Hinda's Blog Post From Kisumu

January 10, 2011
Hello Everyone,

I wanted to write a few lines about my last week in Kenya. Thought you might be interested in my views of things since the last time I was here in 2009.
First, let me say that KMET is doing great, the building is wonderful. Peter and Monica have done an outstanding job of getting it built, moved into and humming like a well oiled machine (maybe a Kenyan well oiled machine). The clinic space is large and welcoming with exam rooms, the Schnurman Pharmacy, which by the well is well stocked and has a pharmacist, the clinic has a nice reception area and still using the charts and data program I initiated in 2009. Last Friday, Peter and I went to town and bought a refrigerator with some of the money I brought with us from donors in the USA. They can now get immunizations from the Ministry of Health to give to the children of the community they innoculate the children at no cost. The incidence of polio and chicken pox, unfortunately, is on the rise so immunizations are extremely important.
Of course, even though the building has been open for less than a year, it is already too small so plans for a new building are in the works. With some money from AJWS the start of that building will be done by constructing a mill where KMET will mill the nutra flour they make to give to children and others, which they also sell to other organizations, like C.A.R.E. The space the mill is currently in is less than adequate and production can be stepped up if they have a larger space.
Monica and the staff welcomed me back and I started working immediately. It was nice to have people so happy to see me. Nothing has changed with how polite and friendly people genuinely are.
The flight, as you know was long and boring, in the air for about 18 hours with a few hours at the airport in Amsterdam, then arriving in Nairobi at night and staying in a hotel for a few hours and then back to the airport for a flight to Kisumu made for a long two days. However, when I arrived in Kisumu, Peter and the family we are staying with were there to meet me with big smiles and lots of hugs. We headed for their home and everyone was doing as much as they could to make me comfortable. They were all worried, including Peter, about how I would react to the accommodations. A small room in their compound with a nice new bed and linens, a couple of plastic chairs and a fan is ours. A squat flush toilet, but they had a seat built for me which I used the first couple of days but am now used to squatting. I am not sure I would want to do this forever but for a couple of weeks at a time I am fine. A bigger problem is that the water and electric go off almost every day and it seems to happen when we want to shower or we are trying to cook dinner or watching TV. Roselyne the wife in this family works very hard to keep the home going well. She gets up early in the morning to make breakfast and start her daily chores. She does everything by hand and from scratch, so everything takes a lot longer and is harder to accomplish. And of course, she is the last one to go to bed, as well. The life of women in Africa is hard and if they can keep from contracting HIV-AIDS they will remain healthy enough to work all day and into the night. Things are changing for women but it takes a long time so unless you have patience this is not the place to come;
Peter has been helping Roselyn with various household tasks and does a lot of dishwashing and assistant cooking activities. He says he will continue when he comes home, so we will see. Festus, the husband, works hard and long hours at a radio station and is also working on his degree at night so he is often away from early morning until midnight. There are two small children, an 8 year old boy, named Kennedy and an adorable 2 year old named Agnes who calls Peter , sweetheart. She repeats the last word of everything anyone says and is learning English well. I think she understands everything. As with other 2 year olds, she is the boss and everyone tries to please Agnes.
So I arrived on Sunday and Tuesday was our 50th anniversary. We started off the morning with my sitting in a chair, Peter tripping and knocking my glasses off and they broke in half. For the last 10 years, I have taken an extra pair of glasses with me on all of our trips, never had any use for them so this time, guess what? No extra glasses. We spent the next several hours trying to either get the glasses fixed, which turned out to be impossible or find frames that my lenses would fit in. Having new ones made was out of the question, since it takes at least two weeks and by then we will be in Morocco. Plus which, I could not imagine not being able to see for that long. We finally located a frame that would work, and of course it was the most expensive frame in the whole city and the place we found it must have been jumping up and down with happiness, since no one else in Kisumu would ever buy such an expensive designer frame. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t care how much they cost, as long as I could see. We then went to work for the rest of the afternoon, planning on going out to dinner that evening to celebrate. However, by the time we got home, with the stress of the day looking for an eyeglass solution and the heat (probably in the high 90’s) we both decided that we could not go out so we stayed at home and had a quiet dinner. We will do our celebrating in Morocco.
This past weekend we met the young girl who we have decided to help with school. Her name is Marrion. She is 10 years old, extremely bright, very sweet and delightful to be with. We took her to buy text books and sport shoes and of course since her little 8 year old sister was with us we bought shoes for her, as well. As you know from Peter’s blogs their mother recently passed away from HIV-AIDS. Their father is also positive and an alcoholic, so they live with their maternal grandmother, who is also positive but on ARV’s and has been ok for some time. Without help for school, she could become a child of the street, abused, pregnant and probably HIV positive, if we can help her stay in school, hopefully she will be able to survive and develop some skills to keep her going. Thanks to those of you who are also helping, I am sure you will not be sorry.
After buying the books and shoes, we took all the kids to a really nice swimming pool at a nice hotel. They had a wonderful time, just being kids. Of course since Marrion and her sister Sharyne did not have bathing suits on the way we had to buy those. It was worth it to see them having so much fun, laughing and happy as kids should be. There is definitely too much stress and heartache for everyone here, especially the children.
On Sunday, a young woman can to our house and did manicures and pedicures for Peter, Roselyne and I. It is hot here and no one moves too quickly so it took most of the day, the cost for three manicures and pedicures was about $21 which is less than I pay of just one in the USA, and the results were just as good.
So that ended, my first week here in Kisumu. Saturday we will go to Nairobi and then leave for Morocco, with a 24 hour stop in Istanbul. I can’t wait. You will hear from us again soon.
Hinda