The maternity center

I went to the Mbita maternity center yesterday and was able to talk to the manager of the department, as well as one of the nurses. It was great – they actually had a lot to say and gave me some good information. When I was talking to the manager and asked her why she thought women chose to stay at home, she says, “Do you want to hear what I think? Or the reasons the women give me?” and she went on to say that for many women, yes, it’s true that transport is difficult to get and they don’t have money to pay. But, she says, there is also a lot of fear of HIV testing, which is what happens at the first prenatal visit and so, often, women will only come once, find out they’re positive, then stay away for fear of what that means. Another big issue is the issue of planning – for many, it is a bad omen to plan and so even though they talk about the “Individual Birth Plan” at the prenatal visits, many women will still not plan for fear that it might harm the baby or complicate the delivery. So, interesting information.

The nurse I spoke to was great – she gave me a tour of the whole place, talked a lot about the women who come, reasons why women might not come and issues they were having at the center. When I asked her about what components might be missing to better support maternal health in the area, she started talking about the staff attitude. She says, “For us, the issue is the staff attitude. We have some nurses who are very harsh and so the women don’t want to come. I have my problems and the women coming have theirs, we don’t need to add to them by being harsh.” And really, watching her with the women, she was so tender to them – if all the nurses were like her, there would be such an improvement. One big problem, aside from the staff attitude, is that they have an operating theater, fully equipped, with no one to run it. She told me the anesthesiologist and the doctor have “problems between each other” and so only three surgeries have actually been performed there since the center opened a year ago. Right now, every time there is a complication or a woman needs a c-section, they send her to Homa Bay. “So”, she says, “women don’t want to come for fear they will have to have a c-section and be sent away. We need better management to make those people work together – it is too bad that we can’t use the operating room.” Anyway, there are obviously a lot of issues going on there – they seem to be doing their best, aside from having some bad staff. The facility itself is REALLY nice and clean, but, as usual, there is little to no management of it and so there are problems, like not having any supplies.

After my meetings, I headed to the clinic to stop in and say hi – when I got there, there was a woman being carried into the observation room. I could hear her throwing up, so I’m guessing she was really dehydrated. And I saw the clinic’s new nurse (yes, one was hired! It is really good.) bringing in an IV and some fluids, so I’m guessing that that was the problem. Anyway, I will find out today how she did. The rest of the day was spent transcribing, reading, cooking (I made fried potatoes – yum. Totally indulged myself). Today, Kelsey and Morgan are coming for the girls’ football tournament that is happening tomorrow. That will be fun! Then I’m going to go back to Kisumu with them to work and then to tag along with them to Nairobi. Now that I’m finished with my interviews, I have a lot of computer work to do and that is more easily done in Kisumu with faster internet connections, etc… And I’ve never gotten to spend any time in Nairobi, so I figure this is a great chance to see more of it!

I have to return the internet stick to the clinic today, so I’ll update you more on Saturday when I get to Kisumu.

This is the view from the hill above Milicent's - this is looking towards Kaugege. I honestly can't remember what direction this is, but I think it's southeast...

This is looking towards Mbita. Milicent's house is the one on the right. Both of these pictures are basically a view of the whole area that I've covered in my community visits.

This is a happy - and young - mama. She is thirteen - the baby is 3 months. So young! And now she won't be able to go to school anymore either. She was so sweet, but I really feel for her.

Judith's neighbor who wanted me to take her picture. She ran inside and put on that dress, then tied her "special" konga around her neck. So great!

This was a little girl who followed us - her friends are below. She had a little more gumption than they did. :)

Two little kids who kept following us and then every time I'd turn around, they'd run and hide!

last day in the field!

Fun day in the field – the first woman I talked to didn’t want to tell me anything. She just answered “I don’t know” to basically every question! But then I was able to talk to a traditional birth attendant, which was great and a couple of men, which was also really helpful. One woman, who was Judith’s neighbor (Judith is the CHW in Kirindo), came out as we were passing her house (she is probably in her 60’s??) and wanted me to take her picture. She ran inside to grab a special dress – so funny! I will post it for you to see – she posed and everything. Anyway, the rest of the day was pretty uneventful – the women gave good information, but it was basically the same information I have been getting (which is good, because that means I’m done). Today was my last day in the field – so weird! Tomorrow I have a few appointments with area health leaders and then I am finished with interviewing. Soti wants me to also develop some recommendations for how the clinic can improve in the nursing department and also overall, so I will spend some time thinking through that. I’ve already spoken extensively to the staff there to understand how everything works, their process for certain types of care, etc… so now it is about putting that information together and seeing if I can see any holes. The clinic is really doing such a great job – the community loves them!

It does feel a little weird to be finished - now I have so much information, I really hope that I am able to interpret it well. I am looking forward to turning it into ways to move forward that will support and help these women. Today, I also spent some time talking about family planning. I even talked about it with one of the husbands - he says to me, "6 children is enough - what do I do?" Well, I had some ideas and he was very open to them. Asked a lot of questions, didn't refuse anything I said - I hope something actually comes out of it.

When we finished, it was only 3 and Millie really wanted to make me some chapati’s (we were in Kirindo for the fieldwork, which is her village), so we headed back to her place and made them. This time I made the dough AND rolled them out (she still fried them), so now I officially can make them when I get back home! When we got to her house, Felix and Kayleen were there – they are so hilarious. Kayleen had drawn “specs” (glasses) on her face with soap and tied a piece of what used to be a mosquito net around her head. I have no idea what she was trying to be, but she was just laughing and running and singing. So cute. So we made chapati’s and then headed to Kirindo center where I was having Moses (the moto bike driver) come and pick me up. Except he came about 30 minutes later than he said (I’m used to him being late, but this was a little later than usual). He of course had a million excuses, “You told me to pick you up at the clinic” “Yes, but I called you at 3:30 to tell you to come to Kirindo instead – that was one and a half hours before you were supposed to come, so I know you weren’t at the clinic yet.” “Yes, but still, you told me different this morning.” “Moses, I use you everyday and I need you to be on time.” Anyway, I made him take me to the clinic anyway because I hadn’t been able to take everything with me for the day and I needed to get my stuff – he wasn’t super happy about that, but did it anyway. Now we’re even. J just kidding.

I won’t have internet now until Saturday night, so many updates to come then! I decided to head back to Kisumu on Saturday instead of next week, because it is easier to do reports/work on my computer there. Also, the girls I met in Kisumu invited me to come with them to Nairobi for a few days to see some sites there, so I am going to do that. Talk to you all Saturday!

So...the fun part of the weekend was that Morgan had a car - we got chauffeured around all weekend! And then, of course, we locked the keys in the car. So Kelsey went and asked the security guard (we were at the grocery store) if he could find someone to unlock it for us. There was a bota bota guy sitting there who says, "I have a friend who can do that!" and 5 minutes later, we were in. Who needs AAA???

Me, Morgan and Kelsey at the Mexican place.

Mbita from the ferry. You can see the ferry landing on the right - the town center is behind it and then, of course, all the houses and community to the right.

From inside the ferry, just as we were leaving...

The rest of Mbita/the surrounding communities. That big hill is Kirombo/Chamakoa. The smaller hill in front of it is Kombe and the hill on the far left is Kirindo (I think).

Kisumu and old woman on a piki-piki

I had quite the weekend in Kisumu – I got so much work done, but I also got a chance to relax, do a little shopping, eat some really good food. Friday I spent the day transcribing, getting some errands done, and drinking some good coffee, then I went out for dinner with Morgan and Kelsey, two of the girls I stayed with and got some good pizza. Mmmmm. Had a great night’s sleep, then Saturday I went shopping! They have such beautiful cloth here, I wanted to get some before I headed back, so Morgan showed me the good stands for cloth – I got some really beautiful pieces. Then we met Kelsey for lunch at this place that makes Mexican food – can you believe that? We got chicken enchiladas for less than $2 each – and they were actually good! Service, as usual, was REALLY slow – I was about ready to eat my arm, but the food was soooooo satisfying when it came. In the afternoon, we went and hung out at the pool for the afternoon – I finally got my feet clean! Which, of course, won’t matter after going out in the field tomorrow, but for now, it’s pretty fantastic. At night, we went and hung out at the same rooftop restaurant I did work in on Friday – it’s such a nice place, with cushioned benches all along the outer wall, candles on the tables – it felt pretty luxurious. Then Sunday, I spent the day traveling back to Mbita – oh, and forgot my cell phone at the girl’s house. There seems to be an issue with me, traveling back and forth to Kisumu and cell phones, but at least it isn’t lost this time! And Kelsey is coming out on Thursday for a girl’s football tournament happening out here, so she can bring it then.

Traveling – whew, that is ALWAYS an adventure. First, I have to go to the “stage” in Kisumu in order to get a matatu, so everyone is yelling at you “where are you going? Lwanda here, lwanda here!” and grabbing your arm, getting in your face – I seriously do not like that place. Kelsey was awesome and came with me to get the matatu, which I so appreciated. Anyway, I got on a matatu and we sat there for another 45 minutes or so until it filled up and of course, right at the end, this guy sitting next to me shoves a box on the floor between the front seat and my knees. Joy. Actually I didn’t know that it was his box – the matatu guy was the one who shoved it, squishing me so that I basically couldn’t move the rest of the time. I seriously don’t think my left leg is ever going to be the same! J Anyway, this guy sitting next to me kept wanting to talk and I finally told him I “just want to ride today.” Which he wasn’t very happy about – he wanted to know where I was going, where I was staying, what my name was, and I just wasn’t in the mood! Well, anyway, turns out the box that was cutting off circulation to my feet was his, except that HE didn’t have it in front of him and didn’t make any effort to move it. Grrr. Anyway, I was about ready to shoot the matatu driver – we stopped so many times (which is normal, just wasn’t in the mood with the stupid box in my way), but we did make the 3 o’clock ferry and I made it back! I went over to the neighbors to try and borrow their phone, but they had given it to someone else, so I couldn’t officially check to see if I had left it in Kisumu. But this morning, I got to the clinic, got the office phone and confirmed that, yes, it was there! And I guess that Moses, my moto driver, had called twice wondering why I hadn’t called for a ride. Oops. Kelsey I guess finally answered and let him know I didn’t have the phone.

I will be honest, I had a little bit of anxiety about the phone thing – I could just kick myself for forgetting it! But at the same time, I had to keep reminding myself that it just was what it was and worrying about it for too long wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Anyway, spent the day today walking around Kisui talking to women. The first woman was completely close-lipped. I asked her my first question, “When you are pregnant, what do you do to make sure you stay healthy and to keep the pregnancy safe?” and total silence. We probably sat there for about a minute before I said, “Are there foods that you believe are important to eat?” and she finally says, “Our local foods.” Oh, very helpful. The whole time, too, she is literally tearing apart this piece of fabric – she was so nervous! I kept trying questions, but she would either only give a one-word answer or she would say, “I don’t know” over and over! I finally gave up half-way through and just told her thank you very much.

The last woman we saw had 8 children – oh my. She wasn’t very open either, although a little more than the first woman. At the end, we started talking about birth control – she had tried “the injection” (Depo-Provera), but it had made her very sick, as did the pills, so of course, she’s on nothing right now and her husband refuses to wear a condom. Can I say 9^th child might be on the way soon? So we talked about surgery (there are many women here who have tubal ligations) and possibly a norplant (kind’ve like an IUD). Anyway, then she really opened up, wanted me to stay for lunch (which I kindly refused – I am NOT getting sick again!) and to come back. Very sweet. I just feel so bad for the women here! Emily, the CHW who was walking around with us, is one of three wives with a total, between all three of them of 21 children. Oh my. She herself has 9! And, of course, has had a tubal ligation (“TL” they call it). She says, “Oh, the husband, I have forgotten about him – I can only think about the children now!” Basically, she says that with school fees for all of them, they just really don’t have money left over and so she goes without food often. I can’t imagine.

I saw another Michigan (UofM) t-shirt today – yeah!! Seriously, there must have been a shipment of Michigan wear sent over and it all ended up in this area. It tells me I was meant to be here. Haha. No UW t-shirts yet. Oh, funny thing – painted my finger nails in Kisumu and if I thought the kids were curious before, it’s nothing to having painted nails! One girl, the whole time I was talking to her mom, just sat there and rubbed my nails. Maybe she thought they were dirty?? So great.

…okay, the funniest thing happened at the clinic today when I got back from my interviews. There was this old woman there (well, she was probably only 65 or something, but she looked about 100) and she had another older lady with her. The very old woman needed support when she was walking, which is why the other woman was with her. Well, she had finished her appointment and a piki-piki (moto bike) that the helper lady had called shows up. He backs up right to the step, but they expect this old lady to just get on! Ver quickly they figured out that that wasn’t going to happen. Anyway, I’m watching them trying to figure out how they’re going to get this lady on – by this time, there was another man there and Milicent, our receptionist and my translator for the interviews. Milicent was trying to help the woman step on the foothold for the motobike, but the woman couldn’t balance on one foot. So finally, I went over and had the woman put one arm around my shoulders and I basically manhandled her onto the bike. She did NOT like the bike, because one we had her on it and straddled, her dress was way high on her legs AND she had to sit very close to the moto-driver so that her friend could sit on the back and make sure she stayed on. After MUCH adjusting, pulling down of the dress, scotching her forward, helping her friend get on, etc…they were off! With the woman complaining the whole time! (I don’t speak Luo, but I could totally tell she was NOT happy). I really wish I’d remembered to take a picture or that someone had had a video, it was so hilarious! Hopefully this gave you a good mental picture.

Kisumu again!

Tried to post the following on Thursday, but internet didn’t work until today…

Decided to come to Kisumu a day early – my day in the field got pushed to Monday and just in case I had problems with getting my visa extended, I thought I would give myself extra time. But everything went off without a hitch and now I’m hanging out at the girls apartment. The past few days in Mbita have been SO HOT! So much more than usual – not sure what is going on. I think I actually got a little burned yesterday.

Took the ferry from Mbita to Lwanda (after dropping off my laundry to get done – clean clothes, yeah!) and while I was on the ferry, this guy approaches me and says, “We have a car on this ferry and we have a few spots.” “Ummm, I’m not sure – how much?” “The same as the matatu, 250.” So I asked if there were others on the ferry going in the car with them too and he pointed out two other people who had given him money for it, so I thought, “why not?” It was actually pretty great – I got the front seat of this sedan car and got a quick ride into Kisumu – way better then getting squished into the matatu with about 2 inches between my head and the ceiling and hitting it all the way. Of course, once we got there, the driver picked up his friend and then wanted to stop and “buy me a fish.” So we went to this area called Tilapia Beach (I actually went there last year) where they fry you a whole fish – he bought one for each of us (me, his friend and himself)! Pretty funny. Anyway, so we had to eat lunch and then he dropped me off at immigration and was on his way – not bad. Then I got my visa, easy as pie, and headed off to the girls’.

Friday…

Today has been productive, but nothing very much exciting to tell you. Got up this morning to pouring rain! That’s a change – it was so nice, totally cooled off. Spent the morning transcribing at their kitchen table – their house lady came to clean. She was really sweet – saying “oh, you are a nurse? You look like a nurse – nurses are always so nice.” J So of course, she won brownie points with me right away. Then I took the matatu from their house into the town center to get some cash, buy some airtime and find some internet! Of course, when I got to the bank to withdraw cash, the ATM wouldn’t work for me. Grrrr. So I had to go inside and there was this never ending line of people – I waited in line for about 40 minutes, but the good news is I could get cash at the end of all of it. Now I’m sitting at the Duke of Breeze hotel, better known as the “rooftop” and drinking a mighty good cup of coffee and writing to you!

Last night I went out with Morgan and some of her friends – we had AMAZING chicken tikka, which is kind’ve like bbq’d chicken Indian-style. Sooooo yummy, with this awesome yogurt sauce and cilantro/cucumber sauce and naan. Totally stuffed myself. It’s been a pretty nice few days – just a little change from the normal day to day and I’m loving it!

I remembered my camera this time too, so pictures are coming in the next day or so. J

Talk to you all after the weekend!

Some kids of a woman I interviewed. They were supposed to be taking exams, but they had been sent home for exam fees, which they didn't have, so they weren't able to take their exams. So frustrating - education is supposed to be free but it is far from it.

The road we walked to get to Nyahara and Kirombo. It was about an hour's walk and as you can see, no shade!

The hills in this picture are Kombe, where I was before. It's really hard to show by picture how big of an area this all is. Kombe is pretty large, covering basically that whole area in the picture.

A happy mama.

A child at the clinic - they are all so cute!

My bedroom (no sheets on the bed - I'm washing them).

tie-dye and mzungu's

Favorite t-shirt I saw yesterday: tie-dyed t-shirt that said "I 'heart' (HUGE red heart) Washington D.C. I'm not sure I'll ever get over seeing the crazy t-shirts here. Least favorite thing about yesterday? Sunscreen explosion!!! In my bag. grrr. But it's all cleaned up - if I can survive bazillions of bugs, I think I can survive that.

Spent yesterday and today in Sangla Village (yesterday) and Nyahara/Kirombo - both kind've huge. I am SO tired! But I had some great conversations and even got to talk to a woman about birth control! Oh, and really exciting - one woman that we met with yesterday hadn't gotten ANY of her children immunized. She was asking me questions about it and we talked about it for quite a while and you know what? She came to the clinic today and immunized her little baby! Now we just need to get cracking on her other four children... but still, so great. I tell you, sometimes, when I'm talking to these women, I am so sad - the problems seem too huge to tackle. They have no work because their husbands are fisherman, but there isn't a lot of fish. So the women go and cut down trees to make charcoal and sell it in Mbita in order to feed their families. But now, there's no trees, massive soil erosion and it's all added up to NO RAIN. People don't understand how much they are hurting themselves! And then they try to farm, but for many of them, they really don't know how to farm - combine that with the soil issues and no rain and you can just guess the result - no crops.

Anyway, not to be a downer, but where do you start sometimes? The clinic is doing so many great things and seriously, getting kids immunized is so huge. But now that that is going so well, is there a next step? I was talking to some of the people who run CGA (the school started by the Americans) and the statistics for schooling for girls and women in this area is soooooo poor - many of them barely finish Class 5 (equivalent of 5th grade, about). That just sets them up for so much hardship later in life and to dependence on their husbands.

On a lighter note - funny story. Last night I was cooking in the kitchen and I could hear this faint humming coming from the living room. I came in and found about 100 large fly-like things twitching all over the floor! I had forgotten to close the door all the way before it got dark - blecch! So I grabbed a broom and succeeded in sweeping them onto the porch, where the humming was MUCH louder - there were tons more out there! and I hadn't locked the porch door. It was seriously like the ATM all over again - I had to just run out and keep repeating to myself, "just don't think about it, just don't think about it!" I, obviously, survived. Mistake number who knows what I won't make again!

Today, I was riding back from the clinic and a crowd of kids yells from the side of the road the usual chorus of "MzunguhowareyouI'mfine!" (They always say it all at once like that - it's hilarious). Anyway, than these three guys doing construction on the road (that has been going on forever), yell "Mzungu, how are you?" at which my moto bike driver, Moses, starts laughing and laughing. I asked, "What's so funny?" "Oh, well, for the kids to say that, that is normal, but an adult. It sounds so funny! Adults should not say that, they should just be fine with it." Ahhhh, yes, so funny.

Tomorrow my day in the field got cancelled and switched to Monday - I'll probably work on transcriptions and Friday, it's off to Kisumu to extend my visa! Hope that goes off without a hitch. I'm going to try to post some pictures, if the internet cooperates...

A time to worship...

Last night, I was invited to a small worship gathering among the American's that I met. Nancy and Don are the couple who started Christ Gift Academy, the school that is for orphans. It is actually a really well-respected school and quite a few kids from there have been going on to secondary school, which is a HUGE accomplishment here. Seriously, I don't think I would have made it in school if I had to go through what these kids do. The other people present were Joe, who was my original contact. He works at the school and I got connected with him through the girls in Kisumu. Then JP and Jesse are a young couple who are also out here long term - they have three kids and they also work at the school. Then the four volunteers from Seattle and me! Anyway, it was so nice to have a time to pray and sing and to hear a little more about what everyone is doing out here. I was really encouraged by the commitment, love and compassion that this group of people has for the people of Mbita. This is not an easy place to serve - there is a lot of corruption and a lot of deceit among people. Of course, not all - I see so many examples of people helping and supporting each other in the communities. There are many widows who just have nothing - no work, no money, but five kids to feed and their neighbors help them with what they can. But at the same time, there are so many people exploiting others and just acting like that's totally normal! Anyway, I was reminded by this group what it really means to serve and encouraged to keep going, even if it feels hard sometimes.

Tomorrow I'm going to Sangla Village, another community, but today I wasn't in the field. I went to the clinic for a little while and then transcribed here - pretty boring day. :) Oh, and maybe watched a few episodes of Prison Break (I found it searching through Soti's dvd's). Never really watched the show before - it's pretty intense!

I'll let you know how tomorrow goes.

a great series....

Remember that series I told you about with Felix and Kayleen? Well, since I didn't have any new pictures right at this moment, I thought I would share them with you...







And the "piece" I took out of my braids....I had it ALL over me when I finished! I totally forgot to take a picture of my 'fro' - sorry. You'll just have to imagine.

127 e-mails later...

All I can say is DON’T GET WHAT I GOT…oh wait, you aren’t in Africa, so you probably won’t. :) Thank you all sooooo much for your many well wishes and prayers – your love and support is amazing!

Sorry for the long space in between blogs – as many of you know, Wednesday morning I got sick with some sort of bug that made everything come out everywhere, if you know what I mean (I won’t go into any more details for those of you who’ve already lost your appetite)…between that totally wiping me out and our internet running out (it is topped up now, obviously…), I haven’t quite been able to blog. And really, getting sick here is NOT unique, just annoying. But now I’m here! And doing better. Still pretty exhausted – am taking some antibiotics and was tested for malaria, but that was negative. There is a small chance I could still have malaria and we just tested too early, so if I don’t keep getting better with the antibiotics, I will get tested again, but at this point, am feeling okay, just tired.

And honestly, the past few days have been full of me lying in my bed, or lying on the couch, watching gobs and gobs of Friends episodes. The girls in Kisumu gave me a bunch of DVD’s and seriously, those were lifesavers – just some mindless television to keep my mind off my very upset stomach. So pretty boring and not much to talk about. Life should pick back up again pretty soon.

I spent about an hour on Friday taking out my braids – you should have SEEN my hair afterwards. Can I say afro?? I forgot to tell you that when she did them, she put a “piece” into every one so they wouldn’t unravel – at the end, she burned each end so they’d stay (I maybe kinda freaked out a little when she lit a match and put it to the ends of my hair, even if it was fake!). Which is great, except it makes it pretty difficult to take out. No problem though – it’s fake hair – I just yanked until they ripped apart. It was nice for awhile, but it’s good to have my hair back.

Thanks, also, to all of you awesome people who sent me so many great messages – it made my birthday a very special day. In the morning I got to talk to my sister, then watched a few more Friends episodes. I headed off to the market around 12 and got fitted for a few skirts (yeah!). Bought some food for the week (am going to be a long this week – Soti has exams in Kisumu) and then headed back to rest up before the night…and was locked out. Seriously, never a shortage of adventures. I had left the keys with the neighbor, because Soti said he was getting back on the ferry while I was at the market. Except that he didn’t and when I got back, the neighbors were gone! Grrrr. So I got to sit outside and talk to my mom and sister, which was GREAT. I also got to exchange multiple texts with Soti about the neighbor’s number, which he thought I had. Then when I got back that night, he was gone again and I thought “oh no, I’m locked out again!”, but then the neighbors were home this time and had the keys. Phew. Oh, and we’re kind’ve on a main road, so EVERYONE who passed was staring and laughing…this one car seriously passed like four times.

Last night, I got to go over to some people’s house who run a Christian school for orphans here in Mbita. One of the girls I stayed with in Kisumu had actually lived out here with her family for four months a few years ago and worked with this American couple and another guy named Joe (also American), who run the school. She put me in touch with them and I got to meet them last night, along with four other volunteers from…guess where? Seattle. Crazy, hmmm? It was a good time – had some beans and rice, watched the sunset over the water (they have some really nice property), chatted about Seattle, some mutual acquaintences. I enjoyed myself – it was a good end to the day. Am headed back tonight to have a little worship service with them – am really looking forward to that too.

Okay, off to write in my journal a while. More updates soon when I actually have things to tell you!

more pics from before

This is the kitchen - so much smoke! And Millie was bent over that fire MUCH more than I was - I stayed out of that corner as much as possible...

This is what the house looked like from the outside. There is Millie doing all those dishes!

Some kids in Kaugege - they, along with about five other kids, followed us all around the center.

One of the women I interviewed in Kaugege.

One of the traditional birth attendants that I talked to - she doesn't officially deliver anymore, although it sounds like she still does at times when women come to her (I couldn't get her to give me an exact number)

This is one of the "grandmothers" at Kaugege - she is 101 years old!

The view from the other side of her house. That is the "house" for the goats.

Walking, walking and more walking!

Today I spent the day tromping through Chamakoa and yesterday I was in Kombe. Both are HUGE areas – I am totally wiped! And, of course, yesterday I had my camera but forgot to take pictures and then today I forgot to bring my camera all together! So I will do my best to describe what it looked like. Honestly, many of them look the same – there are few trees, a lot of brush, thorn bushes with huge thorns (like 2 or 3 inches long – got one stuck through my shoe and it JUST missed my foot), cacti and other desert-like plants. Kombe is spread out over this huge hill – it is about 1.5 kilometers wide. We met the CHW, Catherine, at the center, which is on the main road, and then proceeded to walk all over the place! I had some great interviews – talked to one woman who belongs to the “Roho” religious sect – I guess they are part of the Legions, but I’m not sure who they are. Anyway, their baby isn’t allowed to leave the house, or have anyone touch it except its mother, until 1 month when the elders come and take it outside. Isn’t that crazy? I also heard a couple of disturbing stories about Mbita maternity center. One woman said she came there with only 200 shillings. The nurse who received her said they needed at least 350 shillings in order to get the supplies they needed to take care of her. She said, according to the woman, “200 ksh is not enough. You can go lie in that bed there, but we will not attend to you.” Then she took the 200 shillings and didn’t come back! That poor woman delivered all by herself in the hospital and said that the nurse didn’t come until it was time to cut the cord. Not cool. Oh, and she wasn’t allowed to leave until she had paid 700 more shillings, which her husband had to go out and borrow in order for her to be able to leave.

Today, the most interesting thing I learned was that the women believe that you should drink Coca Cola after having sex when you are pregnant in order to “wash the baby.” Isn’t that crazy? One woman said you could also drink Tusker. Hmmm. If you don’t, the baby will be born with a lot of “mucus” on their head that you can’t wash off. Then everyone will see it and know that you didn’t “wash” your baby properly and no one will touch the baby. Chamakoa was also HUGE – we walked and walked and walked! At least it feels like that – it probably just feels bigger because it is hot, but seriously, we started at 10 and didn’t finish until 5. I spoke with 5 women, so we probably walked an average of about 3 hours. Which is about how it is every day.

I forgot to tell you about breakfast at Millie’s. So, I’m used to white bread being the staple breakfast food – not my first choice, but no problem. Saturday morning, we bought eggs for breakfast and Millie fried them up. She then proceeded to butter one piece of bread, put another on top, butter that one too, then put the egg on it and then a third piece of bread on top! Oh my – that just seems to be the norm though. It’s pretty much the norm, at one meal, to eat 5 or 6 pieces of bread.

She also has this cat (and you all know how I feel about cats – blecchhh) and when I was asleep at night, I all of a sudden felt these claws land on my leg. I jumped up and Millie goes “Oh, it’s just the cat – he jumps at night.” Oh really? At first I thought it was actually on top of me, but the net was up, so I had that between me and the cat (which is really nothing, but it made me feel better). The cat did not stay – I kicked it off. It stayed away from me the rest of the time. J

Pictures of my weekend...

The market in Mbita - bought avocados, mangoes, onions, potatoes, tomatoes and sakuma there.

Kayleen and I - and my hair! What do you think? It took about an hour and seriously, my head was a little bit on fire afterwards. But it feels so nice to have it off my neck for a while!

This is actually part of a great series, but I wanted to share a few others with you and so couldn't load all of them - you'll have to see them when I get back! Felix and Kayleen were bringing maize to be ground to flour for ugali. The series starts with them fixing the cloth on their heads and shows them lifting these big buckets on top - pretty talented.

Kayleen - so sweet! The first day, every time I'd walk in the room, she'd just stare and if I'd look at her, she would just smile and duck her eyes. She got more familiar towards the end of the day.

This woman brought us water with her daughter - they bring it up on donkeys from Lake Victoria every day. Her daughter was bringing in a fresh jug of water and knocked down ALL the dishes in the kitchen (the dishes are in a big crate sitting on top of a bucket) so we had to rewash everything, as you'll see below.

The sunset from their place - such a great view, isn't it?

Doing the dishes - it took almost an hour to wash everything, which, in the scheme of it, isn't so bad, but when you're planning on making breakfast, feels like forever!

Kirindo...

I’m back!!! I’m sure you all have been missing me. J I had quite the weekend – it went by so fast, full of cooking, shopping, getting my hair done… I left with Milicent from the clinic on Friday evening and we walked to Kirindo, the village where she lives. She, of course, knows EVERYONE, so we greeted many people at the center (“Millie, who is your mzungu?”), bought some bananas to stew with potatoes for succotash (beans, maize, mashed bananas and potatoes – at least that’s Millie’s version) and headed to her place, of course greeting everyone on the way. It is rude if you don’t and because I was there, everyone wanted us to come and greet them (shake their hand – here, it is a sign of respect for you to greet people by shaking with your right hand while holding your right arm right below the elbow), so it took extra long, but we finally made it to her home.

Her house is on a plot of land about the size of half a football field. It is set up on a hill, so you can see all the islands and water surrounding Mbita. It’s really beautiful. Their house is a small mud house with a metal roof – it is divided into three rooms. ½ is the living room/eating area and the other ½ is divided into two bedrooms, one of which became mine (and I found out, Milicent’s) for the weekend - yes, we shared a not so large bed and yes, my issues with touching might have totally been challenged, but it was okay. I survived!

Milicent has two children – Felix is 7 and Kaleen is 5 or 6. Felix is her’s biologically, but Kaleen she adopted recently from some distant relatives on her husband’s side. Kaleen’s parents both died and she was left with her grandma, who didn’t want her and, “only fed her guava’s and stole her medication.” Kaleen is HIV positive. So when they came to get her, she was sooooo sick and malnourished and now, in Milicent’s words, “She is happy, happy, happy!” Which really is so true – you can hear her singing and laughing all the time. She and Felix get along really well, which is great. Milicent’s husband, William, was actually her sister’s husband first. Her sister died in childbirth and so Milicent was given to William as basically an inheritance as part of the custom here. Not sure I’d be a fan of that…but William is very good to her and he is well-off, compared to most in that area. They are able to send Felix to a private school and are not wanting for food, have a roof over their head and plenty of clothes. Which, I still realize, is not NEARLY as much as I have – amazing what I am accustomed to!

This weekend definitely held a lot of firsts for me – first time I had fried liver (not sure about that one…), fresh fried fish, first time I showered in Lake Victoria, had my hair plaited, cooked in a small mud hut over an open fire (also not sure how much I loved that one – that smoke burns!) and, of course, the first time I made chapati’s. Which are sooooo good, by the way. (For those who don’t know, chapati’s are basically small, flat, fried bread. Pretty awesome.) So, Friday night, I met the kids, we had fried fish “for the appetizer”, according to Millie (really? I definitely could have only eaten the fish) and then fried livers with spaghetti. I had to get accustomed to eating what was put in front of me – Millie is used to running her house and it’s rude not to eat the food, even if I was full to the brim! Even Saturday night, when we were all exhausted and decided to eat the beef we’d cooked the next day for lunch, Millie says, “but you need to eat, dear. [and yes, we’re the same age, but she always calls me dear – can’t decide if I like it or not yet]” except that she wasn’t eating! So I took the tiniest spoonful of leftover succotash, just so she would leave me alone. J I can be stubborn too! But really, I ate so well and so much. I am going to be recovering all week – I seriously feel like I just had Thanksgiving dinner or something.

So, something I cannot get over is the things that Felix and Kaleen do that I would NEVER have done at their age. Friday night I come into the “kitchen” (the mud hut with the fire) and there is Kaleen, building a better fire than I ever did and lighting the oil lantern. Outside, there is Felix chopping up wood with a big machete – yikes. Or like how, on Sunday night, there is this massive storm coming, the wind blowing like nobody’s business, dust everywhere and the kids need to wash up because they are going to school the next day. They had been totally procrastinating all evening and then of course, they didn’t want to because of the storm, but Millie said “That’s too bad, you still have to do it.” Which meant them lugging a basin of water between them down to the latrine, with lightening all around, and washing down there. They get back, all in one piece, very clean with, “Mama, it was so cold in there!” and of course, Millie having nooooo sympathy. Oy – those are some tough kiddos.

Okay, the rest I will try to tell through pictures. Sorry for the novel!

Kaugege

Spent the day in Kaugege – so many interviews! Totally exhausted, but they went really well. Milicent was with me for the first time today and that was so good – I noticed a huge difference in how much the women talked and how open they were. Only at the end did the last woman totally avoid eye contact, but then she had all these questions for me about health and the best way to care for herself during pregnancy, so I guess body language isn’t everything. It’s so sad – this village is so poor. Most women say they didn’t have enough to eat during pregnancy and would just take water for their meals. Then they don’t have enough milk to breastfeed and so struggle with feeding their babies.

Learned some interesting things today – for example, there are beliefs about how long a baby has to remain indoors after delivery – 3 days for a girl, 4 days for a boy. No idea why, “just tradition”. Several women said, though, that tradition was “in the past.” Still, they keep their babies inside that long, so I’m not sure that’s really true. It definitely poses an issue for immediate post-partum care – if the woman delivers in the home, the earliest she would leave (at least what most of them say) is at one week and for most, it’s 2 weeks. Which means things like infant polio, which needs to be given within the first two weeks, basically never gets given.

Most of the women got to another health center that is closer to them – Angaya – but they still have to pay 500 shillings per delivery. Which, I learned, is actually totally against the health policy – it is a Level III health facility and Level III and lower are supposed to be completely free. Except, of course, there is no supervision to make sure any of those policies are followed and so they aren’t. Totally infuriates me! I was telling Soti that they should just go and report them, over and over, until someone listens, but I guess that would be stepping outside of their jurisdiction (and of course, they’re not the only ones, so if you report them and they actually get in trouble, then it’s a chain effect). And I totally get not wanting to rock the boat, but still…

I am going to Milicent’s house this weekend – should be an interesting time! She lives in Kirindo, which is just a little bit further down the main road than the clinic, about a 15 minute moto ride from town. I’m sure I’ll have lots to tell when I get back, but will be out of internet range until Monday, so expect an update then.

Oh, p.s. – can’t remember if I’ve talked about the old school music I get to listen to here – lots of Boys to Men, “Joe”, 98 Degrees, Backstreet Boys, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey…so am totally listening to Julio Iglesias (Enrique Iglesias' father??) - it sounds like it belongs in an Italian theme restaurant or something – lots of accordion and some flute every so often. According to Wikipedia, he rose to fame in the 1970's and 80's with his romantic ballards. oy. So funny…

Just a few pictures of ICIPE - more tomorrow after interviewing at Kaugege (cow-gay-gay, with a short y).

Laundry...

So today, instead of going to the clinic, I stayed back and transcribed all of my interviews. Whew! That definitely takes longer than I thought – I spent the whole day doing it and I’m not finished yet. I got a late start on the day because I spent the first hour traipsing around Mbita trying to find a bank that would accept my MasterCard debit – which none did. I had, literally, 30 shillings left. So I had to exchange money, which, when you exchange cash, always has a horrible exchange rate – 75 shillings to the dollar instead of 95 (I know, still pretty crazy how much the dollar is worth – for 75 shillings, I can get a dozen eggs, some vegetables and a loaf of bread!). BUT, I also needed to get cash out to pay a deposit on a safari (yes, I decided to go! Seemed a little selfish at first because I’m here to work, but everyone kept saying “if you are in Kenya, you have to go on Safari!” so I decided to go, right at the end of my time here.). Anyway, I called Marcus, the coordinator of the safari and said I couldn’t pay him until Friday when Soti goes to Kisumu and can get cash for me then. He says “Oh yes, I am from Mbita. No one takes MasterCard there! So nasty sometimes. No worries, dear.” So, no problem. Sawa, sawa, as they say here.

Last night I did my first batch of laundry. Basically, I have one wash basin and one rinse basin, except, I’ve never really done laundry that way, so I asked Soti how he does it. He goes “Oh, you just do whatever is comfortable.” “Well, I’ve never actually done laundry this way, so I don’t know what is best.” “Really? How do you do laundry?” “Ummm, I use a laundry machine…” “Ohhhh.” Somehow, it surprised me that he didn’t know that, which really, why would he? Except that he watches television all the time, so I know he’s seen them before – he probably just never thought about it. Anyway, it was pretty funny!

I went to ICIPE (everyone says “ee-seep-ay”) to work on my transcriptions – it is the International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology – basically, they study things like malaria and other tropical, insect born diseases. It was built in the 70’s and I guess used to be much busier and nicer, but it’s still pretty nice. It’s right on the water and has a GREAT breeze. There is a little dining area that I can sit in, right at the window, and feel the breeze, as well as a bunch of little gazebo-type seating areas outside. The grounds are beautiful, with flowers all over – there is even a guest lodging area with running water!!! I might cave and stay there a night or two (it’s pretty cheap), although I’m getting pretty used to it here, as long as I remember to go to the bathroom BEFORE it gets dark. I am seriously NOT getting in there with all the cockroaches again. J

Oh, and remember all those horrible little bugs?? Walked into my room today and they were covering my wall. Grrrr. I am just going to have to get over it! Good news though – Soti got me mosquito repellent soap with DEET in it – I am putting it all over my legs and hopefully will stop getting bit so much! Glad no one cares about smell here... :)

PICTURES!!!!

Okay, I've been trying and trying to load pictures, but the connection has been too slow. Here they are, finally.

It is sooooo dry here - many of the crops failed this year. There is a lot of fear about famine because the rainy season was too short this year.

My bites! Not sure how well you can see them...they don't look as bad in this picture, but I can't upload any more pics, so this will have to do!

This is Lambwe Beach, where I did my second round of interviews. It is mainly a fishing community, as is Kisui Beach. Benta, the community health worker here, told me that this is a place where people are only temporarily, in order to fish, but that many of them have villages elsewhere.

This is Isa, a cute little boy at the clinic. His brother, Julien and he sat and looked at picutres on my camera for a while.

Just a little girl in Kisui Beach - she was on her way home for lunch break.

Happy late 4^th of July everyone! Hope you had some fun celebrating – I asked about fireworks here, but I guess those are illegal in Kenya. I celebrated by going to Kisui Beach, one of the villages around here, and doing interviews. Ummm, not really, but I enjoyed the interviews – they went really well. I learned some interesting things from the women, especially about practices that take place during a home birth. For example, when the baby is born, it is laid on the floor until the placenta is delivered and the umbilical cord is cut – they believe the baby should not be touched until that takes place. I asked if the baby got cold – they thought I was joking. When I asked why the baby had to stay on the floor, they couldn’t really answer. “Just tradition”. They also always wash the baby right away, instead of just quick wiping them down and wrapping them – one even said they use cold water! Yikes.

So far, many of the women I’ve spoken too know the ways that it is safest to deliver a baby, but lack many of the means to do so. The women who have made it to the hospital and have been able to pay are those who have their own business and don’t depend on their husband for money. I’ve only spoken to three men – two of the three said it was their decision as to where the baby was born, but all three said the best place was the hospital. However, they, too, agree that that doesn’t always happen because it is too far or it is too expensive. Not really sure what the solution is there, but all of them stated they wanted to learn more about the care that their wives need during pregnancy and birth, which I thought was interesting.

Today I did my second round of interviews in Lambwe Beach. There were fewer women, so we were done by 1:30. Which was actually fine – it is sooooo hot in the middle of the day, I am completely wiped out by then! I’ve been able to talk to almost 15 women so far, so am well on my way. I have this feeling that the stories might change a little as we get farther and farther from Mbita town (both Kisui and Lambwe are relatively close). Anyway, on our way back from Lambwe Beach, we passed a group of girls on their way home for lunch. We had just passed when one of them ran back and just lightly brushed my arm. So funny! They definitely had a bet going as to who would be the one to touch my skin – I went back and said hello to all of them and they just laughed and laughed! Yesterday, the same thing happened to me. I was standing there, talking to Mary Okelo, the community health worker at Kisui Beach, when I feel this little hand rubbing my leg. I look down and there is this little girl just looking at me inquisitively, rubbing my calf – basically saying “What are you, really?” :o) It has actually gone fairly smoothly setting up all the interviews. Some women are definitely more willing to talk than others, but as long as I get a good chunk of really good interviews, I’m set.

So, the bummer thing that happened was I “lost” my phone on the boat ride over from Kisumu on Sunday. We had missed the ferry and so got into one of the motorboats that will take people across for hire. I had had my phone in my hand and slipped it into my pocket when I jumped on the boat. When I checked my pocket after we got off (I didn’t check until we had almost walked all the way home), it was gone! Soti tried calling it, but it was off, which means someone had a lucky day and got a new phone. Oh well – I had to get another one – sometimes that is just life! And I am seriously getting eaten alive – I will put up a picture of my bites, but today I counted 42 (and they are all on my legs below the knee)! Repellent is doing nothing – I am going to get some mosquito repellent soap and see if that does anything. They actually don’t itch too bad, my legs just look UGLY, like I have chicken pox.

Hope you all are well!

....okay, so I wrote this earlier and my internet was being ridiculous, so I am just posting it now and I HAVE to tell you this story. So, every night, there is a lot of lightening and thunder, but no rain. It is soooo dry. The past few nights, there have been these bugs, kind've like big gnats, congregating in clouds all over the place. Supposedly that means it is going to rain. Anyway, tonight, I needed to go to the ATM to get cash and so I walked up to the bank and thought the windows were black. But as I got closer, they were BUGS! Thousands and thousands of them - I mean, you should have heard the racket they were making. And I walked in (all the ATM's are in these little rooms) and it was so much worse. bugs, bugs and more bugs, crawling in my ears, going up my nose - it makes me shiver even now just thinking about it. Seriously, I think it could have been on fear factor or something. I put up my hood on my sweatshirt, held one hand in front of my face, held my breath, got my cash and took off. Blecchhh. Soti says he forgets that's even something to be grossed out by, it's so normal. Really?