Science Nerd

After loads of interviews, home visits and observations at over 40 springs, streams and rivers, where people collect drinking water, we’re now testing the water in the lab to figure out the level of contamination. Where, you might ask, could we perform such a feat in this forgotten corner of rural Kenya? Well, I’ve actually set up a lab in our house, complete with Petri dishes, reagents, forceps and an incubator. All those 8:00 am lab classes in college and my water quality work at my previous job are definitely paying off! The team laughs at (and celebrates) my science nerd ways…

Lucas and I have been revisiting all the locations where people told us that they are getting sick from drinking the water. One of our stops was the river that Chacha and his family use. He informed us that he has been sick for the past 3 years with ameobiasis (can you believe that- 3 years!), which brings on painful cramping and severe diarrhea and is caused by an invisible microorganism in the water.

Chacha admitted with some shame that when first diagnosed, he didn’t heed the doctor’s advice to take his medicine and boil his drinking water to kill the disease-causing microorganisms. However, the pain sent him back to the doctor in desperation, and he proudly reported that he has been faithfully taking his medicine and boiling the drinking water. His wife and children were also suffering from the disease, but now Chacha and his entire family are recovering rapidly. I was relieved to hear this, because in this part of the world, death is a real possibility for people with diarrhea.

Diarrhea is the #1 cause of death in the world.

90% of diarrhea deaths are from contaminated water, inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene.

So, Lucas filled a bottle up with Chacha’s river water, we tested in the lab, and sure enough, we found large amounts of bacteria in the water. Most waterborne diseases come from fecal matter (translation: poop), so we test for “fecal coliforms”. Prepping the samples for this important test takes quite a bit of effort and they must be incubated at a constant temperature for at least 14 hours.

We also test for other things like pH, which can give us clues about the general quality of the water. Those tests take just a couple minutes, due to the generous donation of a colorimeter from our partner LaMotte Testing. The great thing about the colorimeter is that it’s super easy to use and I’ve been able to train Lucas how to use it. That way he can help the community monitor the impacts of our projects long after I’m gone!

It’s all really nerdy stuff, but scientific results are important to verify what we’re hearing from the people and to get to the root cause of the problem. We use the test results to determine where in the community clean water sources are needed most. And, immediately, before we even have the money raised for much needed water projects, we can use the test results to target areas where more training is needed on life-saving practices that people can do in their homes, like boiling water or using chlorine (if they can afford it) to disinfect their water.

World Toilet Day

I'm a day late with this post, but no joke- November 19 is World Toilet Day! I was notified of this from my friends at Water Partners: "We celebrate World Toilet Day and the incredible value of the can. Call it what you will the pot, the loo, the throne, the latrine, the water closet, the bog [or here in Kenya, the choo]; it's one of the most important inventions in history. Why recognize World Toilet Day? Because the majority of illness in the world is caused by fecal matter. Because 2.5 billion people, 42 percent of the world's population, don't have access to proper sanitation. Because 1.2 billion people have no toilet, no hole in the ground, no pit latrine, nothing. And because 1.8 million children die each year from diarrhea alone 4,900 deaths each day."

These staggering statistics are part of my motivation for being here in Kenya. In the U.S. it sounds silly to celebrate our toilets; we flush and don't give it another thought. But here in Kuria, Kenya, a couple people have ventilated pit latrines, some have a hole in the ground and many have nothing at all. No toilets mean that feces ends up in drinking water and on dinner plates, and adults and children end up with nasty illnesses like typhoid, amoebiasis and diarrhea. Of the 40 drinking water collection points (springs and streams) I've visited here, I've gotten reports of people getting sick from drinking the water at 70% of those locations. 70%!

In the U.S. we leave it up to wastewater treatment plant to deal with our flushes and the water treatment plant clean our drinking water for us, but here these matters have to be dealt with at the household level. Good hygiene and knowledge about safe drinking water can be a matter of life and death...

I've learned that simple practices like washing hands with soap and water at critical times and boiling drinking water can dramatically reduce diseases. Unicef says using soap to wash hands, particularly after contact with excreta, can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by over 40% and respiratory infections by 30%. Can you believe that?

Stats like that get me excited and give me hope. I'm delighted to report that today we completed a 3-day training for 30 water/sanitation representatives, who are now community experts! They're now fully equipped and charged to train their families and neighbors in basic hygiene and household water treatment practices, like boiling water, which can eliminate all those microorganisms that are making them sick. I trained up Lucas and he taught each class using colorful posters developed by the Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology. The do great work and provide water/sanitation training aids free of charge! We were even able to get the posters with Kiswahili text, which the reps really appreciated. I included the English language version of a couple of my favorites for you.

The reps ate the posters up. At one point, they asked me "Was that picture taken in Kuria? All of the things shown happen here. Which tribe is that?" That was a huge compliment, and it made me laugh, because the posters show cartoons not photographs. Another fun question: "Who is that guy (the water droplet guy with the thumbs down)?" Another rep responded, "He is the grandfather. He is stopping the contamination." Then next day I drew a picture of "babu maji" (water grandfather) on the chalkboard with a welcome message.

Empowerment is loads of fun. The reps were eager to learn and are excited to pass on their knowledge. I've already heard stories of reps teaching their children what they learned in class. After the reps give their families and their Nuru groups the water/sanitation training, about 1,800 people will be reached with these disease-preventing, life-saving messages. Now that's what I call an appropriate World Toilet Day celebration!

Living in Community

I live with my husband, my friend and colleague and my boss- under one roof. And, shall I add, under one ceiling. That’s right, our house isn’t finished and we don’t have ceilings in the rooms. We have walls dividing the rooms, but no ceilings. No matter where you are in the house, you can pretty much hear what’s going on in every room.

I’ll admit it, I’m an independent girl. I’m the kind of person who cannot relate at all with people who are afraid to go out to dinner alone, feel restless sitting quietly for long periods of time, and like to have constant noise in their lives. You see, I’m a total extrovert- a people person, but I love my alone time. And, I have the luxury of having an introverted husband. So, we built a very happy life for ourselves in Chicago complete with loads of quality community time and solid chunks of alone time- alone apart time. We loved it!

Life in Kenya is just a little bit different… For starters, we’re never alone. In the house, Jake, Janine, Doug and I are united by the lack of ceilings. Outside the house, we stick out like…well super white folk, and everyone wants to greet us (and we’re so grateful that we’re so kindly received here). And, for safety reasons, we don’t travel anywhere alone.

Last week, I had a moment. I felt desperate to get away- alone. I felt guilty about it at first, even a bit ashamed. You see,

I love my team, I love my husband, I love my job and I love the community we’re
working in. So, what was my problem?

Then I took a good bit of time to reflect, alone, in my room (I try to take a bit of time every day, but this particular occasion I sensed it was going to take awhile). I shut my bedroom door and popped in headphones to drown out the conversation in the house. And the craziest thing happened…it all started to make sense. If there’s a big tank within us that rises and falls with alone time, I came to the realization that mine was absolutely empty, and systems were shorting out because of it. I felt myself getting stressed out and impatient. And, the worst part was that I felt like it was inevitable that it stayed that way. But, then I realized that there was one huge flaw with my logic- it lacked creativity.

I took a good long time to journal and pray and sort things out a bit. Then, I shared it with Doug (ok, so it wasn’t all sorted out at that point…Doug helped tremendously. I have the best husband ever!). Later on I got up the courage to bring it to the team. They were so wonderful and so gracious. And, it turns out, that we’re all sort of struggling with similar things. It felt so refreshing to have such a great team, where we can have real chats like that, and we’re able to be open and catch things before they become major deals.

So, I’ve been getting creative lately. I carve out some time each morning where I shut the door and sit alone with my journal and stare out the window at the gorgeous green valley. I feel refreshed and focused afterwards (it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the huge scope of my job). And, Doug and I take walks together every couple days, even if it’s just to the market to buy tomatoes. We do that matter what, even when we’re busy. And I’m getting better at telling the team when I need some uninterrupted time. It’s helping. I feel so much better, so much freer and less wound up inside. I know, I’m slow, I should’ve noticed this all early. Before I left I predicted that this would happen. But, it snuck up on me.

Here’s to creativity and quality alone time even in a crowded place! I’m drinking it in, and it’s doing wonders for my soul! I’m doing great!

Bold Requests & Unsolicited Offers

This blog post comes at the request of my dear friend, co-worker and housemate, Janine (Nuru's Healthcare Program Manager). Apparently I've been "tagged" and it's now my turn to blog about "6 random things". So, here goes. Janine, I hope you read this!

Although they're random, they do sort of have a theme...As I've stated in previous posts, I've gotten a lot of bold requests. But, I've also gotten a lot of very interesting, very generous offers as well. My six:

1) Janine and I are at the butcher (translation: a tiny shack storefront with a couple animals on hooks and a very unsanitary looking scale) getting meat for the night, and a teenage guys rolls up behind up and asks me to buy him a piece of meat. A bold request. I turn him down.

2) The same guy gives up on us after about 6 tries and leaves. Then, he sneaks back up on us a minute later. He's eating a carrot and proceeds to hold it a couple inches from my mouth.

"Eat my carrot!"

he demands. A nice offer, but again, I turn him down.

3) I'm in the field one morning waiting next to a river for Lucas, my Kenyan counterpart, to arrive. He shows up right on time and seems to have picked up a friend along the way (who is, by the way, weilding a machete which is, by the way, totally normal). Although I didn't have my phone out, he let me know that he knew I had a phone and he also wanted one.

"You should buy me a phone. Because you have one, and I don't"

he requested. Wow, very bold. Again, denied.

5) Janine and I are walking down the main road into "town" to get a few things at the market. A man comes storming out of his house and runs up the hill to meet us. He is yelling but sounds kind of happy. When he gets closer, we hear what he says,

"I am sending my son to school to learn English so that he can marry an English woman! You must come and greet me in my home!"

He's ready for one of us to marry his son. Nope, I'm already happily married to Doug and Janine is...busy.

6) And my very favorite...I'm walking back from our very first water/sanitation representatives meeting (over 30 reps showed up!) and I bump into a man named Richard who wants to greet me. He has a lot to say about wanting me to test his well, Obama's joyous victory, and wanting me to permantly move to Kuria. For real! He said,

"I will give you a plot of land for free so that you and your
husband can build a home and live in Kuria forever."

Amazing offer. I explain to Richard that Doug and I are pretty much homeless and might never own a home (this is amazing to people here, they always assume we have some land and a home). But, of course I thanked him for his very generous offer.

There you have it. Six random things.

And now for the tagging....I choose Heidi Griepp, Seren Frost, Tara and Billy (faithful commenters, I love hearing from you!), Jake, and Riley. See what you can come up with!

The "Rules":

1. Post the rules on your blog

2. Write 6 random things about yourself

3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag

My First Hire

Big news in the water/sanitation program-I made my first hire! Lucas is now the water/sanitation community development committee (CDC) representative. I'm really excited about Lucas officially being part of the team!

(You can read about details on how the CDC works on our website http://www.nuruinternational.org/).

For those of you who have been following, you know that Lucas has been a key volunteer since day 1, helping Janine with health care stuff me with the water/sanitation program, and that over the past month, Lucas and I have walked many, many miles together. If you're new to Safari Magi: Lucas is a kind, hard-working, well respected (he was a top pick for sub-chief, the second layer of local leadership here), well known (everyone we pass knows his name and is always delighted to see him) family man (he has a wife and 2 very smart daughters) with a background in community health and nursing.

Lucas was born and raised in Kuria. When I asked how long he thought he'd be in Kuria, he simply responded,

"This is my home."

As in, Are you kidding me, Nicole, I'm here for good. I needed to ask the question, and his answer was exactly what I was looking for.

Sidenote: Lucas also happens to be extraordinarily poor.

Although Lucas volunteers at a school and very other places in the community, it's hard to find paying work and get food on the table every night. And this is a smart, capable, very motivated guy we're talking about. Last week, he had no idea how he was going to pay for his daughters' school fees. Just in time (the kids get yanked from school if the fees aren't paid) he was able to pay it, because of his new job with Nuru.

Anyways, although Lucas doesn't currently know all the ins and outs of water resources (I'm training him), he has managed to lead me to over 50 water collection points (this is a huge area!) with no map. And, very impressively, he never made a mistake and brought me to the same place twice. The man knows his community. And his health and sanitation training is a key element that perfectly fills out my knowledge gaps. We're a great team!

As I write this, Lucas is out in the field getting his feet wet (couldn't resist) with the GPS unit, completing the data collection task that we started together. He's also gathering critical information on local supplies for potential solutions this week. This is fantastic, because it frees me up to manage the program and do a bit of engineering. And, he'll be the instructor for our upcoming water/sanitation class, where 50 water/sanitation representatives will be trained in the basic principles and prevention. These reps will then go back and train their Nuru groups of about 10 people. The 10 people will then share their knowledge with their families...ultimately impacting around 2,000 Kurians.

Lucas taking a rare break. We waited out the rain one day with this family and they insisted on serving us sweet potatoes and chai.

This empowerment stuff is thrilling! I am grateful to be actually doing it and not just talking about it. Lucas will be here when we leave along with the rest of the CDC, and that gets me excited!

Hapana Means No, Pole Means Sorry

I am kindly greeted by everyone I meet, but most days I also receive a couple requests, some are bold and some are more shy.

Sitting barefoot in the dirt, Caroline is taking a quick water break at the spring. She came from working on the shamba (farm), and she graciously answers a few questions about the water for me. We become friends and when I visit her again a few days later she slips into our conversation:

“No one in my family has shoes, can you buy me some shoes?"

Speaking to a mother, who told me (in response to one of my sanitation questions) that she doesn’t wash her hands with soap because she can’t afford soap. With her two children in view, one playing with a broken knife and the other sucking on a battery (I kid you not…I think I’ve seen two toys total in the community I’m working) I get the request:

“Can you buy my children some storybooks?”

Walking around with my backpack doing field work next to a child carrying a heavy load on their head, I hear:

“Can you give me that bag?”

Following a sweet greeting from children who are overjoyed and surprised to see us in their community:

“Give me sweets!”

“Give me money!”

The last request is quite shocking and pretty disturbing, the first time you hear it from a 3 year old. But, the others, like the one for shoes and storybooks…Honestly, there are times when I just want to buy Caroline and her entire family shoes and order a huge shipment of storybooks and soap, for crying out loud. The truth is I could afford it.

Can you imagine working on the farm all day or walking a mile to school on a rocky dirt road barefoot?

But, we’ve committed as a team not to do handouts. The answer is always the same,

“Hapana, pole” (no, sorry).

It kills me to say it sometimes. I just want to give the kid my backpack and my lunch and water inside. I know he needs it more than I do. But, we don’t do handouts. And for a very good reason: because they don’t last. They provide a temporary fix, but the shoes will break and my friend Caroline will not be able to buy replacements for her and the kids. Nothing will have changed.

Instead, we’ve decided to focus on bringing lasting solutions to the community, to help them help lift themselves out of poverty. Like maize seed and fertilizer loans for Caroline, so that her family can sell the surplus in the market, pay the loan back, save some money to buy seed and fertilizer next harvest and still have some left over to pay for school fees, medical fees, soap and shoes for the family. And it’s better if she is able to buy what she needs for her family, I explain to her. And, she looks up at me, beaming,

“Yes, it will be better. Asante sana (thank you very much)!”

I’m glad we’re about lasting solutions and not temporary fixes. But, I won't lie to you, there are moments when my heart breaks as I look into the eyes of a child who doesn’t understand all of this, but is just hoping to bring something home to their starving family, once again and respond,

“Hapana, pole.”