My journey began when I left Maua early in the morning.  I opted to meet my travel companions in Kakamega where we were to tour the Kakamega Rainforest.  Instead of traveling through Nairobi, I took the northern route.  Took a matatu to Meru then another past majestic Mt. Kenya to Nanyuki, past the Aberdares and through the Great Rift Valley to Nakuru, then to Kisumu, then to Kakamega.  It was a long day full of uncomfortable matatu rides but the scenery was beautiful.

Mt. Kenya

In Kakamega, I met up with Paul, Charlotte and Lee.   As a result of some miscommunications with our first choice of accommodations, we decided to stay at Rondo Retreat, an upscale place in the forest.  We stayed in a luxurious cabin with a fireplace and a porch overlooking the rainforest.  It was the perfect place to relax and play cards with some friends after a stressful school term.  It was a little on the expensive side but worth it.

Rondo Retreat

We took a guided tour of the rainforest although we probably would have been better off hiking on our own.  Our guide would occasionally grab a leaf or stem of a plant and claim that it could cure some crazy disease just by eating a certain part of it.  Despite our guide’s claims, I am fairly certain we did not stumble upon a remedy for cancer during our five hour hike of Kakamega Rainforest.  We spent the evening getting our asses kicked by Lee in gin rummy.  After a few days in Kakamega we continued our journey west to Jinja, Uganda.

 
Kakamega Rainforest

After a long day of traveling we arrived in Jinja where we met up with several other volunteers for the big rafting trip.  We stayed at a nice campsite that had a comfortable dorm and a beautiful patio overlooking the Nile.  We enjoyed Uganda’s finest brew, Nile Special.  I can’t tell you how great it was to have a beer that was not from Kenya.  I’m getting sick of Tusker (the popular Kenyan beer).  This was also the first time that I met many of the public health volunteers that have been here for almost a year.  A perfect example of how infrequent we see other volunteers.

Rafting was awesome.  We flipped the raft on the final rapids.  At one point our guide got his legs tangled up in a rope and had to be rescued by fellow PCV Allen.  It was definitely worth the money as we spent two whole days rafting THE NILE.  Of course all this time on the water and in the blazing equatorial sun resulted in some sun burn.  My group was the only group that did the two day trip.  The others decided to do the bungee jump over the Nile on the second day.  Since I had already bungee jumped one of the world’s tallest bungees with Andy in New Zealand, it was an easy decision to continue rafting the Nile for a second full day.  Not that I’m bragging or anything.  After Jinja we had a brief stop in Kampala, Uganda’s largest city and capital.  From there we headed south to idyllic Lake Bunyoni.

Lake Bunyoni was beautiful.   We stayed on a peaceful island in the middle of the lake.  There was just a handful of people staying here which made it even more weird when I met a man from Wisconsin who was also a huge Brewers fan.  Great to see another cheesehead and talk about the Brewers for once.  The two days we were here we just relaxed, ate some awesome food, enjoyed some more Nile Specials, and again got our asses kicked by Lee in gin rummy.  All this cost a mere 40 dollars (something like 80,000 Ugandan shillings).   From here we headed south to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

Lake Bunyoni

Rwanda was surprisingly modern and well developed.  The people were very respectful and there were several nice restaurants.  Even more surprising was the traffic stops for you when crossing the road, something that NEVER happens anywhere in Kenya.  If you even think about stepping into oncoming traffic in Nairobi, you’re as dead as a doornail.  In Kenya, the vehicles always have the right away.  So we were all pretty shocked when we were waiting to cross a road and the traffic stopped, just for us.  Mind blowing.

Rwanda is mostly known for the genocide in which over 1 million people were murdered a short 15 years ago.  We visited the Kigali museum which outlined the events of the genocide as well as other genocides such as the holocaust in Nazi Germany and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.  The final, most moving exhibit was on children who were victims of the genocide.  It simply had a picture of a child with a brief biography below it listing his/her name, age, favorite activity, favorite song, certain personality traits, and then concluded with how the child was mercilessly murdered.  Its amazing what humans are capable of doing to each other.  Perhaps even more touching was when we visited a church in nearby Nyamata where thousands of people were killed.  The church now serves as a memorial to the victims.  The victims clothes filled the pews of the church.

Behind the church was a mass grave, which you could walk into and see several coffins as well as the remains of many victims.  We were allowed and actually encouraged to take pictures so that people can be more educated on what happened.  However, I feel uncomfortable posting these pictures online but I’ll share them with you when I return to America someday.  While visiting all of these memorials, it was hard to believe this happened during my lifetime.  It was hard to imagine I was walking the same streets where people were once systemically murdered.

After Rwanda, we said goodbye to Charlotte and Lee who flew back to Nairobi but Paul and I pressed on through Tanzania.  We left Kigali for Rusomo Falls at the Rwanda-Tanzania border.  We stayed the night at a questionable hotel in the tiny town of Benako.  We had an interesting time trying to find transportation for our next destination, Bukoba, located on the west coast of Lake Victoria.  Once we made it to Bukoba we took an overnight ferry to Mwanza.  We had originally intended to take a train from Mwanza to Dar es Salaam but rather than face probable delays with the train we decided to head back to Kenya.

We were going to explore some islands near Homa Bay but I ended up getting sick with a high fever.  Since we were in such an isolated area Peace Corps decided it was best to put me up in the hospital in nearby Kisumu primarily as a precautionary measure.  I had all the symptoms of malaria but tests showed that it wasn’t malaria.  I stayed a few days in the hospital for observation.  It sucked being in the hospital but I did get a free flight from Kisumu back to Nairobi.

All in all the trip was fantastic.  I’m glad I got to share it with Lee, Charlotte and Paul.  We had some funny moments of trying to haggle with cab drivers and dealing with the many exchange rates.  Paul and I certainly had some interesting times trying to find our way through Tanzania.

Despite being sick at the end, the trip was really awesome. 

And how is Lee so damn good at gin rummy?

Harambee Project
Thanks to everyone who made a donation.  We’re still trying to figure out some last minute details relating to the port fees for the shipment.  Right now it looks like the shipment will leave the U.S. at the end of May and will arrive in Kenya sometime during July.  Hopefully the books will be on the shelves before my final term.  We have made some changes to the membership of the group.  Some of the orginal members have elected not to be a part of the project but we’ve added a new member with my good friend and fellow Maua PCV Tom.

Deaf Hoteli
The group of Deaf adults I work with started their cafe (hoteli) in January.  It certainly has been a struggle.  I’ve spent a lot of time there in the past week trying to explain simple concepts.  They really do not understand the concept of a business.  The hoteli only generates a profit when I am constantlychecking in and holding them accountable.  Our lease on the building is up at the end of the month so we’ll see if they decided to keep it going.

Teaching
For the majority of the term things were going very well.  I felt like I could finally reach the students.  I am getting good at explaining things and different concepts using the signs that they understand.  However, the last month there has been constant interruptions and not much gets done.  I was thinking about a third year extension but now I’m not so sure.

I am about to embark on an epic adventure through East Africa.  I am looking forward to this because I need a vacation.  I am bringing my journal along to capture all of the unforgettable moments.  I hope to reach a cyber cafe occasionally to provide an update to the few people that continue to read this.

As of this posting we have raised $11,230! Only $70 to go!

THANK YOU to all that have made donations. Now the fun begins. Stay tuned.

Happy Peace Corps Week!

The name of this blog is hearkenya.  Why did I come up with that name?  I don’t know.  I think at the time I thought it sounded pretty cool but in reality I thought it meant that I would be helping Deaf Kenyans hear.  And that is where I went horribly wrong.  I am not trying to help them hear.  I am trying to help them learn English, math, science, and how to read.  I am trying to get them to learn the proper signs of Kenyan Sign Language.  I am trying to teach them to make the right choices in life, especially when it comes to their health.  I am trying to encourage them to go on to secondary school and then to University.  I am trying to teach them and their fellow hearing counterparts that Deaf people can succeed.  Deaf people can do anything, except hear.

Many thanks to those of you that have contributed to my library project. For those of you that have not yet contributed, please, please, PLEASE consider making a donation.  We have raised over $10,000 and are quickly approaching our goal, so PLEASE help us out!  The sooner we get all of the money raised, the sooner the container will be shipped.

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.

Kicks 4 Kenya has graciously donated a bunch of soccer equipment to my school.  Earlier this week we started practicing with some of the balls and cones that we’re donated by Kicks 4 Kenya.  The students were thrilled to play with the new balls and even the neighboring school wanted to join in on the fun. When we initially went out to practice the entire school followed as well as all of the students from the hearing primary school…there must have been 300 students circled around me.

Thanks to TJ at Kicks 4 Kenya and all of those who made contributions to our little soccer project.  I greatly appreciate your efforts and I will be sure to keep you updated as the school year progresses.  We are preparing for the Deaf Schools competition in early April.  I am hopeful with the addition of the equipment that we will be ready to compete!

Mount Kenya was amazing.  The first day we were forced to hike an additional five km since our matatu could not make it up the mud filled road to the park entrance.  We slowly made our way up to the peak over four days to avoid altitude sickness.  On the fourth day we woke up at 2 am to hike the remaining distance to the peak.  It was almost a full moon so we hiked to the peak with our headlamps turned off only using the moonlight.  We made it just in time to catch the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen.

Now its back to work.  We had a painfully long teachers meeting this morning in which we allocated classes among other things.  I am happy with the classes I will be teaching this year.  I will continue teaching math and English to my class (now class four), I will teach reading to classes 1, 2, and 3 and I will teach one lesson a week about AIDS/HIV to each of the upper primary classes (class 4 through 8).  I am pretty excited about the progress on all of my secondary projects as well.

I am also excited about getting my computer fixed soon so I don’t have to deal with this damn internet cafe crap.  Believe it or not its taken me 30 minutes to type this up because of the slow connection and overall slow computer that I am on at the moment.  So I apologize to everyone that sends me emails yet I have not responded yet.  Please bear with me.

After all of the time I have spent in this little town over the past year, the beauty of Mount Kilimanjaro never ceases to amaze me.  I’ve been fortunate to call Loitokitok home for at least a short time as its probably one of the most beautiful places I will ever live in.

As I mentioned before I am helping out with training once again.  I sure have spent a lot of time with this new group of trainees.  It has been interesting to watch them develop over the past few weeks.  I really enjoy being on this side of the training.  I am mostly here to answer their questions and assist with anything.  I was pretty busy this last week though, as I had to assist during numerous question and answer sessions.  They have been grateful for all of us volunteers helping out.  Its surprising how much they have changed in such a short time.  Since it is so close to Christmas I have decided to stay in Loitokitok until after Christmas rather than head back to site only to turn around again to pick up my dad at the airport.

Since I’ve been here I already have visited my mama and baba a few times.  Tuesday I stopped by my mama’s clinic to say hello and she bought be a coke.  I asked why she didn’t buy one for herself also.  She said she had just taken tea and ask if I had tea that morning to which I responded that I did not take tea that morning.  Shocked, she just stared at me for a second and said, “My God” as if something devastating had happen.

Unfortunately, my brothers aren’t around as they are in Nakuru visiting their grandma.

Paul and Ginnie will be here in a few days for Christmas and I am told some other volunteers will also be around.  It should be another exciting Christmas in Loitokitok.  Maybe I’ll get to slaughter a goat again.

I just return from an eventful journey.  I headed to Nairobi for Thanksgiving with friends.  After Thanksgiving I went to Hell’s Gate with some new volunteers and Mr. Thomas.  It was a pretty good time.  The trip started out miserably as it was constantly raining and cold.  But the second day was perfect.  We rented some bikes and biked through the bike.  As expected, the bikes weren’t that great it was worth it though because it was pretty awesome to be biking alongside zebras, giraffes, warthogs, buffalos, and more.   It was nice to get my ‘biking fix’ in.  Its been too long.  Halfway through our ride we took a tour of a gorge.  It was like being in a small canyon.  It was nice to get off the bikes for a while and do some hiking.

After Hell’s Gate I returned to Nairobi for my mid service medical exam.  After being poked and prodded I’ve been deemed fit to continue on with my Peace Corps service.  The appointments themselves went fairly quickly so the majority of my time was spent lounging around the Peace Corps office with the rest of the education volunteers from my group.

While in Nairobi we hit up some of the nicer dining establishments.   One night we ate indian food, another night we had some delicious sushi.  The night after Thanksgiving Tom and I went to a favorite Ethiopian restaurant among volunteers.  We ordered a ton of food and stuff ourselves for a good hour.  I don’t think I’ve even been so full.

After being in Nairobi for medical exams for a few days I headed to Lake Nakuru with fellow deaf ed volunteers Charlotte and Erin.  I’ve been low on funds after traveling around so much lately but I’ve heard such good things about Nakuru that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go there.  It lived up to my expectations.  Since the park surrounded a lake, there was abundant wildlife.  We tried to find some lions and jaguars but unfortunatly we did not.  Hopefully when my dad comes in a few weeks I will finally see a lion while on safari.

This weekend I head back to beautiful Loitokitok to help out with training again.  I’m not sure what I’ll do after that maybe come back here and spend Christmas with my neighbors or join up with some other friends on the coast.  In the meantime, I’ve been cleaning up my house and preparing for my dad’s arrival.  Only about three more weeks and I’ll finally have a visitor!

The term ended on Wednesday as the parents came to pick up their kids that day.  This term sure flew by.  To wrap up the term I had to fill out forms for each student and write their marks (grades) in each of their report books.  We had to compile a form to give to their parents.  On the form I needed to list the things that they students needed to bring to school next term, the existing balances, and any medical fees that the student incurred over the term.  I was stunned to see the ridiculously high balances for most of the students but I guess its not surprising as most of Kenya is very very poor.  The school must accept the students even if their parents can not pay the school fees. 

Now I have a pretty long break until the next school year starts in January.  I’ll be in and out of Maua.  I will continue to make some trips to Nairobi and Loitokitok to help out with training before they swear-in in January.  Most importantly, my dad is arriving in Kenya just after Christmas and we’re both getting excited to climb Mount Kenya together and go on a safari.