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.

Camp GLOW 2012

 This last week has been one of the best for me here in Kenya. I've been so inspired by all the girls at Camp GLOW and have really felt like I've made a serious difference in their lives.

Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) is a week long girls camp we hold in Kisumu every year. Each volunteer involved nominates 2 girls to go to the camp. It's an amazing experience because my girls had never been out of the village and they were able to meet girls from other parts of Kenya. Besides learning about health and business, the camp is empowering and stands up for the idea that every young woman can make a difference in their communities. The girls had the chance to do mock income generating activities, arts and crafts, condom relays and condom balloon toss, see a women's shelter and even go on a walking safari. We took the girls to the airport because many of them had never seen a plane!

 Everyday had a different health topic ranging from HIV/AIDS and STIs to Self Defence to Goal Setting and much more! There's no creative learning in Kenya so it was a great chance for the girls to learn other ways then to just simply get lectured at and memorize things. They got real life experience!

We also had a talent show which was so fun! My friend David and I were the MCs and we did our own little dance from the movie Dirty Dancing. The girls talents were really good too! Some sang songs, some did poems and others danced. It was adorable!

The best part of the camp for me was working with the deaf girls. Peace Corps has a Deaf Education sector and they mix with our camp. By the end of the week the hearing girls were using sign language and hanging out with the deaf girls! The deaf girls even did a play for the talent show. It was just so awesome to see because disabilities are not supported in Kenya like they are in America. Deaf girls get hidden away in their villages because the parents don't know what to do with them. They get denied education and normal lives just because of ignorance. So, if anything, the hearing girls learned that deaf people are no different than themselves. It was seriously incredible!

It was sad to leave camp at the end of the week! You really start to get to know some of the girls well and they've all made so many friends. My plan now is to work with the girls I brought to camp to be ambassadors with me in the village. I want to do my own small scale camp and my girls can be teachers for their friends. This was probably the best thing I've done so far and hope I can be involved more. I love working with the youth and empowering them on how to make good life decisions.


If you are interested in donating to Gender related projects such as Camp GLOW, you can make a 100% tax deductible contribution at https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=615-CFD

In the comment section make sure to write that it is for GAD (Gender and Development). Remember ALL the money goes directly to volunteers, no admin fees! Yay!

Tips for Never Getting Bored in a Rural African Village

-Exercise: whether it’s running, dance or yoga, stay active. It increases endorphins and keeps you from getting fat on all that village food they shove down your throat. Don’t be afraid to have a dance party by yourself…I do it all the time!

-Find a craft: I like making jewelry at site when I have down time. If I was a better artist I would probably try to draw or paint. My friend Henry just built a boat! Anything to keep your mind and hands busy.

-Keep movies and/or shows on your hard drive at all times: All of us volunteers share our media with each other. I’ve spent a whole day watching Dexter. Now I’m into Breaking Bad and Lost. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that!

-Bring a Kindle and READ READ READ: It’s hard to find the time in America to always read what I want, especially while I was in school. This opportunity has given me the chance to read things I never thought I’d be into. And even though I will always love a fresh new book, having a Kindle with unlimited amounts of books is a plus!

-Take care of your body: After a long day in the village I like to soak my feet, do my nails and maybe even a facemask. It feels good to pamper yourself, even if it’s for no one but you.

-Have a glass of wine or two and drunk call your friends in Peace Corps and/or America: Friends love hearing from you, especially when you’re somewhat tipsy. My friends and I have made this a tradition here in Peace Corps whenever one of us goes out. And I have a few regulars back in America that seem to enjoy my calls as well (Julia! Ha)

-Learn to do the splits: It doesn’t have to be the splits, but you have two years in a small hut. Teach your body to be flexible!

-Write in a journal: I’ve done this since 3^rd grade, but writing my thoughts down really helps me stay leveled.

-Listen to music and sing loudly: It doesn’t matter if you’re a good singer or not, village people will think you are no matter what. So sing loudly and proudly to whatever song you love to jam out to. (current personal preference: Glee version of Dancing Queen).

-Make slideshows of your pictures: Most computers have some kind of windows movie maker or whatever the equivalent on a Mac is. Put together a little slideshow of home for yourself. It’s fun to share it with African friends as well!

-Plan for the future: It doesn’t have to be concrete, but thinking about what you are going to do after service can take up some fun internet browsing time (when you have internet). Or making travel plans! It’s always good to have something to look forward to.

-Write letters home: Everyone loves getting mail!

-Take long naps: hey you have all the time in the world in Africa! Take advantage of it!

Don’t be afraid to be bored. Soak it up! Remember all those times running around back home trying to get everything done. Well you have two years to finally relax! Enjoy it! Savor it! I know I do. I’m happy when I get busy here, but then I miss the days I get to sit around and do nothing. Be with your thoughts. People are so afraid to be with themselves back home. Learn about who you are and live every second, even if you aren’t doing anything at all.