Traveling Cat

Our internet had been working sporadically for the past few months, but now doesn’t seem to want to work at all. So if updates start coming slower in the next few weeks, know that it’s because wireless internet + rural village = ridiculous pipe dream. That said, I’m in Kakamega today to run more errands for work and I’m happy to post while I get the chance.

Two weekends ago we went to Amos’s home so Sarah could visit her first mud hut and experience life on a traditional Luhya farm and homestead.

Amos with one year old Ian

We then worked for a few days and held our final parent meeting of the year (biggest attendance yet with almost 100 people!). Over the weekend we headed to Kisumu so Sarah could see the town, visit Lake Victoria, and so we could go swimming as the weather’s been heating up. However, it ended up being cloudy and rainy, which made for a rather low key weekend in Kisumu. (Nationwide flooding can really dampen plans, so to speak). We bought playing cards at a store near the Nakumatt and played on Saturday and Sunday nights. I think the highlight of the weekend for all three of us was eating good food… when there’s not much going on, food three times a day becomes the excitement of life. We had fabulous Indian food twice at Al-Noor and had pretty good Chinese food once for lunch. Yay Kisumu.

On Sunday we took the overnight bus to Nairobi so we could run errands in the big city on Monday and Tuesday (immigration, change flights, cyber café, print photos, buy fabric, etc).

Don’t burn the grass… a colorful matatu with a very friendly tout

Running errands in Garissa

We stayed in Nairobi till Wednesday when we finally got the chance to see Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai speak. Not only did we see her speak, we were the first ones to show up and got seats right up front and centre stage. She spoke for over an hour about environmentalism, and among other things explained how the Nobel Peace Prize committee relates the environmental movement to peace and justice. After her speech, we got to attend a tree planting ceremony and then Cindy and I each got to say hello to her and get autographs. She was a great motivational speaker and I’ll post more about the day when I’ve got more time.

After the Wangari Maathai speech, we jumped on the night bus Wednesday and headed back to our little village so we could be at work by 8:30am Thursday morning. Unfortunately the bus driver kept the radio playing loudly the whole trip which meant minimal sleep for all of us. After work we took naps and realized around 6pm that it was Thanksgiving back in the States. Thanksgiving is the one time of the year my family all get together, and I was sad to miss it but glad I had a cell phone and money to call home. I talked to my family for a few minutes (my parents had been up since 6am starting the turkey and making homemade pies) and then we threw together a super quick meal here with all of the supplies people brought from the States. We had cans and boxes to make Stovetop stuffing, creamed corn, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce. We had our own local potatoes from the market and we made garlic mashed potatoes with rosemary and parmesan. Didn’t have time to go to a butchery in Kakamega to find a turkey to slaughter, but that was probably for the best. We didn’t have time to make a pie or cobbler either, so we threw together some banana pudding at the last minute as we were washing up our dinner plates. Not a bad Thanksgiving meal, especially considering we did it on a two burner camp stove and made it under 45 minutes.

Thanksgiving or not, it wasn’t a holiday weekend for us in Kenya and definitely didn’t mean we got to rest… Thursday was a work day after the overnight bus, and Friday was a staff meeting, market day shopping, and a visit to Angela’s. Saturday we spent all day from 10am to 4pm at our end of year staff outing and Sunday we spent all day trying to get to and from Nancy’s family’s house way, way, way out in the interior. It’s still raining and flooding across Kenya (global warming, anyone?), and the constant downpour made the three hour treks to and from her house quite a cold, wet, miserable, slippery, tiring adventure. I’m not saying we weren’t hysterical at points and that there wasn’t much laughter, but man… the weather really made for a lousy travel day. Six hours of miserable travel time for a two hour visit was just painful, especially as we were soaked to the bone and shivering throughout the visit. (Mud huts have lots of charm, but lack central heat). I actually found myself daydreaming about our water heater coil and longing for our return home so we could warm up and clean our feet in nice hot water.

Me and Nancy

Now it’s Monday and I’ve got less than two weeks till my contract ends at work. It’s been super busy for the past few months and these final two weeks promise to bring an insanely busy end to our year. It’s been a great year, but I think I’m ready to travel for a while. I’m definitely looking forward to life as an unemployed nomad, starting with some quality time on Kenya’s beaches in December.

Convicts in Kenya can be spotted easily as they wear traditional black and white stripped pajama looking outfits and are often followed by uniformed guards carrying big guns. Having never been a convict, I may be a bit biased, but for now I think it’s okay that the government puts the convicts to use doing light labor rather than just having them sit around jail cells all day. I regularly see them at the hospital in Eldoret unloading trucks and hauling boxes around, and this photo was taken at the Agro Fair where convicts carried all sorts of stuff around. It’s sometimes looks fun for the convicts too… they smile, chat, get out of jail for a while and see the outside world, while performing much needed light manual labor. So far, everyone seems to win.

Solar Disinfection of Water (SODIS): A case study from Kenya
Article from http://www.echotech.org
By Larry Yarger

In 1996, issue #53 of EDN carried a short article that described how to disinfect water by using ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun to destroy harmful microorganisms. It was very simple: clear plastic bags filled with water were allowed to sit in the sun. In order for this technique to work, the water must be clear (not murky). The April 2004 edition of Water Lines, vol. 22 no. 4,
summarizes a case study conducted in rural Kenya, in which this technology, now known as SODIS, is found to be an excellent method of disinfecting water for the rural homestead.

The basic treatment consists of filling several clean, transparent plastic (‘PET’ or ‘PETE’ (1) – polyethylene terephthalate) water or soft drink bottles with water and exposing them to full sunlight for at least six hours. The process is more effective if the water is aerated by shaking,
and the bottles are placed on corrugated metal sheeting (roofing material) or on the house roof and exposed to the sun’s rays. Smooth bottles that hold two liters or less are best. The type of plastic bottle is very important—make sure it is ‘PET’ or ‘PETE’!

The following steps are recommended for SODIS:
1) Wash the bottle well before filling it.
2) Fill the bottle ¾ full with water.
3) Shake the bottle 20 seconds to oxygenate it.
4) Fill the bottle fully and cap it.
5) Place the bottle in the direct sun for 6 hours.
6) The water is now ready for drinking.

Exposure time should include the hours from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. If skies are clear to partly cloudy, 6 hours is recommended. If the sky is covered more than 50% with clouds, treatment for two consecutive days is recommended. A household health survey found that Kenyan households using SODIS had a 3-fold reduction in water-borne disease incidences compared to households not using SODIS. In the experimental part of the work, researchers measured the amount of fecal coliform bacteria as an “indicator organism” of pathogenic contamination. Water treated with SODIS had a 99.9% reduction of fecal coliform bacteria. SODIS effectively kills the following disease-causing organisms: Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella paratyphii, Salmonella typhii (cause of typhoid fever and food poisoning), bacteriophage F2, rotavirus and encephalomyocarditis virus, Candida, Geotrichum, Penicillium, and Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger (two species of fungi that produce aflatoxin). SODIS is also effective against protozoa organisms, some of which can cause disease. See Table 2.

In the community, SODIS project users compared SODIS with other methods of water treatment and rated SODIS number one over boiling, chlorination and filtration techniques, taking into account costs, ease of use, effect on the environment and efficiency in disease control. The community found that the technique is easy to use, costs little, saves fuel wood, saves time, and improves health. The article recommends SODIS be further promoted as an acceptable method of disinfecting water for household use, thereby reducing the risk of waterborne diseases. Tests conducted by the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG) showed that while pathogenic microorganisms were killed, some microorganisms not harmful to human health were present in SODIS water. See SODIS website and technical notes for further details.

Table 2: Effect of SODIS technique on prevalence of various pathogens. Information from FAQ section of SODIS website.

Pathogen – Illness – Reduction via SODIS (H2O Temp: 40oC; Solar Exposure: 6 Hours)
Bacteria Escherichia coli Enteritis [E.coli is also a water quality indicator] 99.9 to 99.99%
Vibrio cholerae Cholera 99.9 to 99.99%
Salmonella spp. Food Poisoning, Typhoid 99.9 to 99.99%
Shigella spp. Dysentery 99.9 to 99.99%
Viruses Rotavirus Diarrhea, Dysentery 99.9 to 99.99%
Hepatitis Virus Hepatitis Reduced In Cases of SODIS Users
Protozoa Giardia spp. Giardiasis 99.9 to 99.99% (Infectivity of Cysts)
Cryptosporidium spp. Cryptosporidiosis 99 to 99.9% (Infectivity of Cysts)

For further information, refer to the SODIS website: www.sodis.ch. And if any of you are worried regardless of this scientific study, rest assured I filter my water and then treat it as well. And sometimes, I use my fancy UV SteriPen tool to have “safe drinking water anywhere.” Haven’t been sick yet!

“I don’t really know why I care so much. I just have something inside me that tells me that there is a problem and I have got to do something about it. So I am doing something about it. I think that is what I would call the god in me; and all of us have a god in us and that god is the spirit that unites all life, everything that is on this planet. And it must be this voice that is telling me to do something and I’m sure it is the same voice that is speaking to everybody on this planet, at least everybody who seems to be concerned about the fate of this world, the fate of this planet.”
- Wangari Maathai

Guess who I’m going to see speak next week?! It’s true… Wangari Maathai! She’s a Kenyan environmental and political activist, and was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. And unlike Seattle, where tickets to see her speak cost $75-100, this week she’s speaking at a free public forum! We plan to get there at the crack of dawn to reserve our space, though I have no idea if the locals adore her as much as we do.

The only potential problem with the plan: she’s incredibly busy and may cancel her speaking engagement at the last minute. But we’re heading to Nairobi anyway with the big hopes of seeing her and maybe even meeting her. I have no idea what I’d say to such an impressive and inspiring woman, but that’s a concern for another day…

I hosted the Brazilians for a social call at our house recently when Cindy was out of town. They’re here in Kenya for six months to learn English and take classes. They’re very sweet and refreshingly bubbly, and have promised to dance to Samba music with me. Being around Latinos makes me want to practice my Spanish, even though they speak Portuguese, even though I’m trying to learn Kiswahili, even though they should be practicing English. Needless to say, I felt like an idiot and had to stop myself occasionally and think hard about how to talk before speaking.

Even a simple “My llamo Cat, yo hablo un poquito Espanol” required me to think twice about what language I wanted to use (uh, Spanish?). Interestingly, my brain kept wanting to say it in Kiswahili and was rebelling at the idea of Spanish. This is the first time I noticed a change that’s apparently been building over the past few months. In the beginning of the year when I’d try to talk to someone here, my brain’s first instinct to speak in a foreign language manifested itself in my long dormant Spanish skills. Kiswahili didn’t exactly roll off my tongue in the beginning. Rather than being down on my (lack of) Swahili skills, I was impressed with myself during our first few months since I had no idea I remembered so much Spanish. Spanish was worthless here, but still intriguing. I’d try to rack my brain for any vocab words I knew in Swahili, and the guys in white coats in my head would only produce words from my Spanish vocab that I learned back in high school. (I slacked off through two years of HS classes, and only practiced Spanish for a few months in Costa Rica when I was 17 and spent a summer volunteering with the Ministry of Health). I was impressed that I remembered so much Spanish more than 10 years later, even if it didn’t exactly help me with my more pressing desire to learn Swahili.

However, after the Brazilians visited the house, I was left stunned that the opposite had just happened. I’d want to say something in Spanish to them to put them at ease, but my brain would put forth my broken Swahili instead, which I’d try to reject in favor of Spanish, which would then momentarily stump me and cause silence, mumbling, or stuttering as I tried to force the brain to pick the right language. Crazy, eh? Brains work in such mysterious ways. Life (and biology) never ceases to entertain me.

When Linda visited a few weeks ago, we started with an overnight stay in Nairobi before heading to my little village for a quick visit. Linda said her 28 hours in Malava “felt like 10 days!” I laughed out loud, but oddly enough, Cindy and I both had to agree with the assessment. While the year has flown by for us, her visit did feel like much longer than it really was. Have I mentioned how impressed I am that Linda came out here? My little village is a wee bit different than the normal travel circles she moves in and it was great to see her so willing to come out here, even in the face of some warnings of her concerned friends.

Our first night was at the legendary Hotel Norfolk… a five star hotel in the heart of Nairobi. It’s one of the oldest hotels in Kenya and had pretty grounds, a beautiful bathroom, and wonderful dinner and conversation.

The next day we flew to Kisumu and drove up to my village though the gorgeous shambas and tea fields. Linda visited the Centre for Disabled Children where she had generous gifts for Lilian and our other kids. (She was very generous with us too… bringing us Halloween candy, Thanksgiving fixings, food for the pantry, and even transporting electronics for me from the States).

Despite jet lag and adjustment to the altitude, Linda was up for exploring so we took a short walk out my favorite dirt road so she could see some of our gorgeous countryside.

As usual, lots of local kids were eager to shake hands and smile for a photo.

Back at the house, we showed our hospitality by offering vodka tonics for happy hour in our courtyard. We might be rural, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be semi-classy on occasion…

I was entertained to see Linda entertained by the cattle going down the middle of the dirt road that passes by the post office and by our Centre. I like seeing the town through the eyes of a visitor, remembering what I may have felt when I first arrived in our village…

Linda had some time to hang out with our therapists at the Centre over two days and then again later at Angela’s house where Angela showed us some great Luhya music videos. (And by great, I mean of such poor quality and silly content that they’re highly entertaining!). I was super excited to see Kakamega, the Crying Virgin, boda boda bike taxis, and dancing in mud huts featured in music videos. If you see me when I get back, you’ll be pleased to know I’m now the owner of the same VCD and will happily play it for anyone who’ll watch!

And just as quickly as it started, the visit was ending and Cindy and I drove Linda back to Kisumu for her flight to Nairobi. It took us a minute to get the cow out of the drive way when we were leaving, but happily Cindy and Judi both jumped out and flapped their arms and tried (futilely) to scare it. Even if the cow didn’t get too scared, it was at least entertaining to see them try!

We made it to Kisumu in time to do a late lunch at Kiboko Bay Resort… my favorite restaurant right on the coast of Lake Victoria. We had more good food and more good conversation, snapped a photo (I was still pink and sporting my oh so painful sunburn), and then it was time for goodbyes at the airport.

Many thanks to Linda for a lovely visit!

Fruit kiosk on the Nairobi-Naivasha highway

In addition to personal and professional growth this year, I’m also growing around my waistband. While that’s not exactly newsworthy, and while I’m not exactly excited about getting bigger, I am quite pleased to know that I’m cooking lots and coming up with impressive recipes every once in a while. When Sameer was here, I was excited that we were in a private vehicle since it meant we could actually stop at a street vendor on the highway between Nairobi to Nakuru. This is the only place in the country I’ve ever seen rhubarb for sale and our driver was totally willing to pull over and let me haggle for a bunch of rhubarb.

My most recent treasure of my own design was a fabulous rhubarb cobbler. I didn’t use a recipe, and instead just decided I’d try to combine all of my favorite baking elements in one dish. I made a graham cracker crust, two layers of cake with homemade rhubarb pie filling in the middle, and a yummy crumbly topping. My other purchase from the same vendor was a rhubarb plant in a little four inch plastic sack. I’m not sure if the new (male) volunteers next year like to cook or even like rhubarb, but I plan to add the plant to the garden and see what it can do. Even if they aren’t big fans themselves, surely they can find someone who can appreciate the rhubarb.

I’ve come to realize I love making sour cream. And I’m not sure I’d even call it sour cream. It actually starts out thick and creamy like cream cheese. I’ve added garlic and basil to some of my batches like one of those yummy French type cheese spreads. Put it on a piece of toast and you’ve got an oh so yummy cream cheesy snack. Tonight we watered it down a little and used it as sour cream on our beans and rice with homemade mango salsa and fresh avocado. Wow. If only cooking was this fun, and this cheap, in the States…

PS I hate jumping spiders. They kinda creep me out since they should be running from you instead of jumping out at you. But apparently they creep the girls out more as Cindy and Sarah were the ones screaming while I calmly went to grab the broom. Ah, rural life… always something to keep us on our toes. Speaking of keeping us on our toes… we had a great scare last night but ended up safe and sound, even if we were more than a bit restless and all woke up feeling heavy as logs. I’ll have to write more sometime soon… perhaps when it’s not 11:44pm.

Back in July, we had a party at our house but I don’t think I ever posted pictures. It was kind of a six month anniversary party, a solstice party, and a 4th of july party all in one, but we didn’t tell anyone that. We really just wanted to have friends over to hang out. So we decided to have it a week before the event, but found out the morning of that we’d be leaving that afternoon for Nairobi (and our spur of the moment trip to South Africa). We had a good crowd, played lots of ping pong, danced for hours, ate lots, taught people how to make popcorn, and had some fun with lots of our friends. Just like my parties in Seattle, we had friends from many different groups show up… coworkers, random friends, veggie sellers from the kiosk on the corner, etc. It was pretty cool.

We borrowed a long table from the parish hall and set up a homemade ping pong net in our courtyard. (I found the ping pong paddles and balls in Nairobi for $1. And we made our own net by attaching a piece of window screen to twigs and duct taping it to the table). The game was a big success, and Tom was a big fan.

Lots of coworkers came to the party, and Nekesa and Angela were quite silly pretending to fight over the soda. Oh yes… we bought a whole crate of soda. We’re that fancy. And juice, and biscuits, and carrots, and avocado, and popcorn, and sweets.

I brought out the iPod and minispeakers, and everyone took turns playing DJ and picking out Swahili music for our dance party in the courtyard. Jane and Esther were all about demonstrating the moves and I laughed lots and danced along.

Me and the roomie

It was a good party followed and it was followed by a lovely adventure. As soon as the party was over, we jumped on an overnight bus to Nairobi, tried unsuccessfully at immigration to get an extension, and jumped on a plane the next morning for our unexpected (but quite fabulous) trip to South Africa. Not a bad weekend, I must say!

I didn’t mean to eat an entirely beige breakfast, but at least the avocado slice and the unripe mango provided a little hint of color…

Matatus (minibuses) here all have clever, and less than clever, names scrolled across the front windshield. It might say “Dentist,” “Michael Jackson,” or even “Texas Challenger.” I’ve seen a few that say “Nameless” that I thought were quite entertainingly clever. As I learned more about the local music scene, I eventually figured out that they weren’t being clever at all, they were just paying homage to a Kenyan rapper who goes by the name Nameless. It was a good “ah ha!” moment for me.

And now I’m quite proud to say congrats to Nameless as he’s just been nominated for the MTV Music Awards, apparently to be hosted by (yawn) Justin Timberlake . I think Namless was nominated in the “African music category,” quite impressive considering there’s over 50 countries in Africa, each country with their own varying levels of music scenes and competition. Sadly, while the “African Music Category” won’t likely get any airtime in the US version of the telecast, everyone in Kenya is appropriately proud of him – myself included. He’s among the many new musicians I’ve found and enjoyed in Kenya… Nameless, Jua Cali, Redsan, and Tony Nyadundo to name a few.