Back for Round Two

For anyone who hasn't been reading the news about Kenya, the current election and it's proclaimed results have caused riots in Nairobi and the rest of the country. I have heard from Ely, she and the group are safe, her blogging should start soon.

Only in Africa

Here is my short list of funny and nice things that I only experience here. Only in Africa:

1. Is it more likely that the humming outside my window is a bug rather than a vehicle.

2. Have I ever seen a glow worm. It looked like a lightning bug on the ground, but when we passed it several times and it was in the same spot I wanted to look closer. There was a grub that looked like it had swallowed a lightning bug, but it didn't blink.

3. Is there a childhood rumor that if you put a chameleon on something red, it will explode. I'm on a cheap myth-busters mission, I just have to know.

4. Have I ever been offered a gift of a plot of beach front property.

5. Is it normal to push the car and pop the clutch to start it, as opposed to fixing the starter or whatever else is broken.

6. Is it so important that the girls don't push the car, that we have to get in before they will start pushing. I think that is the most awkward situation I get put into here. It really makes me feel like crap.

7. Have I ever had so many discussions and conversations over the equivalent of ten cents, but I knew it would be wrong for me to just say I didn't care. It would have made a really big mess of things, especially with people we encounter on a regular basis.

8. Has making PB&J ever been the highlight of my day. That's not to say that my days are boring, but with the right people and the right environment, simple things in life can be enjoyable.

9. Do I get people telling me good morning as the sun sets.

10. (my favorite) Have I ever had to duck when shaking someone's hand for fear of being knocked out with sugar cane. While visiting the last house of the day in Nyambogo, an old woman carrying sugar cane on her head wanted to shake my hand. I tried to approach from the side, but she kept wanting to turn her head toward me. The worst part was that the sugar cane was bowed, so I couldn't just duck a bit, I would have had to kneel.

The Workshop

Yesterday we completed our three day workshop here, in Shirati. It provided a more thorough look at safe water for three water committee members from each of the three communities of Roche, Nyambogo, and Burere (nine people total, if that was confusing).

It started off early Monday when I walked by myself to the hotel. I think it was the first time I had walked through town on my own, but not because I hadn't felt safe. I was really excited because everyone was treating me as if I was a local. No muzungu crap, and everyone greeted me in Swahili. I was so excited - and then I got to the center of town. There everything went back to the usual as about ten people yelled muzungu at once.

The first day of the workshop was my day. I was so fortunate to present the subject of poop and compost. It actually was a lot more interesting than it sounds, it explained how to protect source water. My talk covered four categories of waste and how to deal with all of them.

The beginning category was organics, when I explained all about composting. The next was hazardous waste and I introduced it by having Sarah speak about the importance of protecting your environment. I prefaced her speech with an explanation of the increasing global awareness (and struggles) of protecting our environment. I explained that in the US there are many people who are not yet willing to make the sacrifices necessary to protect the environment.

After Sarah's talk I continued by having the participants list all the hazards that come out of their homes. In multiple instances they discovered that making the environmentally conscious choice for hazards disposal required sacrifice. For example, I told them the best way to dispose of batteries was to make a cement-lined pit that would be water tight and keep the batteries safe inside, or to reduce the amount of batteries by buying solar-powered electronics. They said both of those options are expensive. I explained how that is true everywhere.

For the time being we have agreed to collect the batteries and have them sent to a battery collection facility; if the entire community picks up their batteries. There are currently many scattered all over the place. Another area that they discovered sacrifice was in respect to insecticide. They asked how to dispose of it; I asked how it came packaged. I told them that a non-pressurized can would be much easier to dispose of than a pressurized can. They said that a pressurized can was easier to use. I reminded them that those were choices they had to make.

This was interesting in two ways. First was seeing such dilemma on their faces. It was such a similar struggle to what we deal with, which I had told them. But I truly had no idea they would find themselves in such a similar place. Second, the dilemma they seemed to find showed that they really understood the importance of what I was explaining, with respect to their water and health. It was fun to be a teacher for a day.

The second day was Sarah's day. One of her sessions was to build sieves out of screen and wood. These are used to sort material for sand filters. Each community took a turn while the others worked on preparing a community action plan. I got to man the building station. It was the best part of the workshop for me. It was an incredible bonding experience, which is actually not surprising. I finally, including all the time in the last couple of months, had a goal to share with them that was clearly physical and less mental or theoretical. We could communicate our needs by actions and went about the work each speaking our own language. No translator was needed and we all felt like we had a purpose. It was refreshing and a great bonding experience.

It took us quite a while to build the sieves, and towards the end they had already finished their community action plans. Sarah somehow got them on the topic of singing, and they all sang as we finished. I think that was Sarah's bonding. It was really nice, but I'm very glad that I didn't have to sing.

The third day we reviewed action plans and presented each participant with a certificate of participation. Josiah, an important member of SHED, and a local, presented the certificates. In his presentation, Josiah encouraged the people to share the knowledge they had learned. To do this he used an analogy: "Would you travel to collect food and eat it before getting home?" To this statement he got the loudest sound of approval that had come out of the entire workshop. It made me feel the importance of knowing the people.

Overall, I am extremely happy with the entire workshop.

Church

On Sunday I was in the shower when I heard a 'hodie' at the door. 'Hodie' is what they say in place of 'knock knock.' I thought that if I ignored it it might just go away, but it came in the house. I then realized that it was the friend I had promised on Friday night that I would attend church. So I told him I was coming. I got ready in about five minutes, but it was 10:50, and he told me church started at 10. That sounds like home!!

When we got there other people were still entering, so I knew it was OK. We went in and sat down on just about the only spot left. Instantly, a little boy, about four, came up to my row and started staring at me. I got a bit nervous that others would pile around, but he turned out to be the only one. What a relief. He then moved through the aisle toward me. I made space beside me and motioned for him to sit in hopes of avoiding him standing in front of me staring through the entire thing. He sat next to me and I smiled at him several times. After a while he got brave and started poking at my arm and playing with my fingers. I did my best to not distract him, but divert his attention forward so as to not frustrate the over-controlling old man on the other side of him.

The child was adorable. He had on a bright green dress shirt and a tie that matched surprisingly well. I really thought nothing could match the shirt. The tie was shiny and new, and it came down past his knees. The old man next to him had a tattered tie, and I couldn't help but think that the child would someday be the old man, wearing the same tie he had had since he was three. I don't know what that says about me and my perspective, maybe I still have some sort of pity for people here. Maybe I am in awe of everyone's ability to be resourceful and I give them a lot of credit for it, or maybe a million other things. For some reason I feel guilt about the thought, but can't help sharing it. Whatever the case, that was the cutest kid I saw all day, and I wish I had taken a picture.

The service was nice with lots of singing, but like my Engineers Without Borders experience at church, the preaching was much too loud. Fortunately this time only one person yelled at a time. Contrary to the preacher and translator simultaneously yelling, such as we experienced in March.

After the service I asked my friend, Ausubuhi, if he went to church every week. He said, "Yes, do you?" When I said no he asked why not. He really doesn't seek that much English, but still more than I speak Swahili, so I just left the subject. Especially after such a nice service I didn't feel the same things that I normally feel about religion.

Later in the day he told Sara, who was able to translate just right, how happy he was that I went to church with him. That made me feel sort of weird and happy at the same time. It was nice to know that I could do something so simple to make someone so happy, and it was weird that it was over religion.

I think overall, for speaking no Swahili and being around people that speak so little English, I have done a lot of, mostly successful, communicating. For me it's interesting to notice the things that are communicated without words. When they are mixed with words, the weight they carry is not as noticeable, but when that's all I have, I know that everything I have communicated in the last several weeks (not to everyone, just a couple of friends) has been non-verbal.

Surprise Party

We decided that on Friday we were going to throw a surprise birthday party for a friend. We had asked several weeks ago, and it turned out to be this Monday. Many older people in the area don't know in what year they were born, let alone the day, and some younger ones don't know the day. So birthdays are not the same here and definitely not celebrated. But Sara thought it would be great, and really wanted to do it.

We ordered food from the hotel, and had a great plan worked out for the surprise. I thought the plan was going to fall apart up until the last minute, but it all turned out perfectly - except after the surprise he was totally confused. It took a long time to explain to him that it was a birthday party, and a surprise at that, for him. As Sara put it, "He had no idea we were throwing him a surprise party, even after the surprise."

He then said that he needed to shower and change. Sara sent his best friend with him to make sure he didn't take too long, but I think it was also to make sure he came back. We ended up not eating until 10pm. It had taken almost two hours longer than planned to get them here.

Cutting the cake was also an experience. The cake was in a square pan, and he took a piece almost out of the middle (it was touching one edge). At first I thought people were being hard on him, but then they showed him how to cut it - make all the lines one way, then all the lines the other way, and take pieces starting in the corner. I agree that is definitely the only way to do it; in the end his was pretty goofy. It was a fun night, even if the surprise party was awkward.

On Saturday we relaxed and went on a walk up the nearby large hill. We sunned ourselves on a rock at the top because it was so cloudy there was no way we could get sunburned. It was a nice little amount of exercise, and better than a trip to the gym in many ways. Heading back we made it almost home, but stopped in town to buy avocados. There we ran into Sara's dad, who gave us a ride home. Just in time too; the second we got home it poured.

We're Back From Holiday

On Saturday morning I left my new village with Sara, Sarah, and Renske (a woman from Holland doing anthropological work in Shirati) to go to Musoma. It's a city about two hours away, but it's also on the lake. All the roads to get there were pretty smooth, especially compared to the roads we take to get to our villages. There were even some times when the road was paved. Musoma is mostly a business place of gathering for the surrounding areas. They have Internet cafes and other shops that sell things you may not be able to get in a village. We went to eat, see the market, dance, and use the Internet. And that's pretty much all we did there.

We were in for a nice surprise when we found out the hotel we were staying in had a pool, so we all packed our bathing suits. It turned out that the pool, which we had been told was very clean, was Lake Victoria. That is a pretty big miscommunication if you ask me. Lake Victoria is the second largest lake in the world, and the snails have schistosomiasis; but, we did it anyway. It was so much fun! While we were swimming it started to pour so much that I could hardly see two feet in front of me. Probably a poor life choice if you factor in the thunder, but it was worth it. I have contemplated taking my Cipro just to be safe, but I think I will just take the schisto treatment for now. I might even wait on that in case we go swimming again before we leave in March. Just this week they treated the entire first grade class in both primary schools in the village nearby for schisto.

We ate some really good food, before we went out dancing. Dancing was definitely not quite like dancing in Nairobi, and also not the highlight of the holiday, still it was a good experience. The next day we went to an Internet cafe and looked around the market. I got a kanga, which is the cloth that women here wrap around themselves for just about every function. I think mine is really beautiful, and I'm anxious to use it.

On the way home our right front tire popped off, so I suppose you could say we were in a car accident. All I know is that all of a sudden the car started to slide and we slid all the way into a
ditch. When we got out the wheel was totally perpendicular to the way it was supposed to be, not to mention unattached. We were really lucky that we didn't hit anyone. The family that lived near where we crashed stayed outside with us. Every car that passed stopped . . . after they passed, and then they would back up, or yell back to us that they were really sorry (which was a lot nicer than it sounded). The only car that didn't stop was the one with a muzungu in it. We just laughed. There was really nothing anyone could do for the car, but the guys (who were all local) picked at it, took apart the wheel and the brakes and scattered the pieces all around while the girls (who were all western) just sat and watched. Because I'm still really pitiful in Swahili I just had to accept that I would have to just sit there. I feel like I have done a pretty good job of communicating with such few words, but in such a situation I felt hopeless. Even the two girls that spoke Swahili were getting frustrated. They were saying that the guys wouldn't even answer their questions, they were just not responding. CRAZY!!! It was interesting to see the whole thing, but it was also a really good end to the trip, because it was a good way to be reminded that no matter what you have to be flexible and deal with things as they come.

In the end, it was definitely the people that made the trip.

Where Do Babies Come From? and The "Muzungu"

'Muzungu' is my most familiar word. I hear it ALL the time. It's the word for white people (and interchangeably Westerners as I understand it). Little kids yell it as we pass them driving to the village. They are also yelling, waving, and overall seem excited, so it's not so bad. When we walk down the street people yell 'Muzungu,' mostly kids, but some mature looking people as well. One time I gave a group of adults 'the face' when they were yelling about 'Muzungu' in a rude sort of way as we passed each other on the streets. They got it and stopped.

About a week after we first arrived in Shirati, I noticed a bird that sat outside my window; its chirp sounded like 'muzungu, muzungu.' I asked Sara about it and she told me I was crazy; it was just a mourning dove or something. So that's the explanation of the 'Muzungu.'

A couple of nights ago we went to a friend's house. There were a couple of young people there we know through work and Sara. I told them that in the US we tell children, "A stork brought you," when they ask where they came from. As far as I know, I saw my first stork ever when we got to Kenya. There was a group of huge birds in a tree, and someone told me they were storks. My first thought was, "Where are the babies?" So when I explained the stork story to the friends they said, "We don't tell them that," in an awkward way; like there was something more to it. It took a couple of seconds and a bit of giggling before one of them told us that sometimes when kids ask they tell them a 'Muzungu' brought them. How weird to think that here we are the stork in the story?

We asked them for some other 'Muzungu' stories. Apparently some children are told that the 'Muzungus' just want to eat them. This would explain the kids that start balling when they see me. I must admit, that is a depressing feeling.

How Do You Measure Your Immune System? And a Bit About Our Living Status

When I woke up the other day it sounded like it was raining on only one side of the house. The water tank was overflowing. So I went to get Deina, the VLOP employee that has been helping us so much. She unscrewed a spigot and popped a tube into the spigot so we could fill
up the reserve tank on the ground. She told me that when the bucket filled I could screw back in the cap and just let the main bucket overflow.

When I went to put back on the cap, the pressure was so great that water spurted out sideways and got all over me, including in my eyes. This is the water we just found to have about 400 bacteria and 300 E. coli per 0.1 mL. It's been a couple days, and I have been feeling fine. Although it's not a number or anything, I'm using the experience to measure my immune system. Most things that I have used to judge my immunity are similar, something I wouldn't do on purpose, but is a good indicator. We also ate at a school teacher's house on Sunday. We had Ugali and WHOLE fish. We didn't drink any water, but I would also consider that an immune system-measuring experience.

The bathroom, kitchen, and just about every other aspect of daily living also provide interesting stories.

We are staying in a hostel equipped with room enough for 12 people, a sink and fridge in the kitchen, and three bathrooms.

I have been sitting on the porch for about a half an hour. It may not bring the same excitement as sitting on a porch in Clifton (Cincinnati) but it has not been dull by any means. The power just went out, so the water has stopped pouring from the tank. It was overflowing again today, and the pump at the top of the hill must have stopped. I watched two cows head wrestle each other, and the lake flies are over populating. Every two to three feet there is a swarm of thousands in the air. They did a better job of staying out of my way while walking than I expected.

Finally, a kid just rode up on a bike and stopped right in front of me and stared. I asked him his name and a few other questions and it was clear he was just here to watch the "muzungu." I'll save the muzungu stories for another time. The boy finally asked for a pen and rode off when I explained I only had a few and they had to last a long time. That's just outside the house!

Bathroom:
I have found that one bathroom is best for showering, because the shower works. The second bathroom is best for hand washing because the first one is wet from showering and the third bathroom's sink leaks. Finally, the third bathroom is best for using the toilet because the first bathroom is wet and the second bathroom's toilet flushes for 15 minutes straight. So basically I use all three bathrooms to make one whole bathroom.

Food:
We have hired a cook. She makes us one meal a day plus bread each week. Yesterday we were so lucky, she baked us cinnamon rolls. She goes over to the Kawira's to use their oven when she bakes. The fridge has cockroaches, so everything stays in hot pots after it's cooked. Depending on our schedule we either eat the meal she cooked for the day around lunch, or we have it for dinner and have sandwiches or leftovers for lunch. Sunday is fend for ourselves day, and we either cook or finish off leftovers from the week. We only have three plates, so we can't let the dishes pile up too much.

Overall, we are neighbors with the people we work with, and those are also the people that have been so welcoming and friendly. They have helped us understand cultural nuances, and have spent time making sure we feel comfortable.

Health Update:
My feet have been bitten a lot these last couple of days. As I see more and more bugs around, I am more and more cautious with my feet. A bump on my arm (which I got after riding the really bumpy bus and knocking my arm into the armrest in my sleep) is finally almost gone. It never turned a bruised color, so I was sort of worried, but after two weeks I notice it shrinking. Overall, not much to complain about.

Depression: No One Admits to Having Diarrhea

I'm sitting on the front porch of the lab with the pressure cooker. I just watched a chicken eat the cockroach we killed and swept out on Friday night, and I think I want to be a vegetarian again.

The surveys were perfectly planned out, but of course nothing goes according to plan. The essential question, "In the last two weeks has anyone in your family had diarrhea for three days or more?" came back all No's for me and only two Yeses for Sarah. When I did similar surveys in March for Engineers Without Borders in a community that was only about 60km North, I had the world's most patient, caring, and sincere translator. I guess no one can compare to Joseph. I felt like he REALLY cared, always told me exactly what a person said, built the people's trust, and could even know the cultural ins and outs that I was not aware of and clarify them for me. That's pretty hard to beat. This time I feel like we are doing work and trying to get through the questions as fast and as simply as possible. And I feel like no matter how hard I try, we make no connection with the family being interviewed.

We are planning to switch translators next week when we go to the next community to see if we can narrow down the source of the problem.

The pressure cooker is done, more updates later.

Shower Power

The results are in. We just finished counting the E. coli and coliforms from our test run. Our three sources included Dasani water as a negative check, some water from our tap (supposedly it had tested positive in the past, so we used it as a familiar source), and then to be sure we went to the dirtiest water hole we could find. This water hole was intended to give us an idea about desirable dilutions.

Back to the results. Our shower water has more than 150 times the E. coli and 150 times the bacteria then the dirtiest water we could find in Shirati. YIPES!!

Upon arriving home, we found that our water is out. It gets pumped to the top of a hill publicly from Lake Victoria, then anyone can use it. Apparently the pump is off occasionally, so our tank is empty, and I came to realize how grateful I am to have that water, no matter how dirty our test says it is.

Our First Scorpion in the Kitchen!

Tonight we are going to bed early in preparation for the two big days ahead of us. I spent the day preparing surveys for the households that we will be visiting. It is interesting to find a balance between thorough, from a research perspective, and not overly intrusive,
from a humanities perspective. I have tried to value both sides of the spectrum, but when you have to ask the number of days that each family member has had diarrhea in the past two weeks, non intrusive just can't happen. Since we will be returning to each home on a bi-weekly basis, some of the pressure is relieved from the family assessment, as we can always ask additional questions during future visits.

As if the day was not interesting enough, we found a scorpion on our kitchen floor after dinner! The battle was a tough one. We screamed a lot, trapped him under a trashcan, then sent Sara (not Sarah) to ask her dad to kill him. He sent her back with a cane that was actually a sword in disguise, and after I removed the trashcan she chopped him into pieces! He actually didn't budge an inch from start to finish, but he did ooze a little when he got chopped up, so I am pretty sure he was real. The ironic part is that earlier in the day we were talking about scorpions and Sara said that she had not seen one in years. So when Sarah exclaimed , "Is that a scorpion on our floor?," I barely even looked.

Now that's enough excitement for one day!!

No Daylight Savings

Fun Fact: Tanzania does not observe Daylight Savings Time. Starting Sunday Elizabeth and Sarah will be 8 hours ahead.

The Lab: Sterilizing Beside Cockroaches

Emailed by Elizabeth to Neil:

We spent the morning making sure that our pressure cooker worked and collecting water for drinking, the lab work, and our emergency eye wash station.

We are finally to the point of trying a real test run with the agar, and it's almost 10pm. I guess college kids have the same habits wherever they go. We had been distracted by all the bugs that come out at night in the office. Another part of the hold up was our lighting situation.
One of our newly wired ceiling lights doesn't work, and the other has the best strobe light effect I have ever seen. So we moved to the best lit room in the building and sat on bundles of mosquito nets to watch our chemicals boil on a hot plate on the floor.

If all goes well we will be at this again on Thursday and Friday; after spending all day collecting samples in Nyambogo and interviewing each family we visit.

Where Are We? aka learning to blog

So we have now been in Kenya and Tanzania for about two weeks. Just last night the VLOP group of 25 headed for the airport, and things are now starting to feel like Africa. . . or not the US. Its a weird mix of culture and purpose which I imagine will take a while to settle itself out.

Here in Nairobi we bought a pressure cooker, to use as an autoclave, and many other creative lab supplies. It will all be stuffed in a suitcase and we will head back to Shirati, our home base for the next six months, on an overnight bus. Rumors have it that it will be a bumpy ride, and if its anything like the vans we have spent endless hours on these past few week, there is no question about the bumpiness. When we get to Shirati, we will be working with three communities. In the past two weeks Sarah and I have had barely enough time to introduce ourselves to the communities as the people that will be around for six months to collect data, build partnerships, and be the best resource we can. Regardless of what we have accomplished, it has been a educational two weeks, and I anticipate that our productivity will soon go up.