These are my grey hairs. The older ones keep inviting their friends to the party.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Well Wishes From Afar
Happy Birthday Sandy!
I'm not entirely sure why I don't have more recent pics. Sorry.
Tick Tock
Out of the 168 hours in a week I spend exactly half of those sleeping sweet sweet Meflaquin dreams. Out of the other 84 hours I spend about 28 of them working. That leaves me 56 hours each week to fill idle time with creative activities. One of my hours this week was spent calculating the amount of hours I spend doing things each week and then writing this blog post. Turd.
The other night I tried my hand at soap carving. I thought if I could get good enough then I could move on to wood. My attempted alligator turned out looking like a voodoo doll. I'm going to use the little bugger to wash the demons out of my clothes.
I have a leftover Dutch Vogue that I stole from first class when getting off the plane from New York to Switzerland. I might make some magazine beads with glue. Or write some ransom notes.
I have a bag of potatoes sitting in the corner of my "house" given to me by a neighbor. I could make an obscene amount of potato stamps. Or I could make obscene potato stamps.
I'm constantly getting attacked (falling into) stinging nettles. Someone once said you can make tea out of it. That seems like sweet enough revenge to me.
I'm trying to develop some kind of skill that serves as recreation also. Please let me know if any of you humans out there have suggestions. I will kindly try each one until it takes a turn for the worst.
P.S. Meflaquin is the malaria medication that I take that causes me to have incredibly psychedelic hallucination-like dreams.
The other night I tried my hand at soap carving. I thought if I could get good enough then I could move on to wood. My attempted alligator turned out looking like a voodoo doll. I'm going to use the little bugger to wash the demons out of my clothes.
I have a leftover Dutch Vogue that I stole from first class when getting off the plane from New York to Switzerland. I might make some magazine beads with glue. Or write some ransom notes.
I have a bag of potatoes sitting in the corner of my "house" given to me by a neighbor. I could make an obscene amount of potato stamps. Or I could make obscene potato stamps.
I'm constantly getting attacked (falling into) stinging nettles. Someone once said you can make tea out of it. That seems like sweet enough revenge to me.
I'm trying to develop some kind of skill that serves as recreation also. Please let me know if any of you humans out there have suggestions. I will kindly try each one until it takes a turn for the worst.
P.S. Meflaquin is the malaria medication that I take that causes me to have incredibly psychedelic hallucination-like dreams.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Be Gentle
If a Kenyan is talking on a microphone
He is going to talk for hours
If a Kenyan talks for hours
You will be sharing one chair with two other people
If you are sharing one chair with two other people
Someone is going to touch your hair
If a stranger touches your hair
All the children in the area will surrond you
If you are surrounded by 60 kids
You are going to have a mild anxiety attack
If you are having an anxiety attack
The children will ask you to sing for them
If you have to sing for the children
You will forget the words to "She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain" after two verses.
If you forget the words to your song
You will try and recover by shaking everyones' hand
If you shake everyone's hand
You will go home and scub them until they almost bleed
If your hands are almost bleeding
Then you will really know you are in Kenya
He is going to talk for hours
If a Kenyan talks for hours
You will be sharing one chair with two other people
If you are sharing one chair with two other people
Someone is going to touch your hair
If a stranger touches your hair
All the children in the area will surrond you
If you are surrounded by 60 kids
You are going to have a mild anxiety attack
If you are having an anxiety attack
The children will ask you to sing for them
If you have to sing for the children
You will forget the words to "She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain" after two verses.
If you forget the words to your song
You will try and recover by shaking everyones' hand
If you shake everyone's hand
You will go home and scub them until they almost bleed
If your hands are almost bleeding
Then you will really know you are in Kenya
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Well the thing about that is.....
People in Kenya are curious and want to know what it is like in America. They really have very few references to paint a picture for themselves. Most of the TV shows are Mexican and Phillipino soap opera imports (my fave is Eva Luna). Some only know the US by it's reputation as the land of self made men, where everyone is welcome, and Disneyland.
"People die with all their life's dreams only in their hearts" - Julia Wanjiro
Those of us who have left college in the last 8 years, own a home and have/had a career know that those realities are a little faded now. That previous reputation is one of my bigger obstacles. It is incredibly hard to try and explain the not so lustrous climate in America right now to a Kenyan.
USA: Student Loans interest rates are really high.
Kenya: Pay for education in full each term and therefore get bachelors degrees when they are 35+.
USA: We have gang violence.
Kenya: Have tribal violence that base from fissures during or before colonialism and are usually very deep and personal.
USA: Our politicians don't get along.
Kenya: Currently there are about 14-16 presidential candidates and each election year people loose their homes, livestock and family members over election results.
USA: The mortgage rate on a three bedroom home is really high so some have to rent.
Kenya: Own two room homes made from mud with the kitchen being outside (inside the living room if it is raining) and no one sleeps in their own bed.
USA: There are no jobs for University Graduates.
Kenya: There are no jobs for high school graduates and going to University is an option if you can get almost every extended family member to contribute a large sum to your education.
USA: Gas prices are really high.
Kenya: People walk 10km to the nearest health facility so they can get health care for their child because they have no car.
USA: Gas prices are really high.
Kenya: People walk 10km to the nearest health facility so they can get health care for their child because they have no car.
USA: Obesity is a national problem.
Kenya: Malnutrition is a national problem.
I'm not trying to diminish the actual severity of problems in the US, because I have experienced them and people close to me have also. Problems are still problems. I'm glad to be here and see first hand that no matter how bad things are they can always get worse. Even with all of the obstacles here, Kenyans are some of the happiest people I have ever met and each day I try and take another page from their book.
I'm not trying to diminish the actual severity of problems in the US, because I have experienced them and people close to me have also. Problems are still problems. I'm glad to be here and see first hand that no matter how bad things are they can always get worse. Even with all of the obstacles here, Kenyans are some of the happiest people I have ever met and each day I try and take another page from their book.
On the heels of the elections Kenyans are extremely proud to have Obama in the White House again. So am I. Even if our reality in America doesn't really reflect our reputation I am no dream crusher and continue to keep that dream alive here.
"People die with all their life's dreams only in their hearts" - Julia Wanjiro
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Carterland
Today this kid turned 1. And from the looks of it I think we can all agree so far he is living life correctly. Wish I could be there little man.
Crying is More Contagious Than Measles
This week we helped Obliterate Measles! or whatever crap campaign slogan the Kenyan government has attached to me walking 15kms a day in the rain and mud. The campaign started on Saturday morning and will continue until Wednesday. Thursday for me cause I'm so hard core. You wouldn't believe how many little Kenyan mouths I have stuck my fingers in. Not just for amusement, but to administer Vitamin A from a oil tablet.
Just a little preliminary info. Most children get measles. And most children can fight it off with their own natural immunity. However, here in Kenyan in the rural areas where undernourishment is an obvious problem. Imagine a six year old kid who is the physical size of a three year old. For those kids measles can be pretty deadly. There have been a few outbreaks so the Kenyan government is doing its duty by waging all out war on measles. This week I physically restrained kids on the ground, fell in the mud, explored/got lost in a bamboo forest, was attacked by safari ants, and touched so many dirty little hands and mouths. I loved every minute of it.
Set the scene.
Me (Volunteer) and Julie (Nurse [who I will force to be my new best friend]). One of 5 other similar teams in my area. We were assigned the Gituamba sub location area which is the largest and most densely populated.
Walk up towards the Nursery School.
All the laughing and yelling from the children gets suddenly quiet. They have heard about us and our injections.
We walk in and greet the kids.
Julie does a speech about how medicine is good and that we need them to be brave. And promises them a sweet after the injection. The sweet is just Vitamin A.
While she is doing that I start to reconstitute the vaccines and fill the .5ml syringes.
Then we spot a kid that looks like he/she won't cry. This is crucial because as soon as one kid starts crying the rest start crying. But if the first kid doesn't cry then the rest of the kids will try to be as brave as that first kid. We had one room of 44 kids, and not one of them cried (I'm not including the babies because as we all know you can't reason with a baby).
Then Julie lines them up and starts injecting them in the right arm.
After the kids receive their injections they come to me and get their "sweet" and I mark their left pinky finger with an iodine pen so that they won't get re-vaccinated on accident.
We always save the fighters for last. This involves usually dragging a kid from the corner of the room by picking them up, sitting them down and holding down their arms and legs while they scream bloody murder in our ear and cry. Then we cut open the Vitamin A tablet and squeeze the contents into their mouths hoping that they won't bite us.
We say thank you and leave to go to the next school.
The only way to get the word out about something like this is to physically tell people in person and then if that doesn't work to bring it to them.
Julie and I have vaccinated over 1000 kids and walked probably just as many kilometers in the sun, mud and rain.
Just a little preliminary info. Most children get measles. And most children can fight it off with their own natural immunity. However, here in Kenyan in the rural areas where undernourishment is an obvious problem. Imagine a six year old kid who is the physical size of a three year old. For those kids measles can be pretty deadly. There have been a few outbreaks so the Kenyan government is doing its duty by waging all out war on measles. This week I physically restrained kids on the ground, fell in the mud, explored/got lost in a bamboo forest, was attacked by safari ants, and touched so many dirty little hands and mouths. I loved every minute of it.
Set the scene.
Me (Volunteer) and Julie (Nurse [who I will force to be my new best friend]). One of 5 other similar teams in my area. We were assigned the Gituamba sub location area which is the largest and most densely populated.
Walk up towards the Nursery School.
All the laughing and yelling from the children gets suddenly quiet. They have heard about us and our injections.
We walk in and greet the kids.
Julie does a speech about how medicine is good and that we need them to be brave. And promises them a sweet after the injection. The sweet is just Vitamin A.
While she is doing that I start to reconstitute the vaccines and fill the .5ml syringes.
Then we spot a kid that looks like he/she won't cry. This is crucial because as soon as one kid starts crying the rest start crying. But if the first kid doesn't cry then the rest of the kids will try to be as brave as that first kid. We had one room of 44 kids, and not one of them cried (I'm not including the babies because as we all know you can't reason with a baby).
Then Julie lines them up and starts injecting them in the right arm.
After the kids receive their injections they come to me and get their "sweet" and I mark their left pinky finger with an iodine pen so that they won't get re-vaccinated on accident.
We always save the fighters for last. This involves usually dragging a kid from the corner of the room by picking them up, sitting them down and holding down their arms and legs while they scream bloody murder in our ear and cry. Then we cut open the Vitamin A tablet and squeeze the contents into their mouths hoping that they won't bite us.
We say thank you and leave to go to the next school.
Julie and I have vaccinated over 1000 kids and walked probably just as many kilometers in the sun, mud and rain.
Unsuspecting kids found on the road. "Hey kid! Where is your mom? Go get her."
Just one of the many beautiful roads we walked through to cover ground with the vaccine.
This was today. Even though the campaign is over we still went out because we had extra vaccines and we missed a few pockets in the area.
Those syringes are the used ones.
This one is for Phillip Panici and his closet Facebook habit.
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