Dad has arrived!

I am happy to report that my dad has finally arrived in Kenya after much anticipation. He arrived late last night, instead of yesterday morning, because of some delays in Chicago made him miss all his subsequent flights. Being the seasoned traveler that he is, he managed to get them to reroute him all the way to Nairobi. The glitch (of course there was a glitch) was that he had a layover in South Africa. If you know your african geography then you'll see that it's a little out of the way. Like, across the continent out of the way. It put him about 12 hours behind schedule, but he arrived in one piece. After a white-knuckled drive from the airport (nothing particular happened, that's just how all driving is here) we arrived safe and sound in Maseno.

We've spent the better part of his first day at the St. Philip's apiary (that's where Steven's beehives are) and later that day they officiated over the first Maseno beekeepers association meeting :)

Dad has already made fast friends with Owen, our favorite 3-year old
:) Dad obviously doesn't speak much swahili, but owen doesn't seem to
mind a carried on a whole conversation with us today when he joined us
for lunch. Dad played the "kill the spider that is my hand" game, and
that transends all languages.

He came to my HIV support group meeting today and the ladies loved him. He made many of them very happy when he presented them with reading glasses. Now they won't have to hold their beading 3 feet from their faces when they're making their crafts :)

As soon as I can get to a faster computer I will post some pictures for you all to enjoy. I have been documenting on camera or film, every even remotely interesting thing that happens while my dad is here, as promised to my mom :)

jessie

Nursing students and new shoes

I apologize for the lapse in my writing. As they say in Kenya, I have been lost. But now I am found and I will update you all on my recent escapades. For the last 2 weeks I have been the host and cultural guide for two different groups of nursing students and instructors from NY.

Despite all the craziness that comes with getting a group of 10+ people to do anything together and on time, I absolutely loved getting to show off my little corner of Kenya. For many of the girls it was their first time out of the US. Traveling to Africa isn’t exactly the smoothest transition to international travel, but they handled it well and I was continually impressed.
After the 2 week whirlwind, Steven and I were invited to accompany them on a safari to the Maasai Mara, which was absolutely fantastic. The lodge we stayed in was sinfully luxurious and the food was better than anything I’ve ever had in america. Issac, our faithful guide, was superb, and got us within spitting distance of lions, hippos, giraffe, water buffalo, zebras, and elephants. Did you know that no two zebra’s stripes are the same?? Their uniqueness is equaled only by the snowflake.
We decided to stay in Nairobi for the next day since it was our anniversary. Yup-the big 04. Steven took me to the giraffe center and the elephant orphanage. It’s not every day you get to spend your anniversary petting baby elephants and feeding giraffes. Did you know that giraffes have 18-inch gray tongues that I would argue have the dexterity of the human hand?
Being cheap people who tend to overestimate their own physical abilities, we decided to forgo the taxi and walk from our hostel to our two activities for the day since they were in the same area of town. One hour later we arrived at the Elephant orphanage sweaty, dusty, and blistered (I insisted on wearing flip-flops with my new skirt instead of hiking sandals). Thankfully we met a wonderful woman named Donna, who took pity on us and let us hitch a ride with her for a good portion of the afternoon since she was also going to see the giraffes. She even took us to a wonderful restaurant for lunch, which was definitely better than the granola bars and beef jerky we had planned on :) Another great anniversary for the books!

We’re now back in Maseno busy as little bees. I got to see my little darlings at the Phoebe House again today, which always strengthens my spirit. I was feeling a little disheartened in regards to the phoebe house because I just can’t seem to get things started and moving. They need to move into a different location because the one they’re in right now doesn’t have a legitimate kitchen, they have no land to grow their own veggies, and there is literally no place for the kids to play or even do school work. Hopefully we'll find something soon. We've just taken 2 more kids, so our total is up to 4 adults, and 10 kids. This picture is of Brain, 6, being very generous with his high 5's. The visiting nursing group brought them all a few new outfits and a pair of shoes. Naomi was so cute with her little pink sandals on. She just stood still and stared at her feet. Apparently this was her first pair of shoes (she's 3 years old) and I think she wasn't sure how to walk in them. This little one is Arnold, a relatively new inhabitant of the Phoebe House. He is 3 years old, has a healthy appetite, and his prefered outfit is a t-shirt, tiny tennis shoes, and nada else. Undies are overrated in his book.
That's all for now. The official countdown is down to less than a month until my dad gets here! Yeah! One of our friends have offered to slaughter a goat for his arrival :)

Jessie

Jessie

Avacados and Earth Tones

Yikes, it's been awhile since I've updated this blog. My apologies. Life has been busy here getting ready for visitors. First a group of nursing students are coming from NY in about a week, the next is my Dad coming in July!! When I do have a spare minute and want to have a little art therapy I have been plugging away at the mural in the pediatrics ward.
The Phoebe House is truckin' along. Every time I stop by there are new women and children there it seems. The youngest is a little girl named Naomi, who eyes are the size of saucers. Adorable. She has taken a particular fancy to Steven, and him to her. I wouldn't be surprised if we arrived home and found her in our suitcase :)
I brought some pills over the other day to treat them all for worms and was amazed at how each of the little ones just popped that bitter pill in their mouth and didn't complain a bit. They didn't even take it with water. I was a little less impressed when I later noticed some slimy pink tablets hidden under and sticking to Brian's feet (he's 4). I pointed to the tablets and made the "tst-tst-tst" noise-the kenyan sound for disapproval. He just started grinning sheepishly for being caught in the act, and he let me redose him without much of a fight. What can I say, he's adorable-so all's forgiven.
Since I've strategically gotten word out that I love avocados, I've been getting them by the bag full from friends who have them growing in their yards and falling on their heads. To combat this influx of quickly ripening cados, I made a batch of guacamole today that fit into a good sized punch bowl. You can never have too much of a good thing, right?
We are also busy getting the Mother's Union shop well stocked for the big group of visitors coming soon. I have been drawing up some design modification for the ladies to make some things more appealing to Americans. They make the most beautiful and well made baskets and such, but I'm trying to impress upon them a variety of colors and also some neutral tones, as hot pink and teal don't do in many American homes. They seemed perplexed by the terms "neutral" or "earth tones" until one of the women realized what we wanted and I heard the words "American" and "dull colors" in her explanation. To explain her point she pointed to mine and Steven's wardrobe for the day. We both happened to be wearing brown and khaki (I swear we do wear other colors). They all smiled and shook their heads in understanding.
That's all for now. Sorry there's no pictures, it sounds like this computer may blow up if I try one more time to upload an image.

jessie

Hive Drive

In 2003 Thomas Okore and his wife started a support group for widows and other disadvantaged people. In 2005 Thomas’ wife tragically passed away due to complications in child birth leaving him a single dad with five children to take care of. Since that time he has continued to lead Amen Widows and Orphans Group (AWOG) in between working, attending seminary school, and taking care of his kids. The main function of the group is mutual encouragement, although they do occasionally manage to pay school fees for orphans that are being looked after by group members. About a month ago Thomas and I began discussing the prospect of his group beginning a small-scale commercial beekeeping business. Our idea was to start with 20 hives and then re-invest a portion of the proceeds to purchase additional hives. The remaining money raised through the sale of honey would allow the group to have a much more tangible impact in the lives of its members.

One of the group members has some land that would be ideal for beekeeping. Between me and Jess’ dad (coming in July) they will have plenty of knowledge about business and beekeeping. The one thing they lack is the money needed to buy the hives and equipment. One beehive costs $55 which means 20 hives would cost $1100 – far more money than the group can come up with. However, if I can find 20 people back home to each purchase 1 hive we could have a lasting impact on the lives of the group members. In fact, the average beekeeping business of this size in Kenya earns $3600-$4800 per year. That’s a lot of money in a country where the average income is $900 per year. Anyone interested in partnering with us can either comment on this post or e-mail me at steventhomsen266@hotmail.com. If you’d like to help but can’t afford $55 we will also need 2 beesuits and a smoker.

Honey Harvest...kind of

We made our first attempt at harvesting last night and it was one of the most stressful things I've ever done. From the moment we opened our first hive until we decided to call it quits 2 hours later we were swarmed with hundreds of angry bees trying desperately to kill us. At one point I was having difficulty seeing because there were so many on my veil. In that 2 hour span we inspected and cleaned only 2 1/2 hives and retrieved NO honey. I wasn't terribly surprised by this because of the sad state of our hives. I'll be thrilled to get ANY honey from this harvest. My main goal is to get the hives cleaned up and put back together like they should be - a simple task if empty, rather difficult if filled with thousands of African bees. Once we get the hives back in working order the bees can get down to business and start making honey. As excited as I am for this to happen, I'm not in a great hurry to get back out there and do battle with those little demons.

Easter Sunday

Happy belated Easter everyone! We have enjoyed our first holiday in a different country. I began my day with rounding in the hospital as usual. And as always, pediatrics is my favorite ward :) The children are getting used to this strange mzungu (white person) who sometimes comes to listen to their lungs and sometimes comes to paint on the walls (and always squeezes their chubby cheeks).
After Hubert and I finished rounding we all went to church, where the sermon was in English, much to our relief. The hymns are still in Swahili though, which I kind of like. I've gotten a Swahili songbook so I can at least move my lips generally in the right direction :)
After church we went to visit our friend Alex, who lives on the mountain behind us. When he said he lives at the top.....he wasn't kidding. It was a rather grueling hike in a skirt ( I didn't want to take off my new Easter kanga yet), but the view was definitely worth it. We got to meet his wife and daughter who were home visiting that weekend. Since jobs can be very difficult to find here, especially ones that routinely get paid, so it is pretty common for a husband and wife to live in different cities simply because that's where they can find a job. That said, Alex's wife Rhoda, who is also a nurse, works at a government hospital and hasn't gotten paid in 8 months.
As for the Phoebe House, things are still going pretty smoothly. My dad (Stephen Jeter) raised $450 dollars at his school for the house, and they are thrilled. They are currently spending 500 shillings each day to buy water and have it carried in(they are too weak to do it themselves). That adds up to 15,000 shillings a month, which is almost double the cost of rent. So for 8,000 shillings, we are getting a water tank and a gutter system put in so they can use rain water. That will save them so much money! $450 is about 30,000 shillings, so we will be going into Kisumu tomorrow to investigate some small business ideas that the Phoebe house may be able to manage.
Not much else to report. I have a acquired a boyfriend (according to his mother) who is 8 months old and is absolutely adorable. In her patchy English his mom told me that he usually won't interact with any strangers, but he seems to have fallen in love with me. I guess that gives Steven a little competition. Good to keep him on his toes, I suppose :)

Going to see the bees

One minute I'm (Steven) walking down the road to visit my honeybees and the next I'm in the hospital cutting the cloths off a patient. What a curious turn of events - especially since I'm not a medical person . As I walked the rocky dirt road between the hospital and the beehives I came upon an emaciated man lying on the side of the road. As I approached I realized his pants were down and he was soaking wet from the heavy rains we had received all morning. I came around to his front and saw an open gash on his forehead about 2 or 3 inches in length. A sense of dread came over me as I realized he was not moving and that he may not be alive. I looked closer and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw his chest move up and down ever so slightly. I began asking the frequent passers by if they knew him or knew what had happened or if anyone had called for help. A security guard said he had most likely been dumped there at about 7:30 that morning - it was now 9:30. Fortunately I live with 4 medical people and had all there numbers in my phone because the idea of 911 emergency response is laughable here. As I was calling them a police truck drove by that I flagged down. I pointed to the man laying in the road and they slowly got out of their truck and sauntered over to the man. They somewhat reluctantly agreed to help me pick him up and put him in the back of the truck and take him to the hospital. As we moved him he began to wake up and groan in pain, although he was not coherent at this point. We got him to the hospital, lifted him onto a stretcher and took him inside. The man was so tense that we could not get his shirt off for an exam. As the medical staff struggled to remove the shirt he moaned in pain so I decided to cut it off of him rather than cause him such pain.

I wish I could say the hospital nursed him back to health and now he's fine, but unfortunately the man turned out to be a schizophrenic which in this country means he's doomed to wander the streets and will never get better. All we can do is focus on the ones whose lives we can change.