cutest girl ever - she was at one of the fishing communities.

So, when you enter Kisumu, there is this sign that says "Welcome to Kisumu, the first millenium city. Come and watch the most beautiful sunset in the world." Strange sign, but maybe that is true. This one was pretty gorgeous.

Get ready for a long one folds...

Stepping off the matatu (the bus) in Kisumu coming back from Mbita, I was immediately surrounded – bota-bota drivers wanting your business, women selling you fruit or other wares, men calling out – I was definitely back in the city. In Mbita, children are always shouting out “Mzungu, how are you?” (that is the only phrase they know) and we know that probably, we are some of the first white people they’ve seen. People are scared to even talk to us unless we say hello first. It is refreshing to see their smiles when we say “O ya ore (oh yaa oray)” which means “good morning”, or hear their laughter when we say “Idhi Nade” (good afternoon) – it fills me with much more pleasure than hearing “hey beautiful woman, come with me!” from some creepy guy here in Kisumu. Coming back and getting to see the kids, though, is enough reward to deal with any big city – and let me tell you, coming back was no easy task!

Rainy season has started here and in Mbita, everything turns to thick, sticky mud. No one is out, no one will drive – everything comes to a standstill while it is raining. Usually, the rain comes, rains really hard for an hour and then moves on, but Thursday evening, a huge storm rolled in. The wind was blowing so hard, trees fell over and anything not tied down was blowing around! There are huge water tanks set up to catch the rainwater, but they kept getting blown over, so there we are, all standing and pushing with all our might to get these barrels to stand back up, while there is dust and crazy rain pelting us. We succeeded, the barrels filled with water and all was well. The problem came the next morning.

It had rained all night long and everything was swampy. Kelsey and I had planned on taking the 10 am ferry and when it came time to leave, it was only sprinkling, so we decided to brave the weather. We had to walk to the main road, because no one could drive to where we were with all the mud – by the time we got there, our legs were covered in mud. We were planning on catching a moto, but of course, right when we got to the road, the downpour started. We were soaked in less than a minute. We found shelter and huddled, with around 15 other people, under this tiny little shed, hoping the rain would let up. It finally did slightly and by that time, there were two moto drivers there taking shelter anyway. We hired them, got on and of course, the second we started going down the road, the rain started again. This time, we just kept going. I couldn’t even keep my eyes open, it was raining so hard; every time I looked to the side, everyone standing under shelter was just laughing! I’m sure they thought we were crazy. There was another moto riding near us – the passenger on that one was quite the picture: a man holding a dead chicken in one hand and his shoes in the other, going along like it was just any normal day. Which, it really was. We finally made it to the ferry – now nothing was dry, not us and not any of our stuff. We were freezing! And of course, had missed the 10 o’clock ferry. There was supposed to be an 11am one, but hiccup number two: that one was broken. Here we are, sopping wet, freezing and no transportation. So now we had the choice of either waiting until 2pm (that sounded miserable) or hiring a small motor boat (much more appealing). Actually, right as we decided to try and find one, a motor boat pulled up to the ferry landing and we plus about 15 other people all piled in. Off we went, with a tarp draped across the tops of all of us to protect us from the rain.

When we got to the other side, we caught a matatu right away and got lucky, because it was mostly empty. We went to the back and changed (ah the things you’ll do in desperate situations!) and then road the bumpy two-hour ride back to Kisumu. When we got off that bus, we must have looked bedraggled, because when we walked into YGC, everyone took one look at us and goes “What happened to you?”. Ha ha.

That’s what makes for good traveling though, eh?

Food has been another interesting experience here – it’s always a mystery what we will get next, especially in Mbita. We had to adjust fast to the fact that when they say we’re eating chicken, they mean the whole thing (same thing goes for fish – goat and beef they trim slightly more). Watching Meghan’s face (one of the other volunteer’s here) fall when she opened up the pot one night and saw the chicken’s head entangled with its foot was priceless – needless to say, she lost her appetite at that point. I, on the other hand, picked up the head and handed it to one of the boys from the vocational school – it’s a delicacy for them. Blecch. Most of the food is pretty tasty – we have plantains A LOT and beans and potatoes. We also eat “sakuma”, a green that tastes a lot like swiss chard or kale. In Mbita, the flew on the stove was broken, so everything had a slight smokiness to it, but that’s all part of the experience.

Last weekend, we went to an island called Takaweri, about an hour’s boat ride from Mbita. Saturday morning, we all piled into Simon’s truck and drove down to the lake. At that point, it was raining a little and the wind had started to pick up. Our boat was waiting for us when we got there, so we loaded everything into the boat and started getting in. At that point, the driver started pushing us away from shore and instructed one of the guys with us to pull up the anchor. The problem was, his motor wasn’t running yet and he couldn’t get it started. They tried to hold the boat steady with their bamboo pole, but the waves were huge and the wind was blowing like crazy! The birds couldn’t even fly – they got blown backwards. So the next thing we know, the whole boat is being pushed sideways back into the shore. We all jump out, hike up our skirts and soon, are up to our necks in the water, trying to push the boat the other way. We tried that for about 15 minutes – we were laughing SO hard. We were pretty sure at this point that this was the first time this guy had driven a boat (we found out later that he’d rented the boat, so yeah, it was his first time…) and after awhile, we gave up. We secured the boat on land and resolved to try again the next day – which was a successful attempt and we spent a relaxing 24 hours on Takaweri, playing football and laying on lounge chairs reading books. The only dampener was that I may have fallen asleep in the sun and completely fried my backside – to the point where I literally could not sit for the next 24 hours because my thighs were so burnt and painful. I thought I had been in the sun for about 15 minutes, but it had been more like an hour. No amount of sunscreen protects against that amount of African sun on a white backside. They’re no longer painful, but have completely blistered. It’s pretty disgusting.

That’s some stories for now – I have more and will write them soon!

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Day 6 - Off to Mbita!

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Yesterday I woke up to a chorus of children singing – the kids were all at “church” which is basically a video of someone speaking to them and then the older ones lead them all in singing. It went for the whole morning – 8am to about 12. They are so sweet – and great singers, actually. Sunday also means they get to watch videos and t.v., have their soccer ball out and play around. Most of them have been in the common room/dining hall most of the day. That is where church is and where the t.v. is – it is on SO loud! They crack me up. Earlier, Vio our youngest (we think she’s probably 3 or 4), was playing tag with one of the older kids. There is a big truck that Harold, one of the other employees here, drives for a trucking business. Anyway, it was parked here and the girls were chasing each other around it. They did that for over a half-hour! It was hilarious – Vio even figured out to look under the truck to see where Winnie, the older girl playing with her, was. It is good to see them smile and laugh – during the week it is so intense with school, chores and homework, they don’t get to play that often.

We took all the kids out to a field across the street to play football (soccer) – the older girls have been signed up to play in a league here in Kisumu, so we wanted to give them some practice. They all just got new tennis shoes – it is amazing how much they improve with shoes! All the other little kids play in just bare feet – I don’t know how they do it.

I talked with some of the older girls after the game and asked them about YGC. Many of them have been here since they were 6 or 7. This is their home or at least the only home they’ve really known. From my perspective, it’s still a hard life, but it’s all they know and they are happy with it.

On Saturday, we went for a boat ride in Lake Victoria to see the hippos – that was pretty cool. I was a little afraid because hippos can get pretty aggressive if they feel threatened, but our guide said these hippos were used to boats and were scared of them. They would just swim away. We saw two adults and a baby – then our guide said he could take us to a place where we could see 30 hippos. At first, we said no – it was going to be more expensive, a longer trip and we needed to get back before dark – but then, he said he would take us anyway because he wanted us to bring him other business. It was a longer trip, but it was beautiful – we didn’t end up seeing any hippos because there were fisherman there and they had scared them away. On the way back, we saw a gorgeous sunset – and a lot fishermen going out for the night. They fish all night and come back in the morning.

After the boat ride – we went out for Indian food – there is actually quite a sizeable Indian population here. It was great food, actually, although maybe a little spicy for our stomachs at the time… It was pretty busy out – it was Saturday night and a lot of people were celebrating Valentine’s Day. We were sitting outside this club and all the songs that kept floating out were old love songs like Celine Dion, ‘NSync, Brian McKnight, etc… Pretty funny. And the cover was higher than normal because they had a “special” DJ. Ha ha.

Okay, it is off to Mbita. I may or may not update while I’m there – depends on how expensive the internet is and how fast it is. Maybe I can at least put on a few pictures. If not, talk to you in two weeks!

Here are the soccer winners! These girls are great. The two in the middle are Winnie and Faith. Winnie has a twin named Quinta - they are quite the characters. I'm sure I will have more stories in the near future.

This is a tuc-tuc. It is one of the many ways we get transported around Kisumu - I was in one when I took this picture. The other two main ways are by bota-bota (bicycles with seats on the back that you sit on) and moto's (motorcycles that you ride on the back of as well.

These sweet girls are (from left) Vio, Eunice and Pauline. They hardly speak any English, but LOVE to count to 10 in all three languages (English, Luo and Swahili)

This is Pauline again. She has been here about a month - she came from a very abusive household. She has the sweetest personality, but is so tender. If anyone admonishes her, even just a little bit, she will completely recede inside herself. She'll let you pick her up and then she will just sit on your lap for hours.


These are the kids with their valentines - they all made one and then we handed them back out on Valentine's Day with a treat. They had so much fun! They were so cute with things like "You are my sweetheart" written on them.

We came back from a quick trip to Mbita this morning, with the plan to head back out on Monday for two weeks. My first experience there was great - I have started to learn more Luo and was able to learn a lot more about that particular area - it's layout, largest health concerns, etc... Our first night there, we played football (soccer) with the boys from the vocational school (the school is on the same land as the clinic - the boys from the school built it). I am a sorry soccer player - especially next to them! and they play in bare feet. unbelievable. they definitely aren't used to having females on the soccer field - they show no mercy! but it was fun. Mbita is located on a peninsula - you can get there by road, but it takes close to 6 hours, so instead you take a ferry. It is about an hour and a half to the ferry, 30 minutes on the ferry and then another 15 minutes to the vocational school and the clinic.

On thursday, Kelsey, Marisa and I along with At Least (aka Dennis, but we call him At Least because he used to say that all the time) walked to a school intending to talk about Peer Educator programs. What we didn't realize was that the school was actually a two-hour walk (maybe that long because we kept getting lost...) - we had to ask for directions several times and each time, the person we asked would lead us for a little while. We were a little worried about making it there and back before dark, but that didn't end up being a problem. Most of the trek was on trails, until the end when we were on a hill overlooking the school and the only way there was to climb down some rocks and then walk through the bushes. I have scratches to prove it. :) But we made it and introduced ourselves to the head teacher and spoke with him and his staff about the population around there, their greatest health needs and concerns. The kids just stared at us at first - that's kind've the norm. They warmed up when we started taking their pictures - hopefully that will be a place we can come back to in the future; for now, it is a little far for regular visits. We made it back by sunset (barely) - we passed many more people on the way back and each time you must greet them, ask about their family, etc... Then sometimes they want to welcome you by giving you fruit and that invariably leads to inviting you into their home, which is so gracious! But we didn't have time for all of that - we did get some watermelon, but otherwise said we would come back another time.

It was nice to get back to YGC today and see all the kids. We are hoping to do a Valentine's Day project with them on Sunday, so marisa and I worked on the project during the morning. In the afternoon, I was able to go with Kelsey to a couple meetings for the clinic - we met with SWAP (Safe Water Aids Project) and MildMay, an organization that works with AIDS through education, providing ARV training and helping to set up comprehensive care centers (CCC), which are necessary to have an effective AIDS and HIV treatment program. Setting up a CCC is a longterm goal for the clinic, although initially the clinic's goals will be more simple, such as treating malaria, dysentary and pneumonia. MildMay taught us a lot about the proper channels and ways to set up a CCC - there are so many different levels of officials and channels to go through. Also, there are many changes happening right now with funding - the CDC and USAid have been running a lot of projects that they are now turning over to large NGO's, except for in places where the NGO's are not present. Mbita is one of those places, so for now, the CDC is who must be gone through for the lab and for testing.

I am enjoying all that I am getting to learn - my brain already feels full! It is only the beginning, I know. I am looking forward to going out into the community next week and doing community assessments and baseline health assessments. I will most likely be in Mbita for the next two weeks.

More to come soon - love to you all!

Here we are nearing the end of our trek, showing off our thorn-covered shoes and scratched up legs! We are showing off our newest fashion statement - tennis shoes with skirts...

Here are the kids at the school - the second you take a picture, they come crowding around as fast as they can to get in more!
Here was the last person we asked for directions. We had actually been looking for a different school, but here he is explaining to At Least that the school is actually another 2 hours walk - never mind! That was the rock path we scurried down and back up to get to the actual school we went to.
Here we are walking to the school. He led us the rest of the way. Kelsey is in the back, our newest guide in the middle and At Least is in the front.
This was the first hill we climbed up - that is Lake Victoria in the background. It was very beautiful - just really hot!

This is after football - I will try to find a picture of the field, but it was huge! There were only 12 of us - it was a little crazy! Marisa had taken a bunch of pictures of the boys and was showing them after the game.


This is where we stay when we're in Mbita - inside is a common room, a little kitchen area and two rooms with bunkbeds. All the electricity is solar-powered - it powers one light in the common room.
This is the peace-shed. Simon had this built for the orphans during the post-election violence several years ago. They thought they were going to have to bring them out to Mbita for safety, but the day it finished, the treaty was signed, so the orphans didn't need to come.
This is the clinic! By the time we left, the paint had all been finished and gutters for catching the rain water had been put on. It is pretty large - the idea is that eventually, the left side will be a comprehensive care center.
This was our ferry ride to and from Mbita - so much for safety right? Don't go to close to the edge! On the way back, we were a little late, but Simon (who seems to know everyone, I'm finding out) just called the ferry guy and they waited. Pays to be with someone who has connections. :o)

This little cutie is Michele, a son of one of the administrators here. He had a lot of fun with the camera - one of his pics is below.


This is the dining room where we, the volunteers, eat. They cook everything for us - yesterday we had fried chicken and rice. Not too bad...


Here is the common room where I am sitting right now typing this blog! On the left is Meghan - she is here putting together some videos for the school and Med25, Becca's organization. In the middle is Marisa, and on the right is Kelsey, who is another nurse here and is the field director for Med25.
This was a picture that Michele took - he got the hang of it, actually! The little girl right in front of me is Vivian - she's a cutie and has taught me a lot of Swahili.
There is Michele again - I cannot remember the other two boys names! Too many to keep track of. I would upload more now, but the internet is so slow right now. Look for more friday or saturday!

I have arrived! It was quite the welcome - all the kids were in front of the school singing "we are glad to see you!". So sweet - and they had drawn a bunch of pictures saying "Karibou, Paula", which means welcome in Swahili.
The flight to Nairobi was uneventful, just nice and long. A driver was waiting at the airport as promised and drove me and another girl, Marisa (she will be at the orphanage for the same amount of time) to the "West Breeze Hotel". It was very nice and had a bed and a shower - definitely all we needed! We were picked up the next morning and then flew to Kisumu, where Becca, my friend and one of the people helping to build the clinic in Mbita, picked us up with her fiance, Simon. Simon is one of the director's of YGC (Young Generation Center), which is the orphanage where we are staying in Kisumu.
A quick interjection about YGC - it was started 16 years ago by Saline, who is a nurse and is the sort-of matriarch here. Originally it was a compound with four or five huts which Saline would rent out. One of these huts was rented to Simon's mom., who one day was traveling back from town and was killed in a car accident, so Simon became the first orphan here at YGC. From there it grew and the huts were replaced by a building with living quarters for the staff and children. 5 years ago, a school was built by Solace, International, a non-profit based out of Pheonix. The school serves the orphans or "borders", as well as about 50 children from the area. It has ECD, or Early Childhood Development and then levels 1-8. After level 8, the kids go to secondary school. If any of the children who board here have extended family, they go to live with them during secondary school. They go to school from 7 until 4 - so long!
The local language spoken is Luo. The children are taught Swahili and English starting at level 1 and usually by level 3-4 are relatively fluent. I am a little jealous of all of their language skills. :o) Luo is not taught in the schools, because that is generally spoken at home.
After settling in, I went out to show some of the kids the little digital camera I had bought for them to take pictures of each other with. That was a blast - initially a lot of pictures of just me - it took a little while to get them to take pictures of each other, but they got the hang of it. Some of the photos are posted.
I've started to learn some Swahili -the kids are great teachers. Every time they see me, they say "Count to ten in Swahili" - I usually fail, I can never remember the word for five! They are really sweet - I look forward to getting to know them better.
It sounds like I will be spending most of my time in Mbita, doing health assessments and helping more with setting up the clinic. I really look forward to doing that, although I will miss seeing all the children here! It also means updates to this blog may be getting sparse! We are leaving today and come back Friday, so I will have more to say then.

There once was a girl named Paula who decided to go to Kenya and, to keep all of her jealous friends and family informed, ventured into the world of blogging. Oh wait, that's me! As many of you know, I am off to Kisumu, Kenya this Sunday to work in an orphanage and also will be spending time in Mbita, Kenya to work in a newly-built clinic. I will attempt to semi-regularly post updates to this blog, just to let you know how it is going and what it is like. I promise to post many pictures of precious children and maybe a few of myself as well (at least the ones where I'm holding those precious children). So here goes...