Filed under: Culture, Host Family, Project: Emergency Responsiveness | Tags: Africa, African Culture, African Family, Arjun Khanna, Development, Emergency Responsiveness, Fajitas, Family, Foundation for Sustainable Development, Healthcare, Iguhu Health Center, International Development, Kakamega, Kenya, Mama Joyce, Quesadillas
RECAP OF THE DAY: Wake up really early, head into town to do some work and work out at a track that we located last week, I happen to meet Renson (a nurse from Iguhu) on the matatu, I also meet a man who educates people about modern farming techniques if there is chronic famine in order to increase their crop yields, he got a PhD from Colorado State University and is a Kenyan national and permanent resident, arrived in Kakamega, we couldn’t go to the track because they were having what seemed to be church there, we went to the shady track we used the day before, no school so no one was there to let us in, we go towards a hotel and see a bunch of people trailing a bull with sticks and machetes, it turns out the reason we couldn’t run at the track was because they were having a bullfight, not church, we end up at a “reformatory” school in Kakamega, we ask permission to work out on their field, we lock our bags to a goal post, we start working out, everyone’s looking at us, we invite the kids to come join us, at the end we play soccer with them, I buy a watermelon from the market on the way back and start eating it, I go back home, start making quesadillas for lunch, it’s a disaster, the cheese tastes awful here, the guacamole was really good though, I start prepping for fajitas for dinner, Mama Joyce’s sister is visiting from Khayega after church, she leaves, we have fajitas, they are amazing, I could put Chipotle out of business, everyone’s stuffed, work, sleep.
REFLECTION
Today was a really inspiring, great day. It helps that I say that while I am full of delicious fajitas, but really, today was great. I woke up really early – at 3:30 am – because my mosquito net fell down on me. I fixed that issue and went to sleep again, but fifteen minutes later my cell phone started dying and emitting intermittent beeps. At 4:00 am. I groggily wake up, grope around for my phone, and start looking through my stuff for the charger; I accidentally knock over my aluminum waterbottle and it clangs to the floor violently as I cringe. The roosters start crowing, the dogs start barking…the Muliro house has been woken up.
I head on over to Kakamega for an early-morning run and work at a print shop. On the way, I bump into a guy who starts asking me about my work at Iguhu and tells me about the work he does educating people about modern farming techniques to increase their crop yields in times of famine. It turns out this guy is a PhD from Colorado State University.
I know this type of person exists, but it’s difficult to explain how happy I was to learn that a Kenyan had made the decision to get a foreign education and return to Kenya to work and serve. There are many more like him, but as I have not seen any of them, it was an awesome feeling to meet and talk with him. The “brain drain” phenomenon might be one of the most crippling to a country’s development, and it was refreshing and great to learn that higher education in the US had made its way to Kakamega, Kenya through this man.
We ended up working out at a school where street children are taken in and reformed. While we were playing with the kids, one of the school’s staff walks up to us and advises us to put our belongings in her office next time because “she knows these kids” and she doesn’t trust them. Maybe it’s naïve, and perhaps one day our trust in the kids will be shattered, but Liz and I decided that the kids were trustworthy and that our things didn’t need to be moved. The kids didn’t take anything or even try to take anything; they were very respectful of us and our things, in fact. It was nice to have our faith in these young kids upheld by their actions.
After I return home, I spend a combined total of six hours making Mexican food for my family (see previous post). The quesadillas were a disaster – the cheese here is disgusting – but the fajitas were amazing. I’m currently about to go to sleep on an exceptionally full stomach utterly satisfied after a great day.
Finally, I have decided on a topic to write a culminating piece on for my duration here. The details are still being worked out in my mind, so I’m not going to post it here, but it will rock the foundations of US policy towards developing countries forever.
Tomorrow is the first day of EMT training at Iguhu. I hope everything goes well!
Filed under: Culture, Host Family | Tags: Africa, African Culture, African Family, Arjun Khanna, Development, Family, Foundation for Sustainable Development, Host Family, Kakamega, Kenya, Mama Joyce
RECAP OF THE DAY: Woke up early, went to town early for the third weekly meeting with the rest of the interns, took a while for a matatu to get there, finally caught one, rushed into town, met everyone, caught up, heard about everyone’s weeks, talked about religion and culture in Kenya, Angie made an executive decision to go to Hell’s Gate for our midterm retreat, she told us that she would not go, we all revolted, she gave in and said she would accompany us, the other interns are also going to come with us, it should be a lot of fun, we talk about the 13,000 shillings we all get, there’s some confusion about exchange rates, we all collect money, props to Angie for fighting for us and getting everyone transportation and lunch grants, my group starts making lunch, Emily and I escape to go for a run, we go to our usual field, there’s some track meet happening, we go over to a school next to Sheiwe Guest House, ask the security guard to let us in to exercise, he says okay, it’s kind of a shady area, we run a lot, make our way back, we stop by Yakos supermarket to buy stuff, I stop by the market to pick up a bunch of food for fajitas tomorrow with the host family, mouth is watering just thinking about it, I have to wash dishes since I didn’t help cook, it starts raining, I head back, get back to the house, nap for a bit, talk with Mama Joyce, I’m going to teach everyone how to play card games tonight, need to go to town early tomorrow morning so tuck in early.
REFLECTION
Today was relatively uneventful, except for the tons of vegetables I have sitting in my room right now. Yesterday night, as I was wrapping up work, Mama Joyce asks me if they eat ugali in the United States.
For those who don’t know, ugali is just corn flour mixed with water and then boiled (there may be salt involved somewhere – I’m not sure) to form a sort of caked, semi-cooked bagel. It doesn’t really have a taste, but interestingly enough the texture is really satisfying. It’s definitely grown on me, but naturally it’s completely foreign to people back home.
I respond to her and tell her that no, nobody eats ugali. She then asks me, “really? Like less than two times a month?” To which I respond, “no. Nobody has ever heard of ugali in the US and no one eats anything like it.” She could not believe what she was hearing. Thus began the topic of foreign cuisines, and I discovered that Mama Joyce has actually never tasted food from any other country ever before in her life. When she goes to hotels and they have a buffet, she tells me, she goes straight for the ugali and kale because “it’s what [she] know[s].” Yikes! I figured that, since she is a pretty open-minded person and I’m up for any kind of experimentation, we could try something interesting and cook food from a different cuisine every Sunday to get a kind of “around-the-world” experience in the next five weeks.
Tomorrow is Mexican; I’m going with fajitas and quesadillas with guacamole and chips. I have everything prepared and I’m pretty excited about it. Not that I don’t like the food here, but it will be nice to have a bit of a change. I bought a ton of stuff in the market today and I’m ready to begin tomorrow.
Tonight, I tried to teach everyone card games. I figured that Spades was easy enough to begin with, right? Wrong. My host family has never really played with cards before, so it was basically starting from scratch. We digressed from Spades down to a weird form of Spoons finally down to Go Fish, which they absolutely loved; and I mean knee-slapping, doubled-over laughing, fun. I was mesmerized at the ease with which everyone was entertained; I’ve never really considered Go Fish to be a fun game, but I honestly will never look at it the same way.
I have to sleep early today, since I’m going to town really early tomorrow and I have to wash all of my clothes before that.
Filed under: Host Family, Project: Emergency Responsiveness | Tags: Africa, African Culture, Animals, Arjun Khanna, Cat, Development, Dog, Dr. Bomji, Emergency Responsiveness, Foundation for Sustainable Development, FSD, Grant, Grantwriting, Healthcare, Host Family, Iguhu Health Center, International Development, Kakamega, Kenya, Kenyan Ministry of Health, Mama Joyce, Patience, Sustainability
RECAP OF THE DAY: Wake up really late, I deserve it for working so hard on my grant these past couple of days, work out, go to work, stop to talk to some friendly traffic police on the way, talk to them about my project, they like it, start accumulating a list of trainees, it looks like we’ll have about 30, I’m getting more and more excited about my project, finish the grant, submit it, enter in data for the ongoing waiting time survey, work on syllabus for training, work, work, meeting tomorrow morning in Kakamega, sleep.
REFLECTION
The Muliro household took a while to grow accustomed to my presence, but we grow closer every day. While some might be inclined to believe this is a great thing in all aspects, I will presently explain how, despite this being a net positive, this also presents somewhat of a problem.
Subject A: Small Dog. This small dog is the cutest animal in the world. It is small, has huge eyes, and has the most expressive ears I have ever seen on any animal. They keep it locked up in a small dark shed because “it makes the other animals crazy.” I wasn’t really sure what that meant until they let it out one night (they let it out every night) and I observed firsthand the personality of this creature.
The dog spends more time in the air than on the ground. The minute it was released from its shed, it bounds up to Shide and jumps all over him, then it flies over to the other dog (who apparently is its father) and starts jumping on it. Whenever the small dog is let out, the larger dog gets up, yawns, stretches, looks straight at me, and asks if I have any aspirin. Think Stanley from The Office. The small dog is barely half the large dog’s height, so it satisfies itself by repeatedly jumping on the large dog’s face. The large dog is past the point of trying to run away and just stands there calmly to allow his son to get it out of his system. If it persists too long, he growls and barks. The small dog then flies (yes, he’s still in the air) away to all the other animals out in the compound, who have all curiously disappeared at the sound of the shed being opened. The chickens run to the chicken coop, and I’m pretty sure they close the door behind them by themselves and lock the door from the inside. The cat is beside himself. It’s freaking out, running around the house, desperately trying to find a way in, often to no avail or not quickly enough – the small dog usually finds it and starts “playing” with it, i.e. trying to kill it. The meows pierce through the night; when they stop, one is left to decide whether the cat has escaped or is dead.
The small dog then flies (yes.) to the kitchen door and waits outside. By “waiting,” I mean bouncing back and forth, much like how a boxer is constantly jumping side to side to always be at the ready. Sometimes he sits down, but then all of his motion is concentrated into his face and ears, which start flapping so rapidly that he soon becomes airborne again. If there’s a dull moment, he goes to the other dog to jump on it again.
Naturally, I am obsessed with this dog. I can’t actually say it reminds me of Shadow, since Shadow spends most of his time passed out on his bed, so I’m not really sure why I like it so much. In any case, I have taken it upon myself to befriend this dog, which as it turns out is the easiest thing in the world – all you have to do is have a pulse.
I made the terrible decision to feed the dog one day. I have never seen this dog more excited, and I see this dog in its aforementioned state all the time. I didn’t think it was possible for a dog to eat while jumping until I saw this animal. Anyhow, since that time, the dog now thinks we are better friends than I do, so every time I leave the house at night, it comes flying toward me, expecting a treat. It weaves itself between my feet and jumps at my hands. I’ve tried yelling at it; it doesn’t work.
I have made friends with my favorite animal, yes, but as is often the case, a dog isn’t as cool as it first seems.
Subject B: Cat. Given the previous story, I should feel bad for this cat for being terrorized by the dog every day, but I don’t. I will explain why presently. We all eat in the sitting room every day; I twice, because I have
Subject B: Cat
lunch in the same area as well. The cat has invited itself to every meal thus far and has meowed ceaselessly. That would have been tolerable, but one day it decided to rub itself against my legs as an endearing gesture to try and win some ugali. I’m weirded out beyond belief at this cat performing unspeakable acts upon my feet and throw it some ugali to get it to shut up. I blink, and the cat is all over the ugali; the next moment, it is back. I prop my feet up to where the cat cannot molest them and try to finish, but the cat’s still hungry.
Every meal, I have to give the cat some ugali or I will be killed by its glare. It’s gotten to the point where if I even sit down, the cat is meowing. The cat feels as entitled to my food as I do. Its meows have gone from having a pleading tone to more a more demanding one in recent weeks.
Also, this cat eats more than I do. It is amazing to see a creature that barely weighs maybe 15 pounds to be able to out-eat me, a 175-pound 18-year-old male, but this thing does it every meal. My most recent strategy is to give it the hottest ugali that I can find; the cat is then satisfied that I have given it food but then can’t wolf it down like it usually does, so it takes a while for it to finish. The only con is that I now race to finish my food against Newton’s Law of Cooling every meal. If I had just kicked the cat out of the way the first time it asked for food, I wouldn’t have this problem.
Future interns: DON’T feed the animals.
In other news, I submitted my grant proposal today. I feel good about it! I think I did a good job, and I’m looking forward to what FSD thinks. The greatest part about the process is that we get feedback on our grantwriting, so even if it does not get funded, we see why and are able to review comments from the grant committee. I’ve posted my executive summary below. Wish me luck!
Executive Summary
The emergency response system to traffic accidents and other incidents in the Western Province of Kenya is minimal. Currently, the system relies upon local police and good Samaritans with no medical training who are thus unable to either identify patients in need of emergency medical care or transport them to a health facility because ambulatory assistance is not available from most district hospitals. Patient health following trauma deteriorates quickly if basic life support is not administered, and hospitals commonly refer emergency cases to other facilities after patients are received, meaning patients lose valuable time in situations in which celerity of medical attention is paramount.
This project will alleviate these issues by empowering medical and non-medical personnel at Iguhu District Hospital to deliver basic life support and ambulatory services. Through training and enhancement of the capacity of the organization, staff will be able to:
- Provide basic life support services to patients on the scene
- Refer patients directly to the appropriate facility from the scene
- Manage patients in transport to prevent deterioration of patient health en route
- Communicate and coordinate response efforts with other hospitals
- Train other members of the community on basic life support services
The successful completion of this project will positively affect the health of the community by greatly improving the quality of the healthcare that victims of trauma receive; it will also develop the emergency response infrastructure of healthcare institutions in the South Kakamega District. Furthermore, it will instate a system whereby the Kakamega Provincial Hospital can efficiently communicate with Iguhu to better coordinate response efforts among the two facilities.
The requested $675.34 in funds will provide critical emergency medical equipment, initially for use in the training of hospital personnel, and later for use during real emergency situations in the South Kakamega District. These funds are essential for the success of the project because the development of skills associated with the use of emergency medical equipment is among the most important aspects of emergency medical service delivery. The project is sustainable because it constitutes a transfer of skills and facilitates subsequent transfer of skills. It will not only train Iguhu personnel on these life-saving techniques but also encourage and prepare Iguhu personnel to disseminate those techniques to the community in the future.
Filed under: Host Family | Tags: Africa, African Culture, African Family, Family, Foundation for Sustainable Development, Host Family, International Development, Kakamega, Kenya, Mama Joyce
Note: While this post was uploaded on May 27, 2009, it was written on May 24, 2009.
RECAP OF THE DAY: Second day with host family (Sunday), woke up leisurely at 9:30, had first experience with pit latrines, needed to go so badly that it forgivingly took less than 30 seconds to move the whole bowel, warm water in a tub that used to be used for sulfuric acid waiting outside the door, took shower, much like India, played music while getting ready, breakfast was already served, had tea, went outside to Mama Joyce washing clothes, asked what chores I would be assigned after assuring her that I was to be treated as part of the family instead of a guest, met Walter, volunteered to help pick up fallen leaves and cow dung for organic manure, collected water from the river, I began boiling the water, washed dishes and clothes, transferred water to larger canister, started reading on porch, went to graze the cows, Boniface and Shide had conversation with neighbor who communicated to them that he was terrified of me and wanted to run away from me, had lunch, played with Ray and Patricia, Ray touched my head because it was different from his, he asked if he could touch the “mizungu’s” toes, very funny, I read a lot today, started reading Lolita, got a visit from someone in Mama Joyce’s church who prayed for me, kept saying “asante, karibu,” I tried some Kiswahili with her, took a picture (see below), they were both amazed at the camera and its ability to instantly display a taken picture, Mama Joyce and I talk about Obama, she is interested that he became president even though he only has two children and they are girls, this is the second time the concept of wealth measured in children and especially males has come up, she says males are valued more because it is assumed that girls will be married off and go somewhere else whereas the males will stay there, had dinner, went to sleep early because first day of Iguhu tomorrow!
Me (middle), Mama Joyce (right), and Mama Joyce's friend from church (left).
