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)