This is My Life

I tend to be a somewhat adaptive person that can slide into new environments and sort of quickly learn the ropes and make my way…at least I like to think I am. However, there are moments when I feel my brain take a pause and think

“Is this seriously my life?”

Then my emotions start to feel it and catch up to laugh, cry or just reflect. A few recent examples:

Meeting with Chiefs
Often, I have to visit the various chiefs in the community to announce a training event or discuss an upcoming project with them. They are very respectful of me and providing their honest and useful feedback. I really enjoy these meetings. The other day as I was riding on the back of a boda boda (motorbike) home from a meeting with Chief John, the head chief of the area we’re working in, and I was struck with just how remarkable it truly is that I’m in and out of the chief’s office discussing community water/sanitation issues and at the end of each meeting he’s shaking my hand and saying,

“Nicole, I want you to know that you have my full support.”

Women of Kuria
I was at a grade school a couple weeks ago scoping out potential well locations. School was in session and the kids were curiously peaking out of the windows at us. All of the sudden an older woman comes strolling across the school yard, with six cows (it is very rare to see a woman with the cattle and I’ve never seen an older woman rearing cattle). She exuded both the strength and sorrow I see in the women here. Everyone I was surrounded by knew exactly who she was and greeted her with honor. The cattle parade stopped me in my tracks, and for a moment I stood frozen, in awe of this woman.

Chaotic Bus Rides
A matatu ride (Kenyan public transportation- pretty much a run-down 14 passenger van) is always an adventure, but last weekend on a journey to Kisumu, a nearby city where Doug and I were taking a little break together, my expectations of the chaos were again exceeded. When we boarded and saw only 1 seat available, the operator (guy who sits in the back of the van, opens the door for passengers, and takes the money) pulled out a wooden board about half the thickness of a two-by-four and twice the width, set it between two seats and gesture toward me to take a seat.

I'm not a large person, but my rear is definitely in need of more than a 3-inch plank.

After that several people continued to load into the already full van even after I took my seat on the plank. And at the next stop, even more people loaded into the van, so many that the door could not close. There were 23 people crammed into the 14-passenger van, and my plank was looking like prime seating to the people hanging out of the door. Oh, and we got a flat tire on the way home.

The Beauty of Kuria
I’ve said it before, but Kuria is truly a spectacularly gorgeous place. Often, as I’m riding out for a field visit or on my way to a meeting in the community, I sit on the back of the boda boda (motorbike) and just gasp at the wonder of the place- the green rolling hills, the rock outcroppings, the patchwork of shambas (farms), the brilliant blue sky and white puffy clouds. The stark contrast between the staggering beauty and the deep suffering…

Positive Change
I had a meeting with the water sanitation representatives, 48 fantastic volunteers who have committed to teaching their Nuru groups about how to prevent waterborne diseases by boiling their drinking water and washing their hands with soap. They each shared a about what it was like to train their groups (many had never done anything like that before), and to my amazement and joy, they reported that drastic changes are beginning to take place.

A woman reported that for the first time she started boiling her family’s drinking water after attending the water/sanitation training, and they stopped getting sick. She spread the word and her neighbors are boiling now too. A man reported that many people formerly washed only one hand (the one they use to wipe, I presume) and used no soap, but they now understand that both hands need to be washed and that soap kills disease-causing micro-organisms, so they’re all using the “3X3 Hand Washing” technique they learned in training now.

It’s only been a couple months, and already we’re seeing positive change! I love my job!