muzungu news
Hi from Migori, Kenya!This is Muzungu News, because here, I am a muzungu. In Kiswahili that means white person or foreigner. I have gotten used to walking through town here and having a crowd of small kenyan children emerging out of their houses yelling, "Muzungu! Muzungu!" until I come to shake their hand or wave at them. Sometimes they ask to have their picture taken, or shake our hands. They particularly think that the hair on my arms is funny, as is how soft and long my bright blond hair is. I wish that I could attach photos, but it's not possible.
Everything is wonderful here. I am well fed, as always, and not sick at all, thankfully. The flights and travel worked out well and I stayed my first night in Nairobi with Sherryl Broverman and the other students here, April Edwards, Claire Lauderbach, and Elise Dellinger. We drove the whole next day out to Muhuru Bay on Lake Victoria. Rose Odhiambo, the Kenyan professor that works with Sherryl, traveled with us.
We are staying at Rabwao Secondary School in Muhuru Bay. They built a house for us to stay in that is luxurious by Kenyan standards with three bedrooms, a couch, and extra lanterns. Of course, the muzungus get to have to lanterns in one room while 60 girls across the compound have one pressure lamp to study by for three hours. (Ridiculous) There is no electricity or running water here. The road to get from Migori to Muhuru that I rode this morning is a 45 kilometer dirt road. No wonder it is so rare to see a muzungu in Muhuru. They barely even see them in Migori! Just for a reference point, the Lake region of Kenya is very malarious, poor, and the center of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Kenya.
Here are some quick highlights of my trip- I have played football with the girls and boys here. I even got to wear a Rabwao uniform. My girls team won, but it took a little longer to earn respect with the boys. Now they call me Roaldino. We have begun to interview all of the girls in the school about their motivation and role models. We are trying to assess how to best help them improve their scores. No one from Rabwao has ever gone on to University. The girls have very different lives from us, very hard lives that they take in stride. They are always interested to talk to us about anything from how water works in America to birth control. I have made friends with amyn of the girls and had some great conversations. It takes a long time to learn the culture and customs, but we are still connecting. On Friday night and Saturday we joined the girls and boys seperately for church services. They sing so beautifully and we had an amazing time. I recorded some songs to bring home with me. We plan to learn a song in KiSwahili and perform it at the end of our time here. Pendo, our cook and housekeeper is an amazing woman of 20 with three children. she took April and I to the lake and to the market with her. She had to drop our of school because of pregnancy and now is trying to save up money for fees to get back into Form 4, or senior year. Sherryl and all the girls here are great and we have really been bonding. It's a slumber party every night. I finally saw the southern cross and a lot of other constellations that i can't see at home. That was particularly exciting for me.
I have an unbelievable number of stories already to tell all of you. I feel like i am learning at super speed. If possible, I am going to try to extend my stay so that i can experience even more of this awesome place. I will stop my rambling now. I miss you all! Please send me an email, I will try to respond. I do not know if I will come to town next week or not. We will see. Asante sana. Or thanks very much for reading in kiswahili. I would love to hear from you!
posted by Unknown @ 4:22 AM
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