Good Week (minus the internet!)

It’s been almost a week since I last wrote - not for any reason other than that the internet has been incredibly slow, if available at all. I did not realize how much I value being able to check my emails (and that’s all I do… I don’t even bother with the news, or the weather, or anything else anymore - it is near impossible to access). It is my only connection to my life outside of here and I find it so frustrating to not have that luxury - which is what it has become.

The week however was great despite the lack of internet.

Monday saw us at one of the local primary schools. We were trying to determine what is being taught in their curriculum in terms of nutrition. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that nutrition is part of their science curriculum and not the health curriculum and therefore actually does get taught to the students. In Canada as it is part of the health curriculum it often gets pushed aside for other ‘more important’ subjects such as math, writing, and science.

On Wednesday and Thursday we conducted two “Champs” sessions with the Muchui women’s group and had a blast. Again, lots of cooking, lots of laughing, and lots of eating (lots of hard work too – mashing a huge pot of mokimo with a wooden spoon in the hot sun definitely resulted in some sweating). It was interesting to watch the women, as this group was much more interactive than the Ruuju group. They were asking many questions about the specifics of the ingredients and the methods of preparation. There was some lively discussion over whether it was ok to leave the skins of the ‘irish potatoes’ on when they boil them. They always peel the skins and we want them to leave them on for the nutrients. One thing that I have noticed is that they are very receptive to new information, and they love learning. Wish people felt the same about nutrition back home…

We also conducted a number of our food security/diet diversity home visits and for the first time we had a woman tell that us it was very difficult for her to answer these questions. She was fairly well off (by rural Kenyan standards), but admitted that all of their money was going to pay for the children’s school fees and that often meant less food on their table. We take so many things for granted in Canada.

Friday we helped the nurses conduct a women’s clinic with the Ruuju women. There were about 50 women that came and they had their height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, pulse, oxygen levels, and blood glucose measured. It was quite interesting to see some of the differences… there were a few with worryingly high blood pressure (but getting to a doctor is not an option due to lack of transportation), and all of them have higher blood glucose levels than Caucasians due to their ethnicity (predisposition) and diet (in Canada averages are between 4 and 7, whereas here they are between 7 and 11).

After the women’s clinic we headed back to ‘Mama Jen’s’ house for a sleepover– she is the lady that we stayed with when we first arrived here. She taught us how to make chappatis from scratch and we had a great time chatting over dinner. It was nice to not be locked in the compound for a night! We are off to church with her today, which should be an experience… Church is a very important part of life here and can often take several hours on a Sunday – I’ll keep you posted.

I have managed to download 8 pictures from the week - mostly the Champs sessions and from the primary school. 

Emily and Doris cooking chapatis over a traditional wood stove - the picture is cloudy due to the smoke from the fire in the room

Muchui women chatting over chapatis

A traditional 'kitchen' stove - very energy inefficient and smoky due to the lack of ventilation. There are many respiratory problems with women and children here because of this.

Rael with her new kitchen stove. Very energy efficient - it requires only two logs to burn and it is ventilated as well. Rael is a very wealthy Kenyan woman and this cost her about $40 Canadian to install. This is not an option for most women here.

Cutting boards? Never heard of them.
Samantha and I peeling potatoes

Emily and I mashing the mokimo. Definitely worked up a sweat doing that!

Class rules at Kinyinjere primary school - Canadians children could learn a thing or two from these!

A typical staff room - teachers marking workbooks.