Africa - January, 2015 (Days 11 & 12)

January 21 and 22, 2015

Wednesday, Jan. 21, was a travel day – long, hot, and dusty. Left the hotel at 7:30.  Said goodbye to the St. John’s Kayoro Health Centre II building as we drove by it for the last time on the way to the Uganda – Kenya border at Busia.  Had to go through immigration to leave Uganda and immigration to enter Kenya so there were two lines, forms, and processes.  Sarah, GUW Africa Director, had accompanied us to the border just to make sure we didn’t have any problems.  Poor Rob was not feeling well – a terrible time to be sick, trapped in a hot bumpy van.

Not too long after entering Kenya we stopped at a gas station to pick up Frederick, the chair of the Kenya GUW Board.  Retired from the army, he has given a lot of time and energy over the last several years to the GUW programs in Nyaoga.  He directed our vans to the St. Francis High School for girls, a boarding school attended by two sisters from Nyaoga whom Therese has been sponsoring for years.  Jennifer had met them four years ago, but Therese had never seen them in person.  Frederick and David, chair of GUW - U.S., used the waiting time to get acquainted.

We first looked around the grounds a bit. 

Then we waited for the girls to be brought from class.  It was great for Therese to meet them and vice versa.  We chatted for a short time as a group (hard for the girls to have to respond to six of us), then Therese had a little individual time with them.

 

 

There was then a mandatory meeting with the principal, a most formidable woman. 

About 12:30 we left St. Francis to continue our drive to Kissimu where we had lunch at a shopping center coffee shop.  We also obtained Kenyan money.  The cash machines did not work out well; in one the system shut down when Lea Anne was partway through her transaction and another completed taking funds from Mary’s account but gave her no cash!  Exchanging dollars for Kenyan shillings worked well, however; Frederick had negotiated a good rate, better than the ATMs.  With all the problems we didn’t leave Kissimu until almost 4 p.m.

Part of the group was going to stay at the Homa Bay Tourist Hotel where we arrived about 6:15 p.m.  The luggage for five of us was unloaded, and we checked in.  The other five volunteers went on to the Nyaoga compound where they were scheduled to stay in staff housing; they all elected to sleep in their mosquito tents outside the staff housing.  Since only Jered had a mattress and the goats had left turds all over the yard, it wasn’t the most pleasant.  But there were stars to be seen and interesting sounds to be heard.  Frederick had arranged for a chef from the Homa Bay Tourist Hotel to come and cook for the group so they had good food.

Sharon, Mary, Rob, Cammie, and I were at the Hotel.  Rob was indisposed, but the rest of us had dinner at the restaurant.  I think the “good” chef must have gone to Nyaoga since the restaurant food was not particularly good.

A dance club was located just outside the hotel grounds and decided that a Wednesday night was good for late-night rap/hip hop dancing.  I could hear the thump of the bass even through my earplugs but could get to sleep.  Mary and Sharon did not fare so well and were up until the music stopped about 2:30 a.m..  Guess we were lucky; sometimes it goes on until 6 a.m. we were told.

The grounds were pleasant if not luxurious.

Cammie and Rob stayed in a room in the lodge while Sharon, Mary and I stayed in the platform tents, similar to those one finds on safari.  The tent area is known as The Palace and has a line of six tents.

 On Thursday morning (1/22) Sharon, Cammie, and I got in the van at 8:30 to begin the almost hour trip to Nyaoga.  Rob still wasn’t feeling the greatest, and Mary needed a rest day.  Half the trip was on fairly decent paved road, and half was on unpaved gravel – bumpy and dusty.  Cammie headed off with a local physical therapist to visit Everline, a young woman who had tuberculosis of the spine which resulted in paralysis.  When she reported back, Cammie indicated that the p.t. was very good and the arrangement for Everline’s care was probably as good as it could be.

The remaining seven of us volunteers piled in the van to drive as close as we could to the water project.  This GUW effort has taken years and much money and energy to complete – and there are still some problems.  The water distribution system is in place, but it appears some folk are tapping into the system which results in insufficient water getting to Nyaoga.  Frederick is pursuing this with the government which treats the water and sends it on its way.  Despite these difficulties it was exciting to see this project actually producing water.

There is a large water storage tank to which water is pumped up.

I even climbed to the top and took this picture.

Unfortunately, because of the illegal diversion the water level in the tank is low and only the top water kiosk can be used.  There are another four or so built, but there is insufficient water to reach them.  There is a small fee for obtaining water; the fees, when the system is fully operational, should pay for maintenance. 

Even though only one kiosk is operational, the walk for water is still substantially less than the mile and a half to Lake Victoria.  And this water is good, unlike Lake Victoria’s high level of pollution.

After returning to the Nyaoga compound we toured the clinic building and the newly-built maternity building.  We met with the lab technician and the HIV counselor.

Four years ago Cammie and I both fell ill at Nyaoga, with different maladies, and the lab technician took blood samples, diagnosed the problem, and treatment was proffered.  So we can attest to the ability of the staff.

The Michelle Obama Academy for primary education for married girls with children is not currently operational, but efforts are being made to enroll a new class.  So some time was spent discussing those possibilities.

A light lunch was offered at the staff housing (where the chef prepared a special vegetarian beet sandwich for Sharon).  

Sharon and I then went back to Homa Bay while the remaining volunteers painted the maternity building, finishing the first coat on both interior and exterior.  I used the time to work on the blog and resting up a bit.

There was some commotion as a political meeting was being held on the grounds.  This did not prevent the goats from grazing on the lawn.

The folk who’d stayed at Nyaoga last night arrived at Homa Bay for the night about 9 p.m.  We needed to leave early the next morning, and the discomfort of tents on the hard ground surrounded by goat turds convinced the five that a return to “civilization” was in order.  However, the dance club was operating again which might have made them wish for the solitude of Nyaoga, although it did seem to stop a bit earlier than yesterday.  With my ear plugs in, it didn’t affect me much (thank goodness).