Library Project Update

In spite of Paul and I leaving Kenya rather unexpectedly (OK! We were thrown out!), the library project was a success thanks to all of your generous donations. We hoped to collect $1500 but with your help, we raised more than twice that amount. That means that the Kenyan staff will be able to fill the library with all new, culturally relevant books, maps and other materials. They may even have enough to start a smaller version at the orphanage, the Ongoro Children’s Home.

The Lalmba Matoso Library is the only library in the entire region and an important source of educational materials for the local students. Education doesn’t guarantee a Kenyan a successful future but it does give them a big boost. Perhaps more importantly, the library will open up a whole new world to those children in the surrounding villages whose families are unable to afford school fees. In addition to books written in their mother tongue of Luo and by African authors from across the continent, they’ll be exposed to works that will bring the whole world to their village. In the coming months, the Director of Education, John Chacha will go to Kisumu to order books and when they arrive we’ll ask our successor to take photos of the new and improved library for all to see.

The past year has been an amazing, challenging, frustrating, eye opening and joyful experience. We were privileged to spend 9 months working with our Kenyan colleagues and caring for their Luo patients. We not only learned so much about health care needs in Africa but also saw first hand the interconnectedness of our lives. Looking back at our country from that distance also gave us new appreciation for the freedoms that we enjoy but often take for granted. We appreciate our free and fair election process and our society’s ability to continually evolve to meet the challenges of our world. We appreciate our country’s history of embracing people from diverse cultures who have the freedom to create new lives for themselves and their families.

We thank you all for your interest in our journey and your love and support throughout the year. We are so grateful for all the packages and emails filled with treats and news and love. We give special thanks to my siblings Francesca, Karen and Jim and their families for welcoming us into their homes during the past 7 weeks while we were waiting to move back into our Denver bungalow. The vagabond life of living out of a suitcase could have been unsettling and frustrating but you made it feel like a prolonged vacation. It is indeed good to be home.

Peace and love

Darcie and Paul

Confessions of an illegal alien

By now, most of our faithful readers know that Paul and I are back in the US but to those who don't and have been worried about us, I apologize. Let me fill you all in on the interesting events of the past 2 months.
In late November, Lalmba founders Hugh and Marty and their new executive director Carrole were preparing to leave Kenya following a productive 3 week visit. They approved our proposal to add a pediatric HIV program to the PSC and we were excited to get started. But, after spending 9 months in the bush, Paul and I decided to take a short vacation and get re-energized for our final 3 months in Kenya.

Our friend Maggie Tidwell is executive director of Bead for Life (www.beadforlife.org), a wonderful organization that works to lift Ugandan women out of poverty. She lives in Kampala, Uganda and had given us an open invitation to visit (her amazing blog can be found at : www.ugandandays.blogspot.com. Maggie was the founder of Colfax Community Network which provides all kinds of needed services to homeless and poor working families who live along the Colfax corridor in the Denver metro area. We had collaborated on a project to provide health care to these families by bringing the Stout Street Clinic's mobile clinic along on outreach with her team every Tuesday for 5+ years. Maggie joined BFL in May 2008 and has already done amazing work for that organization. We were anxious to see her and her projects and this seemed like an ideal time to visit.

On November 20th we rode along to Kisumu with the Hugh, Marty and Carrole. They were flying to Nairobi the same evening on the first leg of their journey back to the US. After running many errands, shopping at an outdoor artist market and having a goodbye lunch, we bid them farewell with plans to see them back in Denver in early March.

On Friday morning, November 21st we took a matatu to the Ugandan border. A matatu is a van with seats for about 12 but carrying 17. The trip to the border town of Busia took about 2 1/2 hours and cost 400 shillings each (about $5.30). We stood in line to get our exit visa from Kenya and entry visa for Uganda. I handed the cards and passports to the immigration agent who inspected them and then waved us out of the line. We were taken into an office and accused being in Kenya illegally. We were told that the one year visa which we applied and paid for in February 2008 needed to be renewed after 6 months. Since we'd been in the bush we hadn't had a need to use our passports until that day. We never looked at the expiration date.

A very angry and aggressive immigration agent questioned what we had been doing in Kenya for 9 months. I answered honestly about our volunteer work for Lalmba and he said "if you say that to me again I'll have to arrest you for working without a work visa". We stressed the volunteer nature of our work which he said didn't matter. It was still work and we should know their laws if we were going to be in their country. He then confiscated our passports and told us we were being taken into custody, transported back to Kisumu to meet with Immigration.

In Kisumu we had charges brought against us for being in the country illegally and for working without a work visa. We went before a magistrate, found guilty of the first charge, fined 20,000 shillings each and ordered deported. Nothing we said made a difference. We were given the choice of paying the 40,000 sh immediately or being jailed for 30 days. We only had enough money on us to pay one fine but luckily the Lalmba Project Director, Marico, arrived in time to pay the second fine. The police threatened to jail us until we could be deported but Marico was able to get us released on a personal 400,000 sh bond with a bribe of 3000 sh. What a long, crazy and at times frightening day.

We drove back to Matoso the following day, arriving in the late afternoon. We had one evening to pack, tie up some loose ends, write notes to various staff regarding projects and try to say goodbye to as many people as possible. As staff learned of our situation they began to come by to see us. They were all saddened by the way we had been treated and by our impending departure. At that point Paul and I still hoped to be able to delay our deportation for 3 months or to get help from the US embassy that might reverse our situation. The worse case scenario we thought was to have to fly to the US, get another visa and then turn around and fly back. We never really thought we wouldn't be back.

We packed our most important belongings but left a lot behind including clothes, personal supplies, and Paul's Ovation guitar. Our departure from the compound was a very sad one. We didn't know what the coming days would hold or how soon we could return. We were disappointed to have missed the opportunity to visit Maggie and to get started on the pediatric HIV program. As it turned out, it would be our last look at Matoso for a very long time.

On Sunday we drove back to Kisumu with Marico (a 5 hour drive over rutted, bumpy roads) and were turned over to Immigration at 8 AM Monday morning. We were driven to Nairobi in a government vehicle, accompanied by a guard and 3 other immigration officials (or ride-alongs... we were never really sure). We asked where we would stay in Nairobi and were assured that there was a place for us to stay while they made our travel arrangements. Arriving at 9 PM, after business offices were closed we were turned over to the Immigration office at the airport.

We were questioned about our travel arrangements and when we said we had been told they were making arrangements, they became angry and threatened to throw us in jail for 2 or more weeks until their government got around to it. In fact, they said, we were going to jail anyway, and it was up to us how long we stayed there.

Paul was taken to the men's cell where 9 African men were already being held. I was put in the adjacent women's cell. Paul was on the phone trying to make flights plans with Carrole but as soon as they got us onto a morning flight to Cairo, the immigration officers told us we weren't authorized to leave yet. This was a pattern throughout our interaction with Kenyan immigration. We were given erroneous information and kept in the dark for much of the time.
The concrete cells had metal doors with small peep holes in them. No sleep, no food, just bright lights and lots of noise. In the middle of the night 15 men from Ethiopia were added to Paul's cell. There were 6 men on one bunk, sleeping like spoons and rotating in tandem. Paul found that if he crawled onto the upper bunk he could look into my cell and give me updates on how many men were in his cell, where they were from and how long they were there. One man had been in their custody for 2 months. If we had waited for them to make arrangements we would most likely still be there.

The following day we finally got approval to book our flights. Paul got us on a midnight flight to London and after a 7 hour layover we got onto a direct flight to Denver. Due to the 10 hour time difference, we arrived there on Wednesday, the night before Thanksgiving.

We had been in contact with my sister Francesca who notified our families. As we made our way through customs we were welcomed home by Francesca, Ed and daughter Katie, Karen and Todd, and the entire Roseto family- Jim, Julie and their 4 kids Sophie, Chloe, Isabelle and Phil. It was an emotional welcome for us and just what our hearts and souls needed the most. It was the night before Thanksgiving and we were home with our family again. What an unexpected gift and blessing it was.

After a hot shower, a slice of pizza, and a good night's sleep we were almost feeling normal again. After the holiday Carrole at Lalmba worked with someone in Washington DC to hand deliver our request for a new visa. In the end, we weren't able to get another visa in time to return. We wish more than anything we had been able to finish our year there so we could help the Kenyans initiate the Peds HIV program, complete some of our other projects and say a proper goodbye to our friends and colleagues.

It's January28, 2009 and we've been back now for 8+ weeks. We're slowly moving back into our "normal" lives while trying to hang onto the wonderful lessons of Africa. People have asked us if we'd ever go back and my answer is an unqualified yes. (the first time I said we would, Paul looked at me and asked jokingly "who's this we you're talking about?)

The 9 months we spent in Africa were some of the best times of our lives. We worked as a cohesive team, accomplishing a lot and keeping each other good company. We learned so much about tropical diseases, the Luo culture, local customs and foods, living in the bush, being an ex-pat in Africa and so much more. When I look back at our photos I feel nostalgic for those beautiful people and their land and hopeful that we'll meet again.

I'll continue the blog for a while longer to upload many more photos now that we had a high speed internet connection again. I will also update the news about the library project in the next few days. To all of our faithful readers, erakomona and asanti sana- thank you for sharing this journey with us.

Albinism in Africa

Two weeks ago I walked to the village of Got Kachola with some visitors from the US. As often happens, we attracted a large crowd of curious children around us who yelled at us “goa picture” (take our picture). As we set up to take a photo we heard the familiar voice of our co-worker Geoffrey Ochieng calling out to us. Ochieng, as he is known, insisted on taking us on a walking tour of his village including his own store front pharmacy. Kenya allows anyone to be a “chemist” and buy and sell pharmaceuticals including medications for malaria, antibiotics and even Valium over the counter. Although we have strong feelings about the safety of this practice, it is legal here so we can only use education to try to guide consumers’ usage. Ochieng had 3 people in his community on whom he wanted to consult so he brought them to me for a brief consult.

The first man had advanced HIV disease, a severe oral infection and other complications. I did a brief exam and advised him to come into the clinic to see me ASAP. The second patient was an infant with severe wasting disease. She was a 2 year old who was the size of a 6 month old. She had the classic symptoms of malnutrition with sunken eyes, bony arms and legs, a big belly, and sparse reddish hair. Although her mother was trying to feed her some porridge she was too weak to eat. Ochieng told me the child’s father had recently died so it was very likely that she was also infected with HIV. She would need hospitalization in order to save her life but as we later learned, she died before getting care.

The last child was a school aged boy with albinism. Albinism is a rare genetically inherited disorder which results in a lack of pigmentation in the hair, skin and eyes. In North America and Europe it is estimated that 1 in 20,000 people have some form of albinism. I was not able to find the statistics or Kenya but in Tanzania it’s much more common, affecting approximately 1 in 4,000 people.

As a child with albinism living in equatorial Africa he is exposed to high daily doses of sunshine that burns and blisters his skin. This little boy had burnt and blistered skin on all exposed areas of his head, neck, face, arms and feet. He was squinting in an effort to see us because his eyes are also affected. We offered to obtain a hat and sunscreen for him and give it to Ochieng the following week.

On Monday, Paul was talking about him with one of our co-workers and he learned some vital information about how the African cultures view albinism. First, we learned that any hat we gave the boy would be stolen within a day by other children or even adults in his community. It was suggested that we do some community education about albinism at his school first. So this past Tuesday we went to his school to talk to his teacher, classmates and grandmother.

Paul explained why we have pigment in our skin and how it protects us from the harmful effects of the sun. He showed the children the difference between the skin color on his forearm and his upper arm. He stressed that the boy was a normal child who just happened to be born without pigment. We gave the boy the hat (donated by our US visitor, Jack) and applied sunscreen to all his sun exposed skin. All the children made a pledge to help their classmate keep possession of his hat. Our translator Daniel offered to talk to the community at a funeral the following Saturday.

(this next section may not be appropriate for children to read)

We also learned about how albinism is viewed by some people in parts of Africa. When we researched this on the Internet we read shocking stories of murders of albinos living in Tanzania in recent years. An albino spokesman said there was a belief that the condition was the result of a curse put on the family. Some people in Tanzania think albinos are a kind of ghost-like creature.

We also read that there is a rapidly growing industry in the sale of albino body parts. Some people in Tanzania believe that the body parts of people with albinism have magical powers capable of bringing riches if used in potions produced by local witchdoctors. In the last year official reports indicate that 26 persons with albinism have been brutally murdered and their body parts hacked off and sold to witchdoctors. Though the official count is 28, leaders in the albino community believe the number to be over 60.

Some recent reports indicate that body parts are also being exported outside Tanzania. In one instance a Tanzanian trader was caught with the head of an albino baby on his way to the Democratic Republic of Congo. He told police a businessman was going to pay him for the head by its weight.

On September 4, 2008 the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the killings and called for killers to be prosecuted. . A crackdown on the witch doctors who encourage the killing of people with albinism was also announced in TZ and as part of this, a 48-year-old woman with albinism, Al-Shymaa Kway-Geer was appointed an MP. Ms Kway-Geer was herself victimized when young. "When I was at primary school, people used to laugh at me, tease me - some didn't even like to touch me, saying that if they touched me they would get this colour," she said. "People used to abuse me on the road when I took the buses to school. They would run after me - crowds of kids following me - shouting 'zeru, zeru'." "Zeru" is a Swahili word for albino. Tanzania's albino society says that traditionally, this is a word for ghost-like creatures and is derogatory. Since the beginning of 2000, the word has been banned.

While there have not yet been any prosecutions regarding the recent spate of murders, 172 were arrested in connection to the cases - 71 of whom said they had been told by witch doctors to bring them albino body parts. They remain in custody.

Kenya Celebrates!

November 5, 2008 is a day that will long be remembered by the good people of Africa. It’s a day when their hopes and dreams, tied to the ambitions of a certain American politician, came true.

It started early for me. I awoke before first light, threw on some clothes and made my way to the cook house to check the election results. After putting the kettle on to boil for coffee I tried to connect with the Internet and when that was unsuccessful, tuned in to the radio. The BBC was off the air and the VOA had a weak signal so I went back to the Internet. Finally, around at 5 AM (9PM EDT) I was able to connect. The polls weren’t yet closed on the west coast but early results from the rest of the country showed Obama to have a commanding lead. As our US visitors straggled in one by one we each took turns watching the results. Before we walked down to the morning greeting with our colleagues, we knew Obama had won.

The staff was in high spirits and anxious to share their excitement with those of us from the US. The Luo don’t usually hug but on that morning we got hugs along with high fives and back slaps. After our morning song and prayer many of us walked to the village center where we heard they were showing Obama’s victory speech live via satellite. We arrived at the tin structure to find it was already crowded with locals. We joined them inside and watched the last 30-45 minutes of his speech and celebration. People who couldn’t afford the 50 shilling admission were peering in through the small cracks in the building. It was exhilarating to watch in their midst and to share their joy and sense of hope.

That night we joined many of our co-workers at the Sea Lodge, a modest hotel owned by our co-worker Nancy. There was music, sodas, beers and dancing. The Africans were exuberant and continued to celebrate long after we left. The Kenyan President Kibaki announced a national holiday for November 6^th so they stayed until long into the night.

We heard first person accounts of celebrations in the nearby town of Migori where Tanzanians came across the border by the hundreds to join them. Newspaper stories that followed Obama’s win made speculations about what it meant to the people of Africa, particularly to the people of Kenya and wildly unrealistic expectations. Our friend Maggie said the headline of the Kampala (Uganda) newspaper stated “Now that Obama is president, Uganda will be lifted out of poverty”. He has the hopes and dreams of millions of people on his shoulders but for now, there is only joy.

A letter to Sophie

Our 13 year old niece Sophie often emails us and has been very curious about the African children. She wonders what they look like, what they do for fun, where they go to school and what their lives are like. It's a question we've been pondering since we got here too. We see them in the clinic and when we're out walking but not having a shared language keeps us from fully understanding their lived experience. We have talked to older children and made some observations over the past 8 months and we'll share a few with you today to try answer some of Sophie's questions.

In the Luo culture children are seen as a gift from God and also an investment in the future. Children are born with the expectation that they'll contribute to the wellbeing of their family. They're trained to help with family chores almost from the time they can walk. Girls learn to carry water on their heads and to wash dishes and laundry at the lake. Boys often manage the
farm animals and learn to fish to help supplement the family's food. Kids of both sexes take care of their younger siblings. They carry children on their backs that often are almost as big as they are. In fact, there are some children that we have never seen without a child on their back.

Older children help plant and tend crops, re-thatch roofs, re-mud walls as well as all of the above chores. There are 2 boys who bring about a dozen cows over to our compound every morning before walking to school (which starts at 8AM). At lunch they come back to herd the cows to the lake for watering and then move them to a new grazing area before going home for lunch then back to school. When they get out of school at 5 PM they change and have about an hour of free time to play soccer (called football here) before they herd the cows and sheep home for the night. Because we're on the equator we have 12 hours of sun and darkness year around so it's always dark by about 6:30 PM. Dinner is usually served at 7PM and then homework is done by kerosene lamp.

And while we're on the subject of school, it's only the "lucky kids" who get to go to school. In Kenya primary school is theoretically free but parents still have school fees, books fees, uniform fees...which many can't afford. All schools require a uniform but shoes are optional. Both boys are girls are supposed to have a close cropped haircut i.e.shaved head. The classrooms we've seen are very basic. There are homemade wooden desks and benches which are shared by 2-3 students. The classrooms are open to the air and have packed dirt floors. The bathrooms are outdoor latrines which are called a "choo". The curriculum is very rigorous with subjects similar to the US- math, spelling, geography, civics, religion, science and 2 languages- Kiswahili and English. Did I mention that they're forbidden to speak their mother tongue of Luo in school? Can you imagine taking classes in a "foreign" language from the age of 7?
The teachers and older students, who are like class monitors, have sticks they use as switches to hit the kids when they act up or to get them to move faster. I've seen them being hit and it makes a big scary noise like "thhhhhhhWAP"! It made me cringe but the kids never made a peep.

Most Luo families belong to a Christian church so children go to church on Saturdays or Sundays. There are Catholics and Protestants like we have in the US but also denominations that are unfamiliar to us. Some wear colored robes (the Legion of Mary) and others wear veil-type white hats with a red cross on them.

And their lives are not all work. Because homes are small and the weather is pleasant, they spend most of every day out of doors. It is safe enough for them to run free without parent's worrying. They know the rest of the village will keep an eye on them. Kids don't have store bought toys so they make their own toys, some of which are very sophisticated. They make airplanes by putting a paper propeller on a long stick and make them "fly" by running into the wind. Boats are made from old flip flops and twigs; balls made out of plastic bags and twine. Slingshots are made in a similar way although they sometimes looked crocheted and other times are made of old inner tubes. Trucks are made using plastic lids as wheels attached to bamboo handles. Girls play Chinese jump rope and cat's cradle, climb trees and swim in the lake. Tires of all sizes are used in a way my Dad described using them in his youth (in the 1920's). Even toddlers learn to roll truck tires in front of them and do so with great joy. I bet they never tell their parents that they're bored.

Kenyan kids also have a very high risk of being orphaned before they grow up. Parents die of so many things- childbirth, malaria, snake bites, HIV.... There are thousands of orphaned kids living in the community. Many times a grandmother is raising them but sometimes it's someone unrelated but kindhearted. Sometimes the kids fend for themselves. We see them when they come into the clinic alone to be seen when they're sick and are so shy that they will barely tell us about their illness. Can you imagine going to the doctor's office alone when you were 7? The kids who are accompanied by someone can be brought in by a parent or a neighbor or even a random adult who had time to bring them in. Children are always well behaved, obedient, and quiet. Sometimes even when they get a shot or are getting stitches they don't cry. When I mentioned it to a woman we work with she said "Africans are tough!". She's right about that.

Now that I've told you how difficult their lives are I will tell you this. In spite of it all the kids here seem to be happy more times than not. They laugh easily, are playful and curious and enjoy little bitty things like receiving a new pencil. Gives you something to think about doesn't it? We think that they don't realize how hard their lives are because they have nothing to compare them with. They don't see images on TV or in movies that make them want what they can't have so instead of feeling deprived they are grateful for what they do have.

So, Sophie, thanks for your great questions and your interest in children living on the other side of the world. I think you'd love the kids here and I know they'd love you too.
Love, Aunt Darcie and Uncle Paul

Obama Fever

I don’t know if there could ever be a better time to be in Kenya than this election year. The Kenyans are excited, almost fixated, on our election and often stop us to talk about it. When we were in the Masai Mara recently we met a group of Masai men and women on holiday from Nairboi. As most Kenyans do, they asked first if we thought Obama can win. We told them we think he can. Some who had lived in the US for awhile and were well informed about the election process wondered aloud if Obama wins the popular vote could he lose the electoral vote. They asked if we thought the election would be fair or could it be rigged. One man lived in the US during GWB’s first win in 2000 and perceived that he may have “stolen” the office from Gore. Their concerns are framed in part by their own experience in Kenya with "irregular" i.e. corrupt election practices.

Obama seems to capture their imagination and inspire hope that a win by him will translate into something positive for them in Kenya. They're proud of him and his connection to their own people- the Luos here are especially proud of his Luo blood. They have little hope that their own government will uplift their standard of living or create change in their country so they look to our country with hope.

By mid-October Paul and I had still not received our absentee ballots so we downloaded one from the federal website. Colleagues here asked to witness our signature so that their name could be on the US ballot in which Barack Obama becomes, they hope, the first African-American to be elected president.

We’ve seen Obama’s image in many disparate places from the back of public transports like matatus to hanging on the wall in restaurants. A poster in HIV clinics shows him and wife Michelle getting tested for HIV during their 2006 visit. It encourages others to get tested so they’ll know their status and casts a light on the disease to decrease its stigma.

This past Monday Paul and I joined the mobile team again to go to a larger village nearby to give deworming medicine at 3 schools and to do HIV counseling and testing. A table was set up under a large sycamore tree near the lake and using a microphone and small speaker the education staff took turns talking about HIV and encouraging people to come and get tested. The locals were slow to respond. By 3PM they had only seen about 3 people. I whispered to one of our counselors to talk about the story of Obama and his wife both getting tested in 2006. So Joseph talked to them in Luo about Obama and suddenly there was a lot of cheering and thumbs up. Paul and I later learned that the team tested about 50 people and could have tested more had it not grown dark.

OK. Just a couple more Obama related stories. I assume by now only Obama supporters are still reading anyway:) (If you don't support Obama we still love you). Two weeks ago Paul and I traveled to Kisumu to meet our dear friend Jenny who is doing amazing work in HIV care with UCSF. She’s based in SF but spends 3+ months at a time in Tanzania and was able to arrange her schedule to help a colleague present a workshop in Kisumu, Kenya to coincide with our trip there to pick up mutual friends. The first night we had dinner with Jenny and her colleague Catherine at a wonderful restaurant hidden among the trees on the shores of Lake Victoria. Along with soul nourishing conversation and laughter we learned that Catherine had gotten a leather bracelet from a local artist that had Masai style beading on it saying “Obama”. She liked it so well she bought one for Jenny too. I coveted it and had to find that artist so the following day, after the excitement of picking up Becky and Judi at the airport we set out on a walking tour of Kisumu. Along the way we visited the artisan market on the grounds of the museum where we found that the bracelet had taken off. At least 3 artists were now making them –some with American flag colors, some with the green and red or Kenya’s flag and some with African colors. We bought as many as we could find for ourselves and friends at home.

The following week when we were back in Matoso, Becky, Judi and I went with the mobile clinic team to a remote area near the Tanzania border called Saume. It’s one of my favorite places to go because we see so many women and infants but also because there’s a primary school on the same grounds with the rustic church that hosts our visits. On the day we visited we lined up all the school aged kids to give them deworming medicine. One child touched my bracelet that reads “Unite for change…Obama for president”. Just for fun I had them repeat it with me….”Obama for president”…over and over until it was an exuberant chant by the Kenyan kids. They were jumping, clapping, laughing, smiling and yelling “Obama for president” over and over. We all wished we had a video of that.

Update October 28, 2008

As we've mentioned in the past, we start every work day by gathering in the courtyard with the entire staff for a song and a prayer. Afterward announcements are made and if any mail has arrived, it's handed out. This day our long awaited absentee ballots finally arrived. May of the staff encircled us to inspect them. They were very interested to see what US ballots look like and were surprised by many things. They were surprised that we can vote whether or not to retain judges. They were surprised by the number of presidential candidates (we were we!). They enjoying looking at all the amendments and their topics. Later we were able to complete them and get them back to Migori for mailing. Hopefully they'll arrive n time and for now, all we can do is wait and hope.

The people in East Africa often become infected with helminths or parasitic worms due to poor sanitary conditions. There aren’t water treatment plants here so the people collect water wherever they find it. Lake Victoria is the largest source of water for our patients and communities and on any given day you can see women on the shores washing dishes and laundry and collecting water to take home for cooking and drinking. They are taught to boil their water before drinking it but boiling requires fuel which is in short supply. Sometimes we see people in communities that are farther from the lake collecting water from large puddles or small ponds that arise after a rain.

Lack of waste treatment or sewer systems leads people to use pit toilets or latrines near their homes which can leach into the water table. Farm animals are also brought to the shores to drink water leaving piles of their excrement on the beaches. These conditions put people at risk of becoming infected with different parasites including helminthes or worms.

These infections are so common that it’s accepted medical protocol here to treat all kids every 6 months beginning at 6 months of age. Untreated, the infestations lead to iron deficiency anemia, malnutrition, diarrhea and worse symptoms. We often see kids with the big “belly full of worms” when we’re out walking. The treatment is easy enough- one dose of Mebendazole or Levimasole is often all that’s needed. Our mobile clinic staff goes out to the schools in our catchment area every February and October to administer “deworming” medicine and this month we were able to go along to assist.

Our friends Judi and Becky were visiting from Colorado so the 4 of us rode the 8 AM ferry to the village of Aneko to meet up with the outreach staff. As usual, we attracted a lot of attention on the boat and in the village from curious onlookers. We arrived in Aneko in time to watch people pull in their nets full of fish.

The catch was meager in relation to the number of people needed to haul in the nets but everyone seemed pleased. As we walked into the village centre we saw a man building one of the traditional boats. Known as a dhow, the boats were originally designed after the Arab fishermen and slave traders’ boats that once sailed on Lake Victoria. The boat maker was happy to have us visit and demonstrated how he hand shaped the boat using a tool that looked like a cross between a hatchet and a hammer.He had been hired to come Aneko to build the boat and had been working on the boat only 4 days when we arrived. He hoped to have it completed within the week.

When we arrived at the primary school, our mobile team was already there and getting set up to treat the 150+ students aged 5 through late teens. The youngest kids opened their mouths like baby birds to receive the liquid medicine from Mercyline. Becky, Judi, Paul and I handed out the pill version to the older classes. For the students it was a welcome break from their usual routine and they took advantage of it to goof around and ham it up for our cameras. The education department will continue to dispense the medicine throughout the month of October at schools as well as the mobile clinic sites.

With our work done, we decided to walk instead of ride back to the clinic. Because Aneko is an island we first took a short boat ride across a river. The 90 minute walk took us past a field where 2 adult and one juvenile grey-crowned cranes were feeding. They’re regal birds that are often found is marshy or wetland locals.

Later in the day Becky and Judi helped me post about 350 of our photos on the clinic walls. We’ve taken pictures of people we meet in the clinic and on our walks and always get asked “when can I get a copy?” The short answer is “3 or more months from now.” No one seems surprised.

I sent a CD of photos to my sister Francesca who had prints made and sent them back with our friends. As soon as we started to post them, people crowded around in interest. They no longer worried about being sick or waiting a long time to see a clinician. They were too busy looking at and chattering about the pictures. We had hoped the photos would remain on the wall for a month before people started taking them home. Although that was the message we gave the staff to pass on to our patients, within 2 days all but 5 were gone. People who didn’t get a photo are now asking how they can get one so I may have to do it again before we leave.

THE LIBRARY PROJECT

Ever since we arrived in Kenya our family and good friends back home have asked what they can do to help the people here. After much discussion and debate we decided to focus on one project that will have a lasting impact on the community- the small lending library on the clinic compound.

I asked our Director of Education, John Chacha to write a short piece to describe the library’s history and importance to the community. In his own words:

The library was started in 1992 after the Lalmba realized there was a high rate of illiteracy in the area. The fact was that many people did not know how to read or write. This was because they did not have the chance to go to school. Even of those who went to school, the majority could not read or write properly because they dropped out before completion of final level of primary education,
class 8.

Lalmba decided to start and operate a free lending library in this compound to uplift the educational standard in this community in order to fight illiteracy. Our library is the only one of its kind in an area of over 150 square km. Over the years, some well wishers from the United States donated some books to our library but unfortunately they were not appropriate for our readers. The mother tongue is Dholuo but students are also taught Kiswahili and English in school. Because the books are outdated and more relevant to someone living in America, our readers did not find them very helpful.

Our plan now is to try to purchase books in Kenya that will meet the needs of our students and our community. Thank you for your help and interest and God bless you.

This is Darcie speaking again…the library here is in a small space and it’s nearly always busy. Locals come in to read the newspaper or borrow a book and school kids come in after class to study or look up information in the 25 year old encyclopedias. In April we met a young man while we were out walking who was in his first year of college. This is a remarkable accomplishment for a child from this community. When he heard we were from Lalmba he thanked us warmly and sincerely for the library and told us it meant the difference between passing admission tests for college and ending up a fisherman in Matoso. It was then that the idea began to germinate.

After being asked every day for a “kulum” or pencil by the local children, my Aunt Marge in CA and sibs in CO and NH sent us many, many pencils to give out. The students and kids love to receive them and we’ve become known at the Kulum Mzungus. Now they’ve started to ask us for books and we’d like to oblige.

Our goal is to raise $1500 which will be transferred to the Matoso account for the Kenyan education staff to purchase books here in Kenya. So, if you’ve wanted to do something to help but didn’t know what to do and want to help us in this project to change lives, here’s what to do:

You can send a tax deductible contribution directly to Lalmba USA at the following address:
Lalmba
7685 Quartz Street
Arvada, CO 80007

Please! Write “Kenya library project” on your check. They will transfer the funds directly to the Kenya project so the staff here can purchase new books. I will report back to you on how much money was raised and how it was spent. You’ve seen pictures “before” the transformation and I’ll also take photos “after” the books and reference materials are purchased. If you have any questions about the project please feel free to email us at birdnsong@gmail.com.

Your gift will help improve the futures of Kenyan kids for many years to come.

Thank you with love and appreciation from Darcie and Paul Meierbachtol, Matoso, Kenya

The Birds and the Bees

Kenya is remarkable for it's abundant and diverse natural environments which include sea shores, open plains, mountain ranges and lowland equatorial forests. The area in which we live has 2 seasons- wet and dry- with year around temperate climate. All this makes it ideal for hundreds of different breeds of birds.

Although I'm a lifelong bird lover, Paul and I aren't bird watchers in the classic sense of the word. I just like to watch them fly and listen to them sing. But since we've been living in Kenya we've both become avid birders. The birds are remarkable in their abundance and beauty and it seems that every trek into the countryside reveals a new species or two.

We've read there are more than 1,200 bird species in the country. Most are year around inhabitants but many migrate here to escape the harsh winters in the northern parts of the world. We've been quite amazed by the many varieties that can be spotted without leaving the clinic compound. Here are just a few of the birds we've seen in the past 6 months.


African Fish Eagle eating a hen in a tree behind our cook house. These huge predators are very common around Lake Victoria. A pair has built a nest at the top of the tree in front of the clinic and we hope to see some fledgling eaglets in the coming months.





This tall and beautiful bird is a female saddle-billed stork which we saw in the grasses along the lake. It's an uncommon but spectacular bird that likes the wetland area around the lake and is about 5 feet in height.















This grey crowned crane is so exotic looking that you'd think you'd have to go to the Maasai Mara to see it but in fact, we found these birds within a few kilometers from our house. We often walk to the village of Aneko which sits on the lake and has a river encircling the other sides. So, with all that water it's a good area to see wetland loving birds like these.












This little bird on the left is the African Paradise Flycatcher. They're very common in our area and can be seen most mornings hopping about in the mango tree or bougainvillea. His head looks black but is a very deep midnight blue.















This pretty green bird is the Madagascar bee-eater. I've only seen these birds twice in our compound, once while Paul and I were teaching a computer class in the cook house. I grabbed the camera and left him to carry on without me for a few minutes.
Here is the same bird in flight...

Although you can't see it clearly in this picture, the underside of their wings are a pretty ocher color.













The bird below is a speckled mousebird eating one of our guavas. Our cook Joice told us that when the mousebirds arrive the locals know the guavas are ready to eat.

Speckled mousebird in flight



















I'll finish up with the kingfishers- first the black and white pied kingfisher on the left, below.Next to it on the right is the woodland kingfisher. It has beautiful vivid blue wings and an equally remarkable red and black beak. They're both very common along the lake shore.














And finally, my favorite bird thus far...the African pygmy kingfisher. We first saw this tiny bird on a walk in the countryside. It was one of the rare times that I didn't have my camera along and I was kicking myself the whole time for not getting a photo of it. Just a few days later Paul spotted this one sitting on our doorstep. He called me to get the camera and I was able to take at least a dozen shots. In fact, it sat there so long we began to suspect it was injured or a fledgling. But after we got a good look at it and it at us, it flew away. I suspect he knew how sad I was to have missed the shot the week before and came by to give me another chance at him.

And now, for an uplifting story about HIV

You're probably wondering how a story about orphans in Africa and HIV could possibly be uplifting. I don't blame you. A couple months (weeks?) ago I thought the same thing. I saw only the statistics and they were not encouraging. You know, numbers that catch one's attention but leave you feeling overwhelmed with the immensity of the problem. Like this one "Of the 2.1 million children infected with HIV, 90% live in Sub-Sahara Africa". I'm embarrassed to admit that my geography was poor enough that I had to look up the countries that are "Sub-Sahara" to see if that included Kenya (it does, duh!).

One more eye popping stat- it's predicted that 25 million children will be orphans by 2010 due to HIV/AIDS. And those kids are more at risk for being infected themselves because 95% of infected infants get it from their mothers. When I read those numbers I let out a big sigh and thought what a pity it is but what can we do? Well, I think that's what the Downey's thought 10 years ago when they started the Ongoro Children's Home here in Kenya. They knew they might not be able to save all the children but by gosh, they were going to save some of them.

Ongoro is a lovely area right on the shores of Lake Victoria and houses 40 children aged 4 to 15.
The kids live in small houses that serve as dorms. They sleep on bunk beds under mosquito nets. Each has their own foot locker and shelf for personal belongings. They're watched over by "mothers" who work for Lalmba but treat the kids not as if they're a job but as if they're family. They eat in an open, airy mud and straw hut where they're served mostly traditional Luo food- fish, ogali (like grits or mush), sikuma wiki (greens), beans, porridge, milk, fruit.

The mothers do the laundry for the little ones, cook their meals, arbitrate disputes, monitor their health and dispense medications and give generous servings of hugs and cuddles.

There are 5 children who live at the home who have HIV. They were all infected either at birth or in the first year of life. Most have been orphans since they were toddlers and have lived at the children's home most of their young lives. Every 2 months they are taken to the St. Camillus HIV clinic for a check up and to get more medications. In August I went along so I could see the care they were getting there and to look at the system to see what parts we might be able to adapt (steal) to use in our own Peds HIV clinic.

The 5 kids ranged in age from 5 to 9; 3 boys and 2 girls. At first they were a little wary and shy with me. But everyone who knows me knows how much I love kids. I can't help myself- they're just such perfect beings. First I crawled into the back of the truck to meet them all. They were still shy. Then I took a picture and showed it to them. Still shy. Then I had one of them take a picture. Suddenly giggles abound. Aah, I'd found the key! More pictures and crazy poses and we were like long lost friends.

St. Camillus is an NGO that sits in a small town of Sori on Lake Victoria about 1 hour away from Matoso. The HIV clinic sees only kids on Wednesday and when we arrived the waiting area was already full with many kids. Our kids are well known to the staff there and so were greeted and checked in rather quickly. Then the wait began. The mothers went to a class on some topic relevant to HIV care that was given in Luo . I gladly ducked outside to play with the kids. They rummaged through my bag and found a pen and some paper and then took turns leaning on my lap to draw pictures and write their names. We looked for butterflies and picked flowers. We played hand clapping games that date back to my childhood days. Pretty soon other kids wandered over and joined the fun. When they finally called our names I had to extricate myself from a small mob of tiny people.

The physician, Dr. Bertha has her own special love of children which becomes apparent in her interactions with them. They are each examined, medications are reviewed, then the mothers were questioned and had a chance to report their concerns. Two of our children are tiny for their age and have developmental delays. One didn't walk until 30 months old. But, all have grown since their last visit and are doing well from a medical stand point.
The kids know that after their appointment we will stop for lunch before heading home so all become antsy as the visit winds downs. We went to a small restaurant and ordered fish, sikuma and ogali for the children. Once they were settled, we ordered our own meals. As a vegetarian I had 1 option- sikuma and fries. I also had a rare Coke. The children finished their meals as we were just starting ours. The tiniest boy came over, pulled up a chair next to me and wordlessly ate as many fries as he could before stuffing the rest into his pocket for the ride home. He then finished my Coke. Although the mothers tried to shoo him away, I was delighted to share my meal with him.
I felt like his "auntie" and as my siblings can attest, I believe that parents are the keepers of rules which it is my job as an auntie to break.