OK I’m going to take a page out of RPCV Kira’s book.
Grab a piece of a paper and something to write with. Now, write down my address:
Matt Palma NJIA Special School
P.O. Box 436 - 60600
Maua, KENYA
Write me and tell me what you want on the blog!
Last week I had the opportunity to meet the new trainees upon their arrival to Kenya. Like I said before, its always nice to get out of here for a short break and spend some time in a decent hotel. It was an interesting experience to see them right as the got off the plane. I felt like an RA in a dorm and they were a bunch of incoming freshmen. They had many questions about Kenya and what its like to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. I was happy to answer any questions they had. It reminded me of myself a year ago, moving to Kenya to become a PCV and really not having any expectations. While it was nice to meet them all right away, a few days afterwards I came down with the flu (possibly this swine thing everyone’s talking about). But everything is fine now.
Unfortunately I missed some class time being away in Nairobi and then getting sick. I did manage to give the kids a bunch of work to do before I left such as some worksheets and word finds that I made to keep them busy while I was gone. We have also been working on a sweet little art project that I am realizing will go a long way.
I handed out two pieces of construction paper to each student. Beforehand I told them that I was going to pick the colors so there would not be any fighting. Once everyone had their construction paper they had to fold them over. This gave me an opportunity to review a prior ‘whole and halves’ fraction lesson. Then they had to share my scissors and cut along the folded line. Then they had to switch one half of each color with each person sitting to either side of them. In the end everyone had four different colored halves which we proceeded to staple into small books. Basically, I had this idea to make books out of the construction paper but I really had not figured out what I was going to have them write in the books.
Once we were finished making the actual books I realized that they really love them and they’re going to bring them home to show their parents and my hope is that they will look through them often over the holiday. I figured it would be a good way to put a lot of the information we learned and then they would constantly be reviewing it. So each page in the book had a simple topic. One page just listed the months of the year, another had the days of the week, another had time, another had ‘opposites’, another consisted of writing a word in plural form, whereas another was the use of ‘a’ and ‘an’ and vowels. We’re not finished yet.
Earlier this week we had a visitor who fitted some of the students with hearing aids. I’ve noticed that a few kids have hearing aids but I never really investigated into the quality of the aid. I just assumed it was of very poor quality and was most likely some brand that I never heard of. Anyways, I went to introduce myself to our visitor and I starting asking him questions about the hearing aids. Much to my surprise they are the same brand as mine. The model isn’t the same but it was neat to see that same familiar Phonak brand that my family uses. One of the students that received a hearing aid is in my class. It has been interesting to see him function with it and hear new sounds. I try to test him in class by making different noises. When I do a very loud low hum he first thought it was a plane flying overheard. Since he has figured out that its me every time I hum he just smiles and points at me. During the middle of PE he heard some nearby farm machinery and his face lit up. I was curious to see just exactly what the sound from his aid was like so I did a little experiment and switched one of his with one of mine. Obviously we did not switch ear molds, I only switched the aids. It wasn’t bad, just different.
This post has nothing to do about my experience in Kenya. If you don’t care about the Green Bay Packers, then you probably do not want to continue reading.
You cannot call yourself a Packers fan and root for Favre at the same time. Especially today, this is a HUGE game, not because of the drama of Favre’s homecoming but because of the race for NFC North. I bleed green and gold. I have nothing but respect for Favre and as a Packers fan I truly appreciate everything he has done for our team over the years. He had a remarkable career in Green Bay and someday he’ll be inducted into the hall of fame as a Packer. He played for so long that I feel like I grew up with him. But those days are over. You can’t live in the past.
While I was sad to see Favre retire from the Packers, I agree with Ted Thompson’s decision to not let Favre come back. Favre poured his heart out in an emotional press conference in which he said:
I know theres been a lot of comments and issues in the press lately about why I’m leaving, whether or not the Packers did enough, whether or not Ted and Mike tried to convince me to stay. None of those things have ANYTHING to do with me retiring. And thats from the heart.
If Favre was allowed back and the next offseason had another emotional retirement press conference, how would we know that it really is official? When is it final? We would have been left to the mercy of his waffling even after he has an emotional press conference and declares he is done.
Favre’s performance in the second half of last season proves that Thompson was right. Ted Thompson is one of the best general managers in the league and arguably the best judge of talent in football. He is to football what Billy Beane is to baseball. He builds his team through the draft which is the best way to do it especially for a small market team like the Packers. He has put together a great team, with a great quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. We’re lucky to have Ted Thompson as our general manager and Aaron Rodgers as our quarterback.
Aaron Rodgers didn’t ask to be Favre’s replacement. Not only has he played brilliantly in his first two seasons as a starter but he has been a true professional ever since he was drafted. Many people thought he would go number one in the draft several years ago but he fell all the way down to the Packers. He even handled that embarrassing fall in the draft with class.
A lot of speculation has been made about if the fans are going to cheer for Favre or boo him. I say who cares? Just cheer loudly for Rodgers. He’s our quarterback now and he has done one hell of a job.
Last week my good friend Charlotte came by for a visit. She was in Nairobi helping to organize training for the new trainees. She had a few extra days so she made the trip north to Meru and Maua. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate as it was cold and rainy during her entire visit. But it was a good time. Charlotte is deaf and I made her visit every class and brag about herself. It is very important for the students to see a successful deaf person. They and I miss her already. It was a fun few days.
Today and tomorrow we have exams. This is always a frustrating and disheartening time because as I have mentioned before the tests are really pathetic and therefore are a terrible measure of the students’ abilities. There was one entertaining moment in the day when a lizard came into the classroom and scared everyone. It caught everyone off guard but its not nearly as terrifying as a bird flying into the classroom.
Next Wednesday I will be joining a few other volunteers to meet the new trainees at the airport. I am very excited! I haven’t left my site at all in the past two months and I need a break. The arrival of the new trainees reminds me of how I felt when I first arrived in Kenya. I had no idea what I was in for. I can’t believe its been almost one year.
Happy Halloween!
As you may have noticed there have been some additions to the website. There finally is an ‘about me’ page and a neew page, The Harambee Project. I am working in collaboration with Books for Africa, a nonprofit organization and four other current and returned volunteers to bring over 20,000 books to schools throughout Kenya. I recently met with the Board of Governors at my school to make sure they help with funding to build the library. Books for Africa is giving us a sea container of books but we need to raise the money to bring the books here. Please take the time to read about the project. If you have any questions please let me know and I will do my best to answer them. Also, thanks to Andy Camann for updating the website!
On Tuesday we started multiplication. The kids are pretty good at their multiplication tables but I wanted to make sure they actually understand the concept. The former volunteer, Sharon, previously brought with her some interlocking math cubes that have been a blessing. I use them for everything in math and they are such a great visual.
The simple problems they understood fairly quickly. It was a hilarious moment when I said that 2×3 is the same as 3×2. First I showed them 2 stacks each consisting of 3 cubes then I slowly changed the stacks into three stacks consisting of 2 cubes each. They were blown away. Jaws dropped, arms were in the air…What a spectacle.
A side note, I endured another death defying matatu ride into Maua earlier this week. Pray for me, seriously. Those drivers are crazy.
Every Monday I write ten new vocabulary words on the board. We practice them everyday and there is a test on Friday. This is always a fun session for me as when we practice, I just throw a ball around. I’ll toss the ball to someone and they have to fingerspell the word that I sign or I’ll write a sentence using KSL grammar on the board and they have to fill in the blank with one of the words from the vocabulary list. To spice things up, I’ll penalize them (write their name on the board to help clean the room at the end of the day) if they drop the ball. So I try to fake them out by looking at one student and throwing the ball to another or tossing it behind my back or over my shoulder. Its great fun as everyone is on the edge of their seats waiting in anticipation for the ball. Although, sometimes they can get pretty upset at me if they do drop the ball and they’ll whine (I HATE WHINING), so to prevent this whiny behavior, I include myself in the game. If I drop the ball when they toss it back I’ll write my own name on the board and help clean the room at the end of the day with them. The only rule is you can’t throw the ball like an Aaron Rodgers missile (notice I didn’t use the ‘F’ name there.)
This week marks my tenth month in Kenya. Some days when I look back it seems like the time just flew by, but other days it feels like I have been here for a long time. Its been worth it though and I’m looking forward to another 17 months. Now onto a recap of the first full week of term 3.
Most of the students arrived earlier than I expected. I think this is a result of the severe drought that Kenya is currently enduring. Parents are eager to get their kids off to school since there is little food at home. I must admit that I wasn’t feeling motivated at all when I sat down and starting planning for the term but that all changed when the students started arriving. I was pretty happy to see them and I like to think they were happy to see me.
We started going over the rules again and my reward system. Basically, if you’re good, you get a star for the star and once you accumulate five stars you get a reward. Furthermore, one student received a star everyday last term. So I gave him a Cadbury’s Chocolate bar. And man, has behavior been excellent so far. Monday there were only about seven out of twelve students in attendance. I wanted each of them to tell a story about their break to the class. Each basically had the same story: “I help my family wash, clean, and cook.”
I did not introduce any new material this week, we only reviewed content from the last term. The majority of the week consisted of doing classroom activities so that they can help each other remember the things we worked on previously. I was impressed that many of them remembered a lot of the material.
Our first art project of the term was to create folders for organizing homework. I had them write their name and “homework” on the front of their folder and they were free to decorate and color whatever else they wanted.
I am going to make them worksheets on my own this term. I did a little bit of this before and it worked out well. Unfortunately, the nice Epson printer that the previous volunteer donated doesn’t work so instead I email myself the worksheet and print it off in town. One worksheet I created was a wordsearch which they all loved except for the fact that I mistakenly didn’t include some of the words I listed. Oops. But it was great to sit down, relax and watch their minds at work.
Another highlight of the week was when I finally convinced the teachers if we could change the menu at lunch. Previously, we were eating githeri (maize and beans) every day. I just couldn’t take it anymore. Githeri maybe once or twice a week I can handle, but having to eat it everyday was hell. Its disgusting. I hate it. Everyday I stare at it, wishing it was something else, anything. The teachers have even made the remark that I look like I’m praying for it to change. But now we will only eat githeri twice a week. Thank GOD. The other meals will consist of a combination of green grams, rice, ugali, and meat. Ugali sucks too but I’ll eat it if it means one less meal of githeri a week.
On Friday a group of special education students from the university in Meru came into my classroom. Some of these college students will eventually be teaching in Deaf schools. I was asked by the deputy head teacher if I wanted to say anything. I took the opportunity to emphasize the importance of good signing skills. If you are going to teach Deaf, you MUST know KSL because it is their language. I said English is a foreign language to them, just like Kiswahili is a foreign language to me. A few gentlemen stayed in my classroom once the rest of the group left to ask me a few questions. They didn’t know sign language, how depressing.
Today I went to one of the local tea factories with some new friends that are working at the hospital. They are medical students from Denmark. There wasn’t much going on at the factory because of the current drought, but it was nice to learn more about one of Kenya’s biggest cash crops and to share some conversations with other mzungus my age.
I know I know, its been forever since I made a post. At this point, I probably have lost all of my 10 readers with the exception of my mom and my friends who hate their jobs and spend all day online reading whatever they can find. I like to think that I will be able to post more frequently this term and maybe gain some new readers.
Almost the entire month of August I was on the road praying not to die in a matatu. Here is a recap of the month’s travels:
The first week of August I attended a training workshop about permaculture which in short is about sustainable farming and agriculture related things. I really just signed up for it because it was a way to stay in a nice hotel, eat some free food and catch up with other volunteers. It was a small group of volunteers and I was the only one from the deaf education sector. It was a great opportunity to get to know some other volunteers. The actual workshop was surprisingly interesting. I wouldn’t mind making my own garden but I’m sure my favorite little neighbor (Nestor) would find some way to destroy it. After the workshop I briefly went back to my site for a few days before heading to Loitokitok to visit my host family.
The journey from Maua to Loitokitok is a long one. I had to change vehicles many times. The whole trip took about 12 hours. But it was great to get down there and see the family. Almost immediately my little brothers started a pillow fight. It was great. All they wanted to do was play, play, play and after three days I was exhausted. While it was nice to see the family, it was weird going back to Loitokitok in the sense that all of my volunteer friends weren’t there. It was similar to the feeling you get when you make your first visit home after leaving for college. Additionally, Loitokitok is suffering from substantial drought. It has not rained since my training group was there ten months ago. All of the plants were dead and there was so much dust. It was almost like stepping in brown snow.
I left Loitokitok EARLY on the 14th with my momma. She was going to Nakuru to see her family so we traveled to Nairobi together. I was going to Nairobi to get on the train and head to Mombasa. I was not looking forward to riding the train as Loitokitok is between Nairobi and Mombasa and I had to back track to Nairobi only to wait around all day to take the train that night when I could have been in Mombasa that afternoon. But I had already told my friend I would and she had already bought the tickets.
The train wasn’t that bad at all. It was actually quite charming. We traveled first class which consisted of a small room with a closet, a sink and two beds. We passed the time by staring out the window in the darkness surrounding one of the slums of Nairobi. At 8 the dinner bell rang and we headed to the restaurant car. We sat down next to two individuals who worked in Nairobi. One girl was from Greece and she worked for an NGO. I can’t remember her name but she gave us a newspaper that was created by school children. The guy was from Germany and his name was Gustav. He owns his own business in Nairobi. We talked about German food and I told him how Wisconsin has a pretty rich German heritage and we talked about Oktoberfest USA which to my surprise he actually knows about. The next morning we sat next to a couple from the California that was traveling all over Africa. They were also on their way to Zanzibar and we later ran into them three more times.
The train was supposed to arrive in Mombasa in the morning but due to an accident with the cargo train in front of us, our arrival was delayed until late afternoon. It really wasn’t a big deal because I’m used to this sort of thing happening in Africa. I just went to back to the restaurant car, read my book and had a beer to pass the time. It was entertaining for us to watch the other people on the train complain. Many of them were tourists who were in a hurry and were not quite used to African time just yet. It just reminded me of how impatient most people are where I from and chuckled to myself because I used to be that impatient also. As they said during training, you’ll learn to have “pockets full of patience.”
In Mombasa we met up with our dear friends Erin, Paul and Charlotte and we left for Zanzibar early the next morning.
Zanzibar was beautiful. Zanzibar is an island off the Tanzanian coast. It is a hot spot for many tourists from Europe. There were many different places to eat. We ate out almost every night. We went to the beach doing the day, walked around the town, and took a spice tour. Zanzibar is well known as a trading post for spices. The last day I managed to find a place to rent sailboats like hobie cats and lasers (I’m assuming only my dad knows what I am talking about) but unfortunately they would only take cash in USD. Many places only accepted dollars and not the Tanzanian schillings, which obviously was weird.
Every night the local fishermen would sell and cook their catch in the park. It was seafood heaven. They had everything from lobsters and crab, to squid and octopus and all sorts of different fish. Paul is a big fan of octopus so he let me try some, not bad at all.
After Zanzibar I headed back to Kenya to attend more training in Embu. On the flight into Nairobi, I could easily see Mount Kilimanjaro standing out of the clouds. What a sight to see.
Embu wasn’t anything special except for catching up with some more volunteers that I haven’t seen in a while. The focus of the training was on AIDS/HIV and how we can introduce more education about the disease into our communities. The highlight of the week was visiting a home for children with AIDS/HIV. I don’t have any pictures from that day, but I’m hoping to track some down.
All in all, I traveled on buses, matatus, trains, and planes. I stayed in four different hotels. By far the best part of my travels was being able to catch up with friends as well as meeting some interesting new people along the way. It was great to catch up with friends that I have not seen in a while, Erin, Paul and Charlotte and it was just as nice to get to know some other volunteers and make new friends.
The students show up Wednesday so I’ve got some time to kill. So far I’ve spent my first few days back at site washing clothes and cleaning up my dusty house and getting ready for the new term. I’ve also spent a lot of time trying to figure out if I can somehow download NFL games as I can’t wait to listen to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers this year. I’ll let you know what I come up with.
Here are some links to Charlotte’s and Paul’s blogs. They both have pictures from the trip:
http://superkeen.com/peacecorpsweblog/2009/08/24/zanzibar
http://zlotte.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post.html
First, I want to say that I love my job (even though it doesn’t pay.) Joining the Peace Corps could very well turn out to be the best decision I’ve ever made. I think I have changed in many ways, and I like to think that when I see all of my friends and family again they will see a different and better person. And to be perfectly honest, I have not been homesick… until now.
During the first few months if I ever had a stressful day or questioned my decision to come here, I would quickly remind myself that it was winter in Wisconsin and immediately I was happy that I was in Africa. I could also tell myself that I probably would not find a job. And while I still probably wouldn’t be able to find a job, there are many things I miss about being home in the summer.
I miss my family. I miss sailing. I miss sailing with my family. I miss racing with my dad on Wednesdays and then being rewarded with nice meal out.
I miss going for a swim in the lake after a long run.
Mountain biking, man I miss mountain biking.
THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS.
I’m not sure how I started to become a fan. I certainly wasn’t the best little leaguer. I think a lot of it had to do with my grandpa. If the crew was playing, he was watching or listening to them on the radio. I’ll never forget the summer that I lived in New York, when the Brewers were finally turning into something. I could not watch the Brewers as regularly as I would have preferred but whenever I called my grandparents it usually was during a brewers game and I always called at just the right moment. My grandpa would put the phone up to the radio so I could hear Uecker calling the play. Whenever I was home during the summer, I would always walk down the street to watch the games with my grandparents. My grandpa died a few years ago but I would still watch the games with my grandma. My grandma and I share the same birthday and as a surprise my family took her to a brewer game, I wish I could have been there.
I miss my friends. Today, two of my close friends, Wes and Britta, are getting married. Wes was one of my roommates in college but I’m probably just as close to Britta as I am to him.
Wes and Britta met each other through myself and the rest of my college roommates, Andy, Shawn and Dave. Its been nearly two years since all of us have been together and I can’t believe it has been that long because I know I could just show up at the wedding and it would be like we were never apart. Those guys are like brothers to me and I can’t wait for all of us to be together again. But unfortunately, that won’t be for a while.
I sure am missing out this weekend.
I believe I have neglected to mention the finer details of Kenyan Life. There are a lot of little differences that I thought would make for an interesting post.
Grading Homework and Tests
In America, if you answered a question incorrectly the teacher would put a checkmark on that question. In Kenya, its the opposite. You need to put a checkmark next to the questions that were answered correctly. This was something I learned on the first assignment I gave while teaching class one months back. Of course, I graded the assignment the American way only to have all of my students start bawling. I had no idea why they were bawling until I told one of the teachers the story later in the day. Even in class 3 they whine if I did not give them enough checkmarks. Sometimes they become so angry that they ignore me for the rest of the day. I try to help them learn from their mistakes but they’ll refuse. Occasionally, if I feel that many of them will get the questions on the assignment wrong I will go over it together with them in class so that they can write the correct answers and therefore I do not have to deal with their whining if they did not do well. Unfortunately, they do not like this either. Oh and it MUST be done with a red pen. Otherwise, all hell breaks loose.
Greetings
I have probably mentioned before that one of the first English phrases Kenyans learn growing up is “How are you?” All of the little kids are constantly yelling HOW ARE YOU!? And what is really annoying is that they do it in a high nasally sounding voice because apparently, Americans have a higher pitch in their voice so they are trying to sound like us. Volunteers always like to joke about how we yell back “I am fine!” in an even more obvious and higher sounding nasally voice.
Furthermore, when you greet a Kenyan they almost always assume you are asking how they are. If I say hello or good morning, oftentimes I will get a “I am fine” or “I’m very fine thank you” response even though I did not ask how they were doing. You must also ALWAYS shake hands especially with people you know or work with. If I walk up to a group of teachers, I have to do more than just wave and say “hello.” I MUST talk with them for a while and shake all of their hands. Otherwise, they will think that I am mad at them or that something is wrong.
Beer
Beer in Kenya either comes in 300 ml bottles or 500 ml bottles. If the beer you want only comes in the 300 ml bottle they will always give you two even if you asked for one. It is assumed that because you ordered the smaller bottle that you will have two. Because many drinking establishments do not have electricity they beer is often served warm. But what I find peculiar is that even in places that do have cold beer, you have to request a cold beer otherwise they just give you a warm one. And there is no tipping at the restaurants here with the exception of some very nice restaurants in the bigger towns.
Clothes
Most of the clothes that can be bought in the market are second hand clothes from America or another developed country. I am not sure but I think there is an organization like the Salvation Army that donates or sells the second hand clothes for dirt cheap to be sold in markets across Kenya. Many people make their living by selling these clothes. Much of it is actually of pretty good quality and while I haven’t bought anything yet, I am always looking out for a hidden treasure, preferably a 1982 Milwaukee Brewers World Series/AL Champions shirt.
Weather
It is cold here now. VERY cold. I really have no idea what the exact temperature is but there is definitely a wind chill here in Maua. The winds are INSANE. If I would to guess I would say that the average wind speed during the month of July is around 20 mph with gusts much higher than that. And it never slows down, even at night the wind is howling. Almost every night I wear my heavy fleece and my UW-L Swimming sweatpants and yes, my winter hat. Another thing about the weather that really sucks is that we’re in another dry season already. So the wind combined with the dry weather makes for a very dusty and dirty environment. This is especially bothersome while running as I feel like I am just breathing in pounds of dirt.
“Top Up Here”
Many people may be surprised that there are many cellular options here. I think there are about four or five cellular phone companies. The majority of cell phone users, including myself, purchase a SIM card that is placed in your phone. There is no monthly bill but you have to pay for the phone, the SIM card and credit. This is a pay as you go approach which is referred to as “topping up.” You can purchase a scratch card almost anywhere even in the tiny villages. Almost every shop in Kenya, no matter how small it is has a “Top Up Here” sign from one of the major phone companies. You just scratch off the number on the card and enter it in the phone to receive more minutes.
Kenyans are CONSERVATIVE
The women of the family are expected to work for the men. Wash their clothes, clean the house, do all the chores, cook and care for the children. The men DO NOT do any of these things if they have a wife. Kenyans also do not show any affection to one another. You will never find a husband kissing, hugging or even holding hands with his wife. This sort of thing is frowned upon. I am told that many Kenyans were not so enthusiastic when Obama embraced his wife after he won the election. Contrarily, it is not uncommon to find men holding hands. This is very common and completely normal even though homosexuality is strongly oppressed.
As far as I know all Kenyan men are circumcised in their early teens and without any pain medication or anesthesia. This is a ceremony and a sort of rite of passage into manhood. Also, men are not supposed to cry, ever.
Witchcraft
Have I talked about this?? Well, if I haven’t I am sorry. I have heard some pretty crazy stories about witchcraft. One of the most popular stories is that during the post election violence in 2008 there was an increase in crime and looting. At an electronics shop the owner was watching a group of looters raid his shop and the only thing he did about it was put a curse on them. The story goes that when the thieves returned home they could not put anything down. If they were carrying a television on their shoulder they could not place it down until they returned it to the shop. I have also heard that if a person has a curse placed on them that it stays with them even after they die. A close friend told me that the corpse will get bigger and bigger and will break the coffin unless a witch doctor is summoned to remove the curse. I certainly do not know the truth to any of these stories, but many of my Kenyan friends believe witchcraft to be true. If something crazy occurs, people just write it off as witchcraft.
As the term winds down I am hoping to write a few more posts before I leave my site and do some more traveling in August.
more photos...
My name is Matt and I am a Peace Corps Volunteer living in Kenya from 2008 to 2011. more...
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