Been Busy!

I am... doing really well, really enjoying the last couple months here in Kenya.

My apologies for the long delay between posts – here goes a long update:

OAF Update
The sales trial I’ve been working on started out slow but has picked up. We’ve now sold over 500 kits to over 200 farmers! We’re also praying for rain so that farmers can plant, and are expecting an additional bump in sales once the rains hit and people need the inputs. Paul’s sales trial went really well, so we’re definitely expanding this trial and are planning to start up a new district this year that is sales-based. This is really exciting news because if we can make a sales model work, we’ll be able to significantly expand One Acre Fund more rapidly than we can with a credit-based model (see my January 15 update for more of an explanation on this). I’m really proud of the work we’ve done on this trial and hope that we’re able to successfully prove out a sales model going forward. Paul has decided to stay with One Acre Fund until May of 2010 and will be heading up this effort in the longer term – so it’s in good hands, and I’m really looking forward to hearing how it all goes!

We’ve been really busy at One Acre Fund, enrolling farmers and preparing for the long rains planting season. We are currently serving 8,000 farm families in Kenya and Rwanda, and are piloting a possible new district in Uganda! As our Kenya country director, John Gachunga, said recently, “We are waiting for the heavens to open.” In order to plant, we need 3 days of decent rain so the ground will be moist enough and soft enough to successfully have seeds germinate. Usually the rains will have started by now; unfortunately, they’re unusually late this year. We, and many of our farmers, are a bit worried by this. But as I’m writing this it just started to rain – hopefully it’ll last for a bit! Please do a little rain dance or send us some good rain thoughts, we need the help!

In other OAF news, we’ve had two new program associates join us – Matt and Amber. They’re both great additions to the team and culture here at One Acre Fund, and are already busy working on a number of important initiatives. Matt is spearheading a set of maize trials, where we are testing a number of different things (intercropping maize with beans to improve profitability for farmers, testing different spacing so we can see if we can get more maize per acre, testing the value of adding compost during planting, etc.); he’s also working on several other projects and will be taking on my sales trial when I leave. Amber’s primary focus is to improve our Bungoma South operations – this is the first district that Andrew started when he began One Acre Fund. She’s focusing on moving the district more into the core maize program and finding ways to generate financial sustainability (for example, commercializing our nursery operations). Welcome to the team guys!

I can’t believe how much time has passed since I came to Kenya! I’m heading back to the States in May for my Kellogg reunion, so will be wrapping up my time at OAF. It’s been a phenomenal experience, and for those of you that have been so supportive of both me and One Acre Fund, I hope you’ll continue to support this organization even after I am no longer here in Kenya. And for those I’ll be seeing in May – I can’t wait to catch up!

Inauguration
As you can probably imagine, Obama’s inauguration was a huge event for us in Kenya. We decided to make a night of it, and ended up going to Red Hat (our friend Hassan’s restaurant) for dinner. We took up an entire large table in front of the TV there – Anushka even came back from Kakamega to join us for the night! You could seriously feel the electricity in the room – everyone was so excited. We all had a big laugh when one of the reporters commented on Michelle Obama’s “maize-colored” suit – not sure it really looked like our maize cobs, but we certainly found it funny! Watching Obama speak brought tears to my eyes just like watching the election coverage had – I felt he was inspiring but very controlled, which felt really appropriate given the problems he’s inheriting! Less controlled was Reverend Lowery, who made us all laugh out loud with his plea to “... help us work for that day when black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right." Probably not the most politically “correct” statement, but relevant and humorous and somehow appropriate, in my mind anyway. The best part, however, had to be when ex-President Bush walked to the helicopter with his wife, Laura. As the helicopter started to take off, cheers erupted throughout the entire room. Sid’s sister, Lakshmi, and I couldn’t help ourselves – we stood up and sang “Hit the road, Jack, and don’t you come back no more, no more no more no more” at the top of our lungs. We then left Red Hat and went to the Shariff Centre, one of the biggest bars in town (not really saying much). As we watched George W. board the plane to Texas, the cheering and applause was overwhelming – Lakshmi and I were again inspired to jump up and sing, this time dancing a pretty silly little jig. The next day, the national Kenyan papers had massive pictures of Obama and his family on the front page – I bought a copy to take home with me. Everyone was feeling really happy and hopeful – it was a great night!

Rafiki – the saga continues
Short update on her – she’s VERY pregnant. Apparently it only takes cats a couple weeks to recover from giving birth and to get pregnant again. After walking into my house to find Jake’s cat on top of her, I promptly had her injected with some sort of “birth control” shot. Well, apparently it was too late as she’s literally about to pop with kittens. Good thing there’s a waiting list of people who want her babies – I can’t take an entire litter back to the States with me!

Jinja
For Valentine’s Day weekend we decided that rather than sit and stare at each other here in Bungoma, it’d be more fun for the entire OAF crew to head to Jinja, Uganda for some fun on the Nile River. It was a fantastic weekend – Uganda is absolutely beautiful. Several of us decided to risk our lives by going whitewater rafting on the Nile – Grade 5 rapids! It was really fun, except for my twisting my knee (the one I had surgery on years ago) pretty badly – on the first Grade 5 rapid of the day. Amazingly, there was an orthopedic surgeon on another raft – he hopped over, moved my leg around, and pronounced me safe from serious injury. I just bandaged it up, and stuck out the rest of the day – it ended up being sprained, but after a couple weeks I was walking without limping and now am feeling 100%. It was so worth it in the end – the rapids were great, and swimming in the river was amazing. I couldn’t get over the fact that I was floating in the Nile! Not to mention some of our favorite ladies from Busia came along – it was a great trip!

The Fun Stuff/Highlights

• Girls’ weekend in Kampala, Uganda – full of dancing, wine drinking, and late night conversations with a group of totally amazing women


• Learning to bake French bread in a Kenyan oven because you just can’t get decent bread around here – it’s been a HUGE hit (and a major quality of life improvement!)


• Girlfriends in general – I’m really lucky to have a fantastic group of women here in Kenya to spend time with. A group of us in Bungoma have started getting together on Sundays – see the picture below (thanks Joanna for hosting us!). And the girls in Busia are awesome – Katie, Jamie, Anuja, and Simone – thanks for the fun ladies!



• Watching the sunrise in Kakamega forest – while eating freshly baked French bread (baked by me) and Nutella – what a morning



• Visiting the local orphanage in Bungoma where our friends Hannes and Felix work. The little boy holding his arms up in the picture is Johnny, he’s the only child in the home who has HIV. It was really great to spend the evening with all the kids – they’re so full of life, and made us even more committed to the work we’re doing to help farmers and their families. And it was pretty funny – within minutes of arriving, all of us girls had babies in our arms while the boys were all roughhousing with the older kids – typical!



• Staying overnight with one of our One Acre Fund farm families. It was an amazing experience – they took me in, fed me ugali and tiny fish, and pored over an atlas with me while discussing Barack Obama and corruption in Kenya. The kids were so cute, they were all hanging on to me as we took a walk around the village in the morning. Again, made me really proud of the work we’re doing and all the more committed to seeing OAF succeed.



• Dealing with a Kenyan stalker – I had no idea who this guy was and he was calling and texting me several times a day, I think to ask for money. Here’s the best text I got: “Hall.vero.why.cant.u.help.me.baby.open.your.heartbaby.1.day.iwill.byour.driver.goodnigth.say.hall.2.moses.andrew.and.paul;” – clearly the guy knew us but I never figured out who he was. I just love the part about one day he’ll be my driver!


• Even in Kenya, I somehow managed to wind up dancing on top of a table with a group of friends, singing away to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” – so fun!


• Here’s a photo of one of the coolest kids on our block, Griffin. He’s only two years old but is nearly as big as Manu (our housekeeper’s 4 year old son). He’s usually really afraid of mzungus, but for some reason seems to like me. So I picked him up and we were playing a game, bopping each other on the nose and making fun noises, when all of a sudden I felt something very, very wet. And sure enough – he’d peed all over me. But he’s still super cool.



• Learning patience by listening to our staff explain that we are “waiting for the heavens to open up” – I hope the rains come soon!

Hope you’re doing well, keep in touch while I’m in the final stretch!

Veronica

Happy New Year!

I am... very happy to have my kitten back. And to have survived being attacked by a swarm of African bees!

Wow – now it’s really been a while since my last update. For anyone who’s still interested in following along, here goes the first entry of the new year:

OAF Update
Our irrigation system trial is still going; we ended up selling 37 full kits and are now monitoring the success of those systems. We already have a list of learnings that we hope to apply when selling these on a broader scale next time around, and farmers are just beginning to harvest so we’re starting to track their yields to see how much impact the kits can have for farmers during the dry season. And believe me, it’s dry here!

We’re kicking off a soil testing project which should really help us understand more about how to help farmers get the best yield from their plots. Jeff, a soil expert from the United States, is here for a couple weeks to help us collect 500 soil samples and analyze them. We’re really looking forward to the results – it may help us advise farmers about what portion of land they should use our inputs on, or even help us tailor our fertilizer offerings to farmers depending on the condition of their soil…

I’m currently running a trial to see whether we can successfully provide our inputs and education to farmers using a sales model instead of offering our services/products on credit (which is currently the core of our program). Although credit is very useful to very poor people because of their lack of access to capital, running a credit-based program is quite a bit more complicated and more expensive than if we were to offer our program through up-front sales only. With our credit program, we have to be much more strict about who we enroll and must monitor their activities very closely, since we are paid back through their harvests (so we need to make sure they harvest as much as possible, or at least enough to pay us back and still have food for their families). This obviously takes a lot of staff support to monitor farmers throughout the growing season. We then also take payment in the form of maize (we also accept cash, but many farmers pay with bags of dried kernels) – this requires a lot of logistical effort to quality check the bags, pick them up, aggregate them, and then sell them to local traders.

By offering our inputs and education through an up-front sales model, we can avoid repayment risk and minimize our program costs. This benefits farmers because ultimately they pay less to receive our products. To test the viability of a sales model, we are running two trials – Paul is running one where we are selling kits for ½ an acre of land to farmers, and I am running one where we are selling kits for 1/10th of an acre of land. We’re trying both because we are concerned that farmers will have trouble saving money to purchase a ½ acre kit (if farmers can buy in smaller sizes, they can theoretically buy a kit at a time as they have money available).

The planting season is still a couple months away, so we’ll have to see what happens, but so far for my trial we’re not selling nearly as many kits as we’d like. I’m being told this is due to cultural factors – that farmers won’t buy until just before they need the inputs – so I’m a bit nervous but doing what I can to motivate sales. My field officers came up with the brilliant suggestion of giving away a kilo of sugar if farmers buy a certain number of kits – so far the farmers say they love it, but they’re not showing me the money yet! Cross your fingers this ends up doing well – if it does, this could be a really important win for One Acre Fund as it will help us expand our reach much more easily/quickly.

For more OAF news, please check out our latest 6-month report: http://cts.vresp.com/c/?OneAcreFund/e9b9e6fe27/f3432cc8e1/9af70b49c4

More Circumcision Stuff?!
So apparently it’s not enough to hold an expensive, colorful circumcision ceremony in August (see my post from August 5, 2008). The boys are treated like royalty for several months – from August until December they’re not allowed to do any physical labor while they “heal” from their snippages. I find that pretty shocking – it’s not like they’re carrying firewood with that body part, and four months seems like an awful long time for recovery, but apparently that’s the custom. In December, the post-circumcision ceremonies begin. I was invited to attend one with Melissa, and it was pretty interesting. After returning from church, the boy sits with all of his family elders (literally anyone older than him, so it’s a lot of people, some of whom are still in their teens) and listens to their words of wisdom. He’s also allowed to ask questions – it’s basically a way to pass all your knowledge on as they enter young adulthood. I thought it was pretty great – at least they’re communicating with their youth! Everyone there is asked to share a piece of wisdom, even American village idiots like me. Here’s what I suggested: 1) stay curious. Don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions – it’s the best way to learn. 2) be good to others, and they’ll be good to you. Sounds ridiculous, but honestly I’m constantly taken aback by how amazing all of you are to me; I’m sure I don’t deserve it, but I try hard to be as good to other people as I can and I feel like it comes back in spades. I hope it was good advice!

Rafiki – the good, the bad, and the ugly
Not even sure where to begin with this one – you may want to skip it if you’re squeamish. Short version of the story – I decided to have her spayed, it was hairy for a while, she disappeared for a month but is now back and seems healthy. Read on if you dare…

Rafiki has turned out to be the light of my life in Kenya – she’s absolutely adorable, and loves to snuggle which helps when I’m so far away from all of you! Unfortunately, she suffers the terrible plight of having been born female, and so begins this woeful tale… To avoid having litters of kittens running around my house, I made the very developed-world decision to have her spayed. After finding a veterinary surgeon in town, I arranged for him to pick her up and take her to a clinic for the operation. When he showed up, the surgeon surprised me by telling me he’d decided to do the surgery AT MY HOUSE, as he felt bad that I’d said I was going to come along and wait for her at the clinic (I didn’t want her to have to go off and go through all this alone). Imagine my shock as we carried a desk out into the front yard, and he laid a white sheet on top of it! Next, the nurse administered a sedative to Rafiki. During which she peed all over the jacket I was covering her with (to hide her head so she wouldn’t see the needle coming). I have to admit, watching her try to run but make it only a few steps before going into slow motion and finally passing out was pretty funny. What wasn’t funny was that her eyes remained wide open the entire time. Oh, if only that was as bad as it got. But no, they proceeded to shave her stomach and then sliced her open right there in the yard!

I decided I was going to watch to make sure things went all right, but was having a hard time keeping my eyes on the scene unfolding in front of me. Things that you really never want to see from inside your pet were sticking out of her as the surgeon poked around to find whatever it is he needed to make it impossible for her to have babies of her own. Just as I was cursing myself for deciding that being female was reason enough for my 4-month-old kitten to be sliced open and violated like this, the surgeon looked up at me and said, “Oh – she has already been served!” Just like that. Not really comprehending what he meant, I replied simply, “What do you mean?” To which the nurse looked up and said in no uncertain terms, “She is already pregnant.”


This is a photo that Paul snapped of me just after I heard those words. It is quite possibly the best photo of myself in a state of utter horror that I have ever seen.

Because she was already pregnant, the vet couldn’t finish the surgery. He closed her up and told me she’d likely abort the kittens given the trauma of the surgery. I spent the next two days thinking I would find her dead at any moment – she took a while to wake from the sedative, couldn’t really walk, wasn’t eating and wasn’t making any sounds. In the meantime, the popular theory was that she’d been impregnated by my coworker Jake’s cat – who happens to be her FATHER! I (and several of my expat and Kenyan female colleagues) decided this was a prime example of the plight of women everywhere. Too young to consent, impregnated by her father, and made to endure a ridiculous surgery just because she happens to be female – ugh. And all the while Jake’s cat was preening himself around the yard, probably patting himself on the back for his exploits (we also think he’s responsible for getting our housekeeper’s cat, which happens to be his sister, pregnant around the same time). I wanted to crawl into a hole for putting her through the ordeal, but luckily she pulled through. I had her stitches removed just before I left, and she seemed to be doing very well (and even still seemed to be pregnant).

While in the States, I did what any ridiculous developed-world pet owner would do – bought her a few treats, a couple catnip-filled mice, and a pet carrier to use when bringing her back to the U.S. (if I can). Though somehow I sensed that something was amiss – I kept wondering if she would still be there when I got back to Bungoma. And sure enough, when I walked into my house for the first time, I saw that all the food I’d left for our housekeeper’s son to feed her was still sitting there. And my little ball of furry meows didn’t come running to greet me. Hesitantly, my coworkers told me that she’d disappeared the day after I left to go home for the holidays. At this point she’d been gone three weeks – as it turned into a month since she’d been seen, the hope I’d been holding out for her return became a small twinge of sadness each time I saw her favorite toy that Brittany and Kathi sent her from the States. We decided she must have gone off to have her kittens and died in the process, and I hid her pet carrier so I wouldn’t have to look at it anymore.

Two days ago, as I was sitting at my table intently working, Jake walked in carrying something furry in his arms. At first I refused to believe it was her, even after I saw the blue dye on her fur from the sterilizing fluid the surgeon had used. I made Jake hold her while I looked at her nose – and sure enough, the markings proved it was Rafiki! She looked remarkably good for having been gone a month, though she was ravenous. As soon as she was wolfing down food and sufficiently distracted, I clamped her new collar around her neck (complete with my Kenyan cell number on the tag). Although I originally thought the little jingle bell on it was going to have to come off or it would drive me crazy, I have to admit it makes me smile every time I hear it from afar – I just can’t believe she’s back! I really hope she sticks around long enough to move to the United States with me. And she may still be pregnant – we can’t decide if the bulge around her belly is from scarfing down all that she can over the last couple days or whether she might be about to give birth. Regardless, I’m really happy she’s home – now I have to figure out whether to go through with another surgery to finally spay her, or just take my chances and deal with it in the United States!

Safari!
I’m not going to do this trip justice since this post is already too long, but we did take a fantastic trip to Lake Nakuru in November. I’m posting a few of my favorite safari photos – we drove ourselves through the park which was a lot of fun. My favorite sighting was a leopard – apparently really rare. Still haven’t seen a lion though, so more safari trips are apparently in my future…

(Jeff and I at the Equator) (Kellogg crew 13,687 miles from Evanston per the sign)

(view of Lake Nakuru)

The Fun Stuff/Highlights

• Being treated to yellowtail sashimi, fresh oysters, and Prosecco within hours of being picked up at the airport by my parents. They’re amazing! I did a decent amount of cooking when I was home, making dinner for my parents (the one pictured is turkey, brussel sprouts braised in Madeira, and cauliflower souffle) and making fresh ceviche with my dad (I love how it looked!)



• Freaking out said parents by carrying an enormous amount of stuff back to Africa from the States, including the best thing ever – an ice cream maker! I’ve already made Cherry Garcia ice cream (with California cherries my mom gave me that somehow made it through customs all the way to Africa), ginger-citrus sorbet, and mango sorbet. The Cherry Garcia ice cream received rave reviews – this is a serious quality-of-life improvement for us!
  
• Loads of fun with amazing friends in San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area. I miss you already!
  
• Our new firepit and the couple parties we’ve had so far have been a blast. Sid treated us to homemade fireworks (those of you who know me well know fireworks are a big thing for me), and Melissa treated us to S’Mores (so good!). I treated myself to a bucket of water after my firework landed on my hand (not nearly as bad as it sounds, it hardly did anything)



• Meeting other non-profit workers from Innovations for Poverty Action and Nuru, two NGOs (non-governmental organizations) here in Kenya. We all hung out for a weekend in Kisumu – it was a blast!
  
• Literally crying – crying! – with laughter while watching our housekeeper’s 4-year old son, Manu, go crazy dancing to Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping”. If I can post the video at some point, I will – he’s going to be a star someday. Best part was when he ripped off his jacket and threw it on a chair. I nearly died laughing

(quite possibly the two cutest things in Bungoma - Rafiki and Manu)


• Celebrating the first weekend back in Africa with a “Sex and the City” brunch. I brought back the entire DVD collection, and made ginger-citrus sorbet, vanilla-cinnamon pancakes, and mimosas for myself, Katie, Anushka and Melissa. It felt so luxurious – Katie brought a delicious sparkling wine from Italy, and Anushka gave us all gorgeous shawls from Yemen. Yay for girlfriends!



• I got perhaps the best compliment ever today from one of my field officers – he told me I’m so good at driving, I could be a matatu driver. Given how crazy it is to drive those things here, I figure that’s a pretty serious compliment
  
• Speaking of driving, I nearly managed to land my van on its side as I slid into a ditch two days ago with our fundraising consultant, John. He and I honestly both thought we were going to have to find people to help us tip it back over – but luckily it sort of hung there, then we were able to inch it back and forth until we were free
  
• Years ago, I tried my hand at painting (with limited success). I’ve decided I want to get better at it, and that the first step is learning to draw properly. So I’ve started a drawing course (using a book). My mom got me some drawing pads for Christmas to help me get started – thanks Mom! I finished my first few exercises, they’re pretty embarrassing but at least I’m on my way
  
• In keeping with the learning theme, I’m also attempting to play Ultimate Frisbee with the guys (they’re preparing for a tournament in Uganda and are trying to convince me to play since they need a girl). I’m definitely very girly – I’m terrified of getting hurt so am not that great, but am having fun and was able to assist with scoring a few points this last time – man, it’s good exercise!
  
• I managed to escape an attack by a swarm of bees with only a few stings to the head – for a few seconds I was really terrified as I wasn’t sure if I had a bee allergy (I think I’ve only been stung once in my life, as a pretty little kid). Then I was terrified at the thought that these might be African Killer Bees (and not the Wu-Tang kind). But aside from a pretty tender patch, it’s turned out to be ok – I didn’t even stop working despite my field officer telling me my head was going to swell up like a balloon (it didn’t)
  
• Receiving the most unexpected care package from a Kellogg friend – Jason Tarn sent us a season of The Office so Paul and I can get a feel for what our b-school colleagues are going through at their desk jobs. Thank you so much Jason, it really means a lot!
  
• Being fed by farmers during the hunger season – this is truly amazing. It’s tough sometimes being in the field all day; our field officers rarely stop to eat so neither do we. Today I was running around keeping tabs on the sales trial, and was stuffed full of goodies by farmers I visited. These aren’t even farmers who have harvested with us yet! It’s the hunger season, and I was given the following by two different farmers: tea with milk and sugar, bananas, Coke, and boiled sweet potatoes. They were all delicious, and it was so touching to know that despite their own hardships people find a way to show hospitality to their guests. I tried not to let them feed me, but was told it would be really rude if I didn’t accept (Adel, this totally reminds me of you feeding me during college!). I really hope we’re able to increase these farmers’ harvests this year to repay them for their kindness!
  
• Best of all, hearing the jingle of Rafiki’s collar and knowing she’s on her way to snuggle on my lap. :)

Happy New Year and best wishes for a phenomenal 2009!

Veronica

Whew - What a Relief!

So my dad just read my blog and gave me an update - apparently after the final count, Prop 4 didn't pass. Woohoo! And here I was getting all cranky and everything... I'm still upset about Prop 8 though. Passed with 52% of the vote. How can a majority of only 2% change the state constitution? Argh! Though I'm holding out a tiny bit of hope - they're not officially calling this until Dec 13, so they can count absentee and provisional ballots. Better count mine!

There are also a few lawsuits challenging the validity of the proposition, so perhaps one of these will succeed. Crossing my fingers! Thanks Dad, for making sure I'm not getting too upset over politics out here so far from home!

- Veronica

Sorry for the Absence… Part 1

I am... over the malaria, luckily it was caught early! I’m going to focus this entry on the elections – will give a bit more info in a separate update (otherwise this’ll be a REALLY long one!)

OAF Update
We’ve been really busy in the last few weeks – so sorry for the lack of updates! Margaux left us today and did a terrific job putting the final pieces together for our child health program going forward. We now have an actual binder that we can use when rolling out the program in new districts (and when monitoring our existing programs). We’re also now selling deworming pills to our farm families, which is important to help keep kids free of hookworms and other nasty afflictions (it’s recommended kids take these regularly, but many families don’t have access to these medicines).

I’ll keep other OAF updates to the next entry. Meanwhile…

Enda Obama!
As I mentioned in my last update, election fever began bubbling up a while ago around here. You’d have thought Obama was campaigning in Kenya with the number of posters, calendars, buttons and signs everywhere!

(Obama pictured on the back of a matatu)

Even one of the butchers in town had a huge poster of Obama on his wall. The excitement was truly palpable – I bought meat from him on Election morning (the night before Election Day for everyone in the States) – it was all we could talk about. People were so excited to hear that I’d been able to vote all the way from Kenya – they were amazed to know that the United States allows absentee ballots, and kept commenting that this is why America is the best democracy in the world.

(Obama billboard near the Nakumatt MegaCity in Kisumu)

Here at One Acre Fund, we were also a-twitter with election jitters. Several of us decided to stay up all night and watch the election results as they came in, so we took a short nap after dinner and got up by 2-3am to begin watching. We had just set up a projector so we could watch movies on a wall in one of our houses, so we used that to watch the coverage.
(our election-viewing setup)

It was amazing – Melissa and I made scrambled eggs and toast, then baked chocolate chip cookies so we could celebrate/drown our sorrows with election cookies and ice cream (given we all had to work in the morning and weren’t getting any sleep, alcohol didn’t seem like a good idea despite the fact it probably would’ve worked better). Several of us had our laptops up so we could follow along online in case BBC, Sky News and Al Jazeera weren’t quick enough. I was instant messaging with seven or eight people throughout the night, so was able to get live updates from the States on what was happening. Thanks to all those of you who kept feeding me info!

As dawn started to break outside, it became clear that Obama wasn’t just going to win, but was going to win by a landslide. We started paying more attention to the Congressional and Senate races, wondering whether the Democrats were going to completely take over these as well. And I was checking online all night to see whether there were projections for California’s decisions on Props 4 and 8 (restricting abortion rights and banning gay marriage). I’ve rarely felt so full of hope and pride on an election day – it was such a huge difference from the last few that we’ve had!

When the electoral college results from California came up on our wall/movie screen, my eyes started to well up.

And when Obama was announced as the winner, Margaux and I couldn’t help but let some tears trace their way down our grinning cheeks. As we watched coverage of the Kenyan reaction (people dancing and singing with sheer joy), we cheered and felt like doing a jig ourselves.

We had elected a black man with ties to Africa and Muslims as our President!

We were not only getting rid of George W., but were making a statement that our country is ready to move forward with repairing its relations with the world and making significant shifts in its policies and goals. I honestly felt at that moment like Americans can do anything, and was so full of pride that I thought I would burst (that could’ve been the cookies and ice cream, though).

Unfortunately that pride was somewhat deflated when the results for California’s propositions came in. We passed both propositions by a narrow margin. I was devastated – just as we stood together to show we are capable of putting aside intolerance to pursue national goals, my home state voted to make abortion harder for young women who aren’t ready to be mothers and said that two people who love each other and want to make a commitment to each other aren’t allowed to because of their sex. I’m still tremendously proud of our country and the choice we made for President, but am incredibly disappointed in my state and the way we’ve decided to treat each other.

Though I’m still disappointed with the CA decisions, the excitement over Obama kept me from focusing on that for too long. Cosmos, our security guard, joined us in celebrating with cookies and ice cream and cheered along as Obama came out for his victory speech.

(Cosmos with home-baked election cookies and ice cream)

The President of Kenya declared the next day a national holiday. And later that morning, at a meeting with some of our farmers, I introduced myself in Kiswahili and told everyone I came from the land of Obama. The farmers erupted in cheers, and the feeling of warmth and pride from these poor farmers in the middle of East Africa was even more palpable than the pre-election nervousness. Even weeks later, people still stop me to congratulate us on electing Obama and to express their love for and pride in the American people. It’s amazing to see the difference in the way we’re treated already – we were always welcomed here, but when I first arrived there was a definite perception that America had become an unpredictable and dangerously unstable place. Everyone here is hopeful that their “Kenyan son” will change the world – I just hope we give him some time and recognize that he’s human; I’m sure he’s going to do amazing work! The Barack Obama songs are still in heavy rotation here, which makes for a pretty great soundtrack as we continue to work on behalf of our farmers and enjoy life in rural Africa. Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen, and to those who may have voted for McCain but are supporting our new President regardless. You make me proud!

The Fun Stuff/Highlights (Part 1)

• Eating election cookies and ice cream with our security guard
  
• Talking to a butcher about the Obama picture on his wall while he sliced meat off a dangling cow leg
  
• Introducing myself to a group of farmers by saying “Morienna. Li sin a liase Veronica. Na sangali le khuba nanyue. Na ma musi bala sia Obama. Enda Obama!” – translation: Hello. My name is Veronica. I come from the land of Obama. Go Obama! (followed by a roar of applause)
  
• Asking Delvin (our housekeeper’s son) if he recognized the man on the screen (Nelson Mandela) – he said “no”. Later asking if he recognized the man on the screen, seeing his face light up, and hearing him shout, “Obama!”
  
• Dancing to the (one of many, really) Barack Obama song at Good Friends
  
• Getting teary-eyed with Margaux at the official announcement Obama won – I have to admit, I’m normally pretty cynical but at that moment I truly swelled up with hope and pride
  
• (not so fun) – I’m seriously upset and disappointed with California regarding Props 4 and 8. And horrified at Arkansas for saying I’d need to be married to a man if I ever wanted to adopt a child. I know plenty of gay and single people who’d run circles around some married parents out there. It feels like we took a giant step forward, and a couple pretty sizeable steps back.

Thinking of everyone and feeling thankful for you all,

Veronica

It Was Bound to Happen…

I am... still feeling tired but getting better after coming down with malaria (Mom/Dad, don’t panic, I’m doing fine but figured it was better to tell you after I was better vs. while I was sick). And I’m hoping some of you will check out our wishlist wiki page (see top of this page, on the right for the Wishlist) if you want to send any care package items!

OAF Update
Things have been really busy here. We’re wrapping up our overhaul of the Child Health Program. Margaux’s done a great job of defining how education, product sales and data collection will work going forward, and has been working closely with our Child Health managers in two districts to test some of her ideas and prepare them for the changes. I attended two Light Mother trainings this past week (Light Mothers are volunteers from our districts who help us train OAF members in health topics such as nutrition and prevention of illnesses; they also help us monitor the health of our members’ children and facilitate sales of water treatment, mosquito nets, and other health-related products). They went very well and I’m excited about the prospects of the program going forward.

We’re also making strides with improving our HR processes. We’re creating manuals with clear HR policies and forms that can be used for everything from hiring to putting staff on probation. We’re also kicking off a project to develop a positive culture here for our employees, with the goal of showing them they are appreciated and a valued part of the One Acre Fund team (we can’t afford to pay our staff exorbitant salaries, so we want to make sure they know that we recognize the hard work they give us).

We have a lot of other projects going on. We’re harvesting beans in several districts, and are working to measure these harvests so we can better understand what kinds of yields we might expect (where we can, we’re also measuring harvests from farmers who didn’t plant with One Acre Fund so we can try to gauge the lift that we’re providing). We’re also moving forward with our drip irrigation sales project. Several Field Officers are holding sales meetings next week, and we’re hopeful that many farmers will buy kits so they can plant successfully during the dry season. We held our first sales meeting this past week with one field officer – here’s a pic of the demonstration we did.


We also had a member of our team leave us – Ian, who ran our Kakamega district for the past year, has left to return home to the United States. He did a great job and worked really hard – he’s going to be missed! Here’s a photo of his going away dinner with a cake I made (the green blob is supposed to be a maize cob)…


Yep, it Got Me
So yes, I did end up coming down with malaria. I’ve been taking my doxycycline regularly, but apparently the preventative drugs (doxy, malarone) aren’t much of a guarantee. Only 4 of us expats have escaped it at this point (one of whom covers up in DEET and sleeps in a small tent, under a mosquito net, with her bedroom door closed – a triple layer barrier against mosquitoes). All the rest of us have had it at least once now, and several of us have had it within the last couple months. I’ve been really surprised at how many of our Kenyan staff have had it (and how frequently people get it!). I’m pretty sure it’s because of the rain we’ve been having – it’s been very wet, and there are pools of water that attract plenty of mosquitoes.

I have to give a big thank you to Margaux, who literally made me go to the clinic to get tested. I found out about this last Sunday (Oct 26). I’d been feeling pretty run-down, but didn’t think it was much of anything (I figured it was due to running myself ragged in the States, I’d actually gotten a bit of a cold when I came back). I was laying on the couch, and Margaux decided to round up me and Sid to take us to a doctor (he was looking a bit worse off than I was). Melissa, Sid’s fiancée, came as well (she had been diagnosed with malaria the week before but was there for the emotional support). Margaux called a private doctor on a Sunday, asked if he could meet us, and then loaded us into the van and off we went. The doctor was great – very professional, and had clean supplies (yes Mom, I asked and watched – the needle came out of a fresh package). He decided to test me for malaria and typhoid. I was sure they’d be negative, but lo and behold the malaria test came back positive! I was so bummed, but also a bit glad that there was a reason why I was feeling so tired. Sid got his results back too (no malaria, but a nasty stomach infection) and we went off to the chemist for meds. I took Coartem for 3 days, and have been having alternating periods of feeling a lot better and still feeling pretty tired. I didn’t take any time off, so am spending most of this weekend sleeping as much as possible. If I still feel tired into next week, I’ll go back for a follow-up (though Melissa thinks I should be better in a few days, as she was still tired/weak after she finished the Coartem also).

So what is malaria, you might ask? And isn’t it deadly? According to Wikipedia:

“Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Each year, there are approximately 515 million cases of malaria, killing between one and three million people, the majority of whom are young children in Sub-Saharan Africa.[1] Malaria is commonly associated with poverty, but is also a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development.

Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases and an enormous public health problem… Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have been infected through a previous blood meal taken on an infected person. When a mosquito bites an infected person, a small amount of blood is taken which contains microscopic malaria parasites. About 1 week later, when the mosquito takes its next blood meal, these parasites mix with the mosquito's saliva and are injected into the person being bitten. The parasites multiply within red blood cells, causing symptoms that include symptoms of anemia (light headedness, shortness of breath, tachycardia etc.), as well as other general symptoms such as fever, chills, nausea, flu-like illness, and, in severe cases, coma and death. Malaria transmission can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites with mosquito nets and insect repellents, or by mosquito control measures such as spraying insecticides inside houses and draining standing water where mosquitoes lay their eggs.

Although some are under development, no vaccine is currently available for malaria; preventive drugs must be taken continuously to reduce the risk of infection. These prophylactic drug treatments are often too expensive for most people living in endemic areas.”

So here’s the skinny – you can (and should) take preventative drugs like doxycycline or malarone, but while they lower your chance of infection they don’t completely prevent it. If you feel tired/sick, you should get tested immediately (the test was less than $5). You can recover quite well if you take anti-malarials quickly, but many people in poor areas don’t have access to either preventative or treatment medications. This is why we urge our Light Mothers to sell bed nets and to do home visits to see that children are sleeping under them if possible. Here’s to preventing it as much as we can, and to getting better soon!

Election Jitters
We’re getting really excited about the upcoming U.S. presidential election! I received my absentee ballot in the mail (in Kenya! In Bungoma, actually! So amazing!), and sent it off so hopefully it makes it in time (not that my vote for President is likely to count – Obama’s probably going to take California in a landslide). Here’s a pic (taken by Emmanuel, he was so proud of himself) of me holding my election package.


And another of me mailing off the ballot – I went to a lot of trouble to vote this year, I really hope all of you make it to the polls if you haven’t voted already!


Several of us are planning to stay up on Tuesday night and watch the election coverage. It’s apparently going to be on from 2am until 9am. I think Wednesday will be like a national holiday here – if Obama wins, people will be partying; if he loses, they’ll probably be drowning their sorrows. We’ve asked around and been told it’s unlikely there will be violence if he’s defeated; we were told that if he loses and there is violence in the U.S., things could get ugly here, but that seems pretty unlikely.

I don’t want to jinx anything, but at this point we’re really hopeful that Obama will win. I heard Palin’s conversation with “Nicolas Sarkozy” (aka, some Canadian radio personality pretending to be the French President) on the news here today – this woman cannot get within a heart attack of the presidency, please! Not to mention, doesn’t someone screen her calls? I can’t imagine that the Republicans don’t recognize what a liability she is and aren’t guarding her from calls like this with an army of people. Or are they that blinded by her nice legs and inflated hair? At any rate, we’re ready to party in Kenya – let’s get this election over with already!

The Fun Stuff/Highlights

• Hearing some random Kenyan yell something at me on the street, and finding out he was calling me “Nakhumicha”. Andrew, a Kenyan staff member of OAF, was with us and said it’s a nickname meaning “born in the rainy season” – which means you’re fertile. Mom, there may be hope for me yet!
• Singing and clapping while our Light Mothers led us in an amazing song. Many of them seem so committed to helping their communities improve the health of their children; it was inspiring to meet them and see them go through a training
• Watching Rafiki scramble all over my house when she gets super energetic. She’s a terror! She scampers all over, sliding around when she tries to turn on the cement floor. I put a plastic bag and a piece of twine on the floor – she loves to play with them. She jumps into the bag, then battles around in it, then pops out and looks at it as if it’s trying to challenge her to another fight. Hilarious!
  
  
• Having a vet come out to the house to give Rafiki a rabies shot. We had to hold her down, and afterward she curled up and slept for a while – I think she was in shock. As if in-home shots aren’t enough, I’m arranging to have her spayed – and apparently the surgeon will come and do it at the house. Crazy!
  
• Halloween – one of my favorite holidays! I dressed up as Sarah Palin; Paul dressed up as Andrew (the OAF founder); Melissa and Sid were Mother Earth and a black-eyed pea; Lukas dressed up as a drip irrigation kit, and the other boys were fertilizer and maize bags. Margaux wins for best costume though – she was the best maize cob I’ve ever seen (complete with fronds sticking out on top)! Here we are with our host, Hassan, at his restaurant (he throws a Halloween dinner for the mzungus in town). So fun!
  
• Meeting the most adorable little boy while out in the field with Lukas observing his work collecting household expenditure information. This little boy couldn’t stop staring at me and giving me the biggest, sweetest smiles whenever I smiled at him. He was running around barefoot, in tattered clothes, clearly sick with some kind of cold/flu, but was happy and sweet as could be. I took a photo of him so whenever I’m feeling down I can look at him and recognize that there should always be something I can be happy about. He probably has no idea, but he really affected me that morning – I hope he makes you smile too.
  

I miss you all and am really looking forward to being back for the holidays! Hugs and kisses,

Veronica

Back at Home – Yes, I Did Say Home!

I am... happy that I had a fantastic trip to the States. Grateful that I have the best friends in the world. And glad to be home in Bungoma with my kitten (and Emmanuel, who is water-color painting next to me).


OAF Update
Things here have been progressing while I was away – guess they don’t need me much after all! We got our harvest data in from Kakamega and were happy to see that with each dollar a farmer spent on incremental inputs through our program, they were able to generate approximately $2 in incremental profit. We’ve settled on a final model for our Child Health programs going forward and are excited to add deworming pills to our product line. We’re gearing up to measure bean harvests in two of our Bungoma districts. We’re making big strides in standardizing and protecting our information technology locally. We’re beginning to make headway in creating procedures and templates for HR-related activities, and I just got to see the prototype for a drip irrigation system we’re going to start selling. Exciting stuff!

Culture Shock
Going back to the States was quite an experience in culture shock. I’ve never been so excited to fill up a water bottle at a drinking fountain as I was at Heathrow airport in London (drinking water from the tap?! Inconceivable!). And the sight of the public toilets in the airport – I nearly swooned – no pit latrines there!

I arrived in Chicago and decided taking a cab from O’Hare to Evanston was too luxurious for my non-profit budget. Big mistake! 2 ½ hours later I was finally arriving in Evanston after 2 subway lines and a bus ride in between. While hauling my luggage down the street, I decided that if coming from O’Hare I’m doing cabs from now on (though I happily took the subway to and from the airport in New York).

I spent one night with Swapna at her gorgeous condo in Evanston, then was off on a ridiculously early flight to Las Vegas for Dave’s bachelor party. Yes, a bachelor party in Vegas – he’s a good friend of mine from years ago in Los Angeles, and it was a reunion of sorts for many of us. Talk about culture shock – going from rural East Africa to Las Vegas was a pretty incredible experience! Brigitte was laughing because I kept marveling at the beautiful tile floors. Though I was there for less than 48 hours, it was amazing to catch up with so many friends. I miss you all tons, it was great to see you!


From there it was on to New York City. Another shock. Both because it’s New York (skyscrapers! shops everywhere! restaurants!) and because I was able to get a feel for the financial crisis that’s hitting everywhere firsthand. Many of my business school friends are in finance, so it was interesting to hear their perspective on what’s going on (and good to see that they’re not as panicked as I’d have expected given the news we’re seeing in Kenya). My friends there are amazing, and treated me to yummy food, great company and a fantastic trip to Central Park (thanks Shane!). I managed to catch up with a lot of people at Dos Caminos in SoHo, not far from where I did culinary school.
Thanks so much to everyone who came out – here’s a link to photos: (http://picasaweb.google.com/vborgonovi/DosCaminos?authkey=_IMzU99v0bg##)

After only a few days, it was off to Chicago once more. Wednesday night I used a gift certificate from the 2009 Bullfrogs (a thank-you gift I’d gotten for being their section leader – thanks guys!) and went to Tru with Vicki and Swapna.
Can’t get anything like this in Kenya! My main course was venison in a salt-and-chocolate-nib crust. Mmm. We also shared an incredible cheese plate – cheese is one of my favorite things, and we just can’t get good cheese in Kenya. Swapna joked that we should steal the cheese cart – if only it could’ve fit into my luggage, I’d be savoring bits and pieces right now!

Thursday Allana and I gave a presentation at Kellogg about what it’s like to work at One Acre Fund. It went quite well, and we got great questions from the audience. I was also able to visit many faculty members, which was really fun. I managed to squeeze in a happy hour with the current Admissions team, then it was off to the city for a get-together at Crust. Heidi did a terrific job organizing this – I think there were about 25 of us, sampling organic beer, eating delicious thin crust pizza, and catching up on life since Kellogg.

Here’s a link to the photos: (http://picasaweb.google.com/vborgonovi/KelloggReunion?authkey=n6-xCr6FDTI##)

Friday was all about trying to catch up on administrative things that I knew I’d need to get done before leaving the States (such as getting T-Mobile to finally accept that I’ve moved to Africa and can’t use their service anymore). I got some quality time in with Ruchi, then it was off to Special K! rehearsal. As soon as we started running through the opening and closing acts I realized I was in big trouble – I hardly remembered anything! Luckily the arrivals of other Kellogg alumni kept me from focusing on the knots in my stomach. It was amazing to see everyone again! Around 1am, we wearily left the theater, only to return at 7am the next morning to get started again. We rehearsed up until showtime, then put on one of our best shows yet! I teared up during a couple of the songs, but managed to do a decent enough job I think. And the rest of the cast and crew totally rocked it! I’m blessed to have been a part of such a talented group, and hugely fortunate that they wanted me back enough to buy my ticket (I still can’t really believe they did it). I kept thinking I shouldn’t have been there, and felt so lucky that I was able to see everyone one more time. I love you guys so much, thank you for letting me be a part of the show once again!


After the show, we had to keep singing (of course) so did karaoke until the wee hours. And when we got up the next morning, we had a big surprise – two of my closest friends got engaged (to each other!). They’ve basically been outed already but I’m not naming names so they can have a chance to tell people themselves – you two know who you are. I’m so glad I was able to be there and celebrate with you on Sunday!


After a lovely dinner with none other than the Executive Director of next year’s Special K! (what a lucky lady I am!), I was off to get some rest and pack. I left Monday to come back home, a bit sad to leave everyone but honestly pretty excited to get back to work. I felt so disconnected while I was away, and was really looking forward to sitting down with Andrew and assessing where we’re at. As I arrived at the house, Marion and her sister came running down the road yelling “Jambo!” – made all the hassle of the 36+ hour travel disappear. It’s good to be back, though I do miss you – please keep in touch so I don’t get too lonely!

The Fun Stuff/Highlights

• Hearing from my dad that my mom freaked out at the thought I’d adopted – before she found out it was a kitten, not a baby
• Eating In ‘N Out immediately upon arriving in Las Vegas – it was SO good
• Feeling like no time has really passed in the ten years I’ve known Nigel, Dave, Brigitte, JP, Gish, Bonner, Tom, and Tony (the Vegas crew)
• Having the best sushi ever at Blue Ribbon Sushi in New York – I think I died and went to heaven for an hour
• Doing yoga with Marla and realizing I’m terribly out of shape – man was I sore the next day!
• Catching up with old and new friends at Dos Caminos – times may change, but good friendships never do
• Hitting the West Village, Chelsea Market, Central Park and the Brandy Library all in one day – so many of my favorite things!
• Getting some of the best quality time of my trip with Swapna and Vicki over incredible food and wine at Tru – yes, I feel a bit guilty given the work I do but what can I say, food is my passion after all
• Watching people’s eyes light up as I presented slides about the impact that One Acre Fund has and what it’s like to work here (sure, they could’ve just been in shock over the photo of me slaughtering a goat)
• Feeling like Kellogg never ended at Crust in Chicago
• Re-living my Special K! glory days thanks to an incredible group of friends
• Squealing out loud upon hearing the engagement news – I’m doing a little dance right now!
• Trying to fall asleep with Rafiki purring on my bed and thoughts of the last 2 weeks dancing through my head – I’m a lucky girl indeed

Mom’s Fear Comes True – I’ve Adopted!

I am... a new mom. To an adorable little kitten - no, no Kenyan babies yet! Also – please see the new link at the top of this page; we’ve set up a way for anyone who’s interested in sending a care package to see what things we’d love to get. Thanks!

OAF Update
Our three new Program Associates (Lukas, Melissa and Sid) have arrived! We’re really excited to have them here, and they’re already hard at work making improvements to One Acre Fund. Lukas is working on a few things, from putting together a sales effort to sell irrigation tools to farmers, to running an in-depth survey of farmers’ spending and consumption habits. Melissa is helping to standardize and put into place HR policies and procedures, which is going to do a lot to help smooth our processes going forward and provide guidance to employees where previously we didn’t have much. Sid is a tech genius – he’s fixing our outdated and virus-ridden computers in our offices, as well as working on long-term Information Technology solutions for OAF.

We’re also making great strides with our Children’s Health program; Margaux has mapped out our processes and is now working on fixing any gaps and standardizing things we want to make part of our core model in each district. Jeff’s wrapping up his Early Harvest and Active Drying experiments. He brought back some dried kernels from the Active Drying trial, and it was pretty amazing to see! We ask our farmers to “Actively Dry” their maize, which means they should put the maize out to dry in the morning, and put it inside at night or if it starts to rain. Many farmers don’t follow this simple procedure – they simply spread their maize out on the floor inside their house and let it dry there. It’s easier, as they don’t have to move it around as much, but we were worried that this may lead to increased rotting and loss of maize (due to a longer drying period and more likelihood of pests). We don’t have the final data yet, but just from looking at the two sets of maize it’s quite visually obvious that the Actively Dried maize is much whiter and not rotten, while the other maize is more discolored, has rotten bits, and generally looks darker. This is important, because we can’t sell maize to our buyers if more than 2% is broken, discolored or rotten – and based on the sample of the non-Actively Dried maize we saw from the experiment, this maize wouldn’t pass inspection with out buyers. So it’s good validation that the Active Drying technique is important – nice job, Jeff!

So, the Baby I Adopted…
Er, kitten… I can’t help but tease my Mom, she’s afraid I’m going to come back with a real Kenyan baby! Anyhow, the kitten is totally adorable. I decided to name her Rafiki, which means “friend” in Swahili (apparently this is also the name of the monkey from The Lion King, which I’ve now been reminded of a few times – that wasn’t my inspiration though). She’s pretty funny – she’s quite affectionate, and sits on my lap while I work (sometimes she’ll just perch there with her paws on my leg, as in this photo).

It’s really nice having her around for the company, though I’m honestly a bit worried about whether taking her in was a good idea. I can’t buy pet food in Bungoma, and apparently it’s really bad to feed a kitten an all-meat diet (which is what Jake has been feeding his cat, Paca). I attempted to cook her some cat food before leaving (chicken, rice, and carrots boiled together and blended up a bit), but she doesn’t seem to like it (though I hear Paca does). I’m a bit worried that something’s wrong with her, as she wasn’t eating much when I left and seemed to be really lethargic – I hope I don’t end up killing her, that would definitely be an indication of sub-par mothering skills!

Leaving Already
I’m headed back to the States (tonight, actually) for a quick two-week trip. It seems so soon, I’m not really feeling quite ready to leave (I’ve been here 2 ½ months). You may wonder why I’m heading back – good question! It may sound a bit silly, but I was in a musical show at Kellogg called “Special K!”. I sang, danced and acted (somehow they let me into the cast). It’s completely student-run, and each year the show is performed in May. Every October, there’s a repeat performance of the prior May show, so new Kellogg students can see what it is all about and hopefully get excited about participating in creating the new show for the next year. There’s an understood expectation that cast members from the May show who graduated in June will return to do the show in October. Clearly I told everyone that I wouldn’t be able to make it, as I’m living in Africa and not making much money, so I thought that would be it. However, I’m incredibly fortunate to have some truly AMAZING friends – they started a campaign to raise money, and ended up raising enough to fly me back to the States to do the show. I also am lucky enough to work for someone (Andrew) who gave me the ok to leave for a couple weeks to do this – thank you so much to all of you who contributed to helping me visit my friends and do the final show! Words honestly can’t express how much this gift and all of you mean to me!

Indian festival
Another reason I’m really lucky is that Tejash Unadkat, a friend from business school, is from Kenya and his parents live in Nairobi. His mother wanted me to take a package back for him and his sisters, and invited me to stay with them rather than staying in a hotel in Nairobi. They have been truly amazing – Mom & Dad, you’d be thrilled to know that they’ve treated me like a daughter for the past two days. We went for a walk together, I got up and did yoga in the morning, and the best part was that “Auntie” (this is what Tejash’s mom wants me to call her) dressed me up in the most beautiful sari ever and we went to a Navratri Festival at the community center they attend. I felt like a princess – it was so amazing, she pinned the sari together so it would look right, and gave me orange and gold bangles, beautiful earrings and a stunning gold necklace. I couldn’t believe how amazing it was to be dressed so beautifully after nearly 3 months wearing convertible pants! The Festival was fantastic – there was a lot of food (bhel, panipuri, sevpuri, chips, potato curry, chevdo, coconut sweets, mixed fruits, tea, soda and biscuits), as well as a lot of singing and dancing. I couldn’t keep up with all of it, but Auntie made sure I did my best and taught me a few dances,

including a really fun one where you dance with sticks and trade partners down a long line.
They’ve also been feeding me tons of great Indian food – Tejash, you’ll be jealous to know your mom made me thepla, dhokla, chapati, dal dhokli, masala dhosa, jalebi, sata, flower curry, and lassi. So good!

I owe a big, hearty thank you to Tejash and his family for their generous hospitality – I was a bit scared of coming to Nairobi alone, but it’s been a great experience!

(how adorable is he?)

The Fun Stuff/Highlights

• Dancing with sticks at the Indian Festival – so much fun!
  
• Heading for a night out on the town with everyone from OAF (sans Lukas, unfortunately) – it was a great time!
  
• Doing “Ladies’ Night” with Margaux, Anushka and Melissa – wine, cheese, pedicures and lots of girl talk
  
• Hiking Sangalo Rock with the ladies.
  Partway up, a young girl named Corazon decided to join us and served as our informal tour guide. She bounded up the steep trail – barefoot! Put us to shame
  
• Watching Rafiki walk into my shower, squat over the drain, and pee into it – she showed up potty trained! I promptly bought a plastic basin and made her a litterbox with some dirt in it
  
  (one more of me and Rafiki)