Greetings from Kenya!
As you can tell from the high number of posts so far, we don’t have
easy access to the internet. Our town’s post office that has had
internet in the past is undergoing upgrades, or the isp is undergoing
upgrades, or a goat chewed through the cable. So being dutiful email
junkies that we are we made a 1.5 trip from our town to Machakos. So
there’s so many things to talk about that I’m sure we’ll miss a few of
your questions. Feel free to send us a email and ask away (Or send us
a letter, we love letters! No postcards though as they may end up as
decoration in a local posta)
BLOG STUFF
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So some people have asked us how to post to the mailing list that
everyone has signed up on. It’s really only meant to be one way, us to
you. You don’t have to worry about the passwords or anything to
recieve our emails. If you reply to a email from the blog it goes to
both of us.
PHONE NUMBER (Bebeth)
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Cell phones are everywhere in Kenya, even in the poorest families.
So…we too have gotten our first cell phone. Currently it costs
around $.50 a minute to call the US and on our $20 butget a week it is
quite expensive. Unlike the US, it is free to receive calls and would
love to hear from anyone. We do know that it is expensive for you to
call us as well. Our number is 254726088338 (that includes the country
code.) Text messaging is very popular here and cheap, so you may be
receiving one of those from us. Like calls they are free for us to
receive. (Gabrielle - did you think it would take me moving to Africa
to start text messaging?)
HOME STAY STUFF (Bebeth)
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As you have read from my mom, things are going very well so far. Our
homestay has turned out to be one of the best parts of training. We
live in a pretty nice house by Kitui standards. It has a solar panel
which gives us electricity until about 9 pm (once the rains start, it
won’t last so long). We have bio-gas to cook on (methane made from cow
dung and water). We have running water inside (usually) and also a
flushing choo. A choo (aka pit latrine) is basically just a hole in
the ground, so a flushing choo is just like a toilet stuck in the
ground, so you still have to squat above it. For those of you who are
campers, this is really nothing new. Another really nice feature of
our house is the fact that the roof doesn’t leak….not all volunteers
are quite so lucky. As for the family, they are also really great. The
host mother (or mama as all mothers in this country are called whether
or not they are your mother) is a Nurse at the local hospital and our
host father is a principal a the local deaf school. They are both
obviously very educated and very progressive/liberal by Kenyan
standards. As mom quoted, the food is “very yummy.” Cabbage is my new
favorite food along with goat meat. The dinner process, however, is
not our favorite. It usually takes around 2 hours to make…longer if
there is anything complicated. Frozen pizzas haven’t made it here yet!
MEDICAL (Mark)
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So when we told you we were going to Kenya, I’m sure one of the first
things that went through your mind was all the lovely diseases that
one can get while over here and I’m telling you can get some doozies.
So far we’ve gotten typhoid, malaria, rabies, tetanus, yellow fever,
polio …. vaccinations that is. Every week we get stuck with several
needles and take our malaria meds. Our health is taken extremely
seriously here, so much so that if we are caught not taking our
malaria pills we can be sent home. We have been taught how to take
stool samples, prepare blood samples (which involves pricking yourself
with a lancet and smearing it on a couple of slides). We’re taught how
to make our own re-hydration drinks from local ingredients (salt,
oranges, water, sugar, etc). We know about the BRAT (Bananas, Rice,
Applesauce, Toast ) diet, multiple ways to purify and store safe
drinking water, we know about shistomaiosis, malaria, mango flies, and
lots about hiv/aids.
So far we’ve avoided having any problems. Both of us have stayed very
healthy and adjustaded to the food quite well. I’ve had some minor
reactions to some bug bites, and we’ve both gotten blisters, but aside
from that we’re doing great!
more to come….