East Africa Day 45 (Mon June 27): Adventure Planning

Elaine and I got up late this AM – after 10am. Elaine then made roasted potatoes with rosemary from her mother’s garden in Irvine, CA. Over breakfast Elaine taught me how to dry rosemary branches. She ships it all over the world to friends, straight from her mother’s garden. She then helped me plan my next adventure – Kibale National Park, to go Chimp Tracking. She’s an expert on Uganda’s parks and wildlife, because she’s spent a lot of time (sometimes five weeks at a time) in the parks conducting research. I really appreciated her advice.

We then took a matatu over to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) main office, which is approximately a ten minute drive away. I went into the permitting office to gather more information about the Chimp Tracking Permits. Just like the Gorilla Permits, you need to buy a permit to see the chimps. Only a certain number of permits are sold for each day. I would go see the Gorillas on the border with Rwanda, but the permits are $500 per day, whereas the Chimp Tracking Permits are $90 per day – plus park admission fees. I was able to get a Chimp Tracking Permit for this Wednesday, July 29. I decided to take it when I learned that the National Park Fees were going up on July 1. Kibale is $30, but will go up to $35 on July 1. So that seemed like an extra incentive to go to Kibale this week:)

After purchasing my permit and park admission ticket, I hung out in the UWA library while Elaine finished up her meetings with EWA staff regarding her Fulbright project. I made an attempt to plan out my next two weeks in East Africa – looked at a calendar, and made some phone calls. I’m going to visit the Invisible Children office in Gulu on Monday! Caught up with my mom for a little bit.

Elaine and I then took a matatu back to her neighborhood, where we ran into Liz and did some shopping in the markets – fruit, groceries.


photo: Liz and Elaine outside of Elaine's apartment building

Then headed back to her apartment and made dinner. Her friend Katherine from Iceland, who attended Cal stopped by with her friend John. They’d had a very eventful visit to Murchinson Falls. Katherine picked up her bag and had to head to the airport to fly to Iceland. John is spending the night at Elaine’s and leaves for Rwanda tomorrow, via bus. I leave at 7:30am to catch the bus to Fort Portal, and then a matatu to the place I’m staying outside of Kibale National Park. Looking forward to taking the Post Bus to Fort Portal!

East Africa Day 44 (Sun June 26): Catching Up

Elaine made the best porridge this AM for breakfast, and then we spent the day hanging out in her apartment catching up on work. She is preparing for a presentation that she is giving at an IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) in South Africa early next month. I did my laundry in her bathroom sink, organized my photographs from Sipi Falls, and caught up on these blog posts. It was also a lot of fun to talk more about her research, Pace Law School, and East Africa. She returns to the USA on August 4 to start her PhD program in Vancouver – I am so glad that she is still here, and I got to meet her!

This evening we took bodas to an Ethiopian restaurant, Chameleone, for a late dinner, joined by her two friends Liz and Chris. Liz lives next door and is also on a Fulbright. She's from Omaha, and is writing a non-fiction piece on reusable menstrual pads. We sat outside in the cool night air, with nice lighting, and shared two large vegetarian platters and had tea. It was great to hear about their work and to just hang out. Chris is from Los Angeles, but moved here within the last year to work for a travel company, where he handles finances and does some IT work. Was really fun night, and fun to experience the locals scene:)

East Africa Day 43 (Sat June 25): Kampala, the Capital of Uganda

Woke up this AM, had breakfast, checked out, and walked to the edge of the road to catch a matatu headed towards Mbale. It was a small car, so we figured that we’d be the only passengers. Nope – I twas a matatu – just a small one! We met an interesting Ugandan while crammed four people into the back seat, who talked with us about Michelle Obama’s recent visit to Africa. I’d read about it in the Youth E-Newsletter that I get from the White House – it was interesting to hear his thoughts about it. Mostly that Michelle was in Africa to uplift women, but what about the boys? The matatu fortunately didn’t drop us in the small town where we’d been dropped on Thursday, and took us all the way to Mbale. We returned to the nautical-inspired restaurant for a small bite (again, really to use the bathroom) and then we found the Mbale post office, and caught the Post Bus headed towards Jinja. From there it was another really pleasant ride back into town. I decided that I will visit anywhere in Uganda that is serviced by the Post Bus:) It cost 8,000 UGX to Mbale and 10,000 UGX back to Jinja.

We caught bodas back to Meghan’s house from the Jinja post office, and I re-packed my stuff. Snapped this photo of Meghan in front of the wall of photos of previous Light Gives Heat volunteers. Meghan’s photo will be added to the wall when she leaves Uganda in seven weeks.



I took a boda back to Backpackers, but when I got there I found that the hostel was full. Fortunately I was able to catch the hostel’s shuttle to Kamapala. I rode on an airport-shuttle style bus with a British Gap Year student who was en-route to Rwanda to see the gorillas. She had been volunteering in Arusha, Tanzania, and had taken a 28 hour-ish Kampala Coach bus ride from Dar es Salaam to Uganda. She told me about Ujamaa Hostel in Arusha, where she was living while volunteering. The hostel coordinates long-term volunteer placements, and most of the hostel guests are volunteers. The hostel was founded by a Tanzanian man and his Australian wife, who had come to Tanzania to volunteer and was frustrated by the high prices that coordinating groups charge would-be volunteers for placements. We stopped at t gas station and picked up two guys who had just finished a day of white water rafting. One guy was from Switzerland and had just finished a six month volunteer placement in Ethiopia. He was teaching computers at a religiously affiliated school. I didn’t meet the second guy on our bus.

I was dropped off at Nakumatt in Kampala, and then took a boda to the Makerere University campus main gates. Walked through campus to the apartment occupied by fellow Pace Environmental Law Alum, Elaine Hsaio. Elaine is here on a Fulbright, and has been put up in a really nice, furnished two bedroom apartment. I arrived at night so I didn’t see much of Kampala, but from what I did see, it seemed like a very bustling city. I am so happy to be staying with Elaine, who I only just met in person tonight when I knocked on her door. We had a great talk, and then I was fast asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow:)

East Africa Day 42 (Fri June 24): Sipi Falls

This morning I noticed Ugandan staff members carrying jeri cans of water up the hill from the stream towards the bandas that have running water in them. I also saw some fires going – I assume that water was being heated for the buildings. However when Meg and I tried to shower in the AM, we found the water was cold. She showered – I declined.

We had fruit, toast, coffee (locally grown) and tea for breakfast, and then Fred took us on a guided walk to the three Sipi Falls waterfalls. I learned that the top of the third waterfall is approximately 1 kilometer from the Mt. Elgon National Park border. So we were not walking on government-owned land- it was all privately owned. Hence, the need to take the guide. We walked through fields under cultivation, past people’s homes, and through some woods to get to the three waterfalls. The community members need to be reimbursed in exchange for crossing their land. Fred took care of all of that for us. Also, even though I had imagined that Sipi Falls was a well-visited place that would be overly accessible, it turned out that we were walking on muddy single track paths that weren’t that well worn – especially considering that community members traverse them as well to get water, etc. It wasn’t quite a total wilderness feel, but we also didn’t see any other tourists today. We stopped and had a picnic lunch of sandwiches, bananas and hardboiled eggs, near the base of the third waterfall. (No, I didn’t eat the eggs.)


Photo: the first waterfall


Photo: the second waterfall


Photo: the third waterfall

We got back to Lacam Lodge at about 3pm. We then walked down the road to the Crows Nest to check out the hostel’s accommodations for Meghan’s roommates who might come visit Sipi Falls, and to find out about how to get back down to Jinja. (Lacam Lodge was great, but we thought that they might try to get us to hire a private car, and we wanted to find a more affordable way of getting down the mountain.) After seeing the Crows Nest, we were very glad that we were staying at Lacam Lodge, though Simon, the employee that we met was very nice and gave us great advice about how to get back to Jinja.

We walked back to Lacam Lodge, took (hot) showers and spent the rest of the afternoon admiring the view from the main building’s deck, and reading.


Photo: view from the deck.


Photo: our banda in the lower right, and the view beyond.

Dinner – again at 6pm – was very good. By this point two other groups of younger, white tourists had shown up, so the joint was a little livelier. However I think that Meghan and I were both asleep (again) by 8pm:) You can’t really tell from the photos – fortunately – but it was very hot out, the climb was steep at times, and we got very, very sweaty. We needed the sleep!

East Africa Day 41 (Thurs June 23): The Post Bus & other Transportation Adventures

Meghan and I met up at her house early this AM. I left most of my stuff in her room, and took just my day pack with me when we left the house, bound for the Post Office in town, where we’d catch the Post Bus to Mbale, a town enroute to Sipi Falls. We boarded the bus at around 10am – it was so nice! It had a flat screen TV that folds down from the bus ceiling, behind the driver. It showed music videos until the bus started up, and then the TV was turned off and the screen folded back up. But then the bus piped East African and American pop music through the speakers at a moderate level, for the duration of the drive. It was a few hours to Mbale. I was reading “What is the What” and looking out the window.

When we got to Mbale, we learned that we should walk to the clock tower in town to find a matatu to Sipi Falls. We stopped at an Indian-owned restaurant with interior décor that was somewhat nautical, mostly to use the bathroom. When we exited the restaurant a matatu driver pulled up to the curb and asked if we were going to Sipi Falls. We said yes, asked the price (5,500 UGX/each) and jumped in. Sure enough, the matatu drove around town picking up and dropping off passengers, before we headed out of town. Fortunately we weren’t in a rush – this was part of the adventure!

When we got to a small town, we were told to get out of the matatu. We were then told that someone else would drive us to Sipi Falls from there. The driver handed me 5,000 UGX and said that would be enough to get to Sipi from the town. Then someone from the matatu connected us with a man who was driving an SUV style car, that was headed up to Sipi Falls. It was already full of Ugandans and a lot of packages, but Meghan and I fit in. Fortunately it was a short drive, but up a steep hil. At the top, we were dropped off at Lacam Lodge, where we were staying, and were charged 8,800 UGX each. But at least we were there.

We walked down the driveway too Lacam Lodge, where we were greeted by Fred, who is under 30 and one of the tour guides/managers at the lodge, which we later learned is owned by 2-3 white men, and a Ugandan who lives nearby. When I signed in, I saw that the last guest had signed in on the 16th, and that Meghan and I were the only guests. Clearly they were not overbooked but it made us feel better to have made the advance reservation. We were shown to our banda, which had a bunk bed and a third bed. The bathrooms were in separate bandas not far from our banda. We walked up to the main lodge where the bar and restaurant and deck are located, and read our books until dinner. Fred also walked us along the path below the deck, to a view point for the waterfall that you can see from the property. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous – tropical, diverse, and very vibrantly green.



Dinner – as I had read on Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree – was very good – four courses. We ate at a table overlooking the view. After dinner we retired to the banda and read. The property does not seem to have electricity. We used lanterns.

East Africa Day 40 (Wed June 22): Acumen Fund Blog Post

It felt really good to sit down and summarize the Daraja Academy Blue Sweater Club event for the Acumen Fund Community website. I hadn’t taken the time to process the event for myself, nor had I prepared any sort of concise summary of it, even in my head. The writing of the post for the Community website made me do that.

Today I learned that one of my photos from The Blue Sweater Club has been selected for publication on another blog! So I got to prepare a summary to go along with the photo. This proved to be another opportunity to comprehensively consider my work at Daraja. Not surprisingly, it took me most of the evening to write the post. I’ll make a note in my blog when it’s been published.

I hung out in the Backpackers hostel lounge for the afternoon and evening, working on this and considering what’s next in my East Africa adventures. Earlier this afternoon I headed over to Meghan’s house and we planned our upcoming trip and ran some errands in “Jinja Town” (downtown).We ran into some of her housemates/fellow volunteers on the main strip – I think called Main Street:)



I’m meeting Meghan at her house tomorrow morning, and we are heading to Sipi Falls.

East Africa Day 39 (Tues June 21, 2011): In the Beginning it will be Hard

I slept well last night, after yesterday's adventures on the Nile!

After a shower I sat with Stacey, Maria, and their two fellow volunteers from Germany in the hostel’s porch/lounge area for a while. They were preparing to part ways. Stacey is headed back to the village with Maria, and the German women are going to visit an orphanage in a nearby town that they had volunteered for during a previous summer. By the time the German volunteers get back to the village, Stacey will have already left Kenya to head back to Canada.



I also met a Bulgarian woman studying at a university in London, who has been staying at the hostel with a big group of mostly theater majors from her school. Twenty students from her school have been here in Uganda for the past month, volunteering for Soft Power, the organization that our river guide Juma's wife Sharon, runs. They each fundraised 650 pounds to cover their volunteer fees, and paid for their own plane tickets. Carmen told me that they were renovating schools - painting them inside and out, helping with construction projects, etc. They have been boarding in the schools - sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags, with bed nets. For example the school that they are working on right now has six rooms. They painted the first five rooms, and slept in the sixth room. They were here for the weekend to explore Jinja together before returning to London.

I walked over to Meghan's house, and had fun hanging out on their front porch, catching up with the Light Gives Heat Team.


photo: hanging out in the Light Gives Heat house dining room.

On my way over to the house I ran into a protest. A Ugandan man had pulled what looked like a telephone pole down, and had used it to block off the street. A small group of spectators (or maybe supporters) had formed at the intersection. I was not allowed to pass. I asked some of the young people there what was going on, and asked them the best alternate route to get to Meghan's address. One nice young guy walked me to a short cut that meanders between backyards, running parallel to the road. It was very pretty and worked out perfectly. The protest had wrapped up by the time I left Meghan's to head back to the hostel.

When I got back to the hostel I found Juma and Gerald at the bar. I asked Juma for his advice regarding the best way for a mzungu like me to make a difference in Uganda. He had a lot of interesting things to say. Firstly, he suggested that I get to know the community that I want to help. Find out what the villagers think of wazungus. Each community has a different opinion, and works differently. If they do not have a favorable impression of wazungus, then you must first try to change this. He told me some things about the Ugandan culture - crucial to understand if you want to work in Uganda. However, the thing that stuck with me the most was that like starting a business such as Nile River Explorers, in the beginning it will be hard. If you are the one who started a program or a business, then you might not be the one to actually see and experience it's success - because the early days are so hard. He gave me some great examples from NRE - contrasting how things were in the beginning, with how they are now. He said that if you want to be a part of that success, then you should either send someone in your place to start the project/organization, and then go later so that you can enjoy the success. Otherwise, just realize that you will be the one to sacrifice, but you might not be the one to enjoy the benefits of that sacrifice. Or I suppose another alternative is that you don't start a project - instead you join someone else's once it's been started and is already successful. But of course so many of us are drawn to risk.

In the course of the discussion I also learned the origins of the word Mzungu.

I later grabbed this from Wikipedia: The etymology of the word stems from a contraction of words meaning "one who wanders aimlessly" (from swahili words zungu, zunguzungu, zunguka, zungusha, mzungukaji-meaning to go round and round; from Luganda okuzunga which means to wander aimlessly ) and was coined to describe European explorers, missionaries and slave traders who traveled through East African countries in the 18th century.

Wanderer? I like the word more, now. Though I prefer to be referred to and addressed by my name, Nicole.

Meghan came by while I was talking with Juma, and he gave us his thoughts on our travel plans for this coming weekend. After that I hung out with some of the staff members and that was pretty much the end of a rainy, overcast day! Last thing I did tonight was post my recap and lesson plans for the Blue Sweater Book Club on Daraja's campus to the Acumen Fund community. Hopefully it'll help someone else!

East Africa Day 38 (Mon June 20): White Water Rafting on the Nile

photo: I'm in the long sleeve turquoise blue shirt. Meghan is sitting to my left, on the opposite side of the boat.

Meghan and I went white water rafting with the company that also owns the hostel that I'm staying at - Nile River Explorers (NRE). I think that there are four official companies that take people rafting on the Nile - the one we went with is extremely popular and SUPER well-run. I was very impressed and would definitely recommend it if you are coming to Uganda. I've heard that rafting is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Uganda - verified by the high number of people that I've seen come through the hostel for rafting trips since I checked in here last Thursday:)

We met in the hostel lobby/NRE desk at 9am. There were approximately 25 other wazungus, all about the same age, rafting with us today. Many of the people I've met at the hostel are visiting from England, but I'm sure there were other countries represented in our group. So the group then sat down on the picnic tables outside of the hostel, where we were briefed on what we would be doing that day, and were outfitted with helmets and life vests. Then we got in red NRE buses, where we ate our breakfast during the maybe 20 minute drive to the Nile - chapatis (sort of like a burrito) with a fried egg wrapped inside, and fruit - banana, passion fruit, watermelon. The chapatti was held inside of a white paper bag - it was made from a recycled piece of paper - maybe a receipt - very awesome!

We drove through several communities on our way to the Nile - from tarmac (paved roads) to single track dirt paths. When we saw a very western-looking white outhouse-style building, I knew that we must be getting very close to our final destination. Sure enough, I looked ahead and saw the Nile. I didn't bring my camera - just wearing a bathing suit, shorts, flip flops, and shirt. The flip flops were left in the truck while we were rafting. So no photos - they're stored in my head:) But the first view of our starting point was so beautiful. We exited the buses (and used the western outhouse), and were then standing on the top of a hill. We took several sets of steps that had obviously been put into the hillside by NRE, down to the shoreline. It was all green and blue water.

Juma, one of the NRE river guides, then gave us all a detailed lesson, going in depth on safety measures. We then broke ourselves up into groups, with a max of 8 people in a group. Meghan and I joined up with the two women that we had met outside of the buses, on the top of the hill, Maria and Stacey, and a German Gap Year student, Lisa. (Gap year meaning that she just graduated from high school and is on her gap year before starting university, doing some traveling around Africa.) We somehow wound up in Juma's boat, the Ugandan who had given our group the instructions. I figured that was a good thing since he gave us a great introduction to rafting and safety:)

We then got into his read, blown up rafting boat, were each given an oar, and we pushed off into the Nile. When we got about 60 feet from the shore and had practiced our rowing, Juma ordered us all into the Nile. I was the first one in the water. It was warm and very calm. We were swimming in the Nile! We then learned out to haul ourselves back into the boat. I never did manage that one - I would like to think that it is due to my small size? :) So for remainder of the day I had to be hauled back into the boat by whomever was inside of it every time we flipped over in the rapids, like a very large fish - probably the most ungraceful action I can imagine:)

Juma then asked us all how we felt about white water rafting - what kind of day were we all looking for? We all agreed that we were there for an adventure, whatever that would entail. I had really no idea what that would mean ... Ha.

We then pushed off towards our first rapid. It was a Class 5 rapid (highest being 6.) Now, let me just say that this was my first time white water rafting. The first rapid (of a total of 8 rapids that we'd do today) was like a waterfall. I don't know if it seemed easier because it was the first, or because it just wasn't that intimidating. But we made it over the waterfall/through the rapids without flipping. I didn't really anticipate that we'd flip much that day.

Then we pushed off through smooth, flat, more slowly moving water for quite a while, until we got to the next rapids. There were stretches between each rapid. This meant that we had plenty of time to talk amongst ourselves, look at the scenery, and just have fun! I think this is when I started to ask Juma questions about rafting and land use along the sides of the river:) Meghan said that she recognized the pattern as I said "So how did you get started rafting?" before we'd even gotten to the first rapid:) I love asking questions and learning just about anything, as anyone who has met me in East Africa can attest to:) I was sitting on the boat without my notebook and pen though, hoping that I would be able to remember all of the information that I was learning:)

The land along the river is owned by Ugandans and muzungos. Ugandans can lease their land to muzungos for either a period of 44 or 99 years, but at the end of the term the land reverts back to its previous owners or the government - can't remember. Juma pointed to two pieces of land on the left and right sides of the stretch of river we were on, and said that they are both owned (leased) by muzungos. It seems that there are a lot of issues about waterfront access, just as there are beach front access issues in the USA. However, I don't know what the laws are like in Uganda - are right of way protected?

We flipped on the next rapid. Even though we'd been advised that if the boat flipped, that there would be a space of air underneath the boat, and that we would be able to swim out through the curvature between the side of the boat and the surface of the Nile ... practically speaking, it was a different story. We were supposed to hold onto a rope running along the side of the boat, if we flipped in the middle of the rapid. But I lost my grip quickly, and found myself underneath the boat (maybe the bottom, maybe the top) with my eyes open, looking for an exit to the surface of the Nile. It lasted seconds, but those were scary seconds. The life vests were awesome - I later figured out that even if I couldn't tell where the surface was, and where the rapids were, that I could just lean back and would be pulled to the surface. So I got to the surface, and at that rapid I think I was picked up by one of the Ugandan River Guide staffers in a kayak, who were following along. There was also a safety boat that would rescue us. It was all totally safe and everyone was so nice and helpful. So I was pulled onto a kayak and returned to my boat.

Then we went down to the next 6 rapids ... I don't remember how many we managed to go through without flipping, but it was maybe 25% of them. It's hard to say which were the most adventurous. There was one where we flipped in the middle of a longer rapid, and Juma pulled me on top of the boat, which had been flipped over, with the bottom facing the sky, and we used it as a raft. (We'd been instructed that this might happen and that we might be pulled on top.) When I was pulled on top, it kind of felt like I was in Titanic or something - the water rushing all over, and me being high up, and looking rather frantically through the rushing white water for the other members of our boat, so that I could pull them onto the raft with us. It was all very dramatic at the time, but now seems pretty funny. That was the rapid where I think I first learned that if I found myself underneath the boat in a rapid, that I could follow the pull of my life jacket to figure out how to get myself out and to air.

On another rapid, we got stuck on a rock or something and couldn't get off. The boat was filling with water, and everyone on our boat was laughing, while the rest of the guests and staff watched us from below the rapid, hopefully entertained by our fun plight. I knew that worst case was that our boat filled with water and started to sink, and we'd have to jump out and empty the water. Given that there was so little white water there and a slow flow, I knew it would be fine. So that one was just a lot of laughing and we never wound up in the Nile.

Another one, we went "surfing" on the rapid. Juma turned us to the side sort of, and I don't know what he did, but we were surfing. It was a lot of fun, and again we didn't flip.

Throughout the trip down the Nile as the other two boats would flip, we'd pull other muzungos from other boats onto ours, or we'd find ourselves on other boats, or the rescue boat, or attached to the front of a kayak frog-style, rescued, with paddles constantly flowing freely on the surface of the water, the kayakers would retrieve them and bring them back to us. So there was a constant exchange of passengers and paddles - in this way I got to meet the other people - staff and visitors alike - and had so much fun! So much laughing and adventure. What a great day!!!

When we finished the rapids, in late afternoon, we had a BBQ in a cement-floored open patio building with changing rooms and toilets, again very western and likely built and owned by NRE. The BBQ was great. We then got back into the buses and traveled back into Jinja. I happened to sit in front of Juma, and next to Meghan. He taught us so much about nonprofits in Uganda. It was sooo interesting. It turns out that his wife, Sharon is British and runs a well-known nonprofit in Jinga, called Soft Power.

Later in the evening while hanging out at the hostel with Maria and Stacey from our boat, Juma came by with Sharon and I got to meet her. (Juma had also told me about the nonprofit that he works for, which assists Ugandan prostitutes, and his music studio and ideas for the future of Ugandan music. SUPER fascinating!!) I then hung out at the bar for a long time talking with Roggers who runs the Booze Cruise, about his experiences going to an American university in Nairobi, higher education, my research project, and so many other things. It was great!

Meghan and I bought the professional photos that we taken while we were rafting, so I'll have to post those when we get them back! For now, here's one of Maria, Meghan, Juma, me and Stacey, taken back at the hostel.



And just in case you hadn't guessed, this was an AMAZING DAY! And it was $125 - booked in person at the hostel (you don't have to be staying here to go with NRE), including one night's free stay at the dorm, breakfast, lunch (pineapple and cookies, served in the boats on the river), dinner BBQ, and all transportation. The rapids were great, but the people made it really great - I loved our boat, and the NRE River Staff and hostel staff are awesome! I could (and do) sit in the lounge for hours talking with people, making new friends:)

PS- Maria is a McGill student, who is from a town outside of Salem, MA. Turns out that a bunch of her friends from home were Marisa Jackson Hedges' students when she taught at Swampscott! Stacey is in a similar position to me - quit her job, gave up her apartment, etc to spend 6 months volunteering in Kenya. Maria and Stacey are volunteering in a village outside of Kisumu, on the western side of Kenya, near Uganda. They came to Jinja for the weekend with two other women they are volunteering with, who are from Germany. They are living in a mud hut together, and invited me to visit them anytime before the end of the summer, when they too are leaving East Africa. (Though Stacey actually leaves in like 2 days, so she won't be there when I arrive.) It was so nice to meet them, and to have an open invitation to visit a village! :)

East Africa Day 37 (Sun June 19): Bujagali Falls

Meghan and I met up at the hostel this AM, jumped onto one of the bodas waiting at the hostel gates, and headed out to Bujagali Falls. Bujagali Falls is located on the outskirts of town. It isn't really a waterfall - it's an area of rapids on the Nile River. We walked around along the water's edge, an area that will soon be underwater due to the construction of a (very controversial) second dam. A Ugandan that we met as we descended the steps to the Nile viewing area told us that the residents in this particular area haven't yet been paid off, so that's why the area hasn't been flooded yet. Meghan and I both felt lucky to get to visit this spot, before that happens.

We spent some time walking around, and viewing the rapids. We're rafting tomorrow, though not at this particular spot. Wish us luck - these are Class 5 rapids! :)





A fellow Pace Environmental Law Program alum, Elaine, is in Uganda on a Fulbright Scholarship. She is in Jinja from today through Tuesday, hanging out. We tried to meet up today but kept missing each other. Hopefully I'll see her on Tuesday before she returns to Kampala, but if not then I'll see her in Kampala! Meghan and I had lunch at Elaine's hostel, which is perched on a hillside overlooking the Nile, before returning to town. I snapped this photo for my Aunt Diane, to show her that I had olives on Father's Day - however no fruit salad - my favorite things to nibble on at family gatherings:) Meghan and I split this plate. She took the feta cheese, and I ate the black olives:)



After lunch I went into town to run some errands, and then went to Meghan's to hang out and do my wash in her bathroom sink. The Daraja ladies would be proud - I adapted their laundry instructions for the sink:) Then had a great conversation about Uganda's higher ed system with Gerald, who currently works at the hostel but is heading off to university in the fall to study accounting. It seems Ugandan university students can't get loans to pay for university, but that they have more choice in the schools that they attend, as compared with Kenyan students. As can be expected, no system is perfect!

East Africa Day 36 (Sat June 16): Jinja Market & Invisible Children t-shirt spotting

Walked over to Meghan's house this AM to meet up with her. We walked over to Downtown Jinja, and went to the market. Walking around the perimeter reminded me of contemplating jumping into an outdoor swimming pool. Once you jump in, no matter what the temperature of the pool, it's too late to get out. The corridors of the Jinja market are tight - once we walked in, we were in! Meghan applied her skills bartering with the Boda Drivers to cut deals with the vendors on my behalf. I bought a pair of $1 flip flops made from tires, to primarily wear in the showers this summer. My Chaco flip flops have fabric webbing and are getting smelly because I've been wearing them in and out of the showers. (If you wanted to know.)

We then walked through the downtown shops - a lot of textiles, beaded necklaces and bracelets, and assorted household goods. We stopped at an Indian restaurant for lunch. Delicious! Prior to sitting down at the Indian restaurant, we stopped in at an internet cafe, where we ran into two of Meghan's fellow volunteers. I noticed that the guy sitting at the next table was wearing an Invisible Children. Of course I had to go talk with him.



Turns out that Tom is Ugandan, and is a student at Rochester College in Michigan. He helps out with the campus' Invisible Children club. After learning that my summer here was partly inspired by Invisible Children, Tom called a friend who works with Invisible Children in their Gulu office in Northern Uganda, and introduced me so that I now have a contact at the organization. I cannot WAIT to go visit! It was also great to meet Tom! I also had fun telling him about Brett Dennen's partnership with Invisible Children.



After lunch Meghan and I stopped off at another market for fruit. Spent the rest of the day hanging out in the really nice outdoor lounge spot at the hostel, chatting and using free wireless. I got to catch up on some embarassingly backlogged stuff. Meghan and I are off to some nearby waterfalls tomorrow. She's an excellent tour guide and friend:)

East Africa Day 35 (Fri June 17): Solar Cookers

I took a boda over to Meghan's house this AM. She's living on a really cute block with street lights (I think I saw them - if not, then on another block in Jinja). She lives in a really cute, modern house with two other Light Gives Heat volunteers and two employees. Reminded me of an off-campus house, with bed nets of course:) I got to meet some of her housemates before we took our supplies and headed out to meet up with some of the women who make the Suubi paper necklace beads that Light Gives Heat purchases from the women and sells online and via supporters in the USA.

Light Gives Heat received a grant to teach the Suubi women how to cook their food using solar cookers. We took them to Janet's house this AM and set up the solar cookers, and put food out to cook.


photo: Lauren, a Light Gives Heat volunteer from Leeds, England, and Meghan with their solar cookers.

We then went to visit another Suubi woman who was cutting paper to make the paper beads, using a paper cutter, outside of her home. I learned that she came to Jinja from Gulu up north, where the Invisible Children have been working to stop the LRA.



We returned to Meghan's house for lunch, where I got to spend more time catching up with her fellow volunteers. We then headed back out to Janet's house to check on the food. A group of neighbors - including a cadre of kids - gathered around and helped check on the food, and then pack up the solar cookers.

I learned a lot about solar cookers - super interesting!!! And also lovely to get to meet some of the community members. I met a primary school student who dreams of being an accountant. She said her teacher told her about the career path, and that she selected it because she loves math. It was so nice to get to talk with her! Hopefully I'll see her again. This is a beautiful community - and so different from Nanyuki - really cool to get to experience such diversity in one week:)

I've also met some great people at the hostel where I'm staying right now. Pretty much everyone here is staying at the hostel while volunteering for a Jinja-based NGO.

Back to meet up with Meghan tomorrow, for more exploring in Jinja! In the meantime, loving listening to the new Matt Nathanson album, Modern Love, here! Been waiting to hear this album for months!!

East Africa Day 34 (Thurs June 16): Uganda!

This is the first post that I'll actually publish as soon as I finish writing it. I arrived at the Nile River Explorers hostel a few hours ago - in Jinja, Uganda. Wireless is not only free but speedy!

I got up a little after 5am this morning, considered taking a shower but found the water to be icy cold, and then jumped into a cab headed for the Akamba bus station in the River Road area of Nairobi - only a few blocks from the hotel, called The Downtown. I was there by 6:30am for my 7am bus, but alas - the bus didn't actually arrive and depart until 9am. But hey - this is Kenya time - at least I didn't miss the bus! I just sat down in the lobby and did some people watching:)

I'd been a little apprehensive about the bus, but it was actually a really nice trip! The bus was kind of Greyhound bus style, with seatbelts - luggage down below the bottom of the bus, etc. It was a BEAUTIFUL ride through the Kenyan countryside from Nairobi west to the Uganda border at a town called Busia. I'd read in my Rough Guide to Kenya that is it known as a border crossing town - indeed! Even at a late hour on a weeknight there were a lot of vehicles and people crossing. But I digress. The countryside went from reminding me of the Western USA plains to a more tropical scene with so much greenery, rolling hills, and most of the land under cultivation. I was trying to read "The What is the What" but I couldn't take my eyes off of the scenery:)

We stopped off at a few places to let riders off - towns I'd read about but had not seen - was cool to roll through them! When we got to the border, the bus let all passengers off, and we walked through the border, getting an exit stamp from Kenya and then an entrance stamp from Uganda. Back on the bus, and then I was dropped off in Jinja at a gas station. Found two young guys there with their motorcycles (bodas), offering transport. Jumped on one, and took a short ride through the beautiful night to the hostel.

Meeting up with Meghan Young, a Frost Valley friend, early in the AM to see what she's up to this summer, volunteering for Colorado-based org Light Gives Heat. She is staying a ten minute walk from my hostel. YAY! I am loving it here already:)

PS - didn't take any photos today. The bus window was a little dirty, and it seemed weird to be snapping photos:)

East Africa Day 33 (Wed June 15): On to Nairobi

I’d be lying if I said that I slept well last night. Cali found Pamela, Car and I in the office, and followed me back to my banda. She spent most of the night curled up on top of the bed. She’s such a cute little cat! I hope that the volunteer who takes over my banda will let Cali sleep in the banda, whenever she wants. I didn’t get to bed until midnight-ish because I had a handful of things to wrap up.

I put most of my Daraja photos onto a zip drive, for the students. I rushed to the dining hall before breakfast to drop off my gear, and to make my way up to the library to load the photos onto one of the school’s laptops. A handful of the students were coming down the hill from the classroom building, where they had been studying, and ran into me outside of the dining hall. They stood in a line and waited their turn to give me hugs and to say goodbye. I know my tears wet at least one student’s cheek. So hard to say goodbye. Joyce handed me a folded up note, which I tucked into my pocket.

I then ran up to the library, loaded the photos onto laptop #3, and then ran back down the hill to breakfast to say goodbye to the students. I jumped up onto the fireplace – the closest thing to a stage – and let the students know that the photos were on the laptop, in case they wanted to put some of my photos onto their personal, school-issued zip drives. I also told the students that my mom is a primary school art teacher, and that she sewed gift bags for them, and filled them with marker sets. Prior to breakfast I had spread the 77 gift bags on a table on the porch, so after my announcement I had all of the students head to the table to pick up their gift bags. It was slightly chaotic, but it all worked out! This one is for my mom.



The girls who lingered after the gift bag distribution suggested that we take photos …


After saying goodbye to some of the teachers in the Dining Hall I walked out into the sun and found a few other members of the Daraja crew.



Andy then let me know that Jason was in his office in the classroom quad, if I wanted to say goodbye. I hadn’t quite realized the size difference until we took this photo:)



Leila saw me in the quad and came down to say goodbye. She handed me a note, which I tucked into my pocket. Andy then walked me out to the Daraja gate, to wait for my ride to Nairobi. I love that Daraja has such a fantastic Volunteer Coordinator! I remember when Sharon Wahl told me that that would be very important!



And I’m off! Farewell Daraja.



Photo: I wish that I could say that this 60 liter pack is all I have with me, but I’m also carrying a day pack – my backpack from Lehigh senior year.

Daraja was conducting on-campus interviews today for a new English and Music Teacher. One of the candidates caught a ride back into town with me, in the private matatu that I took to Nairobi. I’m getting increasingly more proficient in explaining the similarities and differences between the US and Kenyan education systems! I learned that some Kenyans send their children to schools in Kenya that run on the American system. So their children aren’t prepared for the KCSE, but rather for a US higher education. The candidate who caught a ride into town with us used to teach at such a Kenyan school. So much for me to learn – there never seems to be enough time to ask all of the questions on my mind.

The drive down to Nairobi was so beautiful – it went from reminding me of the Western USA plains to the tropics. Mostly agricultural with very few buildings, but once we got close to the city you could tell where we were. The roads that sprawl outside of Nairobi are under major construction. It hardly phased me, at this point – I’ve acclimated quite well to the roads here.

My driver had a little bit of trouble locating the hotel that Andy and Bennett had recommended, across from the Nakumatt Lifestyle complex sort of near River Road. But we found it, and I got checked in. Then headed out onto the streets to find and purchase my bus ticket to Uganda, lunch, cell phone minutes, food and bottled water shopping at Nakumatt (big grocery chain here with pretty much USA prices). I was hoping to take the Scandanavian Express bus to Uganda since I had read that there are bathrooms on those buses, but after asking many Kenyans for directions to the company’s office, I finally learned that they went out of business. So my second choice – Akumba – it is. I leave at 7am tomorrow, and should arrive in Jinja, Uganda at 8pm. In the course of running my errands I had many opportunities to practice dodging vehicle traffic (stop lights and pedestrian crossings – not utilized so much) and got to know my way around the neighborhood. I stopped into a crowded and fairly attractive cafeteria-style restaurant for lunch, and wound up sitting with a nice Kenyan who was waiting for his friend. I ordered chapattis and vegetables – not as good as Daraja’s – but for 100 ksh/less than $1.50 it is what it is:) Made notes of a few places that I’d check out if I were to come back to this spot, which is likely at least when I return to Nairobi from Uganda.

It’s my first night sleeping under a mosquito net. Oh fun! I started my Malarone (malaria prevention med) yesterday, so all is good. I’m up at 5am to catch my bus. Caught up with Meghan Young in Jinja tonight. I cannot wait to get there, see her, and see all that she’s up to, volunteering with the Colorado-based Light Gives Heat this summer. I made a reservation at a hostel that everyone at Daraja and Meg recommended, so I have a pretty good idea of what tomorrow will entail … ? :)
I just read the notes that Joyce and Leila handed to me at Daraja … if I’d read them when I was still on campus, it wouldn’t made it even harder to leave – the Daraja students are soooo amazing. So amazing.

East Africa Day 32 (Tues June 14): Last Full Day at Daraja

Where has the month gone? I can’t believe that today is my last full day at Daraja. In some ways it feels like I’m just getting started. After breakfast Andy told me that he had made arrangements for me to get a ride back down to Nairobi tomorrow, with Paul. I’m leaving campus at 9am, after breakfast.

So … it was really time to wrap things up. I spent the AM sitting at my desk, sorting through and consolidating my handwritten research notes. I’d collected bits of information on pieces of loose scrap paper. I’d been keeping them in a neat pile in the corner of my desk … always intending to sort through them sooner! Some things required better internet connection, so when I heard that Andy and Wa were going into town for the afternoon to run some errands, I asked if I could tag along.

We parked on a side street outside of The Eatery, and walked around the corner. Bennett, Maria’s fiancé jumped out from the Eatery doorway! We walked in and joined Bennett and Maria at their table. A day or so ago I drew up a list of things that I wanted to get done before I left Daraja. I was able to cross a few things off of that list while we were at The Eatery, thanks to my netbook and a slow but mostly-working wireless connection. I ordered my favorite dish on their menu – the vegetable curry with rice. For perhaps the first time in my life I ordered it “spicy”:) It was good!



Photo: view of the main road in downtown Nanyuki. Note the clouds – a storm is on its way!

When we got back to campus it was only 3:30pm. I wound up spending the next two hours in my banda (partly hiding out from a heavy but short-lived thunder and lightning storm) packing up my stuff. Oh, I am so tired of packing!!! And as usual, I think that I posses too much stuff. But I’m now mostly packed and ready to leave campus tomorrow. Paul is picking me up at 9am after breakfast, and is taking me down to Nairobi. My (loose) plan is to get dropped off at The Downtown, a hotel that Maria and Bennett recommended. Check in, and then walk over to the two bus station offices that I’m considering, for my trip to Uganda on Thursday AM – Akamba and Scandanavian Express. I looked in my guidebook and the two offices should be pretty close to each other. So I can go see which one sounds better. Then I need to purchase my bus ticket, and select my seat. Then it’s back to the hotel before nightfall, and then back to the bus station early the next day to head to Uganda. Ummm wish me luck!! :)
Tuesday night’s dinner is my favorite meal of the week – chapati’s – so glad I stayed for that! After dinner I had a nice talk with some of the Kitchen Staff, who said how nice it is to have volunteers visit, and that I should stay longer – or at least come back. It is hard to think about leaving tomorrow.

I went to find Lelia, who was studying for exams, to ask her about loading the photos that I’ve taken at Daraja onto one of the computer lab laptops, so that the students can put them onto their own thumb drives. She is computer proctor- and so when she says it’s fine to do that, it must be so! It was really a bit of an excuse, however to get to talk with her before the craziness of breakfast and my departure tomorrow morning. I’m going to miss her! I hope that the Daraja ladies get internet access soon, so that I can email her. Sending mail here is … well, not easy.

I then headed over to the office to wrap up some more things. Car and Pamela surprised me by coming in to hang out on my final night on campus. We had a great time chatting. It was the perfect way to wrap up my last night here. It’s been so fun to get to know the other volunteers, and to share this experience with them.

East Africa Day 31 (Mon June 13): Parting Words

Towards the end of breakfast this AM, Victoria reminded me that she and I had decided that I would present to the students during today’s Morning Assembly (in Frost Valley terminology, it’s Flag Raising) – in approximately five minutes.



Photo: This is my usual mealtime group! I often sit against the wall, across from Pamela – that’s where I was sitting this AM.

I considered how to best say goodbye to the students on my way up the hill to the flag pole. This was a particularly fun Morning Assembly (we have them every Monday AM following breakfast) because this was “Mr. D’s” (Jason Dougherty) first Morning Assembly in a while. I recorded some video, but will have to post it some other time. However it also was not fun, because the students begin several days-worth of testing today. I wouldn’t call their faces grim, but they weren’t dancing and laughing, either:)

After the students raised the flag, and Mr. D and faculty made announcements, I was invited to step up to “the stage” (aka the opposite side of the flagpole from where the students stand). I essentially told the students what I had come to learn over the course of the past month: that Mr. D and Jenni selected these particular students to come to Daraja because they are already brilliant, saw that the students were just like them, and that the students have the potential to do challenging things – to forge new paths – to do great things, just like the Dougherty’s themselves. Yet - the students are already great. Grades and KCSE scores cannot change that. I referenced the Blue Sweater Book Club meeting a few times, and the speech I gave to the students when I introduced the book.

While these are themes that I’ve been considering a lot over the past few days, I hadn’t exactly prepared notes for my little speech, and was therefore a little unsure of myself. So it was really sweet that when I looked over my right shoulder at the faculty and administration, I saw Teacher Carol nodding her head in agreement with my remarks. Afterwards, Car, Carol, Jason, and Victoria told me that they had really liked my remarks. Car even said that it had given him some things to think about. It was difficult to tell how the students received my remarks – their expressions didn’t change while I was speaking, but I felt based on some of the hugs I received over the course of the morning that my remarks might have meant something.

After breakfast, I got to meet with Jason for a while to talk about my project and how it fits in with his plans for the school and students. We had a great conversation – he gave me some things to think about. Good stuff! Following that, I went to the Library and wrote inscriptions into all twenty-five copies of The Blue Sweater.





On my way through the quad, I ran into students who were taking a break between exams.



I found a study group doing some last minute reviews, beneath my favorite place to sit on the quad.



Over two weeks ago I’d promised Joyce that I’d take photos of her in her uniform, for her. When I saw her on the lawn, I grabbed her and asked her where we should take the photos. She found a beautiful spot tucked away behind one of the classroom buildings, with good lighting. I love this photo of her!




Following lunch, Car, Teacher Peter and I jumped into the car with Wa and headed into town. Fortunately I found the person that I was supposed to speak with at the Council office, at his desk! He completely filled me in on how the Council awards its bursaries to students. He welcomed me to Kenya and told me that I could call him if I have any additional questions. Everyone has been so nice! I didn’t have much time, but headed to the Education District Office to thank Hasan for all of his help. I found him in the lobby of the building, and he invited me into his office so that I could confirm that I correctly understood what he had told me during our previous conversations. It’s amazing how much I’ve learned and how much my comprehension of the Kenya education system has improved in not much more than two weeks. I sorted out the Ministry of Education bursary award process and the District Education Office’s role in it, thereby actually unbelievably wrapping up all of the details of bursary options in Nanyuki – as far as I know! I feel really good about my understanding and findings. Perfect timing since I am supposed to leave Daraja’s campus (and Nanyuki) any day now.



Photo: Hasan at his desk in the District Education office.

I then had four minutes to get to the Boulangerie to meet Car, Peter and Wa, to catch a ride back to campus. We were running a little late, so I was able to order a chocolate crossaint (the Boulangerie is famous on Daraja’s campus for these) to go, and sat down for a few minutes to use the wireless internet with my netbook. It was nice to get to catch up with Jon and Peter who work there, one last time before I go.

East Africa Day 30 (Sun June 12): Daraja Blue Sweater Book Club!

What a great, satisfying day! I woke up before sunrise today, and managed to get out of bed just long enough to open my banda door and look at the beautiful skyline:) I then got my Blue Sweater notes out, and began re-reading the chapters I’d assigned to the students for today’s Book Club meeting: the prologue, Chapters 13 and 16. Fellow volunteer, Sue left campus today to return to Marin County. She’s planning to come back next summer, to coach the students for the Nanyuki Music Festival; at least everyone knows that she’ll be back in less than 12 months! After saying goodbye to Sue, I took my materials out to the quad, and listened to the Catholic students singing in a classroom to my right, and the Protestant students singing in a classroom to my left. It was beautiful morning – sunny, but not hot.



I created my outline for Book Club as the students were finishing services. I then found two Form 3 students who were out behind the dormitory building closest to my banda, doing their laundry. (Pamela had told me that she learned how to do wash last weekend, and that it was a lot of fun. Plus, I had some clothes that I really needed to thoroughly wash:) I watched the students do their laundry and received a very detailed lesson.

First the white powder soap goes into a bucket with running water from the tap. Then the clothes go into the bucket, to be scrubbed. (Darks are washed together, lights are washed together, and clothing that might bleed is washed in its own bucket.) The dirty clothes are scrunched around in the bucket with the suds. Then a bar of soap (not specifically labeled in the store, for clothing – I asked – the soap is multi-purpose) is rubbed into the clothes, into stains or heavily soiled areas. Then you scrub the bar soaped areas, holding the clothing above the surface of the water. You must take the type of fabric into account when scrubbing with the soap – for example wool sweater sleeves should be scrubbed between your hands, from shoulder seam to wrist so that you do not stretch out the sweater sleeve. Heavily soiled areas include cuffs – the students made sure that I applied the bar soap to all of my sleeve cuffs! Next, after using the bar soap, the clothing is again swished around in the suds-filled bucket. Then you wring it out, and put the clothing into another bucket.



If the clothing was particularly dirty, or if the water in the suds bucket is now pretty dirty, then you know that it needs to be scrubbed again. (The students were supervising me, and deemed that re-scrubbing was necessary in my case:) So then a student re-scrubbed my clothes in a second bucket of sudsy water, again using the bar soap. Then, the clothes wound up in a third bucket where the second student also scrubbed the parts that I hadn’t done thoroughly enough. I tell you, these are going to be the cleanest clothes that I will have ever put on my body!

Finally, the soapy but wrung-out clothes were put into a bucket of clean water, to be rinsed. When the bucket is full of soapy clothes, the bucket is pushed underneath the spigot, and clean water is poured over each item of clothing separately to make sure that the soap comes out. Then the clothes are wrung out and hung up outside in the sun to dry. Athletic shoes are left to sit in a soapy bucket for a bit, and are scrubbed with a brush – especially if the shoes are white. Apparently they get quite dirty and it’s a process to clean them, based on the students’ looks when I asked them about the shoe-washing process:)

I asked who washes the clothes at home. One student does the family’s laundry with her mom. The other student’s sister washes the family’s clothes. Sometimes brothers will beg or pay their sisters to wash their dirty clothes. The wash is done once a week, and apparently wash for one family – especially if there are little kids who like to play in the dirt – can be a lot of work. I can imagine, based on my experience this morning, with my limited amount of dirty clothing! I also learned that washing clothes is a profession – persons go door to door in a community, to ask if you need your clothes washed. Some families use the same launderer each time, because they know that they can trust the launderer. Some launderers steal your clothing when you hand it over, to be washed. But I had a great time washing my clothes this morning, and it was very satisfying! (Unfortunately it rained this afternoon so my damp clothes are now hanging up inside of my banda awaiting tomorrow’s sun, but that’s OK. Except undergarments – those must be hung up to dry in a place where Kenyans will not be able to catch a glimpse of them.)

I then held my Book Club meeting from 2-3pm, directly following lunch. On my way to my chosen spot on the quad lawn, underneath a tree, I passed this student reading the book. She was so engrossed in it that she didn’t even notice that I snapped a few photos of her from various angles:)



I sat down underneath the tree to wait … ten students came, Vice Principal Victoria, Pamela, Maria, and Car stopped by to snap these photos for me with my camera. I was so touched, particularly because the students start exams tomorrow. Some students have four exams tomorrow – covering everything that they have learned since school started a month ago. Since the students hadn’t had a chance to complete all of the reading, we primarily used The Blue Sweater to discuss the bigger picture – the definition of an “entrepreneur”, some examples of entrepreneurs from the book (Jacqueline herself, plus two entrepreneurs she writes about), and Jenni and Jason who started Daraja. We talked about the obstacles that these entrepreneurs faced – such as people who told them “no”, and the amazing things that can happen when you listen to your inner voice and don’t give up.



We also discussed Acumen Fund’s model, the Kibera Book Club, “patient capital” vs grants and traditional loans. I likened the Daraja students to the entrepreneurs that we discussed, and made sure that they knew through much repetition that they will be great, and that they just need to stick with it until they divine their own purposes. I used the example of the entrepreneur in The Blue Sweater who was a well-respected eye doctor in India, who then created a new product that wound up aiding the poor around the world. This Indian man was a doctor, yes – but he took a different path, turned down an offer to buy his product because he believed there was another, better way to serve the poor, and he made a huge difference. I perhaps over did, through much repetition, that you can be great in a variety of ways – there is no one “right” way to be great, no one “right” profession or job, and that everyone has their own talents that will lead them to their own paths. I encouraged risk-taking, entrepreneurship, and big dreams. I told them that we were talking about the Blue Sweater because Jacqueline’s story inspires me, but that it’s Jacqueline’s story, and her idea for making the world a better place. I told the students that they each have their own stories to tell, and their own ideas, and ways to contribute – they just have to figure out what it will be, and try out their ideas, no matter what anyone else says! I made sure the students know that they are already great – and that one day when Daraja has many more students, the students will look back at the great ladies of Daraja who helped the Dougherty’s start the school. I told them that I heard that there was no other school like Daraja in the whole world – they are very special young women. I told them that Acumen Fund believes that, too – the chronicle about how Jo-Ann weighed the book for me, I decided I could take 25 pounds of books in my luggage, and then carted the plastic bag of books around NYC before packing them In my luggage and bringing them to campus. I wrapped up by reading the students the “Dear Students” letter from Jacqueline, that accompanies the Student Book Club guide available for use, on the Acumen website. We also talked about the story behind the book’s title – based on their knowing smiles, I could tell that they loved and related to that story:) We are indeed one people, one planet, one world.

INSERT 31-18.

During the course of our talk I had the students open the book many times, as I read aloud from the book to illustrate my points. They are so attentive – it’s amazing. Each time I glanced up between words, the students were all following along in their own copies of the book. It was great to see their smiles and bright eyes, to see them seriously considering all of my questions, and to hear their thoughts. I hope that the twenty-five copies of the book that I left in the Daraja library will receive much use! I also recommended “The Boy Who Inherited the Wind” – it’s in the library!

INSERT 31-19.

I noticed this afternoon that two students are reading “Three Cups of Tea” today – sweet! After Book Club I started ”Stones into Schools”, by the same author – Greg Mortenson. Tomorrow might be my last full day at Daraja. Hard to believe – the month has gone by too quickly.

East Africa Day 29 (Sat June 11): Happy Birthday, Andy!

Another pre-breakfast run was followed by work in the office. It was just me and the dogs for most of the day. (We had a rain storm with lightning and thunder this afternoon, and the dogs came inside to hang out with me.) I heard Tusker alert me that someone was at the door. I just assumed that it was a student or a staff member, looking for Mr. Wa, whose desk is across from mine. Everyone comes looking for Mr. Wa! They always knock before entering the office, and then I say “come in” and the person emerges from behind the bookcase that blocks my view of the doorway. So today, I thought it was strange that Tusker alerted me that someone was at the door, but I didn’t hear a knock at the door. But I was distractedly typing up my notes from yesterday’s interviews, and didn’t pay attention. Then I hear a crunching noise … I still think someone is about to walk into the office. I looked over my left shoulder towards the bookcase and door, and this is what I saw … WHATTT???!!! A cow eating a piece of paper out of the trash bin! I got up and walked closer for a closer photo, but it slowly walked out of the office door – no big deal here.



Today was Daraja Volunteer Coordinator Andy’s 26th Birthday. This evening Leila asked me if I’d seen Andy today. She said that she hadn’t seen him, and thought that he was hiding from the students. I learned that it’s Daraja tradition that the Birthday Person has water dumped on top of them, on their Birthday. Andy missed out today!

Saturday evenings at Daraja are dancing and movie night. As I’ve mentioned, the students use a smaller-sized TV and DVD player for their multi-purpose entertainment, in the dining hall after the plates are cleared away. Sue’s employer donated a projector, Sue donated a laptop, and purchased computer speakers in town last week. She taught Betty and Leila how to set up and operate the system, so that the students could watch their movies on a larger screen with the projector. We finally got it all set up, and all of the girls sat down, leaning forward towards the screen, waiting for the movie to begin. (They chose to watch The Social Network tonight.) But when the movie started, the girls couldn’t really hear the sound - even with the volume turned up all of the way. New speakers needed. In the meantime, back to the TV and DVD player. Sue brought the students candy – pop rocks, etc – which she passed out during the movie tonight. It was really cute!

She had also brought stamps and stickers, which the girls used tonight to make Andy Birthday cards. After the students started the movie, Sue and I went up to Jenni and Jason’s house for Andy’s Birthday Party. He loved his cards from the girls! Here are a few photos from the party. Happy Birthday, Andy!





Blue Sweater Book Club tomorrow!! Wish me luck!

East Africa Day 28 (Fri June 10): Awesome Interviews – My Lucky Day.

Started the day with a pre-breakfast run around the outside perimeter of the fence. No time for more than that. The Form 3 students went into town today to see the enactment of a play that they are reading in English Class. Daraja hired two matatus (mini buses/vans) to bring the students into town. Bennett and I caught rides in on one of the matatus. (Matatus are a common form of transit in Kenya, but I’ve managed to avoid them until this AM.) I recorded video of the students singing a song together on the ride in, but the internet isn’t fast enough to post it, so the still photos will have to stand in!





Bennett and I were dropped off in the heart of downtown. He went off to do some volunteer occupational therapy work with area children, and I started my interviews. It was 8:30am – fortunately one of the banks I had planned to visit had just opened. It was an awesome day of running from interview to interview, meeting amazing people, having really interesting conversations, and learning a ton! After Equity Bank (which took an hour – people have been so generous with their time!) I went to the government compound to meet with Charles in the Statistics Office. My only tentatively scheduled appointment of the day – everything else was just luck. We had a great two-hour talk about my project and the US education system. I was sad to leave his office – he has been so great and I don’t think that I’ll get back to the Statistics Office anytime soon!



From there I dropped into Fina Bank, then Barclay’s Bank, then KCB Bank, and finally Standard Chartered Bank. At this point I’ve visited every bank in town, I think/hope! I stopped into the French-owned Boulangerie to see if Karisa was there – the Sacramento native that I met there last week.



I found the Daraja crew, and Karisa. That’s Karisa and John, who makes sure that the kitchen prepares “veggie burgers” for me when I come in, and who played part of a Jack Johnson album last time I was there – not knowing how happy that would make me! The British military have a base in Nanyuki – I assume the guy on the right is a member of the British military.



I got to catch up with Karisa for a while – she’s wrapping up research on Maasai reactions to activism around FGM (female genital mutilation), which she began during her grad studies at Yale. She’s been teaching at Southern Methodist University in Dallas for a year and is currently on summer break, wrapping up the FGM research in preparation to write a book. She’s going to be in Nairobi when I am there, also doing independent research – we exchanged contact info. YAY!

We then ran through a rather heavy rain to the supermarket to pick up a few things. I optimistically looked for hummus. Ummm not available. Not anything even remotely close. I did, however note that the supermarket (a Kenyan chain) carries soy milk – and Texas spices?



I then ran off to the government compound again, and so fortunately found the person that I needed to talk with about the Constituency Development Fund bursaries, which was key! We had such a great conversation. I really met so many nice people this week, who are so supportive of Daraja and the work that I am doing – it was really, really nice. While waiting for Wa to meet up with me, to get a ride back to campus, I happened upon a tiny arts and crafts boutique booth on the main strip in Nanyuki that I’d never noticed before. I started talking with the owner, a young man named Simon who graduated from secondary school in 2009, and then started his business six months ago. He sells his artwork in his shop, and has excellent taste. I was very impressed with his professionalism. While we were talking, another recent secondary school graduate, Hellen who makes and sells beadwork to him, to sell in his shop, stopped by. The three of us had a great talk about entrepreneurship and the trials and tribulations of trying to make it in Kenya, while I waited for Wa. Check out this cute photo of them!



Tonight after dinner the Kenyan teachers and volunteers had a Ladies Night in Maria’s banda. I looked around and remembered that I am in Kenya, and that I should capture this in my memory:)