My April trip to see more of Africa was all planned: I was off to Egypt the week after Easter. Then I got wind of a rumor at school: no school the week before Easter. Once confirmed I made plans to spend my extra 10 days visiting the kids and seeing our new grandson born....
I arrived in New York City Monday March 28 to the welcoming arms of Tyler and Rebecca who masterminded the air arrangements on 72 hours notice...3 great days in NYC was a treat once I got my US legs back. With no sign of Baby Morse arriving in San Francisco,I moved on to Dallas to see Andy, Chelsea, and Meghan, a re-invented little girl from January. How much and how quickly a 2 year old changes! We dyed Easter eggs and filled plastic eggs with candy together; Chels provided a fabulous Easter brunch with Dallas pals and lots of Chels' family, too. By Easter night I arrived in nasty rain in the Bay Area where Blaire was still holding her own. The doctor stepped up the inducing so on Tuesday April 6 at 1133am Theodore John was born (7 lbs 13 oz and 21 inches long). What a joy to see Teddy as he arrived-Mikey beamed and Blaire was radiant. There was lots of good time to hold and ogle Teddy before I returned to New York on April 7.
Today April 8 I will jump the non-stop flight to Cairo where Dick will join me to do some Africa exploring. I will be back in Kakamega about the first of May so will update you when I return.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
The Pictures You Have Been Waiting For
Sweet Beryl AKA Bery who delights in blowing in my hair.
Lilian who is the perfect student: always listening to teacha'
Paul who will put anything in his mouth,including the wooden letters used for a teaching tool
Our 'sitting room' in our house on the Salvation Army campus
Our kitchen where we make 'magic' on a nightly basis, complete with a new counter and a large pantry en suite
The corner back bedroom is my digs, with nice view of back garden
Another day at Kakamega Township Primary School with Paul, Lilian, and Bery!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Around Town
Just to keep you in the loop of Kakamega and my life here, I want to share with you some of my most and least profound observations about life and the people here. I hope that you will get more of an insight into how things are....
OSHA does not live anywhere near here! As I rode my first picky-picky ( a motorcycle ), I thought I should invest in a helmet for future rides. Then I jumped off the picky-picky and saw that there was a helmet on the gas tank! Guess it is just for looks or possibly a law requiring it, but very few sport them on top of their heads. Also the sidewalks in town are a piece of work; you cannot walk far without the sidewalk simply dropping off. If you do not pay attention, you could take a flying header! But alas in front of the Provisional Government Offices, there is a flat sidewalk with a curb...it runs about 1 block. I have not yet seen a ramp, except at the Salvation Army headquarters which is 6 months old.
There is a certain redundancy to my way of thinking to putting in lots of speed bumps in the main highway that is so full of potholes.
Business-wise, there is no future for an orthodontist in Kakamega. The people have the most beautiful teeth you have ever seen. There are a few gap-toothed people, but teeth seem to be big, straight, and look whiter than white. Possibly the teeth enhance their eye color, which the kids refer to as Black and White. But the biggest business in town is the hair salon, the kinyozi. There is one about every 50 feet and they do a brisk business. The ladies spend lots of time and energy having fake hair woven in, braided in, or simply plopped on top of one's head. There is no fooling anyone that the hair is fake, but they love to update their coif often. It is in stark contrast to the girls who attend primary school, who come to school with perfectly plain shaved heads. After calling too many girls, boys, I now make no distinction anymore...I am learning to be sure to look for a dress or trousers.
If you want to get into a growth business, you might try shock absorbers. I rode my first couple of matatus (vans of various sizes jammed with people, with one guy who hangs out the sliding door drumming up business) and felt every pothole that stretches between town and home, about 1 mile. The vans are in various states of disrepair; Shanon ripped her pants on a jagged seat edge as she got out of the back seat. The only problem with the shock absorber business is that no one has any money, thus the problem in the first place.....
My most profoundly stupid observation regards recycling. It pains me to throw away the plastic water bottles, though we use many of them over and over for our boiled rain water. But the garbage heap is littered with the bottles and there are no recycle bins. Having observed this, Shanon just looked at me and noted that we have yet to see a dustbin (wastebasket) at a school of 900 kids. Yes trash is not an issue here, and each day I bring home whatever trash turns up in the classroom; it is the least I can do.
Have seen my third person smoking a cigarette.
You will be certainly interested to know that I was in town and observed a rumble at City Hall last week. A night fire in the Kakamega Municipal Market did lots of damage to the very basic market where almost anything is sold. The people hold the city responsible for some bad wiring that may/may not have caused the fire. I briefly thought I better look for a UN truck to evacuate me, but alas the market was open and seems to be still on its feet.
OSHA does not live anywhere near here! As I rode my first picky-picky ( a motorcycle ), I thought I should invest in a helmet for future rides. Then I jumped off the picky-picky and saw that there was a helmet on the gas tank! Guess it is just for looks or possibly a law requiring it, but very few sport them on top of their heads. Also the sidewalks in town are a piece of work; you cannot walk far without the sidewalk simply dropping off. If you do not pay attention, you could take a flying header! But alas in front of the Provisional Government Offices, there is a flat sidewalk with a curb...it runs about 1 block. I have not yet seen a ramp, except at the Salvation Army headquarters which is 6 months old.
There is a certain redundancy to my way of thinking to putting in lots of speed bumps in the main highway that is so full of potholes.
Business-wise, there is no future for an orthodontist in Kakamega. The people have the most beautiful teeth you have ever seen. There are a few gap-toothed people, but teeth seem to be big, straight, and look whiter than white. Possibly the teeth enhance their eye color, which the kids refer to as Black and White. But the biggest business in town is the hair salon, the kinyozi. There is one about every 50 feet and they do a brisk business. The ladies spend lots of time and energy having fake hair woven in, braided in, or simply plopped on top of one's head. There is no fooling anyone that the hair is fake, but they love to update their coif often. It is in stark contrast to the girls who attend primary school, who come to school with perfectly plain shaved heads. After calling too many girls, boys, I now make no distinction anymore...I am learning to be sure to look for a dress or trousers.
If you want to get into a growth business, you might try shock absorbers. I rode my first couple of matatus (vans of various sizes jammed with people, with one guy who hangs out the sliding door drumming up business) and felt every pothole that stretches between town and home, about 1 mile. The vans are in various states of disrepair; Shanon ripped her pants on a jagged seat edge as she got out of the back seat. The only problem with the shock absorber business is that no one has any money, thus the problem in the first place.....
My most profoundly stupid observation regards recycling. It pains me to throw away the plastic water bottles, though we use many of them over and over for our boiled rain water. But the garbage heap is littered with the bottles and there are no recycle bins. Having observed this, Shanon just looked at me and noted that we have yet to see a dustbin (wastebasket) at a school of 900 kids. Yes trash is not an issue here, and each day I bring home whatever trash turns up in the classroom; it is the least I can do.
Have seen my third person smoking a cigarette.
You will be certainly interested to know that I was in town and observed a rumble at City Hall last week. A night fire in the Kakamega Municipal Market did lots of damage to the very basic market where almost anything is sold. The people hold the city responsible for some bad wiring that may/may not have caused the fire. I briefly thought I better look for a UN truck to evacuate me, but alas the market was open and seems to be still on its feet.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Keeping Up in Kakamega
It had all the trappings of a political event: band, free food, speeches, local dancers, tents, native music, and of course crass commercialism. The coming of the Prime Minister was, in truth, a big kickoff for a local bank. Though the news led me to believe the Prime Minister wanted to work his voter base, he sent a deputy! So a bunch of people marched through Kakamega, more than once, and entered the stadium where everyone was served lunch (it is a modest stadium). There was plenty of cheap talk but it was really a low blow when our fair city filled all the potholes. You might jump to the conclusion that filling potholes was a public works improvement, but it you fill a pothole with dirt, tremendous amounts of dust rise in our now warm and dry metropolis.....so as time passes, the dust just keeps rising, and the rhetoric has long since blown away.
But not to be overlooked locally is the opening of Nakumatt, the Box Store. The promise has been fulfilled (or maybe I am spending too much time listening to the evanYELLicals)! But it was what might be considered a "soft" opening. The doors were open on Thursday March 11, but the shelves were not all stocked. So on my shopping Saturday, I decided to "do" Nakumatt. The mornings are truly the best time of the day as there is a fresh cool breeze and the walking is good. So off I went on the Best Road (paved) and arrived to a very quiet Box Store. I walked every aisle: there was some pricing in evidence but many mystery prices. I found a table to use in the kitchen as we have very little counter space. My first order of business was to negotiate a delivery price. At 200 shillings (just about $2.50....eat your heart out, New Yorkers) I loaded up on food and house stuff and found my way home in the Nakumatt truck. I certainly will return when the shelves are stocked as there appears to be lots of good stuff there. I will not forsake my Yako. The man in charge at Yako gave me free delivery in his own truck when we first moved into the house. Rumor has it Yako has dropped its prices, too, in order to compete with The Box. Loyalty is cheap here...my business is up for grabs......
But not to be overlooked locally is the opening of Nakumatt, the Box Store. The promise has been fulfilled (or maybe I am spending too much time listening to the evanYELLicals)! But it was what might be considered a "soft" opening. The doors were open on Thursday March 11, but the shelves were not all stocked. So on my shopping Saturday, I decided to "do" Nakumatt. The mornings are truly the best time of the day as there is a fresh cool breeze and the walking is good. So off I went on the Best Road (paved) and arrived to a very quiet Box Store. I walked every aisle: there was some pricing in evidence but many mystery prices. I found a table to use in the kitchen as we have very little counter space. My first order of business was to negotiate a delivery price. At 200 shillings (just about $2.50....eat your heart out, New Yorkers) I loaded up on food and house stuff and found my way home in the Nakumatt truck. I certainly will return when the shelves are stocked as there appears to be lots of good stuff there. I will not forsake my Yako. The man in charge at Yako gave me free delivery in his own truck when we first moved into the house. Rumor has it Yako has dropped its prices, too, in order to compete with The Box. Loyalty is cheap here...my business is up for grabs......
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Prime Minister is Coming The Prime Minister is Coming!
It is hard to believe that I even know about Prime Minister Raila Odinga coming to Kakamega. But it is news around here for lots of reasons, and not because the elections are imminent: they are in 2012. As background there was tremendous violence and upheaval nation-wide after the election of 2007. It destroyed the tourist trade which is still in 2010 fighting its way back. Tourism is key in Kenya and they are desperate for tourism to return. Following the upheaval, there was a power-sharing agreement reached between the 2 men who claimed victory, and they currently serve as President and Prime Minister. The general consensus is they are doing a lousy job, but alas peace has broken out here and that is very important. The Prime Minister has a voter base in western Kenya so he is stopping by. A 2nd grade girl from Kakamega Township Primary will present flowers to the PM...that is quite a WOW for our little school. The really big news: the Kakamega Salvation Army Corps Band will play in the stadium! Since Shanon is in the band, she will be asked to march musically from Family Bank downtown to the stadium at the north end of Kakamega. We have not ventured to an event at the stadium, so no telling just what that entails, but wanted to fill you in on the local news as it breaks. I will follow up with the reviews of the PM's visit, as the locals see it.....
Friday, March 5, 2010
...and it just keeps raining....
If anyone had told me that it could rain this much or be this cool in equatorial Kenya, I would not have believed! But it has been 10 days of rain that happens on and off day and night, and we are not in the rainy season yet. The temperatures have turned cool, like winter in Los Angeles, probably in the 60s. So the obvious pitfalls mount. I have light-weight jackets and sweaters. The 3 skirts I brought for school are fine; hope nobody is tiring of them besides me....Saturday is a wonderful leisure day and last Saturday I found myself at the tailor getting a skirt made! The fabrics are very pretty so I found a fairly subdued cloth for a flared shirt--thinking a wild pattern on the one mzungu (white person/foreigner) in town might be over the top. So for $12, I should be decked out by Nicholas of Kenya in my new fully-lined skirt for next week.
My shoes are another whole issue: between the dust and the mud, they are taking a beating. I have decided to not destroy every shoe that I brought, so my 2 pair of school shoes are about to crash and burn. But now that the rains have come, my gum boots are the answer. They were $8 at Bata, the shoe store on every corner in Kakamega, and I love them....I got a yell the other day asking me why I was wearing gum boots and it wasn't raining......but here there is no telling when it might rain, so I am happy to just wear them all the time!
The slicker and umbrella are part of the daily baggage in my backpack, but even with the erratic rain, I haven't gotten dumped on yet... I obviously need to carry the gear to keep the monsoons at bay.....
The real upside to the rainy season is the drama. The sky is leaden, and it gets incredibly dark as the rain passes over. It pounds the roof and is truly noisy. The claps of thunder and the flashes of lightening make me stop what I am doing, to look and listen. Often the electricity gets knocked out as well. We run for our flashlights and reading light! But I suspect there is also some electricity rationing going on. Many afternoons there simply is no electricity, but by dinnertime , it magically is back on. Our stove has 3 gas burners so we don't miss too many meals. The only trick I anticipate is not running out of gas.......
Monday, February 22, 2010
One Month Overseas
It has been 4 weeks at school, 2 weeks at the house and life is beginning to settle in. We do not have much of a social life outside the Army community, but the Army has been very warm and welcoming....tomorrow we will be guests of honor at a welcome tea! We still have the feeling that we are known around town. I was stopped the other day by someone who said he had met me and my daughter (Shanon is 29) and wanted to show me something. Since I was not near our house and I wasn't sure what was of interest, I simply passed. But I become more aware of just how different, unique we are here. People see me carrying groceries and think I should get a boda-boda to carry me home. There is a definite correlation between being white and having money. Children ask for money; the girl I hired (after a hard sell) to do my laundry and clean the house is already into me for Kenya Shillings, but she has done lots of work. I maintain a slight edge on services rendered!
Jobs here are scarce, so I feel fine about trying to spread the wealth. The girls here also seem to have small children, live at home, and are finished with their schooling. Many of the young people we meet through the Army are waiting for additional opportunities to go to school (college level) but are overwhelmed by "fees". The prospect of paying fees is daunting to kids who have not made any money in their lives and have slim prospects before leaving home of making any college money. Kakamega has no industry and the Box Store Nakumatt which is already built has not opened. It will certainly be a Big Deal here and provide jobs, but no one knows when.....it was first supposed to open just before Christmas. Shanon and I laugh that it will open next Christmas....
So when I refer in emails to Kenya time, you get the idea. This is not a rush-rush place...or even a hustle place. Boda-bodas stay patiently on the corner until someone comes along and asks for a ride. At the end of the day, the 'take' may be about 100 shillings...for us, that is $1.30, but things here are cheap and they can get by on that.
With your help, gang, I too get along! Love your notes and news and help keeping me in supplies for school and books to read. If you want to send something (c/o Salvation Army, Mumia Highway Road, P O Box 660, Kakamega Kenya 50100), colorful pictures from magazines are great and easy to send--there is very little paper here (magazines, etc) and the newspaper is tough to read: all Africa news mostly featuring corruption, massive cost overruns, or embezzlement. No, I have not read a word about the Olympics, though not too surprised.....
Jobs here are scarce, so I feel fine about trying to spread the wealth. The girls here also seem to have small children, live at home, and are finished with their schooling. Many of the young people we meet through the Army are waiting for additional opportunities to go to school (college level) but are overwhelmed by "fees". The prospect of paying fees is daunting to kids who have not made any money in their lives and have slim prospects before leaving home of making any college money. Kakamega has no industry and the Box Store Nakumatt which is already built has not opened. It will certainly be a Big Deal here and provide jobs, but no one knows when.....it was first supposed to open just before Christmas. Shanon and I laugh that it will open next Christmas....
So when I refer in emails to Kenya time, you get the idea. This is not a rush-rush place...or even a hustle place. Boda-bodas stay patiently on the corner until someone comes along and asks for a ride. At the end of the day, the 'take' may be about 100 shillings...for us, that is $1.30, but things here are cheap and they can get by on that.
With your help, gang, I too get along! Love your notes and news and help keeping me in supplies for school and books to read. If you want to send something (c/o Salvation Army, Mumia Highway Road, P O Box 660, Kakamega Kenya 50100), colorful pictures from magazines are great and easy to send--there is very little paper here (magazines, etc) and the newspaper is tough to read: all Africa news mostly featuring corruption, massive cost overruns, or embezzlement. No, I have not read a word about the Olympics, though not too surprised.....
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