Ya Fattah! Thanksgiving 2012

 Cassidy and I woke up at 8:00am this morning and started right off cooking and preparing for our thanksgiving meal that we plan to share with my Kenyan family. Part of our job as Peace Corps Volunteers is to share American culture with Kenyans so here we are slaving over a fire, slaughtering chicken and shucking peas from the garden. 100% organic veggies and free-range chicken, this is the way to do it! So together we came up with some things we are greatful this Thanksgiving. Of course we miss our family and friends back home, but we feel so blessed to be alive in Kenya celebrating this special day with our Kenyan friends and family. 

Things that I’m thankful for 2012 Kenyan Thanksgiving

-Water: Rain is a Good Thang! Having clean safe drinking water in Kenya is a luxary. I am lucky to live in a place with consistent rain for our crops and livelihood. I miss turning on a shower!

-Health: In Kenya it’s easy to get sick! With diseases that are eradicated in America like Malaria, Measles and Typhoid, we are lucky to be healthy and living active lifestyles.

-Family: Kenyan and American. We couldn’t survive without our Kenyan families, keeping us safe, showing us the way of life. But our American families are who we are. Their support keeps us going.

-Opportunities like Peace Corps: It gives us the chance to live within communities other than our own and learn a totally different way of life. If anything, this makes you appreciate everything you have back in America.

-Friendships: Also Kenyan and American. My Kenyan friends keep me integrated. Even though we cannot communicate as closely as my American friends, we continue to find we are more the same than different. My American friends though are my rocks. They keep me grounded, keep me updated on what’s happening back home. Without the support from my friends, the emails, the packages, the letters, I seriously could not do this. And my Peace Corps friends are like family. No one else can ever truly understand what we are going through.

-Education: Without education we would not even be in the Peace Corps. Many girls in Kenya never finish their education and instead get pregnant at 16, married and commit their whole lives to that. We are lucky to have so many opportunities and only through educating ourselves have we been able to do that.

-Food: Not only Thanksgiving food, but food in general. We are living in a country with famine! People in my own village go to sleep hungry! To be able to share this day with Kenyans means more than I could ever explain through words.

-Our Puppies!: Sangala gives me purpose here. I know he’s just a dog, but he seriously is my best friend. He keeps me company and gives me someone to talk to that doesn’t judge me for the color of my skin. Yes, I talk to my dog. No judgment!

-Electricity: Walking 2 hours to charge my phone was a pain! It’s so nice to be able to charge at my house now!

-Being Americans!: Never had I been proud to be American until I lived here. I never thought we had a culture, but we do! We are unique and bright people. Also, we are lucky that we do not have to face the same kind of hardships as here.

-Air conditioning: Damn that feels good. Which is why I love Sankara! (Adams)

-Fast Food: We miss you Taco Bell.

-Options: There’s not many here. Food, career, the list goes on.

-Cheese: When we get our hands on you cheese, there’s no turning back.

-Keeping Time: It’s so nice when someone doesn’t show up on “African time”.

-Traveling: I love travel, especially within Africa and this has given me the chance to see the world!

-Love: I’ve learned how to love here more than I ever knew I could. 

So Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home! God Bless you all! 

One Year At Site

I’m up late tonight because as I was drifting off to sleep, I realized, I’ve been at my new site for about a year now! One year ago, I never would have thought I would be as happy as I am here. Leaving my old site of Matayos was painful. Saying goodbye to all that I had already established and I only lived there for 3 months. I had no time to say goodbye, they simply told me pack your bags and they made me leave. I remember when the Peace Corps vehicle was driving me here to Singorwet. We turned off the paved road and the dirt road and villages seemed to go on forever. Where the heck are they taking me, I thought. When they dropped me off in the rural village of Singorwet, I contemplated not even unpacking. How would I survive without electricity, without water, without transport (I had had these luxuries at my old site)! It was 2 hours on foot to the nearest public transportation. I didn’t think I would make it.

Now here I am, only a year later, and I finally realized that this was all just a part of Gods plan for me. Singorwet is the most beautiful place I’ve been in Kenya. I get to walk through fields and fields of tea leafs to get to work everyday. The sound of rain on my roof brings me peace. And the people have taken me in like one of them, especially my mama and the family I live with. This is exactly what I had hoped for in my Peace Corps experience. The true “African” experience. I love the rural now! San Francisco girl turned African farm girl, I never would have thought it possible. Yes, I’m still afraid of bugs, but at least now I can kill them all on my own!

And when I look back over the last year, I’ve accomplished so much here with the help of the community. From the HIV Hotline, to the Tree Nursery, to my health clubs, to the world map I painted at the dispensary, to teaching at the Mother Child Clinics. The events I’ve put on such as International Women’s Day, Earth Day and now Men’s Health Awareness Day have all been a success. I got trash cans put in my community so we can keep it clean and beautiful and when my dad visited he brought solar electricity to the clinic. I taught women how to make paper beads and how to cook banana bread. And soon we will have a working maternity ward at the clinic! There’s no way I could have done any of this without my people in Singorwet. I thank God for them everyday.

Integration is an ongoing process that I work on daily. Going to church, lunches with local friends and walking throughout the villages help me establish myself. The kids finally call me by my name instead of white lady which feels spectacular! The other day I went to my friend Agnes’s “Pre-Wedding Ceremony”. It’s a ceremony where the families give each other gifts and basically say goodbye to the bride. It was so fun and they really made me feel like a part of them as I sang and danced the whole time. Sometimes I forget that I’m white until I look at the pictures taken and realize “damn! I’m the only white person!” I’ve gotten use to it and I like to think people are starting to look past it. At least the people I know. At times I feel that race plays a major role in my life here, but other times I get so caught up in the moment, I forget entirely that I’m foreign. Those moments are the ones I love most. Dancing with my friends, singing in church…it’s like we are all one in the same.

This week we’ve been conducting a training for Men As Partners. I’m so proud of my community because I have nothing to do with this. They came up with it on their own, organized it and turned out. Monday through Friday 30 men are learning everything from male and female anatomy to family planning to gender violence. It’s so cool to see old men in my community learning how to talk openly about sex. In this culture, it’s a very taboo subject. Saturday is my Men’s Health Awareness Day and we will be having graduation ceremony for the men who participated. I’m really hoping my event goes well and that lots of men show up. I have about 6 volunteers coming to help me.

Anyway, even though times can get me down, I miss home and a year and a half has felt like a century, looking back over this last year makes me feel like I’ve really done something. When I talk to people back home they are always like “wow what you’re doing…etc etc”, but ask any PCV and we don’t feel like our job is as big of a deal as people make of it. Some days we might not even leave the house once, or other days we literally watch paint dry. But at least when I look back now, I feel like I’ll have something to leave behind here, something to be remembered by. Hopefully these next 7 months bring as much success as this last year has.

World Handwashing Day 2012

October 15^th was World Handwashing Day, my second time I have celebrated this event in Kenya. This year I went to my friend Cassidy’s site. She is one of my nearest volunteers so it’s only about and hour and a half away. It just happened to land on market day so we set up a booth in the middle of the market and taught people the importance of washing their hands, water sanitation and also demonstrated solar cookers.

I worked the handwashing station. Nearly 6 million children a year die of diarrhea! Diarrhea can easily be prevented by simply washing your hands, food, and treating your water. We stressed the times you need to wash your hands:

Kabla ya unakula chakula (before you eat food)

Kabla ya unapika chakula (before you cook food)

Bada ya unagusa nyama (after you touch meat)

Bada ya unasalamea wtu (after you greet people)

Bada ya unaosha mtoto (after you wash a child)

Bada ya unatumia choo (after you use the toilet)

Bada ya unatoka shamba (after you are from the farm)

Anyway, I think it was a great success! So many people came to the booth and we passed out a lot of soap. Cassidy sold 3 solar cookers and we taught a lot of people about the importance of water sanitation!

RIP Geoffery III

RIP Geoffery III

Today my mama ran over our little puppy Geoffery III in her car. She backed up and he must have been sleeping behind the car and his head was crushed. I found him. And I freaked out. What did everyone do? Laugh at my reaction. I know it’s a Western thing to love animals as much as we do, but it makes me sad the lack of compassion they have. I loved this little puppy. He was so cute and fat and wobbly. I guess that’s reality. It’s not like I’ve never lost a dog in my life before. It’s just I’ve never seen a little puppy killed. People have more problems here to deal with than caring about dogs, but I can’t help love them all just the same. I don’t know what I’d do without Sangala. He’s my rock. He keeps me company and makes me happy. I’m attached to all the dogs on the compound; Sailor Moon, Geoffery Jr., Bat Man, Mama Dog…it’s sad to see one of our own go.

Harambe

What is a harambe? Let me first start by explaining that. I’ve written about it once before in a previous post, but I think I should clarify further. A harambe is like a fundraiser. I went to one the other day in fact. My friend Joakim is going to college so his father (my supervisor) invited friends and family to come to his harambe to raise money for his university tuition. During the harambe chai is served. This is tradition and guests expect it when they come. After chai, the donations are presented. First comes the family and neighbors, all lined up to give what they can to the pot. The MC announces their name and how much they are giving as they hand in their donation. Then they categorize who comes next in line, sometimes the elders, other times women, until everyone who can donate does. If you do not have money to give, you can give food from your farm. Some people bring cabbage or a small banana trees. This time, someone brought tea bags. At the end, people bid on the items. Anyway, that explains the basic concept of a harambe.

I wanted to write about this because sitting back and watching it take place, I could only feel the honor and humbleness the family must feel. All your neighbors, friends, family, villagers, coming together to help out your cause. That’s why I love Kenya. There’s such a sense of community, of helping one another out. I wish we did these kind of things in America, but we are too proud. Kenyans are grateful and honored to have the people they know present them with money. It really is a fun event, full of laughter and happiness in knowing that the money that is needed is being raised by the whole community. I really love this concept and it makes me so pleased to be a part of Singorwet. It seems as if everyone has each others backs. Even though Kenya is one of the poorest countries in the world, in the village, you are never truly poor. No one allows someone to go hungry. People take each other in. Everyone is mama because everyone is raising the children.

I’m almost a year and a half into my service and I feel like I can finally say that I am integrated into my community. Everyday I hear less and less “muzungu” or “chepcumendent” (white lady), and instead hear chants of my name, “Chepkosgei! Chepkosgei!” It makes me feel so happy. Even though this experience can be tiring a lot of the time and make me miss the simple pleasures of home, I am beyond humbled to have become part of Singorwet. These are my neighbors, my friends…my family. God has blessed me immensely!

Tragedy and Tears

                                   (Jackie is the one on the right. This is her at Camp GLOW)

Living in Africa, you hear a lot of horror stories; someone died of AIDS, a girl was rapped, etc. etc. Unfortunately these are realities of life here. Never though is it anyone you know. It’s always a “cousin’s friend” or someone distant from you or the storyteller. That was until the horrible news I received the other day. A young girl of 17 that was at the Camp GLOW with me recently died of complications of an abortion. Jackie wasn’t one of the girls I personally brought to the camp, but she was one of my students there and I remember her very well. This kind of news is so disturbing to me. She had so much ahead of her and was one of the smartest girls in our class. I suspect her reasons for the abortion were that she was empowered by the Camp and wanted to have a chance at a future. Unfortunately, abortion is totally illegal in Kenya, unless giving birth is life-threatening for the mother. So Jackie was forced to go to some village which doctor that didn’t know what they were doing and ended up damaging her badly to the point of death.

Yesterday at my health club we had a moment of silence for Jackie and I stressed the importance of using protection if you are choosing to engage in sexual intercourse and also the dangers of abortion. I seriously hope that I’m making an impact on these girls that they will learn from Jackie’s mistake. I wish girls had more choices here and chances for a better life, but it’s not always that simple in the village.

It gives me so much perspective on my life. How lucky I am to be where I am and be who I am. Being raised by just a dad wasn’t easy for me, and I know in turn I wasn’t easy for him. But we are so fortunate for where we have come. I thank God everyday for my education, my drive, my life…I just hope these girls can lean from me that there is so much more outside village life and if they work hard they can get there.

I’m still working on the scholarship program for the girls at the school. So far I still only have one donor (myself), but it’s being going really well. Yukabit has been to school everyday since I started sponsoring her and her mother has saved a good chunk of money through my required saving program that goes along with the scholarship. If any of you want to sponsor a girl, please email me (aflynnschneider@gmail.com). It’s only about $120 a year for a girl to get her education here and through Jackie’s story, you can see how important it truly is. Anything helps. If you don’t have any money to help, please I ask for your prayers for these girls. That what happened to Jackie doesn’t happen to them!

Learning the Mother Tongue

After having a few days of mother tongue language classes during Cross-Sector, my 3 friends (Jojo, Cass and Hannah) and I were impressed with how much we learned. With confident attitudes, we decided to sign up for a language immersion course to learn our local dialect, Kalenjin. Language immersion is when Peace Corps sends a teacher to a volunteers site to learn whatever Kenyan language they may need/want. Our teacher was Emily, the same teacher that taught me Kiswahilil during training. She is a Kalenjin and lives close to my village so we spent three days in Singorwet learning and speaking our mother tongue.

In only 3 days we went from only being able to greet people, to being able to say our jobs, where we live, what kind of food we like, and many other important phrases. I’ve been so impressed by my ability to pick up on languages here. It has been so important for me to be fully immersed in a culture in order to speak the language. In high school I took Spanish, but to this day all I can say is Hola and Adios. But I feel like Kiswahili will stick with me and now hopefully I will begin to use Kalenjin more and more. People in my village only speak Kalenjin so it’s hard to communicate with them past the most basic sayings. I feel like after 3 days I have a firm grasp on how the language works so it will just be memorizing vocabulary from here on out.

Language is so cool! I never liked learning before because it felt so difficult, but I’m beginning to pick up on patterns easier. I hope when I go back to America to learn Spanish again and maybe travel within Spanish speaking countries so I can improve.