Deaf Community Self Help Group

As I may have mentioned in the past, I work with a group of deaf adults.  We meet every Sunday at 2 to discuss matters facing the Deaf in the community.  When I initially came to my site I wanted to seek out the Deaf members of the community and learn more about issues facing them in this part of Kenya.  Fortunately, this group already met weekly about a year before I arrived.  Due to some disagreements during that period the group fell apart.  When I arrived I managed to bring them all back together again.  My counterpart, Patrick plays an important role within the group.  Patrick has a respected voice within the group and is really the driving force behind everything we do.  Its because of his influence we have developed a constitution, elected officers, and raised a decent amount of money through membership dues.

The majority of these individuals are in their upper twenties and early thirties.  Unfortunately, with the exception of a few, they are mostly illiterate.  There have been many occasions where Patrick and I ask them simple questions but we never receive an appropriate response answer.  Our Sunday meetings sometime run over several hours as most of the time is spent trying to explain simple matters.

In the middle of last year we tried to think of projects that could benefit the group.  I suggested that we start with smaller projects such as buying chickens or goats that the members could raise and later sell at a profit.  My idea didn’t really receive much enthusiasm as most of the members wanted to start a hotel.  I should clarify that a hotel here is just a little cafe that serves tea and some smaller meals.

While I was helping out at training in Loitokitok I received a text message from Patrick saying that the group just paid for rent at a small hotel right next to the school and that they are going to start serving in January.  I was excited and nervous to hear the news.  Excited to see that one of my secondary projects was moving forward but nervous because it would be a huge undertaking.

The hotel has been running for about a month now.  They mostly serve chai and mandazis (similar to a doughnut).  They do offer beans, rice and ugali for lunch.  I should note that this hotel is really just a hole in the wall but it perfectly suites the locals as most of them are idle individuals who sit around and chew miraa all day.  We already have encountered numerous challenges.

They all just assume that if they show up to work they will receive a salary.  They don’t seem to understand the group concept either.   That we all need to cooperate and work together.  Its difficult since there is no one boss or owner who can hire and fire people at will.  Everything needs to be discussed as a group and cooperation is key.  This however is something they do not seem to understand.  The first week there was much confusion as several members who were supposed to work never showed up.  So the few members that did had to handle many different responsibilities.  Few of them know how to cook so the others need to teach them.  At this point they are not making in money.  Each day we’re lucky to break even.  I’m not sure how much longer we can keep this project going because there simply isn’t enough money for the project to sustain itself.  We need to start making a profit soon or the hotel will have to close and all of the money that we initially invested in the project will be lost.

Patrick and I do our best to explain and try to help solve the problems.  My main responsibility involves making sure they are budgeting correctly.  I am currently working on a number of different worksheets that will hopefully keep everything simple as well as keep track of all of the money.  Every night I walk down to the hotel to do some of the accounting.  Sometimes I spend several hours there just listening to the many frustrations of the workers.  Then I walk back, hoping that we can figure it all out.