Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Outliers

Date: Friday June 19 to Sunday June 22
Day 18 to 21
Quote of the day: "Amanda! Amanda!" - The children :)....there are now quite a few of very young children who have replaced "Mazungu" with my name which makes me smile. We will be walking down the street and young children who I barely recognize will be yelling my name.

On Friday June 19th I reflected on my experiences so far and I realized that my life has truly been impacted. The people I have met, the things I have seen, the places I have been, and the life I have lived here are so different than I had ever imagined. In my opinion the most difficult part of life in Kenya, and Oyugis in particular, is the lack of opportunities available to the children. There are some people who have the opportunity to get a good education, they work hard to overcome challenges, and they live a happy successful life. However, some children in Kenya will never have the opportunities that are available to us which we take for granted every day.

I have been reading the novel Outliers - The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell where I have found many things relating to Oyugis in many ways. Here is a perfect representation of the children in Oyugis: A sociologist Annette Lareuau conducted a study where she found "Poor parents tend to follow a strategy of 'accomplishment of natural growth'. They see as their responsibility to care for their children but to let them grow and develop on their own....The poorer children were, to her mind, often better behaved, less whiny, more creative in making use of their own time, and had a well-developed sense of independence."

Returning to the primary school again on Friday we listened to the teachers speak about the lack of funding for facilities, supplies, and sports equipment for the children. As well they told us of the many children who are orphans from HIV/AIDS victims and the challenges children face inside and outside the classroom. Many children struggle to complete their homework due to the lack of light in their home or emotional problems after the death of a sibling or parent.

Respect and authority are generally still based on age and gender. The majority of our free time is spent playing with the children which is my favourite thing to do. The older boys believe that they have authority over the other children and get to do whatever they want. I feel accomplished when we teach the children some discipline when it comes to the soccer ball and skipping ropes that we bring out. One afternoon we switched it up so that the girls played with the soccer ball while the boys used the skipping rope. Many of the boys continually asked me for the ball saying that the girls weren't any good at soccer...but since it is my ball I told them it was the girls turn and they listened. By the way, the only reason the girls may not be very good is that they never get time with the ball to practice!

The Project:
• Our project work is almost ALWAYS delayed as problems continually arise and must be dealt with immediately. Many simple tasks require the project coordinator due to language barriers, cultural differences, and inaccurate or missing information which is very difficult especially when Roy is required to make last minute trips to Kisumu or Kisii.
• Communication between stakeholders is one of the most challenging aspects of the project. Cell phones are very common however it is a pay-as-you-go system and many of the stakeholders demand to be financially compensated for telephone expenses related to the project. E.g. The chairlady of The Orande Women's Group contacting 20 women to inform them of a necessary 3 day training session which they must attend.
○ Keep in mind, in the Oyugis-Rachuonyo region many people are struggling every day to provide food for their families and cannot afford these additional expenses for a project that they are volunteering for.
• Recent problems:
○ The water tank in the kitchen fell over and broke...we are still not sure how this happened. We need to submit a proposal to receive funding for a new one which will take over 2 weeks to get the funds to purchase the new tank.
○ The training by the Mwanza Yoghurt Mamas is delayed by 1 week.
• I am thrilled to be working with my peers Jen and Rani. It is so much easier to work cooperatively and efficiently with people that you are sharing such an intense experience with.

Most Memorable Moments:
• Everlyn, our 10-yr old neighbour, inviting me over for Tea and tomatoes
• Watching a high school soccer game with thousands of other people crowded along the sidelines of the field.
○ Shaking hands with over 30 guys from 1 high school who wanted to meet us...it was pretty ridiculous.
○ The girls team playing in just bare feet (no shinpads, no shoes, no socks)
○ Our friends asking us if we want to sit in the shade and a random girl asking "how are you affected by this weather?"→ we found out that everyone thinks white people can't be in the sun. This all happened about an hour before I got a little bit of a burn.
• Our soccer games every night! I am getting such an intense workout and every time I slip in cow poo I think of the children who aren't wearing any shoes on the field.
• Climbing up a ladder on the 4th floor of our hotel to a ledge where the water tanks sit. This is probably one of the highest points in Oyugis so we had an amazing view while dangling our feet over the edge and children yelling up at us "Mazungu! Mazungu" or some of them "Amanda! Amanda!"
• Playing cards with our new friends and the hotel staff. They call the clubs suit "flowers".
• SKIPPING! Again I counted out loud for a group of young boys (about age 4 to 10) the # of jumps they completed in a row. After a while they wanted me to count in Luo ...which got pretty difficult because I only know how to count up to 10. Whenever I made a mistake or my pronunciation was wrong these young boys, who are usually the bad kids misbehaving all the time, would burst out laughing and some of them fell down on the ground after laughing so hard. It was hilarious...and I loved being able to make them laugh, even if they were laughing at me :)

Life in Kenya:
• It is extremely difficult to try and stop kids from pushing, shoving, and hitting each other all the time (especially when in line for skipping). These kids never have any adult supervision and after I tried to stop the kids from pushing in line I noticed a mother approach her child and hit him with a stick to get up and go home.
• Mazungus→ something else Kenyans love about us is touching our skin and hair...they are curious and think it is so different.

*With love from Oyugis, Kenya
Amondi (my African name) or
Emelda (what a lot of people think my name is)

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Perfect Balance

Date: Monday June 15 to Thursday June 18
Quote of the day: How do we ensure we are doing more good than harm?

Over the past couple days it has been extremely challenging to balance having fun with the children now without harming them in the long term. We have started to bring out some small luxuries that we have: bubbles, the soccer ball, and our digital cameras to play with the children but the fascination in these items has been overwhelming. Our soccer game has grown significantly and we now have over 20 children playing every time. We are being a lot more careful with the toys that we brought for the children and I'm happy that my soccer ball is getting so much use.

The Project: Jen and I spent a significant amount of time at the Rachuonyo District Hospital going through hundreds of the study subjects' questionnaires to enter missing data. Although this process was very time consuming and tedious it was necessary for data analysis and the research portion of the project. Unfortunately we still have some missing information but the data is much more complete and we can now start to analyze and perform regressions on the subjects' information.

My friend and peer Rani Suleman has now joined us in Oyugis to work on the project as a third intern from The Richard Ivey School of Business. It has been a really great experience for me showing her around Oyugis and getting her adjusted to life here. This really makes me feel like Oyugis is home, and it is :)

Life in Kenya:

• A soccer ball is a bunch of plastic bags stuffed inside each other tied together with a string. This is the main reason why the soccer ball I brought attracts so many kids.
• It is extremely difficult for us to tell which children are using us for our soccer ball and bubbles and which children actually like playing and spending time with us. One child followed us on a walk for about 15 minutes and at the very end said "Give me money!" Many people and children are taught that white people have a lot of money and we are all wealthy.
• SCHOOL→ At Oyugis Primary there is 1,300 children and 28 teachers. About 3 or 4 children share a small desk and bench made for 2 at most and I even saw some children sitting on the ground. The children raise their hands and stand up when they speak. I was shocked and appalled when we arrived at the school and the Head Teacher was acting like a King sitting with his feet up on another chair beckoning the children to fetch us chairs and water for him to drink and wash his hands.

Most memorable moments:

• Finally meeting our neighbours→ the 3 girls who I always see doing laundry outside our hotel window. I absolutely love these girls because they are adorable, very well behaved, always happy, and always wanting to play with us. Tracy is 2 and a half, Sashabea is 8, and Evalyne is 10. Evalyne attends school at Oyugis Primary and Sashabea is at home with Tracy during the day. Sashabea should be in school at her age but I am guessing that she isn't because she has to stay at home with Tracy :( They are my favourite children!
o Tracy falling asleep in my arms on the walk home from playing soccer at the school
• Finding a pool table at a bar/restaurant....amazing!
• Photo shoots with the hotel staff. We really have to show and encourage them to make funny faces because they have no experience with that :)
• I saw a 6 year old with a 3 month old baby on her back in a sling wrap. Although we see young children carrying babies all the time I will never forget these two girls because they are the youngest I have ever seen doing this.
• Visiting two Oyugis Primary Grade 8 classes teaching them English and educating them about Canada. This was one of the most incredible experiences so far! I was so impressed with the children. Their questions were very intelligent, their English was really great and they were very well behaved. Many of the children do not speak confidently and tend to trail off at the end of their sentences making it very hard for us to hear what they are saying. I kindly encouraged them all to speak up and with confidence because they were all very smart. Some of the questions they asked about Canada which were very difficult to answer at times:
o Who is your President (of course we had to correct them)? How often are elections?
o What do the colours of your flag represent?
o What kind of transportation do you use?
o Food & industries
o Do you pay taxes? What is your health care system?
o When do people get married?
o What is a child's responsibility?
• Singing the Canadian national anthem twice and forgetting some of the words the first time! It was hilarious and all the kids were laughing at me.
• My neighbour Evalyne and I held the skipping rope for children to jump. I taught the children how to form a line so everyone could participate with equal turns and without pushing. I also counted the # of jumps for each child out loud to encourage them to keep going and to beat their personal best.


*Thanks so much to everyone who has been sending me emails and keeping up with my blog. I really appreciate it soooooooooooooo much!

Visitors no more

Date: Thursday June 11 to Sunday June 14

I am officially no longer a visitor in Oyugis! For the past couple days Jen and I have begun to do things without Roy and everything has been great. From the marketplace to the hospital to the internet cafe we know where everything is, what everything costs, and how to communicate with the people in Oyugis.

My favourite part of each day is when we go down the street to Oyugis Primary School from about 5:30 to 7 pm to run and play soccer with the children. Many of the children follow us as we walk down the street and many others now know exactly what time we will be there so they just show up every day to play soccer or watch us. The children seem to be doubling in numbers every time that we go and it is difficult to tell them to go home when we leave.


On Saturday June 13 we went to Roy's village Wire. It was absolutely stunning! Unlike Oyugis his village is very peaceful, serene, and there are a lot less people. We had a fantastic home cooked meal prepared by Roy's younger siblings who chased, killed, and cooked the chicken. We took a really nice hike up to the peak of the hill that Wire is on and the view was breathtaking. Unfortunately the photos that we took do not represent what we saw.


On Sunday June 14 we awoke to loud music blasting and people preaching for hours. We spent the day relaxing by reading on the balcony and playing with children in a grassy area behind our hotel. We made so many friends, yay!

Greatest learning experiences:
  • Learning and speaking the language of Oyugis called Luo. Everyone laughs when we speak Luo because the majority of white people don't know the language since they only stay in Oyugis for a very short amount of time. I love learning the language and it is really important for communication with the children and many adults.

    Life in Kenya:
  • People are either African or a Mazungu. A 'Mazungu' (white person) includes those who don't appear to be Caucasian to us: Indians, Asians, South Americans, etc.
  • It is a lot of hard work to live a simple life. Most people do not have fridges or freezers so the food that they eat is purchased in the marketplace or from someone on the street and prepared every single day. Roy's sister explained to us the difficulty of chasing and catching a chicken and I can't imagine how long it takes to remove all the feathers and cook on a small little stove called a 'Jiko'. We have it so easy.

    Most Memorable Moments:

    • An 8 year old girl ran and kept up with me for my entire jog at Oyugis Primary. Afterwards a group of about 12 - 15 children stretched and did yoga with us copying exactly what we did. It really didn't matter what we were doing it was just like Simon Says and they loved it! The children even started chanting with us "Warrior 1...Warrior 2...Warrior 3" as we did the yoga positions with them.
    • Learning how to make coal and mud huts
    • Buying beautiful fabric in the marketplace to make custom African dresses.
    • The sky is absolutely gorgeous! It is difficult to describe but there are so many beautiful colours and as I scan the sky it is so different from every angle.
    • Making friends with our hotel staff...I love them! They all think Jen and I are between 15 and 17 years old which is hilarious.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Keep on Running

Date: Tuesday June 9 to Friday June 19

Quote of the Day: "Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

 

These past couple days have been pretty relaxing which is nice and Jen and I have made some BIG steps forward venturing out on our own! :) Roy is still being a little overprotective stepping in as our worried parents but we finally convinced him to let us walk home alone from the marketplace (its less than 2 minutes away) and go to the Oyugis Primary School down the road (also less than 2 minutes away). We still get stared at all the time and the children still ALWAYS yell "Mazungu! Mazungu!" but besides that it is very safe, the people are really nice, and I really feel at home here now. 

 

Life in Kenya:

THE FOOD

Our lunch and dinner is usually: Chicken or beef with rice or chapati or ugali + pop (Fanta, Coke, or Sprite). Portions are HUGE and unlike us in North America no one is trying to lose weight or is on a diet. 

·         Coca-Cola is EVERYWHERE...they pretty much have a monopoly and are taking over Kenya.

THE CLOTHING

·         It’s really interesting how opposite it is here from North America and other parts of the world. In Canada everyone is obsessed with fashion and everyone judges people by what they are wearing from your shoes to your jewellery. In Kenya NO ONE CARES what you wear and fashion does not exist. People really like to wear graphic Ts with random stuff written on them. I found some pretty hilarious ones today. :)

·         Women do not wear clothing that shows off their best feature and Roy told us there is no "perfect body" for a woman...no one cares. This definitely results in fewer eating disorders (if any at all) and women never having to feel self conscious.

THE DAY-TO-DAY LIFE:

·         The marketplace is the busiest place in all of Oyugis. It is truly incredible and I love it! It is packed with people, Matatus, bikes, and shops. Many people are selling the exact same things side by side so competition is tough, everyone wants us to buy something from them, and I don't really think anyone makes that much money.

·         Sometimes straight men hold hands...I'm not really sure why, it’s random.

·         The life of a child is so different. Freedom to go wherever and play but also many chores at a young age...and by play I mean whatever they can find/do to entertain themselves (I haven't really seen any toys at all) which is why we are so popular with the kids.  A lot of them have extremely limited opportunities and I'm assuming very limited dreams as well since there is so much in the world that they don't even know exists.

Most Memorable Moments:

·         THE CHILDREN:

o    Bubbles with the kids across the street! This caused quite the scene...children were pushing and shoving each other to get their turn blowing the bubbles.

o    I helped a 2 year old girl out of a tree today. She was with her older sister in the tree but she was at least 6 feet off the ground and I have no idea how she got up there in the first place but she was crying. Of course her parents were nowhere to be seen.

o    Young children as young as 5 years old carrying babies. I also saw a boy about 8 washing his younger sister, about 3, in a basin of water outside my hotel window.

o    The youngest ones are usually NEVER wearing shoes...and they are all extremely dirty.

o    A group of about 12 children (ages 3 to 9) followed Jen and I running around the field at the school, stretching, doing yoga, jumping jacks, etc. THE ENTIRE TIME. It was pretty hilarious and they really didn't care what we were doing they just copied us like Simon Says until we had to leave. Some of the girls then grabbed our hands and we struggled to communicate to them that they had to go home. Eventually two young 8-year-old boys who knew the most English helped us tell the young girls that they had to go home.

·         Football! Or as we would call it...soccer! I finally got my soccer ball, which I had packed in my suitcase, blown up at a little bike hut down the road. The pump wasn't exactly meant for a soccer ball and didn't have the needle so it took about half an hour to get the ball pumped up.

o    The kids play without shoes on and some of them are really really good!

o    Today was our second time out playing, we got some kids back who were there the first day, and we're hoping they will continue to come back because they play with so much heart, they love it, and I love it!

o    The field we play on is on a slope with ditches, huge rocks, and cow poo everywhere and we used bricks for our goals

·         Seeing other white women for the first time in Oyugis! They were from the UK and stayed at our hotel for 1 night and they just kept saying "Blimey!"...it was hilarious.

·         Our adventure to Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya. This was our first time riding in a Matatu, a taxi bus that can seat 15 people (5 rows of 3) but they cram AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE into the Matatu so we had 20 people in there at one time. Ours was more like a pretty sweet party bus...music blasting on a TV screen with a music video of some Kenyan guy named ____ Basement who sang a song called "Obama". Many people got on and off throughout the trip to Kisumu and along the route every time we stop people come up to the Matatu selling different things (newspapers, candy, socks, watches, water, and the list goes on...)

o    The Matatus do get pulled over by police along the highway. Each time we got pulled over the driver/Matatu man would just pay off the police and we would drive away. That is how things work and no one cares.

·         Things I have seen women carrying on their heads: bowls of fruit & other items, potato sacks, pails of water, planks of wood, a suitcase + mattress on top. A lot of these items are extremely heavy and I am still so amazed by the women and their balance especially walking on these uneven rocky roads.

 

The Project Work:

We are still waiting for the Yogurt Mamas from Mwanza, Tanzania to arrive in Oyugis to train the Yogurt Mamas here. Until then we are preparing for the kitchen to be up and running so we can start production! There are still some necessary supplies we need to purchase and we are still waiting for some funding from KEMRI (it takes FOREVER!) in order to cover the cost of the raw materials for at least the next 3 months. Jen and I have really started to get this project moving and we are making some extremely efficient progress. Unfortunately we cannot move forward until the training is complete.

·         Made posters for the kitchen: quality control, the production process/steps, and milk tests for quality

·         I designed some marketing materials using Microsoft Publisher, my favourite! :) I created a poster, flyers, and the packaging inserts for the yogurt. We are hoping to distribute these materials to the advocacy group within the next 2 weeks.

·         The Data: established the intervention & control group (the control group will not start consuming the yoghurt until 6 months after the first group), assigned study subjects to the appropriate distribution centres

o    Unfortunately it will be very difficult to notify the control group about their status...they are not going to be very happy

·         Our adventure to Kisumu: Visited KEMRI and purchased necessary supplies for the kitchen

 

 

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Honoured in Oyugis

    Quote of the day: Life has no limitations, just the ones you make.


    Sunday June 7 was a very intense cultural experience and not the happiest of times. One of the Yogurt Mamas from the Orande Women's Group who was going to be working in the kitchen with us passed away last week at the early age of 37. Roy had to attend the funeral and Jen and I were invited to go and not only that but it was an honour for us to be there. We had nothing else to do and we thought it would be nice to attend. Jen and I rode on a motorbike together to get there which was pretty sweet and we got to see another area of Oyugis higher up on the hillside. Another incredibly gorgeous view.

     

    Two of the Yogurt Mamas from the Orande Women's group greeted us and it was really nice to see some familiar faces. They were all so kind to us and smiling the whole time. Again we were the only white people there and many people came up to us and introduced themselves. We were told repetitively that it was truly an honour that Jen and I were there as visitors.

     

    We were then treated as the guests of honour...before the ceremony started the Yogurt Mamas took Jen, Roy, a friend of Roy's, and I into one of the women's homes and served us a HUGE meal. A whole chicken, cooked liver, ugali (kinda like dry mashed potatoes), chapati (like a flour tortilla), and a HUGE pot of rice. When we asked if all the food in front of us was just for the 4 of us Roy replied "No...its really just for you two"...Jen and I! There was enough food for a table of 8 and we had to be respectful and try to eat it all! We sat on couches and ate with our hands. After we ate we were told to finish a whole bottle of pop as well. I felt so sick afterwards...o well, I'm fine now and will eat strategically next time in order to be respectful but not STUFFED :)

     

    A funeral in Kenya:

  1. Lots of people & lots of speeches. Even if you are friends with a friend of the person who died you should attend and you may be asked to speak.
  2. Politicians usually attend, make a speech, and blabber on about politics...HOW RUDE during a funeral! So disrespectful.
  3. Many people were talking amongst each other during the ceremony and even answering their cell phones!
  4. Groups breaking out into song
  5. Attire is pretty much everyday wear for them...you can wear whatever you want
  6. A teenage girl breastfeeding her child was right behind us
  7.  

    Most memorable moments:

  8. Eating the chicken served in a pot along with the head/beak and claws/feet. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
  9. Feeling sick after eating so much food...my little tummy can't eat that much!
  10. Being mentioned in the ceremony twice by the Orande Women's Group and one of the men from the District Hospital
  11. Squeezing into a hospital pickup truck with 7 people + 2 in the back of the truck
  12. Finding out that the children of the women who had passed away are now orphans :(
  13.  

    Greatest learning experiences about Kenya:

  14. In general, relationships between a man and a woman do not involve much emotional connection and marriage is simply for convenience or if the women gets pregnant
  15. Cow poo mixed with mud makes a really good house...and its cheap! I learned this right after I stepped in cow poo...right after my shoes had been all sparkly clean from our hotel staff cleaning them.
  16.  

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Down to Business

    Date: Friday June 5 and Saturday June 6

    Quote of the day: You never appreciate what you have.

     

    Friday was AMAZING. It was our first real day in the kitchen and we met 12 of the Yogurt Mamas who are volunteering to produce and distribute the yogurt. They are all family and belong to a community group called the Orande Women's Group. Two of the women who had travelled to Tanzania for training did a demonstration on the yogurt production process. Many of the women do not speak English very well but they were all very welcoming and I am excited to get to know them better over the next 3 months.

     

    For the remainder of the day Jen and I grilled Roy with questions to assess the current situation at hand and to decide on the necessary tasks which must be completed before production begins. Everyday Roy has been reminding us of the many challenges that exist and the urgency of getting this project up and running. One of the most difficult challenges arises from the obligation to complete the required tasks set out in the project proposal 2 years ago. Unfortunately a lot of these tasks are unnecessary and simply impeding the process of starting production. As well it is a ridiculously long and complex process to obtain the funds from Western Heads East and this is causing many problems with purchasing necessary supplies and raw materials.

     

    In summary...there are many challenges that must be overcome before we can start production and this is not a simple task. Doing business in Kenya is completely different, a lot slower, and things just do not go as planned. We are working hard to ensure that this project will not fail because it is truly incredible and there are a lot of very committed people who are going to make it work. :)

     

    On Saturday we pretty much went over our main goals and objectives for the next couple weeks:

  1. Start production July 1st at the very latest
  2. Assign study subjects to each distribution centre and formalize procedure with the distribution centres
  3. Assess customer reactions
    • Their perception of the product
    • Random informal surveys
  4. Marketing plan in Oyugis
    • Poster campaign, in-field marketing
    • Design business cards/packaging material
  5. Kitchen-front signage
  6. Selection of women & their roles in the Probiotic Yoghurt kitchen
  7. Design record keeping system for the study and sales
  8. Training
  9.  

    We went on another really nice beautiful walk around Oyugis. This time Roy took us to explore some other parts of the village. It is absolutely beautiful...I never want to leave this place!

     

    Most memorable moments:

  10. Roy teaching us how to eat chicken with our hands. We will no longer be using cutlery for much anymore! WOOHOO :) I also tried Chapati, kinda like a tortilla but different...really good.
  11. The walk home from the kitchen. Oyugis was very busy with lots of people getting ready to go home after a busy day in the town marketplace. It is packed with people (all Kenyan) and a large group of children in their school uniform passed us singing loudly. Children really do live life happily and freely around here, always playing and smiling, running around and chanting "MAZUNGU! MAZUNGU!" at us...ALL THE TIME! (remember it means white person..they love chanting it at us)
  12. Waking up to 3 young children (ages about 11, 8 and 3) doing the family's laundry in buckets of water outside our hotel window
  13. Tasting the yogurt! It tasted a little sour but after being in the freezer overnight it was AMAZING.
  14. Riding a Boda Boda (bicycle taxi) for the first time! SO MUCH FUN :) We ride these every morning to the kitchen now...only 10 shillings = $0.10. I could ride these all day long...the cushion on the back is so comfy too!
  15. The # of times Roy says "Sorry"→ he uses it whenever anything bad happens to us...like tripping, dropping a phone, a piece of paper falling on the floor, curtain blowing in the wind in Jen's face, Jen's shoe untied, etc.
    • Probably the funniest thing ever! We crack up every time he says it...he's catching on and doesn't wanna say it anymore.
  16. Seeing children bathing and playing in a muddy pond...they will most likely get sick from it :(
  17. Getting caught in the rain!!! We took shelter for a while as the rain poured down around us and in the distance the sun shined through the dark clouds onto a beautiful hill far away. Kenya is beautiful.
  18.  

    Greatest learning experiences about Kenya:

  19. Some girls take the Emergency Contraceptive Pill every morning! It only costs 75-100 shillings = about $1
  20. Genital mutilation/female circumcision still exists in some areas
  21. An old tradition: they used to remove the 6 lower front teeth...an extremely painful procedure!
  22. Polygamy has died down but still exists
  23. There is a trend towards independent women→ single women are raising children however they are usually obliged to get married if poor or pregnant
  24.  

     

     

     

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Home Sweet Home :)

Date: Thursday June 4
Quote of the day: "It doesn't matter what you do from 8 to 5, it matters what you do from 5 to 8 in your own personal time" - Roy (the amazing Project Coordinator)

    "Everything happens for a reason" - Roy

     

Thursday morning we woke up very early again to fly to Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya, where we met the Project Coordinator and our guide for the next 3 months Roy Omulo. He arrived to pick us up with Dr. Odawa who is a research scientist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) studying AIDS/HIV and helping with the project. Before leaving the city we made a stop at KEMRI which is one of the leading research institutes in Africa. The institutes primary research mandate is to ensure the reduction of the disease burden due to infectious agents, particularly HIV/AIDS, and also due to parasitic infections, particularly malaria. We got a tour of the facility and met a couple of the people there which was great. We also ate our first Kenyan breakfast there which was sausage, mandazi (a pastry), and tea.

     

We then made our way out of the city to our home...the small village called Oyugis about an hour and a half drive from Kisumu. I spent this time to speak with Roy about the project while keeping my eyes out and observing everything out the car windows. Some of the things I learned...
  • Unlike Nairobi      there were bicycles everywhere...they are called Boda Bodas. People use these as taxis with cushions and handlebars on the back, it costs about 20 shillings as a taxi which is about 20 cents. The Boda Bodas are the most common type of transportation used in Kisumu as well as in Oyugis.
  • Luo is the language spoken in Oyugis, not Swahili! So now we have to start learning a different language that we had prepared for...o well :) Luckily all the words are pronounced like they are spelt. Ero Kamano - Thank you, Ber - Hello
  • Food grown: avocados (AMAZING! I have already eaten 2 huge ones and drank avocado juice at breakfast), sweet potatoes, pineapples, rice, bananas

THE PROJECT:


  • There is a serious state of urgency for the yogurt production to begin. The Yogurt Mamas (22 volunteers currently who will be making, distributing, and selling the yogurt) have been waiting 2 years to begin. The study subjects (200 children, 200 women, and 200 men) are getting frustrated and angry      that they have been interviewed and extensive data was collected from them and they have still not received any yogurt.

Other challenges:
  • It was very difficult to get 200 men to participate in the study since many did not want to expose themselves as HIV positive
  • distribution→ the study subjects MUST consume the yogurt daily and it is especially important to ensure that the children are drinking the yogurt (and not their parents)
      • The study subjects' compliance to come to a distribution site and consume the yogurt every single day is one of the most challenging aspects of the project.
      • It is necessary to extend the working hours to provide the yogurt daily for people who work 8 to 5 and cannot make it to consume the yogurt
      • Although the yogurt is supplied free to the study subjects if they do not see the benefits then they will not want to travel every single day to consume the yogurt, which is necessary for the study to be complete.
  1. A record keeping system needs to be designed to record sales, raw materials, expenses, etc.
  2. Roy's objectives:
    1. Completion of the study (2 yrs): this is critical  to prove the results and benefits of the probiotic yogurt. The study is necessary for further funding and sustainability of the business.
    2. Empowerment of women→ financial freedom for the women
      • Women were chosen over men because they are known to use the money to support orphans and other children. Men are likely to use the money for booze and women.
      • The Yogurt Mamas are leaders in their community
  3. Other goals:
    • Help the women brand and market the yogurt to sell

    Greatest learning experiences:

  4. The study subjects ' average annual salary is 10,000 shillings which is equivalent to $140!
  5. The poverty index level is 75% who are living below $1 a day→ this is a main reason why HIV is transferred. Roy did not directly say why but I got the impression that this was because women had to resort to prostitution to earn income for their families.
  6. Women conceive children around the age of 15 and they average 5 children each. Women are pretty much obligated to have a child in order to keep a man.
  7.  

    We finally arrived in Oyugis which was when things really started to get interesting. This would be our home for the next 3 months and I was a little nervous but my excitement overtook that quickly. From the moment we got there I could tell that the village was one of the poorest regions in Kenya. In this small village we are the only white people so we attract A LOT of attention and everyone is curious to meet us. Our first stop was the Rachuonyo District Hospital where we met the Medical

     Superintendent Dr. Peter Ogola, some other doctors and nurses as well as many other curious Kenyans who wanted to meet us.

     

    Our next step was a visit to the yogurt kitchen where we will be spending most of our time working. It looked great! Roy has taken a lot of time to renovate it ensuring that all the requirements are met to produce dairy products in the kitchen. It is very clean, operationally functional, and Roy has proven to be quite the intelligent young man who is well educated about dairy production and business in general.

     

    Everywhere we went we got attention especially from the children. Many of the younger children between 3 and 7 years old are running around everywhere which is completely normal. We checked into our hotel which is really great and a lot better than I had expected! The staff are amazing and the security is pretty tight especially because Roy has been very helpful ensuring we get the very best service. Lastly Roy took us on a walk around the village which was absolutely amazing! This is when we

     interacted with the children the most after they had finished school.

     

    Most memorable moments:

  8. The children!!! They are so fascinated with us it is amazing. They all smile, giggle, laugh, and run after us yelling "Mazungu!!! Mazungu!!!" which means 'white person'. The children also say "How are you! How are you!" all the time to us which is the greeting they learn in school. We got a couple photos with the children because they LOVE it and they loved it even more when I showed them the photo afterwards.
  9. The view from the peak of the village...Oyugis is gorgeous!
  10. Fun Facts:

  11. Popular areas of study in Kenya: Information technology & computers, community development, and business administration