Hardship Bonus

Little Cabin in the…Savanna

So I realized I haven’t shared where I’m living now.  I’m in a little cabin (a definite upgrade from the shack) behind a bed and breakfast with Emily.  It’s a wonderful location: safe (as long as you are aware of hippos) and really pretty perfect.  Here are some photos. 

It’s really hard to explain life here -- the craziness of everyday life in an African town, the disgusting experiences of sanitation, the beauty and adventure of Kenya.  Emily and I met a guy many months ago who is an Israeli geologist doing geothermal work in Kenya.  His company gave him a “hardship bonus” on top of his salary just for living in Kenya (because it must be so awful…?).  So at times-- like this morning-- when I’m drinking a smoothie and lying by the pool, I have to remind Emily that I’m still waiting for my hardship bonus.  Life is rough.  Anyway, here’s some of what I’ve been up to lately. 

Cooking up Poop

Coming back to Naivasha is wonderful for so many reasons: perfect weather, zero traffic (minus goats), and giraffe spotting—but among the top reasons is working with Nancy and Francis again.  While Emily and I were in the US, Nancy did her own “experiment” which turned out really well.  The poop that we had put on the concentrator before I left, which had not reached high enough temperatures (we think, our loggers were broken at this point) she put this poop back on the concentrator for about 20 days. Then she took it off and let it dry, rolling it on occasion, for another few weeks.  The result is a completely safe, dry solid devoid of any poop smell or appearance. 

                

Emily and I even burned some, just to see what would happen. Yep, that’s my job.  And it went surprisingly well.  The waste doesn’t quite ignite, but it gives off good heat when lit with charcoal, and does not smell like poop.  Our plan is to combine this dry waste with organic materials like leaves corn husks, cobs, and press it to make briquettes that will be a cheaper environmentally friendly alternative to wood charcoal.  We have found some other people in the area who have experience making briquettes, namely our friend Alistair, but none of them have used human waste so this is a new dimension.  Alistair has helped us repeatedly cook poop in his own backyard. That’s friendship. 

We also have started our sampling for lab testing with the CDC. When the traditionally proposed technique of gathering a sample didn’t work out, we had to resort to a less scientific tactic of literally reaching our gloved hands in the waste with a ziplock bag and grabbing a fist full of poop.  That is the type of high tech system we work under. 

We also are going to be receiving some in-home toilet prototypes here from Germany to test in Naivasha, and hopefully some from Haiti too. Things are starting to take off.  For more about our projects and work stuff, you can read the Sanivation blog: http://sanivation.com/category/blog/.

Living for the weekend

Ok that’s not true, but as much  fun as I have at work, that is only the beginning.  One weekend recently we had a bunch of friends coming up to Naivasha for volleyball, margaritas, camp fires, and dancing. The best part was that even though most people only new a handful of the other 25ish people there, everyone got along incredibly well and are amazing people in their own right. We had some med students, taking time between 1st and 2nd year to do medical stuff in Kenya, refugee resettlement workers, fellow poop people, and all just amazing good-hearted people all around. 

Two weekends ago Emily and I took off to the coast to play touch rugby on Diani beach with some of the girls from the Kenya Women’s Rugby team.  It was amazing! Rugby, a beautiful white –sand/ turquoise—water beach, dancing, more great people from all over, not mention some good looking fellas. I love that rugby is rugby anywhere. I think I slept about 15 hrs in 4 days, my body and feet hurt like crazy, and it was one of the best weekends I’ve had here. 

Then we had an amazing weekend up in Eldoret and Kakamega Forest.  Kenya is so diverse and I love seeing all of it, but it is really the company that makes the trip.  When 4 hours in parking lot waiting for a car and then riding on pothole-filled African roads are enjoyable events you know you are surrounded by good people. 

Then this weekend we stayed home, which turned out splendidly, and we got to hang out with the most random people. It started with American girls we met (well Emily sort of accidentally picked up at a bar) and had over for drinks. We ended up talking about some politics, traveling, sexuality, intentional community, and faith, while drinking and singing to RENT and Moulin Rouge.  Then Saturday, off to have lunch with two Kenyan cowboys who have zebra and polo fields on their land, followed by dinner with missionaries from Kentucky who made us fried chicken. There’s never a dull moment here and we never lack for fun company.  We also have amazing American neighbors, Mike and Aliza, who let us come use their oven as long as we share the enchiladas, pizza, or whatever the specialty of the night is with them. 

That's about it for now.  

Refuge in the Desert

So my two weeks in Kakuma were amazing!  The camp is like nowhere else. They are 15 or so nationalities represented and even more ethnic groups. It was so great to go around and see all the areas where different cultures are represented.  The camp was started in 1992 so some of the same people have been there for 20 years.  Their stories are incredible. Some people can’t wait to go back to their country of origin, but some don’t even remember it and call Kenya home.  Lots are looking to be resettled to the US or Canada.  Emily and I happened to be in Kakuma over World Refugee Day which was such a cool experience.  The day was full of celebrations: dancing, singing, athletic events.  This was the first year apparently that the refugees took charge and ran the events. There were auditions and everything.  Basically every nationality got to put on at least one performance, so we got to get a taste of each culture. 

My time was spent doing a couple things. First, I was there to observe a focus group discussion training for moderators and observe some of the discussion sessions. This was very helpful in preparing for our own focus groups that Sanivation plans on conducting in Kakuma in the Fall.  It was also really fun to get to hang out with the moderators. These were all refugee youth who speak English but have very diverse backgrounds.  We spent lunch comparing cultural views on things like dowries and homosexuality.  A couple of them are being resettled and will already be in a university in Canada by the time Emily and I are back to conduct our groups. 

The second job I had while in Kakuma was just to go around and talk with people, holding sort of informal interviews with refugees about their sanitation experiences and concerns.  This was a bit harder than I would have liked.  I kept wanting to just wander through the streets of the camp and talk with people, but because of the language issue that would not have been the most productive. Plus I suppose there are securities concerns as well. So I had to find people willing to come with me and translate for me.  These were usually community health promoters who are refugees but also work for groups like IRC and NRC.  I loved getting to sit with the refugees, see their home and hear some about their lives, and yes their toilet.  It was a bit frustrating that upon seeing me, a white person and obviously aid worker, people would often just start listing all of their complaints: the roof is broken, we don’t have enough firewood, my husband is sick…The culture in a refugee camp is such that these people really are reliant on others for just about everything.  Some have some side jobs, but they hardly earn anything and there is actually a cap on how much you are allowed earn.  The system, because it is meant to be temporary actually makes it quite hard to be or become independent.  I enjoyed working with refugees (so far) more than I thought I might. It is a temporary situation, not long term governance and democracy issues that I love, but there is so much to be done. I’ve also been thinking about the word refuge.  The Bible talks about cities of refuge, mainly for people who have killed someone accidentally.  But is also talks more generally about taking care of foreigners, the oppressed and vulnerable.  Even if we make a mess of it sometimes, it’s pretty cool to step back and see how people from all over the globe will come together to help some kids from South Sudan, or women from Somalia, or a man from the Congo, who have become vulnerable. 

I got to see and experience a couple really cool things while in Kakuma.  I have been thinking a bunch about how I see or don’t see God here, and just praying I will be able to grow more and feel that God is present while I’m here.  I’ve been struggling with it, and just getting caught up in my role, things I need to accomplish, etc. So I had been praying about it and the next day I completely, randomly ran into an American missionary who is in Kakuma for a few weeks with a Kenyan friend.  We just talked about life and Kenya, and he prayed for me and encouraged me that God cares, he has compassion (looking at Mark 4). He especially prayed that I wouldn’t get bogged down by the harsh situations and needs.  I’m not usually one to think much of these little things, in fact I’m usually quite skeptical.  But I’ve been told many times, there’s no such thing as coincidence, and at I time when I was asking to see God and be encouraged, it came.  That’s pretty amazing. I think it also helped prepare me for the harsh realities I would see the next day, knowing that God does have compassion.

The next day I went out to visit families with children who have disabilities, many of them bedridden.  The reason is that we believe these families would be especially interested in having an in-home toilet, since getting to a latrine is so difficult. With the time that I have spent in developing countries, I’m sorry to say I am often accustomed or immune to poverty and hardship, but this finally did me in.  All of the families had stories, but one of them absolutely broke my heart. This mother has two sons, 8 and 9 years old, who have severe mental and physical disabilities leaving them bedridden all the time.  She also has 4 other children to care for.  The two boys were so malnourished I had to force myself not to cry or wince looking at them. I asked her about how she cares for them and about sanitation. All of the things that are problems but minor problems for other refugees, become major problems for her.  She doesn’t have enough water to be constantly cleaning them. She can’t work because she needs to be home with them…She obviously loves her family, but I could just see pain in her face. Then I asked if I could take her picture and she went off about how every NGO comes in and interviews her and wants a picture of her and her sons, but nothing ever gets done – nothing changes.  I kept having to remind her that I can’t promise that she will receive any new aid or services but that I would try my best to use the information she gave me to help her and other families in the camp.  It’s so hard to see a need like that and not be able to do anything. 

But I’ve very excited about this project. We just have to submit some materials for review and then wait.

So then last weekend, Emily and I went with some other friends to Aberdare National Park, which was sweet and has very different terrain than I’ve seen in Kenya; it is all green mountains with beautiful overlooks and waterfalls. We had hilarious car trouble as usual. Some times this meant us getting out so that it could make it up a hill and occasionally pushing.  The car adventures ended with a bus (that we had just passed) pulling over and everyone unloading to help us change a flat tire.  The actual park was great, and we got to see several elephants pretty close up. 

Now I’m back in Naivasha working with Nancy and Francis, who kept working while we were gone.  More on that later.