Week One Down

Wow, what a week! I am so amazed that it was only last Friday that we left PEI. We have spent the week doing a home stay with a member of the Meru community becoming acquainted with the area and the people and communities that we will be working with for the rest of the summer. There are two main areas that we will be working in… Muchui and Ruuju. Both areas have very prominent women’s groups and we will be working with both these groups and a number of schools in the area focusing on family nutrition, infant feeding, and food security. We also visited a number of farms to observe the work that the women are doing. It has been a week of perspective to say the least. I often find myself marveling at the strength of the people in this country, especially the women. In only one week I have encountered so many kind, warm, and welcoming people who have very little.

The Kenyan landscape is incredibly varied and can change from dry savannah to lush tropics in the space of a 45-minute drive. We will be working in both types of climate and it is interesting to see the diversity of available crops.

I am becoming accustomed to the food and have found two new dishes that I will be brining home to Canada – “scooma” (a sautéed kale dish) and “mikimo” (a dish made with mashed potatoes and plantains). The fruit here actually tastes like fruit, and I have been living off of fresh mango, pineapple, and bananas.

We are currently spending the weekend at a game reserve called Sweetwater/Old Pejeta before we move into the hospital compound in Kirua for the remainder of the summer. As we speak I am sitting on the balcony of my “tent” and looking out at a watering hole currently occupied by some zebras. Last night we took our first of four drives and saw elephants, rhinos, giraffes, warthogs, jackals, impalas, gazelles, and water buffalo (the lions haven’t been seen for the last three days). This afternoon we are off to a chimpanzee sanctuary and continue the quest for the kitty cats! Keep your fingers crossed.

Banana trees dug deep into the
ground - this way you don't have
 to climb the tree to pick the
bananas!

School cookhouse

Ruuju Primary School

Ruuju Primary School

Ruuju Garden

Sweetwater Park Gate

A Family of Pumba's

Ed the Giraffe

Black Rhinos

Giraffes

Elephants

Going on a Lion Hunt!

Our "tent"

ON the Equator

Zebras and Impalas