So much has happened over the last week. Our group has been through highs and lows. We have had visitors to the clinic virtually everyday, all of them with very wonderful things to say about our efforts. We have been to the big city, Kisii, multiple times and had strange misadventures abound. In the midst of ruthlessly preparing for our safari, we have finished the protected spring project and even gotten the internet set up in the village (the connection I am posting this on right now!).
During our trip to Kisii one week ago, the time of my last post, we ate at a nice restaurant (roasted chicken, fries and a sprite for about $4) which was delicious. We had no trouble packing away the food and going for ice cream at the local Nakumatt (a wal-mart counterpart). The experience was unbelievably extravagant and revitalizing, especially as I witnessed the expressions on Da-Da, Harrison, and Anyango’s faces as they ate this food for only the third time in their lives; they are all about 14 years old. We left the city filled to the brim and ready for the 45 minute drive and five mile walk back to home. Our spirits were soaring and prepared for one last full week of work and experience.
Sunday was one of the more unusual days I’ve had here though. In the late afternoon, Omondi, the eldest brother in the family said, “I’m bored…”
I said, “Alright, want to play chess or cards?”
“Nah, I don’t know how to play.”
“Alright, well I’ll teach you, it’ll be fun.”
“Nah, I’m just so bored…let’s go get some beer.”
As you may be able to imagine, I’m a little ashamed to admit that my eyes brightened by no less than 100 shades, and a wide grin stretched itself across my face. This was going to be a great evening: a beer run…in the middle of nowhere, Africa! We hopped in the car and took off down the really terrible road towards Rongo, the town Omondi now lives in with me chanting, “All we need is a ten and a fiver, car and keys and a sober driver...” Once at the first bar on the outskirts of town, we picked up 4 six-packs of Tusker beer, about $20 so not much difference than the US. It’s good beer; kind of reminds me of PBR, but these were desperate times and even warm, it tasted like heaven. We arrived back at the house, where the girls had already prepared Chipati (I’ll have the recipe when I get back so get ready), and we ate and drank like kings. After dinner, I convinced Japolo (21 year old family friend), Ian (Canadian student here with us), Omondi, and Dr. Young (ObGyn from Dartmouth) to play Kings around the table. I kid you not, the 62 year old Doctor about leapt out of his chair to thrust his hand down while yelling, “Four is floor, four is floor!!!” This event didn’t last long though, as Abbie very coldly and wisely reminded us that drinking games were not a good idea in this setting, the problem being that drinking is not seen by the community as a social event here. Especially by the women, drinking has the stigma of the cause of men going out, wasting the family’s money, cheating on their wives, bringing home HIV, and possibly beating some of the women. This cold splash of water reminded me quickly where I was and why I was here.
This week has been equally as productive, as most of our ongoing projects have finally taken off and culminated in a wealth of improvements that will seriously change the way life is lived here. On Wednesday, we successfully set up internet in the clinic! The proper solar panels were finally obtained to keep power going in the facility. We can now power the three donated laptops and connect to the WEB through a cell phone modem. It’s slow and extremely finicky but we’re able to conduct business from the one of the remotest locations on Earth for an indefinite period of time. There have been several precautions taken though, like the temptation for the general public here to walk off with the computers as they are worth about three years’ wages in this area. We definitely see value in limiting computer time to allow for the proper “Lwala experience,” but at the same time, IT’S EMAIL!
A funny side note: one of the laptops donated was from Sam, a sorority girl that is a close friend and ex-roommate of Dani who is on the trip with us. Dani has raised several thousands of dollars for the clinic through her efforts as the president of Students for Kenya. She is truly an amazing leader. But what to our wondering eyes should appear when we looked in Sam’s computer but an assortment pictures from Dani’s college times, including various poses with other girls and even some candids with a certain fruit. Dani is now immortalized on the desktop of Lwala Clinic computer 2, and her adventures live on in infamy, haha.
On a more important note, the protection of nearby spring continued this week and is now finished! I have lots of pictures of the entire process. It is truly amazing. The men and women hired for the project worked tirelessly to complete this structure before we left so we could be here; it wasn’t easy. As you can imagine, we American’s were quite out of our element when it came to such rampant physical labor, but it’s okay, we contributed how we knew best…by throwing an opening ceremony with punch and cookies when it was finished, heh. Everyone was very appreciative and now the community has basically running water. It is still not safe to drink, despite popular opinion, but it is a far cry from the state of things before we got here; just wait till you see.
Visitors have come and gone everyday here at the clinic. We have had students from the US come and go; our safari drivers were very interested in the project after reading Abbie’s blog and decided to come toake a look. During their visit, they told us what we’ll be doing next week during our safari. In the interest of making you all extremely jealous, here’s the itinerary:
Monday – 9:00 Pickup at Sare Komagombo
12:00 Lunch provided
4:00 Arrive at Lake Necruru for evening game drive (flamingos as far as the eye can see)
7:00 dinner provided and then sleeping in camp
Tuesday – Late morning game drive after breakfast
Giraffes, Rhinos, Buffalo, Antelope
Lunch in the wild
Afternoon game drive before dinner and bed in Massai Marr reserve
Wednesday – Early morning game drive before breakfast
Lions, rhinos, elephants, zebras, cheetahs, more flamingos
Lunch in the wild
Afternoon game drive
Dinner and bed in lodge
Thursday – Morning game drive
Drive to Nairobi, stay in Hilton,
use sit-down toilet
take warm shower
Be prepared for endless pictures.
So all in all, this week has been much more uplifting than the last. I hope this entry finds you all well. I will see you in no time, just one week!
Oriti,
Ben
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Week 2
O'yaowrey (Good morning),
This week has flown by without a doubt. Projects are rolling along here. Two of our collegues have left for the States, but we have been joined by a Canadian college student, Ian, who works with non-profit aid and relief organization named Real Medicine. We have been very blessed to have him here. He has brought lots of supplies, a fresh perspective, and the ability for all of us to dog Canadians, especially fun on July 4th.
The clinic is doing more business than ever before. Mostly women and come in with their sick children but as benefits increase (new medicines, new certifications) more people are arriving. If this week has shown me one thing though, it's how little this clinic can do to stop the overarching feeling of helplessness in rural Africa.
Wednesday night, a man came in while we were about to eat dinner. We were sionging patriotic songs and touting our Americanism. He said hello, shook our hands and sat down quietly. None of our hosts were in the room: just us mzingus. Then, ten minutes later, Grace, Fred and Milton's sister, burst in and said this man has been waiting to be seen by the doctor because he has been bitten by a snake. Our eyes went wide. Here was a man who could very well be in mortal danger, and he sat on the couch calmly waiting for us to see him.
Dr. Young, the ObGyn from dartmouth in our crew, examined his foot by flashlight and could not find bite marks. 5 minutes revealed that he was not indeed lying because his swelled to at least 3 times its normal size. We asked him what kind of snake it was; he replied that he believed it to be a Black Mamba (my Kill Bill sense went off and I started taking very deep breaths; don't those kill people in minutes?). After several minutes of talking top the man, Dr. Young decided he should go to the hospital in nearby Rongo. We had no antivenom and he was in pain. The problem though, as Fred and Omondi, fred's other brother, was that if you drive a car down the country road at night, you run a great risk of getting hijacked and robbed. In the end, to my distress, we decided to carry him back to his home with a wrapped foot, and take him to the hospital in the morning. His foot continued to swell and he was taken the next day. The doctors agreed that, yes, medical attention was needed and he was lucky the snake had been small, or he would have been dead.
This story repeats itself constanlty in this village. People are bitten by snakes and refuse medical attention or are unable to get it. Many of them survive by "waiting it out" but many of them also get violently ill, lose limbs, or even die. The clinic has a long way to go.
One of the girls here,JoHanna, is conducting a study of parasites and bacteria in children's stool as part of her medical school research. She has so far found four different types of parasites, many of them pass mostly through fecal-oral contact, and found many cases in the 50 samples she has analyzed so far. The clinic can solve this problem very simply by giving the chioldren one pill (a pill i will be sure to take when i return) every three months. In hygeine education and availability though, the clinic has a long way to go.
Yesterday, a mother came in with a boy who was so malnourished (he was 2 years old) that his butt had lost most of its fat and could not support his intestines or his rectum. Most of his lower digestive tract passed through his anus and merged as a large sphere of flesh about the size of an adult fist. He did not cry, but tears streamed down his eyes as he was examined at the clinic before being referred to the hospital in Kisii where he was treated successfully.
My most enduring experience though was last week, the afternoon after I posted the last blog. I met with a few women in the village who did not speak very much english and tried my hand at communicating with them. SInce i didn't know anything but "Hey, how are ya?" it was very difficult. Eventually, a young girl came in the hut and started translating for me and them. We talked about our families, I showed them pictures of mine and we laughed for awhile. After some time, Flora, one of the women asked whether I would return.
"I would like to someday, but first I must continue going to school."
"And how long will that be?" she asked.
"About five years." I replied.
Her eyes went wide when she heard the translation. "Five years?!" she excalimed. "But the Aids will have killed me by then."
You can imagne the shock I felt. I had known going into this journey that I would be meeting lots of sick people, and that i should be careful not to get sick. However, the thought that the people I would meet now would not be here in a matter of months did not sink in until that moment. Flora does not look sick. She is rather beautiful, middle-aged, and except for a legion on her upper gums, I would never have guessed she was not in perfect health. SOme of the men here have asked us what AIDS does in America; does it affect as many people as it does in Africa. We tell them that it does not affect as many, but it is the same disease. They say they have heard that the US and Europe have a cure that they are unwilling to give African people. We try toi explain that this is not the case, but we are not sure if they believe us. The clinic is a long way from fixing the problems these peole are going through.
I heard an interesting reflection the other day. It was said that, in America, we seek medical solutions that allow us to live "forever" or until old age. Medicine here, however, is geared to giving five more years: five more years for a woman to be with her child, five more years for a father to provide. I hate sounding like one of those starving children infomercials, but to say that all is great and happy would be a gross error.
There is happiness though, because people are used to the constant threat of death and mishap. The children here are so fun and interesting. Apio, about 9 years old i think, carries her brother Erastus, about 2 around on her back everywhere she goes. The children are sop tough here it is unbelievable. Everyday I am impressed by the responsibility put in the hands of a small child. 6 year olds gather water, herd cows, chop wood and start fires for breakfast. It is indeed a different culture.
This week, we have started teaching at the school as well. It's been a great t ime. These kids are very smart and obedient. They never talk in class and ask questions pretyy consistently. Dani, just graduated from Vandy in May and going to med school, and I have been teachng science, energy specifically. We have agreed that the students are now more confused than ever. Between my wanting to distinguish between Kinetic and potential energy sources heat, and dani's attempt to describe chemical reactions on the molecular level, I don't see how they have a chance. To our credit, I think they are now fully prepared to recite the 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics, but...yeaaahhhhh...that's kind of how it went.
The spring prject is moving along too! We broke ground yesterday, and a group of three men cleared out all the brush in the morning. I brought them shovels and helped dig the drainage ditch for an hour (2 feet deep by 2 feet wide by about 30 yards). Because it was so muddy, the only thing to do was take off your shoes and get dirty (mud and water haf way up your shins), the problem of course, is that worms thrive in the surface dirt and mud, especially where feces might have been, and can pass through your feet up into your system...grrrrooossss. After working for an hour, I cut my feet and my fingers and decided that worms were one thing, but infection was something else entirely. I learned that there is indeed a price to clean water that must be paid by someone. This week we will be laying down concrete and placing rocks for a filter. I will be taking lots of pictures.
I hope this entry finds you well. I guess this is a pretty long one and the material is not that uplifting but if there were always smiles, we wouldn't be here. I am very excited to be home, with an ice cream cone in one hand and a hamburger in the other, unafraid of undercooked anything. Enjoy these things for me for now. I will be back soon!
Oriti,
Ben
This week has flown by without a doubt. Projects are rolling along here. Two of our collegues have left for the States, but we have been joined by a Canadian college student, Ian, who works with non-profit aid and relief organization named Real Medicine. We have been very blessed to have him here. He has brought lots of supplies, a fresh perspective, and the ability for all of us to dog Canadians, especially fun on July 4th.
The clinic is doing more business than ever before. Mostly women and come in with their sick children but as benefits increase (new medicines, new certifications) more people are arriving. If this week has shown me one thing though, it's how little this clinic can do to stop the overarching feeling of helplessness in rural Africa.
Wednesday night, a man came in while we were about to eat dinner. We were sionging patriotic songs and touting our Americanism. He said hello, shook our hands and sat down quietly. None of our hosts were in the room: just us mzingus. Then, ten minutes later, Grace, Fred and Milton's sister, burst in and said this man has been waiting to be seen by the doctor because he has been bitten by a snake. Our eyes went wide. Here was a man who could very well be in mortal danger, and he sat on the couch calmly waiting for us to see him.
Dr. Young, the ObGyn from dartmouth in our crew, examined his foot by flashlight and could not find bite marks. 5 minutes revealed that he was not indeed lying because his swelled to at least 3 times its normal size. We asked him what kind of snake it was; he replied that he believed it to be a Black Mamba (my Kill Bill sense went off and I started taking very deep breaths; don't those kill people in minutes?). After several minutes of talking top the man, Dr. Young decided he should go to the hospital in nearby Rongo. We had no antivenom and he was in pain. The problem though, as Fred and Omondi, fred's other brother, was that if you drive a car down the country road at night, you run a great risk of getting hijacked and robbed. In the end, to my distress, we decided to carry him back to his home with a wrapped foot, and take him to the hospital in the morning. His foot continued to swell and he was taken the next day. The doctors agreed that, yes, medical attention was needed and he was lucky the snake had been small, or he would have been dead.
This story repeats itself constanlty in this village. People are bitten by snakes and refuse medical attention or are unable to get it. Many of them survive by "waiting it out" but many of them also get violently ill, lose limbs, or even die. The clinic has a long way to go.
One of the girls here,JoHanna, is conducting a study of parasites and bacteria in children's stool as part of her medical school research. She has so far found four different types of parasites, many of them pass mostly through fecal-oral contact, and found many cases in the 50 samples she has analyzed so far. The clinic can solve this problem very simply by giving the chioldren one pill (a pill i will be sure to take when i return) every three months. In hygeine education and availability though, the clinic has a long way to go.
Yesterday, a mother came in with a boy who was so malnourished (he was 2 years old) that his butt had lost most of its fat and could not support his intestines or his rectum. Most of his lower digestive tract passed through his anus and merged as a large sphere of flesh about the size of an adult fist. He did not cry, but tears streamed down his eyes as he was examined at the clinic before being referred to the hospital in Kisii where he was treated successfully.
My most enduring experience though was last week, the afternoon after I posted the last blog. I met with a few women in the village who did not speak very much english and tried my hand at communicating with them. SInce i didn't know anything but "Hey, how are ya?" it was very difficult. Eventually, a young girl came in the hut and started translating for me and them. We talked about our families, I showed them pictures of mine and we laughed for awhile. After some time, Flora, one of the women asked whether I would return.
"I would like to someday, but first I must continue going to school."
"And how long will that be?" she asked.
"About five years." I replied.
Her eyes went wide when she heard the translation. "Five years?!" she excalimed. "But the Aids will have killed me by then."
You can imagne the shock I felt. I had known going into this journey that I would be meeting lots of sick people, and that i should be careful not to get sick. However, the thought that the people I would meet now would not be here in a matter of months did not sink in until that moment. Flora does not look sick. She is rather beautiful, middle-aged, and except for a legion on her upper gums, I would never have guessed she was not in perfect health. SOme of the men here have asked us what AIDS does in America; does it affect as many people as it does in Africa. We tell them that it does not affect as many, but it is the same disease. They say they have heard that the US and Europe have a cure that they are unwilling to give African people. We try toi explain that this is not the case, but we are not sure if they believe us. The clinic is a long way from fixing the problems these peole are going through.
I heard an interesting reflection the other day. It was said that, in America, we seek medical solutions that allow us to live "forever" or until old age. Medicine here, however, is geared to giving five more years: five more years for a woman to be with her child, five more years for a father to provide. I hate sounding like one of those starving children infomercials, but to say that all is great and happy would be a gross error.
There is happiness though, because people are used to the constant threat of death and mishap. The children here are so fun and interesting. Apio, about 9 years old i think, carries her brother Erastus, about 2 around on her back everywhere she goes. The children are sop tough here it is unbelievable. Everyday I am impressed by the responsibility put in the hands of a small child. 6 year olds gather water, herd cows, chop wood and start fires for breakfast. It is indeed a different culture.
This week, we have started teaching at the school as well. It's been a great t ime. These kids are very smart and obedient. They never talk in class and ask questions pretyy consistently. Dani, just graduated from Vandy in May and going to med school, and I have been teachng science, energy specifically. We have agreed that the students are now more confused than ever. Between my wanting to distinguish between Kinetic and potential energy sources heat, and dani's attempt to describe chemical reactions on the molecular level, I don't see how they have a chance. To our credit, I think they are now fully prepared to recite the 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics, but...yeaaahhhhh...that's kind of how it went.
The spring prject is moving along too! We broke ground yesterday, and a group of three men cleared out all the brush in the morning. I brought them shovels and helped dig the drainage ditch for an hour (2 feet deep by 2 feet wide by about 30 yards). Because it was so muddy, the only thing to do was take off your shoes and get dirty (mud and water haf way up your shins), the problem of course, is that worms thrive in the surface dirt and mud, especially where feces might have been, and can pass through your feet up into your system...grrrrooossss. After working for an hour, I cut my feet and my fingers and decided that worms were one thing, but infection was something else entirely. I learned that there is indeed a price to clean water that must be paid by someone. This week we will be laying down concrete and placing rocks for a filter. I will be taking lots of pictures.
I hope this entry finds you well. I guess this is a pretty long one and the material is not that uplifting but if there were always smiles, we wouldn't be here. I am very excited to be home, with an ice cream cone in one hand and a hamburger in the other, unafraid of undercooked anything. Enjoy these things for me for now. I will be back soon!
Oriti,
Ben
Monday, July 2, 2007
Week 1
Hi Everyone (Amosi),
Yes I am going to be greeting and saying goodbye in the language that I am learning now, Dohluo. I hope you enjoy. There are many rather cool coincidences, like Good Evening is said, "O'emorey." Try it. Pretty cool, and reminiscent of the 70's...and the Elephant Show...and Andy Bernard from "The Office".
I am here in Kisii, a city one hour's drive from Lwala where i stay and work. We are in an internet cafe, all of us typing away. I've never seen so many of us ready to use a computer before but email withdrawal has become a powerful thing.
My experiences here have been overwhelming to say the least. The work being done here is literally turning this village into a healthier, more stable place every day. We are working noe to "protect" one spring. I will show you pictures of the before and after and the process. It is literally amazing. Imagine getting your water from a small 2 foot diameter pond that is filthy with weeds and mud, and then suddenly being able to get it from a continuously running pipe emerging from a cement wall. Moreover, the improved water is clear and pH neutral! It still has some bacteria but that is a far cry from the situation before the arrival of volunteers here.
Our accomodations have been very good indeed. The latrine is clean, if a little mosquito infested, and we buy our water from the Nakumart, equivalent of a walmart in Kisii. For us americans, life is pretty sweet even in the village. Relations are very interesting as well. White people in Swahili are called "Mzungus," so we get that a lot, especially from children, many of them frightened. When we were playing with a group of kids at the soccer field after school one day, the little ones ran from us. The older kids said they were running because it is well known among children younger than 5 or 6 that Mzungus eat children, ha. For a minute I wondered if exploiting this by chasing them while licking my lips and chomping would be wise but I was urged by the girls not to.
The family we are staying with is very nice and welcoming, as is the entire town. Everywhere we go, we are celebrites, and easily identified; it can get very tiring but we are very proud of the work that has been done so far to make people so joyful when americans show up. There is a reputation here in this village, that americans do not just bring money to throw at problems, but they actually work to provide solutions to complex yet desperate problems, and moreover, they respect the culture of the people they meet. Moreover, everyone in the village, I believe since the two brothers who started this project moved to the US, are very concerned with education. At every opportunity we are asked to read essays and help people applying to US colleges. They mostly want to be doctors and they are all very intelligent and motivated, especially Japolo, a cousin of the Ochieng family that has taken us in. He knows English very well and he knows a lot of slang so he has been our ambassodor many times. It makes me very happy that they all see that what we have is certainly not unattainable.
The environment is of course, beautiful, even if the townspeople don't think so (it's been a while since I've been to \mammoth Cave as well). We have walked several miles to different towns to inspect their springs and visit with the people there. The temperature is quite comfortable, if a little on the hot side most days, about 80 degrees or 85 is average. Ironically, this is their winter time, south of the equator, so they all think it's cold. While we are sweating in shorts and gasping for water, they are walking around in sweatshirts, pants, and hats because it is too frigid. It makes me laugh to think of the brothers going to undergraduate school at dartmouth in New Hampshire; that has to be the definition of misery to a kenyan (no offense Jon).
All in all, there are lots of adjustments and adaptations to be made. I am still trying to learn the language, greetings and questions and such, and am looking very awkward, like the other day when I greeted at least twenty people in the morning by saying good evening. I'm sure they thought a lot of me then. I did go to Church yesterday at the local Catholic church. It was very intense and I really did not understand most of what was going on, but it was inspiring nonetheless. The congreagation at the end, asked me if i would get up and give a speech to them, with a trnaslator (note: i am not good at speaking through a translator. They keep criticizing me for not speaking proper english and using phrases they don't know. I tell them I am from the southeast of america, and most people in america cannot understand what we say.). They then asked me for something around 300,000 kenyan shillings ($2000-3000) for a new roof for the church. I tried to explain that I am just a student without that kind of money, but they already started clapping and i don't think my message got through. There is a lot of that unfortunately, but you can't really blame people in a village where those who are lucky enough to be employed make about $25 per month.
This week, we will be protecting the spring in the village and possibly teaching some at the primary school after classes since we are inevitably an intense distraction from learning. We will also be working to create a database for the clinic so they can keep electronic records. If anyone knows someone with really good MS Access skills who would also be willing to volunteer their time or program for cheap, please contact me. Papers are overflowwing as the clinic serves an average of 80 people per day from areas as far as 20 kilometers away.
Times are still desperate here, but they are getting better. Plans are in the works to acquire a generator at the clinic to augment the solar power source, sell bednets to families for fraction of what we purchase them for (we would give them but modern international development theories say that towns should buy their infrastructure slowly rather than be given a handout, to increase a feeling of ownership of improvements), and to install a pipe from a pump well to the clinic to provide rather clean water we could treat and use for medicinal purposes. They also want to eventually start a working lab to better diagnose malaria cases and test for oodles of diseases.
I want to thank all of you again, for all of your support. This town thanks you too. I can easily see this area becoming a center of growth in the near future, and with effort sthat concentrate carefully on how to grow responsibly with an eye out for crime, corruption, and general welfare of the community, you will hear many great things coming from this place. I am sorry I do not have pictures uploaded yet but there are plenty so far, and if i can find a way to recharge my batteries, there will be lots more. I miss all of you, and hope to catch up with you in person when I return.
Goodbye (Oriti),
Ben
Yes I am going to be greeting and saying goodbye in the language that I am learning now, Dohluo. I hope you enjoy. There are many rather cool coincidences, like Good Evening is said, "O'emorey." Try it. Pretty cool, and reminiscent of the 70's...and the Elephant Show...and Andy Bernard from "The Office".
I am here in Kisii, a city one hour's drive from Lwala where i stay and work. We are in an internet cafe, all of us typing away. I've never seen so many of us ready to use a computer before but email withdrawal has become a powerful thing.
My experiences here have been overwhelming to say the least. The work being done here is literally turning this village into a healthier, more stable place every day. We are working noe to "protect" one spring. I will show you pictures of the before and after and the process. It is literally amazing. Imagine getting your water from a small 2 foot diameter pond that is filthy with weeds and mud, and then suddenly being able to get it from a continuously running pipe emerging from a cement wall. Moreover, the improved water is clear and pH neutral! It still has some bacteria but that is a far cry from the situation before the arrival of volunteers here.
Our accomodations have been very good indeed. The latrine is clean, if a little mosquito infested, and we buy our water from the Nakumart, equivalent of a walmart in Kisii. For us americans, life is pretty sweet even in the village. Relations are very interesting as well. White people in Swahili are called "Mzungus," so we get that a lot, especially from children, many of them frightened. When we were playing with a group of kids at the soccer field after school one day, the little ones ran from us. The older kids said they were running because it is well known among children younger than 5 or 6 that Mzungus eat children, ha. For a minute I wondered if exploiting this by chasing them while licking my lips and chomping would be wise but I was urged by the girls not to.
The family we are staying with is very nice and welcoming, as is the entire town. Everywhere we go, we are celebrites, and easily identified; it can get very tiring but we are very proud of the work that has been done so far to make people so joyful when americans show up. There is a reputation here in this village, that americans do not just bring money to throw at problems, but they actually work to provide solutions to complex yet desperate problems, and moreover, they respect the culture of the people they meet. Moreover, everyone in the village, I believe since the two brothers who started this project moved to the US, are very concerned with education. At every opportunity we are asked to read essays and help people applying to US colleges. They mostly want to be doctors and they are all very intelligent and motivated, especially Japolo, a cousin of the Ochieng family that has taken us in. He knows English very well and he knows a lot of slang so he has been our ambassodor many times. It makes me very happy that they all see that what we have is certainly not unattainable.
The environment is of course, beautiful, even if the townspeople don't think so (it's been a while since I've been to \mammoth Cave as well). We have walked several miles to different towns to inspect their springs and visit with the people there. The temperature is quite comfortable, if a little on the hot side most days, about 80 degrees or 85 is average. Ironically, this is their winter time, south of the equator, so they all think it's cold. While we are sweating in shorts and gasping for water, they are walking around in sweatshirts, pants, and hats because it is too frigid. It makes me laugh to think of the brothers going to undergraduate school at dartmouth in New Hampshire; that has to be the definition of misery to a kenyan (no offense Jon).
All in all, there are lots of adjustments and adaptations to be made. I am still trying to learn the language, greetings and questions and such, and am looking very awkward, like the other day when I greeted at least twenty people in the morning by saying good evening. I'm sure they thought a lot of me then. I did go to Church yesterday at the local Catholic church. It was very intense and I really did not understand most of what was going on, but it was inspiring nonetheless. The congreagation at the end, asked me if i would get up and give a speech to them, with a trnaslator (note: i am not good at speaking through a translator. They keep criticizing me for not speaking proper english and using phrases they don't know. I tell them I am from the southeast of america, and most people in america cannot understand what we say.). They then asked me for something around 300,000 kenyan shillings ($2000-3000) for a new roof for the church. I tried to explain that I am just a student without that kind of money, but they already started clapping and i don't think my message got through. There is a lot of that unfortunately, but you can't really blame people in a village where those who are lucky enough to be employed make about $25 per month.
This week, we will be protecting the spring in the village and possibly teaching some at the primary school after classes since we are inevitably an intense distraction from learning. We will also be working to create a database for the clinic so they can keep electronic records. If anyone knows someone with really good MS Access skills who would also be willing to volunteer their time or program for cheap, please contact me. Papers are overflowwing as the clinic serves an average of 80 people per day from areas as far as 20 kilometers away.
Times are still desperate here, but they are getting better. Plans are in the works to acquire a generator at the clinic to augment the solar power source, sell bednets to families for fraction of what we purchase them for (we would give them but modern international development theories say that towns should buy their infrastructure slowly rather than be given a handout, to increase a feeling of ownership of improvements), and to install a pipe from a pump well to the clinic to provide rather clean water we could treat and use for medicinal purposes. They also want to eventually start a working lab to better diagnose malaria cases and test for oodles of diseases.
I want to thank all of you again, for all of your support. This town thanks you too. I can easily see this area becoming a center of growth in the near future, and with effort sthat concentrate carefully on how to grow responsibly with an eye out for crime, corruption, and general welfare of the community, you will hear many great things coming from this place. I am sorry I do not have pictures uploaded yet but there are plenty so far, and if i can find a way to recharge my batteries, there will be lots more. I miss all of you, and hope to catch up with you in person when I return.
Goodbye (Oriti),
Ben
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