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

 

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:

9. 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.
10. 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)
11. 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
12. Tasting the yogurt! It tasted a little sour but after being in the freezer overnight it was AMAZING.
13. 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!
14. 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.
15. Seeing children bathing and playing in a muddy pond...they will most likely get sick from it :(
16. 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.

 

Greatest learning experiences about Kenya:

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

 

 

 

 

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.

 

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:


7. 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.
8. The view from the peak of the village...Oyugis is gorgeous!

Fun Facts:

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

Nairobi, finally in Kenya!

Date: Wednesday June 3

After very long and tiring days of travelling, and another 8 hour flight, Jen and I finally landed in the capital of Kenya at 6:30 am. Our friend and peer Soraiya kindly hosted us for the day and we couldn't have asked for a better host! We were greeted by a smiling Kenyan named Sammy who would be our tour guide and driver for the day. As we drove from the airport into the center of Nairobi down "The Great North Road" (aka Mombasa road) my eyes were constantly moving and looking at everything...as I expected, it is truly a different world.


 

 As the capital of Kenya, Nairobi is a crowded busy city with people always on the move. Many people walk miles along a muddy dirt path at the side of the road every day to get to work. The streets are packed with people and cars with no street signs, lines, or speed limits. I really enjoyed just looking out the window from the car observing absolutely everything as we drove all over the city. It is difficult to describe everything that I saw on this day but it was incredible.

 

Our day consisted of all the touristy things in Nairobi...the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (elephant and rhino orphanage), the Giraffe Center, and eating lunch at Carnivore Restaurant. Unfortunately we did not have time to visit any of the famous museums but hopefully we can at the end of our trip! :)

Kenya is a BEAUTIFUL place with gorgeous scenery and we were lucky enough to have gorgeous hot sunny weather for the second day in a row...YAY!

 

Quote of the day: You can never really understand what it is really like until you live it

Most memorable moments:

1. Kissing Laura the Giraffe
2. Touching a very rare Black Rhino
3. Watching baby elephants play in the muddy water
4. Eating crocodile and ostrich at Carnivore Restaurant...SO YUMMY!

Highlights from the car drive with Sammy from the airport:

5. EVERYTHING is in English...Why? English is used as the official language in Kenya after different tribes with different languages merged and English helped them "come together"
6. Public transportation, mainly  Matatus (large taxi-like vans), is used very commonly by Kenyans going to and from work
7. About 3/4 of Africa is Christian
8. They are very HUGE fans of Obama
9. Pretty much EVERY car is made by Toyota since they are easier and cheaper to maintain
10. Traffic congestion is EXACTLY the same as in Toronto...rush hour sucks!
11. They have frequent power outages since the power supplier has a monopoly

Fun Facts:

12. Giraffe's are SOOOOOOOOOOO strong→ they use their legs to defend themselves from Lions by kicking
13. How has the recession affected Kenya? The same as the rest of the world...I heard on the radio that this is their worst recession in 17 years
14. This is the 47th year since Kenya's independence

Tomorrow morning we fly (again!) to Kisumu, the 3rd largest city in Kenya, where we will meet the project leader Roy Omulo and drive to our place called home for the next 3 months...Oyugis! :) I CAN'T WAIT!

 

 

 

 

 

The adventure begins...

After 2 weeks of orientation and training at Western, more shots than I can count, and tearful goodbyes I have finally left Toronto to embark on my 3 month journey with Western Heads East to Kenya. I will be documenting my personal experiences as well as my progress with the internship project including: initial goals, accomplishments, and greatest learning experiences. 

I have never been more excited about anything else in my life. I hope that I can make a difference this summer and help move the project forward to contribute to creating a sustainable business for the benefit of the people living in Oyugis.

The Project: Probiotic Yogurt for Health and Nutrition in East Africa: Women Helping Women

This project is supported by The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Western Heads East is a program at The University of Western Ontario, their mission is: To engage staff, students, faculty and the broader community in teaching, research and service targeting the African HIV/AIDS crisis. This will raise awareness and funds to support the exchange of learning experiences, while making a sustainable difference to communities in Africa.

The Team: My friend and peer, Jen Eldridge (jenheadseast.blogspot.com), will be joining me for the 3 months and I can't wait to become even closer friends with her!... after all we will be spending every second together for 86 days.

Why is the project necessary?

• Oyugis-Rachuonyo district has a 72% poverty level which contributes to the spread of HIV
• estimated that over 50% of People living with AIDS (PLWAs) and more than 45% of infected children suffer from diarrhoeal disease
• 30% of the women suffer from bacterial vaginosis

My Internship Objectives:

• Assist in the process to begin production of the probiotic yogurt for consumption and sale of surplus in their district in Kenya
• assess cultural and intercultural communication issues around business decisions among the program stakeholders, especially the women
• explore potential sources of grants to subsidize probiotic yogurt for PLWAs 
• identify most appropriate yogurt packaging and distribution mechanism to ensure efficiency and effectiveness
• develop and implement a poster information campaign to raise the understanding of the general health benefits pertaining to the program and to eliminate any misconceptions that may be associated with the yogurt

Problem Definition: The project will address the following problems...

• Malnutrition
• Diarrhoeal diseases: over 50% of PLWAs and more than 45% of infected children suffer from this disease
• Baterial Vaginosis: this condition doubles the risk of women acquiring HIV
• Low income of rural women: empowering the rural women!

Potential challenges:

• Many challenges faced by female interns and female Yogurt Mamas (volunteers who produce, distribute, and sell the yogurt)
• Process is very important, things are VERY SLOW in Kenya
• Communication 
• People have resistance to change
• Sustainability is key
• Jen and I are the very first interns in the Oyugis area, which is the poorest region in Kenya
• Cultural safety

The above is the initial information that I have received from Western Heads East. I am certain that things will change and I will update information this information as often as I can.

After a long 8 hour flight Jen and I arrived in London, England and toured the city by foot for a couple hours before our next flight to Nairobi. It was gorgeous weather in an amazing city and it was the absolute perfect way to start our journey! :)

I miss friends and family already but I am so excited to start the project and live for 3 months in a completely different world!