A talk to bring it all home...

Speaking with 90 young men in Form 4 at St Benedict's Budalang'i High School yesterday.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to speak with students at two nearby secondary schools. 150 young men and women within the health and young Christian clubs at Nyambare Secondary School in nearby Siaya District, and 90 young men in Form 4 at our local St. Benedict’s High School here in Budalang’i.

At each school, I was given a one-hour time slot to speak to the students, offering any advice I thought could help them. These talks, however brief, were two of the most fulfilling and enjoyable experiences I’ve had in my three years in the Peace Corps.

Not only did I have a blast, but the students also seemed to enjoy themselves, taking notes and participating when engaged. Although I wish I had time to work at more secondary schools, it is fitting that these opportunities have effectively concluded my time in the Peace Corps.

There was a time when filling such a long time slot would be a daunting task. What could I possibly talk about? But in the past three years, through the work and conversations I’ve had within my communities both in Mali and Kenya, I’ve developed an understanding of the issues of development, along with ways to frame my arguments to motivate those around me to take charge of their own lives. In many ways the speeches I gave are the culmination of my time, an appropriate summary of everything I’ve learned about development.

Teaching Taboo: Advising The Next Generation

Students at New Hope perform a range of role plays on resisting peer pressure.

I have been teaching weekly Adolescent Reproductive Health and Lifeskills classes at two local primary schools. At New Hope Primary School, I teach approximately 100 students from standards 5 through 8. At Budalang'i Primary School, I teach approximately 60 students from standard 8. This has been yet another opportunity to work in a field which I have no prior experience in. As time has gone on, I've gotten more and more comfortable with teaching and have come to rather enjoy it.

Answering questions from the students at New Hope prior to beginning a lesson on HIV/Aids.

Makilikaw ka baara, a ka ɲi de!

The rains have begun falling across the arid Mali landscape, where the villagers of Makili have returned to the fields to till the land and plant the crops that will sustain them through the upcoming year. My host brother Benke and other close friends were amongst the many to marry during the busy wedding season, which has just come to a close.

I miss my friends and family there. Especially during the wedding season, which I enjoyed more than any other, despite it being the hottest time of year. One friend asked me if I could be his ‘'kɔnyɔncɛ', basically his best man involving responsibilities such as stealing his fiancée in a donkey cart, amongst others. We joked, ‘a ka gɛlɛn dɔɔni’ (that'll be just a little difficult). Youssoufu told me people keep asking ‘Maliki ka dɔn bɛ min?’ (where is Maliki’s dance?).

I am happy to be able to keep in touch with my friends regularly, and am so proud of the work that they have continued in my absence:

Water and Sanitation Committee

Dramani, the chairman of the committee, sounded disheartened when we spoke on May 12th. One of the two pumps we had installed, serving the Diarrakɛla ‘kin’ (neighborhood), broke. I tried to offer encouragement, to advise him on how they can fix it themselves.

When I called him back two days later, he was beaming with pride. He told me that they had just repaired the pump themselves without ever having to ask anyone else for help. A piece of the piston unit had fallen within the well, and using their pump tools, they were able to retrieve, replace, and tighten it.

He excitedly proclaimed that now they can repair any pump on their own. We talked of even charging other communities to repair their pumps elsewhere. He sounded very proud, and I was too. I told him that’s why I wanted to teach them, ‘Aw ni baara’ (great work)!

I mentioned that the pump must have broken because of how it has been misused by people slamming the handle. While the villagers know how important the rule is, they need to take this opportunity to enforce it. He agreed, told me they are.

On Natural Disasters, NGOs, and Our Indelible American Spirit

Listening to the BBC World Service this week, I’ve been hearing many stories of destruction and survival from the tornado which struck Oklahoma on Monday. On Wednesday, a BBC reporter was interviewing a man who has already engaged himself in the rebuilding effort.

The reporter asked the man how is it that he can just move on and begin to rebuild so soon after such a devastating event that turned his entire town to rubble. The man basically replied that this is simply what we do as Americans. We keep moving forward, we tackle adversity.

The reporter seemed genuinely in awe, saying that it is always surprising how quickly Americans bounce back at times like this. And you know what, after having lived in Africa for nearly 3 years, he’s right. Our resiliency is an absolutely remarkable trait.

Could my community of Budalang’i here in Kenya ever bounce back from a natural disaster so quickly? Would they seize control of their situation, begin rebuilding as soon as the dust settled?

I contend that the answer is a resounding no. This community has seen their share of natural disasters – much of the area suffers from substantial flooding each year. But in times of such crises, what do the local people generally do? They lay stagnant, plead for assistance from the government and from foreign NGOs.

To drive the point home, a friend of mine told me today that he was walking along the dykes and noticed people, who’s houses had not been flooded nor threatened in the least, had already moved their families atop the dykes. Why? Because they want to be ready to receive free food once the NGOs come in to assist the victims. I have never encountered such an extreme level of dependency in America.

Without a doubt, in any natural disaster, outside assistance is required. Even in America, we can’t pick up our lives alone after such an event. Food, water, shelter… the necessities must be provided for during those initial days before we can obtain them on own. Even some money to support the task of rebuilding can be essential.

But the difference is the mentality, the amazingly quick rebound from tragedy in America before we begin working to rebuild our lives.

A Parting Trip to Uganda

I am now very much at the end of my service in the Peace Corps. I now have about 5 weeks left in Kenya, and in the Peace Corps in general.

Over the past year, I have had the pleasure to get to know both Kenyans and other Peace Corps Volunteers alike, many of whom I'd now count as some of my closest friends. Thankfully, this time around I have the opportunity to close my service out right, unlike in Mali where evacuation necessitated a sudden and hectic exit.

Our group picture after suiting up to raft the Nile River this past Saturday, May 18th.

Over the next 5 weeks, I'll remain tethered to my site, transitioning out of my projects and spending some final meaningful moments with the people I have grown to love here in Budalang'i. But over the past month, I took some time away from site for a couple final outings with my PCV friends.

On May 6th, I left site to attend a two-day close-of-service conference in Naivasha followed by two-days of medical examinations in Nairobi to close out the week. This was a good opportunity to get together with friends, socialize, and reminisce. Unfortunately due to my unique circumstances, the group that I am closing out with is not the same group that I came in with. That group still has another year in-country to fulfill.

So after returning to site for almost a week, I was thrilled to join 18 of my closest PCV friends, with whom I had arrived in Kenya and spent two months in training with, on a vacation to Uganda over this past weekend.

Back to the Beginning: Water Committees

Angelina, a CHW (Community Health Worker) in Mumbaya village, shows off their hand pump, currently in disrepair.

With the stark differences in culture and work environment, it has been surprising to see my experience in Kenya shift closer and closer to the one I had in Mali. Most recently, I have seen the needs of the community bring my work back to where I started with the Peace Corps: water.

New Drinking Water Sources

Back when I was traveling throughout our district to get to know the community and their major challenges, I documented several areas where access to clean water is problematic. Early last month I met with Pascale, the local Ministry of Water official who oversees new project planning, to discuss these areas and how best we can assist them. Due to my short time left in Bunyala, I felt that the best thing I could do was to inform the government of such areas and link the communities with the resources required to improve their situation.

In the village of Sisenye, I had noticed a large segment of the population in a particular neighborhood must walk long distances to fetch dirty water from the lake. Pascale informed me that the ministry is currently working on a piped-water scheme nearby, but in our discussion, we found that there were no plans of extending the line to this particular area. He said that during other extension work planned during the next fiscal year beginning this July, he will add a distribution line to serve this area.

Tree Nursery Establishment

After our tree nursery and agroforestry training finished up on April 20th, Mumbaya Youth Group met four times throughout the following two weeks to prepare our nursery for planting. We extended and improved the fencing, tilled the soil, and prepared the seedbeds (pictured above: members Francesca and Stephen) . Unfortunately, out of 11 members currently within the community, only about 4 members attended this work.

This past Sunday, however, 10 out of the 11 members showed up to plant our first round of tree seeds. Not all on-time, but I'd call that progress. We planted 8 different species, several of which Stephen pretreated the night before to ensure they'd germinate effectively. Pictured above, members prepare the seedbeds by adding a layer of sand to help ease the removal of seedlings later.