The second half of last week turned out to be fairly productive and confidence-boosting. After slightly freaking out about the volunteer report form I had to fill out where I felt like I had nothing to fill out, I decided to hit the pavement- hard. Since coming back from training in Nairobi,I had a series of different visitors and officials to plan for and semi-entertain so I hadn't really had much time to find work. On Thursday,I called Sachiko and Moses to see if they knew of any groups I could work with. Sachiko said she was a little bored so I invited her over for dinner. My family loves having guests and they welcomed her, which I really appreciated because I don't really have the space in my shack to play hostess. She ended up staying the night and then we were greeted in the morning by Nia's son, Giles, making crepes! They were delicious :-) and a great way to start out a Friday.
After a great breakfast, I said good bye to Giles and Nia, who were heading back Friday evening and set out to meet some of the women in Rotian. There was a plough contest sponsored by the Ministries of Livestock and Agriculture. I had been told that they would also be exhibiting some goats so I invited the women so they could see some dairy goats but, alas, no animals were there. Except the donkeys pulling ploughs. I felt bad that I dragged the women to town and away from their jobs and didn't even have what was promised so I tried to make the best of it and snagged one of the livestock officers to answer their questions. They also got some pointers from the agriculture officer about how to make farming a business. I pounced on this opportunity and told him that I was a business advisor working in town for the next two years and I would looooove to advise some farmers on agri-business. We set up a meeting for next week, so hopefully I will get some more people to work with out of it.
On the way back into town with the women, I ran into Moses and he wanted to hang out for awhile. Usually I wouldn't have minded but I was filthy. The farm where the exhibition was was dusty and Narok itself is pretty dusty on a normal day. That day was windy and I literally had a layer of dirt/dust on my skin. Luckily I was wearing brown (and I am brown) so I didn't look too terrible but I just wanted to go home and take a bath. I'm glad I stuck around though because he took me to a friends house so I got to meet more people and also took me to see a legit business woman. She has a tailoring shop tucked away in town that I would have never found on my own and she works with many women's groups and women entrepreneurs. I also set up a meeting with her for next week. Moses also asked me to teach a computer class beginning next Monday, to which I happily agreed. It will be working with youth so I'll be able to meet some new faces and maybe start working on some youth enterprises. All in all a good day! Hopefully some of these can turn into actual working projects and I can get some sort of schedule established. Just in time for the holiday season when everyone will be doing their own thing anyway :-)
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Month-aversaries!
This week marked the fifth month I have been in Kenya and the third month I have been at site. I really didn't want to be one of those people who counts month-aversaries like a high school relationship but I thought it would be a good point to stop and reflect on my time here. Also, we got our first Volunteer Reporting Forms from Peace Corps and I may or may not have freaked out a bit because I felt like I didn't have anything to write on the paper. In training, we were told to always lead with accomplishments because nobody like a Debbie Downer (or Bitter Betty as is often the case with me). Thus, I present you the highs and lows of my PC experience so far:
Victo
Victories!
1. Women's group in Rotian
I have been working with several women's groups in a village Rotian, about 20km from town. OFDC provided a micro-credit loan for one group last year and they will pay their last payment next month. I am working on getting a work-able micro-credit program in place that can outlive my stay here in Kenya. On paper, there isn't much that I've "accomplished" with these women but I feel that there is now a trust between us and my sister/counterpart/translator/supervisor's wife/bestie Josephine. When I say something, they generally listen and they feel comfortable asking me questions, which I really appreciate. there's a kind of yes-ma'am culture here where people tell you they agree with something or you have a good idea but then they never do it so obviously they didn't like it. I feel like I'm getting less of this from the women.
2. Taking back my diet!
When I first came to site, it was a hard adjustment. I imagined I would be living in my own house, maybe with a guest room and sitting room and my own kitchen. Well, I live in a house that always has between 5 and 20+ people in it and all the cooking is done communally. It was hard at first to try and eat what I wanted because I had to conform to their meal times. And, even if I had already eaten in my room, if they didn't see me eat, they would make me eat again. Now, I feel more comfortable with my family here and will just tell them when I don't want something (I hate eating rice and potatoes) or when I've already eaten something. This was partially done by letting them taste a bit of what I had cooked. If they said they liked it, I told them I would make it for them. I'm still eating oatmeal alone in my room in the morning :-) Also the amount of oil and/or lard that is in every meal is just taking it's toll on me and I can't deal with it and I told them that. They think I should just get fat and marry a Kenyan. Ummm.... no thanks- Kenyan women do too much work!
3. Friends!
Even though I am super far from other PCVs, especially those in my training class, I have been able to make a few friends here at site. Two are pictured in the last post, Moses and Sachiko and there is also another volunteer working at an organization AfricaHope. There is another JAICA (Japanese PC) volunteer but I haven't met her yet, and another woman who works at a different safehouse who comes back and forth between Kenya and America. I'm estatic that many of these friends are girls because guys and girls really aren't seen as friends here. Friends pretty much equals FWB in some way. The first two months I was just hanging out with Moses and the two other PCVs in the Mara, Brian and Frank, so my town probably thought I was some loose floozy. Oh, and two of these friends have their own apartments with SHOWERS!
4. Internet and iPod
A bit of me was jealous of those PCVs in villages when I found out I would be in a 40k person town. Isn't that the whole PCV experience? Being in the bush, tucked away from society? Well, the good things about being in a town are: reliable transportation (as reliable as it can be in Kenya), access to different kinds of food (I found cucumbers the other day!), aaaaand speedy-ish internet service. Which means iTunes has been my best friend for the past month (iTunes gift cards still a great gift that needs no shipping!!!). Maybe it's a bit un-PC-like but I have been keeping up on my prime shows like Gossip Girl, The Good Wife, The Office and Modern Family. Oh and of course the podcasts- I heart Anderson Cooper and Neil Conan is my best friend I never see. Sure it takes a whole night do download one episode but when I lay in the morning under my mosquito net and listen to Michael Scott or chuckle at the ridiculousness that is Serena van der Woodson, it's like a slice of home and gives me some uuumph to get through the day. I could pretend that I didn't have access to these shows or the internet, but what's the point in that? PC is hard enough with me denying myself the small pleasures I can actually have.
5. My iPod
So, I was going to the airport on May 26 and halfway there I realize I forgot my iPod on the charging dock. Who does that?!!? We thought we didn't have enough time to go back even though my flight ended up being delayed so I totally did. At that time I was in the whole, let's not be materialistic, this is the Peace Corps frame of mind. Well, I landed in Nairobi and saw that my music had also not transferred from my Mac to my netbook. So I had no iPod and no music on my computer= NO MUSIC AT ALL! Seeing as how someone in the post office stole 6 letters to my mom and sister and 4 packets of Crystal Light someone sent me, the chances of my iPod making it from Cincinnati, Ohio to Narok, Kenya were below 0. Thankfully, my mom was able to send it to Nia, who was able to bring it with her when she came last week. Yay!!!!!!!!
6. Health
I haven't been sick yet! Well except the one day I accidentally ate a piece of meat and another day when I don't know what happened but I spent the night with my bucket. Both of these were one night occurrences that passed by morning so I don't count them but during the 12 hours when they happened I could tell that being sick here would make me very unhappy. And Josephine's dad happened to be in the room next to me that night and told me in the morning he heard me hurl. That must have been awesome for him...
Frustrations
1. Lack of personal space and privacy.
Those of you who know me, know that I like my me time and I like my space. No one in my house (except my supervisor) has ever lived on their own, alone, and they think I am crazy when I go sit in my room and read or surf the internet. I definitely try to be social but I'm usually working alone for a few hours in the day or running errands in town (I hate running errands with people) and then at night they pretty much know after I take a bath and eat dinner I'm going to my room. They think I just sleep a lot even though I told them that I go and read for a bit and then go to sleep. They seem incredulous but I just can't sit in the living room for 3 hours while the TV is on super-full blast watching terrible Nigerian movies or even more horrible Kenyan dramas. Sometimes I like to watch the English version of the news at 9 but usually by then I am in my cocoon.
2. Lack of work
Yes, I know, 2/3rds of my "job" here is supposed to be cultural exchange. I share about America and learn about Kenya. However, that in and of itself is not enough for me to spend two years away from my friends and family and out of the real work force. Part of me joined PC to have a slower pace of life and take some reflection time but a much bigger part joined to DO SOMETHING! Which means I need to DO SOMETHING! There's not much to do, or more likely, I haven't found it yet. That's not to say I haven't been looking though. I try to meet at least one new person a day, explain that I'm a business volunteer and let them know if they need any help to call me. I figured as free labor I would be highly sought after. Not so. Once they see that I'm not giving out money (with the exception of Rotian), they usually aren't interested. Part of it is that I am wary of pushing myself onto someone's business or their group. If you don't think you need accounting help, fine. You think your inventory and pricing are the best they can be, cool with me. I would think that learning how to make more money would be just as interesting as getting loan money. Oh well
3. Being out of the loop
Kenya is about 2x the size of Nevada, so a decent size when you are traveling by car all the time. PCVs are throughout the country but many are clustered in Western (about 5 hours from me) and the Coast (about 15 hours from me). The PCVs in Western get together all the time, some see other volunteers on a daily basis because they live so close. Even those who aren't clustered are usually within a 1hr walk/ bike ride from another volunteer. My closest volunteer is a 1.5hr matatu (van) ride away in Bomet, where there are 5 or 6 volunteers around each other. Although I am making do (see #3 Victory), I always feel out of the loop of what goes on with fellow PCVs. After all, the PC friendships many people make last a lifetime and I'm lucky if I get to meet up with other PCVs once a month and it costs me 1/4 of my living allowance and a full day's trip.
4. The choo
I just hate it. I don't think I will ever get used to it. It's gross and inevitably smelly no matter how you clean it because it's a hole in the ground filled with people's waste.
So, all in all, the victories seem to be outweighing the frustration even though it doesn't feel that way on a daily basis. I constantly wonder what the heck I am doing here and if me being here will actually make any difference. I have had some moments where I didn't want to be here, as in at site, but I haven't yet had a period of time where I wanted to get on a plane and go back home. They say the first three months are the hardest so I'm putting a lot of stock in November!
Sorry for the long post!
Victo
Victories!
1. Women's group in Rotian
I have been working with several women's groups in a village Rotian, about 20km from town. OFDC provided a micro-credit loan for one group last year and they will pay their last payment next month. I am working on getting a work-able micro-credit program in place that can outlive my stay here in Kenya. On paper, there isn't much that I've "accomplished" with these women but I feel that there is now a trust between us and my sister/counterpart/translator/supervisor's wife/bestie Josephine. When I say something, they generally listen and they feel comfortable asking me questions, which I really appreciate. there's a kind of yes-ma'am culture here where people tell you they agree with something or you have a good idea but then they never do it so obviously they didn't like it. I feel like I'm getting less of this from the women.
2. Taking back my diet!
When I first came to site, it was a hard adjustment. I imagined I would be living in my own house, maybe with a guest room and sitting room and my own kitchen. Well, I live in a house that always has between 5 and 20+ people in it and all the cooking is done communally. It was hard at first to try and eat what I wanted because I had to conform to their meal times. And, even if I had already eaten in my room, if they didn't see me eat, they would make me eat again. Now, I feel more comfortable with my family here and will just tell them when I don't want something (I hate eating rice and potatoes) or when I've already eaten something. This was partially done by letting them taste a bit of what I had cooked. If they said they liked it, I told them I would make it for them. I'm still eating oatmeal alone in my room in the morning :-) Also the amount of oil and/or lard that is in every meal is just taking it's toll on me and I can't deal with it and I told them that. They think I should just get fat and marry a Kenyan. Ummm.... no thanks- Kenyan women do too much work!
3. Friends!
Even though I am super far from other PCVs, especially those in my training class, I have been able to make a few friends here at site. Two are pictured in the last post, Moses and Sachiko and there is also another volunteer working at an organization AfricaHope. There is another JAICA (Japanese PC) volunteer but I haven't met her yet, and another woman who works at a different safehouse who comes back and forth between Kenya and America. I'm estatic that many of these friends are girls because guys and girls really aren't seen as friends here. Friends pretty much equals FWB in some way. The first two months I was just hanging out with Moses and the two other PCVs in the Mara, Brian and Frank, so my town probably thought I was some loose floozy. Oh, and two of these friends have their own apartments with SHOWERS!
4. Internet and iPod
A bit of me was jealous of those PCVs in villages when I found out I would be in a 40k person town. Isn't that the whole PCV experience? Being in the bush, tucked away from society? Well, the good things about being in a town are: reliable transportation (as reliable as it can be in Kenya), access to different kinds of food (I found cucumbers the other day!), aaaaand speedy-ish internet service. Which means iTunes has been my best friend for the past month (iTunes gift cards still a great gift that needs no shipping!!!). Maybe it's a bit un-PC-like but I have been keeping up on my prime shows like Gossip Girl, The Good Wife, The Office and Modern Family. Oh and of course the podcasts- I heart Anderson Cooper and Neil Conan is my best friend I never see. Sure it takes a whole night do download one episode but when I lay in the morning under my mosquito net and listen to Michael Scott or chuckle at the ridiculousness that is Serena van der Woodson, it's like a slice of home and gives me some uuumph to get through the day. I could pretend that I didn't have access to these shows or the internet, but what's the point in that? PC is hard enough with me denying myself the small pleasures I can actually have.
5. My iPod
So, I was going to the airport on May 26 and halfway there I realize I forgot my iPod on the charging dock. Who does that?!!? We thought we didn't have enough time to go back even though my flight ended up being delayed so I totally did. At that time I was in the whole, let's not be materialistic, this is the Peace Corps frame of mind. Well, I landed in Nairobi and saw that my music had also not transferred from my Mac to my netbook. So I had no iPod and no music on my computer= NO MUSIC AT ALL! Seeing as how someone in the post office stole 6 letters to my mom and sister and 4 packets of Crystal Light someone sent me, the chances of my iPod making it from Cincinnati, Ohio to Narok, Kenya were below 0. Thankfully, my mom was able to send it to Nia, who was able to bring it with her when she came last week. Yay!!!!!!!!
6. Health
I haven't been sick yet! Well except the one day I accidentally ate a piece of meat and another day when I don't know what happened but I spent the night with my bucket. Both of these were one night occurrences that passed by morning so I don't count them but during the 12 hours when they happened I could tell that being sick here would make me very unhappy. And Josephine's dad happened to be in the room next to me that night and told me in the morning he heard me hurl. That must have been awesome for him...
Frustrations
1. Lack of personal space and privacy.
Those of you who know me, know that I like my me time and I like my space. No one in my house (except my supervisor) has ever lived on their own, alone, and they think I am crazy when I go sit in my room and read or surf the internet. I definitely try to be social but I'm usually working alone for a few hours in the day or running errands in town (I hate running errands with people) and then at night they pretty much know after I take a bath and eat dinner I'm going to my room. They think I just sleep a lot even though I told them that I go and read for a bit and then go to sleep. They seem incredulous but I just can't sit in the living room for 3 hours while the TV is on super-full blast watching terrible Nigerian movies or even more horrible Kenyan dramas. Sometimes I like to watch the English version of the news at 9 but usually by then I am in my cocoon.
2. Lack of work
Yes, I know, 2/3rds of my "job" here is supposed to be cultural exchange. I share about America and learn about Kenya. However, that in and of itself is not enough for me to spend two years away from my friends and family and out of the real work force. Part of me joined PC to have a slower pace of life and take some reflection time but a much bigger part joined to DO SOMETHING! Which means I need to DO SOMETHING! There's not much to do, or more likely, I haven't found it yet. That's not to say I haven't been looking though. I try to meet at least one new person a day, explain that I'm a business volunteer and let them know if they need any help to call me. I figured as free labor I would be highly sought after. Not so. Once they see that I'm not giving out money (with the exception of Rotian), they usually aren't interested. Part of it is that I am wary of pushing myself onto someone's business or their group. If you don't think you need accounting help, fine. You think your inventory and pricing are the best they can be, cool with me. I would think that learning how to make more money would be just as interesting as getting loan money. Oh well
3. Being out of the loop
Kenya is about 2x the size of Nevada, so a decent size when you are traveling by car all the time. PCVs are throughout the country but many are clustered in Western (about 5 hours from me) and the Coast (about 15 hours from me). The PCVs in Western get together all the time, some see other volunteers on a daily basis because they live so close. Even those who aren't clustered are usually within a 1hr walk/ bike ride from another volunteer. My closest volunteer is a 1.5hr matatu (van) ride away in Bomet, where there are 5 or 6 volunteers around each other. Although I am making do (see #3 Victory), I always feel out of the loop of what goes on with fellow PCVs. After all, the PC friendships many people make last a lifetime and I'm lucky if I get to meet up with other PCVs once a month and it costs me 1/4 of my living allowance and a full day's trip.
4. The choo
I just hate it. I don't think I will ever get used to it. It's gross and inevitably smelly no matter how you clean it because it's a hole in the ground filled with people's waste.
So, all in all, the victories seem to be outweighing the frustration even though it doesn't feel that way on a daily basis. I constantly wonder what the heck I am doing here and if me being here will actually make any difference. I have had some moments where I didn't want to be here, as in at site, but I haven't yet had a period of time where I wanted to get on a plane and go back home. They say the first three months are the hardest so I'm putting a lot of stock in November!
Sorry for the long post!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Ostrich egg party and some random pics
Sachiko and Moses with the ostrich egg
Kids cutting the grass at a school- Dad if you had to mow the lawn this way, would you still enjoy yard work so much?
Sianne, my best friend in Kenya and my Swahili teacher, imitating me reading on my couch
Giles, Moses and I drilling into the egg
Nimepotea
My Swahili is fast out-pacing Maasai, the local language I spent 8 hours a day learning in training. This is mostly because the family I live with is made up of a Maasai mom and a Kikuyu dad so they teach the daughter (2 years) Swahili. Anyhow, whenever you are gone for more than a couple days and you see someone, they say to you "Umepotea", which means "you have been lost." The first time someone said that to me I was, understandably, confused. No, I haven't been lost- I've known where I was all along! And, usually the other person did too because I have said, Oh I'll be in Nairobi for two weeks so I won't see you for awhile. But, I didn't tell you guys what's been going on for the last three weeks so I guess I really have been nimepotea.
Things at site are the usual up and down. I posted some lyrics from one of my favorite movies, The Wiz, on facebook and they are so relevant to me this week that I'll put them again here...
"Cause there may be times when you think you lost your mind and the steps you're takin' leave you three more steps behind. But the road you're walkin' might be long sometimes, you just keep on steppin' and you'll be just fine"
That pretty much sums up PC life, for me at least. Also, I realize that I have been quite remiss in talking about life in general here. I have talked quite a bit about the work I've been doing and my silence has generally been because of lack of aforementioned work. But you guys don't want to hear about just work work work right? So I will try to infuse a bit more of the everyday in these ramblings, ahem, I mean posts.
Starting with... the ostrich egg party! There is a JAIKA (Japanese equivalent of Peace Corps) volunteer who lives not too far from me. Funny how my worlds collide. We met through a mutual friend when he was on his way to a medical camp. At the medical camp, she bought an ostrich egg from a villager so we thought, why not have a party and cook it? Nia, the director of our donor organization OFDC and her son Giles (also a former Japanese student!) are here for two weeks to check on all of the projects they have funded for my organization. So, after a week of looking at latrines, water wells, and crazy kids, I invited them to come along with me to Sachiko's place. We picked up some chapati and chips and then the fun really began. Our only Kenyan representation, the mutual friend Moses, was the only one of us with ostrich egg cracking experience. Those shells are hard! We had to drill a hole because Sachiko wanted to keep the empty shell and have it decorated with beads. So, there we sat, taking turns drilling a hole with a knife and subsequently blowing out the insides. Best Friday night in a long time (not even being sarcastic!). I cooked up the egg, which is the equivalent of about 2 dozen chicken eggs, and then we all sat around Sachiko's place and just chatted about development, women's rights, why we all love our countries, and other random topics. What does ostrich egg taste like? I thought it was pretty good, but a bit yolky compared to a chicken egg.
Other than that, it has been slow going work wise. I went to a school today and volunteered to teach their business class next term (January) and I am trying to get a dairy goat cooperative going with some of the women's groups. Also, the girls come back in a couple weeks and I want to do a mini holiday camp with them, so we will see how that goes. I know that seems like a lot but most of the things I have to do involve a lot of waiting and then a meeting and then more waiting... I read a whole book on Sunday which I thought I would stretch out to last the week so now I'm blogging and bored!
THANK YOU MELANIE for my birthday package! We made the cake with the frosting as soon as I got it. One of my housemates, Alice, had never had frosting and they ate the whole tube even thought I told them it would make them sick! Also, reading Kaffir Boy (great pick!) rejuvenated my reasons for being here and trying to make a difference, even when I feel I am failing miserably. Love you and miss you!
Even though we lost the game (no surprise) still going to give a shout out to Columbia homecoming. Roar lions roar!!!
Things at site are the usual up and down. I posted some lyrics from one of my favorite movies, The Wiz, on facebook and they are so relevant to me this week that I'll put them again here...
"Cause there may be times when you think you lost your mind and the steps you're takin' leave you three more steps behind. But the road you're walkin' might be long sometimes, you just keep on steppin' and you'll be just fine"
That pretty much sums up PC life, for me at least. Also, I realize that I have been quite remiss in talking about life in general here. I have talked quite a bit about the work I've been doing and my silence has generally been because of lack of aforementioned work. But you guys don't want to hear about just work work work right? So I will try to infuse a bit more of the everyday in these ramblings, ahem, I mean posts.
Starting with... the ostrich egg party! There is a JAIKA (Japanese equivalent of Peace Corps) volunteer who lives not too far from me. Funny how my worlds collide. We met through a mutual friend when he was on his way to a medical camp. At the medical camp, she bought an ostrich egg from a villager so we thought, why not have a party and cook it? Nia, the director of our donor organization OFDC and her son Giles (also a former Japanese student!) are here for two weeks to check on all of the projects they have funded for my organization. So, after a week of looking at latrines, water wells, and crazy kids, I invited them to come along with me to Sachiko's place. We picked up some chapati and chips and then the fun really began. Our only Kenyan representation, the mutual friend Moses, was the only one of us with ostrich egg cracking experience. Those shells are hard! We had to drill a hole because Sachiko wanted to keep the empty shell and have it decorated with beads. So, there we sat, taking turns drilling a hole with a knife and subsequently blowing out the insides. Best Friday night in a long time (not even being sarcastic!). I cooked up the egg, which is the equivalent of about 2 dozen chicken eggs, and then we all sat around Sachiko's place and just chatted about development, women's rights, why we all love our countries, and other random topics. What does ostrich egg taste like? I thought it was pretty good, but a bit yolky compared to a chicken egg.
Other than that, it has been slow going work wise. I went to a school today and volunteered to teach their business class next term (January) and I am trying to get a dairy goat cooperative going with some of the women's groups. Also, the girls come back in a couple weeks and I want to do a mini holiday camp with them, so we will see how that goes. I know that seems like a lot but most of the things I have to do involve a lot of waiting and then a meeting and then more waiting... I read a whole book on Sunday which I thought I would stretch out to last the week so now I'm blogging and bored!
THANK YOU MELANIE for my birthday package! We made the cake with the frosting as soon as I got it. One of my housemates, Alice, had never had frosting and they ate the whole tube even thought I told them it would make them sick! Also, reading Kaffir Boy (great pick!) rejuvenated my reasons for being here and trying to make a difference, even when I feel I am failing miserably. Love you and miss you!
Even though we lost the game (no surprise) still going to give a shout out to Columbia homecoming. Roar lions roar!!!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Stones into Choos
Ok, I haven't read Stones into Schools, but I have read Three Cups of Tea, and I shared some of Greg Mortenson's frustrations yesterday. Thankfully, I did not share the experience of being held hostage or having to deal with anti-American sentiment. Doing business here in Kenya, however, is never a cake walk. Our organization receives funding from OFDC to do a number of projects, one being providing choos (latrines) for schools around the district. Imagine being in elementary school and not having a place to go to the bathroom (well, other than the bush)? The issue is compounded even more for girls, who, once they get towards the end of elementary school really need a place to go to the bathroom. We have been budgeting for six locations and the first location has been rife with difficulties. Shady contractors, lazy builders, difficult oversight- it's hard to keep an eye on a project 100km away. Also, being the first project, there were many lessons to be learned about cost, efficiency, and motivation. Yesterday we went to purchase the materials for the second latrine project, about 2 hours north of Narok.
The Plan:
Purchase materials, hire a truck, pick up materials, take them and drop them off at the site, take before pictures, arrive home.
What really happened:
My supervisor and I left to purchase materials in town around 10AM. Lesson learned #1 from the first project is find a hardware store that has ALL of the supplies you need. Check. I checked the materials against the list of things we needed (lesson #2: Builders never tell you all the materials you need on the first project. Keep a list so the next time you have everything you need before they start building). After checking around following the first project, we were able to save a bit of money on some of the materials. So far so good.
Next on the list was to buy timber, which meant a trip to the other side of this dusty town and get pelted by woodchips from the carpenters working. Oh, did I mention I was wearing my contacts for the first time at site? Good choice Meg. We need to find 3 types of timber and one type we can only see at the bottom of a stack of tons of lumber. Hmmm... We keep looking and find some. After agreeing on a price (3600 shillings), my supervisor gives her 4000 shillings and she brings back the receipt for me. I ask, "Wapi changi?' (where's the change?). She says there is no change; we must have heard her wrong, the lumber is 4000 shillings, not 3600. Yea, those sound soooo similar. I begin to see my supervisor's heart rate climb and me, being a "that's not fair" American start to protest. Why should we get ripped off here? We'll just take our business elsewhere. But, having dealt with these things his whole life, my supervisor tells me that there's nothing we can do because, "That's how things are done in Kenya." If you go somewhere else, you will likely get ripped off there as well. Humph.So that's what happened to the budget last time. Lesson #3: Always carry small bills so you can give exact change.
By now it's noon and the sun is blazing- even my supervisor is complaining about the heat. I'm famished and am elated when he suggests we eat lunch while waiting for the wood to be sanded. In the meantime, he has been trying to get in touch with the truck driver all morning. While at lunch, he finally gets him on the line and they agree to meet after lunch. We eat and then go to meet the owner of the truck, which has a flat. They claim it's not a puncture, just the air pressure because the nozzle wasn't on tight enough. Mmmmhmmm. They fill it with air and off we go to the quarry. Oh yea, it's still hot and dusty and we are riding down a buuummmmpppppyyy road in the interior to the quarry to get ballast. When we left town, the workers said they would load the ballast into the back of the lorry for 500 shillings. When we get to the quarry, that figure has magically jumped up to 800 shillings. And, the woman working in the quarry tells us that, even though we asked for 2 tonnes of ballast, she has set aside 3 tonnes, so we need to pay for three tons. I try to crack jokes to calm my supervisor down even though I fear he just might fall out in the sun any moment. Those fears are allayed since it's now 2PM and the sky is darkening. Oh, afternoon rain shower, hello! It takes the workers an hour to load the ballast (now we are 3:30pm) and I'm wondering how we are possibly going to make it to this school today??? My supervisor is hopeful. We leave the quarry but not before the police stop us because you have to pay 200 shillings to the government whenever you remove something from the quarry. Even though the receipt just says 200 shillings, they claim it's supposed to be 200 shillings per ton
. Really? We have three tonnes so we should pay 600 shillings but, if we just give them 50 shillings they'll call it even. Woo-saa!!!!
It's approaching 5PM and we are just getting back to town. And it's pouring. We load the timber first and then go to get the cement and the rest of the materials but the truck is open on top so we need a cover. We go back to the hardware store and count and check off each item that is going on the truck. It's still raining and the roads become impassable outside of town when it rains so we decide to park the truck overnight and take it at 6AM. My supervisor could tell I had had my fill of Kenyan economics so he said he would go alone today. When I called him at 9:30, they still had not reached the schools. It was raining all night and I'm sure the roads are bad. Pole bwana. We are in for a long road ahead. This was only purchasing the materials- we still have to stay on the workers and make sure they complete the latrine in a timely fashion and produce quality work. And then learn more lessons and apply them to projects 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Want to help provide latrines for children? Consider donating to OFDC for A Mission with a Vision and we'll do the heavy lifting :-)
THANK YOU TO MOM, DAD, TRACY, JR, TALIBAH AND MELANIE! Judging by my smile, the people at the post office probably thought I was picking up liquid gold out of the PO Box. Well, candy, magazines and a sweatshirt are like gold to me :-) Also, you are totally promoting goals 2&3 of Peace Corps (cross-cultural exchange). Example: While looking through Lucky, my supervisor's wife, Josephine, pointed to a GAP ad showing ripped jeans and asked, "Who would buy these ripped?" Just one more reason they think Americans are crazy. It was also great for them to see Essence and Ebony as proof that there are black Americans- we have whole magazines dedicated to them!
The Plan:
Purchase materials, hire a truck, pick up materials, take them and drop them off at the site, take before pictures, arrive home.
What really happened:
My supervisor and I left to purchase materials in town around 10AM. Lesson learned #1 from the first project is find a hardware store that has ALL of the supplies you need. Check. I checked the materials against the list of things we needed (lesson #2: Builders never tell you all the materials you need on the first project. Keep a list so the next time you have everything you need before they start building). After checking around following the first project, we were able to save a bit of money on some of the materials. So far so good.
Next on the list was to buy timber, which meant a trip to the other side of this dusty town and get pelted by woodchips from the carpenters working. Oh, did I mention I was wearing my contacts for the first time at site? Good choice Meg. We need to find 3 types of timber and one type we can only see at the bottom of a stack of tons of lumber. Hmmm... We keep looking and find some. After agreeing on a price (3600 shillings), my supervisor gives her 4000 shillings and she brings back the receipt for me. I ask, "Wapi changi?' (where's the change?). She says there is no change; we must have heard her wrong, the lumber is 4000 shillings, not 3600. Yea, those sound soooo similar. I begin to see my supervisor's heart rate climb and me, being a "that's not fair" American start to protest. Why should we get ripped off here? We'll just take our business elsewhere. But, having dealt with these things his whole life, my supervisor tells me that there's nothing we can do because, "That's how things are done in Kenya." If you go somewhere else, you will likely get ripped off there as well. Humph.So that's what happened to the budget last time. Lesson #3: Always carry small bills so you can give exact change.
By now it's noon and the sun is blazing- even my supervisor is complaining about the heat. I'm famished and am elated when he suggests we eat lunch while waiting for the wood to be sanded. In the meantime, he has been trying to get in touch with the truck driver all morning. While at lunch, he finally gets him on the line and they agree to meet after lunch. We eat and then go to meet the owner of the truck, which has a flat. They claim it's not a puncture, just the air pressure because the nozzle wasn't on tight enough. Mmmmhmmm. They fill it with air and off we go to the quarry. Oh yea, it's still hot and dusty and we are riding down a buuummmmpppppyyy road in the interior to the quarry to get ballast. When we left town, the workers said they would load the ballast into the back of the lorry for 500 shillings. When we get to the quarry, that figure has magically jumped up to 800 shillings. And, the woman working in the quarry tells us that, even though we asked for 2 tonnes of ballast, she has set aside 3 tonnes, so we need to pay for three tons. I try to crack jokes to calm my supervisor down even though I fear he just might fall out in the sun any moment. Those fears are allayed since it's now 2PM and the sky is darkening. Oh, afternoon rain shower, hello! It takes the workers an hour to load the ballast (now we are 3:30pm) and I'm wondering how we are possibly going to make it to this school today??? My supervisor is hopeful. We leave the quarry but not before the police stop us because you have to pay 200 shillings to the government whenever you remove something from the quarry. Even though the receipt just says 200 shillings, they claim it's supposed to be 200 shillings per ton
. Really? We have three tonnes so we should pay 600 shillings but, if we just give them 50 shillings they'll call it even. Woo-saa!!!!
It's approaching 5PM and we are just getting back to town. And it's pouring. We load the timber first and then go to get the cement and the rest of the materials but the truck is open on top so we need a cover. We go back to the hardware store and count and check off each item that is going on the truck. It's still raining and the roads become impassable outside of town when it rains so we decide to park the truck overnight and take it at 6AM. My supervisor could tell I had had my fill of Kenyan economics so he said he would go alone today. When I called him at 9:30, they still had not reached the schools. It was raining all night and I'm sure the roads are bad. Pole bwana. We are in for a long road ahead. This was only purchasing the materials- we still have to stay on the workers and make sure they complete the latrine in a timely fashion and produce quality work. And then learn more lessons and apply them to projects 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Want to help provide latrines for children? Consider donating to OFDC for A Mission with a Vision and we'll do the heavy lifting :-)
THANK YOU TO MOM, DAD, TRACY, JR, TALIBAH AND MELANIE! Judging by my smile, the people at the post office probably thought I was picking up liquid gold out of the PO Box. Well, candy, magazines and a sweatshirt are like gold to me :-) Also, you are totally promoting goals 2&3 of Peace Corps (cross-cultural exchange). Example: While looking through Lucky, my supervisor's wife, Josephine, pointed to a GAP ad showing ripped jeans and asked, "Who would buy these ripped?" Just one more reason they think Americans are crazy. It was also great for them to see Essence and Ebony as proof that there are black Americans- we have whole magazines dedicated to them!
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