The Latest..plus a site announcement!

So perhaps I should change the name of my Blog from “Latest News from Kenya” to “Occasional News when the Internet decides to Work” but maybe not, since things are up and running now. Actually, when I’m onsite Internet should be fairly reliable…more on that in a minute. Let’s do this chronologically. I’ve got two weeks to catch up on so as usual I’ll just hit some key points.

First, our technical training for business development has gotten much better. We’ve done several site visits, including a village bank and a microfinance institution. I have a pretty good idea of how loans are acquired for small businesses and individuals in country and found it pretty interesting. We also went to the Kitui Ginnery, which is a cotton gin that is still using the same equipment that was brought down and installed in the 1920’s. It was incredible that this stuff is still working. Women with masks sit on top of huge piles of raw cotton and use a stick to push the cotton into a machine that cleans and deseeds it. Once deseeded it is taken to a bailer, which involves three guys that jump up and down on the pile of cotton to compress it until it is bailed. The workers are getting 120 shillings a day for this job (about $1.50).

We’ve also had a chance to interact and work with cooperatives now. We conducted a class for our group on the basics of record keeping, since any paper work pertaining to their business is currently nonexistent, and we covered the importance of keeping a cashbook. We provided handouts and wrote a cashbook example on the board while the cooperative members followed along. I really think they saw the importance of actually keeping track of their finances and they seemed extremely appreciative of the little bit of effort we put into their group. The women in the group even performed a traditional song and dance for us that was incredible. The music and the rhythm and the spirit of these people is inspiring. I walked away feeling more confident about why I am here and also a little bewildered at how basic the needs are concerning business development. Our next project will involve developing a business plan for our group, and we will do that in the near future before we are posted on site.

Our language training is coming along too. We took our first language assessment exam and I scored “Novice High – Strong” which means I am very close to the Intermediate Low ranking I will need to successfully complete my initial language training. I was told if I had remembered how to say “because” (kwa sababu) I would be there already so I’m feeling pretty good about where I stand on language. As part of our language training we spent some time walking around the poor Muslin area in Kitui speaking in Swahili to the mamas and babas (fathers) in the neighborhoods. One thing I came across that definitely needs to be mentioned is a pair of twins born on September 11th, 2001. One has slightly lighter skin that the other so naturally their mother decided to name one Bush (the lighter skinned one) and the other Osama (the darker skinned one) I don’t think that is their birth names but that is what they are called and I’m not making it up. To make things even worse….or funnier depending on your sense of humor….moma told the lighter skinned one that he was actually a mzungu (white person) and one day they were going to come and take him away. So when a group of us showed up to the compound and he saw us he froze still and looked at us terrified. Mama though it was hilarious.

Ok, so since broadband is working I’m going to try to post another pic. Lizards are about my favorate animal and this is a lizard that I see all the time in Kitui. I think it’s called a red headed rock agama. It's a little too quick to become a pet:

What else…we had a Halloween party that was a lot of fun. I brought about five liters of Karubu, which is the locally brewed tradition beer made by the Kamba people and it was enjoyed by all. It’s made with honey and sugar and tastes like a mead. Several people dressed up as best they could and the locals at the hotel we stayed at that night really enjoyed watching the crazy Americans.

The political system here is definitely interesting. The constitution referendum is coming up very soon (Nov. 21st) so things are tense at the moment. There has been some violence at Chungwa vs. Ndizi rallies and it probably will not get any better until the winner is declared and the aftermath of the election has settled down. We spoke to several University professors about their opinions on the current political system and the current referendum is definitely not ideal for everyone. There are many things that the new constitution offers to improve Kenya, but much of what the majority of Kenyan people want changed is not being addressed. I think the amount of power the president has is one of the largest key issues here, so almost everyone in Kenya wants a change but many feel the current draft of the constitution is insufficient.

However, others feel that it is better than nothing and if this constitution is not chosen it will be years before another chance to change the constitution arises. Another approach would be to vote yes for the current constitution and amend it later, but this version of the draft calls for a 75% majority in parliament for any chances to take place, which I have been told is virtually impossible on many key issues and therefore changing this draft, should it be made into the new constitution, will often be all but impossible. I still don’t know where I stand and am staying out of it as best I can but just wanted to let everyone know what’s going on here.

On a creepier note many of the Kamba people believe in witchcraft and recently there was an issue with one of the volunteer’s host family fathers. Turns out a girl, who was allegedly possessed, started screaming out the name of this family member who is a priest. The villagers called the priest over to pray for the girl, but when he arrived they cornered him with intention of killing him to save the girl. The father was saved just in time by the police, who took him to the station to protect him. The reason this happened is equally strange. The priest has recently acquired enough money to buy a car and send his children to private schools. The villagers saw this and became suspicious. Their fears were confirmed, as far as they could tell, when this girl became possessed and called the priests name. Apparently when people start acquiring wealth and become successful this can be due to a jinni, which is the Arabic name for ghost. These can be purchased in bottles in Mombasa (hense, jinni in a bottle). The ghost you purchase can provide you with riches and wealth, but in return you must make deals with it and never break them. Only the person that purchases the jinni can speak to it and the jinni must have it’s own room in the house. Furthermore, you must respond to the jinni’s every demand (e.g. slaughter a black goat and leave it in a certain place) or it will possess a child in the village. So, when the child became possessed and said the name of the priest as her father, the villagers assumed that the evil spirit was actually speaking through the girl. They felt she was citing the priest as the person that bough the jinni because the priest did not fulfill whatever obligation he had made. I don’t really believe in this stuff but do think there’s a dark side that I don’t want to know too much about, so I’m not digging any further. However, I later learned that the “possessed” girl was given school fees and spent the money on clothes, and claims that being possessed was why that happened, but regardless, the coastal regions in Kenya very much believe in this stuff.

Now for the exciting news if you’re still paying attention. I found out where I’ll be working today! I’ll be posted outside of a town called Kakamega, and I’m bordering the only remaining rainforest in Kenya. Google it and check out some pics, it looks amazing.

Anyway, I only have a basic overview of my job but I’m excited by how great it seems right now. All the current SEDICT volunteer’s resumes were submitted for this particular project and I was the one selected out of the group to take it on. I’ll give more details soon but here’s what I know so far. First off, I’ll be working for the United Nations, which is fantastic. I’ve been told that a rare thing about my position is I will actually have access to funds and a structured program. The program is called FAO, or Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, and I will be working with FFS (Farmer’s Fields Schools) in developing income generating activities, managing a computerized project management system, market products and linking producers and consumers, and assisting farmers in planning, managing, and administrating their activities. The project is headquartered in Nairobi and it appears I’ll be traveling throughout Kenya occasionally to teach other FFS groups (once I have more experience) The challenging part…I will eventually be doing this in Swahili.

Even better news…I’ve been told (brace yourself) that I have a house to myself complete with electricity and my own office with a computer and Internet access! So my Peace Corps experience does not appear to be at the same “roughing it” level as some of the volunteers, but it’s hard to complain about having resources and convenience.

So I leave on Saturday for my first site visit. I’ll be there until Wednesday and return to Kitui Thursday morning. Expect to hear much more from me soon!