We have just finished week 4 of the project and have reached the halfway point of our time in Kenya. We realised this as we took our 35th antimalarial tablet of 70 today at breakfast and pondered the significance of this moment.
Looking back at our first five weeks, here are some of our greatest personal achievements aside from the project.
We think number one has to be making Mama a plate of food that she enjoyed. We have been trying extremely hard to convince her that we are independent and self-sufficient. We’re not sure she believes us just yet.
She didn’t enjoy it quite as much as we did, but it was a win for us.
On Saturday we were put to work: we washed all our clothes Kenyan style, cooked ugali and cabbage for the family and washed up the dishes in the sun. Our poor muzungu bodies were exhausted by the end of the day. We finished the action packed day with an intense game of snap with the kids.
We have also been trying to pick up some Kiswahili, so we are now able to understand and talk to people a little more. The tribal language around here is Kiluya. We haven’t got too far with that one yet.. We got the chance to practice our language skills when we visited Eunice’s church in Malava. We were initially terrified at the prospect, as Bea had accidentally volunteered us to give a sermon, but we got away with a little introduction and a prayer. No big deal!
The church was quite a way off the main road, when we got there we were welcomed into a mud hut with plastic chairs and a modest but friendly congregation of about 20 people. It was definitely an experience! The sermon wasn’t like any one we had ever been to before. We definitely enjoyed the singing and dancing though, accompanied by a gang of little kids who were watching us through a crack in the wall.
At the end of it all, we got to meet Eunice’s lovely family over a soda.
During the week we went all the way to Kisumu to find a photocopier for the school. We had heard of a good supplier who had sold to other EPAfrica Project Workers in the past, so he was our first port of call. His shop was hard to find, but when we got there we found him to be extremely friendly and hospitable, and his prices were definitely the best we’d seen so far. We soon agreed on a machine that would cater for our school, and the manager, Elfas, promised to deliver it personally on Monday. When we called Mildred to tell her the arrangements she was really really happy, exam period is a huge strain for the school.
Anyway, once all that was decided, Elfas told us we could not leave Kisumu without visiting Lake Victoria. He promptly drove us out to a super fancy restaurant on the lake and bought us possibly the best meal we have had so far. Love a good business lunch!
We also spotted some cool crocodile lizard creatures.
On our way back from Kisumu, we dropped in on our Coordinators in Kakamega as it was getting late and we couldn’t get home before dark. The house got invaded by a cockerel trying to stage a coup on our manager, Kate. Words can’t describe the panic that ensued. Maybe a video can!
While in Kakamega we also ran into Ringtone, our celebrity friend, who very generously gifted us with a couple of t-shirts from his new clothing brand, Ringwear. It was an exciting moment!
Anyway that’s all for now! Goodbye from us (and Kanny and Trevor!)
Bea and Emily: The best is yet to come 