The Latest

October 27, 2009

Last night the rain was so loud it not only woke me up but wouldn’t let me go back to sleep. In between the bursts of downpour the frogs came out. I had been told about the frogs when it rains but until last night hadn’t even seen one. Before bed I saw one skipping across our outdoor kitchen, I should have known I’d be hearing from them. I could count 3 different kinds of croaks, working together in a frog orchestra all night. I have screens in my windows, but no actual windows as it’s just too hot so the noise (and mosquitoes) flood in. I read a lot before bed so the dreams swooped in between the rain and the frogs and somehow one of my legs shimmied out of my mosquito net leaving it exposed and creating a hole for the blood sucking disease creeps to come on in and help themselves. I was a feast for the mosquitoes. *sigh* Speaking of wild life, there was a scorpion in my bathroom last night. I have gotten used to the cockroaches and even some of the spiders but I don’t think I’ll be getting too friendly with the scorpions. I’ve been told only to fear the small ones, as this one was. Maybe it was just a baby version of the big less harmful ones.

Today I went with Mohamed and the other EAC CHW’s to Kianda, a neighboring village to Takaungu. We have a monthly theme that we take from village to village; homestead-to-homestead to teach about, this month was family planning. People were receptive and open to talk about what family planning methods they were using, if any, and how they felt about it. The depo shot is common here which is an effective means for those who can’t get to a clinic easily. The villages can be quite remote. We saw newborn babies, pudgy toddlers, mothers of multiples and a man dying of AIDS, he’s 29. He told us lying skinny in his bed that he resisted getting tested for a long time because he thought he was ill due to witchcraft. He had sought medical attention from a local medicine man with no positive results. Finally he went to a hospital and was tested, positive, and started ARV (antiretroviral) treatment. He says he feels better because he’s able to sit up on his own. Today I saw and experienced things that up until now I had only read about in the books that have inspired me to come to Africa. It’s both humbling and motivating.

Every second here is a photo op but not every photo op is appropriate. It’s so tempting to whip out my camera every chance I get but many of the women are shy and skeptical about having their picture taken. Plus I am the only white person walking in a group of health workers so already I feel lucky to be welcomed, especially since we are always talking about such sensitive topics. Today was like something from a photo journal. The tall palm trees and jungle atmosphere and mud brick houses with palm-thatched roofs. Women in brightly colored fabric with babies tied to their backs and enormous piles of firewood or buckets of water balancing on their heads. I take pictures when I can and the rest I make mental notes of and try to draw pictures with my words.

Yesterday Saadiya left for Mombasa, and Nairobi with her husband who has flown in from England. He lives there and has come to sponsor her for a visa so her and her son can move there as well. This is an excellent opportunity for them. Saadiya is young, educated and eager to work but there just aren’t any jobs here. Last week I quizzed her with her visa application and I think she’s good to go. So, that leaves her mom and I together for a week with no common language. I thought it the perfect opportunity to start Swahili lessons. Last night was my first lesson with Saade, which I am exchanging for swimming lessons. I told Saade it was absurd that she has grown up by the sea and can’t swim. She informed me that all the boys in Takaungu can swim, but none of the girls which I think is because the girls are raised to be so modest in their dress and demeanor whereas the boys are taught to be boys and explore and do all of things that kids should be doing, giving them more opportunity. When her 2 younger sisters heard that we would be starting swimming lessons this Thursday they quickly signed up. Hopefully in no time we will have a group of Takaungu girls swimming like fish and I will be speaking Swahili. We’ll see.

I just finished “The God of Small Things” which was good but a bit confusing; I may revisit it while I’m here. A few days ago I started “28 Stories of AIDS in Africa” which has completely stolen my attention. A reporter traveled Africa telling 28 peoples stories of how AIDS has affected them, representing 1 for every million reported cases in Africa. The number is almost certainly higher than 28 million but it impossible to know for sure. The stigma attached to HIV/AIDS is almost as harmful as the disease itself, so many people are dying quietly and alone to keep their disease a secret for fear for being outcast by society and family. It has taught me things I never knew and given me some inspiration for next year’s curriculum for the primary school kids. It’s so hard to know how far you can take certain topics with the young kids, but since they’re the ones starting to have sex I have to figure out a way to be frank without confusing them. Also it’s difficult because we have to teach abstinence, by way of law (I don’t really want to spend time in a Kenyan prison). Abstinence education is unrealistic but for these kid’s ages 12-15 they really have no business having sex anyway, in my opinion. So I figure if we arm them with the cruel hard facts they’ll just be too scared to do it, then when they’re a little older and start learning about safe sex they’ll apply it to themselves.

Thanks for reading guys! p.s. I figured out the picture thing. <3