Days 3-6, May 16-19th After a few days of solid work, Morgan and I are beginning to feel much more like we can play the role we were sent here to fulfill vet-wise. Many of the things we do on a farm in the course of the day would not be skills we would even come close to mastering until 3rd or even 4th year, let alone get the chance to perform on an almost daily basis. Maureen and Jeff have been truly endless in their aid, wisdom and beyond anything else, way of making us feel as though we are not only capable of being quick studies but are also peers who simply need a refresher course. Quickly things are becoming second nature which were before the kind of thing you would have to kind of wing for a bit. For example, when an instructor would ask, "So you can here the heart beat?" and you would nod in agreement, even though you had tried every possible way of hearing it and were coming up with nothing, simply to not feel like a fool. Now we can not only hear the heart beat (well, except for the times when the cow is so covered in layers of mud or manure that no tool could chisel its way through, let alone amplify sound), but capable of performing a RUMBA as Maureen calls it, an exam where we focus on the most important features of a cow's unique anatomy that are liable to fail or give need for veterinary care. First you do the rumen, you press down hard on the left back end of the cow over the rumen with your stethoscope and try to hear three full rumen rotations, which sounds something like a thunderstorm as it fills and an ocean tide receding as it empties. Next the uterus, of course this involves a rectal exam, often in our case to confirm pregnancy, but here in Kenya we have the luxury of being able to feel quite a bit, given the lower than normal packing of the insides of the animal with fat. Most cows we have dealt with so far are not cycling, meaning their ovaries are very tiny, so if we can manage to first identify some landmarks like these, we can slowly begin to feel our way around and negotiate the rest. Children, who are often the inevitable onlookers to our visits, get a real kick out of this, especially upon entry, as to be fair to the cow you really need to lubricate your glove, which outside of the clinic, far from vet supply stores, means covering your glove in the the most fresh, moist manure you can find on the bottom of the pen. After this is complete, you move onto the next big anatomical site of concern, the mammary gland. As I am learning every cow's udder feels different. Some have hard quarters and they all feel swollen and lumped together while others are soft and fairly supple. We are reassured that if one of the quarters were "hot" (a hallmark of Mastitis, a common sometimes subclinical but often in these kind of regions clinical to acute case of bacterial infection) we would be able to tell, but I will have just have to believe them on this one. One of the big struggles we face with this organ here in Kenya and really many places in the world is focused on the debate of how best to milk a cow. While stripping it roughly between your fingers seems to be the method most commonly used, it can cause serious and long term trauma to the teat canal within each teat, which can cause the teat to become compromised, allowing bacteria to invade easily and colonize. We (Farmers Helping Farmers) have produced various fact sheets addressing this issue, with small little drawings to demonstrate the method we recommend, but every cow seems to react differently to this stripping method. Some seem to suffer at its harshness while others are resigned to a more complacent attitude towards it. We try to lead by example the best we can, first pinching of the very end of the teat closet to the body with your thumb and forefinger, than slowly compressing the milk down the teat canal by systematically applying pressure with each finger until you draw with your pinky, although we cannot change everything, some compromises need to be made. The next thing to check is the bronchial tree, using your stethoscope and visually checking for signs of heaving or heavy breathing. You begin listening directly behind the scapula region and then move back in a line towards the end of the lungs, constantly going back to your first point of listening to have a means of comparison. As the lungs are pretty long in the cow, this is one of the longest parts of the exam really, and in my opinion, the most likely part for you to miss something. Every cow breathing sounds quite different, but the major thing to watch for is weird background noises (swishy water sounds) or being able to physically hear expiration (as it should be passive, hence, soundless). Last is the all allusive abomasum, a funny little organ that can become displaced and can be detected using the ping method. Literally listening with your stethoscope while you ping around it with your thumb and forefinger, listening for a higher pitched ping in return. The higher pitch is obtained by the abomasum being displaced, presenting an area of gas to fluid interphase, which resonates when you ping it. We have yet to hear anything of this nature yet but Maureen is dead set that if it was there, and we were able to hear it, it would be the kind of diagnostic tool (in this case, noise) you would never need to be taught again. It must be quite the sound to hear, so we hope (but also of course being animal lovers), hope not to hear. Of course we do a lot of other things before we let the cow off the hook and call it within normal limits, but enough of that for now. Thursday came very quickly and all of the sudden we found ourselves being all too kindly invited to join our CIDA (one more time, Canadian International Development Agency) representative here at the Canadian High Commission in Nairobi, Melaine Boyd and her husband, along for a tour of some of the establishments and various organizations CIDA fully, or in part, helps support. While our travels for the next few days were many, I think it best for my counterparts who are posted in some of these organizations for the summer to speak to the nature of the programs much more deeply, so I have decided instead to present some poems and images with a bit of background which I wrote during this time. I will post them in the next blog along with an author's note explaining the nature of the subject or what drove me to write it. I have decided to take some creative license with my poems, so they will be of various non-formal and formal forms, but for all those reading keep in mind I will sometimes be dealing with somewhat sensitive subject matters and because of the nature of my writing style, I will be sure to follow certain words choices etc. up with explanation to avoid any offence or confusion over my meaning. All writers kind of need this disclaimer, especially as I represent a few organizations and wouldn't want there to be any mistakes understanding wise. Before I go for today, one story to recount from our travels at the end of this week. We were asked to visit one of the smaller cooperative dairies we work with, Exlewa, and host an informational meeting/afternoon with some of the farmers who are members of the dairy. It was scheduled for eleven, a time I knew before we even left in the morning we would have no chance of meeting, and I was quite right. By the time we had finished with the Muchui Women's group, visited a few schools, greenhouse operations and some other smaller venues, it was well past one o'clock before we rolled into the sleepy little town of Exlewa. Of course we were greeted with a lot of thanks, even though shortly after arriving we realized we had been keeping around thirty farmers waiting out in a field in the hot midday sun for over two hours. Even worse, somewhere along the line they had been lead to believe that we would be treating any sick animals, which of course we had not prepared for, so as we drove up to meet the farmers the street was lined with cows tied up or running lose, all waiting for hypothetical treatment even though we didn't even have any medications on us. Sadly things proceeded to get worse both in regards to our feelings of guilt and also I imagine in the farmer's feelings towards us (which of course was never outright displayed) as about ten minutes after we had opened up the floor for questions, a torrential downpour of rain began, sending everything living into hiding. No other venue could be arranged (one which could shield us all from the weather) so we were told, again pleasantly, to call it a day. Our drivers were extremely eager to get the heck out of this place, given that the roads are liable to flooding, although even referring to what happens to the roads here as flooding is a rather foolish understatement. Really what becomes of the road is more like a river and sure enough, we became caught up in it. Our car very slowly began to turn sideways and all of the sudden, regardless of how calm of driver Dominic was, our safari van was half flipped in the ditch. Quickly enough a little white car (presumably a 4-wheel drive) came rolling down the hill to rescue us, which subsequently ended up also sideways half flipped over in the ditch across from us. Shortly after, yet another vehicle came flying down the hill, which somehow managed to come to a halt in the middle of the road and as soon as it had stopped, about eight men poured out of it. Another 10-20 farmers were following the vehicle on foot and yet another dozen or more seemed to appear out of nowhere. They then attached a rope to the front of our car, which about a dozen or so men positioned themselves to haul on, while the rest of our rescuers got on the upside of the ditch hill and all at once, began to rock our van upwards. Rather quickly we were back upright and on the road, spinning down the hill, trying to swerve out of the way of other vehicles stuck. Finally we managed to get out of the town's roadways and back onto the main road and all had a good laugh at how within one week in country we had already experienced one of what is considered the true Kenyan moments, which is being stuck in the mud exactly as we were. Who knows how many more "Kenyan moments" we will cross off of the potential list by the end of our time here, hopefully, many. Back on the road, we stopped to confirm with Mrs. Boyd and her driver, who had been wiser than us, in addition to the fact that we had let them leave first, as they needed to be back to the embassy by dark ( a common thing here) which I highly doubt they were able to do. She had stopped on the side of the road to wait for us and seemed quite concerned, oddly, she was really the only one out of the entire party, both us and drivers, to be truly concerned, so we thanked her again for the trip and parted ways. We stayed on an additional night in Meru, a kind of crowded, dirty city really, but still alive with a lot of people. Meru is listed as one of the priority areas for the government aid wise, as it suffers from intense dry spells, which furthers the difficulty and poverty found in the region imposing upon constant life. Jennifer, our Meru godmother (she has opened her extensive house to us as an organization about 3-4 times a year for the last decade or so) was relieved to see us pull into the driveway, all be in, covering in mud, and as we sat out and had a lovely drink in her lawn, speaking of politics and what the new constitution ( a document discussed for a long period of time here in Kenya, but only finally granted last year) would mean in the coming year and the election in December. Carolyn, an education coordinator from PEI is concerned of the time overlap between the election and her students arriving, Jennifer is confident things will be ok but also is not blind to how long and difficult change in government can be (in any part of the world). Let's hope for our peers coming here, or back here next year, things go well, only time will tell. I'm off for now, look for my next postings soon, as I add this sentence to a blog made nearly 3 weeks ago now! Jen Images: "Tulip factory" on the way to Meru, supported in part by CIDA "The group"- from left, Jeff, Shaad, Gerald, Melaine Boyd and husband, Morgan and me! "On the run"- chicks outside of a greenhouse in Meru, you guessed it, sponsored by CIDA " An elephant!"- you can imagine our shock when our driver Dominic told us we would be driving through an area elephants often were found blocking the road, he wasn't kidding, about 5 minutes later we pulled over to watch this amazing creature eating a few feet away from the main road " The toothpick trick"- at the equator, a funny little tourist stop half way to Meru, where you pay 6 dollars or so for a man to take a toothpick in a bucket of water with a hole in the bottom, and you walk with him as he places it in front of the equator, on the equator and behind the equator line, watching the toothpick swivel in all different directions, on the line, of course it was dead even, no movement at all! Consider us impressed " Exodus"- while I wasn't able to get any good pictures of our trip in the mud, this gives you a good idea of what happens to the roads during these storms, this was a path we followed for about 2km back to a greenhouse outside of Meru, the animals running made me think of us trying to escape the flash flood but inevitably being caught by it. I think these animals however are wise to the routine and are the first to get going at any sign of trouble.

First home visits for Nutrition Team 2012

An incredible week once again. Kim and the nurses arrived (Christine and Melanie), so now we have all the students together, which is great. A fantastic group! Sunday is very quiet, and we are all enjoying reading, cooking and doing laundry. A good catch up day for everyone. My feet (Jen’s) are cracked and stained red from walking on the dirt roads. I bought a volcanic rock at the Nakumatt to scrub my feet, which works pretty well. I am being a wimp with the cold shower, so I am doing the ‘bathing in the Nile River’ routine. Boil water, pour into a plastic basin and add some cold from my shower tap. Then dunk head in the basin, swirl, and try and wet the bird’s nest. The water is always brown when I pull my head out. Nice hair product, that dust- keeps the hair from blowing around.Fergie helped make pancakes and we enjoyed them with bananas and the last mango we had. Delish. Here’s a recap of the past week’s work by the nutrition students: What a day Tuesday was! We started off by piling into a taxi to go to Mikinduri (Ruuju); the students, Jennifer, and the translator. We got to the school and thought we were going to be meeting with the champs but there was a miscommunication, it is very common here as they don’t always understand our English. We set out to do our home visits as this was the next thing we had planned to do that day. It was very different and there was no way really to prepare for it. For the first visit, we all had a different set of questions we would be asking the woman. We did a 24-hour recall, food security questionnaire and then asked a few questions about her shamba (kitchen garden). The next farm we went to was a little different. This woman was extremely poor and would sometimes go days without eating. It sure makes us think about all the stuff we complain about. After seeing this we can’t believe that we’ve ever said ‘we’re starving’ while waiting for lunch or dinner to be made. These people are actually starving. We take sooo much for granted at home and don’t realize it until we see people in this situation. After visiting the two previous farms, we met with one last woman. Although she too had very little to offer and was obviously quite poor, she cut up a (very ripe...almost compostable) pawpaw (papaya) using a machete. Before offering it, she did something which we've encountered a few times since- she warmed some water, and came to us with a bowl to wash our hands. Such a lovely tradition- again, they are so kind! We all had trouble stomaching the pawpaw but managed to eat at least one piece.

The next day, we visited 2 Muchui women, whom are both considered to be wealthy. They had tiled floors, clean homes and one even had a laptop (with a camera to take a picture of us students). One of the women and her beautiful daughter had prepared Kenyan tea for us (delicious- black tea made with 2 cups water, 3 cups milk and sugar) and Kenyan pancakes (similar to ours, only they are cookie-sized). She was so kind to prepare these for us. Again and again we think...we are JUST students- why are they going out of their way to feed us, thank us, etc when we are asking them to reflect on some very difficult aspects of their lives? It still boggles our minds. Perhaps we North Americans have just sunk to such lows that we no longer realize what true hospitality is and how to be welcoming!

We then headed back to the residence, where we were told that there was a pig being slaughtered so we decided to check it out. We walked around back and saw them scraping the hair off the pig and noticed a cow’s head sitting there along with the stomach and intestines of the cow. They told us they had just slaughtered a cow today too and they offered us the opportunity to help butcher it. So off we went to go help the Sisters cut up this freshly slaughtered cow. Never thought we’d be doing this! We also got to milk a cow – a first for all of us. One of the Novices invited us up to the convent to have a cup of tea since we were helping them. When we got up there the table was set so nicely and they had cookies too. It was so nice to talk to Esther as she is closer to our age. It really is nice getting to know some of the Kenyans especially since we are here for 3 months. They told us they will show us a lot this summer. I think the next project may be chopping wood. They do everything around here - it truly is amazing. Overall, it was great day and we saw so much that we had never seen before. We sure have a different perspective on things now. Our over-consumption, our wealth, and our values are so different from here in Kenya.

Thursday was the first day that we felt completely exhausted. The sun was so incredibly hot it was unreal (but as we are on the equator we probably shouldn’t be too surprised) and the dust and dirt of a day of walking through the Kenyan countryside had us beat. It took two rounds of soap and water to see our feet again. We spent the morning at a local primary school and helped one woman cook uji (maize porridge) and githiri (maize, bean, and kales stew) for 175 children over open fires (which we will ultimately conduct a nutritional analysis on). For many of the children this is the only food they get in a day and you would be surprised at how much they can throw back. Then in the afternoon we went to the annual agricultural fair. It happened to be the day that all of the schools from the area were there and we may well have been the top attraction. We were told that for many of the children we would be the first white people that they had ever seen. It was pretty funny. Lots of pictures, staring, skin and hair touching.

Friday we attended our first CME (continuing medical education) presentation at the hospital – Jennifer and Colleen presented on the work done to date, and the plans for this upcoming year. We also had the opportunity to meet the dietitian that the hospital has recently hired! We are very excited to work with her in the coming weeks. Colleen left for Canada and we will miss her a lot. The nurses arrived in the afternoon and we went to the convent for dinner with the Sisters- always a fun affair :)

Saturday saw a hike up through Mt. Kenya National Park and now we are taking a day to recover. Back at it tomorrow – stay tuned until next time. Fergie, Janet, Sam (and Jennifer)

The Nurses Have Arrived! By Christine Cassidy After much anticipation and excitement, we have finally arrived in Kenya! We had a great stay at the Fairview in Nairobi to rest up before we headed out on the five hour drive to Kiirua. The further we drove out of town the more apparent the poverty was. It was green and tropical in the areas where there had been a lot of rain. As we continued, areas that haven’t seen rain in months were very dry. The poverty was more apparent in these areas due to the lack of healthy crops. It was definitely a culture shock experience that I will never forget. It really motivated me even more for my work here in Kenya. We headed into Meru (a small town about 20 minutes from Kiirua) to go to the Nakumatt, which is very similar to a Wal-Mart. They literally have everything. At home, in Canada, you could go to the grocery store and not have one person look at you. However, in Kenya, you are the main attraction. Everyone was looking at me like I either had leprosy or I was Jesus. The kids would follow us and run and grab their friends to come see. One of the hardest things has been growing accustomed to the men staring. It is hard to remember that we look extremely foreign to them. Other than the funny looks, the Kenyans have been so welcoming and genuinely happy to see us. We arrived at the guesthouse at St. Theresa’s hospital in Kiirua with a warm welcome from the Sisters. They prepared a delicious Kenyan meal and sang for us throughout the evening. It was a great first evening in our new home! Yesterday we got right to work with our first women’s clinic with the Muchui women. What an experience! Twenty women traveled from their farms to attend the health assessment clinic. Kim, Melanie and I divided a classroom into three stations. Each woman was given a health card with her name on it and we filled it out as they completed each station. Kim was in charge of respiratory assessment and oxygen saturation; Melanie took weight, height, and waist measurements, along with the women’s blood pressure; and I took the women’s blood glucose. We concluded with an information session on high blood sugars since the majority of the had a slightly high blood sugar (around 8.) I took one woman’s blood glucose and the glucometer read 41.7. After I picked my jaw off the floor (remembering my nonverbals), I decided to take it a second time just to make sure. The second reading was 42.5! With the help of another women to translate, Kim and I encouraged the women to head to the dispensary immediately to get some medication. She understood the importance of this and went right away. Other than that one case, the women were all very healthy. They maintain a healthy lifestyle with lots of exercise due to the amount of walking and lifting they do on their farms. We were all very impressed with the women and we look forward to completing another clinic with the Muchui women in August! On Monday we start at the hospital. Melanie and I are both very excited! There will be more updates in the weeks to come!

On the trail of the OSP! (Orange flesh sweet potato) In late 2010 potato breeders within a large international project released news of OSP varieties for east Africa. Consumption of these high beta-carotene tubers can help alleviate vitamin A deficiency. In these countries white fleshed sweet potatoes are common, but do not have the benefits of vitamin A for fighting diseases and good eye sight. Fast on the heels of this news, Susan MacKinnon and Shaad Olingo received cuttings of varieties and introduced them to Ruuju and Muchui womens groups in Kenya. Women agreed to first multiply the vines and then to distribute vines to women farmers and local schools so they could grow tubers. Today we saw the fruit of their labour at KK Ndege Primary School. Together with Mwenda, the Muchui horticulturist, a small portion of the schools crop was harvested. The UPEI nutrition student interns oversaw the harvest and dashed to the kitchen to wash and chop the tubers. The cook was a willing participant and OSP were added to the githeri right then and there! KK students found the githeri ‘sweet’ and our feeling was pretty sweet as well. Colleen Walton, May 2012

Crossing Borders: 2012 Business Team Completes First Week

Jambo! Janell

here from the Business Team. On Monday (May 21) we all left Nairobi in the morning (9ish) and travelled 225 km to reach Meru....7 hours later! Huge culture shock day – EVERYTHING was soooo much different than PEI! We made a few stops along the way, at a little market on the side of the road for fruit, for rice at a small town, for special bean seeds to give the farmers (they are supposed to grow taller, so they produce 2x the amount of beans), and for lunch (samosas) at the Isaak Walton. On the drive we were on “speed bump” road – the government put a lot of speed bumps along the road, as 4-5 people were getting hit by speeding vehicles each day. The landscape was incredible - I have never seen anything like it before! Banana trees, coffee trees, tea bushes, and surprisingly everything is so green (they were having issues with a lack of rain, but then they had too much rain so they experienced some flooding and washout issues). People live and walk everywhere, and in the afternoon all of the children walk home from school. I saw so many kids that were so little walking home alone or with 1-2 other kids. It was so overwhelming, and hard to believe what people live in. Animals (goats/cows/donkeys) are tied to the side of the road (usually by their feet) because many people don’t have land to feed them...the people then cut down grass with machetes and carry it to the animals on their backs. The animals are much smaller, and all animals serve a purpose. Dogs are there to catch rats, cats to catch mice, etc. We finally drove into Meru – the main road is paved but all of the other roads are dirt/gravel (by the way, men chip rock to make gravel here). It is pretty crazy, not many people have cars – it’s walking, biking, donkeys, matatus (bus like vans), and a few tractors. At all of the ATMs there are 2 men/women with machine guns (to protect you if you take money out). Almost all of the buildings would be classified as shacks on PEI and are painted in advertisements. We got to our place (we are staying in Meru for a week), a home of a wealthy Kenyan – Jenn. She is super nice. Her place has 4 bedrooms, and the walls are decorated really crazy (coca cola posters, rock animals on the wall, UPEI posters, pictures, etc) Jenn (she likes to be called Mama Jenn) has a nice little yard and a rock wall with glass shards on the top of the wall to keep people out. At night she hires 2 guards (because a lot of people in the community know that we are here) – they have machine guns and they let us get a picture with them and their guns when we take them out supper. Cultural Differences A few things that I saw that were pretty crazy: • We saw 2 guards with their guns walking 2 prisoners down the street. The prisoners didn’t seem to have any handcuffs, and they were carrying machetes (I assume to do work) • They don’t have a garbage system, so all garbage is either burned or left on the street • At our place there is no hot water, but we do have electricity! You have to boil water to wash dishes and the shower has a small heater in the shower head...in the shower there is no drain, just a hole in the tile that lets the water run outside! • Our names are hard to pronounce...Edward is “headward gambo” and people are very confused when I say my name! • Little boys going to/from school carrying machetes Muchui & Ruuju On Tuesday we drove out to Kiirua (where we will be living after next week), it is more rural, and I like it a lot better. The people are extremely kind. We met our first Muchui women at her shop, and she took us to our home and gave us all juice. We then went to Margaret’s to see her greenhouse (the greenhouses are shared by 4 women). They were soo nice, we got pictures with 3 of the ladies and they would rub my cheeks/chin and hair. They loved getting their picture taken! There were a few little kids around, but one of them appeared to have malaria. After stopping at another farm, we went to the Muchui Business Centre (where we will be working a few days a week). We are going to be working with horticulturists and the manager – Festus, Gikundi, Mwenda, Wilson, Emanuel, and Shaad. They are all really nice, helpful, and extremely smart. They know so much about the crops, Kenya, weather, etc., so I think I’m going to learn a lot. They are all really curious about Canada crops and animals, especially the university students. The road to the Centre is completely washed out...no way a vehicle could ever get up there! On Wednesday we went to Ruuju, the other women group we will be working with. We went to the school – 521 children - who came out to see us and sang us some songs. They are all so beautiful and curious, and love to shake your hand and get a photo with you! We went to the school garden (which is grown to give the children lunch), and then we had lunch at the school – they made us Mookamoo (no idea how to spell it) – a potato/banana mash that is very tasty! We then went to a few farms around Ruuju and drove home in the afternoon! We had another Kenyan dish for supper – Ugali – it also tasted really good! We also did yoga in the evening when we got back home! Elephant Crossing On Thursday (May 24) we went for a walk around Meru to see a really neat waterfall just outside the town. We met with Salome, a university student who we will be working with regarding the Muchui Business Centre – she is extremely nice! After that we walked down to the Nakumat for lunch! We then were on the way to Kiirua when we spotted 3 elephants on the side of the road!!! They were sooo beautiful, just grazing on the side of the road. They generally cross the road between Meru and Kiirua every evening to head up to Mount Kenya, it was crazy! One of the elephants was extremely large with long tusks, while the other ones were a bit smaller! We got to watch them for a while, and then they started to head up to the mountain. We picked up Festus (the business centre manager) and went to Lucy’s Farm – a beautiful 20 acre farm and dairy. Lucy, the owner sells to Marks and Spencer (a high end grocery store in the UK), so it was interesting to see a more wealthy farm. For supper we had mokimo (a traditional Kenyan dish of potato, banana, beans..), meatballs and kale! We have been working hard with Colleen and Dr Ed and will have more to report later!

2012 Nutrition Team Completes First Week!

Jambo! Dr Jenny and Fergie here from the 2012 Nutrition team! It has been a very busy and exciting week for the 2012 Nutrition and Business UPEI AUCC/CIDA Students for Development teams. We had hoped to post this sooner but had very limited access to email this week. And then we posted this blog under a new name by mistake and it didn't show up here! Sorry about that! We had a very good rest at Fairview Hotel in Nairobi on Sat and Sun nights. Wonderful food, hot showers and a few even jumped in the pool (it was a little chilly). Everyone agreed how useful it was to rest after a very long and rather bumpy trip but were eager to head to Meru for our work. When we left Nairobi, Colleen and I noticed a huge improvement in the highway since last year- the expansion is almost complete. We got out of Nairobi very quickly, but then a rather long ride to Meru. We stopped for lunch near Embu and it took a very long time to get served. Jennifer Murogocho, our wonderful host in Meru, was ready with a delicious hot meal when we arrived about 430 p.m. on Monday. Delicious beef stew, cabbage and kales and rice. She has a beautiful Kenyan house and was so welcoming towards us Canadians! Started Tuesday with a bang: Haley (one of the business students) was sick to her stomach. Worse yet, it was her birthday! She slept for awhile, got up and got dressed- a real trooper. We suspected that it was something she had eaten as I had some grumbles too… but not sure what it was. We had a very hot day today for our first visits to farms. We were baking in the sun walking up a hill from Margaret to Joyce’s farm. I ended up going back to Meru with Haley who was not feeling well while the others remained and went to visit Muchui women’s farms. I worked with Jennifer to prepare some Thai chicken, mango salad and guacamole with the wonderful produce we had purchased as we left Nairobi. When the rest of the team returned, Sam was sick to her stomach- likely from too much sun. This was in spite of dressing properly, using sun screen and drinking water. I had bought a fan for Haley at the Nakumatt-which I then put in Sam’s room. Well worth the $43 it since it really improves the air circulation in the back bedrooms at Jennifer’s. Since Tues, Haley is fully recovered, but several of us have ‘the runs’ which we have nicknamed ‘Terry’ as in ‘dysentery’ J But nothing too serious and we are all eating and drinking lots. Dr John warned Jen T. that it would happen, but I was seriously spoiled with no one having any sickness in 2010 and 2011. Being in Meru was a real culture shock for us. On Tuesday we saw a lot. We visited a few farms and went to the Muchui Business Centre. I expected it to be really different here but I think its hard to believe how different it really is until you are here. On Wednesday we went to Ruuju which is about a 45min drive from where we will be staying this summer. The first thing we did was go to Ruuju school which was amazing!! All the kids came running from their classes as soon as they saw us arriving in the Combi! They all sang for us and then all wanted to shake our hand and get their pictures taken. It was such a great feeling to be there. I can’t wait to go back. We met the head master Julius, who is studying for his degree in education, but made a special trip to greet us and understand what our work would be for the summer. We then walked to and saw another few farms that day. All the women love showing you their farms as they are very proud of them. Thursday was the first day with the Champs! In 2010 and 2011, Kaylynne Parkes, Christina Tucker, Amy Rawlinson and Harrison Blizzard worked with ‘champs’, who were women who were good cooks and good farmers, and therefore ideal educators and role models for other women in the community. We met with the Muchui champs in the morning: 5 original champs from 2010 and also 5 new champs for 2012. It was the first time using a translator, but Sam did just fine. The women all seemed just as happy to be there. We went over a few of the things we were going to try and work on with them this summer, including using orange sweet potatoes, which have been growing successfully this winter through the support of Farmers Helping Farmers. We were also hoping that we would be able to convince them to drink their tea after their meals as when they drink it with the meals the oxalates in the tea prevent some nutrients from being absorbed. They all laughed at us when we told them about this. It just goes to show how different it is here and the customs that they have. We will meet with the Ruuju champs next week. In the afternoon the nutrition students worked on transferring files from previous years work and doing short schedules for the women’s groups and the schools. It was nice just to sit at Mama Jen’s and work. We had quite a few laughs, some at Jen’s expense! One thing that was really funny was there was a gecko and Sam went to pick it up and its tail fell off but the tail kept moving. We all had a good laugh!! I got to take dinner to the guards that night and got a picture with them. It was pretty cool and really makes us feel very safe. Friday morning we were up early to pack up the Combi and we're on our way to Sweet Water Game Park! We make a quick stop at the hospital residence where we will be staying for the rest of the summer to drop off our stuff. It’s a really beautiful place and much nicer than we expected. We got to meet Sister Naomi and Sister Mary and they said they will have a dinner for us on Sunday night when we get back. We also went to KK Ndgege school on the way. The purpose of this was to check out the cookhouse and the school feeding programs as they are new this year. They have a wonderful garden where they get the vegetables to make the food for the children each day (each child gets two meals each day at school, ugi and githeri. Jen says the garden is amazing compared to the tiny plot last year. They started growing OSP (orange sweet potatoes) and they picked a few today, they were HUGE! All of us nutrition students were amazed by them and I think the Kenyans thought we were a little crazy! We asked if they would add them into the githeri today as they are sooo nutritious and would be very good for the students. They agreed so we worked with Dorcas, a wonderful teacher at KK, and the cook to wash them, cut them and added them to the githeri for the first time! It was really cool. I guess you may have to be in nutrition to see the awesomeness of that!

We are relaxing at Sweet Water right now which is a game park. The animals here are crazy! The roof in the Combi pops up so we can stand up and see out. Saw lots of elephants, giraffes, monkeys, zebras, impala, attabeast, ostrich, water buffalos and many more animals! We were able to get so close to the elephants which was just so amazing. It’s a really nice resort that we are staying at and the rooms are like tents but really fancy! It sure feels like Africa being here. This year we have the privilege of joining with the Business team which includes Haley Beer, Janell MacDonald and Dr Edward Gamble. They have been learning a lot and have been just great to get to know them. It has also been great to meet up with the vet team: Jeff and Maureen, Morgan and Jennifer. They have been working very hard, and it is great to see familiar faces and hear about their work so far. They will have a separate blog here. Next week we start our work preparing for interviews with the Muchui and Ruuju women, and do our first nutritional assessment of the uji (breakfast porridge) and githeri (lunch maize and bean stew) at KK. We also hope to go to Meru General Hospital on Friday. Hello to all our friends and family, and especially to Farmers Helping Farmers members. We see your presence everywhere.

Week Four

Hello,

Week four was one to remember. On Monday we were all at our schools continuing to prepare our students for their upcoming exams, scheduled from Tuesday to Thursday. Both students and teachers are anxious about the writing of the K.C.P.E. test, as these are a representation of the students learning and the teacher’s ability to convey the designated curriculum. Having only seen the students write the practice exams the previous Monday, all of us are interested in seeing how the student do with this type of formal assessment.

When Tuesday morning finally arrived we all had butterflies in our stomachs for our students. When distributing the very first exam I wished them all good luck, reminded them to leave no question unanswered, and to print their name clearly at the top of their answer sheet. The K.C.P.E testing had begun. On Tuesday the students wrote three exams in total. Writing started at 8:20am and would run until the end of the school day. Once the students complete the tests it is the teachers’ responsibility to grade and record the test scores. It is important that this is done accurately and recorded clearly, as a simple mistake in either aspect can have a drastic impact on the students overall grading. The first day of testing proved to be exhausting and we weren’t even writing.

Wednesday was scheduled very much like the day before. Students were to begin writing at 8:20 am and were slatted to continue in the same classroom until the end of the day. The K.C.P.E. tests have a certain amount of time allocated, depending on the length, difficulty, and subject. Some of tests are finished earlier and students are allowed to study for the coming examinations. Wednesday was as equally as straining as the previous day. When the day was complete there was a clear light at the end of the tunnel. I think we all agree that seeing this type of assessment is a valuable experience, but our time spent interacting and growing with the students has been the most rewarding of our days at the primary schools.

On Thursday the school was a buzz. With only one exam scheduled for the day the kids could sense the end was near. With the long Easter weekend looming just around the corner, students had added incentive to put their nose to the grindstone and finish their exams with a strong performance. Testing began as it had on the previous two days at 8:20 am. Students were wished a final good luck and the testing was underway. Assessment, recording, ranking, and proofing of the exam grades would prove to be a challenge. All of the total testing scores needed to balance and the mean scores for each class needed to be calculated. With a final copy of the scoring scheme handed to our Head Teacher our experience with the Kenya Certification of Primary Education testing was complete.

Friday marked the beginning of our safari weekend at the Samburu National Game Reserve. We departed the house at 9am, arriving at the hotel shortly after 1pm. During our drive into the reserve we were greeted by a mother elephant and her calf. Based on this grand welcome we were all aware that this was a trip we would not soon forget. Over the next two days we would encounter a variety of animals on the reserve including: female lions, giraffes, elephants, ostriches, jackal, baboons, crocodile, camel, monkeys, impala, waterbuck, gazelle, gerenuk, a variety of birds, warthogs, lizards, and much more. The weather could not have been better for the trip, as we experienced only a little bit of rain during the day. The park is an amazing vast stretch of land that seems to go on forever, with some of the most amazing views we have ever seen. Overall the trip provided us the opportunity to see some of these animals in their own habitat, a chance which many of us might not encounter ever again.

This past week has provided us with amazing opportunities and experiences. Our hopes are all high for the weeks ahead. Our departure date from Kenya is coming all too soon. Hoping all is well back home!

Doug