Maendeleo, tutaendelea vipi?

There has been some reshuffling within my host-organization, after Tom, my former supervisor left the organization in order to pursue politics. Wandera, my former counterpart and now supervisor, held a staff meeting last Friday in order to discuss how we proceed.

Following this meeting, Austin, now my official day-to-day counterpart, and I have received the green light to proceed with performing a Community Needs Assessment and acquainting myself with the community of Bunyala District.

This is a much more daunting task than it was in Mali. There, my community was the small village of Makili with a population of approximately 1,500. Here, my community is the entire district of Bunyala, comprised of more than 250 villages divided up into six locations, each comprised of three sub-locations. The population of the district as of the 2009 National Census was 66,723.

Bunyala District is, in comparison, a massive area. It is a diverse district in terms of geography, and is divided by a large river, the River Nzoia. Because of its diversity in geography and its water features such as swamps, rivers, and Lake Victoria, the problems that each community faces within the district vary greatly. It’s a complicated district with a plethora of problems.

I asked Austin to help me make a list of all of the villages with markets or major meeting centers where we would be likely to meet people at any given time. This came to 20 villages and 7 beaches, the latter being important in order to meet with the fishing community as well.

We have prepared a schedule to visit each of these locations, meet with the chiefs of these communities, speak with people in the community centers, visit a few families at their homes, visit health centers and schools, and speak with active youth and women’s groups. We will surely have to return to some locations later so as to meet with key community leaders and active community groups at scheduled times. But some of the locations are so remote, such as a village called Osieko, which will require an overnight stay due to the need to cross the river Nzoia and either Lake Victoria or the Yala swamp.

Kan jumɛn bɛ? Bamanankan.

Since arriving in Kenya, I have continued to keep in touch with my Malian village of Makili regularly by phone. There have been a lot of happenings in village life, and unfortunately like those on the national scene, most are not particularly good.

My friend Dramani called me August 10th to inform me that Shaka, a young man of about 35 and heavily involved in the ‘Diarrakɛla tɔn sigi’, passed away from something he described as blood not being able to flow. I’m assuming it was a heart attack. It was tragic not only because he was so young, but also because he was a great guy who was very involved in the village.

The ‘Diarrakɛla tɔn sigi’ had always impressed me in their motivation and activities, and a lot of that stemmed from its two ‘ɲɛmɔgɔw’ (presidents), Shaka and Alou. The committee operated within one of the four neighborhoods of the village, Diarrakɛla. The youth of the neighborhood would normally work twice a week during the planting and harvest seasons to work on behalf of the committee. This is not a small sacrifice, as work during these times is substantial with families having to work their own fields daily. The funds raised by this work then go towards community events, primarily their often-times weekly ‘shɛniw’ (dance parties) and other celebrations. Shaka will be greatly missed.

I later learned that a young boy of about 10 years old, whom the village endearingly called ‘Dugutigi’ (because he was the namesake of his uncle Madou Katilɛ, the ‘dugutigi’, or chief of the village), passed away on August 26th after drowning in a body of water near the rice fields which they were working. People tried to save him, but couldn’t get to him in time.

Hearing of his loss really shook me. Dugutigi was still only a child, way too young to go. But not only that, he always seemed to me to exhibit such a strong since of compassion and responsibility well beyond his years. He always helped his siblings and the younger kids around him as best he could. Just a great kid all around.

I was fortunate in that, unlike many of my colleagues in Peace Corps Mali, I never encountered the loss of people I became close with while in village. The only deaths that occurred while I was in village were either very young babies generally under a year old, the elderly, or people whom had been suffering from illness for an extended period of time. So these two losses shook me.

Flood Reconnaissance – The Northern Banks of the River Nzoia

A picture along a portion of the dyke protecting residents from flooding of the River Nzoia. The dykes are generally kept fairly barren of vegetation.

This past Monday and Tuesday, I went outside the office with my coworkers Austin and Michael to bike along the dyke beside the northern banks of the River Nzoia. The River Nzoia is the source of annual flooding which affects the Budalang’i area. I will later tour the southern banks of the river, the scene of most of the devastation from last year.

Coworkers Austin and Mike at my host organization showed me around the flood-prone areas and the dyke.  

Beginning in Budalang'i

On Thursday, August 16th, I arrived in my new community of Budalang’i after a long drive from Nairobi to the extreme western edge of the country along the Ugandan border.

Since arriving, I have been spending my time setting up my homestead and acquainting myself with the people of my host-organization and the community at-large.

The outdoor market and assorted ‘maduka’ (shops) in the center of Budalang’i town. The town has two market days: Wednesday and Saturday.

I would describe Budalang’i as a sort of middle-ground between my village of Makili in Mali and the town of Loitokitok, where I had just trained here in Kenya for the past two months.

Budalang’i is a relatively small, poor community within Busia. The village is much poorer than Loitokitok, but not nearly at the level of Mali. Most people here live in mud homes, although the construction of said homes differs greatly from that in Mali. However, within the town center are several ‘hotelis’ (restaurants), bars, small retail shops, and even a timber awning housing two coin-operated pool tables. The community is also seeing a significant amount of development from the government in terms of the construction of a new paved road and a new market shade structure.

People here are, on the whole, generally friendlier than I had found them to be in Loitokitok. They also form a much tighter community more reminiscent of Mali, where most people in village know each other and are generally more involved and attached to their community. A lot of this comes from the fact that Loitokitok was much more metropolitan, with people of all ethnic groups having migrated there. Yet people here do still have their own isolated homesteads, and more so stay indoors at night with their families in a more western set-up. But thankfully no bulky walls lined with broken glass and barbed wire to barricade them in.

I am officially (still) a Peace Corps Volunteer

Last Wednesday, August 15th, I was amongst thirty Americans sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers at the US Ambassador's residence in Nairobi. Of course, I have been a volunteer for almost two years now, so this was a bit anticlimactic. But what it did mean is that the following day, I was able to head out to my new site of Budalang'i, just North of Lake Victoria along the Ugandan border to start getting acquainted with the community and the work that I will be doing for the next year.

Pictured above are all the members of our training class, along with the US Charge d'Affairs and the Country Director of Peace Corps Kenya. We have a great group, and I've enjoyed getting to know them all over the past two months.

The Last from Loitokitok

A view of Mount Kilimanjaro (right) and a nearer mountain as seen from downtown Loitokitok, home for the past nine weeks.

The guys of our training class during a hike to a nearby waterfall, dubbed ‘51’ by the locals. We've got a great group here, and we've really gotten tight over the two months of training.

The girls of our training class during that same hike.

Different Issues, Same Approach

Going through Pre-Service Training a second time around has not necessarily been easy. Sure, I’ve enjoyed learning a new language again, bonding with my training class, and spending time with my host-family, but there is too much repetition, and the general sense of ‘been there, done that,’ to not suffer at times from boredom.

This past week, we had some training that did not fit that mold. On Monday, my training class took a three-hour ‘matatu’ ride north of Loitokitok to the city of Machakos. There, we found ourselves in rather posh accommodations as we spent a week in training sessions dedicated to HIV/Aids and PEPFAR (The United States President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief). Because HIV/Aids is not widespread in Mali, our training there did not address the issue, nor is PEPFAR present within Mali.

On Tuesday we toured the local Level 5 District Hospital. Specifically, we interviewed workers within each department of the Comprehensive Care Clinic, a center set up in 2003 in order to provide comprehensive care for HIV/Aids-afflicted individuals under one roof. The center is efficiently run, and the men and women whom we spoke to were both intelligent and proud of their work. PEPFAR and the United States Government heavily fund most of the HIV/Aids-related services found in Kenya, including this clinic.

On Wednesday, we were treated to performances by a couple of local advocate groups. The first was a support group for HIV/Aids individuals made up of older adults, primarily women. They performed song, dance, and poetry meant to educate people on HIV/Aids prevention, the importance of getting tested, and the support available to afflicted individuals.

The second was a mixed-gender youth group started at a nearby church. They performed a skit that told of a vulture problem in a community. The vultures proved to be a nuisance to the community and brought with them only death. The community struggled to find a solution to the problem.