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November 28, 2003
November 28, 2003
Another morning in Nairobi. Work is going well and I have been having fun meeting new people. During this trip to Nairobi I have been staying with people at their houses to avoid the expense of hotels and also take the chance to enjoy the company of interesting people. Last evening I moved from where I had been staying to the home of some new friends I just met in August in Maralal at the Camel Derby. They are a couple from Israel who have lived in Kenya for 5 years. They are lovely people and when I by chance saw them at the product promotion last Saturday I was invited to stay with them. We had a great conversation last evening and I learned a lot about Israel that I had never known or understood before. It enforces the idea of how important and beneficial it is to learn about people from the source instead of only relying on media, propaganda and stereotypes and then think we know everything we need to know.
Yesterday I was also able to attend a Rotary Club meeting. That was also really nice as I got to meet so many new and interesting people. Reuben and I are trying to start a Rotary Club in Maralal so this is the first step. The speaker of the day was a scholar of Islam and he gave a talk on the importance of fasting as a pillar of Islam. Learning from the source. Understanding the people around us. So important.
The product promotion with the women from my group in Ngurunit is going well. Yesterday was the first big day with teams at two different shops. Today we have three places and then several every day until Wednesday next week. Very hectic but we hope it will create a good market for our camel meat products and help increase the income generation potential for the pastoralist areas of Kenya. We really enjoyed the tanning field trips. After the place in Masaai land, we came back to Nairobi to visit a government leather improvement facility. That place has so much potential to help the women improve the quality of the leather they are already able to produce. I will be going back there next year with several of the women to spend some time for a few days learning about all the complex leather finishing processes they can offer. It is fun to pursue these creative ways of improving lives through different enterprise development. Keeps me busy too.
Now I am off for another day of talking about camel meat. It is funny to see the reaction of people when they ask what we are selling and hear the words camel and meat used together. Some just take off and refuse to talk. Other say they thought one only rode camels. Many will try and they usually have given a positive response. So there is a lot of potential.
One thing for next week I am looking forward to with a bit of excitement. I have heard that the US Secretary for Human Resources, maybe with Bono in his delegation, will be coming to Kenya on a visit concerning HIV/AIDS. They will be here only for two days or so but maybe I can work out a way to meet them. The Secretary, when he was the Governor of Wisconsin some years ago, was a friend of my uncle, so maybe there is a chance. Time will tell. At least I can dream a bit about it.
November 22, 2003
November 22, 2003
It has been a lot of days since I was able to get time to sit down and think about all the things that have been going on lately. The main disruption in life has been having to come to Nairobi twice in quick succession and stay a number of days each time. The first time it was for the end of program conference for the latest KARI (Kenya Agricultural Research Institute) for which I am facilitating the milk and meat preservation project with my women’s group in Ngurunit. Though it was hectic, it was quite fun. The different partners that work together on that project won first price from the European Union, who funds the project, for the best collaborative research project. We were all so excited. One main requirement of winning was demonstration that the communities in which the work was done benefited in real ways from the participatory technology development activities. Our main achievement from the work is the existence a number of small scale enterprises as the existence of the research that are now contributing to the direct increase in income opportunities for the groups who run these enterprises. It was really cool that we were recognized in winning the prize. Gives one motivation to continue trying hard to find new ways for lives to improve.
After being in Nairobi the first time for 8 days, I had two days in which to return to Maralal and see the family only to have to return again to Nairobi yesterday for more work related stuff. Uggh. The drive down was really hard as it has started raining and there was mud everywhere. I was the only driver in the car so had to struggle in the mud, rain and then darkness for almost 8 hours. I am very happy when it rains. My garden has started to grow and I will have greens and pumkins in not so long. But I wish I could stay put during the wet weather. Found several big trucks mired up to their axles in the mud in the middle of the road and had to be very creative in getting around them. My 4-wheel drive isn’t working at the moment so I had several moments of terror several different times thinking I might join these trucks in their mud holes. Today I am really stiff in the shoulders and arms from gripping the steering wheel through all the tough spots. But I made it safe, the same day, and that is what counts.
Normally I would have left Maralal for Nairobi very early so as to avoid the driving in the dark bit, but yesterday was the last day of the school year for my kids. I found out they had their school program just before lunch so decided to delay my departure a bit. I enjoyed the kid’s singing and play so much it was worth the rough drive down in the dark later. Loiweti and my nephew, Polisan, are moving from their nursery school to primary school starting in January so their class did a special play as the graduating class. Loiweti played Joseph in the Nativity Play. I was so proud. Polisan also had a great speaking part. The first of a number of years as a parent that I will be going to watch my kids perform and always think they are the best of the group. Though to be fair, I loved the performance of all of the kids. They had hidden a little baby class child (3 year olds) under a table behind a cloth before the play started and this child was sorted of pulled out from under the table at the appropriate time to lie in the “manger” and be Jesus. It was really funny.
In between getting ready for going to Nairobi, preparing the house for leaving my husband with the kids and going to watch the school program, I managed to prepare and send off the last truck load of materials for the Lebendera project. I am not sure how far they have gotten but Reuben will be going tomorrow to check it out. It should be close to being done. Then we can start on the second water project in Namare. Things are finally working out on the project activities and I have decided to stop looking at it as a logistic nightmare and just enjoy the challenges it presents. It helps just accepting that everything just goes along at a different pace and there is no point in getting myself all worked up about it.
So now with a very hectic few weeks behind me, I am looking forward to another hectic week or two in Nairobi doing more product marketing for the meat and milk enterprises. Five of the women from Ngurunit who work on the meat processing have come down to do the marketing with me and several other partners in the project. This is the first time most of them have ever been out of the village and it was fun to see their reaction today when they arrived. Tomorrow we are all going South a bit more to the Masaai area of Kenya to see a tannery. This will be the first time I have ever been to that area so I am also excited to see new places. And then back to Nairobi to have the product promotions. So, despite the fact that I am missing my family from being away so much lately, I look forward to the next week. I got to do some Christmas shopping too at the craft fair today where we were displaying out goods. Soon we will all be in Ngurunit for the Christmas holidays and I will have time to just sit and enjoy life with my husband and kids for a while before the New Year and a renewed hectic schedule come.
November 06, 2003
November 6, 2003
Bummer news. Reuben came back from the visit to Seren about the possible water project and we were able to put together a good proposal and send it off to the CWI (Community Water Initiative) by e-mail. The next day I downloaded my mails and started reading from the top. Got one message from the CWI coordinator saying she got our proposal and wanted to meet me in Nairobi and see pictures of the community area. It was a really hopeful message and Reuben started looking through the office for pictures while I continued down the line of mails. About 4 messages later, got another one from the CWI coordinator. That is where we got depressed. It was apologizing for a mistake she had made by not realizing the CWI program was going to be switched over to another UNDP section in January 2004 that had different rules than her section. That was that no projects in UN zone three could be considered for funding. And Samburu was located in UN zone three. So no possibility of funding the Seren project. We couldn’t believe it. All that work and hope for getting funds to help a marginalized community like Seren and suddenly, nothing. And this information from the same person that had encouraged us in the first place to submit the proposal. Again I will say bummer. Oh well. That is how things go sometimes. A few successes here and a few failures there. By the way, UN zone three means certain areas that when traveled to by UN staff of any department, the car must be fitted with radios and travel with an escort of armed guards. What gets me is that though much of Northern Kenya falls into this category, Nairobi, where the UN offices are located, holds a much higher chance statistically of violence and robbery for any individual than traveling around in the North. Yes, there are incidences of livestock theft. But I figure, all one needs to do is stay away from herds of cattle and there will be no problems. That has mostly worked for me now these 9 years coming December. But this whole situation does show me the importance of security in relation to development. With the presence of insecurity, either real or perceived, development is hindered and people suffer more than they should have to. So, I can really sing along with Bono when he says “Peace on earth, we need it now”.
November 02, 2003
November 2, 2003
Rain. Beautiful rain. Since coming back to Maralal we have been waiting for some ‘real’ rain. For the last two weeks the rains have been due but just not quite appearing. It would get cloudy, a few drops would fall, I would think, “Finally the rain will start” and then nothing. But last night we got a real heavy down pour. Yesterday, my rain water tank was almost dry. The water coming out in a trickle and taking ages to fill my kitchen water containers. I have been only washing the essential clothes praying for the rains to come so we could have a general cleaning. My car was out of order for a few days so if the water did run out, it would have been very difficult to get more. Normally if that happens, I pack the car with water containers and go look for a public tap several miles away. Now I don’t have any of those worries. My tank has been filled a bit and I can hope that this downpour is the first of many for the short rainy season.
Seeing it look like rain, I decided to plant a kale seedbed in hopes the rains will come and we will be able to have fresh greens again. I finished planting and went to wash my hands. I looked around five minutes later only to see my 6 month old puppy enthusiastically digging up the seedbed I had just so carefully arranged. So, once again, after just using my precious water to clean my hands, I had to get them dirty all over again and start over. This time I had my kids dig some chicken wire out of the storeroom and we made it puppy proof. In the night it rained on the seeds and now we can only hope it will continue. Without hoses and endless supplies of water out of a tap, gardening in this place is a chancy thing.
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