What Would've Been

The Kenyan Presidential elections are right around the corner. With my possible evacuation on the heels of this event I can only reflect on my past 9 months in Kenya as the time when I lived in a Hobbit Hole. Today I slinked into the house that has been dangling in front of my face since August to snap some snaps. If I have to leave here suddenly I at least want some of the world out there to know that I could have lived like an American in Kenya. I just didn't. 

Disclaimer: I had no control over how it was painted. It looks like a hospital because it was built by a hospital. 

View from the back door into the living room. Look at that cute little kitchen window.

Looking in the living room from the other side of the room.

My bathroom vanity in the hallway. Yes that is a mirror and a sink with running water. 

Closets. There is one of these in each of the two bedrooms. It would've meant me not storing things in suitcases like a hobo anymore. 

Cute picture from my cute little kitchen window. 

My kitchen where I could have cooked and cut things on counters. 

Yes you see that correctly.

And electricity.

The best part. A FLUSHABLE latrine. 

The salt to the wounds. A hot shower. 

I've spent most of my time these last 7 months forgetting this place existed because it made living in the Hobbit Hole bearable.  I have to walk past it everyday just to go anywhere. Now it will simply haunt my dreams. 

Another List!

Peace Corps Kenya Is…

-Holding your laptop over your head to catch the signal so your page can load.
-Is never having clean feet. 
-Eating things off the ground even though you know you shouldn’t. I AM that starving kid in Africa. 
-When you consider a french braid your “fancy” hairstyle.
-Knowing that indoor plumbing is a blessing, not a right.
-Accepting that their will always be some urine on your shoes. --Hopefully it is at least your own. 
-Using the floor to cut, cook and eat your food on. 
-Becoming comfortable with all the smells your body creates. 
-Watching all the X-Men movies in one day. Yes, that includes “Wolverine” and “First Class”.
-Putting peanut butter on everything. Including your dirty hand. 

A Family of Wazungu

B: You will be here for a long time. Will you take a Kenyan husband?
Me: Well no. I would miss my family to much. It is a very far distance to stay away.
B: When you say "family" do you mean white people or your parents?
Me: I mean my parents. 

LIMA BEANS!!!

Alright kiddos and kiddettes time to buckle down for some reality.

SEEDS
They are in the Home Depot check out aisle, they are in that weird junk drawer at your parents house they are even in those nondescript bridal shower goodie bags. They are also really expensive here. In Africa. Did I mention Africa?

I'm working with a group of Community Health Workers (CHWs) who are also all volunteers and are also all working for little to no incentive. They simply work to help improve the health of their communities. After many meetings and some problem analysis we have identified one of the more troubling health issues here to be malnutrition. Though my area is extremely fertile and almost everyone is a subsistence farmer there is a lack of protein yielding crops. You can buy beans here yes, but when most survive on less than a dollar a day almost everyone just eats what is in their garden/fields, and there isn't any protein.

The CHWs have all agreed to donate portions of their own land to help start growing lima beans. Once we can establish a good harvest, we hope to be able to sell the seedlings and beans to the community so they may also start growing protein. Thus creating an Income Generating Activity (IGA) while simultaneously improving the health of the community. That is how we end up back at seeds. The CHWs have all contributed some funds for seeds, but unfortunately we are a bit short. I am donating a small contribution, but we need some extra to close the gap.

If you have an extra $5-$10 dollars laying around please email me at iwona.matczuk@gmail.com. I will be documenting the project here so you will be able to follow the progress first hand.

Thanks for reading, and now back to our previously scheduled silliness and ridiculous ramblings.