Jina lako nani Akinyi.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

There are a lot of new people here, so before I begin, I will introduce them briefly so make it easier:

Cameron – The Director of African Operations for SpanAfrica (thus, technically my boss, which he loves). He is also a co-founder of Baobab Branch and the Morokoski School, 2 organizations I am working with here in Nakuru. Cameron has been living on-and-off in Nakuru for about a year in total, beginning in 2005. He was living with Amos during the post-election violence, and experienced it firsthand.

Steve – Steve is the Director of the Morokoshi Nursery School, a dynamic and successful rural nursery school that has grown with great success in the past 5 years, and has a food program, solar energy program and does many other income generation and sustainability activities. The Nina Initiative was born at the Morokoshi School. Steve is a very generous and kind man, and also manages the Top Market, a major market for food and other goods in Nakuru. He donates a portion of his proceeds to his various projects, especially Morokoshi.

Mary – Mary is a nurse at the PCEA Church Clinic in Nakuru

Catherine – Catherine is a nursing student from Mississippi and is spending 2 months working at the PCEA Church Clinic with Mary. She also lives with Mary. She was the third muzungu (white person) on our trip, after Cameron and me.

The title of this post means “My name is Akinyi” and has nothing to do with the content of the writing. Mama Vicky determined this week that my Luo name is Akinyi, meaning “born in the morning”. As Mama Vicky was also born in the morning, she is also Akinyi, and considers herself my namesake. She absolutely cannoy wait for mom to call again so that she can share the great news! Mama Vicky loves talking to mom, and has already told her that she intends to keep me on as her firstborn, even if she has to give Vicky (her firstborn) to my mom in exchange.

Today I went into the office as usual, but soon Amos received a phone call from Steve, and then I was told to go to Top Market to meet Steve in 20 minutes to accompany him on several visits in the rural area, and that Cameron would be meeting me there as well. Cameron received this information while still at home in Naka, so I stopped at Tusky’s (the supermarket) to pick up a loaf of bread so he wouldn’t go hungry. We met up and found that our party was not quite ready to depart. We went with Steve back to Tusky’s to purchase a blender that he planned to use later in a nutrition demonstration and donate to one of the groups we would visit. We then went to Stagematt, another grocery store, to purchase a bunch of porridge mix for the feeding program at Morokoshi.

We went back to Top Market, and as we waited for everyone else to get ready to go, Cameron and I sat on a bench to have a piece of bread. The rest of the loaf was sitting in Cameron’s lap as two street children who couldn’t have been older than 11 approached, asking for money, and then, eyeing the bread, asked for bread. It is generally a bad idea to give things to street children in Nakuru, as it establishes a system of dependence instead of self-reliance. The street children are one of the most difficult parts about living in Nakuru – they are many, they can be aggressive, and they break your heart. In such a setting, with a whole loaf of bread on our laps, we couldn’t say no. Cameron handed each of the boys a piece of bread with the strict instructions not to tell anyone about it. As they walked off, I asked Cameron about a strange brandy bottle full of thick yellow goo that one of the boys was holding. I thought that maybe it was honey, but Cameron explained that it was glue. The street kids sniff the glue to suppress their hunger and to alleviate the stress of their lives with the high. When the kids get really hungry, they eat marijuana seeds and head to the dump, able to eat anything they can find due to the effects of the marijuana. It is an awful life that too many kids in Africa have to lead.

We were called back to the street, where we met the rest of our group for the day, most of whom are listed above. We went first to Morokoshi, where we took a quick tour after being greeted by all of the students singing songs of welcome. We gave each of them some biscuits and headed off to see the new dairy cows at Steve’s new shamba (farm) nearby (the same one I visited with Milka, where Nina used to farm). The cows were out, and this time the whole family who is living on the small shack on the property. They are an IDP family, still too afraid from the post-election violence to return to their original home. We went into the house, and saw that there is no furniture at all, and that the kids sleep on folded sheets and some sparse straw in a dark room. None of the kids attend school, as there is no money for uniforms or desk fees. The oldest is probably about 10, and the youngest just a toddler.

From there we drove to meet an AIDS support group that was started by a group of women 7 years ago called Fuhara, which means “happy” in Kiswahili. The founder and secretary of the group, Elizabeth, welcomed us warmly into the home of one of the members. In the tradition of Kenyan hospitality, we were served a large lunch of beans, rice and cabbage. It was more than any of us munzungus could eat, but we did our best! The home had a large enough living room for the approximately 25 attendees of the meeting. It was decorated much like other rural Kenyan homes, with lace draped along the walls and odd posters and calendars on the walls. The one very unique point was a twin-sized sheet that hung in one corner where there was no lace. It was blue, with a full-sized print of Michael Jackson from his “Bad” album. It ended up (inadvertently, of course) in the backgroup of many photos, so keep an eye on facbook for those. Cameron has been great to let me at his camera whenever I want to take photos. Although he only arrived on Tuesday, we have become fast friends, and I feel as if I have known him far longer than I have.

Fuhara is a group of 42 people who are HIV positive, or whose lives have been greatly impacted by HIV/AIDS. There are 35 women and 7 men in the group at this time. We went around the room and everyone introduced themselves and told if they were married, single or widowed and how many children they had. Most of those who were single had with either been kicked out of their home or abandoned because of AIDS. One woman had had three children die of aids, and was then kicked out of her house by her husband with their final child, who is negative. The boy was with her, and is the happiest baby I have ever seen. He sat with me, Cameron and Catherine for about half an hour and just climbed all over us and babbled and cooed the whole time. It is sad to think of the circumstances that he cannot possibly understand, but that will impact his life greatly.

An elderly woman, probably in her 80s, was present who had lost 3 of her grown children to AIDS, and was now left to look after the 7 children that they had left behind. Another woman had 6 children of her own, and was also caring for 2 children left behind after the death of a grown child of her own. A middle-aged man had been left with 3 children to care for after his wife ran away. Many married couples are also part of the group. After each person finished, we all applauded. Despite many of the distressing stories, there was much laughter and spirits were very high. The group was very open about circumstances and emotions, which is unusual in Kenya, especially around the topic of HIV/AIDS. It is highly stigmatized, and Fuhara has done a great job of helping people cope with their situation in a safe environment. During this exercise, I learned how to say “Jina langu ni Alexandria” (My name is Alexandria).

Fuhara does many income-generating activities to help the members support one another, pay for transport to the clinic and hospital, etc. It is highly successful, and Cameron and I plan to meet with the Fuhara leadership in early July to discuss their potential as a SpanAfrica partner in some capacity.

After we spent some time talking about all of our circumstances, Steve got out a bunch of fruit and vegetables that he brought from Top Market. He is a trained nutritionist, and spoke at length to the group about the benefits of the many items that he brought with him. He talked about how paw paw helps with digestion, how garlic is good for the blood and immune system, and on and on (mostly in Kikuyu) about other items such as mango, pineapple, bitter gourd, tumeric, avocado and more. As he discussed each item he expertly peeled them and chopped them into a large pot. Once he was finished, he produced the blender, which had been hidden under then table. IT was clear that most of the group had never seen a blender before, and they all applauded more, and when Steve told them it was his intention to donate the blender to Elizabeth, they cheered even louder.

Steve proceeded to blend the fruits and vegetables into juice, explaining that when blended, the body is able to absorb even more of the nutrients. Proper nutrition is essential when a patient is taking ARVs (anti-retrovirals, used to treat HIV/AIDS), and many of them are ignorant of where to get proper nutritious foods. The group listened carefully to Steve, and all were grateful for his counsel. As we wrapped up the presentation, Elizabeth thanked us repeatedly. She explained that had Steve come in and handed them each 1,000KSH, it would not have been as valuable as their experience with us this afternoon. Many of the fruits and vegetables that Steve brought are readily available of the local shambas, but that they were unaware of how to use them. Catherine and Mary plan to return in late June to do a health presentation to the whole group, and Cameron and I will meet with the leadership in early June.

Before we left, Mary led the group in an empassioned prayer in Kikuyu. Even though I couldn’t understand the words, it was clear that she and the other members felt a strong connection to them. Mary’s words were punctuated with “mhmm”s and “yeah”s and “thanks dear God”s as she spoke on for several minutes. At the end, Elizabeth began singing tentatively, as if she weren’t sure of she should go on. Within seconds, the rest of the group chimed in, and they all were singing in Kikuyu. Then, the elderly woman in he 80s jumped excitedly to her feet and started clapping and dancing! She hadn’t stood since we had arrived, and I was surprised at how tiny she was. She was very thin, and couldn’t have stood taller than my shoulder. She was quiet most of the time, but now danced, clapped and sang with an energy that was immediately contagious. She waved her arms like the conductor of an orchestra, and urged the rest of us up with the enthusiasm of a football player who has just scored a touchdown and wants to make the crowd go wild. We all stood and clapped and danced, and the 3 munzungus all grinned as we danced and clapped right along with them.

We stopped briefly at a huge, beautiful school on our way home that was being built by the United Methodist Church. It is by far the most impressive school I have seen in Kenya. Cameron commented that to do anything in Kenya, you much have the church behind you. At this point our driver had left us, and we waited a bit for a matatu to come along to take us home. We had gone in a large loop, and were now along the road that I take when I go to Milka’s house, so it was a familiar ride. By some miracle, we managed to catch a matatu home all together.

When I got home, I found Mama Vicky and Mama Paul in Mama Paul’s room. Mama Paul speaks very little English, but absolutely loves it when I come home and rattle off random Kiswahili or Luo words to her, even if they make no sense at all. I went into the room and proudly announced, “Jina langu ni Akinyi!” The woman burst out laughing and clapping. Mama Vicky gave me a high five, and repeated back to me, “Juna langu ni Akinyi”, as she was also born in the morning.