Habari Yako!
Tomorrow is Madaraka Day here in Kenya, a day that celebrates Kenya's self-rule in 1963. It is the equivalent of Independence day in the US, with parades, a day off of work, and lots of food (no fireworks though). However, Madaraka literally translates to "responsibility," signifying that the independence achieved in 1963 was not all fun and games. Over the last week and a half in Kenya and especially the last four days, I have experienced a lot of Madaraka, in both senses of the word.
First, some background/update since my last post. I moved out of the shelter of orientation week and in with the Mulindi family this past Saturday morning. I was greeted by David, my host dad, a tall man who is always smiling and gives off the vibe that he is at peace with the world. David retired from his banking career about 10 years ago and discovered his passion for mushrooms. He grows them, builds sheds to grow more of them, teaches local farmers how to grow them, consults larger farms on mushroom growing technique, and attends mushroom conferences around Kenya. And he finds a way to slip some of each of the five varieties into most of our meals (good thing I love mushrooms!). David and I walked around town, constantly running into old friends of his from childhood or from the bank where he used to work. When we returned home I met my new host mom, Jane. Jane is also sweet as can be and isn't afraid to express herself. She is a school administrator and English teacher about a 30 minute matatu ride away. In our first few days together Jane has told me of her experience coming to a new school and making changes for the better, even when they were unpopular. She disrupted the status quo of frequent teacher absenteeism by holding her teachers accountable to the school and to the students. "Yes, people were talking about me," she recounted, "but I never minded because I knew what I was doing was right. "The family has two daughters, one away in secondary school and the other working in Nairobi. The Mulindi's home is a quaint house tucked away about a 10 minute walk away from the main road and near a peaceful stream and friendly neighbors (including FSD interns Jay and Lauren!).
I'm getting pretty well adapted into the home and neighborhood. I've got my favorite pikipiki driver on speed dial, know where the local butcher is and the best place to buy mananasi (pineapple, actually the best I've ever had). Bucket showers and pit latrines are a new experience but not too bad once you get used to them. The family's dogs have started to accept me as part of their home (they no longer bark and howl when they smell me coming) but the neighborhood children aren't quite there yet. I am get to walk to or from the house without hearing, "Mzungu! (translation: white person) Mzungu! How are you?!?!" Every time I respond that I'm doing fine, the kids just smile with the satisfaction that a mzungu talked to them (of course I mush respond to each individual child in a group who asks, otherwise they would think I was picking favorites). While the positive attention and affection is nice, I would much rather hear "Rafiki (fun fact/translation: friend, gotta love Disney)! Rafiki!" shouted at me instead. But I'll give it time as I get to know more of the neighbors and they start to accept that the color of my skin is different to what they are used to. They both love the cheesiest soap opera called "Soy Tu Dueña" that comes on every night at 8 and as much as I hate to admit it, they've got me hooked.
Yesterday was my first day on the job working for Village Enterprise Fund (VEF). VEF is a non-profit that provides business mentorship and small loans to people bellow poverty line in rural areas to help develop sustainable micro-enterprises. Check it out! After being told to arrive anytime between 8 and 9, arriving at a locked building at 8:30, and waiting until 8:56 for the director to arrive, I got settled in. The office is a small room with a smaller reception area, but big enough to fit the 2.5 full time employees and myself. Wilson is the country director for Kenya, Linnet is the finance manager, secretary, and effective country CFO, and Paul is an American fellow here for a year (the 1/2 given that he's not permanent). I was promptly introduced to the personnel, the organization's mission, and a large stack of papers that needed to be entered into "the database." The wonderful thing about Kenya is that things run on Kenyan time, as in if you arrive within an hour of when you said you would, you are early (example 1: my first morning on the job). Deadlines are flexible, if you get caught up talking with an old friend, whatever you were supposed to do next can wait. And when it rains (as in does almost every day at 4pm) everyone stops what they are doing, bundles everything up, and goes inside. Note to self: never schedule a meeting anywhere between 4 and 5. But the downside of running on "Kenyan time" is that when things actually are due, people are behind, data hasn't been entered, and it becomes a mad dash to get it done. So I helped enter a stack of 200 reports from all stages of VEF's funding process: initial seed grant application/business plan, assessment of business, distribution of follow up grant, and subsequent spot checks. Of course these forms were due at the end of the month (today). It was actually a nice introduction into the organization as I got to see the entire process VEF goes through with all of their beneficiaries, what questions they asked, and what typical answers were. Plus I got to be useful.
Today the VEF staff from HQ in California, Uganda, and Kakamega came together for an annual big picture meeting to wrap up the fiscal year and plan for the next. While I was still entering data for the first half of the day, I got invited to the "senior staff meeting" (apparently I'm moving up the ranks faster than I thought!) around noon. This was another great opportunity to see what VEF is all about, its successes, its failures, its changes, and where the microfinance organization is headed. Although we spent about an hour going over the gas reimbursement process, I learned a lot about how VEF has evolved over the past 20 years. Paul is going into the field, broadly defined as Western Province, but this time specifically Busia, on Friday and I am hoping to tag along. I really like the staff at VEF and am fully behind their mission, I am now just trying to find my place within the organization. Hopefully the trip (if it happens) on Friday will help.
So Madaraka. Yes, I have a lot of freedom in the US. But for some reason, I feel so much more free here in Kakamega. In town I can jump on a pikipiki or a matatu and visit any of my friends in town. I can use my budgeted money to buy food in the market (pineapples? yes) or Kenyan sandals. At home I actually have free time, something that doesn't really exist for me in the states. I can help my host mom cook, my host dad harvest mushrooms, or even watch Soy Tu Dueña. And at work, I have more freedom and independence than ever before. I met the Senior Director of Field Operations today and she told me to contribute whatever ideas I have and run with them. You never know until you try. And with this Madaraka come Madaraka, responsibility. I need to respect my host family and let them know that I spontaneously jumped on that matatu to Kisumu and that I won't be back for dinner. I can't actually blow all of my money on pineapples in the first week (as much as I want to). I have a responsibility to VEF to leave it better than I found it. And I have a responsibility to myself to make the most of my time here in Kakamega. Happy Madaraka Day (and Happy Birthday, Chris)!
Tomorrow is Madaraka Day here in Kenya, a day that celebrates Kenya's self-rule in 1963. It is the equivalent of Independence day in the US, with parades, a day off of work, and lots of food (no fireworks though). However, Madaraka literally translates to "responsibility," signifying that the independence achieved in 1963 was not all fun and games. Over the last week and a half in Kenya and especially the last four days, I have experienced a lot of Madaraka, in both senses of the word.
First, some background/update since my last post. I moved out of the shelter of orientation week and in with the Mulindi family this past Saturday morning. I was greeted by David, my host dad, a tall man who is always smiling and gives off the vibe that he is at peace with the world. David retired from his banking career about 10 years ago and discovered his passion for mushrooms. He grows them, builds sheds to grow more of them, teaches local farmers how to grow them, consults larger farms on mushroom growing technique, and attends mushroom conferences around Kenya. And he finds a way to slip some of each of the five varieties into most of our meals (good thing I love mushrooms!). David and I walked around town, constantly running into old friends of his from childhood or from the bank where he used to work. When we returned home I met my new host mom, Jane. Jane is also sweet as can be and isn't afraid to express herself. She is a school administrator and English teacher about a 30 minute matatu ride away. In our first few days together Jane has told me of her experience coming to a new school and making changes for the better, even when they were unpopular. She disrupted the status quo of frequent teacher absenteeism by holding her teachers accountable to the school and to the students. "Yes, people were talking about me," she recounted, "but I never minded because I knew what I was doing was right. "The family has two daughters, one away in secondary school and the other working in Nairobi. The Mulindi's home is a quaint house tucked away about a 10 minute walk away from the main road and near a peaceful stream and friendly neighbors (including FSD interns Jay and Lauren!).
I'm getting pretty well adapted into the home and neighborhood. I've got my favorite pikipiki driver on speed dial, know where the local butcher is and the best place to buy mananasi (pineapple, actually the best I've ever had). Bucket showers and pit latrines are a new experience but not too bad once you get used to them. The family's dogs have started to accept me as part of their home (they no longer bark and howl when they smell me coming) but the neighborhood children aren't quite there yet. I am get to walk to or from the house without hearing, "Mzungu! (translation: white person) Mzungu! How are you?!?!" Every time I respond that I'm doing fine, the kids just smile with the satisfaction that a mzungu talked to them (of course I mush respond to each individual child in a group who asks, otherwise they would think I was picking favorites). While the positive attention and affection is nice, I would much rather hear "Rafiki (fun fact/translation: friend, gotta love Disney)! Rafiki!" shouted at me instead. But I'll give it time as I get to know more of the neighbors and they start to accept that the color of my skin is different to what they are used to. They both love the cheesiest soap opera called "Soy Tu Dueña" that comes on every night at 8 and as much as I hate to admit it, they've got me hooked.
Yesterday was my first day on the job working for Village Enterprise Fund (VEF). VEF is a non-profit that provides business mentorship and small loans to people bellow poverty line in rural areas to help develop sustainable micro-enterprises. Check it out! After being told to arrive anytime between 8 and 9, arriving at a locked building at 8:30, and waiting until 8:56 for the director to arrive, I got settled in. The office is a small room with a smaller reception area, but big enough to fit the 2.5 full time employees and myself. Wilson is the country director for Kenya, Linnet is the finance manager, secretary, and effective country CFO, and Paul is an American fellow here for a year (the 1/2 given that he's not permanent). I was promptly introduced to the personnel, the organization's mission, and a large stack of papers that needed to be entered into "the database." The wonderful thing about Kenya is that things run on Kenyan time, as in if you arrive within an hour of when you said you would, you are early (example 1: my first morning on the job). Deadlines are flexible, if you get caught up talking with an old friend, whatever you were supposed to do next can wait. And when it rains (as in does almost every day at 4pm) everyone stops what they are doing, bundles everything up, and goes inside. Note to self: never schedule a meeting anywhere between 4 and 5. But the downside of running on "Kenyan time" is that when things actually are due, people are behind, data hasn't been entered, and it becomes a mad dash to get it done. So I helped enter a stack of 200 reports from all stages of VEF's funding process: initial seed grant application/business plan, assessment of business, distribution of follow up grant, and subsequent spot checks. Of course these forms were due at the end of the month (today). It was actually a nice introduction into the organization as I got to see the entire process VEF goes through with all of their beneficiaries, what questions they asked, and what typical answers were. Plus I got to be useful.
Today the VEF staff from HQ in California, Uganda, and Kakamega came together for an annual big picture meeting to wrap up the fiscal year and plan for the next. While I was still entering data for the first half of the day, I got invited to the "senior staff meeting" (apparently I'm moving up the ranks faster than I thought!) around noon. This was another great opportunity to see what VEF is all about, its successes, its failures, its changes, and where the microfinance organization is headed. Although we spent about an hour going over the gas reimbursement process, I learned a lot about how VEF has evolved over the past 20 years. Paul is going into the field, broadly defined as Western Province, but this time specifically Busia, on Friday and I am hoping to tag along. I really like the staff at VEF and am fully behind their mission, I am now just trying to find my place within the organization. Hopefully the trip (if it happens) on Friday will help.
So Madaraka. Yes, I have a lot of freedom in the US. But for some reason, I feel so much more free here in Kakamega. In town I can jump on a pikipiki or a matatu and visit any of my friends in town. I can use my budgeted money to buy food in the market (pineapples? yes) or Kenyan sandals. At home I actually have free time, something that doesn't really exist for me in the states. I can help my host mom cook, my host dad harvest mushrooms, or even watch Soy Tu Dueña. And at work, I have more freedom and independence than ever before. I met the Senior Director of Field Operations today and she told me to contribute whatever ideas I have and run with them. You never know until you try. And with this Madaraka come Madaraka, responsibility. I need to respect my host family and let them know that I spontaneously jumped on that matatu to Kisumu and that I won't be back for dinner. I can't actually blow all of my money on pineapples in the first week (as much as I want to). I have a responsibility to VEF to leave it better than I found it. And I have a responsibility to myself to make the most of my time here in Kakamega. Happy Madaraka Day (and Happy Birthday, Chris)!
