Through Swamp, River, and Sea: Bunyala District - Even Further South of the River Nzoia

This post on performing my community needs assessment is going to take a different form from the others. In short, it necessitates it. Our journey to Bulwani in many ways overshadowed the information we gathered during our discussions with the villagers. So below is a narrative of how the trip transpired…

A view from our boat as we circumnavigated the Ndekwe River within the Yala Swamp, just outside of Mabinju Beach.

A Foiled Attempt 

On Wednesday, Lawrence and I biked from Budalang'i, crossed the River Nzoia by ferry boat, and continued onto Mabinju Beach. There, we met a man who had helped to arrange a private boat for us to take through the Yala Swamp along the Ndekwe River, across Lake Victoria, and finally through a small waterway leading to the village of Bulwani.

We had told him to be ready for us at 7AM, despite knowing that we wouldn't arrive until thirty minutes later. Naturally, when we arrived, they still weren’t ready for us. The boat which was supposed to be there for us, a boat owned by the government, never arrived. Instead, they ended up raising the price on us severely to rent a different boat and engine.

It wasn’t until 8:30AM that we finally headed out onto the River Ndekwe, but the engine had problems right from the start. Our driver would pull the crank of the engine, and it either wouldn’t catch, or would hold an idle for a few seconds before dying out. As he kept trying, we ended up further into the swamp. But eventually, he couldn’t get any power from it, and had to use a single paddle to bring us back to shore.

Life in the Swamp: Bunyala District - Further South of the River Nzoia

Due to the shortage of staff at my host organization, my plans to tour the entire district to assess the various needs of the community had been tabled for the time being. We are still in the process of seeking applicants for a new position. But in the meantime, my friend Lawrence has generously offered to accompany me until he leaves to work on the biometric voter registration process in another district ahead of the upcoming elections in March.

Our first stop together, where Austin and I had left off, was to visit the villages of Rukala, Runyu, and Nandehe Beach on Monday. Reaching the village of Rukala requires crossing the River Nzoia by ferry boat, then crossing a small bridge over the Ndekwe River and the Yala Swamp.

Up until this point, I had visited many villages who battle the forces of nature on a regular basis, whether it be the threat of annual flooding, the inability to construct necessities like 'vyoo' (latrines) due to a high water table and weak soil, or inadequate drinking water. But visiting these areas, spending time with the villagers, I could see possible rationalizations for choosing to settle here. These areas felt comfortable, accomodating. They felt like any other simple, rural community, and with an inviting coastal breeze. Land is generally more fertile than those found upland.

But Rukala and Runyu were the first places I've been to on these trips which I just could not find any redeeming qualities. These villages are basically situated on low-lying islands, just a little higher than the surrounding Yala Swamp. But the more fitting way to describe them is that these villagers live in the swamp, not near it. The narrow strips of 'higher ground' which people have settled on are directly adjacent to the swamp lands, with no real buffer zone. This results in an unimaginable convergence of all kinds of problems.

People have lived here for a long time despite the problems. It is their ancestral land. Why their ancestors chose such a difficult place to settle, God only knows. Maybe it was the fertile farmland, when flood waters from the swamp don't threaten to destroy them. But one thing is for sure, resettling these people would be a difficult task, given their lack of sustainable sources of income to purchase land elsewhere, as well as people's hesitance to leave the land of their ancestors.

During most of my community visits, the nationwide teacher’s strike had meant that schools were closed. But with their opening, I have been able to begin visiting schools to speak with their administration.

Pictured above is Budala Primary School in the village of Rukala. Their only source of water is an open shallow well, and they currently have no means of water treatment. Also, there is a major shortage of ‘vyoo’ (latrines), especially considering that most are full anyways due to the high water table. Because of its location by the swamp, mosquitos are a major problem, and the sandy soils harbor jiggers, a nasty insect which infest the children’s feet. The jigger infestation is difficult to control, even more difficult to eradicate, as it spreads rapidly. But most of the schools in the district seem to have health clubs, which provide an avenue for working with them in the future.

Ewiki Yo Emihung’ano (Week of Meetings)

This week has been awfully busy for me, particularly due to the lack of staff currently within our organization. From Monday through Thursday, I had to attend at least one meeting each day, on several different issues.

Most important was our own internal meeting on Wednesday, when we held the full Board of Directors meeting I had requested. During this meeting, I formally introduced myself to the board members and stressed my role as a Peace Corps Volunteer both within the organization and the community as a whole. I then took the opportunity to give a speech, based upon my own observations and discussions with staff, regarding the present state of the organization and how best to move forward.

I was pleased by the response I received from the board. There is an acceptance of the challenges faced at this current juncture and a willingness to make the necessary reforms to improve the daily operations and the sustainability of the organization. Although we still need to work on the specifics, I believe that the will and commitment is there to move this organization forward and continue the great service it has always provided the community.

Because of the optimism that I feel regarding the direction of the organization, I have been willing to, only for this short period of time, take on a larger role in management of daily operations than I generally feel comfortable with.

I have made it clear that any work that I do should be in an advisory role only. I can only accompany and assist staff in the work that they do, in order to teach skills and build capacity. But given the current challenges, until the organization does make additional hires, I find it necessary to represent the organization in order to maintain its good name within the community.

When possible, I have been taking Wilfrida, our office assistant, with me to meetings. And following the meeting on Wednesday, board members have also availed to accompany me at more important meetings within the community.

On Monday, while waiting at the Bunyala District Ministry of Agriculture offices for training on Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease, which was scheduled to begin at 9AM, a CHEW (Community Health Extension Worker) named Charles arrived, insisting that I join him at that moment in speaking to a couple of local primary schools as part of Global Handwashing Day.

Bunyala District - South of the River Nzoia (Interrupted)

My plan to tour the entire district of Bunyala by bicycle has hit a bit of a snag. I previously detailed our completion of the villages north of the River Nzoia. We had been making steady progress on those south of the river through the end of September.

But around that time, my counterpart Austin received a message from a local financial services business he had applied to a long time ago. A job opening had emerged. Austin spent several days preparing and interviewing for the position. Our previously steady momentum was significantly hindered. Over the first two weeks of October, we were only able to go out into the field twice. And last week, he officially left my host organization.

I am very happy for Austin, the man needed money. He has been working without pay since college, and was therefore unable to adequately support himself. He has been building his house within his family’s concession, but has been unable to complete it since he couldn’t afford supplies. He had been using a phone without a functioning screen, and just last week, this phonewas switched off on account of being counterfeit. He has no means of transportation, and has had to borrow someone else’s bike just to accompany me to the field.

But in terms of my work and the organization in general, times have gotten even more difficult. The person whom I have worked most closely with within this organization has now left. My host organization is now entirely staffed by Wandera (my original counterpart who has now been elevated to my supervisor after Tom’s departure for politics) and two office assistants. I have not seen Wandera in over a month. He spends all of his time within the Samia District office, and is unfamiliar with projects within Bunyala District. Therefore, since I am based in Bunyala District, I am now working with a staff of only one office assistant, who has been with the organization for only two months herself.

I am currently working closely with the chairman of the board and have asked him to schedule a full board meeting. This meeting will happen shortly. During this meeting, I plan on presenting to them all of the challenges which I see facing this organization. We can then discuss as an organization strategies to succeed into the future. As a result of this meeting, I hope the organization will have a clear path forward and we can begin to rebuild.

Challenges: Organizational Development and Disaster Management

Here in Kenya, I have been assigned to work with a local organization. This differs from my time in Mali, where I was simply assigned to a village. There, it was necessary to assess the needs of the village on my own, compare them to the desires and resources of the villagers, and then work together with whomever was motivated and able within the community on various small-scale projects to address those needs.

I still feel that it is important for me to travel around the district, meet with the local people, in order both to understand the issues facing the community, as well as to acquaint myself with the community, since any project we tackle must be undertaken as a team, primarily driven by community members, in order to ensure sustainability. This is what Austin and I have been undertaking over the past month.

I am working alongside an organization which has been doing great work within the community since 1999. Local community members had originally formed this organization primarily to address the flood events communities throughout the district regularly face. But the organization has also worked on a wide range of additional projects since its inception. Such projects have dealt in the areas of agriculture and food security, access to safe drinking water, advocating for the basic human rights of the marginalized in society, natural resource management, and the promotion of behavior change in order to improve the health of the community and reduce risk of exposure to illnesses ranging from water-borne diseases to HIV/Aids.

Becoming part of an active organization necessitates that I, to some degree, inherit certain ongoing projects and responsibilities. This brings me to my biggest challenges faced as a Peace Corps Volunteer here in Budalang’i.

Bunyala District - North of the River Nzoia

My counterpart Austin and I have embarked on a comprehensive tour of Bunyala District in order to familiarize ourselves with it's people, the challenges faced in their daily lives, and the resources and organizations found within the area.

This past Friday, we finished our travels within the three locations north of the River Nzoia (Bunyala West, Bunyala North, and Bunyala East) after six days of visiting villages and beaches throughout this expansive area. Even so far, we have found vast diversity in both the natural environment and the lives of the people from village to village. I expect this to continue as we proceed to the remaining three locations of the district (Bunyala Central, Khajula, and Bunyala South), all located south of the River Nzoia, beginning next week.

Below is a summary of our travels, in pictures, across the locations of Bunyala District north of the River Nzoia:

Port Victoria, within Bunyala West location, Bukani sub-location, is the largest, most metropolitan town within the district. Once the new paved road is completed, I could easily see Port, scenically situated along Lake Victoria, becoming a tourist destination. This picture was taken on a Friday, market day.

Flood Reconnaissance - The Southern Banks of the River Nzoia and Current Mitigation Efforts

On Monday, Austin and I finished up our tour of the dykes North of the River Nzoia by biking along a small, final section of the dyke north of the river. Tuesday, we crossed the river to tour the entire length of the dykes intended to protect the villagers south of the river from flooding.

These areas in southern Bunyala District had received the brunt of the battering during last December’s floods, which displaced nearly 25,000 people.

This was a picture taken on Monday from a road along a hill north of the river of the main point of crossing known as ‘Khu Ferry’. The River Nzoia is the main body of water, at the front. Behind it are temporary bodies of water present due to the rising water level.

The river crossing is made by a small canoe-type boat, filled with passengers, bicycles, and motorcycles.

Note how close some families actually reside to the river, unprotected by the dykes. The clothes you can see are hung within one such family’s household.

Flooding is quickly becoming, as it does every year, a matter of urgency. On August 30th, the early warning system was triggered; meaning that the water level had risen to such an extent that flooding along the river could be imminent. And just that same week, the Kenyan Meteorological Department forecasted above-average rainfall in much of Western Province, including the entire catchment area of the River Nzoia, through December. Even now, sustained rains have lingered upstream.