Farmers Helping Farmers: Kenya 2010.

Stories from Kenya from the vets

2012-02-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

Wow! It is hard to believe that this wonderful journey is coming to an end. Our last week has been phenomenal. We started the week in Sweetwaters Park for a fun filled weekend of adventure. We were out on a few safari drives where we had the chance to see both white and black rhinos, giraffes, cheetahs, elephants, wart hogs, a ton a little gazelles, baboons, velvet monkeys and more. There was a watering whole by our tents, so we could watch animals drinking and playing at all times of the day.

Apart from this surreal African safari experience, this week was busy and we experienced a few touching and amazing moments that I would like to share with you:

Our local friend invited us to visit her family farm. I am usually animal oriented and was happy to see her cows, but I was mostly impressed by their biogas tank. This family has been trying to get electricity in their home for 20 years and it may not happen anytime soon. Last year they thought they would invest in a biogas tank. All the cow manure gets digested in this tank and generates methane for their cooking stove. Turns out they are now supplying methane gas to two houses on the property, are no longer using propane in their home, and use a lot less fire wood than before. They paid 120 00 ksh for the tank (a little less than $1500) and plan to have it paid within the next few years. The life expectancy of this tank is >25 years! That’s something to think about.

This story is to make you sit back and think that despite our cultural differences, we are all made the same. We met a very nice man that worked at a dairy that we collaborate with and he shared with us that his wife if battling cancer. He has to travel a few hours to get to the hospital every few weeks and the treatments are very expensive. He was organising a fundraiser next week, but we were going to be gone by then. Cancer touches all of us, even at the other end of the world. We were able to put some money together and contribute to the fundraiser.

Lastly, we have been teaching here for three weeks and every time we mention that cows can have twins, we get great laughs in the crowd. Twins are rare here! On our last day of clinics, a cow presented with difficulty calving. She had been in labor for over 12 hours and still no babies. The farmer said she had seen something come out of the cow’s vulva the night before, but still no baby! After assisting the cow for a little while, we were able to deliver one healthy heifer. Marissa mentioned that the calf was small, but we are in Kenya so we didn’t think much of it. It is a routine procedure to perform a thorough exam after obstetric manipulations to make sure that everything is healthy in there. John says: ‘there is another foot’. We didn’t believe him because twins are rare here, but there is was another heifer calf! What an amazing case for our last day.

Thank you for reading my stories 
Melanie Mallet

Meru vet happenings

2012-02-06T20:06:00.000-08:00

What a week it has been!!! Upon our arrival in Meru we met Jennifer lovingly called our Kenyan ‘Mom.’ Few to no people who have traveled to Kenya with FHF have not shared an ethnic meal and a great big laugh with her. Her home is a sort of haven for us ‘Muzungu’ or white travelers in this part of Kenya and was a pleasant way to start our second week in Kenya.
Our first activity was presenting a seminar on bovine zoonotic diseases to the dairy of Mukindu. We later learned that many people had been sick with some of the diseases we discussed and the seminar helped them realize how they may have contracted them and that some were preventable. The next day we held our walk-in clinic. We de-wormed over 200 cattle and treated another 50 with tick borne diseases and an assortment of other ailments. It was an exhausting day but we were pleased to have been able to help so many farmers in such a short time.
This week we continued our work with two dairy groups and we were joined by two Kenyan veterinary students from the University of Nairobi. After completing our seminars with them we were able to meet some of their members. Our most rewarding moment was when we were able to hear how the quality of life had improved with some farmers who had made some changes we had recommended in previous years. They were able to improve the health of their cows with small changes in management and thus increase their milk production and income. It was particularly impressive to the students, as the culmination of FHF’s efforts.
Lastly, I’d like to mention the manner in which dairy groups have expressed their gratitude for our time (which, they say is never long enough). Some of the dairy board members admitted that they were unable to thank us appropriately in English and instead wanted to show us their appreciation by giving us a few Kenyan goods to commemorate our experience with them. The gifts were in the form of caps and belts for the gents and for the ladies bracelets and ‘shukas’ or wraps ‘to be worn in the kitchen while doing the washing,’ as mentioned while being presented by an elder chairman of a dairy.
It has been a busy and exhausting week but we continue to be astounded by the beauty of this country and its people. This weekend we’re off to Sweetwater’s Ol Pejata Safari Park for a little R & R. Tune in next week for stories about our experience there and those of our last week in Kenya.
Thanks for reading; this is Marissa Steinberg, signing off.

Twin Schools in Meru

2012-02-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

Posting by Rosemary Herbert (Farmers Helping Farmers Board Member and Faculty Member UPEI School of Nursing).

Today is the beginning of our third week in Kenya. Time is flying by – every day is very full with so much to learn and do.

I have had the pleasure of visiting primary and secondary schools. I will visit a total of eight schools. The children are delighted to have visitors and to receive letters and funds from their friends at twin schools in Prince Edward Island.

The children are delightful. They appear happy, healthy and very pleased to welcome visitors to their school. Sometimes they sing to welcome us or repeat their class mottos. I often have the privilege of visiting each classroom and speaking to the students.

During my visits, I interview each headteacher or other senior teachers about the health issues of the children. All are extremely appreciative of the help provided by FHF and ask me to convey their deep gratitude to FHF supporters.

I am so impressed by what has been accomplished. FHF dedication signs are a natural part of the landscape of the twinned schools in Kiirua and Marega. The children lineup twice a day at the cookhouse–during the morning for uji- and at lunchtime for githeri. School gardens and sometimes screenhouses are used to grow food for the children. The two meals provided at school are the main source of food for many of the children. Week-ends are a hungry time for many. Cookhouses, water tanks, school gardens,screenhouses, classrooms, milk, and learning resources have all been provided by FHF.

So much has been done yet there is more that we can do to improve the health of the children. Providing all of the twinned schools with cookhouses and gardens will greatly contribute to ensuring children are adequately nourished and better able to learn. Distributing mosquito nets to school children is critical for preventing malaria, a very common illness in many schools. Regular deworming programs would help prevent frequent worm infestations in the children.

Visiting Kenya has made me realize how much can be accomplished by such a few people.The cookhouses provided by the Village Feast have made a huge impact on the health of schoolchildren as have the other contributions by FHF.It is a humbling experience to hear the gratitude and see the positive results in the children.

my second week in Kenya

2012-02-04T05:17:00.001-08:00

This is Saturday. We have been here for two weeks. The first week went slowly, with everything being new and unfamiliar. This week went faster and I am certain the last week will just whiz by. At the moment I am sitting in front of my tent in a private game park watching gazelles, zebras and ward hogs wander past on their way to a watering hole. Mount Kenya is on the horizon but it is too hazy to see the glacier on its side. Birds are calling. The breeze is stirring the air so that it is warm but not hot. The world is alive with the magic of life.
I have been trying to learn to say a few things in Swahili, the challenge is that Swahili is the common National language but there are also 42 local languages. People flip back and forth between Kikuyu and Swahili in this part of Kenya. I can now greet people politely in both languages and say thank you. After that words float around in my head and I try to remember which belong to which language and rarely bring the right one out at the right time.
I visited many gardens through the week, some on the back of a motorcycle some on foot. The sun is hot but even though we are on the equator the air is cool in the shade. Everything is very dry. There were terribly heavy, deadly rains in December but there hasn’t been a proper rainy season for the last two years. The rainy season should be starting in March and that is what hope is hinged on now. The women’s groups that are working with Farmers Helping Farmers are better off than others because most of them have gotten piped water from Mount Kenya’s glacier and FHF has supplied them with a water tanks to collect rain water so that they can water their animals and gardens. Even those lucky enough to have piped water and drip lines have trouble keeping their gardens growing though. The sun and wind dries the soil out very quickly.
It is true that I come with fresh eyes and notice things that could be done differently and perhaps make life easier. There are however serious consequences to encouraging people to change their practices, especially before taking the time to understand why they do things the way they do. When you live on the edge and every cent you make is committed before it gets into your hand, mistakes matter. It would be great to be able to stay for a while and really understand how things work before having to plunge in, but I don’t have that kind of time. So I am trying to suggest changes that will not be risky.
As an example it would seem that mulch would be help with water retention in garden plots. The women have tried mulch before and found that it encouraged ants. I suspect this was because the soil was dry and if they mulch the beds with drip lines the ants will be less inclined to move in. So I have been working on sourcing some UV protected plastic like what I use at home. I am only getting a small amount and helping to set up a trial. If it turns out that the mulch decreases the amount of water needed, reduces plant stress and keeps the beds wet enough that the ants don’t like it then the women will be encouraged to try the plastic mulch in their own gardens.
Next week my work will be a bit different. I will be doing workshops on crop rotations and composting. They all make compost but there are layers of knowledge and I hope I can give them some deeper understanding of how to make good compost. They all know that they should be rotating crops too but the finer points are a bit vague, such as which vegetables belong in which families and which crops should follow which crops.
But today I am in a beautiful natural area with incredible wildlife around every corner and over every hill; from the cheetah we saw last evening to the rhinosaurus we saw this morning. If I forget for a minute that I am standing in a safari van with binoculars I can almost sense the origins of our species and imagine how it was that we learned to walk on two legs and carry spears. Then I am captured by the moment held spellbound by the beauty of the animals and the landscape.
From a distant place that is also somehow familiar,
Margie

Mangoes are in season

2012-02-04T03:49:00.000-08:00

Mangoes are in season here in Kenya- and we eat them almost every day.

This tree is at the Ruuju Primary School and Ken will be delighted to see it in production. It will provide fruit for the school children.

Teresa

Screenhouse kitchen gardens producing vegetables for home consumption and for sale

2012-02-04T01:20:00.000-08:00

We've been visitng the 70 kitchen gardens being operated by the members of the Muchui Womens Group- in which the women are producing vegetables for domestic consumption and for sale

One of the Muchui members (right) discusses her garden with Rosemary Herbert and two of the Muchui Directors

Charlie van Kampen, Stephen Mwenda, Margie Loo and Festus Nkuru discuss the vegetables gardens

Many of the screenhouses have been producing vegetables for sale since early December. The women are very pleased withthe screenhouses. We are proud to be associated with the Andreas Baur Foundation for this initiative.

Business Planning with Muchui Womens Group : a work in progress

2012-02-04T01:07:00.000-08:00

Grace Muruiki, the new Chairperson of Muchui Womens Group, chaired the business development seminar

Esther Kigunda works on developing the vision statement

I met with the Muchui Womens Group on Wednesday and Thursday this past week to develop a business plan. Duncan Muya, the General Manager of the Mukuurwe-ini Wakulima Dairy Ltd worked with me to facilitate the development of the plan. We are training the women on how to develop a business plan as we develop the plan.
What a dynamic group of women they are to work with! They participate to the fullest extent. We started this process in November and since then they gathered information on the financial side of their six enterprises.
We have a good draft of the Vision Statement prepared for the Muchui Womens Group:
“To be a dynamic group of business women producing high value crops in dryland that competes in local and international markets so as to increase income and ensure food security for members and community”

We will continue to work with them next week to develop a good draft of the plan.
Teresa Mellish

unverified area!

2012-02-04T00:48:00.000-08:00

two weeks in and my g.p.s. is finally settling down!it has been a period of everything being new, different and totally without context.kind of like taking your g.p.s. through the round about three times!you are in an unverified area, turn around whenever possible.we have seen poverty and prosperity, considerably more of the former.some of the sights that truly overwhelmed me with with sadness,the slums of nairobi,the reality of seeing subsistence farming and the children.
my work with greenhouses and farmers goes well. it is a learning spike!,but the more i learn ,the more i can contribute.we have two grafting chambers in place and have done some grafting with two of the kenyan extensionists.conditions are not perfect but a sustained effort should leave them with the ability to graft tomatoes.
the team effort is quite remarkable,many people rushing wildly in all directions at once,each with their own agenda.sorry can not send more ,typing is not my fortè and my air-time is expiring. god bless, charlie vankampen

FHF AVC Student blog

2012-01-30T11:43:00.000-08:00

First week in Kenya!!! After landing in Nairobi Airport last Saturday evening, and after clearing customs, we (Dr. Fabienne, Lloyd, Teresa, Marissa and Mel) were greeted by Henry Macharia of Sportsmen’s Safaris & Tours Ltd. After introductions and a quick round of hugs and handshakes, we set out to see whose luggage had arrived and whose had been lost…
Following this, we met our driver for the next 3 weeks (David) and set out for the hotel! I had had my doubts about how much sleep I would get our first night, but the second my head hit the pillow I was out like a toddler after his first day in Disneyland. The next day, our first farm visit in Kenya was to a Simmental herd in rural Kenya. It was here that I got my first glimpse of Kenya’s sheer, untamed beauty. From rolling hills, to lush forests, everywhere I looked there was something brand new and amazing! While on the ranch, we were lucky enough to snap some pictures of zebras, giraffes, ostriches, and of course, some BEAUTIFUL Simmental cattle. The next day, the FHF group took a quick trip to the Canadian High Commission to check in with the head of CIDA before splitting off into our respective groups. Our travels took us to Mukurwe-ini where we set up shop for the first week and the Ichamara house. After settling in, we were treated to the awesome cooking from Francis, our chef.
Our day-to-day ‘routine’ for the first week has been pretty interesting. Our days usually begin with a trip to the Wakulima Dairy before hitting the road and visiting various dairy farms, or ‘shambas’. When we’re not working with cattle, our time is usually spent in seminars with 30-75 of the local small-holder dairy farmers. These seminars function as a way of getting the farmers together in one place and allow them to voice any and all questions they have regarding nutrition, calf management, or reducing mastitis (an infection of the cow’s mammary gland). As a student, we are expected to participate and field certain questions during the seminar, which was a little stressful at first, but as time went on we all seemed to become more comfortable with answering questions.
So that’s our first week in a nutshell! Next week, we’re off to Meru for a walk-in deworming/ sick-cow clinic on Sunday followed by visits to various dairy groups and seminars.
This is Russ Campbell, signing off.

Victoria's and Evelynn's watertanks

2011-11-23T20:58:00.000-08:00

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I saw Victoria's and Evelynn's water tank yesterday. We were on Margaret Muriuki's farm where we were assessing the practical skills of the applicants for the horticulturist position. She has one of the PHFAMS greenhouses which has tomatoes which have just started production.

Inflation in Kenya

2011-11-23T07:09:00.000-08:00

Inflation in Kenya is reaching 19%, according to Jennifer Murogocho and Shaad Olingo.
They tell me about the price of petrol which has gone up from 85 shillings per litre at the beginning of the year to 125 shillings per litre today. The price of a tank of cooking gas has gone from 2150 to 3900 shillings.
The price of cooking fat has gone from 120 to 260 shillings.
The price of 2 kg of sugar has gone 160 to 375 shillings for a 2 kg packet.
Shaad says everything has gone up- especially the prices of spare parts for vehicles. He says that most people just drive their vehicles when they have to.
But farmers can still expect prices to go down when their crops are harvested. All of Kenya has received a lot of rain and everyone expects a good harvest.

Getting stuck on the way back from Kamuketha School

2011-11-20T05:32:00.000-08:00

Shaad Olingo and I visited the Kamuketha Primary School yesterday.
The road was difficult to drive over because of the damages from the rain during the past month.
After we had a good visit with the head teacher at the school, the skies started to darken and Shaad said we should get going back to the Mbaaria Market because he expected rain.
We no sooner got into the Gypsy than it started to rain hard.
We got about 500 metres for the school when we stopped- and Shaad tried to get to the upper side of a low spot on the road. However the Gypsy couldn’t make it to the upper side. We tried many times to get out- until we were crossways on the road with the rear tires in the low trench.
Meanwhile it was raining harder and harder and Shaad conceded that we were stuck.
Shaad decided to telephone for help- but there was no network on Shaad’s telephone- and I searched in my bag for my Kenyan phone. It wasn’t there- but my Canadian phone was in a zippered pocket where I had put it away.
In desperation I tried to call Jennifer on my Canadian phone- which showed two bars of network. It worked- and her voice was very clear. We asked her to call the Kamuketha head teacher so he could help us. He then called us back and promised to help.
The head teacher came with more than a dozen boys and a Kenyan hand plaited rope. They hooked the rope under the bumper and pulled the car out of the trench up to the high ground. (The Gypsy is quite light).
The boys escorted us until it was obvious to them that we would not get stuck again. The head teacher got into the back of the Gypsy and travelled with us to Kinyinjere. He helped again when we encountered an ox cart which was stuck- the wheels on one side were in a trench and his oxen would not pull together to get it out.
This was not nearly as traumatic as when Karl Winter and I got stuck in this area during the El Ninya rains. Then there was a foot of water on the road and you could not see the trenches.
But it made for an interesting safari.
Teresa

Safari Njema!

2011-09-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Written by Danaiet Teame, Gloria Smith and Danielle McConnell

We started off our last week in Kiiura and at St. Teresa’s with our third and final presentation to hospital staff. This presentation included a summary of our internship where we shared our favorite moments and some of our learning experiences. We ended the presentation with recommendations for the hospital based on our work there as requested by the sisters. Our original presentation was on Monday morning, however we repeated it on Thursday afternoon so that all hospital staff were able to be present and anyone who wasn’t able to come Monday had the opportunity to hear what we had to share.

On Tuesday our original plan was to visit Ruju school to complete the last of our school presentations, however there is currently a teacher’s strike occurring in Kenya and school did not commence like it was supposed to. That left us with time to make some home visits to clients from the HIV support group mentioned in the last blog that were to receive a goat. We set out on a goat mission and were able to purchase and deliver 4 of the 6 goats to the clients’ homes. They were all very grateful and the home visits allowed us to met some of their family members who will also benefit from a goat.

Wednesday’s have been our favorite day throughout the summer because they are always a big surgery day when all the main surgeries for the week are taking place. Each Wednesday we have been assisting in the theater and have come to love working there. The theater is also where a lot of our learning took place over the summer because the doctors and nurses were great teachers. We were sad that Wednesday was our last day working there and thanked the staff by bringing some Canadian baking goods to show our appreciation.

We also made some other Canadian dishes that we shared with our friends, the sisters and hospital staff on Thursday after our presentation. We gathered in the guesthouse with our company to share one of our last evenings together and say our goodbyes. We can’t believe that 90 days has come and gone so fast and it is the time for our friends and colleagues to say ‘Safari njema’ (safe journey) and send us on our way. We are sad to say goodbye to our new friends, not knowing when we will see each other again, but we know that our work here is not finished and that their kindness will never be forgotten. One wise Daktari left us with these words:

“Go forth into the world in peace and of good courage
Strengthen the weak and faint-hearted
Render to no man evil for evil
and may the presence of god be with us
His power enables you peace with god assure today and always.”

We will miss you Kiirua!

HIV Support Group

2011-09-06T06:34:00.000-07:00

By Danaiet Teame, Gloria Smith and Danielle McConnell

This month we had the opportunity to join in on a HIV support group meeting at the CCC clinic at St. Theresa’s hospital. The HIV support group was established in 2008 and has had up to 62 members but numbers have been dwindling over the past few years. The day we attended the meeting there were 30 clients that travelled from up to an hour away, however the month previous, there were only 18 members present. We did a presentation to the group about HIV transmission, prevention, and HIV in pregnancy. The clients had a lot of questions about their weight and how to know what is a healthy weight so we ran back to the guesthouse and brought back our scale, measuring tape and calculator. We took each client’s measurements and calculated their BMI and taught them what it meant. We also took the opportunity to record the results. There were 6 clients with BMI’s below 18.5 indicating underweight nutritional status.

The hospital receives fortified flour from USAID for client’s who are HIV positive with a BMI under 16, which indicates severe malnutrition. However, none of the clients at this time qualified for this supplementation, despite their poor nutritional status. Thanks to the support of the UPEI School of Nursing, each member at the meeting received a bag of maize flour and a bunch of fresh kale as well as lunch (ugali and gtheri) with tea. Two weeks later, some of the members who are struggling to have enough food received maize and beans. We also discovered that the money donated by UPEI school of Nursing helps pay for medication fees of clients who come in to the hospital with opportunistic infections as well as supply the HIV testing kits.

After several weeks of doing HIV outreach in 4 different communities, doing home visits, and spending time in St. Theresa’s Comprehensive Care Clinic (CCC) we feel that the HIV support group has the potential to grow and be a beneficial resource in the community. We have envisioned the group becoming like the Muchuii or Ruuju women's groups. We would love to see the group be more than just an educational and psychosocial support group, but also help in assisting with sustainable living needs. If the group could help provide client's with nutritional, transportation, and perhaps employment needs, then this might attract more members that otherwise wouldn't come because of stigma, while improving the health of the clients, therefore increase the lifespan of the HIV positive client. Just as the Muchuii group employs some of the women, members could run the support group.

To gather more information and ideas for strengthening the support group at St. Theresa’s we visited the CCC at Meru General hospital. There are 5 different support groups based out of the clinic that meet every month and provide for the members in different ways, depending on their need. The 5 support groups consist of two groups for HIV positive clients, one group for HIV positive youth, a group for caregivers of HIV positive family members and a support group for hospital staff.
We were very impressed that there is such an interest in the support group at Meru that there are two different groups for HIV positive clients and that support is offered to such a wide population. We hope that someday there will be such participation and interest in the group at St. Theresa’s.

For now we have decided that the best way we are able to help the support group and it’s members is to assist the client’s with low BMI’s and nutritional status. The 6 members with low BMI’s have a poor nutritional status, however are not in enough need according to the USAID guidelines to be supported and recognized to receive nutritional supplements such as fortified flour. With money that was kindly donated from Winsole United Church we have arranged to buy goats for 6 members in the group with BMI’s under 18.5. Our time in Kiiura is coming to an end and we are hoping to purchase the goats and bring to their homes by the end of the week. In the past, students have purchase goats for clients in need and we believe these 6 clients’ will benefit from a food source that can be sustained over a long period of time.

Our hope of transforming the support group into a group similar to the Muchuii or Ruuju women’s groups is something that we realize cannot happen over night. We have purchased bags made at Machaka Orphanage to bring home to Canada to sell in order to raise more money to support the group and we hope that with the help of UPEI and Farmer’s Helping Farmer’s we can continue to work towards establishing more resources for the support group at St. Theresa’s Hospital.

Ruuju Women's Clinic

2011-08-26T03:16:00.000-07:00

By: Danaiet Teame, Gloria Smith, Danielle McConnell, & Hannah Hughes

This week we had the pleasure of returning to the Ruuju area to hold a clinic for the Ruuju women’s group. We hadn’t been to the Ruuju area since our first week in Meru, so we were excited to go back and re-assess the women. With 47 women in attendance, we assessed 15 more women than during our first clinic in June. Most of the women brought their health cards that we gave them in June, and some even came with the cards that the nursing students gave last year. We offered the same assessments as for the Muchuii Women’s group including: Blood Pressure, oxygen, blood glucose, height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, and HIV testing. The forty-seven women gathered at the school and chatted and waited patiently as we made our way through all of their assessments, which took us 3 hours. As we began our assessments, Dorcas began educating the women on HIV and the importance of being testing. We weren’t exactly sure what she was saying but she had the whole place in laughter! Every woman was tested for HIV and they expressed a strong interest in having us come back to offer testing for their husbands.

When we were all finished, one of the older women taught us the handshake of a happy woman, which she did with each of us. All the women gathered outside as we were leaving and sent us off with a song and dance!

This week we also picked up 25 nursing scrub tops from Ester, one of the Muchuii women who is a seamstress. We picked out a bunch of different Kenyan materials and brought them to Ester with one of our scrub tops from Canada which she used as a template to make the Kenyan scrubs. We are very happy with how they look; they are so very nice! We plan to bring them back to PEI to sell and to return all money raised to help fund some of the Muchuii women's group projects.

Update on the Cookhouse

2011-08-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

By Danaiet Teame, Gloria Smith, Danielle McConnell, & Hannah Hughes

On Tuesday after our day at the hospital, we walked down to Kieni-kia-Ndege school to see how the building of the new cookhouse was progressing. We were really shocked yet excited to see how far along the building of the cookhouse has come in just two weeks (picture above). It was coming close to what would be the end of a Canadian workday, but there were still about five men working hard showing no signs of stopping. They have been working hard over the last two weeks and plan to be finished in another two weeks. They explained to us that they could finish sooner, but they want it to be perfect. There were also two new water tanks on the property that will be put up, along with one almost finished handwashing station. We look forward to visiting the school again in the September when the children have returned to class.

Research Project Coming to an End!

2011-08-15T02:03:00.000-07:00

by: Hannah Hughes

The last couples of weeks were busy, and have flown by! I continued on with my home visits, and have finished up most except two of them. I feel as though I’ve been able to see and experience so much the past couple of months by the Muchui women kindly letting me into their homes, but I am sad to see my time working in the community coming to an end! I am so excited to see the final results of this project, after part two has been completed in two years time. I’m grateful to have been able to be a part of it!

On August 4th, Harrison and I got to go on a little adventure with three of the Muchui women who we have been working with, Emily, Dorene, and Cecilia. They let us tag along for the day while they went to collect wood on one of the hills in the Kiirua area. We were able to collect wood on Dorene’s farm, as she owns land on most of the hill. It is illegal to take wood from land that you do not have permission to be on, so these women are lucky to know someone nearby who has trees that can be cut for firewood. We walked about 2 kms from Emily’s house to Dorene’s, and then proceeded up the mountain another km before we could start collecting wood. There is an area of 2-3 kms once you get to the top of the hill that these women usually collect wood from. As I tried to help out, I learned very fast that they have precise methods of collecting firewood. There are specific sizes of wood that they collect, and certain types that they don’t collect at all. I suppose this makes sense that the women would develop a strategy of what works best if they must collect wood anywhere’s from three times a week to everyday. While Harrison documented our adventure, I got to help the women cut down wood. At first I was a little nervous of swinging the huge machete, but after a little while I got the hang of it. Although, me getting the hang of it doesn’t mean I was able to cut down wood very efficiently. It is extremely hard work, and the women thought it was hilarious how terrible I was at cutting wood. So even though I wasn’t able to contribute as much help as I would have liked to, I provided them with some entertainment for the day. It was a great experience, and has really put into perspective how hard the Muchui women have to work to provide for their families every day. I have so much respect for them.

As schools have closed for the term, a lot of them have been busy with projects while the students are absent. We stopped at Kinyinjere Primary School one day on our way home from home vists, and there was a lot going on there! The school has been getting prepared for their new water tanks by building the bases for them, and the entire school (except for the new addition donated by the VanLeeuwens) is currently being painted to brighten the school up! Along with those projects, the school is also harvesting their crops (which did very well this year) in order to sell them and make a profit to support the students in the upcoming school year. It is great to see them doing so well.

The nursing girls summed up the last little while pretty well. It was very sad to see Harrison and Amy leave, and exciting to welcome the Italians! It is hard to believe that we will be arriving in Charlottetown a month from today! Time has flown by.

Goodbyes and Hellos!

2011-08-12T08:06:00.001-07:00

Written by Danaiet Teame, Gloria Smith and Danielle McConnell

Monday was a sad day here at St. Teresa’s as we said good-bye to Amy and Harrison, as they took off to Nairobi because their 90-day internship has come to an end. We are now down to the mzungo 4 and cannot believe how quickly our time here is passing. We began last week at the St. Teresa’s hospital with a presentation to the staff from Amy and Harrison on Monday morning. They summarized the work and projects that they have been doing in the community and hospital, and the staff were delighted and receptive to the recommendations on diet and nutrition they presented. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday at the hospital and took off to the community of Murinya for HIV outreach on Thursday. Once again we did HIV testing and counseling with the help of Dorcas and Freeda from St. Teresa’s. We also spent the week preparing for a health clinic for the Muchui Women’s group, which was held Saturday. We prepared brochures on healthy living and HIV and worked hard to print and fold all 400 of them, which we handed out at the clinic and will hand out the remainder in the communities which we do HIV outreach. The clinic was held in Kinyinjere at a local church and included blood pressure, pulse, oxygen saturation, height, weight, BMI, blood glucose and HIV testing. Dorcas once again was a great help and joined us to assist with HIV testing and counseling. There was a great turnout of 33 women who circulated through the different stations and we finished the clinic with a presentation on each health topic. Sunday the mzungo 6 headed to church in the morning and in the evening had a farewell dinner with the sisters for Amy and Harrison. We were sad to see them leave but things at St. Teresa’s didn’t stay quiet for long. This week two medical students from Italy arrived and this morning 5 volunteers also from Italy arrived, and will be staying in the guest house with us.

Halfway!

2011-08-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

By: Hannah Hughes

It’s really hard to believe that our time in Kiirua has exceeded our halfway point! Even though we have done and experienced so much since the end of June, it also feels like we just got here. Last week was summed up pretty well by Harrison and Amy, as we did home visits together, and also got to see the beginning of the new cookhouse at KK! We were also privileged to witness the new horticulturist being introduced to the Muchui Women’s group, who welcomed him with open arms and many songs! This week, I am busy finishing up most of my home visits with just Mama Jen, as Amy and Harrison finished last week. Today we made it to five homes that are very far out in Kiirua, and it required a 10 km walk around one of the large hills around the area! It was quite the experienced, for both Jennifer and myself, as she had never been to the area before either. We were lucky and thankful to one member of the Women’s group, Doris, who kindly took us around to all of the homes. Once again, I am blown away by the generosity of these women, who will do anything to help, even if it means taking 5 hours out of their day, as Doris did for us today. We were also able to see one of the new stoves installed, which was very exciting! We stopped in a few homes that we have already visited as well, to see the stoves there. All of the women are SO excited about these stoves, and it is such a nice sight to see. I know that these stoves will make such a positive impact on the lives of these women, and their families, and am very happy to be able to be able to see this project being initiated! On our way home from visits, we stopped by KK to see the progress of the cookhouse, which is progressing very well thanks to some very hard working people. It’s great to see the impact that Farmers Helping Farmers has in the community of Kiirua.

Accessibility at its finest!

2011-07-30T01:16:00.000-07:00

Written by Danaiet Teame, Gloria Smith and Danielle McConnell

We have returned back to Kiiura safe and sound after spending an amazing five days with Danaiet’s family in her homeland Ethiopia. We started off the week at the hospital and had an exciting day in the OR on Tuesday. All three of us had the amazing opportunity to take part in the birth of twins. The mother delivered by caesarian birth and we each had a role, two receiving the babies and one scrubbing into the surgery. The result was two beautiful healthy babies, one boy and one girl. This was something that was exciting to us, as none of us had taken part in the delivery of twins and we were each able to contribute.

On Wednesday, the dream team Harrison, Danielle, Danaiet and Gloria headed to Kiiura Boys and Kiiura Girls Schools to share our knowledge through education sessions. Edwin the new Horticulturalist recently hired with Farmer’s Helping Farmer’s became part of the dream team as he joined into our presentations and was introduced to the schools. We arrived at Kiiura Boys in the morning to find that only form 3 and 4 were present. Form 1 and 2 had been sent home early for the year due to a food shortage at the school as a result of the drought and food crisis happening here in Eastern Africa. We taught on the subjects of malaria and hand washing and were told that we only had 30 minutes to complete our teaching before the boys had their morning break. Two hours later we had to cut the boys off from asking questions because we had to make it to Kiiura Girls School before the end of the day. The boys were very eager to learn, not just about malaria and hand washing, but asked us questions on every possible health related topic, such as nose bleeds, heat attacks, chemotherapy, BMI, and genetically engineered food. We were very thankful to have Edwin and Harrison as part of our team as some of the questions were related to their field of study and together we were able to answer all the questions they had. After arranging another education session with the boys in September, we made our way to Kiiura Girls. There we were surprised to see that over half the school consisted of boys from Kiiura Boys School. A recent fire at Kiiura Boys limited the space available and the boys were moved to Kiiura Girls to learn for the remainder of the school year. We taught both the boys and girls on malaria before having girl talk and teaching menstruation with the girls. We also inquired with the girls about the reusable sanitary pads that they received the previous year from Farmer’s Helping Farmer’s. The girls were all very pleased with the pads, as they are able to attend school and not miss any time when it is that time of the month.

Thursday the three of us took off to the community of Machaka, along with Dorcas and Freeda from St. Teresa’s Hospital to do HIV outreach. We met up with Dennis, a nurse at the Machaka clinic before beginning our journey into the community. Dennis was a great help as he is well known and familiar with most of the faces in the community. The day was spent educating then testing people for HIV with a simple blood test. As we were making our way back to Kiiura we were met by some locals in the community who wanted education on HIV. Dorcas did a wonderful job providing education in Swahili and drew quite the crowd, as more and more people joined. They then wanted to be tested for HIV and although we didn’t have enough test kits left to test everyone, we set up a station in the middle of a field. At the end of the day we felt like we finally understood the meaning of accessible and health promotive health care. We were amazed at the accessibility to the education and testing that we were able to provide, and our ability to be versatile was evident when we set up our mini testing clinic in a field with goats.

Ending July with a bang: A busy week in the Meru Region!

2011-07-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

by Harrison Blizzard and Amy Rawlinson

As we come to the end of our experience of a lifetime we have been busy in keeping up with our work and wrapping up many of our projects. Amy had two infant feeding sessions with the women out at Muchui and Ruuju. The women were very receptive to the new feeding recommendations and the turnout was great with fifty parents at Ruuju and eighty at Muchui! Harrison finished up his report on food service at the St. Theresa’s Hospital and will present next week to the staff. Hopefully the hospital can take this information to increase the nutritional wellness of the community and hospital patients and become a health care leader in the region. We both worked with biology student Hannah to wrap up our interviews with the women of Muchui on food security and food diversity. The cooperation of these women has been so amazing and it is their willingness to help answer our questions that Farmers Helping Farmers will be able to work to increase the wellness of these great women. It was somewhat sad that we had to finish this work though as we really enjoyed meeting these women. We were also able to witness the building of one of the new cookhouses at Kieni-kia-Ndege school (picture above). What a project they were working on and the teamwork from the parents was amazing. With such hard work, the cook house will be ready just in time for the children when they come back to school. You could see the joy in the faces of the parents, children, and staff at the school which was refreshing to see in a community who has had to deal with so much with the current dry spell they are experiencing. We also got to meet the newest member of the Farmers Helping Farmers team, Edwin, who is the new horticulturist. He had the pleasure of giving the Muchui Women’s Group their new shipment of 2500 tissue banana plants that were planted and will provide delicious bananas for the community very soon. Between all the work we have been doing out in the community, we have also been busy preparing reports to bring back home to record what we have witnessed here during our stay. These are equally as important for Farmers Helping Farmers and UPEI to continue their work in the future. Overall the week was bittersweet as we know our time is coming to an end but also knowing that we have enjoyed every minute of our work here in Kenya.

The final Countdown: wrapping up Ruju and saying some fair wells

2011-07-24T04:43:00.000-07:00

By Amy Rawlinson and Harrison Blizzard

On Monday we visited the Ruuju area to complete our food security and diet diversity data collection. We were able to arrive early in the morning and, consequently, we had time to complete the remaining seven interviews. As per usual all of the women we interviewed were so grateful. At each home we were given Kenyan style tea and even bags of eggs from others; we are leaving in two weeks and even now we are still taken aback by the amount generosity these women show us. With the dry weather the women of Ruuju have been having difficulties, though not to the same extent as the women of the Muchui area, with obtaining enough of their staple foods, fortunately, some women (who farm land many kilometres away) that we interviewed we able to get a satisfactory crop yield this growing season. We have left these women with in hopes that this and the next growing season we come with plentiful rain to support themselves and their families.

We also visited two schools, Marinya-a-Ruibi and Kieni Kia Ndege, to say our farewells and show our appreciation for all of their hospitality. Just to remind readers, during our time here we visited five different schools and presented nutrition education and methods of increasing the nutrient content of their traditional Kenyan dishes to the nursery school classes parents. Without the great support from the teachers of all of these schools our presentations would not have been successful as they all were. We said our good-byes to all of the teachers and then to the students.

At the end of the week we visited Machaka orphanage where we gave a brief education session on infant feeding recommendations to a group of students, some Machaka staff, and some people from the community. For this presentation we arrived early, during prayer time, and ended up having to do our presentation in the middle of prayer time, which we are thinking was in place of the sermon. All in all we said sawa sawa and everything worked out just fine. We both hope that we will be able to bring this laid back attitude back to Canada! After our presentation (or sermon on nutrition) we went and helped feed feed the infants and just give them a bit of love and attention before we had to leave.

We are sad that our work here is slowly coming to a close, but we are hopeful that the nutrition education we have done here will have a positive impact on those we were able to share our knowledge with.

Emergency Food & Water Supplies

2011-07-24T01:45:00.000-07:00

By: Hannah Hughes

The week before last (sorry for the delay in writing this blog), Jennifer and myself were driving back to St. Teresa's after doing home visits, when she asked if I minded stopping at the Barrier Market. I told her I did not, but was not aware of why we were stopping. I thought she may just need to pick something off or drop something off to one of the shops there. When we pulled up, I saw a huge crowd of women, some with ox carts, some on Boda Bodas, and many just on foot. I asked Jennifer what was going on, and she told me that these were the emergency food supplies that had been donated by Farmers Helping Farmers. As soon as we got out of Mama Jen's car, I was greeted by a few of the women from the Muchui women's group who I have come to know pretty well. Esther, Emily, and Harriet were beyond happy, and had difficulty expressing just how grateful they were. They kept repeating "I am so excited, so happy, and so thankful to you". And by "you", they are thanking Farmers Helping Farmers and the people of Prince Edward Island. I am so lucky that Jennifer wanted to stop at the Market that day, as it was an amazing experience to see the women receiving this food, and getting to hear from them first hand how much it means to them and their families. Some of the women who have smaller families told me that this food would be able to last them up to three months. They all also got their water tanks filled, which is a very big deal as many of the farms we visit are running on little or no water in their tanks. It makes me so happy to see the women receiving something they so desperately need, and will need in the upcoming months. So any money that can be donated to Farmers Helping Farmers to help the Muchi women and their families, is more appreciated by them than any of us will ever know. Of course, this would be the one day that my camera would die, so unfortunately I was not able to get a picture at the market. But to be honest, a picture wouldn't have done justice! Thanks again to Farmers Helping Farmers, and to any Islanders who support their causes. The difference you are making is evident here in Kiirua, and once again, the women thank you all, so much.

Karibu to K.K. Ndege and Marinya Primary Schools!

2011-07-22T06:25:00.000-07:00

By Danaiet Teame, Gloria Smith and Danielle McConnell

We started off the week on the right foot as we presented to the staff of the hospital on the prevention of pressure ulcers. Our presentation went well and was well received by the staff and we were asked many questions about the information by the staff throughout the following days at the hospital. We really enjoyed presenting and are looking forward to the next opportunity we will have to present.
Wednesday was another amazing day as we visited two of the new FHF supported schools: Kieni-Kia-Ndege (KK Ndege) and Marinya-a-Rubi. At both schools we taught the students about malaria, the use of malaria nets, and we talked to the girls in the upper grades about menstruation. We gave out a total of 420 Insecticide-treated Malaria nets and 68 reusable sanitary pads. The Malaria nets and sanitary pads were purchased with donations from FHF as well as the generous donations from Gloria’s church, Winsloe United.
We were greeted at KK Ndege School by the schools twinning teacher, Dorcas Mutuma. She organized the students who came to greet us on the soccer pitch, sitting in neat rows by standard. We started off each presentation by asking the students to raise their hands if they had ever been sick with malaria. Almost every student raised his or her hand. We were shocked! We were also shocked when we asked the students how they might contract malaria and they answered “by the female Anopheles mosquito.” We were hoping they would say “mosquito” but never expected such specificity. We demonstrated to each class how to use the nets by getting volunteers from the classes. The students really liked this part and this is where we got to ask them questions to make sure they were learning. After the malaria teaching, we sat in a circle with the older girls and had a “girl talk.” This was challenging with the combination of it being a sensitive topic at that age and with the communication barrier. The girls were very pleased with their reusable pads and had a lot of questions. We ended our time at KK by handing out the soccer jerseys that the Van Leeuwens donated and running around the soccer pitch with the kids. Dorcas showed us around the school, which has been open since 1997. They have a small cookhouse, a water tank (but no handwashing station) and two long wooden buildings for the classrooms.
We followed the same teaching set up at Marinya School, which was about a 15-minute drive from KK. Marinya School is made up of three long brick buildings, two of which are for classrooms, and the other is a teacher’s room. There is also a cookhouse and water tank at this school but no handwashing station. Again, we had a lot of fun teaching the students! We had so much fun with the girls and sang and danced with them when we were all done. At the end of our session with the girls, a large group of boys came running out into the field, in perfect form, all wearing a soccer jersey from the Van Leeuwens.
Both new schools were thrilled with the teaching and the nets and pads that they received. We had a great day and look forward to the next two schools will be going to.

Van Leeuwens in Kenya 2011

2011-07-17T04:39:00.000-07:00

Blog by Charlene VanLeeuwen
Jambo! As many of you know, the VanLeeuwen family has been happily anticipating our trip to Kenya for some time. John has shared so many stories from his FHF trips with vet students over the years that the rest of us could hardly wait for our turn. Katie, Pieter, Julie and I set off at the end of June to begin our Kenyan adventures. John was in Ethiopia since mid-June and he met us in Nairobi. In addition to our family, for the past several days we have travelled around with 2 students who have been working with John through “Vets Without Borders”, along with some or all of the UPEI students working in Kiirua. We even went a short distance with everyone crammed in the van – matatu style.
We have just returned to Nairobi and I can hear early morning Nairobi traffic going along. I am happy to avoid it for the time being. My head is spinning with images of the past several days as we have visited so many places, met so many people and seen so many things. Our internet was not working all that well so I have been saving up my reflections for this entry. It is hard to know where to begin! I could start with the Wakulima Dairy where we saw John being met as an old and well-loved friend by many, many people. They were very happy to tell him that they are now shipping 38,000 litres of milk per day and to show us the plans and work that has been started for a new expansion to begin processing their members’ milk. Or I could write about the shambas we saw in the Othaya area where many women were out harvesting tea. There were also our visits to Machakas orphanage where we played with the young children who are part of the daily feeding program or the tiny premature infant that I fed and cuddled while watching our 3 children, all the UPEI students, the 2 vet students and a med student from the UK feed and play with the other slightly older babies. Our school day visits to Kinyinjere, Ruuju and Kiirua Girls Day School were two other highlights, not to mention the celebration to open the new classrooms at Kinyinjere School and the 5 football games (soccer, to us Canadians) that helped wrap up that afternoon. Then there was my day with the women from the Ruuju and Muchui Women’s groups. Of course, my kids would remind me not to forget our safari with the two vet students Laura and Valérie, and the nutrition students, Harrison and Amy, which started off with the combi getting stuck in loose sand right beside a lioness. This delayed us just long enough that we were still around when she decided to go on a hunt for a warthog and we were right there to see the chase and capture. And this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Katie, Julie, Pieter and Laura feeding babies at the orphanage

The first of the highlights of this trip that will stay with me is the celebration that was held at Kinyinjere School for the opening of the four new classrooms organized and funded through FHF. Upon our arrival at the school (a bit late since church went on quite a bit longer than expected) we were met out at the road by the older girls. They were singing at the top of their voices to greet us and they danced alongside the combi as we drove into the school compound. There was quite a large crowd gathered there to welcome us. Mama Jen (Jennifer Murogocho) told us later that she has never seen such a large crowd come out for an event at the school. We were officially welcomed by the Head Teacher along with the Chairperson and members of the school committee. We were treated to some wonderful entertainment from the girls and boys of the school, the women parents, and a small group of the Muchui women. There were poems and songs from the students and lots of dancing led by energetic Katherine. The university students had never seen anything like this. We were all on our feet dancing along with our hosts to the delight of the parents and other children who were watching. Julie, in particular, enjoyed being part of the dancing! Then it was time for the official opening of the four classrooms. John and I opened the one sponsored by our family, Katie and Julie opened the classroom sponsored by the Challenge Girls Leadership Club (Katie is a youth leader and Julie is a member – see picture), and the Canadian girls followed by the Canadian boys opened the remaining two classrooms to much applause and cheering – African style! Then we ate, all of us. All the children, parents and guests sat down and enjoyed some rice, githeri, mokimo and chapatis. Following lunch, some lovely gifts were presented to all of the Canadians and we presented several gifts to the school including many Canada pencils and stickers along with skeins of thin yarn. Hold on now before you begin thinking that this was the wrap up of the celebration, because there was still one more highly anticipated activity to happen. Football! We had 5 soccer balls with us and several teams worth of donated jerseys, so with the help of some of the teachers, we got our enthusiastic players divided up into teams for 5 separate games, 3 for the boys and 2 for the girls. Our kids played, John played and refereed at times and I was in there too helping out with the youngest group of girls. We quickly figured out a few key phrases like “out ball”, “free kick” “green or white team”, and “starting positions” and then we were good to go. The parents enjoyed watching all of these various games and lots of football fun was had. We all headed for home quite a bit dustier than we started out, but the wind made us Islanders feel right at home.

Katie and Julie in front of the sign designating the new classroom paid for by fundraising efforts of the Challenge Girls Leadership Club

My second highlight was my day with the members of the two Women’s groups that work with FHF. Early Monday morning Shaad, Amy, Harrison, Rosemary their translator, and I all climbed into Shaad’s car matatu style for the drive to meet some of the Ruuju women. Several were coming to the school to pick up some lumber for the corn cribs that had been delivered the previous day. Amy and Harrison took advantage of the transport to be able to go and interview more of the women for their food security project, I went to talk to any of the women that were coming to the school. When we first arrived Farida took me on a tour of the gardens and then we walked over to see a few farms and to see the new tomato greenhouse. Things were lovely and green there. Farmers were busy harvesting maize since they got rains at just the right times to sustain this crop, unlike the situation for the Muchui women. I saw a couple of the corn cribs ready to store the maize drying out in the sunshine. They will be filling up over the next few days. We headed back to the school and found more than just a few of the women had come, it was more like 25, a few more than anticipated (see picture). But since this is Kenya, you expect the unexpected and we settled in to talk about family-related issues that concern them since I am a family scientist. As we were about to leave, the women wanted to thank me for coming to talk to them so they took me over to the church to sing and dance for me. Amy and Harrison came along and they were also swept up into the singing and dancing. Then we were back into Shaad’s car to go to Kiirua where I would leave the students and go on to meet with the Muchui Women. Word had spread and once again the turn out for this meeting was very high, with over 55 women coming to the business centre (see picture with part of the group). We started this meeting with enthusiastic and cheerful greetings and much singing and dancing. This was incredible to me given the tremendously horrible situation they are facing with another almost complete crop failure. These women are incredibly resilient! But we eventually got down to more serious discussions about the family issues that they have, and other ways that we might be able to help them and their families. I have clear ideas to share with the FHF project committee upon my return. I could go on and on but since the kids are waiting for the computer to be able to work on their blog entry, I shall say ”kwa heri” for now.

Charlene

Charlene with Ruuju Women’s Group members

Charlene with Muchui Women’s Group members

Blog by Katie VanLeeuwen:
All right, it’s my turn. Since this trip has been an amazing experience, it would be horrible for our blog to be boring or repetitive. With that in mind I decided to focus less on what we did and more on the things I noticed or saw on this trip.
Getting through Nairobi traffic at night was a full blown adventure story complete with danger, commotion, chaos, close calls and luckily a happy ending, arriving safely at our destination thanks to the heroics of our drivers Peter and David.
In the more rural areas we were the only wasungu (white people) around and that made me uneasy at first because everyone would look at us, but I got used to it. There was even a farmer who videotaped us on his phone while we were playing with a baby. I realized they are just as interested in us as we are in them.
The topography is incredible. It seems like we’re always going up or down. The farmers deal with this by digging terraces like huge steps into the hills so that they can still plant fields. Another nice touch that adds to scenery is the bougainvillea. It’s huge and it’s everywhere! It does very well in this climate and it grows in hedges, trees, bushes, vines, along fences and comes in all different colours.
It’s always interesting to look at the markets in Kenya because they are active, diverse, and also very colourful. Many of the shops are paid by big companies to have advertisements painted on their walls in the bright signature colour of that company. It does look nicer than plain brown or gray.

Painted shops

I loved meeting the kids everywhere. Just after school lets out and the students are walking home, we would wave to them and they would get all excited and start shouting and pointing and laughing and wave back at us. Another time, at one of the farms, there was a little girl we started playing with. Though she was wary at the start, by the end of our visit she was completely comfortable with us and we all had a ball.

Children waving

We got to play with all of the kids in the park at the orphanage too. There were so many of them they would all but jump on us trying to feel our white skin or hold our hands. They were so cute in their blue sweaters and hats knitted for them. One of the vet students compared them to smurfs. I think that’s a pretty accurate description.

Katie playing with kids at the orphanage

Pieter, Valérie and Sister Alice playing with kids at the orphanage

We also had a chance to experience some traditional dancing. It involves a lot of drumming, shouting and clapping. The dancers wear very bright decorated costumes. The women shake their hips or shoulders and the men jump, stomp and parade around.
There were definitely many different and interesting things about the culture here in Kenya.

Katie

Blog by Pieter VanLeeuwen:
Mom says that I shouldn’t write everything that was interesting or fun because it would take forever to type so I’ll just do the highlights.
On the first day that we were in Kenya, we went to the elephant orphanage where we saw around a dozen young elephants. But there weren’t just elephants there; there were also some warthogs and a blind rhino. We then went to the Bomas of Kenya where we saw some tribal dances and some acrobats who were insane. The next couple of days were pretty slow (our parents had meetings) until we went to Mukurweini where we were staying for a few days. We went to farms where there were health problems and watch Daddy do his vet thing. We stayed in a rented house and if we would have lived there for a long time, I would become so fat that I would have died, the food was so good. It was hard to leave that place.
Near Meru, there was a celebration in our honor at the Kinyinjere primary school. We had lots of fun watching the singing and dancing, and we exchanged gifts. We gave them some stuff from Canada and they gave us some crafts. We organized a bunch of soccer games and lots of kids got to play, I was surprised at how good a lot of them were and how hard they could kick in bare feet. The next day we went to the Ex-Lewa dairy and went to some farms to check on some sick cows and to get blood samples from calves. While walking back to the van after the third farm, I brushed against a stinging nettle bush for the second time in the same week; it hurt so much my leg went numb. Back at the dairy office we exchanged gifts; they gave us a bunch of different crafts and we gave them some medicine for sick cows and some for dry cows.
Then we went to the Samburu National park for a couple of days of safaris with the two nutrition students Harrison and Amy and the two vet students Valerie and Laura. On the way to the lodge we got stuck in some sand and had to get another van to push us out. Now I’m very happy that we got stuck because at that very spot, a lion chased, killed and ate a warthog (see picture). It was amazing to watch and listen to. We also saw a female ostrich which was pretty cool. We had lunch and then went swimming at the pool. At 4pm, we went on our first full safari, and we saw loads of elephants and lions, some warthogs, lots of deer-like animals, a bunch of different kinds of small animals like dikdiks and Guinea fowl, we even saw a couple giraffes, but the best thing was that we saw a leopard. Unfortunately it started to get dark so we had to go back to the lodge for a buffet supper with a make-your-own pasta station. Harrison ate so much I thought that the cooks would make a limit of how much food you could eat. The next day we woke up at 5:30 am to have some hot chocolate and a cookie before going on our morning safari. It wasn’t as eventful as the day before but we all saw a hawk and a baby elephant nursing her mom, and elephants drinking at the river. Breakfast was even better than supper and there was even a make-your-own omelette station. This time I was surprised that they didn’t run out of food because of how much food our table ate. Most of us then went to the gift shop to look at stuff and my mom actually let me buy one of the slingshots that some of the employees use to make sure that the monkeys don’t get in the kitchens and dining rooms. On the way out of the park we saw a male ostrich and a zebra that was only around 20 meters away. We then went back to the hospital to pick some stuff up and drop of Harrison and Amy we then continued on to Othaya where Val and Laura will be staying for the next 2 weeks, and then went through the Nairobi traffic adventure to get to ILRI. Today we are going to go to the Nairobi national park for a long afternoon day safari. Our final safari before we leave tomorrow.

Pieter

Lion with a warthog by its neck

Blog by Julie VanLeeuwen:
I don’t want to bore you with everything that has happened during the trip (some said by others above), so I will just give you MY highlights. The elephant orphanage was fun because an orphaned elephant almost knocked me over with its trunk – we were told that they like to play with shorter people. The traditional Kenyan dancing and singing was really interesting to watch, both at Bomas of Kenya, and at the Kinyinjere school. The acrobats at Bomas and at the National Museum really made my eyes pop out! Samburu National Park was amazing – especially when we got stuck, allowing us to watch a lion hunt a warthog (see Pieter’s blog). Kazuri Hand-Made Beads and Pottery was soooo cool! We saw the process of how they make the clay, form the beads and pots, heat them at 1101 degrees celcius (for the pottery) and 1000 for the beads, paint them, fire them again, and sometimes paint and fire them again, depending on the designs. With this process, the beads are rock hard and can be dropped without breaking, but the pottery is more fragile, and so it needs to stay in the firing oven for 3 days after the 8 hour bake to allow the temperature to gradually go back to normal to prevent cracking from temperature shock. They had so many cool colours and designs, including people and zebras and giraffes on pottery (see picture), and polka-dots and zebra stripes on beads. The best part is that they employ 340 women, mostly single mothers, to make the beads and pottery, so buying things there is helping single moms (see picture). The souvenir shops have so many things, it’s hard to chose. It was fun to watch Dad bargain with the shop employee, because they thought Dad was a tourist and so gave him tourist prices – but in Kenya, that is just the starting price, and then the bargaining begins. I got a jembe (drum) and some sandals with beads on them as souvenirs – memories of Kenya.

Julie

Painted pottery before and after firing.

Single moms assembling beads.

Blog by John VanLeeuwen:
OK, it is my turn. The good thing about going last is that the others who have blogged before you have already reported on the biggest and best highlights of the trip. For me, in addition to the highlights already mentioned, my biggest on-going highlight has been re-experiencing many things with a fresh perspective, through the eyes of my family, and watching their reactions to the many new and wonderful activities that they are doing each and every day. However, this trip has not been without many other first activities for me, even though this is my tenth time in Kenya. This was the first time I was involved in the interviewing and hiring of Kenyans for jobs that will help to implement projects funded through Farmers Helping Farmers – the examination/verification of the original documents from high school, university, and other courses is not something we normally do in Canada. This was the first time I helped open new school classrooms – a humbling and overwhelming experience. And this was the first time that I climbed to the top of one of the many hills that dot the landscape around the Muchui Women’s Group (see picture). It took us about an hour of many switchbacks, but the view from the top was spectacular and worth the effort, and it finally gave me the perspective that I was craving, to help me get oriented on the relative locations of local schools, local markets, and many of the women’s farms, not to mention the 20-30 km we could see in all directions. Wow! It also showed us how desperately dry in every direction we looked and could see. Nothing but dried up fields, lined by some trees and cowpeas barely hanging on. Even from that high point, I am sure that I could have heard the cheers of joy from the Muchui women when they found out that Farmers Helping Farmers was going to provide them with some corn, beans and water to get them through to the next harvest in January!
With Charlene and the kids here, it was also time to do some of those touristic things that many people do when they come to Kenya, but we usually don’t do when we come focused on Farmers Helping Farmers business. We went to an elephant orphanage, the Bomas of Kenya (recreations of the village architecture of the many tribes in Kenya – and demonstrations of their singing and dancing styles), the National Museum, and the snake park. These were all worthwhile outings, if you are into that kind of thing. And we will be going to a hand-made bead and ceramics factory (pottery, art, jewelery, etc.) and the Nairobi National Park before we leave on Sunday – all things that I had not done before, saving them for when I could enjoy them with my family.
One final first to add to the list…this was also the first time that I drove a vehicle in Kenya, in Nairobi, on the left side of the road, of course, as we needed a second vehicle to get to church on the first weekend. Since I had gotten my international driving license for when we go to Holland next week, I was legal, and brave or crazy enough to try it – but only on a Sunday morning when the traffic was light and we were only going 10 minutes down the road. Most of the crazy Nairobi drivers (mostly matatu taxi drivers) are not awake on Sunday morning. So I guess I am not that brave after all. Some people think I’m crazy for even coming to Kenya, let alone bringing my kids here, and maybe I am crazy, but the rewards for coming to Kenya far outweigh any nuisances. I look forward to sharing more memories with you on the other side of the pond.

John

Hilltop view of Mbarria market and Kinyinjere school

Samburu and Interviews!

2011-07-15T00:23:00.000-07:00

by Harrison Blizzard and Amy Rawlinson

Another great week in Kenya began with heading out to Ruuju School to complete some food insecurity interviews with the Women’s group. Many of the members were there to gather lumber for the building of maize storage cribs that are being built throughout the community. We finished the day dancing with the women as they thanked us for all of our help the past couple of months. On Tuesday we headed to the Samburu National Reserve with the VanLeeuwen family and two veterinarian students doing work here this summer. We had a great time with the family and students and even got to witness a lion hunting a warthog. We headed back on Wednesday and had to say goodbye to the VanLeeuwens as they were making their way back to Nairobi. They will be our last Canadian visitors during our stay. It was back to work on Thursday when Harrison headed out to do more interviews with Hannah on food security and Amy was busy preparing a report on infant feeding for the Machaka orphanage. The women were so grateful for our visit and the information collected will greatly help this community in years to come. We even met a woman who has goiter (the result of a deficiency in iodine). As unfortunate as it is, it is very interesting to see nutritional deficiencies of these sorts here in Kenya as we do not see them often home. It helps us realize that problems that we have successfully tackled in the developed world are still an issue in other parts of the world. Friday was a day at the compound to catch up on some report writing and preparing for a busy week next week of interviews back in Ruuju. This weekend we will be heading out with our friend Salome to hike out to a waterfall. There is no shortage of exercise here that’s for sure! Above is a picture of us with the VanLeeuwen family and vet students Valerie and Laura before their departure.

Jambo! From the Mzungo 6!

2011-07-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

Written by Danaiet Teame, Gloria Smith, and Danielle McConnell

We have just finished another jam packed week in Kiirua! We started off the week as per usual in the hospital, Monday and Tuesday. Monday morning started off with a great presentation by Dr. Nthurima on Hypertension. After this, we split up to three different areas of the hospital: maternity, outpatients, and surgical. We are still getting used to the routine and the staff and have much to learn! Many babies are being born everyday, and many more to come with at least 10 pregnant mothers in for checkups.
Wednesday, the dream team (Harrison, Amy, Hannah, Danaiet, Gloria, and Danielle) left St. Teresa in the morning with Jennifer Murogocho destined for two primary schools, Kamukethe and Kinyenjere to do teaching on proper hand washing. We had a great time doing this! The kids were amazing and many of them remembered a tune the students from last year had taught them to sing while washing their hands. The head master at Kamaketha, Henri assisted us in organizing the classes and translating for the younger students. The pipeline to the hand washing station was being repaired so we improvised and filled jugs of water to rinse the students’ hands. At Kinyenjere School, which is about two times the size of Kamukethe, all the teachers warmly welcomed us. We presented to the students at their hand washing station with the help of one of the enthusiastic teacher Charles.
Thursday was spent in the community of Kimirichia doing community outreach with Dorcas, a community worker, and Freedah, a social worker from St. Theresa’s. Back at the compound we were greeted by the Van Leeuwan family and company (Laura and Valerie, two Vet students). It was great to see Canadian faces and to hear all the news from Canada!
Friday, we spent the entire day at Machaka with the children! We spent the morning with the babies, helping with feeding and then we helped serve lunch to the older children. The Van Leeuwan clan joined us for the morning, and was off to Kinyenjere School in the afternoon. We stayed for a generous and delicious lunch with the sisters.
We had a lovely weekend, which was spent mostly with the Van Leeuwan clan. Saturday afternoon we hiked one of the many hills in Kiirua, close to Kinyenjere School, with the guidance of Noel. We had a great view of the Kiirua area from the top, even with the haze of the day. Sunday we were so lucky to be a part of an amazing and generous ceremony that was thrown at Kinyenjere School in honour of the sponsors of the school, which included the Van Leeuwen family, and the youth group that the Van Leeuwan girls are a part of. All teachers, students and their families, as well as the Machui Women’s group collaborated to organize the event and the different groups sang, danced, and even recited a poem for us. Thanks to all of the sponsors, Kinyenjere boasts an increase in student enrolment, an increase in mean national scores, and an improved health status of the students with the provision of milk and the school gardens. We were all so grateful to be a part of the celebration and were humbled by the gifts and meal that were so generously given to us. Though the people at Kinyenjere were so generous and hospitable, it is a very difficult time for the people of Kiirua, as the crops are dry and food and water is sparse.
It was a busy but exciting week in Kiirua. Looking forward to week 4, with a hospital presentation on Monday morning and another two school visits on Wednesday! Stay tuned for next weeks update!

Weeks 2 and 3

2011-07-10T02:42:00.000-07:00

by: Hannah Hughes

Time is flying by in Kenya! The research project is well under way, and a lot has been accomplished since the project was first blogged about our first week in Kiirua. Last week, Kevin, Kim, and I (Hannah, the biology student) put on respiratory clinics Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for the Muchui women between the ages of 25 and 45 who are eligible to be part of the research. Although that is the criteria for the research, that did not stop men and women alike of all ages to come and get a health assessment done by Kim! The first day we put on the clinic we had almost 30 women come, which was amazing. Afterwards we were questioning why we had worried about the women showing up! Not only was it an opportunity for the women to get their health checked, and to become part of the study, it was also a great social outing for them. This was evident in the time that the women spent sitting around talking to each other, even hours after their assessments had been completed. On Tuesday not quite as many women showed up, as I think many of them thought it was just on Monday. Of the women that did show up on Tuesday, one woman walked 12 kilometers to come see us, and had to get excused from teaching for the afternoon to do so. We had just been about to get in the van and head back to St. Teresa’s, but thankfully she caught us just in time! I was amazed and appreciative that someone would go to that much effort to come see us, and be able to participate in the study. On Thursday, we held the last clinic for the Muchui women, and we had almost 15 more women come. The three days combined were a great opportunity to meet all the women who will be participating in the study, and get to know them a little bit before I go to their farms. Kevin and Kim left on Friday, and I am now on my own for the remaining research! Between Tuesday and Thursday of this week, I did a total of eight home visits along with Amy. I was able to see some diversity in the women, as some had more income than their farm alone, and that was visible in the fact that these women buy their firewood, and even gas in some cases. All of the visits went great; the women are so welcoming and easy to talk to. I am looking forward to visits scheduled in the upcoming weeks!

Week 2 in Kiirua

2011-07-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

By: Danaiet Teame, Gloria Smith, and Danielle McConnell
This week was another great and busy week here in Kiirua. Amy and Harrison summed up the week pretty well and we just wanted to write about the health clinic that was put on in the community of Mikinduri for the Ruuju women’s group. The clinic took place at Ruuju School and there was a great turnout of 25 women and 5 teachers for a total of 30 participants. We prepared health cards in advance and handed them out to each participant. Stations were set up to assess vital signs, blood glucose, height, weight, waist circumference and a chest assessment was performed. The clinic ran smoothly throughout the morning with the help of the two professors, the nutrition students and the biology student. This clinic provided the women with an assessment of their overall health and allowed us to identify potential health concerns they may have, such as hypertension, pre-diabetes, and respiratory illnesses. For the most part the women were healthy, however those who were at risk were given health education with the help of a translator and a few were encouraged to seek further medical attention. We had a lot of fun putting on the clinic for the women and it is a simple, easy way for the women to have accessible health care. We will return to the community at the end of August to re-assess the women.

Transition for the second half of our internship

2011-07-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

By Harrison Blizzard & Amy Rawlinson

This week consisted of mostly preparation work to get us ready for our last full month here in Kenya. It is hard to believe that we are over halfway finished our time here and it feels like we just got here! This month we have two projects that we will be working on. One is infant feeding sessions (which are headed by Amy). These sessions are for infant mother to teach them about proper nutrition for them and their babies. Most of this work will take place at the hospital as nursing mothers come in and also up at the Machaka orphanage to help the staff learn for the young orphans. Foodservice assessment (headed by Harrison) will also take place at St. Teresa’s hospital. Currently the hospital does not have a dietitian so we were asked to assess their foodservice practices to help the staff increase the wellness of the patients and make any recommendations if needed. On Wednesday, we joined the nursing and biology students in their health clinics that were being completed at the Ruuju women’s group. Thursday was spent getting ready for the infant feeding presentation for Friday and developing worksheets for the food security data that will be gathered all this month during our home visits. The work week ended on a sad note as we all attended the funeral of Jennifer Murogocho’s nephew who passed away the previous Friday. We wanted to help out the family during this difficult time so we took the morning to help pass out snacks to the attendees and then attended the funeral service. It was very important to help the family as the whole family has done so much to help us during our stay here. On Saturday we celebrated Canada Day by having a party inviting some of our Kenyan friends. This was a great event to bring a little bit of Canada into Kenya for the day. We prepared some dishes that are popular in Canada and had some Canadian music to listen to. It was so much fun for us and our guests and it made us feel as if we were back in Canada! (Without a visit from Prince William and Catherine of course!)

We’re here! Kenya believe it!

2011-06-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

Written by Danaiet Teame, Gloria Smith, Danielle McConnell, Hannah Hughes

We have successfully completed our first week here in Kenya! We arrived in Kirua where we will be living for the next three months on Tuesday, after spending two days in Nairobi. We were greeted at our new home at St. Teresa’s by Amy and Harrison, the nutrition students, and Sister Naomi. On the first full day in Kirua, the nursing students had orientation at St. Teresa’s hospital, where they were warmly welcomed by the staff and had a tour of the hospital. This tour ended in the OR where they observed the birth of a beautiful baby boy! Thursday was also spent in the hospital, where the students observed the birth of a gorgeous baby girl in the OR. The students and Kim then spent the later part of the day supporting a labouring mother and assisting with cares. The same day Hannah, the biology student went out into the community along with the nutrition students and Kevin to visit the homes of two women from the Muchui Womens Group. The biology research that will be conducted over the next three months is to assess the health and ecological impact that using firewood as cooking fuel has on women from the Muchui and Ruuju Womens Groups, as well as their families. Over the next 90 days, Hannah will be visiting 40 women between the ages of 25-45, and asking them questions about their health and wood collection/usage. Measurements of their cookhouses, as well as weight and moisture content of the wood used for cooking will be taken. Three more homes and women were visited on Thursday. The data collection went very well on both days, and it was great to be invited into the homes of these women, to get to know them and learn more about them.

We wrapped up the week by visiting the children at the Machaka Children’s Home on Friday morning. We look forward to visiting Machaka every Friday and will write more as we get to know the children. The weekend was spent at Samburu National Reserve as we observed the amazing local wildlife. We are looking forward to spending a full week in Kirua, working, and getting to know the community!

Another week in Kenya.

2011-06-24T04:46:00.000-07:00

Written by Amy Rawlinson and Harrison Blizzard.

This past week started off a bit slow. On Monday Harrison and I just organized ourselves, catching up on writing and preparation for our food service and infant feeding work, which will take place over the next few weeks in unison with the food security data collection. On Tuesday the nursing and biology students arrived in the early evening. We were both pleased to have the company of them all as the compound has been very empty the past two weeks.
Wednesday and Thursday we went on joint home visits with biology student, Hannah, and biology professor, Kevin. This was the first time of Harrison and I were doing the food security questions solo, so it was exciting to finally be doing some research work independently. We visited two homes and the interviews went very smoothly, however, it was difficult to hear that the women were having a very hard time getting food as a result of the dry weather. The three women that we visited on Thursday were no exception to the food insecure majority, as they too were all having a very hard time feeding themselves and their families. This is an eye opening experience for us as food insecurity is not an open issue in Canada; here it is right in front of us, we are dealing with the direct effects of drought weather and starving families. Interviewing these women will not get easier. Harrison will be interviewing the women of Muchui and I will be interviewing the women of Ruju; Ruju is an area that is much more lush than Muchui, however, the food security of this area may still be poor. The work of Farmers Helping Farmers will hopefully make a lasting impact on these families and sustainable farming to help support them better for future droughts. This experience is constantly proving to be a reminder of how fortunate we are to live in a Country with such abundant food sources.
On Friday, the 24th of June, we visited Muchaka with the nursing and bio students. On arrival at the orphanage we were greeted by some Sisters and then were taken on a tour of the orphanage and their grounds. Muchaka’s development has been supported by the work of the NGO “Trame Africane” founded by an Italian by the name of Pasquale, their impact on this area is truly amazing. The orphanage is currently housing 30 children under the age of 4 and the feeding program is providing two meals a day and school lessons to over 30 children from the local slums. We were able to help feed and play with some infants, well, technically I did not feed the infants as some of the girls did as I was worried about choking them with porridge! but I was there to comfort some. Before we left we served the young children, of the feeding program, their githeri and then went back to St. Teresa’s. The nurses and biology students left for Samburu National Park to enjoy a weekend of safariing. Harrison and I stayed behind to work on some reports and preparation for next weeks infant feeding at the hospital. We are hoping to go to another safari before we leave though.
Next week we will have reached our half way point, it is sad to know that our work will be half over soon.

Finishing up the Nursery Parent Nutrition Sessions!

2011-06-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

by Harrison Blizzard and Amy Rawlinson

This week we wrapped up the nursery parent sessions at the schools: Kamaketha, Ruuju, and two at Kinyenjere. Kamaketha went very well the parents really enjoyed it and Henry (the school’s Headmaster) was so pleased to have us talk to the parents. He wanted us to mention that they are so grateful for all the help Farmers Helping Farmers has given them and they could not have made such a fast improvement in the community without the help from the people of Prince Edward Island. We were very pleased that he has already arranged a meeting with the parents of the school to talk about nutrition and is getting the nursery parents to teach. This is how our message can be passed within the community and hopefully the families can make best during the drought they are experiencing. Further relief came today for the children at the school from the generosity of Farmers Helping Farmers when a shipment of food was delivered so the children will have nutritious meals throughout the rest of the school semester. At Ruuju School we experienced unusually low numbers of parents in attendance due to the community’s bean harvest. The session was still positive however with the parents who were very interested and asked many questions on how to improve nutrition for their families. Our two sessions at Kinyenjere were our largest to date as there are a total of seventy one nursery children at the school. These parents showed a high interest in our presentation and loved the food prepared by our Champ parents. They especially enjoyed learning about chapattis and how pumpkin and carrots can be added into the recipe to increase beta-carotene levels. They insisted we come back to teach them more which we hope we can do if time allows in the near future. On our way home we were pleased to see workers installing a new water tank at Kieni-kia-Ndege, which is one of the newer schools being assisted by Farmers Helping Farmers (picture above). They were so pleased with the arrival and even the school children were helping to mix the cement to prepare the foundation. Both the Headmaster and the School Chairman were present and expressed their thanks and gratitude to everyone who made this possible for them and that they will put it to good use. Overall this week alone showed how much can be done in a short time frame while giving the people in the community skills and resources that will help create sustainable development for many years to follow. We will now reflect on our work over the past few weeks and begin our transition to prepare for home visits to assess food security in the area and also prepare for the arrival of four of our fellow UPEI students.

Week Two: Presentations!

2011-06-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

Written by: Amy Rawlinson and Harrison Blizzard-Nutrition Team 2011

We are pleased to announce that we survived our first week of nutrition presentations to the nursery parents. Of course this past week did not pass without some out of the ordinary experiences!

On monday we met with the “Champ” parents of Kamaketha school. This school is too far to walk to so we had to take a taxi. Unfortunately the road to Kamaketha is very rocky and difficult for many cars pass by so we had to leave the car and walk a kilometer or two. We arrived back to the car several hours later to find that the battery was dead! It needed a jump start, but of course they do not have jump cables in rural Kenya so the driver had to resort to roll starting the car. Unfortunately for us the car was parked facing down a hill, a hill that the car could not go down because of the rocky terrain. So the only solution was for us and one other man to push the car up a hill backwards so it could be roll started. It is safe for us to say neither of us has ever pushed a car up a hill before, thankfully for our “Beach Body Insanity” training we were able to muster enough strength to get the car up. Disappointingly the car did not start, so we had to roll the car back up the hill again and again and again with no luck! The car needed more momentum, which meant rolling it further up the hill, something we could not do. Fortunately for us there were two oxen handy so the farmer hooked them onto the back of the car and got them to pull it up the hill backwards, this worked like a charm and after three or four runs up the hill and two hours later the car started! Hopefully we will not have to be pushing any cars up hills in the near future!

We had three nursery parent presentations from Wednesday to Friday. For each session there was food samples provided to demonstrate a balanced diet. We wanted to interact as much as we could with the “Champs” so we arrived early to each school to help the them prepare the food. They all really enjoyed making fun of our slow peeling and chopping techniques, but all in all we had a great time learning more about Kenyan cooking. All of the presentations had a great turnout or parents present, the majority being the mothers, but we were pleased to have a few fathers at each presentation too! Our presentation at Kieni Kia Ndege (which we abbreviate as KK) on Thursday was proceeded by an unfortunate accident as we were walking back to St. Teresa’s. We were accompanied by a horde of children, as class had finished at the same time as our presentation. There were many bodaboda’s (motorcycle taxi’s) on the road, all of whom were driving much to fast! To our horror one of the drivers hit a child in front of us, Harrison was forced to stand over the child to prevent anyone from trying pick the unconscious boy up, he came to eventually and another bodaboda driver took him to the hospital once he could stand. Luckily, we later found out that he had no serious injuries, however this was an eye opener for us to always keep our wits about us when we are walking during rush hour. We were happy to have Friday arrive so quickly and we were able to finish our presentation by 2 pm (about 2 1/2 hours earlier than usual). The headmaster then took us to a school dancing and singing festival. This was a little awkward at first as we were being stared at like we had beacons flashing on our heads and the sea of children parted before us as we walked towards the dancing. Once we got seated we really enjoyed seeing all of the traditional dances and songs, the rhythm that the children had was amazing!

We are looking forward to an action packed week to come as we finish with the nursery parent presentation and keenly await the arrival of the nursing and biology students!

Week one!

2011-06-03T09:20:00.001-07:00

Written by Amy Rawlinson and Harrison Blizzard

We have just finished our first week alone without our mentors and we were sad to see them go on Monday morning. After a couple days to prepare for our Champ meetings with the nursery parents, we headed out to Ruuju school with a little push to get the cab started. We were pleased to have all the five parents show up to meet us during Madaraka Day (the national holiday that commemorates the day Kenya gained self-rule from the UK). They were happy to meet with us and looked forward to working with us to prepare Kenyan food for the nursery school parents. We were also pleased to have both male and female parents actively involved in the process and we believe that this shows the increasing interest in nutrition among the communities that Farmers Helping Farmers is involved with. Thursday and Friday we visited Kieni-kia-Ndege School and Marinya-a-Ruibi School respectively to continue with our Champion parents orientation. The parents were as equally keen and we were honored that they asked us to be involved in preparing the food for the parents. This will be a great opportunity for us to understand their cooking methods and take some skills back home to cook for friends and family. We get a sense within these schools that the sessions will help the parents and children practice healthy eating and the schools are happy to be involved so their students will thrive in academics. We will spend the weekend busy preparing for the presentations and we will cap off Saturday night having pizza with our lovely Italian friends before they leave to go home. They are responsible for the great work that has been done at St. Theresa's and the Machaka orphanage and it was great to spend two weeks with them. It will be an empty two weeks at the residence until the rest of the UPEI team arrives!

The Home visits

2011-05-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

Written by: Amy Rawlinson & Harrison Blizzard-Nutrition Team 2011

This week we visited four women’s homes as training for our food security interviews that will take place in July. The homes were located in two communities, Ruuju and Muchui, which are approximately one hour apart. We asked the women questions pertaining to their gardens, crops, and food. The first day we started at Muchui which has suffered from two consecutive droughts. These first two visits at Muchui were unique in that they were our first interactions with the women of this area and also it was our first time asking these women to recall upon their hardships. We started by listing the foods and beverages that the women consumed the previous day. While we had experience doing these interviews through our university course work it was difficult because we were unfamiliar with some of the foods (for example the food Changa, which is a dish composed of pounded maize and beans), beverages (a soy drink, where they use crushed soy beans and hot water instead of tea), and meals that the women ate and drank but also we were collecting this information through a translator. As we transitioned into asking the women our questions on their food security it was apparent that the women have been experiencing tough times with their food sources, however it was uplifting to see the resilience and positive attitudes that the women had towards any future successes. The opportunity to measure heights and weights of children under 5 years of age was new to us and proved to be a challenge as they chose not to cooperate but with time, patience, and persistence we were able to collect the data.
Two days later we travelled to Ruuju to complete the same training. The area of Ruuju is much more lush and has received more rain than Muchui; knowing this we assumed that the questions asked would reflect a much more positive feedback on the women’s food security, however, this was not the case. The Women of Ruuju are in fact experiencing similar problems with their food sources as the women of Muchui. They are equally, however, as hard working and hopeful of good crop yields and a better season to come. Our experience preforming the questions were better this time as we had more practice with asking the questions. Also, our communication through the translator was much more free flowing. The young children were still uncooperative with us, but with help from the mothers and other children they allowed us to take their measurements.
At the end of each interview we presented a bottle of (fortified) Golden Fry Oil to the women as a token of our appreciation of their time, this was a gift which they were very pleased to receive and helped to lift the somber atmosphere that generally followed our food security questions.
These four interviews allowed us to be able to reflect on our performances at these, which will help us to successfully attain the needed information for the 40 more interviews that we will be completing in the near future. We are looking forward to revisiting these communities and women throughout our stay in Kenya. We are hopeful that the information we gather will help to improve the quality of life for these families.

The “New Nuts” First Impressions of Kenya

2011-05-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

Written By: Amy Rawlinson & Harrison Blizzard-Nutrition Team 2011

After a long flight to Kenya we arrived in Nairobi. The first day we went to purchase some African fabric for Kaylynne and Christina’s Apron project. Harrison was a little overwhelmed with the amount of colors to choose from, later that day we visited a bead factory and again Harrison was overwhelmed by the selection and girlyness of the day. The next day we travelled to Meru, where we will be staying for the duration of our project and met Jennifer Murogocho, our fill in Kenyan mother for the summer. It was a great week to spend with her and we learnt a lot about the Kenyan culture, such as making chapatis and how not to burn your fingers on the chapatti skillet. We also got to look at the agriculture practices in Kenya and we were very excited to see the amount of maize and beans grown together to help fix the soil with nitrogen. The maize is nothing like the sweetcorn that we eat in Canada, it tastes like nothing, it is very starchy. Kaylynne and Christina were ecstatic when they saw some coffee trees and unsuccessfully attempted to dry and roast the beans they picked, but they made a good effort:)
We travelled to Sweetwaters lodge, located in Ol Pejeta Conservatory, the following weekend. This was a nice break before we started our community work. We saw many new animals including four of the “Big Five”. Our closest encounter with wildlife was when our guide was swarmed with African wasps, resulting in four stings, consequently we came out unscathed but had to walk back through a black rhinoceroses latrine. Overall the Sweetwaters experience was a great one as we got to witness amazing Kenyan sceneries and many majestic animals.
On our return from Sweetwaters we arrived at St. Tereas, our home to be for the next few months. The sisters warmly welcomed us with a traditional Kenyan dinner, song, and dance, which included an accompaniment by the Great Canadian Soda Flutist, Harrison. The highlight of the evening was the “cutting of the cake” ceremony. We are now settled into our new home and are looking forward to meeting the staff of St. Teresa’s and working in the communities of Muchui and Ruuju.

Champ Model Evaluation Sessions

2011-05-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

Written by Kaylynne Parkes and Christina Tucker - Nutrition Team 2010

The best part about returning to Kenya for 3 weeks this year is that we get to follow up on all of our projects. One of our major projects last year was developing tips and recommendations to give the women in the womens groups related to family nutrition. All of our recommendations were based on tweaking traditional Kenyan foods to make them more nutritious. Since we are clearly not Kenyan, and could never be experts in preparing Kenyan cuisine, we developed a model that we called “the Champs.” We had each of the two womens groups chose 6 women that were great cooks and great farmers and we dubbed them the champs. We met with the champs of each group and taught them our recommendations and had them teach us about local foods. Working together, we collaborated and developed a menu plan for the sessions. We wanted to bring samples of several different common foods that had been modified based on our recommendations for the groups members to try. We enlisted the champs to prepare these foods and we asked them to discuss with the women during the session how they prepared each dish and what challenges and/or successes they may have faced. We felt this model worked really well, kept the women engaged and provided some practical advice. In the past two weeks we have been able to meet with both the champs and the participants of each group to get some concrete feedback about how they felt about this approach. This was particularly of interest because Amy and Harrisson plan on using this same model with the nursery school parents at 5 different elementary schools in the community.
When meeting with the champs, we realized that the success of this program has continued to benefit the women’s groups and the community far beyond the family nutrition seminars themselves. The champs were delighted to have been chosen by their peers and felt proud to be part of our presentations. They felt that they gained the knowledge to not only teach members of their groups but also members of the community at large by not only learning the theory but by applying it to physical cook the dishes and use the recommendations. Although we expected positive feedback, there were comments made by the champs that we didn’t expect to hear. For example, the champs of the Ruuju Women’s Group commented that one of the best parts about being chosen as a champ was that they all got together as a group to cook the dishes and consequently became better friends. The champs of the Muchui Women’s Group said that they have gained public speaking skills after taking to the participants at the sessions and that they are now asked to cook foods for community events since they have become known as champs throughout the entire community. In both groups, group members approach the champs in particular with any nutrition related questions and to clarify aspects of our presentation if needed.
Meeting with the participants was a bit more sensitive. We were seeking feedback about the champ model and the use of their peers as experts and not feedback about the actual content of the sessions. We were afraid that we might not get honest feedback if there was any jealously or if they felt there had been favoritism shown throughout the champ model. The participants were very happy with the content of the session and are continuing to follow many of the recommendations such as soaking the maize and beans and following a balanced meal. They associate the ease at which they were able to incorporate our recommendations into their everyday cooking with the practical experience of tasting the foods prepared this way and hearing first hand how to prepare these dishes from their peers who they respected. Tasting the foods gave them the ability to compare their first attempts at following the recommendations with the proper execution of the recommendations. When asked if the participants would have chosen the same 6 champs again, both groups identified that they would, and that they are comfortable approaching the champs to ask questions. Although the participants were not considered champs, they still felt as though they had gained enough knowledge from the sessions to share what they had learned with siblings, in-laws, neighbors and other members of the community. The only criticism from the participants was that they felt as though the champs had learned more because they gained more practical experience through preparing the food for each session.
We were really happy to be able to come back to Kenya to get this feedback, not only for our own knowledge, but also because we can now share this knowledge with Amy and Harrisson. They accompanied us on these feedback sessions and gained a greater understanding of the model we used. We are hoping that they can use this feedback to take our model and turn it into a new and improved version of their own.

Home Sweet Home Away From Home

2011-05-24T05:28:00.000-07:00

After spending such an amazing summer in Kenya last year, we never thought we’d be back, especially not so soon. Although it’s only a comparatively short three-week visit, we could be happier that we were given an opportunity to return to Kiirua. We’re honored to have been asked to come back as mentors for the new nutrition students and are thrilled to be able to evaluate our projects from last year and receive feedback first hand from the participants of our nutrition seminars and school lunch research. Even though it’s been 8 months since we last set foot on Kenyan soil, after only a few days we felt at home and like part of the community.

Last summer, one of our main projects was to assess the school feed

ing programs of 5 schools and to work with the staff at each school to improve the nutritional quality of the meals being served. This year, we were able to visit each of the schools to talk with the staff to determine what changes have been made based on our recommendations. Each of the schools has begun to soak their maize and beans overnight and they are all adding more vegetables to their githeri now than they were before. We were worried about doing these follow-up sessions with the schools because we were concerned that the draught would have prevented the schools from being able to implement any changes. Despite the failing crops in the school gardens and within the community, each school is taking the initiative to make school nutrition a priority. Each school has it’s own barriers and challenges, but they are all doing everything they can with what they have. It was really neat to learn that the reports we developed for each school have been passed on to all staff at each school and have been shared with new staff as well. Some of our handouts were even still hanging on the walls as a constant reminder of our nutrition messages.

Going into the feedback sessions, we had no idea what to expect, and were almost

expecting to hear the worst given the draught. Our first feedback session was at Ruuju Primary School, and we were blown away by how hard the school has been working to achieve the goals we set with them last year. Not only have they achieved the goals they set with us, they went above and beyond and have made even more changes than we had originally discussed with them. They took the initiative to read our recommendations and set and achieved even more goals once they accomplished the goals set while we were in Kenya. They emphasized the impact the improved school-feeding program has had on the children, especially during the draught when food is less secure at home. Academic performance has improved, and the school has even won the prize of being the top academic school in their district for the first time ever. The headmaster has even noticed a significant decrease in the number of students who are ill.

When working with the schools last summer, we were proud of the work we had done and were hopeful that it would initiate change, but we were unable to actually do any follow up to determine if the goals were being accomplished or if changes were being made. Being back in Kenya and being able to do the follow-up sessions ourselves has been incredible. While sitting in the headmaster’s office, learning about all the improvements that have been made, our faces hurt from smiling so huge. We felt like kids in a candy store, and got more and more excited every time we learned of a new change that has been made related to the school lunch program. We used Ruuju as an example because it was the first school we assessed, but each school we visited had it’s own share of success stories, every one of which made us proud.

As awesome as it was to get to conduct the feedback sessions our selves and to be back in Kenya, our job here is as mentors to the new nutrition students from UPEI. Through the feedback sessions, we were able to introduce the new students to many of the key contacts we made last year at the schools and we were able to teach them all of our school and family nutrition recommendations and tips. We made many good friends last year, and at Kamuketha we were even greeted as fellow staff members. We wanted to facilitate that kind of working relationship between the community and the new students. Last summer, we had to learn how to communicate with people who had a different first language then ourselves by trial and error any by experiencing several miscommunications. This year, we were able to model effective communication skills for the new students. The new students, Amy and Harrison, have been awesome. They are learning quickly and are already filling our shoes as the nutrition team from Canada. We’re excited about the new projects and will be contacting them on a regular basis for detailed updates.

Successful first week in Meru for Nutrition Team 2011

2011-05-21T04:53:00.000-07:00

It was a week Tuesday since we left, and in some ways it seems short, but in others it seems like I am in another world, a parallel universe!
Tuesday we went to Ruuju again to talk to the women from the Ruuju women’s group. Christina and Kaylynne were following up from last year, asking them how they found the nutrition seminars from a participant perspective. Yesterday they had spoken to the leaders of the groups, the ‘champs’: women who were good cooks and good farmers who actually prepared food for the seminars and explained how the women could make their traditional food healthier.

This was the first time that I experienced using a translator. It was quite an experience. The students (or Colleen) pose a question, the interpreter translates it to Kimeru the local dialect and then we sit and listen to them jabbering away in Kimeru. Then the poor translater tries and boils down the laughing, the speaking to each other, etc and tell us what was said. It went really well, although it was difficult at times. We are asking sensitive questions about food security and hunger and how people cope. The women talked about stress, and worrying, praying and being unable to sleep because they didn’t have enough food for their families. Heartwrenching. Yet they could turn around and make a joke and laugh. Amazing women. I videotaped a lot of this since it will be so valuable in my teaching in my nutrition courses.
We are amazed at the difference in the shambas (gardens) between Muchui and Ruuju. Muchui is so dry, and the maize is yellow and dead-some has been replanted but is still short. Ruuju School garden is amazing and lush: Freda who is in charge of the garden is doing a very good job here. As I learned last year, water means everything. And the drought this year underscores that point.
We have been walking almost every morning, which is fun when I have a gang to talk to. And the scenery here is beautiful- tall trees, lots of flowers, people walking to work, children going to school (at 730). On Tuesday, we walked for an hour this morning, sort of by accident. Motua the dear house man that Jennifer Murogocho employs takes us for walks. His English is sketchy, and he didn’t understand that we needed to be back in about 30 min. He took us on this very long route and we ended out by the main road in Meru- a very long way from Jennifer’s. I got a huge blister on my foot (stupidly wore Crocs and no socks) and had to wear Christina’s flip flops and she took my Crocs. We both ended up with blistered feet by the time we got home, but I got 10,000 steps that day (wearing the pedometer).
We have cooked every night since we got here with Mama Jen and lots of helpers! She and I are becoming quite close and last night she sat on my bed looking sad. She finds the house lonely when we go. I can only imagine. These 4 students are jabbering, laughing, exercising and just bringing life to everything in the house. We introduce ourselves to the women as ‘sisters’: Kenyan Jennifer and Canadian Jennifer. And I always say, “Don’t we look exactly alike?” The women find this very funny as we stand arm in arm laughing.
We have had a Canadian night (we chose recipes from the Canadian Living cookbook we brought Jen) which included sweet and sour chicken (with an entire fresh pineapple), spaghetti and meatballs and ice cream. Everyone loved it, and even the neighbour David came and ate with us. Shaad, who is a lovely man who does the horticulture work with Farmers Helping Farmers, said he is coming every May to Jennifer’s for Canadian night! We have tried to cook something Kenyan every night so that Harrison and Amy get familiar with the food. They need to give seminars on how to make recipes healthy so it is important that they see how they are made and how to add extra greens, pumpkin etc to the dishes to make them more nutritious. There are problems with micronutrient deficiencies here (iron, vitamin A etc) so it is good strategy to use with the women. Last night we made chapatis which was a lot of fun- captured all on video so I could see how Jen makes them. She pulled out a can of fat we had fried the chicken in and used that to fry the chapattis on a big cast iron chapatti pan. There were a few wrinkled noses among the students at using ‘chicken oil’ but they were very tasty. And we made a huge pot of githeri, or stew with garlic, onions, tomatoes, dried maize and beans (soaked), 3 kinds of greens, including kale, sweet potato, green peppers, curry, Royco seasoning (like beef boullion)and I don’t know what all. She uses a huge round bellied pot and there was lots of stirring and tasting. Delicious vegetarian meal, and a githeri that many would not be able to afford here.
Today is the final ‘work day’ for the week as we head to the final two schools: Kinyenjeri and Kamuketha. We have been there before but need to introduce the new project to the head masters and Kaylynne and Christina want to review their work from last year. Tomorrow we move to the Sisters in Kirrua (about 20 min drive) and then head to the Sweetwater game park. Everyone is excited since it has been a busy week. And the lack of internet has been frustrating for me- others are able to get on but not me.
I get a bit lonesome at night for my family and the kitties..but I am kept so busy in the day that I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. And I keep reminding myself what a privilege it is to be here. Few get the opportunity to go to Africa with students and try and make a difference…and have my costs covered.
Next post will be from the students!

Nutrition team 2011 Arrives in Kenya!

2011-05-14T07:50:00.000-07:00

After a very long flight (that full day layover in Montreal really makes it longer) we arrived safely in Nairobi. We squealed when we saw Henry, Susan and Shaad greeting us- all waving wildly from the second floor of the airport.
Our stay at Fairview Hotel was epic, as my son says. Staff so welcoming, comfortable beds, wonderful food and ice cold beer! The girls even dragged me to the gym..short lived but at least I tried. Harrison is battling a virus he caught from his brother in Canada and has not been 100%- sore throat and low fever. He is getting lots of rest and lots of fresh fruit and has not missed a thing!
We had the absolutely best day yesterday (Thurs). We went to the kikoi shop Biashara St. The shop keeped rememberd Kaylynne and Christina from their large purchases of kikoi last year for the Muchui Apron Project. I got some t-shirts for the kids and some beautiful kikoi myself. So hard to resist the hundreds and hundreds of patterns and colours. We picked up a delicious lunch at Java House and off to Kazuri beads we went! We had gone last year but this year was even better since we were able to tour the factory where the women make the beads. What an amazing place- from the clay from Mt Kenya through to painting and glazing these beautiful multi-coloured beads- these single mother’s painstaking work is truly amazing. After taking hours to mull over colours and have earrings made from the jars of loose beads, we trekked to the combi with our treasures. Seeing the tour made them all the more precious knowing that this business provides a dignified livelihood for the women, as well as medical care and transportation.
Today we are bouncing along the road to Meru. The gas fumes from the many combis trucks and matatus (taxis) combined with the dust from the construction had us grabbing for cloth to cover our noses. We have bought pineapples at the Dole outlet, and HUGE avocados, 12 mangoes, oranges, melon etc to from a small market take to Jennifer’s in Meru. Again, women running their stalls and gently encouraging us to buy more. One older woman has an enormous heavy bag on her back with a strap holding it around her head. Surprising to see some mud puddles and mud on the side of the road outside Nairobi; last time it was dry in June. Coming a month earlier is interesting in terms of observing different weather and seasons. But the most interesting thing to me is that the second time around is a much more relaxed experience for me. Knowing what to expect (within reason!) and seeing friends we made last year makes it so much easier to manage jet lag, etc. Harrison and Amy, our new nutrition interns are doing amazingly well. Harrison is pretty laid back and Amy has been to Tibet, so they are adjusting better than their old teacher Jen did last year.
I am reminded of what a privilege it is to be able to come to this beautiful country and be welcomed with wide smiles and warm hugs. And again feeling grateful for the network that has been established by Farmers Helping Farmers. Tomorrow we go to the Muchui Business Centre and Farms!

2011-03-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

The staff, students and community members from Kinyenjere Primary School want to thank Farmers Helping Farmers and their twinning school, Mt. Stewart Consolidated for the help to improve their school environment. In just a few days the parents of the students and the students themselves have pulled together to bring in supplies and the initiative to get some work done. Their first project was to replant the school garden. The students took out the old plants and weeds, brought in manure to fertilize the new soil and the parents created a new and prosperous garden. The previous garden was having trouble with birds eating the plants so they had to create a bird net. This was done surprisingly quickly with tree trunks for polls and a purchased net they sewn together.
Second project has begun today right after their beautiful garden was finished. They are going to reconstruct three classrooms. Today they started the demolition of the Nursery A, Nursery B, and the Grade One classrooms. Tomorrow they will start to dig a trench and poor cement. They are very proud of their work and would like to share with you some pictures of the process you helped create. (The pictures went up backwards)
-Nicole Doiron

2011-03-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

We all had another eventful week. Our advisor Janet was here and she visited all of our schools. She was very glad to see how well we adapted to the Kenyan lifestyle. On Monday we all spent time at Katie and Lydia’s school, Ndunyu Secondary. It was games day, it was so neat to see how they set up track and field day with what resources they had. We saw some very talented future athletes. After visiting each other’s school, we have seen first hand the wonderful work Farmers Helping Farmers has done in this area .We are so proud to be associated with such an amazing organization. We’ve been busy helping to prepare our students for their exams. It’s much different than Canada, but we’re trying to adjust. We’re busy trying to collect the letters for the twinned schools on PEI. Our schools close next week and everything is quickly coming to an end so we want to make sure the letters are completed before we go. We headed off on our safari on Friday. What a wonderful weekend. We had an amazing experience at the Samburu tribal village and had incredible experiences with the wildlife in the park. We were lucky enough to see a few lions. We headed back to our home away from home on Sunday night. This week we’ve all been supervising exams at our schools. It’s very interesting to see the difference in the examination processes. We’re not looking forward to saying good bye to our schools next week as we’ve developed some very strong relationships with our students and the staff.
Signing off until next week... Katie, Lydia, Amy, Nicole, Erin and Lisa

Update from Kenya

2011-03-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

We have had a great week getting to know our students better and falling into a comfortable routine both in school and out of school. Our students seem to be opening up more to us as they get to spend more time with us and get to know us better. All three schools have had a school-wide game day which gives us a great opportunity to interact with the students in a more natural setting rather than the classroom. Our students are all phenomenal athletes and we are continually astonished at what they are able to accomplish with the resources that they have or don’t have.
We had a very eventful weekend with Martin from FHF. He took us to Meru town on Saturday where we grabbed a bite to eat at Sherlock’s Den. We were all craving a burger and fries and the restaurant definitely fit the bill. Then we went and visited a local shop where we found some great gifts to bring back to our families and also as souvenirs for ourselves. It is a very cute shop close to the Nakumatt which is owned by two brothers, and their father does much of the wood carving. Then we completed some grocery shopping and headed home.
When we got home, our amazing friend and cook, Belton, was there to help us learn how to make samosas. Lisa worked side by side with him and realized that making samosas without Belton is going to be very hard when she gets home. However, the samosas were AMAZING! That night we had the hardest rain many of us have ever seen and celebrated the experience by dancing in it.
Sunday we met back up with Martin who took some of us to a church service at Naari Girls Secondary School. This service was very beautiful and moving. The girls had beautiful voices which made the service that much more memorable. Then we attended church with Martin at his home church. The service was performed in Kimeru but we were told that while there was a language barrier, God spoke all languages. Then we visited the school which abuts the church. This was a great learning experience because this school is ranked the number one primary school in the district.
We were then happy to meet with Janet and Jennifer back at Jennifer’s place where we had a traditional Kenyan meal, including potatoes mashed with bananas, which is a delicacy in Kenya. We all were very impressed with the mashed potatoes and look forward to making them at home. On the drive back to St. Theresa’s we were pleasantly surprised to see our first elephant in the forest separating Meru Town and Kiirua. We got out and took some photos and then returned home for a peaceful night’s rest.
Thanks,
Amy, Lisa, Katie, Lydia, Erin, and Nicole

2011-03-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Jambo!
It’s hard to believe we’ve been in Kenya of a week. We have been welcomed by so many wonderful people. We landed in Nairobi and were greeted by Shaad, David and Henry. They’ve taken such great care of us. On Saturday we headed to Rhoda’s farm outside of Nairobi. It was an amazing experience and seemed surreal that we saw giraffes and zebras less than 24 hours of arriving. We left Nairobi on Sunday and headed up to Meru town. We had a great lunch at Jennifer’s house and we now have a Kenyan mother for the next few weeks. We are staying at St Theresa’s mission hospital. The sisters have been so accommodating and have made us feel at home. We went to our schools on Monday where we were greeted with enthusiasm. Tuesday we had the opportunity to take part in International Women’s Day celebrations here at the hospital. What an experience! We got to see traditional dancing and costume. There were many speeches, and the most important part of the day was the blessing of a new ultrasound machine. It was a great celebration of women around the world.

All six of us are very happy at our three schools. We are all learning so much, it’s hard to believe it’s only been a week. We’re loving the fresh fruit and we even learned that pineapples don’t grow on trees.We’re adjusting to Kenyan life well. We’ve tried many different dishes, some of which were interesting to say the least.
We’re going to check out the Kirrua market tomorrow. This should be another wonderful experience.
Hope all is well at home, we’re enjoying the sun!
Lisa, Katie, Nicole, Lydia, Amy and Erin.

Lunch program at Rujju school

2011-03-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

Kinyinjere Primary School

2011-03-11T07:09:00.000-08:00

Maize at Ruuju Primary School ready to be harvested

2011-02-24T05:09:00.000-08:00

The maize grown in the Ruuju Primary School farm is ready to be harvested. The yield will be a fraction of what was expected because there has not been enough rain. The Ruuju horticulturist, Fareda, is waiting for the parents “to be called” to harvest the maize and put it in the school store. The maize will be part of the lunch program for the children.

Souris Village Feast cookhouse being used by children at Kamuketha Primary School

2011-02-24T04:45:00.000-08:00

The third cookhouse funded by the Village Feast in Souris is being used to prepare lunch and morning porridge for the 140 children at the Kamuketha Primary School.

Week 3- Erika Kubik

2011-02-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

It’s sad but true, this is my third and final blog posting which means my African experience is about to come to an end. Before I give my good byes, I shall first recap since my last blog posting.

Rested up from our weekend off at the resort, our “educational tour” took us back to where it began in Ishimara. This is where we put on more seminars and treated more individual animals. As this was our last week and we had gone over similar topics in previous seminars we as students had more participation where we got the chance to answer the questions posed. This was both a thrilling and slightly intimidating task as the farmers are very keen listeners and one has to speak in slow and simple terms so that things don’t get lost in translation (see attached photograph for Erin and Murray answering questions). I would like to think that we did an excellent job overall as many heads were nodded and only one or two people were caught falling asleep.

Our final day in Kenya was spend in Nairobi where we met up some of the veterinary students that we had spend time with over the past few weeks. It was at this time I learned a very valuable lesson, which I will pass along to you and that is to always wear a seat belt. On our way into the city we were stopped by the police who after looking into the vehicle noticed I was not wearing my seat belt and announced quite sternly that he wanted to arrest me. Fortunately he was joking, but did it ever give me a scare of the lifetime! Trust me, I learned my lesson and will never go without wearing a seat belt again.

I also learned that veterinary medicine truly is one medicine, which crosses both species borders (pneumonia in a goat as seen on a post mortem in Kenya looks very similar to pneumonia in a cow as seen on a post mortem in Canada) and language borders (as demonstrated by the translators). This rotation and experience has definitely been an eye-opener and one that will not be soon forgotten. I would like to thank Farmers Helping Farmers and all its partners who have allowed me this great opportunity. I have met many great people through this experience, both Canadian and Kenyan, and I am very fortunate to have been a part of their lives.

Week 3 - Murray Gillies

2011-02-19T08:23:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately week 3 came to an end, and with it our stay in Kenya. For the last week we moved back to Ichimara and continued to work with the farmers through the local dairies; treating more animals and putting on more seminars. The work we did was great but there is definately a lot more work that can be done. Our final day had us driving to Nairobi for a visit to the veterinary college to re-unite with our Nairobi vet student friends before we boarded the plane for Paris and then home.
Without this amazing opportunity I never would have been able to see Kenya as I did. Never would have been able to make a difference, even though it was only small. Never would have been able to meet new friends halfway around the world. And never would have been able to see two of my most cherished heroes in Paris (Charlemagne and Joan of Arc). I can't thank anyone enough, the organizers, the co-ordinators, my travelmates and everyone who donated or helped out in anyway except to encourage them to continue their work and to encourage more people to get involved so that other students behind me can share in such a great experience. So again, thank you, and to the students going next year and in the future, brace yourselves because you are in for an experience of a lifetime!

Wakulima SACCO Building

2011-02-16T07:11:00.000-08:00

Wakulima Dairy Sacco. A Sacco operates like a credit union. The Wakulima Dairy Sacco has just located in the new “Office Tower” which is a multi storey building built on top of the existing dairy offices and laboratory. The office also contains the dairy Board room, managers office and all dairy accounting. This building is located adjacent to the milk cooling plant which has a large generator to supply stand by power.
The Sacco was established in 2004 with core funding from FHF. The original Sacco was established in small rented quarters in the town with all entries made in legers. The milk payments from the dairy were all made into the Sacco accounts and then could be withdrawn by the members. The current range of services is impressive. Withdraws can be made at ATMs or the payment can be sent to a members mobile phone as a money transfer. The member can go to an Empasa outlet and use his mobile to get cash which is deducted from the account. This saves the member from traveling to town and standing in line to wait for payment. Inside the Sacco it looks like any modern bank with rows of flat screens and busy clerks.
The original core funding continues to be used as a revolving fund for loans to farmers. Originally it was used only for cow purchase but it has expanded to include cow sheds, equipment for feed preservation and the purchase of biogas units. The fund has grown and in the last two years 136 members had loans.
Another Wakulima dairy success story

Ken Mellish

Hot water heater at Othaya dairy

2011-02-16T07:05:00.000-08:00

FHF

FHF funded a wood fired hot water heater at the Othaya dairy. The heater was necessary because they were not using hot water to clean the milk cans. Gradually a film builds up on inside of cans which only can be removed with hot water. This affects milk sanitation and taste. The water heater is very efficient as the water jacket is built outside the fire box and the water is recirculated to an insulated tank. It takes a small amount of wood to heat the water and one heating will wash cans for two days. We watched them wash cans with hot water with detergent and the cans looked and smelled clean.

Ken Mellish

Ken training with Stephen

2011-02-16T07:03:00.001-08:00

Boda-bodas: motorcycle taxis

2011-02-16T02:53:00.000-08:00

Boda-bodas are motorcycle taxis in Kenyan rural areas.
They are 125 cc motorcycles usually driven by young men. For a small fee you can hop on the back and they will take you where you want to go. Helmets are optional for the driver and rare for the passengers.
We have seen up to four people on a motorcycle. We have seen cans of milk; a pig on another, a goat on still another. We have seen bags of feed and a whole stock of bananas.
On the rural roads, they seem to try to drive close as possible to people on foot and then honk their horns making people jump out of the way.
Yesterday I saw about 12 bikes waiting at the boda –boda- stand in Mukurwe-ini where they wait for passengers- but they will also pick you up anywhere if they are empty.
I will attach a couple of photos I took yesterday and will try to add more photos as I see them.

Teresa Mellish
Feb 16, 2011

Bio gas group

2011-02-16T02:44:00.000-08:00

Bio gas digesters use cow manure that is placed in a black tube and turn it into methane gas which can be used by farm women to cook food. This reduces the use of fire wood and the work of collecting it.

The 32 people who are demonstrating bio gas digesters in the Wakulima area have formed a self-help group. They have called themselves the “Wakulima Dairy- Farmers Helping Farmers Biogas Beneficiaries Self-help Group”.
I met with 20 of them this morning and they aim to help each other improve.
Among other things they have formed a micro finance scheme to allow members to get “soft loans”. The Wakulima SACCO is helping them with this.
They are also considering getting training in how to make kikoys- these are woven cloths which women wrap around their shoulders.
When I asked the group how their bio gas is working, most of them said it is working well and providing an average of three hours per day of methane gas for cooking. One said hers was providing methane for 6 hours per day. Four of them said theirs was not working: three had been punctured and one had a faulty discharge. They all said they would like further training .
So the Wakulima coordinator will arrange for further training and will get the bio gas installer to visit the four who have problems. He will also check up on the other 12 who did not attend the meeting.
This should work towards ensuring the sustainability of the bio gas digesters.

Teresa Mellish
Feb 16, 2011

Erin Ramsay - Week 3 Blog

2011-02-14T16:31:00.000-08:00

Week 3 FHF Kenya Adventure

A new week is upon us! We have quite a few seminars to do this week and a likely just as many sick animal calls to respond to. Unfortunately the University of Nairobi vet students are writ ting exams and unable to join us this week. We will definitely miss their company and experience.

This snap shot is one I caught of the gang after a deworming a cow and calf at a local shamba. This picture illustrates the degree of cooperation between farmers, an Animal Health Technologist, a board member,employee and chair of Gakindu Dairy, and of course the vet team! This was a really great day - in fact one of my favourites in Kenya. We toured the Chairman's' farm that was intending as a demo for local farmers. Our seminar was attended by very inquisitive farmers with great questions. Afterwards we dewormed a few animals and had a Fanta in the shade of a few banana trees.

Later the same week we examined a cow that had chewed and or consumed half of a D battery. Much to our dismay D batteries are a common sighting on shambas! Weird huh? The cow was treated and will hopefully be okay. Also, we got to perform a post mortem exam on a buck (goat) with a local vet. The cause of death was apparent but a definite diagnosis of the underlying disease was not attainable so this case will remain an x-file.

Our visit to Nairobi on Thursday was a highlight of the week. We visited the University of Nairobi to see the facilities and hang out with our new friends one last time before flying out tomorrow. The Nairobi vet students are very proud of their school and gave an excellent tour. Erika had a scare on the drive to Nairobi. If she doesn't write about it in her week three blog I will have to post it later this week. Stay tuned for more information...

Week three is a bitter sweet one for all of us at the chairman's' house in Ishimara. It was more difficult than expected to say goodbye to our friends we have made here. I enjoyed getting to know more about my travel buddies and took full advantage of their good sense of humor over the past three weeks. The vet component of the FHF team has accomplished a lot here and at the same time it feels like there is so much more to do and we need more time! A large thank-you is in order for the hard working and organized active members of FHF. I really enjoyed participating in the ongoing FHF dairy project in Kenya. Also for the opportunity to experience first hand the positive impacts of such projects on the day to day lives of Kenyans. I wish that every student had the opportunity to participate in an international project like this one. Walking away from a project I feel like I have had the chance to learn/apply technical and communication skills integral to the workplace in any country. Thank you for everything! Sincerely,

Erin Ramsay

It will be a shock to our systems to go back to Canadian winter after three weeks of gorgeous weather here in Kenya. I am confident we will be fine!

Ruuju School Revisited

2011-02-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

We were back to the Ruuju School for a visit and what a pleasant visit. We had visited first in 2004 and it was a very basic school with treeless grounds and no real pride in the school. Since then Farmers Helping Farmers has assisted the school to build an efficient kitchen and dining hall. This is supported by a kitchen garden that supplies vegetables for the feeding programme for over 500 children. The event was a celebration of the school having the highest average score in 2010 national exams in public schools in the zone. What a surge of school pride ! The parents slaughtered a bull to have a celebratory feast feeding children, parents and visitors. The cookhouse was put to maximum use with the energy efficient cookers filled with beans, maize, rice and beef stew. The school feeding programme is widely credited with making it possible for well fed children to study and excel at their school.
The women’s group has become a partner of Farmers Helping Farmers and have , among other things, accepted responsibility for the school garden. The school garden is an oasis in a dry land. The area around the school is not as dry as some other areas but the drip irrigated school garden stands out with its neat rows of cabbages in all stages of development, kale plants for greens and shade house full of tomatoes almost ready to harvest.
However, the biggest thrill was the fruit tree orchard. Starting several years ago we brought eachyear some fruit trees. Mangoes, paw paw, passion fruit and banana trees are planted in the orchard. These are from improved varieties and are grafted or derived from tissue culture depending on the kind of tree. These trees are producing!! Big mangoes hang from small trees and large bunches of bananas sprout from rows of trees behind the dining hall. We had the water-hungry bananas strategically planted below the hand wash station and the dish washing stand so no water would be wasted. New rows of trees planted in the last long rains push out the orchard towards the classrooms. Soon all that will be left treeless will be the foot ball pitch. These trees provide food and shade for the children and have become a source of learning about improved varieties for all the community. What a great partnership with the school, the parents and Farmers Helping Farmers working together to make the school the best in the district.
Ken Mellish
Feb 13, 2011

Ruuju crops are bad too

2011-02-11T05:18:00.000-08:00

Ruuju crops are bad, too
By Teresa Mellish Feb 11, 2011

Earlier this week, Angus, Susan and I interviewed 6 randomly selected members of the Ruuju Womens Group about their crops.
The members of the Ruuju Womens Group have very small shambas- frequently an acre or two. They each lease pieces of land (often 5 acres ) outside their homes to grow field crops, especially maize and beans. This land is at a lower altitude.
They will get a crop at their home shambas- not as much as they expect, but still a small crop.
After we were done our interviews, we took a drive to see how the crops looked on their leased land. I couldn’t believe what I saw. It was wall-to wall dried up maize as far as the eye could see. We drove 15 km and the lower the altitude the drier and hotter it got. The maize and beans crops were completely dry and there will not be any maize crop at all. At one of the farms we stopped, there were several women “harvesting” black beans. There were very few bean pods with beans inside and those with beans inside had only a couple of skinny black beans. However, the Ruuju Womens Group member felt she would get a few black beans for family consumption.
They did not get enough rain for a crop.
This is so different from last year when they had a good crop on these same fields.

Week 2- Erin Ramsay

2011-02-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

Week 2 of FHF Kenya Adventure

Week two has been both busy & rewarding so far. We held a walk-in clinic which was a great success! We de-wormed a lot of cows and inadvertently ourselves in the process. Also we saw a number of individual sick cows that needed more attention and specific treatments. We saw so many ticks- I am still itchy. With the aid of Dif Quick stain we were able to more definitively diagnose a number of blood born parasites and implement treatment. The local womens group presented us with gifts for our work at the walk-in clinic- I received a necklace

This week we have a number of information seminars with local farmers. Except we are taking turns answering general questions from the farmers with the help of our peers and the daktari (Dr. VanLeeuwen). It is a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. Keeping answers simple and straight forward has been paying off (I did drop an a scientific name for a tick by accident). Also, it is a challenge to speak slowly since all of the subjects are really interesting/exciting. All of these in addition all the key facts! It is going to take some more practice.

It seems we are travelling a lot this week- which is excellent given the interesting landscape. This week we are staying in the fairly busy town of Meru. We are spending a lot of time travelling back and forth between Thubuku and Exlewa Dairies. This week a fair number of stalls were demolished & re-built to be more functional (IE the cows would actually choose to lie in them). Lets just say I saw a new side of my travel buddies... I like it.

This week we are travelling with three University of Nairobi vet students (Susan, Allan, and Joseph) they are fun to have along. They are an energetic bunch! On my birthday they told me it was a Kenyan tradition to surprise the birthday boy or girl with a splash of cold water and then wash them... I was a little worried for a day or so- they gave me a card instead :O). Very cool.

This week we saw two really well managed shambas. There is a lot of room for improvement for most and these farms are shinning encouraging examples of what can be achieved here. These farms were paying close attention to feeding high quality forage and appropriate minerals. The calves were being reared in appropriate housing with optimal nutrition. These shambas had stalls of the ideal length, width, as well as good placement of the brisket boards/neck rails for the size of the cows.

At the end of the week we took off for Meru National Park. There were no cows there... However, it was pretty cool to see Murray and Erika's reaction to the wild animals- that was definitely a highlight. It was nice to hang out with the entire FHF team. I was a little concerned that Murray was going to sign up to become a park warden and not return to Canada. We managed to get him back.

Well I think that is all for now. Until next time!

-ER

Week 2 - Erika Kubik

2011-02-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

Why hello there! Welcome to my week 2 blog from Kenya, where the weather is warm and hospitality is warmer.
This past week we continued our "educational tour" moving toward Meru and visiting Ex-Lawa and Thubuku dairies putting on seminars to educate producers and visiting farms to treat animals. A lot of the same questions are arising at the seminars, such as nutrition (especially minerals), mastitis, cow comfort, skin diseases, and ocular discharge which means as students we are becoming more comfortable with these topics. I'm also finding the questions are focusing more an cause than treatment, which is different than most Canadians who focus more on treatment than cause.
Another difference I am noticing from Canada is the number of animals per family, where in Kenya it is usually 2-5 if not 1 and Canada is 60-80, if not more. The herd size in Kenya does translate into a much more sustainable industry and a smaller environmental footprint.
In addition to putting on seminars and farm calls, we put on a 1 day "walk in" clinic where owners literally walked their animals to the clinic. We dewormed ~350 cows and ~50 of which were examined for a variety of health issues such as mastitis, ringworm, dermatophilosis (rain scald), ocular lesions, and East Coast Fever. This was my first first-hand experience with ticks and I certainly saw quite a few of them. The simple act of appropriately dosing an appropriate dewormer was appreciated by patients and owners alike. This was for myself was by far the highlight of my trip and am very thankful to be a part of this experience. Asante sani (Swahili for thank you very much) to everyone who helped to make this experience possible.
Another family saying, this time from my grandmother is "All work and no play make Erika a dull girl", to prevent this from happening we took a weekend off from treating animals to watch animals at the Meru National Park. We stayed at a very lovely resort where we watched the sun rise from our beds. There were also daily morning "Game Drives" where we saw animals such as zebras, water buck, giraffes, elephants, rhino, hippos, impala, crocodiles, African buffalo, baboons, monkeys, ostrich, and many more. As a child I always wanted to go on a safari and I finally got to fulfill that dream and it was certainly worth the wait.
Stay tuned to the same channel (website) for the third and final installment of my blog, where I will give a wrap-up on my time in Kenya.

Week 2 - Murray Gillies

2011-02-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

Week 2 was nothing short of a dream! One of those lucid dreams where everything seems so real but you know it can't be real because there is no way things could be this good. Except this one is real ... I think?
We moved to the city of Meru. A very warm city bustling with people all around. We enjoyed the hospitality of The White Star Hotel as our home base of operations. The work didn't slow down because of the move however. Our walk-in clinic made for a very long, busy day and some tired, thirsty and sunburned vets (some of us were smart enough to wear sunscreen ... not me). The clinic took in over 300 animals for de-worming and general health exams, in just one day! Ticks were abundant on the cows that came and likewise we saw a lot of tick-borne diseases like east coast fever. Fortunately, thanks to the hard work of Farmers Helping Farmers and the donations from the various supporting drug companies, all of these animals were treated! We continued to work very hard in the Meru area, putting on seminars and treating animals. Its amazing the difference that was made in many of the farmers and dairy groups that we worked with, and we hope this work will continue in the future.
Although the joy of helping is the only reward one really needs ("You don't need a reason to help people" - Final Fantasy 9 - That's right, you all knew I was going to make a video game reference sometime!). We were treated to a very special event. AN AFRICAN SAFARI!!! Spending 2 nights at the fabulous Elsa's Kopje resort in Meru National Park was absolutely amazing. You haven't lived until you get a 6:30 am wake up call from an elephant just outside your balcony, or until you drive a van through a stampeding herd of zebra and waterbuck, or until you top a hill to find a mother rhinocerous with her baby, or until you catch a glimpse of the ever elusive lion stalking the plains, or until you have had your picture taken with the very photogenic Charlie the lizard (me not so photogenic). That is only some of the experiences we had and I could go on for pages and hours. It was easily the most amazing experience of my life and I can't thank enough people enough times for it. I only hope that what little work I do here will be adequate for the great thing I recieved.
Week three is fast approaching and will soon be over, but I know it promises to be a good end to a great trip! Stay tuned for week 3's blogs and final remarks, and please help support this great cause anyway you can.

Muchui Women have crop failure

2011-02-07T19:34:00.000-08:00

Angus, Susan and I surveyed seven of the 63 original members of the Muchui Womens Group today. These visits confirmed what we have been observing in the community since we arrived two weeks ago.
All seven of the women planted hybrid varieties of maize and all seven had either partial or total crop failure . This is because of the drought. The maize started growing well but before it elongated, it dried up. This is in spite of the fact that they had the ground worked ahead, planted the right varieties, used fertilizer and compost, and spaced the plants the right distance apart.
They also planted wheat and will get very little yield from it. We saw them harvesting the crop by hand or allowing their cows, goats and sheep into the fields to harvest the little that is left.
Their kitchen gardens are producing little or nothing. They are using their drip irrigation but the onions and the kales they have planted are totally dried up. We think that they do not have enough money to pay for piped water.
When plants in the kitchen garden do come through the ground, the birds swoop down and eat the seedlings. They don’t eat an entire tomato- they just take a bite of one and then take a bite out of the next one.
We are exploring the purchase of bird netting from a greenhouse supplier company- particularly for the vegetable gardens at schools. However it is expensive.......

Teresa Mellish
Feb 7, 2011

Week 1 - Erika Kubik

2011-02-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

My mother always said "good things come to those who wait" and that saying is perfect for this rotation. I have wanted to be a part of this rotation since first learning about it before I got into veterinary school so the one day delay in Charlottetown and 25 hour delay in Paris was nothing compared to the five years I have waited, especially since being selected to participate in the Small Dairy Holdership rotation in December of 2009.
Up to this point in my life I have never been outside of North America, so being in Africa is a long distance away. However despite being so far away there are several similaries between Kenya and Canada. These include from the perpective for veterinary medicine, mastitis, nutrition, and reproduction being important topics, money from the monertary perpective and family from the moral values side of things. It is all of these similarties that bring myself and Farmer's Helping Farmers to this beautiful country.
One of the ways Farmers Helping Farmers does this is through seminars, which are held not only when Dr. VanLeeuwan is here but also an employee who does talks throughout the year to answer any questions and to follow up on the advice given. All of the farmers from each of the dairies, whether it be Gakindu, Othaya or Ex-Lawa, are all very appreciative and inquisitive on the causes and prevention of diseases, such as tick-borne disease, retained placeta and mastitis.
I am very grateful to Farmers Helping Farmers for allowing me the opportunity to not only interact with such great people in such a fantastic place but also discuss and inform others on topics, I myself, find very interesting.

Week 1 - Erin Ramsay

2011-02-06T20:42:00.000-08:00

Habari!

During our first week we stayed in a rural area of western Kenya called Ishiara. Almost immediately we met a lot of very interesting & fun people! Two final year veterinary students from the University of Nirobi named James and Ibriham. We had a lot of fun pooling our knowledge when working up cases we saw on local farms. We were able to compare notes about our vet school experience and from them we learned a few new Swahili words. Simon our driver is a pretty cool guy, he knows a lot about Kenya and rasing livestock. We were also lucky enough to travel with Steven a local agronomist. Wow! We met so many people I can't even mention them all.

From there we had the opportunity to participate in training sessions for members of the Ishiara, Mikinduri, and Oythya dairy groups. These days usually began with tea/coffee meet and greets at the dairy headquarters. Then we would move to a shamba were there could be anywhere from 50-100 farmers underneath the shade of a tree! It was really cool to see how responsive the crowds of farmers (men, women, and children) were to the knew facts about animal health, husbandry, and nutrition they were aquiring. It is clear that these farmers care very much for the health and productivity of their animals and are more than willing to make changes around their own shambas (farms).

After spending a week here I realize that I have underestimated the value and contribution of one or two cows to the lives of the people that care for them. After visiting the Wakulima Dairy Group we have heard so much about it is obvious that FHF has greatly improved life for the people in the community it services. I am very proud to be here and a part of team FHF.

Week 1 - Murray Gillies

2011-02-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

Mother nature seemed to disapprove of our trip to Kenya, but finally after a storm cancellation in Charlottetown, a mechanical cancellation in Paris and a few hours worth of delays we arrived in Nairobi. Although we were 2 days late and lost a lot of time to delays and cancellations, it was well worth the time; and this has only been the first week! After a short nights sleep in Nairobi we departed on the long drive to Ischmara. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking! It is always changing and is never the same. Shadowed by the magnificent mount Kenya, the country stretches out in all four directions as completely different landscapes. All of which kept us wide-eyed as we drove to where we would be working first.
Working with the farmers and the animals here has been very rewarding. The farmers are incredibly nice and eager to learn anything that you may have to teach them. From diagnosing and treating individual animals to teaching at seminars put on by the different dairies, it fills oneself with a great sence of pride at being able to teach, knowing it does make a difference and seeing how grateful the farmers are that you were willing to help them out. I can only imagine the next 2 weeks will be even better than the first, which was already amazing!

Composting A Success Story

2011-02-06T06:57:00.000-08:00

Susan MacKinnon
In 2010, Winston Johnston and I introduced the Ruuju and Muchui Women’s groups to composting. The composting process allows the women to convert locally available plant materials, manure and wood ash into a valuable soil amendment that can be use alone or in conjunction with their commercial fertilizer. Good quality compost can be made in this climate in 2 -3 months.
The training was definitely well received. As Angus Mellish and I visited farms this past two weeks in Ruuju and Muchui we saw compost piles at nearly all the farms. It was exciting to hear that many of the Ruuju women did not have to purchase starter fertilizer for this years maize crop because they had made sufficient compost. If the look of their maize crop is any indication I expect that the women will continue making and using compost in the future.
In Muchui , a lot of the women used their compost in their kitchen gardens and on vegetable crops they plan to sell. It is really interesting listening to the women describe how they modified the recipe to fit the range of inputs they have available on their farms. The women are now making more compost in preparation for the next rainy season. Hopefully the rains come.

Sweet potatoes

2011-02-06T06:12:00.000-08:00

When the UPEI nutrition students visited the Meru area last summer they identified that the diet of many people is deficient in Vitamin A. Vitamin A is very important for vision, immunity from disease and healthy skin. It is especially important for young children to prevent night blindness.
Orange sweet potatoes are a very good source of vitamin A, one small one will meet a persons’ daily needs. Kenyan farmers grow sweet potatoes, but they are white and not high in vitamin A.
Susan MacKinnon and I did presentations to both the Ruuju and Muchui Womens groups about the benefits of orange sweet potatoes and how to grow them. We also purchased some orange sweet potatoes in Nairobi and cooked them for the women so that they could try them.
We have made arrangements for both groups to get slips of orange sweet potatoes to plant during the next rains.
Angus Mellish

School lunch feeding programs

2011-02-06T06:04:00.000-08:00

School representatives from four twinned schools in the Mukurwe-ini area, namely Gikondi, Mutwewathi, Ithanji, and Matuto Primary schools, were invited to visit the school feeding programs in three Meru area twinned schools, Kinyenjere Primary, Ruuju Primary, and Ndunyu Secondary School on Tuesday, Feb 2nd and 3rd, 2011. The group consisted of the coordinator of the Wakulima Dairy, one Wakulima director, three head teachers, two twinning teachers, and two parent members of school management committees.
The objective of this visit was to give the Mukurwe-ini group an opportunity to see first-hand how these three Meru area schools were able to provide both uji, a maize-based porridge, at break and githeri, maize and beans, at lunch.
None of the twinned schools in the Mukurwe-ini area currently has a school feeding program.
The nine people attending visited the school gardens, saw drip irrigation systems, screen/green houses and admired three of the four school cookhouses which have enabled over 1000 children to be ensured food on a daily basis. Two of these cookhouses were built as a result of the Souris Village Feast.
The group were very excited about the possibilities they saw for their schools and learned a great deal! FHF is hoping that these schools will engage their school communities to initiate feeding programs in the Mukurwe-ini area.

Our first week in Kenya 2011

2011-01-29T19:30:00.000-08:00

Our first week in Kenya January 30, 2011
By Teresa Mellish
Eight of our team arrived in Kenya on Monday evening (January 24th) – two days later than we had planned- courtesy of a snow storm in Prince Edward Island which delayed us a day and then a technical problem with a Kenya Airways plane in Paris delayed us another day. All of our luggage arrived with us except one box of medicine which has not been found yet. Angus arrived on Thursday evening on schedule. We expect Daniel later this morning.
The vets have worked in Mukurwe-ini. So is Carolyn who has visited the twinned schools there. Annemarie has accompanied the vets.
Susan and I have visited both the Muchui Business Centre and the Ruuju Womens Group on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Muchui women have had a maize crop failure- they did not receive enough rain for a crop. The Ruuju women also did not have enough rain but they expect to have 50% of the yield they might normally expect.
At Marega we also visited one of the grain silos and the maize cribs we have been testing for maize storage on five farms. We were told that both worked well but ideally a farmer should have both of them!! The maize crib allows the farmer to store the maize on the cob; and it provides a place to store the maize on the cob while it is drying. However weevils still destroyed part of the crop. After the maize is dried and removed from the cob, the silo protects the maize from all pests.
We also visited one of the homes where we have funded a small stove for cooking the family’s meals. It is working well and the woman was very happy with her smoke-free kitchen.
We were pleased to know that the cook at the Ruuju school is still soaking the maize and beans before they are cooked and served to the children. The head master at the Ruuju school told us that the school had the highest score ever in the 2010 national exams and they placed first in the district. He credited the school lunch program with helping them achieve these results.
The Ruuju School garden looks as good as it has ever looked but the polythene on the greenhouse roof needs to be replaced.
At both Kiirua and Marega we have funded a small greenhouse (8 m x 15 m) for tomato production. Tomatoes were planted in the greenhouses in October and the crops looked good. The Marega greenhouse has been just been connected to a continuous water supply ( the women had been carrying water to it ) so the plants looked a little water stressed. We also visited a greenhouse in Meru where they are growing tomatoes in plastic bags in the greenhouse. At the same location they are growing sweet peppers in another greenhouse.
On Thursday Susan and I along with Shaad, Farida, Martin and Salome traveled to Nairobi. We visited the Canadian High Commission, a researcher at CIMMYT and a researcher at CIP. We met with a maize breeder at CIMMYT ( an international maize breeding organization) to learn about new drought tolerant and early maturing varieties of maize and to find out where we can get the seed. At CIP , the International Potato Research Centre, we learned about the work being done on sweet potato varieties which we want to get for the lunch programs at schools. The orange fleshed potatoes are high in Vitamin A, which is lacking in the children’s diet.
On Friday Angus joined us and we attended the training program offered to new greenhouse owners by the company selling the greenhouses. It was very informative but they would not give us a copy of their fertilizer recommendations until we told them that we would not buy any more greenhouses until they did. Much of their information is proprietary- for instance they would not tell us the content of their “Smart” fertilizer.
Yesterday we visited a greenhouse supplier looking for netting to protect the school gardens from birds who eat the crops during dry periods. He can supply it- and I think we will try it at one school first. It is going to cost more than I expected it might!! We also visited another greenhouse company who has experience in grafting tomatoes and says he can sell us a greenhouse package with better support for growing the crop. We also purchased some orange fleshed sweet potatoes for our training sessions with the Muchui and Ruuju women early next week.
Today (Sunday) we will travel back to Meru and continue to work with Muchui and Ruuju women.

Lessons Learned In Kenya

2010-10-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

Now that we’ve been back in the homeland for just over three weeks, we’ve had a chance to catch up on all of our schoolwork, readjust to the real world and reflect on the past three months. It doesn’t feel like we ever left Canada; our three months in Kenya feels like it was simply a really amazing dream that we never want to wake up from. The memories are too many to count, the friendships lifelong and the life lessons invaluable.

Kenya taught us both more than we ever could have imagined it would when we applied for the trip. Not only did we learn some of a new language, a new culture and the technical skills we required for our research and presentations, but we also learned life skills that we’ll be able to carry with us indefinitely.

Lesson 1: Embrace the Awkwardness

Almost everywhere we went, we were meeting new people, we were being put into situations that we had never experienced before and we were doing things we had never done. A lot of these situations were really awkward. I can’t even count the number of times we were asked to speak in front of large groups of random people when we had nothing to say. We spoke to several churches, at a prize giving ceremony for the primary schools in the area, and in front of students at schools. We didn’t expect to speak at any of these events and really had nothing to say except thank you to these people. It was always incredibly awkward to be thrust in front of a group of more than a hundred people who are all staring at you expecting you to say something epic while your mind is blank and all you can hear are the crickets chirping between your ears. But if we had gotten worked up over every single awkward situation, we would have hated our lives the entire trip. Embracing the awkwardness allowed us to laugh about the absurdity of each situation.

Lesson 2: Don’t Underestimate Anything

It’s easy to get caught up in the fact that Kenya is so different from home. The standards of living are a dramatic contrast to the conditions we accept as livable and everywhere you go there is something shocking to see. The women we worked with seemingly had nothing compared to what we are used to. You can’t help but wonder how they manage to keep on keeping on day after day. It’s easy to underestimate these women, but they are the strongest, smartest, most generous women I have ever met. They are so incredibly proud of absolutely everything they have, and are so appreciative of anything you can contribute. We made the mistake of underestimating the impact we were going to have on these women. We thought we would go, teach them a few things about nutrition, and were hoping that maybe they would take one message home with them. Instead, at the end of the session, we had women standing up and telling us that we had changed their lives. We were happy that we had had such a great impact on the women we spoke to, but apparently word travels fast in Kenya. Before we had left the country, the tips we had given the women about nutrition had spread by word of mouth to villages over an hour away. We learned to never underestimate ourselves, the women, and the impact small acts can have on individuals, families and entire communities.

Lesson 3: Expect Nothing

I don’t think there was a single thing that we did in the entire 90 days that went like we expected it to. Eventually, we learned to expect nothing. Things never quite go as planned and as soon as you think you’ve got something or someone figured out, they find a way to surprise you. Expectations are tricky; they can make or break the experience. Expect too much and you risk being disappointed by your own unrealistic ideals, and expect to little and you’ve already mentally decided that the outcome will be negative. Instead of over thinking everything and getting all worked up, just go with the flow and let things happen.

Lesson 4: Take Advantage of Every Opportunity

We met the most amazing people in Kenya. These people are so proud of what they have and where they live that they were constantly asking us to go places with them. After a really long week of presentations, data collection and analysis and report writing, sometimes the last thing we wanted to do was climb mountains all day, go to a church fundraiser or sit through a very large, very starchy Kenyan meal at someone’s house. No matter how much we woke up dreading having to do anything but nap all day and relax, we were always so glad we dragged our butts out of bed. We wouldn’t have seen nearly as much, formed such close friendships or enjoyed the trip nearly as much if we hadn’t taken advantage of these opportunities. We probably would have gone a little stir crazy in the compound if we hadn’t gone on weekend adventures with our local friends. By taking advantage of every single opportunity we were presented with to try new things and meet new people, we gained respect from members of the community. They began to see how passionate we were about what we were doing and learned that we weren’t simply rich white people. The community members respected that we were so willing to get our hands dirty and try new things.

Lesson 5: SAWA SAWA

Sawa sawa doesn’t have an exact English translation, but it is a phrase that is very commonly used in Kenya. Sawa means ‘ok’, and sawa sawa basically means ‘take a deep breath, relax, it will all work out’. Kenyans are incredibly relaxed about everything. There is no such thing as on time, there is no such thing as ‘in a rush’ and there seems to be very little stress. Sawa sawa is not just a saying, it’s a way of life. It took us the entire trip to learn how to live sawa sawa, and now that we are back in Canada, we have to constantly remind ourselves to sawa sawa. We took taxi’s to all of our presentations. We felt that we should be at our sessions early so that we could arrive before the women, so that we had time to set everything up and get ourselves ready so that we could start promptly at the scheduled time. We often found ourselves sitting on the side of the road waiting for the taxi to arrive, checking our watches every 15 seconds, hard core stressing out because our session was supposed to start 15 minutes ago and we haven’t even left the hospital to drive to the session which is an hour away. This is where you have to give up. You have to tell yourself ‘sawa sawa’ – it will all work out, we’ll get to the session eventually, there will be women there who will learn a lot and it will all work out perfectly fine. Easier said than done! Eventually we learned that no on is ever on time, and that it worked best if we were over an hour late for our own sessions because then we weren’t waiting for 2 hours before any women showed up. Sawa sawa might be the most important lesson we learned in Kenya, and it’s a lesson we are still trying to master. It takes a lot of practice to let go and trust that everything will work out in the end.

We could all use a little more sawa sawa in our lives.

Recap of the Nutrition Students Last 2 Weeks in Kenya

2010-10-01T04:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in our story! It was been a busy last couple of weeks since we returned to Prince Edward Island. We do, however, have 2 final blogs to post! It was amazing to see how many people wanted the end of the story! Thanks for following!! We had an amazing last 2 weeks in Kenya and a great trip home! It flew by, wrapping up our final presentations, writing reports, just enjoying our last week in Kenya, and saying goodbye.

We started the week off a little outside of our scope of practice by taking the nursing students up on an invitation to watch a caeserean section at the hospital. It was quite amazing that they even let us in, but they did! We got all suited up and went right in to the OR. It was a new experience for both of us!

Then our goodbyes started: it was our last visit to the Muchui Business Center. Upon our arrival, there were only three mothers even though it was announced to the whole group only two days before. This was a very big disappointment. We waited for mothers to arrive and started the session with 5 mothers; another joined shortly after. Once again we had a good session even with such a small number of women. We did notice that these sessions have been much shorter than anticipated; nevertheless, we believe it to be a blessing in disguise. After reviewing the original outline for the session, we realized that it was planned to be about a two hour session even though we normally finish it in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. When we created the outline for the program we did not take into account all of the children that would be present for the session. We did plan to bring flags for the children but we quickly learnt this just isn’t enough to keep children occupied for a long time. By the one hour mark many of the children started getting bored with the session. We cannot imagine prolonging the session to be any longer than it was and that was only with 6 children, not the planned 15 or even more. Once again the mothers who attended the session really seemed interested in what we had to teach them and really seemed to have learned a lot from the session, including the mother who brought her 1year old daughter a lolly pop and her 9 month old baby a cake to keep them quite as we talked. We were a little nervous talking about how you should avoid feeding your baby these kinds of foods and how healthy snacks are very important.

This day we had lunch with our new Kenya Mother, Mama Salome. She lives right next to the Business Center so every time we visit there she insists on cooking us lunch! We tell her she is spoiling us but she just says, ‘No, that is what mothers do, you have become just like Salome to me’. It was very sad to say goodbye to her, but we got a very good picture with her and told her we will keep in touch via Salome. As we were eating we got some really exciting news from Salome about how she was planting with some of the women earlier that day and, without her bringing up the subject, they were talking about our family sessions. They were discussing how they have been trying some of the tips at home and how successful they are going over with their families. One of the stories that Salome shared with us was that one of the members whose mother in law complained of not being able to eat it whole maize everytime she prepared it. The whole mazie was hard for her to chew so she always used to sneak the maize to the posho mill to get it polished. The member prepared whole mazie for her mother in law using our recommend method and then spoke her mother in law about our session. A few days later the member visited the mother in law’s house to find her preparing soaked whole maize and beans, the member was shocked and very surprised. This made us so happy and really showed us that the women listened to what we had to say. They are really making some positive changes that we are so excited about.

This was a very “Salome filled weekend” (Salome works for Farmers Helping Farmers at the Muchui Business Centre), which was great! On Saturday we went in to Meru and did some shopping as well as visit her sisters in their second home. We went on a little adventure with them to see a couple of very beautiful waterfalls.. Sunday Salome came to the compound and taught us once again how to make Chapatti’s. Although we have been taught several times every time we make them alone they just don’t turn our right, we believe that it is the mzungu fingers. However, we think that we may have it this time. We also taught Salome how to make banana bread which she enjoys so much. We spent our last few days writing reports and enjoying the nice weather that Kenya is now deciding to give us. We were hoping not to have to arrive home as white as when we left. Our very last day in Kirrua was a busy one. In the morning, we visited a few of the schools with Mama Jen and the nurses to do some follow up work that they needed to do. This gave us a chance to say goodbye to some of the staff as well as last chance to be attacked by a mob of children! Then we went to the pool in Meru with Mamma Jen to relax and enjoy her company. This was really great; we have enjoyed spending time with her. We assured her that we will keep in touch. Martin then drove us back to Kirrua which allowed us to say good bye to him. We sat outside the compound for a long time as he continued the tell us how much of an impact that we had on the community and how thankful he is that we came and taught the women what we had. He told us that we really did a great job in getting to know the women and working with them instead of just teaching them. He shared with us that on his travels he even heard talk of our presentations in Maua, which is a town about 1 hour away. We have agreed to send him some of our resources so that he can continue to photocopy them and use them as he pleases with the women. This was a perfect ending to our day.

We went to the sisters for a final supper where we enjoyed a very great meal. We surprised them with a thank you gift of 6 different types of trees that we pursued from the Muchui Business Center. They were so happy with our ‘gift that keeps giving’. They also presented us each with a lasso and a very nice thoughtful card. This was above and beyond anything we expected and will be cherished.

We had a lot of mixed feelings about leaving. Two weeks before we left, we were so excited and could barely stand to think of anything but. Now that we are actually leaving its kind of a different story, we are still really excited but it is the strangest feeling to know that you will never be back to somewhere you called home for the last 3 months. We have all grown very fond of this place as well as the people we are living with and around. It is not even leaving Kenya, it’s leaving the other girls here (the nursing students). We have all grown close and it will be very different to not all live together and to not be staring at each other every second of every day.

Then started our long journey home. We got to Nairobi mid day to meet the very busy Henry. He had some activities planned out for us which was great. We spent some time buying a last few minute things that both of us really didn’t need and then headed back to relax with our free We do have to thank Henry for all of our luggage getting home because we had A LOT..... he worked his magic and it all got on! Then a long 24 hours later we were both meet by lots of people at the Charlottetown airport! Much to KP’s surprise her mom and sister and grandparents made special trips to the island to be there!

Stay tuned for our very last blog.....

Nurses Update From Kiirua

2010-09-01T04:21:00.000-07:00

What they say is true, time really does fly when you are having fun. We find it hard to believe that we only have three weeks left here in Kenya. We all have mixed feelings about our departure but are proud of the work accomplished during our stay and look forward to sharing stories once we get home.
Last Tuesday, we had our first blood pressure clinic with the Ruju Women's Group and today we conducted our second clinic with the Muchui Women's Group. For each of the women who attended, we took their weight, blood pressure, and did a respiratory assessment. Each of us set up our own station and recording the findings. Following this, we gathered all the women to answer any general question they had regarding their health. This was the second time the clinic had taken place. The last group of students made cards in which each women could record the findings. This was very useful. Some of the women who had high blood pressures back in February had lower blood pressures this time. It was great to see the women taking an active role in their health. We hope this trend continues for when the next group of UPEI students come. For the women who had high blood pressure or abnormal respiratory findings, we suggested that they go see a doctor and gave them advice on how to lower their blood pressure, as well as, improve their respiratory status. The women impressed us with their enthusiasm and general concern about their health. It was nice to see the women take time for themselves because we know how hard they work. The women even asked if we could check their blood sugars the next time a clinic is held. It is great that we can partner with the women and find out what their health concerns are. We hope we can make this happen for the next clinic.
This Saturday, we are having our last menstruation presentation with a group of teenage girls from around the community and will be giving them all reusable menstrual pads. Next week we are planning to revisit the schools and talk to the girls about the reusable menstrual pads. We hope to get a general feedback about the pads, as well as, answer any questions the girls may have. We will give an update on how both of these sessions go and our work we have done during our last two weeks in Kenya. We are all looking forward to sharing stories and pictures when we get home.

Complementary Feeding Sessions

2010-08-31T00:34:00.000-07:00

The last week has been very busy! We finished the last of our Family Nutrition Seminars and have begun to present our Complementary Feeding Seminars to mothers with children 2 years old and younger. The Family Nutrition Seminars were a lot of fun, and we really enjoyed working so closely with the “champs” from each of the women’s groups. They not only prepared the food, (and taught us a thing or two about Kenyan cuisine) but they also helped us present by speaking to the women attending the session about the recipes and methods they used to prepare the foods.

The Complementary Feeding Seminars are so far not going nearly as well as the Family sessions did, and not nearly as well as we had hoped. We had planned 3 sessions at St Theresa’s hospital with the mothers from the MCH clinic, and 2 sessions with each of the women’s groups. Our first session at the hospital was a complete failure as not a single mother showed up. We scheduled a ‘make-up’ session the following Monday and had our fingers crossed that we would get a good turn out on our second try. We even posted flyers advertising the session around the hospital for mothers to see. Unfortunately, even after waiting an additional hour before starting, we only had 6 mothers attend. We are used to having around 100 people or more attend our sessions within the community so it was very disheartening to present to only 6 people. One of the nurses at the hospital was translating for us, and asked us to keep the presentation to a maximum of 30 minutes. The presentation we had planned was over an hour, so we had to think fast and simplify our key messages on the spot. Our translator knew the material fairly well since she has taught many mothers similar information at the clinic. The information they give mothers, like our recommendations, are from the World Health Organization, but the resources they have a re slightly outdated. This caused a bit of a problem because as a result, our messages were not always being translated as they should have been. But as we have learned in Kenya, “sawa sawa”! In retrospect, we should have gone over our recommendations with our translator prior to presenting to the mothers. Despite being in Kenya for the last 10 weeks, we are still learning many new things everyday, and every presentation is an opportunity to further understand Kenyan culture.

We were expecting a much higher attendance rate with the women’s groups since they had known about our presentation months in advance, however we were once again disappointed. Although it was really frustrating at first, we adapted to the small group and altered the presentation to allow for more discussion. Had we had the attendance we had hoped for, this may not have been possible. It actually ended up working well because the mothers were able to ask more questions and we were able to ensure that everything was really well understood. It also allowed us to get to know the mothers a little bit better since we were able to have conversations with the mothers, and the mothers were able to share tips and stories of their own experiences of complementary feeding to the rest of the group.

We also had a presentation in front of the hospital staff this week. We talked to them all about the various projects we have been working on since we arrived in Kenya. We shared the findings of our school lunch program research project with them and gave each staff member in attendance copies of both our Family Nutrition handout and the Complementary Feeding handout. We think the sisters were very surprised at the amount of work we had done since our arrival. Since we don’t work very closely with the hospital as this is a community placement and not a clinical placement, the sisters and hospital staff only see us on the rare occasion that we’re passing through the hospital. They never see us actually doing any work. It was great to be able to share with everyone what we have been doing and all that we have accomplished so far.

We only have a few presentations left as our time here in Kenya is quickly coming to an end. It seems unreal that in just two weeks we’ll be back on Canadian soil!

Nurse Update

2010-08-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, August 19th already. We've been very busy so time is flying by!

We’ve finished our handwashing and menstruation sessions at the schools. The last school we visited was Kamukatha, a primary school. As with all the schools the kids were very excited to have us and were very appreciative of the soap and the reusable menstrual pads we brought them. This visit was extra special because we were there for the official opening of the new boy’s bathroom. The bathroom was built with money raised by Kensington United Church. Prior to this, the boys were using very old and outdated “shacks” as washroom facilities. Jennifer Murogocho led the opening and the students and their parents were very excited and grateful for their Canadian friends. We were told to greet the people from PEI, especially those who belong to Kensington United Church!! We also go to see the beginning of the construction of a new cook house, which should be ready in October. Compared to the old cookhouse, this one will be much larger and more modern. It was great to see the impact that Farmers Helping Farmers has on the lives of the people here in Kenya, we wish that everyone who supports Farmers Helping Farmers could see firsthand the difference they are making in people’s lives. It is really amazing! Pictures to come with the next blog, as Kenyan internet isn’t cooperating this evening!

Last Wednesday Martin (who works with FHF) took us to Meru Methodist University where we met with the dean of Nursing. She told us about the nursing program, which was very interesting because it is very similar to our nursing program at UPEI. Martin took us on a tour of the university. It’s a beautiful campus and very modern. The students were in the middle of exams so we didn’t get a chance to meet with any of them.

We’ve been very busy working at St. Teresa’s Mission Hospital. We’ve had opportunities to work in the medical unit, surgical unit, maternity, outpatients, maternal child health clinic and the operating theatre. We are really enjoying this experience and getting a holistic approach to nursing practice. We are learning a lot as there are new learning opportunities for us to take part in. For example, having a very active role in caring for a labouring mother through labour and childbirth. We've even had some babies named after us and were asked to give newborns their English names! Last week we were asked to prepare a clinical presentation for the staff. They have them every week and it’s a really great chance for staff members to learn more about clinical practice. We chose to present on maternity care as it is the area we all seem to be enjoying the most. The staff were very interested in our presentation and were especially interested in how maternity care in Kenya differs from maternity care in Canada. The staff asked us to present again and highlight more differences in health care between Canada and Kenya so that we all learn from each other!

We have become especially close with one of the patients at the hospital. She is a ten year old girl who has been there for over six months. She has burns that cover about half of her body – on her back, her arms, the back of her neck/head and parts of her lower body. At first she was shy (maybe even afraid of us) and only speaks Kiswahili so it was difficult for us to communicate with her. Between non-verbal communication and having hospital staff translate for us, we’ve made friends with her. She’s really brave and strong and has a great sense of humour (she always laughs at us when we attempt to speak Swahili!). A few weeks ago she had a skin graft surgery that will hopefully heal the burns on her back. So far it’s looking like the grafts took, so we’re very hopeful that she will make progress soon!

A farewell to Kenya

2010-08-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

It is soon time for Vionna and I to leave Kenya, although I don't know how this can be. It seems to me that we only arrived here a short while ago. The summer has just sped past leaving nothing but memory and an assortment of souvenirs. I have purchased baskets. We have discovered that I have a problem when it comes to baskets. They are so cheap and so beautiful here that whenever I see a street vendor with a pile of them I can't help but stop. I keep imagining them full of fruit and bread and yumminess. I have three so far, and I'm quite sure there will be another purchase before we fly off into the sunset.

We have been back in Nakuru since the beginning of August. It seems fitting to finish in the same town we started in. Vionna and I have developed a sort of a presence in the town. People here recognize us and the vendors don't try to trick us into buying nick nacks at outrageous prices anymore. I laughed when, on the first day, one of the market people thought he chould induce Vionna to buy a small basket for 3000 kenyan shillings. Vionna is a marvel when it comes to bartering. She got him down to I think it was 400 Ksh. Had it been me he would have taken me to the cleaners. I would be a great deal poorer if I didn't have Vionna to do my bargaining for me. I am horribly gullible when it comes to estimating an items price. The vendors I think must see me coming from a mile away and smile to themselves. They are always VERY happy to see me.

We have spent the past two weeks working at Rohi which is a privately funded charity school that takes in street kids, or kids that would have become street kids had they not been taken in. It truly is an amazing place and I am so fortunate to have met some of the students there. It astounds me the breadth of knowledge that these kids have and how polite and kind they are. In the context of their good nature, the life stories that come out of their mouths are surreal to say the least. One boy was telling me non-challantly that for the first 12 years of his life he lived off the streets and was addicted to opium and glue. Vionna and I have enjoyed working at Rohi so much and I think we have actually made a difference.

Rohi is a self sustaining school. The kids live on campus in dorms. They grow their own vegetables and keep their own livestock. Any extra produce is sold at the local market. Troy Sammons ( who we have been staying with) is the resident missionary veterinarian and we have been helping him in his work around the farm. I feel like I have learned so much from him since we have been here. Vionna and I spent the entire first day in study. It was clear that a wide breadth of knowledge would be required to look after the Rohi farm animals. I felt very ill equipped at first. We learned how to sort laying from non laying hens (the width of the pubic bones if anyone is curious), how to dehorn goats, how to castrate goats, spay and neuter cats, palpate cows, and how to raise swine properly. We have done all of these things since we have been here. It has been an eventful two weeks to say the least. However I think the most rewarding aspect of our stay has been the work we did with swine managment.

There is a community in Nakuru that squats on a very thin, rocky strip of land that surrounds the local dump. I probably don't need to say much more about the living conditions of these people. They are incredibly clever, however, in that they have capitalized on the food waste of the dump by raising pigs there. None of the farmers had ever had much formal training or education in swine husbandry however. The swine were allowed to roam at will amongst the refuse of the dump and their access to clean water was very sporadic. So Vionna, Troy, and I, along with a whole slew of Rohi students, put together a days worth presentations focused on how to raise and care for swine. Most of our first week at Rohi was spent in preperation for this conference which was set for the following tuesday. We had no idea how many, if any, of the farmers would show up. However, after setting up the chairs and having a delightful sing song to summon the flock, 50 to 60 people appeared and we had a very full house. The talks included: housing, nutrition, breeding, farrowing, water, disease mangment, zoonotic diseases, and record keeping. The talks were followed up with a quick field trip to one of the local farmers who started off at the dump with a single pig. He now owns a piece of land and raises more than 20 pigs. Quite a success story. However the real success story came a couple of days later when one of the Rohi social workers told us that the people at the dump had already started putting some of our tips into action. The farmers are not allowing their pigs to roam anymore, and they are also constructing more appropriate housing for their animals. I was blown away to think that change had been implemented so quickly. It was the crowning point of our summer for sure.

And now we are leaving. Tomorrow we will say goodbye to the Sammons and to Rohi for good. We have printed off copies of pictures taken during our stay here to give to some of the kids that we got to know quite well. After we make our goodbyes, we will spend the night at a lodge by one of the local lakes, and then return to Nairobi on thursday to fly out friday morning at the ghastly hour of 4 am. Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible. I know I can speak for both myself and Vionna when I say that it was truly life altering. We will miss all of the wonderful friends we made here. I now have a list of about 20 emails that I must add to my facebook account. To my family and friends in Canada, I miss you and I'll see you all soon!!

Laura

Muchui Women's Group Family Nutrition Seminar

2010-08-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

Monday, we finally had our meeting with the Ruuju Champs that had been previously postponed several times. When we arrived at Ruuju, it was almost eerie because school is no longer in session and the hundreds of kids that are normally running around everywhere yelling “Mzungo!” were no where to be found. We ended up meeting with 6 Ruuju Women’s group members, but the chair, Demeris, was unable to attend. When we had to start the meeting without a designated translator, we were a little bit nervous but one of the champs quickly stepped in and made sure that everyone knew what was being said. The group of women were laughing and joking and smiling right from the start which made the session so much more fun. The meeting went exceptionally well. We created a menu for the two family nutrition seminars and designated who would prepare which meals on what days, we paid the women for the ingredients and labor required to prepare these meals. The women seemed very excited, and their enthusiasm was contagious; we got back into the car to head home with huge smiles on our faces!

Tuesday was our first Family Nutrition Seminar with the Muchui Women’s group. It was supposed to start at 10:30 am, but our driver was running on "Kenyan Time" so by the time we got to the center it was almost 11:00 am. We were expecting to walk into the center to have 30+ women sitting waiting for us, but as we entered the room, there were only about 10 women. The group was very quiet at first. It was discouraging because whenever we asked the group questions, they responded with blank stares. We’re not sure if the small group made people not want to speak up, or if maybe they just did not quite understand everything. The champs arrived and we served the food and were relieved to have a short break from presenting as it was almost painful with such a quiet and small group. As the ladies ate lunch, they all began to talk amongst themselves and became more lively. The food was sooooo good! We had Mukimo, Githeri, and Chapatti with pumpkin, sweet potato and onion in them, and we brought a fruit salad for dessert. They wanted us to bring a Canadian dish but we really struggled to try to think of something using the ingredients grown in their farms or that would be readily available to them. Cyrus, our chef, had made a really good fruit salad with pineapple, banana, orange and lime juice the night before so we ended up stealing his idea. Although the women already eat fruit, they had never had it in a salad form before.

After lunch, we had the champs explain the recipes they each prepared to the group. The champs were so awesome; they were happy and proud and smiling from ear to ear. Having the champs prepare and explain the meals was a stroke of genius. Not only are they much better at cooking Kenyan food than we are, but they were able to explain in detail their recipes to the women, and everything was prepared using methods that the women are familiar with and could relate to. Even the champs were amazed at how well our tips worked in the preparation of their dishes. For example, Katherine who prepared the Githeri, said that she soaked the beans and maize all day, starting at 8 am and had planned to cooked it overnight since the session was so early in the morning. She was shocked when the beans and maize were already cooked after only 40 minutes! It was really great for the Champs to be able to share their experiences with the women, and the women really opened up after hearing from them. The end of the session went really well, much better than the first half. After the evaluation was completed, an old woman stood up to say thank you to us on behalf of the group. She told us that she had never been able to eat unpolished maize before because she had trouble chewing it and had issues digesting it. When she tasted the foods prepared with soaked unpolished maize, she could not believe how soft and easy to eat the maize was. When she found out it was unpolished and soaked, she told us that she would never eat polished maize ever again and was so grateful that we were able to teach her a way to enjoy unpolished maize since it was so much more nutritious than the polished variety. Martin also sat in on our session and vigorously took notes the whole time. Even he stood up after the presentation and told us that we had changed his life by teaching him the tips from our session. He witnessed Katherine’s 40-minute githeri and it apparently blew his mind. Apparently men never make githeri because they work all day and then don’t have the 8 hours in the evening it takes to prepare. Now that he knows he can soak it during the day and have githeri in 40 minutes, he will teach the other men at the Barrier to make githeri, which is more nutritious than the ugali they currently eat everyday.

The Family Session was unbelievably rewarding. We were blown away by how well received we were and how appreciative the women were. They’re only request was that we give the presentation to people in the community and not just women in the Muchui Women’s Group. They told us that they would tell as many people in the community as they could about what they learned in our session. Needless to say we had the biggest grins possible on our faces leaving the center and were so absolutely pumped and empowered to have had such a positive impact on the women.

Mbembe Maize 2, Muthikore Maize 0

2010-07-26T04:29:00.000-07:00

After another jammed packed week of school visits, we finally witnessed our first few victories. We celebrated by going to Nairobi for the weekend to be tourists.

Monday, we started our day at Kiirua Boys Secondary School for their 7:45am Monday Morning Assembly. We had met with the headmaster and deputy the previous week to give them our recommendations based on our analysis of their menu. One of the points we are really trying to drive home with all schools, is that all the maize used in every recipe should be Mbembe (unpolished) and not Muthikore (polished). When the maize is polished, it looses the majority of it's nutrients, which are very important for growth and development. The problem we've been facing with this recommendation is that it is the cultural norm is to eat polished maize. Students, teachers and the general population do not feel that unpolished maize is acceptable in terms of taste and texture. Like a lot of "norms' withing any society, there is no actual reason behind their hatred of unpolished maize. It is simply what they have always eaten, so they assume that they don't like unpolished maize with out actually trying it. We have made it our personal mission to change this preconceived notion.

The headmaster and deputy at Kiirua Boys laughed at us when we recommended that they stop polishing their maize. They told us that despite the obvious nutritional benefits, there was no way that the boys would ever agree to even try it. Unless....we came to speak to the students directly. So at 7:45 am, we spoke to the entire student population about the benefits of eating unpolished maize and why it was healthier and more nutritious than polished maize. I think they spent most of our little 20 minute speech laughing at us but in the end our message got through.

The next day, we went back to Kiirua Boys to eat lunch with them. Tuesday was the first day that the cook had prepared the githeri with unpolished maize that had been soaked with the beans overnight before being cooking the morning. We were a little bit nervous because the headmaster was convinced that there would be no way that the boys would find the soaked, unpolished maize even close to acceptable. We lined up with plates and spoons in hand, just like the rest of the boys, and waited for our serving of githeri. Of course we were given the same portion as the boys, which meant a overflowing heap of githeri in each of our bowls. We sat with a large group of the guys in the yard and watched nervously while they took their first few bites of their new and improved githeri. It couldn't have been that bad because they all started piling into their mouths without any looks of disgust or discontentment. We sat down and talked with the guys for the rest of lunch break while we all chowed down on delicious lunch. The boys told us they liked the Mbembe maize and asked the headmaster if it could be prepared that way from now on. They asked us lots of really smart questions about nutrition and Canada and maize and seemed genuinely shocked that they never even knew that mbembe maize was that much better for them.

We were super pumped about our small victory at Kiirua Boys and were really excited to give feedback to the other schools and to give the rest of the remaining parent sessions in hopes of inspiring even more people to at least switch from Muthikore to Mbembe maize. Our next parent session was at Kinyenjere Primary School on Wednesday afternoon. We weren't exactly thrilled going into this presentation because it was the third time we had had to reschedule at the last minute because the headmaster kept calling us with conflicts. The first time we tried to give the presentation, there was burial in the community and no one showed up. We waited at the school for about an hour before we gave up and went banana planting instead. The second time, the headmaster simply called us and asked us to come a different day than was scheduled. If our schedule wasn't already so packed it would have been fine, but we ended up having to reschedule a couple of other things and tweak times of other appointments in order to fit in the family session at Kinyenjere when they wanted it. The school was having another meeting for the parents that same day, so our presentation was simply the beginning of another meeting. It went well, and we had about 100 people attend. There were around 25 men and hte rest were women. We were really happy about the number of smart questions the women had for us at the end of our presentation, and once again the feedback we got from the group was really gratifying. As we give the presentation, you can see the light bulb light up over their heads as something we have said, that they never even considered before, makes complete sense to them. It's really rewarding to see them so enthusiastically embrace our advice and to see the determined looks on their faces as they head home with the intentions of putting some our our tips to use.

During the presentation, the headmaster left for a few minutes to check on the children eating their lunch. He came back and announced that the children were all eating, and greatly enjoying soaked, Mbembe maize in their githeri instead of the usual Muthikore maize. Another small victory!

The next day, we went to Kamuketha Primary School to give our final Family Nutritional Seminar to the parents. When we first arrived, not even one parent had showed up yet. We were pretty disappointed thinking that no one would show, knowing that we didn't have time in our schedule to reschedule. The headmaster was sure that they would show up eventually, so we played with some kids and jad tea while we waited. Even though we've been here now for 5 weeks, adjusting to "Kenyan time" never gets easier. We're still impatient and get flustered when our plans start or run a few hours late. In the end we ended up having about 28 parents show up, a mixture of men and women. Although this was our smallest group yet, we still felt as though we were able to teach them some new tips that we genuinely feel like they will try to use at home. After the presentation, we were asked to stay for lunch, and once again got to enjoy a giant bowl of githeri. Kamuketha was already using Mbembe maize, but they were not soaking the maize or the beans overnight which is another of our recommendations. Soaking hte maize overnight makes it much easier for the kids to chew and digest. Since our feedback session, they had been soaking the maize and beans everynight, so the githeri we had for lunch was once again made with soaked Mbembe maize!

Although the switch from Muthikore to Mbembe maize isn't exactly earth shattering, it's incredibly exciting and rewarding to know that our recommendations are being valued and that both current and future students are being directly impacted by our research.

Banana Planting

2010-07-15T21:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we were lucky enough to get to join the women at the Muchui Business Center for the annual planting of banana tree seedlings.
We spent the morning at Kinyenjere Primary School talking to some students about the food groups and playing with them during their lunch break. Around 1:30, Martin picked us up on his way to the center from Nairobi in the gypsy. We were expecting to barely fit into the truck because we were told that he was bringing with him 2000 banana tree plants. We told him we could walk if there wasn't enough room but he just laughed at us and said he's try his hardest to squeeze us in. When he pulled up outside the school, we were shocked that the gypsy wasn't packed to the roof with banana trees. Obviously we were way off in what we expected because Martin opened up the back of the truck for us to climb in and sitting on the seat was a small cardboard box all nicely sealed with packing tape. I guess we knew that the banana tree seedlings would be tiny, but we still weren't expecting how tiny!
When we got to the business center, there were a large group of women waiting for us to start planting. We made our way into the greenhouse where martin quickly separated each variety of banana into it's designated spot, and gave a quick demonstration of proper planting procedures. This demonstration was in kimaru, so Christina and I just kinda of chilled in the background waiting for an english lesson once the women were experts. We were a little worried that we would be banana planting failures, and that all the seedlings we planted would wither away and die, but Martin reassured us that our planting skills were quite fine.
We were expecting to spend hours in the greenhouse planting, but with all the women that showed up, it only ended up taking about 30 minutes. I took almost as long to coordinate a group photo afterward but the group was in good spirits and we think everyone had fun. We did at least! Somehow, all of the other women planting had this magical ability to stay clean. They had a little bit of mud on their hands, but other than that their clothes and feet and legs and arms were spotless. We couldn't say the same for ourselves. We had mud all over our legs up to our knees, mud up to our elbows, and we had clearly sat in something because we had giant mud spots on our pants. Not to mention our faces must have gotten itchy half way through planting because there were some mud spots on our cheeks too. The women quickly ushered us to the water tap to shower off as soon as the planting was done, and weren't exactly satisfied with the job we had done as we were heading into the gyspy to go home still pretty much covered in mud, it was simply no longer layered on so thick.

We decided that if the whole nutritionist/ dietitian plan falls through, we might have to move to Kenya to become professional banana planters.

Vet students reporting: Round two, beginning in Nakuru…

2010-07-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

So Laura and I are back in Nakuru for a week to begin our second sampling and hopefully, get to more farms that we didn’t get a chance to sample the first time around. We have discovered that the term ‘resort’ is used very loosely around here, as our ‘resort’ only consists of simple hotel rooms, a modest courtyard, and a regular dining room (where Laura and I are gawked at since we appear to be the only “muzungos” staying here). Most of them are also owned by Christian groups. However, I am more than satisfied as we have warm showers, spring mattresses, and most importantly, don’t have to pee in a hole. After having to do that twice in one weekend, I hope to never have to use a latrine again!

It’s great to be in the field again with the cows after the week-long break we have had. I was running out of books to read and words to play in Scrabble, as we finished our work early in Ichamara. The company there was wonderful though, as some of the nursing team from Farmers Helping Farmers (FHF)/UPEI joined us for the week to help with Carolyn and Dr. Van Leeuwen’s biogas project. Their visit also presented the perfect opportunity to go to Meru to check out what the nursing and nutrition students were working on.

Meru is located in the northeastern region of Kenya, the closest city to the Somalian border (about 400 km away). Being east and relatively further away from Mount Kenya, the climate and landscape is very different from Ichamara. It is much drier and hotter, with a lot less hills. There are also elephants that live in the forest just outside of the city, of which we were lucky enough to encounter, as one was just crossing the road! The nurses work at the St. Theresa Missionary Hospital in Kiirua (a town just outside of Meru) and regularly visit their children’s home/school. Laura and I joined them at the children’s home, where we assisted in feeding the children. The work that the mission and its sisters do for these children is simply amazing. They raise abandoned or orphaned children between the ages of infancy and three, and operate a feeding program and school for kids aged five and under. By providing the basic necessities for these children during such a critical life stage, the sisters are attempting to build a solid foundation for a healthy future. It’s unbelievable how two women can care for more than ten babies while I can barely feed one! That’s probably why I am only handling cows in Kenya and not little children.

The nursing and nutrition teams will also be working with some women’s groups, running blood pressure clinics and helping to build a more well-balanced diet. We were lucky enough to join in on the first meeting of two women’s groups, who have been long-term pen pals. Though I couldn’t understand a word of their local language, Kimeru, the excitement of these women was evident through their facial expressions, gestures, and apparel. The language barrier also prevented any of us from enjoying a speech intended to empower women, but at least food is universal, and we were treated to fresh, locally grown fruits, and traditional Kenyan cuisine.

While in Meru, Laura and I almost caught President Kibaki in action! We saw his personal helicopter (compliments of the taxpayers) take off for Nairobi just as we were returning home! He and other government officials were campaigning for the new Kenyan constitution, which will be put to vote in a national referendum on August 4th. The streets were flooded with people wearing green shirts and hats, which represent the ‘Yes’ campaign. And of course, what’s a national referendum in a developing country without the vested interests of foreign countries? The ‘Yes’ campaign is fully supported by the US and the UK, while the opposition is backed by various Christian groups. I have been learning a lot about the upcoming referendum from our fellow Kenyans and the newspaper, so I’m excited for the outcome of the vote (hopefully a peaceful one!). Controversial issues include abortion, the kadhi Muslim courts, and the status of Somali refugees. Could it be a new beginning for the Kenyan people? Not that my opinions really matters, but I’ll let you know as I learn more about the constitution! Stay tuned!

lovealways,
vi

Missed July 4th blog

2010-07-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys, I forgot to post this one here:

We have seven more farms to go to and then we are finished the first sampling for the Ichamara area. I can hardly believe things have gone so smoothly. Once we got a good system down with specific jobs assigned to each person rather than everyone trying to do the same job and no one being especially certain what had been done and what hadn’t been, we became much more efficient as a team. It also took awhile for us to get past the language barrier. Everyone here speaks such fluent English that sometimes I forget that there is a language barrier and that I have to slow down my talking and allow the people I’m speaking to time to process what I am saying. At first I found myself getting frustrated because I was having to repeat myself a lot just to get a simple point across. Usually its fine and we get to the point eventually but sometimes I’m just not clear enough and things go wrong. Like when I asked one of the grad students if he could put the milk samples in the freezer overnight. He certainly put the samples in the freezer, but he didn’t understand that the ice the samples are stored on during the day must also be placed in the freezer. In the morning we had no ice to collect new samples with as we went around to the farms. It was fine in the end as we were lucky to discover that lab at the Dairy we work out of had some ice blocks we could use. Otherwise we might have lost an entire days worth of sampling which could have left us five to ten farms behind schedule. All because I just assumed and didn’t properly explain myself. So my lesson for the past few weeks has been to speak slowly and to verbalise my thoughts because in fact people can’t read my mind.

We have been pretty much working non stop since we got here. The work is pretty labour intensive. Our day begins around 6:00 am and usually with a run. Our running route is along the tarmac heading roughly south west with Mount Kenya and the rising sun to our right and a little behind us. Usually the mountain is shrouded in mist but every now and then it can be seen peeking through the clouds. It is roughly 5500 ft and is the remnant of a once active volcano, now long dormant. It is the home of the Kikuyu god Ngai, which is one of the traditional deities of Kenya, although now it seems most everyone is Christian with a smattering of Muslim. Whichever spirit lives there, it must be laughing at us as we pant and wheeze along the foothills of its home. At home in Atlantic Canada, most of the landscape is barely above sea level in some places. In Kenya the average altitude is1500 to 1600 feet above sea level and boy can we feel the oxygen depravation while running. I now understand why Kenyans are able to run so fast. Although running for the sake of running isn’t at all common here. In the mornings we are the only ones out for exercise. Everyone else is sauntering along at a leisurely pace, on their way to work or dropping off their daily milk quota. The locals greet us cordially as we pass, but usually with a grin and a chuckle at how odd we look jogging down the road. However do not be deceived. These people are some of the most in shape people I have ever come across. In the rural areas of Ichamara and Murkurwe-ini where we are staying, the terrain is excessively hilly and all of the farms are nestled on the slopes which in some cases are nearly vertical. The farmers and their families walk these slopes multiple times a day, every day of their lives, to bring water and food to their family. All part of the daily routine for them. One lady took pity on us and decided to help us (typical Kenyan generosity) back to the combi with our crate of medical supplies. She took the crate (which is between 20-30 lbs and very awkward), placed it on her head and proceeded to walk the entire way back to the combi. It was easily a 20 minute walk and mostly uphill. I was in awe to say the least.

The rest of our day consist of as many farm visits as we can fit in before the sun goes down which I at 6:30 sharp. Dawn and dusk are not drawn out here like they are at home. They happen very quickly so that sometimes you are working away in the daylight and all of a sudden you are working in the dark and are not certain what happened. The farms are becoming increasingly far apart and so a good portion of our day is spent bumping along the Kenyan dirt roads. Some of the potholes are quite impressive and it seems sometimes like we drive into one and come out the next. The scenery is lush and green and everywhere you look is bananas. However the bananas are smaller than they are at home and much tangier and tastier I think. When we leave a farm, the owners will often send us away with a large bunch of bananas. We eat bananas with absolutely everything. Bananas in our cereal, bananas with our lunch, banana smoothies, bananas for a snack, banana sandwiches. I think I may turn into a banana before the summer is through. When we arrive on the farm, we have to ask permission of the people that we can carry out our research before we begin. We’ve only had one person turn us down thus far. It’s really in their best interest because they get free dewormer, free preg checks, free consultation, as well as any information we get concerning parasite load and mastitis in their herd. Everyone is very nice and very welcoming. This weekend we went to the Sweetwaters park and went on a safari. We just got back today. It was a wonderful and much needed break. The plains of Africa are just as beautiful as I’d imagined and just as full of animals. I find it incredible that all of these bizarre and exotic creatures can exist all in one place. We saw zebras, baboons, elephants, giraffes, gazelles, impalas, Elans, water buffalo, rhinos, and lots of different species of birds. My favorite was the maribu stork. He lives around the watering hole next to the tented village where we stayed. He is very social and will come right up to you to watch you eat your food. I suspect that he is used to getting for from people. He is about four feet tall and looks like he has a wing span of about five feet. The other girls thought he was incredibly ugly. His crop is red and wrinkly and hangs down over his keel like a deflated balloon. And he is bald like a vulture with a very large and impressive beak. I decided his name was George.

Now we are back at Ichamara to finish up our sampling. The end of the week will see us on the road again. This time we will be heading to Meru to stay with the UPEI nursing students who are also here in Kenya for the summer. Until we meet again!

Laura B.

Handwashing and Menstruation

2010-07-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

UPEI Nursing Students- Amy Somers, Allison MacDonald, Stephanie Barlow and Jillian Grady

Today was our first school visit. We went to the Ruuju Primary School, which goes from nursery to standard 8 (which is similar to preschool up to grade 8). Allison and Jillian did the hand washing presentations and Amy and Stephanie did the menstruation presentations. Both were a huge success. We had positive feedback from the school staff and students.

Farmers Helping Farmers generously supplied each adolescent girl with reusable menstrual pads. Disposable sanitary napkins are available but are very expensive. When girls are on their periods, they may use rags or pieces of mattress as a pad. Many girls stay home from school when they are menstruating because they do not have sanitary napkins available. The reusable pads are pieces of cotton sewn together. They can be washed, dried, and reused. If cared for properly, they can last for over a year. Stephanie and Amy demonstrated how to use and clean the pads and presented each girl with a package containing 8 pads. The girls were very appreciative because this product allows them attend school continuously and be more active. The girls had many questions that Steph and Amy were able to answer for them. Information about menstruation, hygiene during menstruation, and HIV was also discussed. The girls were very interactive and were happy to have this information presented to them. There were many giggles when Steph and Amy demonstrated how to apply the pads to the underwear! One of the teachers said that the pads would make a very big difference in the girls’ lives.

While Stephanie and Amy were meeting with the girls, Jillian and Allison began the hand washing demonstrations. Again, Farmers Helping Farmers generously donated a huge box of soap to the school. The students came to the hand washing station and Allison and Jillian explained why frequent and thorough hand washing is important. The kids knew to wash their hands before they eat, after they visit the washroom, and after they cough or sneeze. The proper hand washing technique was demonstrated and the kids followed along. Then they got a turn to wash with the soap that was provided. Part way through the demonstration, we ran out of water, but the kids continued to practice the technique. The staff at Ruuju Primary were very accommodating and helped to translate our presentation to the younger children that have not yet learned much English.

Overall, we had a really great day and were happy to have the opportunity to positively influence the health of the students at Ruuju Primary School. We will be doing similar presentations to three more schools over the next two months, and look forward to meeting all of the children. Thank you to Farmers Helping Farmers. Without their generosity, these projects would not be possible.

The Fruits of Our Labour

2010-07-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

At long last an update from the nutrition team.

We cannot believe that it has almost already been a whole month since we landed in Nairobi. The last four weeks have been a blur of data collection, excel spread sheets, and emails from Jennifer Taylor. This past week, we have finally been able to see our hard work pay off. We conducted our first lunch program feedback session with Kamuketha Primary School and our first family healthy eating seminar with the mothers of Ruuju’s nursery class.
The feedback session went really well. The staff at Kamuketha were very eager to learn and were very receptive of our recommendations. We were able to come up with several concrete goals to help improve the nutritional quality of both the uji and githeri they are serving their students. The children in nursery to standard 4 are really enjoying their uji with milk thanks to Farmers Helping Farmers. We talked to a couple of standard 2 students who were going to be very sad when they have to graduate to standard 5 and no longer have milk in their uji. Although this is one of the newest Farmers Helping Farmers schools, their garden is looking great and is providing vegetables for the githeri and is looking better and better each visit. The staff is very excited and enthused to be using crops from their garden to directly impact the health of their students. They are starting to grow pumpkins for the githeri and since our feedback session will now try to grow sorghum and cow peas to add to the uji flour. Although we got a lot done during our visit we took time to hang out with the children. They tried their very hardest to teach us Swahili but all we were able to mumble (with wrong pronunciation) was “jina langu ni Kaylynne or Christina” (My name is). Once they figured out we were hopeless Swahili speakers, they tried to teach as how to play marbles which was also unsuccessful. Needless to say they spent the whole morning laughing at us. Hopefully they still think our nutrition advice is credible.
We started the day with butterflies in our stomachs about our family healthy eating seminar. We were worried that the group of 30 women would not actively participate and care about what we were telling them. In the end our butterflies were all for nothing as the 100 plus women that ended up attending the session were wonderful. We could not have asked for a better first session. The group was really great at asking many smart questions and really loved to talk (even though we couldn’t understand it). They really listened to what we had to say and seemed to really value our expertise and knowledge. Although we believe they really enjoyed our seminar they seemed to be extremely appreciative and excited about any opportunity to learn how to better their families. It was really great to know that all of our hard work preparing for our session did not go to waste. We really had great time teaching so many women who were eager to learn about nutrition. Although it all ended really well, it was frustrating at times because this was our first Kenyan presentation through a translator. This meant we were not used to saying two short sentences and having a translator take 5 minutes to relay the message to the women. It also took some time to not get flustered by more and more women joining the group every few minutes with crying babies. Slowly, as more and more women trickled in every few minutes, our group of what was supposed to be around 30 women grew to over 100 women plus many many babies and small children. Any frustrations that we may have had went away when we got a standing ovation and a song sung along to us. You also know that you are greatly appreciated when you get a hand written card that says

"Ruuju Primary School Appreciation
Kelynne Parkers
No words can explain the kind of love you have shown to us. You are the people who have enlighted our community at large in many ways. May god bless you and give you long life to see the fruits of your labour. Thank you"

This alone really justifies all the long hours of work we have already put into our projects here and the hours that we will continue to put in over the next few months.

From Kirua to Cornwall

2010-07-06T03:26:00.000-07:00

Hello again- Jen here (nutrition team),

I have now been home for just over 48 hours and the jet lag is subsiding. I have been wanting to write something about my experience in Kenya and how it feels to come home. I am finding it hard to know what to write. My two weeks in Kenya seem the equivalent of a month of experience. Or more! I find images flashing through my mind like a slide show- gardens, children’s smiles, donkees and cattles bracing against the weight of the carts and men they pull, boiling pots of githeris, bouncing in the combi, dust, laughing with Colleen, Jennifer M (mama Jen) and the students about fermented uji. And somehow those images don’t capture what my experience was. Not even my over 2000 pictures can capture the sights sounds and smells of my two weeks in Nairobi, Meru and Kirua.
It was so hard to leave last Friday morning and leave my students behind for the summer. Travelling, living together, working together and learning together for 2 weeks and then having to leave was difficult. Tears started to come while I hugged them one last time- managed to keep from crying until I was in the combi. The last thing they needed was a howling professor! I stopped sniffling after Colleen told Steve to put on Kenyan music to cheer me up.
Soon we were rolling along looking at the beautiful scenery for the last time. After driving for 2 hours, we stopped at Karatina Central Farmers Market, the largest produce market in Eastern Africa. Colleen recommended it, and she was right: what an amazing place. (I tell myself that next time I want to spend at least ½ day there!). There is an amazing array of fresh produce- cored pineapples, paw-paws, pumpkins, greens- you name it. All are hawking their wares. I want dried maize and beans to make githeri when I return home and Colleen guides me through the organized chaos. We go to a woman’s display and pick out what we need- she seems a bit surprised to see me asking for these staple Kenyan ingredients. (Colleen told me that she always tries to buy from a woman, and one that seems to need the business the most- I plan to do the same). I gave the woman a tip and get a great picture of us together. We then spy some arrowroot at another booth and I ask permission for a picture. The woman is cranky and roars “you pay”! I am more than willing to, but she is definitely the pushiest and grouchiest person I have seen in Kenya. I found that the vast majority of Kenyans I met to be gentle, soft spoken and very hard working. We smile at each other, and move on with a woman who is telling us to “come to my shop where photos are free”. Truly amazing displays of baskets, purses, jewellery and wooden carved animals. Colleen tries to weave a part of a basket which takes the woman a week to make. I spent most of my remaining shillings and Colleen and I realize we don’t have much cash left and had promised Steve our driver we would treat him to lunch! No Interac here! Thankfully samosas and sausages are very cheap and we all get our bellies full.
We approach Nairobi and soon see cars and graduates coming out of Kenyatta University. Proud families, graduates in their regalia with tinsel around their neck- and, suddenly, the most chaotic huge traffic jam I have ever seen. Combine a graduation where the President of Kenya is speaking and massive highway construction of 9 lanes of traffic, crazy matatus (taxis) and you have an indescribable mess! There are at least 3 (sort of) lines of traffic on our side, a wide ditch area, and 2 or 3 lines of traffic going in the opposite direction. Even our driver looks very concerned. We had lots of time to get our flight (note- always add an extra 2-4 hours!), but Steve is concerned that we could sit for hours in the dust and heat. Hawkers walk between the rows of cars buses and matatus- candy, pop, toys, etc. Crazy matatu drivers cut out and drive sideways along the ditch trying to get ahead. Colleen and I hold our breath when we see a large bus (greyhound size) matatu turn and head down the side of the ditch in an effort to go in the opposite direction and get out of the traffic jam. That it didn’t roll is some sort of miracle. I did see a bunch of men pushing a large red bus back upright that obviously did start to roll. Suddenly the traffic breaks and we start to sail along. We are giddy with relief. I snap a few photos of the hundreds of people walking from graduation. We run into several other slow downs but eventually get to Henry’s office (head of Safari tours). He takes us to his Safari club where Colleen and I have a HOT shower with a WARM towel and a cold beer by the pool. Ahhhhhhh. Colleen teases me that I questioned the need to shower before going to the airport. Boy, was I wrong- we are hot and dusty. We have a great dinner at the Java restaurant (full of hip young Kenyans- what a contrast!) and head to the airport. Several traffic jams later and we are hugging Henry goodbye. I am so thankful that Farmers Helping Farmers has a partnership with this man- seeing his tall frame in the suit and shiny shoes and wide smile just makes you feel safe and well looked after. He even has a gift for us- coffee, tea and macadamia nuts. I am remembering the first night when he shepherded us through the bustling Nairobi airport and took us to our hotel. Seems like forever ago. I was sad to leave him and told him I would be back. And I will.
Everything was at least an hour late leaving on the way home, but we make it. We hug our families and head home. I am driving my little van again but feeling like I have a bad hangover.
Now that I am home with my family I have a strange mix of emotions. I can’t get over the hot water running from my kitchen tap, the many plugs and fast-er internet. We ate very well there, and I got to cook the final week at the sisters, so the only big difference is a larger oven and my dear red Kitchen Aid mixer. My cats are incredibly soft, clean and fluffy... and overfed. Pets were virtually non-existent where I was: most animals were working and working hard. I even saw a few skinny camels. But I am growing impatient with my boys. I made my “Who hash” ( from Dr Seuss of course) with new potatoes, carrots and Farmer’s market sausages. When one son whines a bit that it isn’t their favourite, I start ranting about kids with only one meal a day and gobbling up porridge without complaint. I catch my older (teen) son imitating me to his friend later on, and I chew his ear off. It is hard to go from seeing Kenyan women who work tirelessly without complaint growing food, carrying wood, water and babies, children smiling at me in spite of swollen bellies from protein deficiency, children in school uniforms walking on dusty roads to school at 645 a.m. some of whom get only one meal a day, and then see my children with IPODS, cell phones, fancy clothes and soft beds. But I have luxuries too. And I enjoyed my luxuries while in Kenya- Sweetwater game park, Henry’s Safari club and more. I am realizing that the best thing I can do is try and educate and sensitize my kids, and support my nutrition students Kaylynne and Christina who are still there. They are still over there, working hard. And they will be able to do nutrient analysis of school meals and make recommendations to make the porridge healthier (whole grain rather than polished maize, adding milk and drought resistant crops like finger millet) and make the githeri more nutritious (soaking maize and beans, adding pumpkin and other drought resistant crops). They will be working directly with leaders in the Muchui and Ruuju women’s groups to improve family nutrition and infant feeding. They will work with the children’s orphanage to improve the nutritional quality of the uji and ugali fed to the tiny infants. If anyone can do it, those girls can. I told my Department Chair Kathy Gottschall Pass and our Dietetic Internship Coordinator Linda Smith yesterday how proud I am of our students. By the end of the summer, they will have already made a difference and will have so much to share with us when they return. And I have promised them a celebration!
I already feel very attached to Kenya and see so much opportunity to improve the health of mothers and their children. It is all about women, water and food....I want to raise funds to support more cookhouses and feeding programs for schools, since so many children are affected. Head masters told us that children are more likely to attend school and do well when they have a healthy meal there. The story about the Village Feast fundraiser in the Guardian this week has so much meaning for me now- I have seen the cookhouses and dining halls supported by this initiative and I wonder if the people who organize and attend that event know how profound and lasting their impact is. Wish I had been here to attend- maybe next year. I am also wondering how I can get Colleen Walton to come with me every time (a wealth of knowledge and support for me this trip). Thanks for convincing me to come (“oh persuasive one”) and putting up with me as a roomie and chatterbox, Colleen. And thanks to you, Theresa Ken Winston and all the Farmers Helping Farmers members for all the groundwork they have laid which made it possible for us to do nutrition work. It is quite amazing to be in a developing country and see that PEI is such a major player in improving the lives of Kenyans. And thanks to Kim and Kevin for the support and laughs...shall we meet again in Kenya?

This has been a long blog- I guess I did have something I needed to write! For now, kwaheri ya kuonana, Kenya (good-bye, we will see each other again).

Nutrition and Nursing visit the womens groups

2010-07-01T03:42:00.000-07:00

Today both the nutrition and nursing teams met with the Muchui and Ruuju Womens Groups executives. Dr. Kim presented at the continuing education session to St. Teresas staff at 7:45 and afterwards we all headed to Ruuju after a brief stint at the Nakumatt; printing program plans and checking emails on amazingly fast internet!

Ruuju Women were waiting for us and after introducing the members of the partnership network, consisting of Farmers Helping Farmers, Ruuju Women and the University of Prince Edward Island, we settled into discussing the details of dates and times for the work with the women, schools and communities. Everyone had a tour of the amazing Ruuju school garden, and in the final stages of the meeting in the dining hall, had the pleasure of the noisy din of many little voices enjoying their morning uji (porridge).

A similar meeting at the Muchui Business centre was held in the afternoon, with support from Salome and Martin and everyone also enjoying a tour of the bustling green houses. For me, it was the culmination of many hours of investigating, dreaming and planning. Seeing it all come together and everyone feeling great and is just fabulous!

The new Muchui members, all forty of them, were invited to greet us guests. The appear to be a bright and energetic group which can be anticipated to really enhance the group.

Muchui women are expecting TC (tissue culture) banana plants in early August, which they will grow-up for sale in the rains beginning in October. The students have arranged with Salome to join with the women in the labour of transplanting to gain a better understanding of what is involved with growing plants at the nursery and how hard these women work to support the business centre endeavour.

Colleen Walton
June 30,2010

Something new.

2010-06-30T22:07:00.001-07:00

I am having a hard time writing about the last few days- not because they were sad and depressing, but because I have so many things I want to talk about and I don’t know where to start. One of our drivers, Safari Steve, told me yesterday, after we watched a bunch of baboons cross the highway: “In Kenya, there is something new every day.” I believe him! I’ll start with yesterday morning. The bunch of us- nurses and nutritionists- piled in the combis with Safari Steve and Driver David- and headed up the hill to Machaka to the children’s home. This was the adventure that most of us were looking forward to and dreading the most. We arrived and were greeted by Alice. Alice is a student, studying to be a sister in Nairobi, but is doing a placement at the children’s home. She is 23-years-old and wise beyond her years. She spoke softly, but with so much confidence and wisdom. And beautiful- she was absolutely gorgeous. She took us on a tour of the facility- they have crops and farm animals for food. We saw some chickens, cows, rabbits and some pigs- one of which scared the crap out of us! All of the pigs were tiny little pink guys that were snorting away at us, and then we looked over the last gate and there was this GIANT black pig face staring back at us. I’m proud to say that I wasn’t the one who screamed the lord’s name in vain in front of a soon-to-be nun! The facility is almost completely self-sufficient. They buy things, like sugar, that they don’t produce themselves, and some vegetables and fruits are donated by community members. As the tour was finishing up, we heard some giggling and looked up and saw two little children peeking out of a door and waving: the moment we had been waiting for. I really think that Alice wanted to continue the tour, but our excitement and the children’s excitement won and the tour was over! I don’t think I can accurately describe how I felt during those hours that we spent with the kids. One of the other students and I wondered if that is what having children feels like. My heart was broken, but at the same time, so full of love. The kids sang for us and we picked them up and high-fived them, and hugged them. As soon as we put one down, there was another pulling at us to pick them up. There are some children that live there, and another 50-some that come everyday for lunch. After lunch, they’d walk home- some of them 2 or 3 kilometers, unsupervised. They are all under 5 years old, by the way. It was an experience that I will never forget.

We left the children’s home and stopped at the Kiirua market to meet Irene who has a reputation of providing the best pedicures on this side of the globe. We will all be seeing her soon. Then Jennifer and I hoped in Safari Steve’s combi to go to another market to find mangoes. Silly white people… mangoes are not in season! We were laughed at. However, we met the cutest little boys and Jenn took their picture. She asked another woman if she could take hers and the lady pulled me in close so I would be in the shot too. We picked out fruits and vegetables and Steve negotiated the price. We bought the biggest avocadoes that I ever did see. Like the size of a cantaloupe! The trip to the market was honestly one of the most joyful moments of my life.
So the road between Kiirua and Meru (which is where the market is) is jungle-y and you have to be on the lookout for crazy animals. The other day, we saw an elephant, and that day, on the way back from the market, we saw baboons. A ton of them!! Steve threw one of the baboons this weird fruit that we bought at the market and we got some great pictures. Steve is supposed to let me know the English name of the fruit is- no one seems to know.
So that brings me to today. We went to the Ruuju school which is close to Micanduri. We had a meeting with the Ruuju Women’s group, and then Allison and I left to do some data collection with Kim and Kevin for a research project that they want to do. They are measuring lung function in women use wood stoves with open flames and without chimneys) for cooking compared to women who use these new, more efficient stoves that contain the flame, produce more heat, and have chimneys. Communication was a challenge. We will be returning to see the group at some point to do a blood pressure clinic. The women spend so much time caring for others that they really appreciate the assessments and attention that we’re giving them.

We went to the Nakumatt for lunch and then headed to see another women’s group (Muchui) and their newest members. We did similar respiratory assessments with 6 of these women, and again, we will be returning to do blood pressure clinics with them. I had to leave the session to take a few pictures. Amazing. Then Martin, who works for the group, took us on a tour of the greenhouses and showed us how they graft different varieties of mangoes, avocados (he says avocando!) He said that they take the bottom of the plant with the best roots and the top of the plant with the best fruit (the fruit is very ju-eecy!) and graft them to produce the best product. Stephanie wondered why we don’t produce humans that way. Martin showed us a tree that they grow that is used in rock quarries. They have strong roots that can penetrate the rock. Millipedes eat the leaves and excrete manure that becomes the soil, and when there is enough soil, other plants are able to thrive. Then we realized that it was getting kind of late and we high-tailed it back to the combi. Martin told us not to worry though- if they left without us, he would drive us back in his gypsy, which I guess is a small car. On the way home (over the bumpiest road that I have ever seen) we picked up a man who works for Mama Jenny. He had a chicken in his hand and was holding it by the feet. Driver David found a Nakumatt bag, he shoved the chicken in and handed it to Kim. And then it started moving!!! So we shared a ride home with a live chicken… incredible! So safari Steve was absolutely right- there is something new in Kenya every day!

Transitions

2010-06-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

Blog Four
Today is Sunday, and I am 49 (ulp) years old today. I decided to not go on Safari with the others at 630 because we had been on three yesterday (630 400 and 9 p.m.). I saw two lionesses and their cubs and a tree full of baboons against the full moon. What more could I see? We were concerned about being cold since the night before there was a cold wind. We put on all the layers we had- I was wishing I had jeans and sneakers. John our attendant brought extra hot water bottles and there were blankets in the combi. We were toasty. I fell asleep on the way home watching the spot light sweep the long grass and bushes. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. My dear students and Colleen left balloons on the tent and streamers. How sweet is that?
I am having coffee in the restaurant and have had 4 people wait on me so far...I talked at length to a handsome young man named Steve. When I explained what I was doing here he told me that he was a chef and was trained in hotel/food management. He can’t get a job right now so is working as a waiter. I told him how difficult it was to come here as a (relatively) wealthy white person and wonder whatever can you do. He was encouraging and said “every small change is important”. Ann, another waitress who has served us before, stopped to talk too (finding it hard to write). I told her more details about our work, and that the Kenyan men seemed to be invisible around the farms. She shook her head and said “Some drink and come home late. Women are for running the shamba, cooking, getting water, giving birth and tending to the children.” I told her I wanted to come back every year and bring more students. She said- don’t just do Meru- there are many more tribes that need help. She mentioned the Masai and how they have no food, no water and some women have 10 babies. Africa has many problems, she says. Overwhelming, but it reinforces to me why it is so critical to have women generate an income, have easier access to clean water, and to lessen their crushing physical load and empower them to expect and achieve more than is the norm. The hardest thing about this work is that it is slow. You want to fix things right away and you can’t.
Last night (Saturday) we sat at our usual special round table in the corner and a large table of Americans (maybe Texas?) sat beside us. We think the food is amazing. Lots and lots of East Indian food which surprises me. Chicken Tikka, talipia fillets in coconut sauce, lots of veggies, always a cheese and cracker tray, loads of fruit and desserts. I had curried giblets for breakfast- a bit chewy but very good. An omelette station- Fri night there was a pasta station at dinner. I had goat, which was quite good. They recommended a mint sauce which was delicious. I even had a thin slice of coconut tart and bread pudding with custard sauce. Couldn’t resist!
Today we head home to Kirua and start our second stage staying at St Theresa’s. We have only four days to finish what we need to do to prepare Kaylynne and Christina for their summer’s work. We are going to sit together with the computer and revise the schedule Colleen has prepared. I have gone from worrying how I will ever leave them to admiring the speed with which they have adapted, begun to understand the nutrition and food issues here, and how well they interact with Kenyans.
Later....
We arrived at St Theresa’s around 4 after seeing Kim and the nursing students at the Equator! They were coming from Nairobi and we were coming back from Sweetwaters. It was crazy and wonderful to see them. When we got to St Theresa’s we were warmly welcomed by Sister Naomi and Jacinta. What sweet and kind women- I love them already. We unpack and hang up our things, which everyone is excited about. Little Stacey, Jennifer’s grand niece charms us. She loves Christina and Kaylynne and draws on a notepad and pencil I give her (from you Mom!). She made me a birthday card and said Happy Bithday in a very soft Kenyan lilt. When the nurses arrive and Kim realizes the students are three to a room and 6 girls to one shower, she says she will negotiate that they can get an extra room when we leave on Friday (and she does!). Kim has bought a pile of groceries and a box of Cabernet red wine for me! Woo Hoo! We visit and then head over to the Sister’s building for a welcome dinner. What an affair that was. Huge platter of fresh fruit, pop (always considered a treat for visitors), pizza (the sisters are part of an Italian order), chicken, mukumo (potatoes, maize and spinach), rice and more. The priest, the Deacon, some community members are there, so it is a crowded room with the food at the centre. At the end, I hear some singing and tambourines- the sisters and Jennifer M (from the bed and breakfast fame) and Salomi are singing beautiful welcome songs. And “trilling” with their tongue. They are holding cake, but I didn’t clue in that it was a birthday cake until the third song turned into “happy birthday”. Hoping to get the video uploaded but it is big. They taught me how to make the high pitch trill song and everyone laughed. What fun. Kim made a presentation of funds towards the AIDS outreach program from the PEI School of Nursing. I was wishing I had something, but it is our first time, and I need to figure out how we balance fund raising for Farmers Helping Farmers (precious cookhouses and water tanks for women and their families) and being respectful and grateful for the Sister’s work as well. So much need here...
On Monday, we toured the hospital which was very interesting. I held a baby that was only one day old and the Mom took a picture on her cell phone. I am trying to figure out how to get a copy of that. We saw a man with feet that were in the worst condition I have ever seen- he was still walking around. Lots of opportunities here at the hospital to reach new mothers through their immunization program. That is exciting for us since the students need to do some education around introducing solid foods (what when). We saw a small display of maize flour, sugar salt beans and rice in little bottles that they use for teaching. They are not supposed to be giving beans because of the low digestibility. We have some great materials that they gave us that we can use to develop user friendly resources for the Mom’s. I have great faith that Christina and Kaylynne will rise to the occasion! All six students and Colleen and I then headed to the Nakumatt to get supplies. We bought more food to last the rest of this week (feeding 10 people takes a lot!) and Colleen/Christina went with another driver to get the computer modem situation straightened out. Christina is our local computer whiz, thank heavens! We had a “Canadian” lunch at the Lion’s Den restaurant beside the Nakumatt, and we all enjoyed burgers and club sandwiches. Lugged all the stuff in, and Christina and Colleen arrived back with the new exercise bike and treadmill that was stored at Jennifer’s. The girls are really excited about that! The evenings can be long for them, and this will allow them to exercise safely.
Colleen Christina Kaylynne and I then sit down at the table outside in the sun and plan our week and remaining time for the students. Colleen had done a schedule before we came which was so helpful, but there are many opportunities and changes we need to think about. We agree on a good plan to get all the work done, with the target groups of schools (porridge and lunch program evaluations, some nutrition education with children), women (family nutrition) and new mothers (through the Women’s groups and the hospital immunization program). The nutrition students will also do some staff education here at the hospital regarding infant and family nutrition. They are going to finish the plan on their laptops and we will discuss it today (Tues).
One of the nursing students Jillian and I prepare curried coconut chicken, rice and carrots from the Sister’s garden (they supply us with any fresh vegetables they grow for a very low price). It was so fun to cook, and to eat together for the first time. I was so tired- hit the hay at 930 again. Today we go to Muchaka, the children’s orphanage, which will be a challenge emotionally. Many transitions in the past few days!! More later....Love, Jen