Poverty and Juice

Exactly 3 weeks until I am on a plane leaving this 90 F degree, 70% humidity weather and coming to winter in Minnesota! I cannot believe how fast this has gone. Here's a short update of the past week:

Monday - I met with a group of women who just started a merry-go-round loan group where they each contribute about $3 each week and then that money is given to one member to use for business purposes. They are a group of about 10 widows who cannot access loans alone, and when their businesses build they plan on taking small loans to continue growth. I interviewed a few of the women, and one woman named Pascaliah has stuck in my mind through the week. She lost her husband 2 months ago, and the entire time she visited with me she wiped small tears from her cheeks as if it was completely normal and did not phase her that she was crying. She described to me that in her village widows are looked down upon and their property and sometimes even children are taken by the husband's family. She was brought to this merry-go-round group by a friend and has found support knowing that she is not alone and a better day will come. She kept saying, "But I will manage" after every challenge she shared with me. Pascaliah sells liquid soap to hotels and neighbors and also bakes cakes. She does not know if she will make any profit in a given day and finding food for her children is a daily struggle. Pascaliah's story is common in Kenya - the poverty is overwhelming for me at times - there is so much that needs to be done in the Kenya at the same time that there are incredible things happening everyday. And this is just Kenya - the world is HUGE!

I saw another aspect of poverty last Friday when I visited the hospital where my host mom works. It is basically a physical therapy center for children who have disabilities, and many of the kids come from extreme poverty. The hospital sends out a van every Monday that visits villages around Mombasa, and the workers educate people such as the village chiefs about not hiding kids who have disabilities but allowing them to have surgery and to share their gifts with the world. Many of the kids are 10-15 years old and have been hidden from society for their entire life because of being bow-legged or having clubbed feet, and their parents were unable to afford surgery that typically costs about $500.

The kids were awesome. They sang and danced and yelled "Mzungu" at me. I asked some of the girls what they want to be when they grow up and they were so excited to tell me they wanted to be a doctor, a teacher, a lawyer, or a pilot. Cool.

My host family is still incredible. Today I told me host mom that I sometimes get dizzy when I stand up, and she said "You need more iron. Let's go to the garden and pick some greens." So we did! And she cooked them just for me - delicious and made with love. My host dad has noticed how much I love the mango/papaya juice that he makes fresh every night, and he has started making extra for me to have in the morning too!

I can't wait to get home, but this place is very amazing and I will miss many things - especially that juice! Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!

A Loss of Hope

I had a wonderful day today! I went “to the field” as my supervisors say to meet with a womens’ merry-go-round small loans group in a very rural village. It took us 4 different matatus (public transportation) and about 1.5 hours to reach our destination. The final matatu must not come to the village very frequently because there were 25 people crammed in our 14 person vehicle! 25 sweaty, smelly bodies…yummy. 

Once we arrived at the village, we had to walk about 25 minutes through brush, cashew trees, and a herd of cows to get to the mud hut where the meeting was held. I was to interview the individual women about their businesses and see if they had received a loan through NCCK (National Council of Churches of Kenya), the umbrella organization for which I intern. At the end of my internship, my supervisor wants me to write reports for each group of women whom I’ve met and give them recommendations on how to improve their business.

The group I met today was different than the others that I’ve met. First of all, I asked questions in English, and then my supervisor translated it into Kiswahili, and then a village elder was present to translate into their local language! Secondly, all of their businesses were physically destroyed during the post election violence of 2008, and they are still working to repay some of their members’ defaults. Loans through NCCK start at 4% interest and after 6 months if the loan is not fully repaid the interest jumps to 10% - after another 6 more months 20%, and so on. This is considerably low for Kenya since most banks will start their loans at 16%! With their businesses destroyed, the women said that they had lost hope and the energy to begin saving again, and that has been their biggest struggle in the past few years. A loss of hope. 

I also learned from my supervisor that this village is known for its village brew. She said that traditionally the men in this tribe will drink the village brew all day long while the women run the homes and bring in the money. At first I thought, cool – women having a bigger role in the community – but she continued to tell me that it can get very violent with the men expecting their wives to pay for their drinks, and the kids not having safe dads around. Recently the “local brews” have been in the news for making many people go blind after one drink. This is some scary stuff.

I have exactly one month until I am on an airplane coming home! I have learned a lot and want to take advantage of every moment and opportunity I have here in Kenya, but I can’t wait to see everyone!!!

5 weeks to go!

When I was in Nairobi this weekend I received a package from my mom!!!!! She sent chocolates on Sept 20^th and it just arrived this week! While in Nairobi I spent the night with my original host family, and my younger host sister, Angel, LOVED the chocolates. She couldn’t stop asking about the different kinds of chocolate we have in America - we have a lot in common.

When I arrived in Mombasa tonight the chocolate was melted…back to the human furnace of Kenya! 

I attended a wedding this weekend for one of my Swahili professors, Omonga. He was marrying a woman from a different tribe than his, and “intercultural marriages” are not very common in Kenya, so it was neat to experience that. We met Judy our other Swahili professor at 11:00 am to travel to the rural church together, and when I asked her when the wedding actually started, I was surprised to discover that is started at 10:30 am! Judy said that Kenyan weddings can be very drawn out and use “Kenyan time” or they can be right on time – this one used Kenyan time. We arrived at about 11:30, and the bride didn’t even come until 12:30! The bride’s tribe’s (I believe Luya) tradition is to have the aunts and cousins stall the bride from departing for the wedding for as long as possible. Then when she did arrive, the women danced around her car for about 20 more minutes trying to stall her. 

The ceremony began with the congregation dancing and clapping to some traditional music and then the bridal party danced down the aisle. It was awesome – similar to the wedding that was on you tube and the office for dancing down the aisle, but this was actually part of their culture! 

After more dancing and singing, the pastor’s message was about God creating man to not be alone, so the woman is made to be his helper, his supporter, his caretaker and so on. My MSID friends and I had a hard time relating to the message, but it was all part of the experience. 

I only have 5 weeks left in Kenya! During my 9 hour bus ride back to Mombasa, I started thinking about all of the people that have been a part of my Kenyan experience. My host families, my professors, the people at my internship, the women and children in stress that I work with, the kids from the Kibera slum, the orphaned infants, and the strangers on the street who yell “Mzungu” to me every day. The world is pretty amazing and full of so many different people with different cultures and life stories. Kenya is just one dot on the globe, and there millions of people here living super hard lives and there are people here rejoicing in the gift of living each day. My home in America is just one dot on the globe and there are people there who are suffering and people who are working hard and people who are laughing. Thinking of this makes me feel so small and part of something much greater than I can explain. When I was at Passion 2010 last winter break, one of the speakers said that being a part of something greater than one’s self is a time when life’s purpose and vibrancy is very apparent. I think this is why I love the stars and is one of the reasons that this Kenya experience has been had such a huge impact on me.

See you in 5 weeks! Hakuna Matata 

Siku ya yangu Kuzaliwa (My Day of Birth)

I haven't had access to internet for about a week now - so sorry for not replying to facebook/email messages. Also - thanks for all of the birthday wishes! I had a wonderful 21st birthday in Kenya!

On Nov 4 I was at a workshop called "Women for Sustainable Business Development," through my internship. It was at a beautiful resort on the beach with about 70 middle aged, moms. Right before lunch they had my introduce myself in Kiswahili, and after that, they all stood up and sang a Kenyan version of "Happy Birthday" to me that included dancing! It was fabulous! Then I got hugs from many of them - the motherly birthday love was definitely appreciated!

For lunch that day we had crescent rolls, mashed potatoes, fish, soups, SALAD! It was delicious - things I haven't had for a while!

That night I went downtown for dinner with some friends from the MSID program, and we danced to Nsync Spanish music! When I returned home my host brother had bought me a pink and green cake! Great day!

I spent this weekend in Nairobi, and attended a Kenyan wedding! Logistics were very interesting - more to come on this story! Internet is not going to last much longer here, but when I get back to Mombasa and the internet returns, I will give more details on the wedding. (Wedding started at 10:30, and the bride didn't arrive until 12:30!) More to come!