OAF Update
We’ve received our first cash repayment from a farmer in Kakamega (our biggest district in Kenya)! It was pretty exciting – Kakamega is going to be our model for future districts, and we’re in the full of repayment season right now. We have to quality-check and arrange logistics to pick up thousands of kilos of maize – so things there are really busy right now, but we’re hoping to hit 98% repayment (which is a terrific repayment rate).
We’re also very busy with experiments. We’re running a trial to see whether it’s beneficial to farmers to harvest their maize earlier than they normally would (just in the last two weeks I’ve seen plenty of maize rotting on stalks; they could potentially have been picked earlier and yielded better results). We’re doing another trial to see whether the method that we teach farmers to use when drying maize makes a difference in final yield. And we’re kicking off a third experiment to see what methods for storing dried maize kernels will be best for farmers to use. Thanks Jeff, for all the hard work!
The investment training that Margaux is running seems to be going quite well. I observed a couple trainings, it was really fun to see people get into doing the role plays. Margaux came up with a great story that a couple people in the audience have to act out. Let’s just say it involves a “Wise” farmer and an “Unwise” farmer. The Wise farmer uses his incremental money from his One Acre Fund harvest to buy some goats, which a year later he sells for a cow; he can then sell milk from the cow to make more money for his family. The Unwise farmer uses his incremental money to buy Orange Fanta and have a big party. A year later, he has some empty bottles and a stomachache from all the soda (hahaha). It’s actually a very engaging role play, and the farmers get really into acting it out! Many of them are making pledges to each other regarding how much money they’re going to set aside for investments after their harvest – it’s pretty exciting to see. We’re running this as a test, so hopefully we’ll see that trained farmers do increase their investments – keep your fingers crossed!
In other exciting news, we have three new Program Associates starting this week! Lukas just arrived in Bungoma yesterday, and Melissa and Sid should arrive tomorrow. They’re going to be working on a whole slew of things, from HR to database management to data collection and program experiments. I’m really excited to have them here and look forward to working with them!
Don’t Step on the Green Jelly
So we nearly had a bad situation on our hands a couple weeks ago. Margaux and I were with a Field Officer in Lusanjela, and as we were walking back from a meeting with farmers she suddenly jumped to the side (she was right next to me). Turns out she almost stepped on a snake’s head – it was moving across the road we were walking on. She later said it looked like someone had spilled green jelly on the road. Seriously, it was inches away from her foot – I saw it as she jumped away. She said, “Oh! A snake!” And that’s when it got really interesting. Frederick, the Field Officer, started yelling, grabbed a rock, and threw it at the snake’s head. Unfortunately the rock wasn’t all that big, and the snake slithered into some bushes. There were huts nearby, so Frederick started yelling at the people that there was a snake. People came running and were yelling, and someone gave him a tool that looked like a hockey stick. He was running around, trying to beat around the bushes and find the snake. Finally he had to give up – but he said the snake was a poisonous one, and that it could’ve been real trouble if Margaux had been bitten. We also learned that if you come across a snake in Kenya, you’re supposed to kill it, because it could kill someone. She looked it up later, and thinks it was a green Mamba. We found out that if you’re bitten by a poisonous snake like that, you have to quickly wrap a tourniquet above the bite (to isolate the poison) and get rushed to a hospital. Not that ambulances/ emergency transport are easy to come by in the fields! Needless to say, we wrote up some tips for employees on what to do if you see a snake/ are bitten, and I went out and made first aid kits (complete with tourniquets) for everyone to carry when doing field work. Crazy!
Police Sandwich
Over the past two weeks I got back to my consulting lifestyle, going out of town during the week. I spent several days each week in Kakamega (see above, our biggest district in Kenya in terms of number of members). It was a great experience – really helped me learn a lot more about what we do on the ground. It was also an interesting way for me to get up close and personal with the police.
I was in a taxi going from Bungoma to Kisumu, and was feeling a bit unnerved already. As we were leaving Bungoma, my cab driver stopped to get gas. While sitting in the back of the car, I suddenly noticed a pickup truck coming down the main road with tons of young men standing up in the back. They were waving pangas (machetes) and yelling. My cab driver got back into the car and simply said, “We should go.” Yes indeed! (More on that part of the story in the next section.)
So we’re driving along, dodging potholes as usual, when we pass a police checkpoint. Mind you, there are tons of them along the roads. They stop matatus and fine them when they’re overfilled (but the fine is less than what the drivers make by overfilling them, so they just pay and go on – corruption at its best). Normally the matatus don’t stop private vehicles, but this time we were waved over. Three cops came over and started looking inside the vehicle. Then they opened the doors – and all got in! One was in front, and two squished in on either side of me in the back. I had a couple bags with me (I was going to Kakamega for a few days), so I had to pile those up on my lap. I was literally squished – one of the cops was rather portly. They spoke to my driver in Swahili, then we started back along the road. I wasn’t sure what to say or do, so just said hello. (Mom, I can hear you screaming – I can only imagine what you would have done!) The two in the back started talking to me (they were fairly friendly). The woman asked if I would take her to America with me (I said no, that I had no job in the States but rather lived and worked in Kenya, and that she could take me there someday if she wished). And the guy on the other side asked what religion I was (I said I was born Catholic and left it at that). After a little while, we got to Mumias (a town only notable for its large sugar factory) and they got out. The woman asked for my contact information (I told her I couldn’t give it to her, sorry) and that was it! After my driver and I continued on (and I could breathe again), I learned that it’s not uncommon for police to stop private vehicles and demand rides to wherever they need to go. Can you imagine if that happened in the United States?
Forced Snippage
So it turns out that the men I saw waving machetes were quite likely looking for people to force into having circumcisions. Apparently Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister of Kenya and a member of the Luo tribe, announced publicly that all men in Kenya should be circumcised due to the health benefits (there is evidence that HIV transmission is lower in men who have been circumcised). Traditionally Luo men are not. So the Bukusu tribesmen, who have just finished their circumcision ceremonies (see an earlier post for the details), decided to round up Luo men and force them to be circumcised. I guess there were small near riots around Kenya, including some in the area where I live – but luckily I was on my way to Kakamega, and it was all over when I returned. I’m not sure whether anyone was actually forced into it, but heard this has happened before.
Weekend in Kisumu – Part 2
No, this time there was no candlelit dinner with Paul. In fact, Paul didn’t even go. Jeff, Margaux, Anushka and I took a road trip to Kisumu. And we had a blast! We left Saturday morning, and went for fish ugali by the lake.
Mmmm! Then we went to our hotel, and stopped at the bakery next door for ice cream and pastries. We ate them in a hotel room looking out toward the balcony – nice! We then went out and explored town a bit, and found a place to buy good-quality motorcycle helmets (we’re buying better ones that we can use if we have to ride motorbikes). Even better, we went to Nakumatt, a supermarket where we stocked up on foot scrubs, foot lotion, wine, cheese and crackers. Jeff took a nap, and the girls and I gave our feet spa treatments (let’s be clear, this involved sticking our feet into a sink standing up, nothing quite as relaxing as Burke Williams) and shared stories over the wine and cheese. So fun! Then we went to a fantastic dinner at The Grill, followed by a quick beer at Mon Ami. In the morning, we explored the stalls at Kibuye Market, a big outdoor marketplace, and Margaux and I bought fabric to try and have some clothes made. We’ll see how that turns out… then we went to Nyanzaa Club, a sports club that has – hold your breath – a pool! Not the nicest place I’ve been to, but to us it was a sanctuary. Until the kiddos arrived – but even then it was pretty good. The water was terrific, and it was so relaxing! 
Then we had lunch at an Indian place a friend recommended – it was amazing. Followed by a visit to MegaCity, a shopping complex that houses a mega-Nakumatt. Our jaws hit the floor when we came around the corner into the market – it looked almost like a real mall, and the Nakumatt almost looked like a Target store! We literally stood there, the four of us all lined up next to each other, mouths open, and someone weakly gasped, “Woooooooooooowww…” We stocked up on some goodies, and took off for home. Unfortunately I had to drive the last 30-40 minutes in the dark, which is never good because there are no streetlights here (which makes the bodas, potholes and pedestrians nearly impossible to see). Luckily we made it home safely, and I did a little jig when we arrived to celebrate having made it. A good time, indeed!Get Up, Stand Up
... for your matatu rights! Jeff and I had a bit of an altercation with some matatu drivers this past week in Kakamega. We were coming back from observing one of our survey agents in the field, and needed to get from Shivagala to Sigalagala (and then from there to Khayeiga – you try remembering all these names and places!). We waited for a matatu to arrive, and when it did it was completely packed. There are five rows (including the driver’s) in a typical matatu, and each is supposed to seat 3 people. In this one, each row had 4-5 people. And there were four men hanging off the side, who very aggressively tried to shove us in. We hesitated, as we could see there was no room. So one of the men literally tried to get me to squeeze into the matatu and lay across a row of people (since there was no seat). At this point, Jeff and I decided to wait for another matatu, as this one seemed unsafe. The matatu conductors (the guys hanging off the side who try to get you to ride with them and collect money) started yelling for us to get in, they wanted to take us, blah blah blah. So I got pretty mad, and told them we weren’t going with them, and that they were being rude to all the people who were sitting there waiting while they were wasting their time, and that they should just get back on the matatu and go. Everyone sitting in the matatu started yelling at the conductors, as they were upset at having to wait. Finally the conductors figured out we were serious about not getting in, and left without us.
A few minutes later, I heard something approaching from the direction they’d gone in. Somehow I knew… I said to Jeff, “I really hope they didn’t just go down the road a bit, kick people out, and come back.” “No, no,” he said. “They wouldn’t do that!” But his words caught in his throat as we saw the matatu come flying down the road, make a hasty U-turn, and watched the conductors leap off again to accost us.
Now I was REALLY mad – livid, really. These conductors (one of whom I’m pretty sure was drunk) had now made over 20 people waste even more of their time. And for what? For a couple mzungus who they could rip off? Sure enough, they now had two seats free (how convenient). Jeff and I were pretty mad, but figured we should get on since they’d come all the way back and there were now seats available (well, not really seats, but just enough room for us to squeeze in). As we got in, I apologized to all the other passengers for how rude the conductors were to them. They all started yelling, “Yes! Unfair! Unfair!” And I told the conductors that I was really angry with them – that we had told them to leave, that they were being unsafe with their passengers, and that they shouldn’t treat their fellow people with such disrespect. Anyhow, we started off down the road, and within a few yards we stopped for a passenger. And then another (this one laid across our laps). And then stopped again. At this point, there were easily 20-something people in the matatu, and the 4 guys hanging off. They tried to shove a teenaged girl in, and were trying to force her friend to squeeze her hand through the mens bodies onto the frame of the matatu, so she could hang on with one hand while it was going to start driving. She and her friend decided not to get on, and backed off. The conductors started trying to shove them back on. And that’s when I lost it. I turned to Jeff and said, “What do you think – this is pretty bad.” And he said, “Yeah, let’s get off, we shouldn’t even pay for this.” So we started to get off, and the conductors went nuts. They were yelling at us to get back on, so we started yelling back that they were ridiculous, this was a dangerous situation, they were rude, etc. Then they tried to charge us 1 ½ times the price we should have paid had we gone all the way to our destination – and we’d barely moved down the road!! When we said we wouldn’t pay them anything, they really went nuts. Jeff and I actually thought it was possible that it was going to get physical (thankfully it didn’t). At some point I looked one of them in the eye and yelled, “You are a bad man! This is very WRONG!” Yeah, I’m pretty threatening, I know (hahaha). We sternly told them that we would not pay and that they should just get back in their matatu and get moving. Somehow they finally realized we were serious and got back on the matatu in a huff. We ended up having to take bodas to Sigalagala (a pretty long ride).
But it was much more enjoyable than the overcrowded matatu! For a perspective on what it’s like in these things, here’s a picture of me and Jeff from earlier that same day (in a much more pleasant, not-so-overcrowded matatu). After the whole experience was over, I realized it could’ve been pretty stupid for us to not pay the conductors (I was a little worried they might try to run us over later if they saw us in town) – but Jeff and I agreed that we had done the right thing, on principle. It was a minor battle, but we felt we’d won a small victory for matatu riders everywhere. Stand up for your rights!The Fun Stuff/Highlights
- Taking the best shower I’ve had yet in Kenya, at the Hotel Ambwere in Kakamega. Quite possibly one of the worst hotels I’ve ever stayed in, but that doesn’t mean much these days. I showered three times in 24 hours – heaven! I really love that place
- Getting a care package from Brittany and Kathi – super cute green gardening gloves, an umbrella, and awesome hand cream! Thanks you two!
- Coming back from a day in the fields actually craving beans, greens and ugali. I eat ugali a few times/week now – I’m becoming more Kenyan!
- Happily watching people stuff themselves with homemade lasagna – Jake and I did a really good job, it came out pretty well for having been made with 3rd world ingredients! We got lots of oohs and ahs
- Still feeling my heart leap for joy when Marion comes running after me on the road. Today she broke the vocab barrier and said a few new words (besides “JAM-BOOOO!” and “howareyouIamfine”, the standard greeting every schoolchild says to a mzungu – all said very quickly as if it’s all one word). It made me ridiculously happy!
- Having wine and cheese at our hotel in Kisumu (so divine – and an unusual treat these days!)
- Convincing Manu to speak out loud in English by swinging him around on my shoulders, then stopping until he squealed “Again!”. He kept getting louder, and louder – and then I got dizzy
- Being humbled after my goat-killing experience had me thinking I was oh-so-brave; I literally leaped onto the arm of the couch when a mouse decided to stroll into the room during dinner the other night. So much for big, bad Veronica!
- Getting stuck with the van – again. This time it wasn’t my fault (thank goodness). Our driver left the lights on and the battery died. At a farmer’s shamba. In the middle of a site in Kakamega. Translation – middle of nowhere. After a 30-minute boda ride out to town, 30-60 minutes spent looking for help, and another 30-minute boda ride back, one of our facilitators showed up with a couple mechanics who were carrying a spare battery. They hooked it up to the battery in the van – with wrenches and THEIR BARE HANDS. No cables. And it was raining. And they started the car and we were on our way, without anyone being electrocuted. Whew!
- Seeing a vibrant, full rainbow on the drive back from Kakamega last week. We even saw the double rainbow on one side - gorgeous
- Margaux and I sending in our absentee ballot request forms.
We were so excited! Though I have to say all of us here are wondering what in the world is happening in the US right now. Sorry if I offend anyone – but Sarah Palin? Seriously? And people seem to think this is a good thing – we must not be receiving some kind of information that you all are in the States. Otherwise I’m not sure I can have any kind of faith in our political system. And I’ll have to start a commune somewhere in the middle of nowhere. If you understand this or have information that will enlighten me, please do! Please!
- Finding myself suddenly stopping, nearly gasping at how much it looks like I’m living in a postcard, and realizing that I really love Africa (don’t worry Mom, I miss home too). Life can be really beautiful when it’s so simple
