Cycling, Campus Life, and Visitors
I had a pretty good week. It took awhile, but I finally met a Peace Corps Volunteer who is a cycling fanatic. The good news is that he lives an hour from me, the bad news is that he is leaving (his two years of Peace Corps service ended this weekend). At least I got one good ride in and I'm hopeful that the newest group of volunteers might include someone with similar interests. We started our cycling trip near Webuye, which is only 30 miles north of Kakamega, and rode 50 miles on dirt roads through the isolated villages on the hills surrounding Mt. Elgon on the Ugandan border. The ride was intense. Using my extremely trendy heart rate monitor/GPS I was given as a gift before I left, I could see I burned 4300 calories, and I pigged out on a huge plate of junk food (french fries and somosas) without any guilt. I love cycling.
The ride was beautiful. We were at over 6,000 feet the majority of the ride, and on the equator that makes the daytime temperature about perfect. The "roads" between these towns are perfect for mountain biking and foot traffic but terrible for anything else. On one particular stretch on one of the better roads there were matatus at one time, but they continued to flip over as they attempted to climb the eroded and insanely steep inclines, and thus no longer take that route. As a result the people in the area live in isolation, with at least a ten mile hike by foot to the closest road that is accessible by vehicle. On our entire ride, the only cars we saw while riding through the hills were a few shiny new land rovers driven by wazungu; no surprise there.
So I really wish I had some pictures to post but I'm having trouble with either my rechargeable batteries or the charger, and need to get to Kisumu or another real town that sells decent batteries before I'll be able to take pictures again.
I made it back to the office on Tuesday. This entire week I have been excited about the grant money we are supposed to be getting from the Ministry of Agriculture. Every day we were promised that the money would arrive the next day, and by Friday we realized that if we are getting money at all it will be at least August. (Apparently being approved for the grant and promised money doesn't mean we will actually get a check..this is the Kenyan government after all) We'll see what happens, I'm just rolling with the punches and learning not to be so upset with all the hassles that are part of working in this country.
Speaking of hassles, the wheelchair project continues to be going nowhere, but I will know more in the next few weeks and won't jump to conclusions. There's still a chance things will work out and if not there is a plan B in the works.
On Wednesday I went to Kisumu to learn about an NGO called IIRR that is providing training classes for self-help groups. The training classes seemed relevant to some of the projects I am working with, particularly the business management and monitoring and evaluation classes. Then I found out the price is $1,500 per person for three weeks of training. What kind of non-profit charges that, and in this country?!? $1500 is about 5 years worth of wages for some of the farmers I work with, and I was told the intention is for grant money from other NGO's to cover the costs...whatever.
I also met up with Adrienne and her friend Stella. Stella is a college student at Maseno University, which is about 20 minutes outside Kisumu. After the pointless meeting with IIRR we left to visit her campus, and I had a chance to see what college life is like for the students there. In many ways things are the same as the states...dorm rooms, heavy drinking, and cramming for exams. In others it is quite different. The girls dorms consist of either 4 girls to a room if you are lucky, or eight all crammed into a single room not much bigger than my bedroom. There is a small locker for each girl and enough room for maybe three outfits. The guys have it better in that they have dorms with 2 to a room. I actually slept in one of the guys dorm rooms and stayed up talking politics, sports, and everything else. The students are extremely idealistic and ambitious and I only hope they can maintain their beliefs as they enter the real world and change things for the better here.
That evening we hiked up a hill overlooking the campus, and had a great view of the surrounding countryside and Lake Victoria off in the distance. The hill was a giant boulder field and the landscape was so different than anything I would see back in the states, or even in Kakamega which is just a short drive away. I was told that somewhere in the hills is the home of Mama Pink, who is named after the color of her Chang'aa, illegal distilled liquor that tastes like diesel fuel and is a favorite among the college kids. Her business is best during the second half of the semester when funds run low and beer becomes too expensive.
We also went to a movie that evening. I saw "The Divinci Code" which isn't that good. Reading a book first almost always ruins the movie. The only consolation is that even though the movie theater consisted of a 19" television screen and we were watching a bootlegged movie that was obviously just a camcorder brought to the theater, the price was only 10 shillings so it was hard to complain.
On Thursday I went back to Kakamega to meet up with PCV's Dan and Jean, a retired couple from San Franciso. Dan is a computer genius with several books published and he agreed to come to Kakamega to help me with my database project. He made some tweaks to the code and now I have a really good program for keeping track of what the farmers are growing. Dan and Jean are also good cooks and we ate really well the two days they were here. Another PCV, Tony, was also at my place and we had a great time. Now Tony is on his way back to Kisumu and Dan and Jean went to the rainforest. As for me I think I've typed enough for one day, but expect to hear more soon.
The ride was beautiful. We were at over 6,000 feet the majority of the ride, and on the equator that makes the daytime temperature about perfect. The "roads" between these towns are perfect for mountain biking and foot traffic but terrible for anything else. On one particular stretch on one of the better roads there were matatus at one time, but they continued to flip over as they attempted to climb the eroded and insanely steep inclines, and thus no longer take that route. As a result the people in the area live in isolation, with at least a ten mile hike by foot to the closest road that is accessible by vehicle. On our entire ride, the only cars we saw while riding through the hills were a few shiny new land rovers driven by wazungu; no surprise there.
So I really wish I had some pictures to post but I'm having trouble with either my rechargeable batteries or the charger, and need to get to Kisumu or another real town that sells decent batteries before I'll be able to take pictures again.
I made it back to the office on Tuesday. This entire week I have been excited about the grant money we are supposed to be getting from the Ministry of Agriculture. Every day we were promised that the money would arrive the next day, and by Friday we realized that if we are getting money at all it will be at least August. (Apparently being approved for the grant and promised money doesn't mean we will actually get a check..this is the Kenyan government after all) We'll see what happens, I'm just rolling with the punches and learning not to be so upset with all the hassles that are part of working in this country.
Speaking of hassles, the wheelchair project continues to be going nowhere, but I will know more in the next few weeks and won't jump to conclusions. There's still a chance things will work out and if not there is a plan B in the works.
On Wednesday I went to Kisumu to learn about an NGO called IIRR that is providing training classes for self-help groups. The training classes seemed relevant to some of the projects I am working with, particularly the business management and monitoring and evaluation classes. Then I found out the price is $1,500 per person for three weeks of training. What kind of non-profit charges that, and in this country?!? $1500 is about 5 years worth of wages for some of the farmers I work with, and I was told the intention is for grant money from other NGO's to cover the costs...whatever.
I also met up with Adrienne and her friend Stella. Stella is a college student at Maseno University, which is about 20 minutes outside Kisumu. After the pointless meeting with IIRR we left to visit her campus, and I had a chance to see what college life is like for the students there. In many ways things are the same as the states...dorm rooms, heavy drinking, and cramming for exams. In others it is quite different. The girls dorms consist of either 4 girls to a room if you are lucky, or eight all crammed into a single room not much bigger than my bedroom. There is a small locker for each girl and enough room for maybe three outfits. The guys have it better in that they have dorms with 2 to a room. I actually slept in one of the guys dorm rooms and stayed up talking politics, sports, and everything else. The students are extremely idealistic and ambitious and I only hope they can maintain their beliefs as they enter the real world and change things for the better here.
That evening we hiked up a hill overlooking the campus, and had a great view of the surrounding countryside and Lake Victoria off in the distance. The hill was a giant boulder field and the landscape was so different than anything I would see back in the states, or even in Kakamega which is just a short drive away. I was told that somewhere in the hills is the home of Mama Pink, who is named after the color of her Chang'aa, illegal distilled liquor that tastes like diesel fuel and is a favorite among the college kids. Her business is best during the second half of the semester when funds run low and beer becomes too expensive.
We also went to a movie that evening. I saw "The Divinci Code" which isn't that good. Reading a book first almost always ruins the movie. The only consolation is that even though the movie theater consisted of a 19" television screen and we were watching a bootlegged movie that was obviously just a camcorder brought to the theater, the price was only 10 shillings so it was hard to complain.
On Thursday I went back to Kakamega to meet up with PCV's Dan and Jean, a retired couple from San Franciso. Dan is a computer genius with several books published and he agreed to come to Kakamega to help me with my database project. He made some tweaks to the code and now I have a really good program for keeping track of what the farmers are growing. Dan and Jean are also good cooks and we ate really well the two days they were here. Another PCV, Tony, was also at my place and we had a great time. Now Tony is on his way back to Kisumu and Dan and Jean went to the rainforest. As for me I think I've typed enough for one day, but expect to hear more soon.
posted by KenyaJoe at 5:32 AM
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