Big Brother
I've decided that I'm going to start naming posts after matatus, because some of them are so fun! Big Brother is one that I saw on the way into Nairobi this morning.
All this past week we've been on future site visit, which is a fancy way of saying that after finding out where we're going to be living for the next 2 years, we go and see it for a week. The day of site announcement was cold and rainy, which is bizarre in Kitui. I ended up being placed just outside of a city called Meru. It's right next to the second tallest mountain in Africa, so you can't miss it! My little village is actually called Kaaga. I'll be working with an NGO called Shalem community Educators, and while I wasn't so excited about being placed so close to a city, I am totally excited about this organization and the work I'll be doing. I'll be working with at least 2 women's groups, and most of these women are grandmothers who are caring for their grandkids who have been orphaned, mostly by AIDS. There seems to be a huge AIDS orphan problem in Meru, so at least I feel that tehre is a need for me to be there. There is one group that meets at the office in Kaaga, and they are about to start an income-generating activity involving dairy goats, and the goats will be living right outside the office, so while I may not have many chicken stories for you, I'm sure that I'll have loads of goat stories to entertain you all with!
I will probably have running H2O and electricity, but these are by no means regular or reliable in Africa, so there you go. I have gotten so used to living w/o, so it seems a bit strange and wrong to have these things, but I'm not dumb enough to turn them down! In addition to my women's groups, we're going to be running life skills and HIV/AIDS workshops for kids in the area (mostly young girls, but boys too).
So I'm in Nairobi till Sunday, when I go back to Kitui to finish up training, only 3 or so weeks to go! I'm looking forward to a nice dinner tonight, some bad television, and maybe a movie tomorrow! My life is a crazy one, I know.
I can't remember most of the things I wanted to write here! This is bad, I should start writing drafts so I don't leave anything out! Let's see... I guess I should tell you all more about Meru itself! You've all seen the tourist brochure pics of savannah, the masai mara, etc? Well, I'm not anywhere near that. Where I am is lush, lush, lush. Almost anything grows here, and there are tons of coffee and tea plantations, banana trees everywhere, and it is just mountainous and green, with this deep red clay dirt contrasting with the green.
One of my friends from my group got placed just south of Meru, about an hour by matatu. The cool thing is that I will be living in the northern hemisphere, and she is in the south. Just in the past week, I've passed the equator twice!
I'll try to get access to internet tomorrow before heading out to the wilds of Kitui, so I can give you more info about the area, and stuff....
Take care of yourselves!
All this past week we've been on future site visit, which is a fancy way of saying that after finding out where we're going to be living for the next 2 years, we go and see it for a week. The day of site announcement was cold and rainy, which is bizarre in Kitui. I ended up being placed just outside of a city called Meru. It's right next to the second tallest mountain in Africa, so you can't miss it! My little village is actually called Kaaga. I'll be working with an NGO called Shalem community Educators, and while I wasn't so excited about being placed so close to a city, I am totally excited about this organization and the work I'll be doing. I'll be working with at least 2 women's groups, and most of these women are grandmothers who are caring for their grandkids who have been orphaned, mostly by AIDS. There seems to be a huge AIDS orphan problem in Meru, so at least I feel that tehre is a need for me to be there. There is one group that meets at the office in Kaaga, and they are about to start an income-generating activity involving dairy goats, and the goats will be living right outside the office, so while I may not have many chicken stories for you, I'm sure that I'll have loads of goat stories to entertain you all with!
I will probably have running H2O and electricity, but these are by no means regular or reliable in Africa, so there you go. I have gotten so used to living w/o, so it seems a bit strange and wrong to have these things, but I'm not dumb enough to turn them down! In addition to my women's groups, we're going to be running life skills and HIV/AIDS workshops for kids in the area (mostly young girls, but boys too).
So I'm in Nairobi till Sunday, when I go back to Kitui to finish up training, only 3 or so weeks to go! I'm looking forward to a nice dinner tonight, some bad television, and maybe a movie tomorrow! My life is a crazy one, I know.
I can't remember most of the things I wanted to write here! This is bad, I should start writing drafts so I don't leave anything out! Let's see... I guess I should tell you all more about Meru itself! You've all seen the tourist brochure pics of savannah, the masai mara, etc? Well, I'm not anywhere near that. Where I am is lush, lush, lush. Almost anything grows here, and there are tons of coffee and tea plantations, banana trees everywhere, and it is just mountainous and green, with this deep red clay dirt contrasting with the green.
One of my friends from my group got placed just south of Meru, about an hour by matatu. The cool thing is that I will be living in the northern hemisphere, and she is in the south. Just in the past week, I've passed the equator twice!
I'll try to get access to internet tomorrow before heading out to the wilds of Kitui, so I can give you more info about the area, and stuff....
Take care of yourselves!
posted by Erin @ 12:03 PM
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