria goes, bed nets seem to offer the best hope. But the problem there is the affordability of them for so many people. It is a pretty simple solution and only costs $10 per net. There are lots of programs around that buy and give them to poor people in Africa. If you really want to save the life of a pregnant woman or infant, buy a treated net. It works!
There was just an interesting report in the paper about AIDS and circumcision which is supposed to reduce it by some 60%. However, the prevalence is still rising, and here on the coast, actually around Mombasa where upwards of 90% of the males are circumcised, the AIDS rate continues to rise. Many men have multiple partners and multiple wives, and so the virus keeps on spreading. Here where we work, our Reproductive Health Department spends a lot of time providing education to women and men, but it is much more difficult to reach men. Last week, we convinced a tuk tuk driver to give condoms to his friends, and he gave out 3 boxes (300 condoms) and came back for more. Anything helps. The key is not to give up and to keep on trying new things.
School is free here, but still there are uniforms to buy, shoes, notebooks, pens, pencils, etc., and lots of people just can’t afford it. When there is a family of boy and girl children, it is usually the boy child who gets to go. The girls stay home and help take care of the younger siblings, help with the chores, etc., and then the merry go round begins: early sexual activity without knowledge of what happens; perhaps rape; early marriage; the concept is that they don’t need an education because they will be taken care of by some man, and maybe this man has other wives and young girls and perhaps Aids/std’s, and round and round we go.
We were invited to dinner the other night at the home of a young man and his family – wife and 2 young children. Also his sisters. We have never felt so welcomed and comfortable, especially in a place where we didn’t know most of the people. This African culture is so warm and welcoming, and that is probably why we love it here so much. (And the food was delicious).
Here in Kisumu, there have been extremely heavy rains which brought flooding and some destruction. Last week 5 people died from the flooding. First there was drought and everyone prayed for rain, but the prayers must have been answered with a little too much rain. Still in the rest of the country and throughout most of East Africa there is a severe drought. People are starving; the livestock are dying by the thousands, and the fields are bone dry. Climate change, if that is what it is, is really taking a toll. So food security remains one of the most important issues. This is a tough place to be: it is difficult to find a job; aids, malaria, cholera, tb, malnutrition, flooding, drought. Kind of sounds like the 10 plagues that Moses wrought upon the Egyptians so long ago. But yet there is a lot of hope and people like us get up every day and come to work with our colleagues, and together we try to make a difference, and you know what – together we do make a difference. Remember, if you save one life you save the world.
Well, we came here to build capacity, empower and teach, and we think we did, but we were also educated and empowered, and our understanding of other cultures was once again expanded. It would be tough to see if we gave more or got more. Everyone thanks us, but I think that at our going away party tomorrow we will have a lot to thank you’s to say to all of the wonderful people here. This may be the only place that we would be willing to come back to for another volunteer experience, although, not the only place. We have once again made very good friends and strong relationships. There will be some tears tomorrow, probably from those of us who are going and those that are staying. I, Peter, have another family here – a sister, a daughter, a son, that I will never forget and that I will be forever close to.
OK, we will see you soon, and for some of you, even before you open this blog.
Oh yeah, one funny thing: A week or so ago, early in the morning I was checking email and I heard Hinda screaming: Help, Help, Come Quick! Apparently a frog had jumped up out of the drain just as Hinda was turning on the shower. Peter to the rescue. Our drains just drain out onto the ground, so it was pretty easy for Mr. Froggy just to up the drain, and also the shower drain has a hole in it so you know the rest of the story.
Love and hugs,
Mzee Peter and Mama Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 5:29 AM
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