rjm update

his last email

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Hamjambo tena! Greetings again!

Yes, I am still in Kenya, but you might hardly know that because I've done such a lousy job of keeping in touch. For that, all I can say is - pole sana - very sorry.

So much has happened in the last six months. I went to Lamu, an island on the north coast, to celebrate the new year. Despite flooded train tracks and sleeping at a gas station on the way there, it was worth all the trouble. The island is gorgeous, and the local population is so friendly and laid-back. Upon return, I spent most of January and February at home, which was nice for getting the ball rolling a little faster with work stuff. I returned to the coast for a week in late February for a Peace Corps training, lodging in cottages on the beach! I got to meet many other volunteers and explore Mombasa, maybe my new favorite city. In late March, I went whitewater rafting on the Nile in Jinja, Uganda. That was a crazy experience, and it was great to see more of East Africa. In mid-April I returned to Kitui, where training was last year, for a brief seminar. I returned to my homestay village to see Mama and Baba Katana. Baba is running for the chief's council - his campaign poster asks that you "cogitate about him." My host sister Mary moved to Kitui town, and her daughter Virginia, born the day I entered Kenya, can walk now! She's also scared of me and my white skin now. The month since I have been back here at home.

The "work" side of things is going well. With BUMWE, we have had some major challenges with our passion fruit plot (a fungus and virus). Some people from the Kenya Agriculture Research Institute came for a two-day seminar in February, and agreed to assist the group with regeneration of the plants in the form on fertilizers and pesticides. Our fingers are crossed. In the meantime, group members are making "Tuko Pamoja" ("we are together" in Swahili) AIDS awareness pins, for selling locally and abroad. I have also been busy teaching various women's groups, self-help groups, and community-based organizations about hygiene, malaria, and HIV. I really enjoy this; the lessons are usually interactive and fun, and I rarely leave without a few avocados or bananas. I am... consulting (the seems to be the only word that fits) with a group in Nkubu town on a clay-works income-generating project. My goal for this trimester is to get more involved with the schools. That starts tomorrow, when the 6th graders at a local primary school are handed over to me for the afternoon.

Otherwise, still plenty of free time. This season my garden has carrots, cilantro, zucchini, romaine lettuce, an aloe vera plant, and a pineapple plant. I've also picked out the weirdest-looking ornamental plants I could find to put around the house. The house has been painted - blue with yellow doors and windows. Yesterday I completed digging on a small (8' diameter, 3.5' deep) fish pond behind my house. Now I just have to figure out how to get it ready for fish; I am meeting with the fisheries department today. I want to put catfish and talapia in. I hope to use the pond as a demo for villagers looking to do the same thing, but I also really can't wait to eat some fish! I bought a guitar in March and have been teaching myself to play - such a great way to pass the time. I've done a little camping here around Mount Kenya. And I still chew through any books that come my way pretty quickly, and I still ride my bike everywhere I go (when it's dry).

At the end of this month, I'll have been in Kenya one year, which I can hardly believe. Looking back, it really has been one of the best times of my life, and I'm really happy with the decision to do Peace Corps. No big plans/trips coming up, until my sister's wedding in Dallas in July, which I'm very excited about. I'll probably see some of you at that time. Thanks for the letters and packages - getting mail really does make me quite giddy. I hope you all are doing well, please drop me a line, by email or post, and let me know.

Enda salama,
Go well,
Rob


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makes me feel like a turd for not volunteering, at all. anywhere.

but good on rjm!