An Overview of my trip to Kenya

Hey guys! So we have this yearbook that we're working on for our program and they asked me to write an article about my time in Kenya. This is what I wrote and wanted to share it with all of you as well. I hope you enjoy!

"It is difficult to describe my journey to Kenya in one word, or even in one sentence. However, if I were to attempt to summarize my experience in one word, it would be “extreme”. If I were to summarize it with a sentence using a quote from the famous Nelson Mandela, it would be: "We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right."

After having already lived in Munich for almost six months, traveling to Nairobi, Kenya for five weeks was one of the most incredibly challenging adjustments I have ever made. I left a world of pristine and immaculate “Ordnung” and entered a country of disorder, chaos, and more dialects than there are words in the English language. I went from being the awkward American meshing with German culture to the “mzungu” (or white person in Swahili) that was constantly gawked at. I stuck out more than I ever have. I understood not one world of the language. I left a country with snow still on the ground, and entered one in which most people have never even seen snow.

For five weeks I worked with a faith-baised organization called HOPE Worldwide Kenya, in Nairobi, which serves to better the community in as many ways as funding allows. The three programs I worked with while I was there were Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Shujaa, and Blood Safety. The OVC Program works with the Nairobian kids living in the Mukuru Slums, a city just outside of Nairobi. I was able to spend the week getting to know the kids, doing home visits, taking pictures, and seeing firsthand how they live and survive day-to-day. I learned that these kids hardly ever have enough to eat. Some of them are orphans. More than half are infected with HIV or AIDS. Most die before they become adults from disease, sickness, or hunger. Only a few are able to move on to high school because they cannot afford any higher education. But I also saw that outside of the slums was a completely normal lifestyle, with malls, a city skyline, grocery stores, etc. Nairobi was actually a lot more developed than I had previously thought.

In the second week I worked with Shujaa, which is Swahili for “Hero”, and aims to help decrease the number of sex workers and truckers infected with HIV and have a greater awareness of the repercussions, side-affects, and dangers of infectious diseases. We travelled to the northern parts of Kenya to check on different counseling centers, namely Eldoret, where many of the Olympic track champions are from.

Blood Safety, with whom I worked in the third week, is a program that serves to help raise awareness of safe and responsible blood donations throughout Kenya. Here we worked with teens and college students in teaching them how to effectively communicate safe blood donations with various tribes throughout Kenya. I learned that there are very religious tribes throughout Africa whose religion does not believe in donating blood because it is holy, and should be left in the body.

                       

If I were to paint a picture of what I personally experienced after living in Nairobi Kenya for five weeks, these are the words I would use to complete the portrait:

Matatus (or buses) that drive way too fast, on sidewalks and (almost sometimes) over people, coffee so good that it gives Germany a run for their money, children with beautiful faces in sad living conditions that smile more than people I know in good living conditions, friendliness beyond compare, battles with mosquitos that I always lost, going to the city center and actually thinking that I would be able to find my way around, people selling food, drinks, and anything you can really think of on the side of the road (and knocking on the window of your car when you try to avoid looking at them), three hour traffic jams when it should only be a fifteen minute drive, a very large faith in God with Bible scriptures posted everywhere, Ugali (staple food, made of flour and water) that sticks to your stomach like super glue, washing laundry by hand and dishes in the bathroom sink, ruining my new shoes from Paris while walking home in the mud after a monsoon, long dresses and covered shoulders in 100 degree weather, incredibly beautiful dresses from Ghana of every striking color, weddings with thousands of people and somehow still plenty of food, searching far and wide for normal foods like pizza and ice cream because I could not recognize anything else, Manji Digestive bisquits, DUST EVERYWHERE, wearing my Rafiki tank top during an African Safari, Spanish soap operas translated into English, an incredible national pride in Kenya, a rhythm so good with dancing that makes us all look bad, Shang (equivalent to Bayrisch or the Southern Accent), constantly being asked how many words in Swahili I remember (which were none), freaking out with joy after realizing half of the words from Disney’s “The Lion King” are actually Swahili, AFRICAN SAFARI in Maasai Mara, seeing a crocodile eat a dead hippo, almost being attacked by a monkey, calling home for only two cents per minute, no Wi-fi anywhere, getting up at 5 am and going to sleep at 9 pm, thinking I was going to blow up every time I lit the gas stove, consistently random power outages, driving all over Kenya and seeing the country side, mud houses, the best mangos in the world, genuinely real deep-hearted conversations (due to no distractions), and even partaking with the kids in begging the adults to finish one more episode of Spongebob Sqaurepants (oh, the things you miss when you are far from home).

The five weeks I spent there passed alarmingly quickly, and the above list will never be able to fully describe the incredible time that I had in Kenya. Living there genuinely helped me grow as a person with every new experience, good or bad, allowing me to see life differently than I had seen it before. I was able to learn about a culture that I had only ever seen on television or read about in books. I gained my own perspective, instead of simply accepting the perspectives of others. Not only did I gain that outlook, but I also took part in their lifestyle, which is a lifestyle that some of them will never know anything outside of. I built relationships with lovely and genuine people, which included everything from chatting with strangers in Mutatus, worshiping with friends at church, and sitting in the dirt in slums with kids while singing songs and playing games. I lived in a way that pushed me out of my comfort zone numerous times during the day. I lived in a way that exhausted me to the point of going to bed every night earlier than I did as a child.

Overall, I would say Kenya taught me that there is no right way or wrong way to live life, one way is not better than the other, and that a person’s living situations and environment do not determine their value or worth. In Kenya I think it shows their strength in their ability to endure unbearable heat and harsh living conditions. Despite the odds, they find joy in the little things, and find joy in life itself. Kenya taught me to value the time I have in life, whether long or short, whether at home or far away, because there is always some time left to do good where ever one is in this world."

The Final Countdown

So, it’s been quite a while since I’ve last updated. I think the last time was not long after I got back from Nairobi, Kenya. That’s really weird to think about considering now we’re already halfway through June. I’ll do my best to get caught up from the last three months.

Since Kenya transitioning back to Munich has been really, really strange. It’s a weird feeling because I kept thinking after Kenya I would be flying home, all the while knowing at the back of my mind I still had a full semester left to complete. Realizing that was really unfortunate because living in Munich is fun, and exciting, when there’s a lot of time to travel and hang out without the worries of school. School is just something that’s super stressful and the thought of having to start first semester of my last year in college only two weeks after coming home is rather daunting.

And this semester school has continued to be challenging, but in different ways from what I’m used to in the United States. Normally I would have mounds of studying, homework, online assignments, lab reports, etc, but that's not how they do grades here.  It's normally one or two grades during the semester that make up your entire grade for the class.

I’m taking two classes at the University of Munich, one in English, and three at JYM (my program). At LMU I’m taking a Walt Whitman course, which I love, and we’re reading through “Leaves of Grass”. I’m also taking an introduction to film analysis in German, but the teacher is actually American (with phenomenal German), so that’s kind of awkward but encouraging. He’s a German-learning inspiration haha. At JYM I’m taking my second German Grammar course, second semester of independent research about childhood obesity and comparing American and German societies and cultures, and an overseas internship. The internship was actually something I recently just started. At first I was taking Spanish 1 at the University (which is miserable to learn when it’s taught in German), but then about a month ago (after I’d applied to a few clinics in Munich) a lady from Klinikum Schwabing called and asked if I’d want to do an internship with them for a month. I definitely said yes and dropped my Spanish class.

I started working at the clinic on June 1^st and I will finish on June 30^th. The shifts are longish (about 8 hours) and it’s in German..but it’s okay because I like the work and the opportunity to see a German working environment. The routine is always the same, which I find nice with the language. Too many changes and things happening at one time is hard for me in English, and if it were in German I’m pretty sure my brain would start fighting back eventually. Studying medicine here is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. However, if I don’t want to actually practice here it may be a little pointless to go through the schooling. Although the “tuition” is literally almost no money. Those  will be some fun decisions to make in the near future.

I like the clinical setting a lot, and enjoy the environment, and the method of medicine used. However, I’m not sure if it would ever be something I could truly excel at due to the language. I don’t understand German sense of humors, and I can’t be myself with German-speaking kids like I can with English-speaking kids, obviously. And that’s hard for me because I go from someone who loves spending time around children to feeling super stressed on how to properly communicate with them. It would become more about communication and knowing what’s going on than building relationships.

Can you tell I’m completely torn between two completely different worlds? It’s so frustrating. But just even having the opportunity to decide is something I’m grateful for.

The month of April went by very quickly, and was used up getting transitioned back into Munich and German. They had their spring version of Oktoberfest during that month, which is called Frühlingsfest, or Spring Festival. We went a few times, and one time as a big group from my program, which was really fun. I actually finally bought a dirndl and was able to put it to good use. I have no idea if I’ll ever have the opportunity to wear it in the States (outside of Halloween), but hey, a dirndl is a dirndl. And they’re super awesome.

May was a very exciting time because there were lots of visitors from the States. The first was a friend from Clemson named Victor, whose doing a study abroad program for a month in Trier, Germany. He came to Munich a week early to hang out and see everything. Markus and I picked Victor up from the airport and showed him the city on the first day. I was amazed at his determination to see everything on the first day, despite the jetlag.  Even that night in Studentenstadt (where I live) he came around 10 o’clock that night and grilled with us. The week was fun with him because I was able to be a tourist with him and go see lots of places. We took him to BMW World, Olympia Center, Monday night rollerblading through Munich, Hofbräuhaus (the most famous brewery/restaurant in Munich), hiking in the Alps, and many other fun adventures. I still had school so he did a lot of things on his own too. He’ll be back again sometime in the next few weeks before heading back to the States.

Jarrod and Stacey also visited during the same time that Victor was here. I was so excited to see them, even if it was for a day. I was supposed to meet them the first night for dinner, but that had absolutely not worked out. They didn’t have a cell phone or internet outside of their inn, which created many problems. Jarrod just messaged me to meet them at a beer garden at 6:30 pm. Two problems with that: I had babysitting until 6:45 pm, still had to take the transportation to where they were staying, and I had absolutely no idea which Biergarten he meant because there are a ton in Munich. We later found out he meant the Hirschgarten one, which he thought was the only one that existed at the time (haha Jarrod).

The next day they picked me and Victor up from my program’s building and we drove out to Dachau Concentration Camp together. It’s the concentration camp that has the “Arbeit macht frei” (work will set you free) on the entrance gate. Honestly, I probably could have walked there and assumed it was only a few old buildings if I hadn’t seen the information center and the Arbeit macht Frei gate.
It’s crazy because the place is definitely dated, but it’s beautiful around the camp. I think the most intense part for me was when we were walking back from the crematory and found a small hedged path that led to the back of the woods. There were memorials and graves of the countless bodies that had been buried there. On various headstones or monument stones it stated in Jewish, German, and English “Don’t forget”. Even as they were telling everyone these stories of what happened to people in various places throughout the camp it’s still hard to fathom that anything could have happened in a place that appears so unthreatening and even normal. I guess I’m not sure what I thought a concentration camp was supposed to look like.

The next group that visited Munich was two of my childhood friends, Tyler and Lauren. Tyler just finished studying abroad in Paris, France (he’s also the one I visited), and his family and younger sister came to travel with him during the few weeks after he’d finished up with school. I met with them on their arrival day after a long test at my program, and we went to the Englischer Garten and met with some friends for one of their birthdays. It was so nice because the tables were set up right by the river and everything David made was so good. Frischkäse and Bretzen is seriously the best combination in the world. We ate a ridiculous amount of food and then went to bed early because of how tired we all were.

During the next few days I showed them the city center as well, we went to Olympia Center to have a picnic and watch a really random (but free!) concert, Schloss Nymphenberg, Hirschgarten (where we ate a ton of Bavarian food), Hofbräuhaus, Rischart, shopping on Kaufingerstraβe, Viktualienmarkt Biergarten, BUBBLE TEA FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER AND IT WAS AWESOME!, and a bunch of other things. It was really fun being able to hang out with them, and I was kind of jealous they’re already heading back home and finished with their second semesters. This semester and the workload are seriously dragging. I just want the work to go away. L

During the second weekend in June I was able to take off from my internship and travel to Zurich/Aarau, Switzerland to visit the lovely Simone for her 19^th birthday. She invited a lot of her friends from all over and we all crashed at her house in Aarau for the weekend. It was seriously a lot of fun, and her parents are adorable, and so nice. Hearing Swiss German gives me have a deer-in-the-headlights look, but I loved trying to understand what they were saying. To my ears, personally, it sounds harsher than regular Hochdeutsch (what’s taught in the schools, and internationally), but I’m also a lot more used to hearing Hochdeutsch than anything else. Even now German sounds a lot softer than it did when I first got here.

Anyway, we spent a lot of time hanging out, playing games, and watched one movie every night. One thing I’ve noticed too about people that I’ve met here too is that a lot of quality time is spent together. They don’t watch movies as much, or go out to eat. If they do go out to eat, they sit and talk for a while, and just relax. Their pace with everything is always so relaxed and calm. Even the average working person living here works around 32 hours per week, and still makes an excellent salary. That’s not the point of going to Simone’s, but it’s my current stream of consciousness. Also on the way back from Aarau we passed the Rhein River, which is something I learned about in high school, which made me extremely happy. I took lots of pictures. I know this isn’t the most exciting blog I’ve ever written, but I’ll try to write more in the next one, after I’ve finished up my internship and have extra time to think through what I really want to say.

Until then, thanks for reading! About one month and fifteen days until I come home. J

 Love, Jessica

Last Week in Kenya. Blood Safety Week 5.

               As sad as it is to say, I am officially writing the last blog of adventures from my time in Nairobi, Kenya. I cannot believe how fast it has gone by! I still feel like I have just gotten here, and the thought of going back to Munich feels incredibly strange. I kind of feel like I don’t belong anywhere right now and that I’m just floating from country to country. I am really excited to be returning to my German home though, and start the second semester in Munich with friends and the church. I can’t believe this semester is only about three months long. How is this one around two months shorter than winter semester?? 

                During my last week and few days I have been placed in working with Blood Safety, and continuing what I started before the Maasai Mara safari last week. Out of all the programs I’ve worked with, I actually feel like I’ve been of the most help to them. This being so mostly because of my familiarity with Facebook, online sources, and having the perspective and mindset of international college students. The blood program they have is actually very, very good, and I have learned so much from them. However, they are not self-supported yet because they are fully funded by CDC. In five years, those funds may run out, and they are trying to continue their program without having to depend on big organizations like CDC. So for all of you reading this, please go on to Facebook and like their page! We are still trying to set everything up properly, but your support would be greatly appreciated! It’s called “HOPE worldwide Kenya Blood Safety”. The name is kind of long, but it works.

                Sunday the 24^th I was able to spend more time with campus after church. Because their campus group is very large, they have family groups (based on what university they attend) that they meet in every week and plan activities with. Because Fridah and Serah are close, I started spending a lot of time with Serah, and was added to her family group. One of the girls in Serah’s group, Angela, and her mom invited us over to their house and made us lunch for free. It was soo nice. Her mom made SO MUCH FOOD. I really wish I’d been that girl and thought to have taken a picture of it. We had a gigantic pan of rice with potatoes, greens, and pork. And it tasted incredible. 

                After we ate, Serah, Tony, and I went outside and started washing the dishes and taking pictures. It was actually a lot of fun, they are really wonderful people to be around. And when we were done washing, everyone left, and Tony, Serah, and I decided we wanted ice cream from town. So we walked around for a long time trying to find it. We found this fast food place that looked so much like McDonald’s and bought ice cream from there. Fridah is a health nut and every time I eat something unhealthy she says something, which I find endearing, and we have a lot of fun with it. She does the same with Serah, so Serah and I took photos to show Fridah exactly what she was missing out on. She just said we were ridiculous haha.

 Tony was in charge of washing :)

 I was rinse, Tony was wash, Serah was rinse again.

                Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I stayed at the office and helped with the Blood program, so a lot of time was spent on the computer, while also getting my classes for Munich and Clemson figured out. It’s really weird that I am signing up for my classes in the Fall before I sign up for my classes that I’m supposed to be starting in two weeks. I like the German school system a lot though because it’s relaxed. I have always felt that American universities cause an unnecessary amount of stress on students, even making study abroad an extremely difficult process to pursue. Being in Munich has given me such an appreciation for academics again because we are able to engage so much more efficiently with our work, due to the fact that we aren’t cramming ten million facts and biological systems into our heads every week. I actually have time to breathe and appreciate my college years. I can actually live outside of a classroom and studying in the library. And for years that are supposed to encourage personal growth, I feel like getting outside the classroom and learning is just as important (if not more) than being inside the classroom.

                This past week, starting on Tuesday or Wednesday night, was the beginning of ‘Mosqueeto’ week. By the way, Kenyans don’t say mosquito like we do. They stress the ‘qui’ part to sound like ‘quee’ and it cracks me up. The first time I heard Fridah say it, I thought she was joking. And then when I told her what we normally say, she asked why because it’s not spelled the way we pronounce it. She has a point. I don’t know why we don’t say it like Kenyans. Anyway, mosquitoes started invading Fridah and mine’s room and I could not sleep. The first night was awful, and I think I got around two hours of sleep. Every time I would start to dose off, I would hear the buzzing noise again, or freak out and think one was on my arm or face. I could not believe how persistent they were. AND THEY DIDN’T DIE. These mosquitoes are crazy. Nothing works when trying to kill them. 

                On Thursday I was allowed to go to Nakuru with Margaret to do Blood Safety training for a group of youth around my age and a little older. Nakuru is a very nice city, smaller and quieter than Nairobi, and just pleasant to be in. They are near Naivasha, which is the gigantic lake with flamingos, and a very popular tourist attraction. We arrived early around 10 am (even though we were two and a half hours late…oops), and went on with the training all day from there. I actually had so much fun doing the training with this group. I honestly wasn’t even that sure what we would be doing with them, or what the trip was for because I was told I was going at the last minute. There were about twelve or thirteen of them, and all were there for the purpose of learning about safely donating blood and how to get involved in running blood drives in their areas. 

                My favorite part of the entire workshop was that Margaret assigned us animal names at the beginning according to the first letter in our first name (mine was Jaguar) as way to help us remember each other’s names. I thought they would think it was too silly. However, they loved it and had so much fun with it. Any time Margaret forgot to use their animal name they would correct her and make her use it. And these were 23ish-year-olds. Most people around that age don’t have the liveliest of attitudes concerning workshops and ‘icebreakers’ (I know I don’t), so I found it quite refreshing to be with a group that just had fun together. Not to mention, Margaret is awesome and loved spending time with her. Not to mention she did an excellent job in handling the workshop and running everything. And every time we went to get food for dinner or lunch she would eat Mango milkshakes with me. Fridah wouldn’t do that…and Fridah if you read this I’m TOTALLY right. J Oh and by the way, I even got a wedding proposal from the guy named “Baboon”. He informed Margaret that he was coming back to Nairobi with us so that he and I could get married. It was awkwardly funny because he has a playful personality.

Just some of the pictures from the workshop:

 Margaret leading one of the sessions.

 Acting out various situations that can occur when talking to someone about donating blood.

New friend haha.

Keeps the blood fluid in motion. This is after the blood has been centrifuged.

 Fancy pipettes, and very good at measuring.

 Teamwork.

                Friday we traveled back to Nairobi, passing through the Rift Valley once more, and I took so many pictures. I really enjoyed our conversation of just getting to know each other, talk about where each person is from, how it’s different, each other’s families, and God. I’ve just loved working with a faith-based organization. It’s so encouraging to walk into work every day knowing that that part of my life is accepted and even a preferred conversation topic. I feel like I can be myself a lot easier, especially when everyone plays 21 questions with me about who I am, where I come from, and why I’m in Kenya. Because at the end of the day, everything I am, and came from, and the ultimate reason I had the opportunity to go to Kenya was because of God and deciding to have a relationship with Him. I don’t even know if I’d gone to Germany had I not made that decision because I would have been too afraid. 

Some of my favorite pictures from the journey back to Nairobi:

                With that being said, Wednesday, March 28, was my second spiritual birthday, or two years since I got baptized and decided to really start living my life as a Christian. It was such an exciting day for me to reflect on how much my life has changed since the day I got baptized and now. Within that time, God has changed, mended, broken off, and created so many relationships in my life (not to mention since September I’ve probably met over 1,000 new people. I’m not kidding), I’ve been able to travel and spend time with sister churches in Europe and Kenya, I’ve been learning a new language and even been able to communicate with Germans about who they are in their own language (which was my ultimate goal), brought me closer with my parents, given me a new appreciation for home when all I’d wanted to do was get outttt and start over, helped me appreciate school again, given me a direction with my life and career goals, and just helped me find freedom from everything I didn’t think I could start over from. I truly feel like at this point I finally understand what it means to have a peace that ‘passes all understanding’. It’s really hard at times to stay faithful, but it’s literally the most worthwhile thing I've ever done with my life. Hopefully that didn’t offend anyone or make the uncomfortable. Regardless, thank you for reading that if you did. It’s very important to me. 

                In my last few days left in Nairobi, I did some shopping, spending time with friends, and finishing up any last work for Blood Safety. The rainy season started about two days before my flight left, which was really interesting. The traffic is already pretty bad during certain times, but it becomes a little disastrous after the rain comes. And it was kind of funny to see how cold everyone thought the weather was, even though I’m pretty sure it only got down to the fifties (Fahrenheit). I loved it though, and eventually it prepared me to come back to the cold weather in Munich. It was sad to tell everyone goodbye, but exciting know that this end creates a new beginning, which will eventually lead to a new beginning at home. It’s crazy how little time it takes for things to change to the point where you have to readjust again. 

                I think this is all for now. By this time I am already back in Munich and I’ll be sure to update on life here soon! I hope you’re all doing well and have a great week!

Jessica

Blood Safety and Maasai Mara - Week 4, Nairobi, Kenya

              Finally, the bed I’m lying in right now is in an actual apartment, and not in the middle of nowhere with spiders crawling everywhere, mosquito nets, and constant nightmares of being attacked in the middle of the night. Sounds a little stressful right? I thought so too. I absolutely love adventures and traveling, but I am just one of those people that cannot fall asleep in nature. I am constantly on edge, thinking every little brush of wind, tickle, or crack of a twig is something that could be dangerous. I have no idea why I’m so paranoid, but I’m at the point where I’ve just accepted it and do my best to deal with it without losing entire nights of sleep (which is generally what happens anyway).

               

                During my fourth week I had the amazing privilege to go on an African Safari in Maasai Mara, Kenya. Even writing that sounds so surreal. I distinctly remember writing ‘go on an African Safari’ on a bucket list during sophomore year when Meghan and I stayed up all night making them and talking. And just a year later, I can say I’ve already done that. And wow, what an incredible experience it was. 

                On Monday and Tuesday I was at the office working with Fridah and Tabitha on blood safety. They’re just starting to expand their outreach to online sources, like Facebook, and I was teaching her how to set everything up, even though it was also my first time creating and organizing a Facebook cause. I’ve seen other organizations set up pages before, but I never realized how much work it is to get the page more professional looking, and keeping their audience entertained and engaged. It’s kind of exhausting. However, even though this isn’t the field I’m most interested in, I think it will definitely be beneficial in the long run. The way our society is going, it seems that the greatest forms of communication are becoming something electronic and needing Wi-Fi.

                Tuesday night was my first chance to be able to hang out with the campus ministry at the Nairobi Christian Church. I’d previously just been going everywhere with Fridah because it was easier, but we finally arranged for me to find ways to spend time with people my age and in my stage of life. There are around fifty students in campus, which is around the size of the campus in Clemson, and deeply encouraging me. It’s extremely overwhelming, and I feel incredibly rude when I have to confess not remembering people’s names…but everyone has been really patient and loving with me, and I’m extremely grateful for that. 

After the devo on Tuesday night, Fridah had asked Leslie to babysit me and make sure I got home safely, which eventually led to me falling in a manhole on the way home. I’m so serious. I fell into a manhole that was so deep, only my head was poking out when I was all the way in. I was so shocked, I didn’t even respond until after Leslie and another one of the guys pulled me out. I guess Leslie gets points from Fridah for saving me. And apparently falling into manholes is kind of a problem here, and it’s a lot more common than I thought. Oh Nairobi…sometimes you’re a little too fast-paced for me.

                Wednesday morning I got picked up from the apartment by Marcus, our driver and tour guide for the entire Maasai Mara trip. He works for “Bonfire adventures” and they actually have a lot of sightseeing and traveling opportunities. So if anyone is interested in traveling to some part of Africa, I definitely recommend them. They work out of Nairobi, though, so that’s something to consider as well. Here’s their website: http://www.bonfireadventures.com/

                I absolutely loved the people in my group. There were six of us including me, and I was nervous about not knowing anyone. The first two we picked up (Anna and Sam) was a couple from Switzerland! Their German has a very different accent, and it’s strong, but they can speak Hochdeutsch (what’s taught in the schools) when they want. On the first night, Anna even spoke German with me, which was so encouraging! I hadn’t spoken it in so long, I got really uncomfortable and my face turned red. It was embarrassing…haha. Going back to Munich will be so awkward at first. Anyway, the third person we picked up was a girl named Tian, who is from China, but doing research in Uganda and studying in America. And I thought describing my situation was difficult! She’s really nice though, and we ended up rooming together since we both were singles. On the third stop we picked up two ladies from Canada named Soni and Amenika. They both have Indian heritage and were very fun to be around. Soni was especially cute because she said “Right??” after everything. 

                When we got to the Mara, we set our stuff in the tents and four of us went to the Maasai village. It was so incredible to see the way they lived. They build their houses out of mud, cow dung, and very strong sticks. They keep these houses for nine years, and then pick up their lives and move to a new location to build newer houses. Apparently after nine years, the termites start to decompose the houses and they break down. The men can have as many wives as they want, and the numbers of stripes they wear on their cloths represent how many wives they have. I asked if the 2^nd and 3^rd wives were ever allowed to marry anyone else and they straight up replied with ‘no’. Struggles. We also found out that there are even women (from Canada especially) that visit their village, and fall in love with their culture and eventually marry into their tribe. I found that so interesting. I could absolutely not imagine leaving my entire life behind to join their tribe in the Mara. It’s not just two completely different worlds. It’s more like two completely different universes.

                The chief’s son greeted us at the front and told us we were free to take as many pictures as we wanted, and to ask questions. He introduced us to their homes, and the men opened up performing a tribal dance. I don’t remember which occasion they perform it during, but it was still really interesting. The noises they made with their voices alone were really incredible. And they can jump SO HIGH. While they were dancing, one of the men put his cloth around me to wear, and they brought all of us into their dancing circle. Then they showed us how they make a fire without matches. It truly is amazing how they live their lives in comparison to the modern day world. 

                After the men performed, the women took their turn and sang us a song while standing in a line. However, when they were finished, they left and continued on with their activities. The men wanted to show us the inside of the homes. The inside was actually not that bad. Honestly, if it weren’t for all of the small creatures like spiders, termites, mosquitos, etc, it wouldn’t be that bad. They had a section blocked off for their cattle. Another small room was for all of the children to sleep in. Beside the children’s room was the kitchen, which consisted of stones in the shape of a circle, with wood in the middle, and a metal grilling rack on top to cook their food on. On the wall beside the ‘grill’ was a small hole in the wall, which was the only ‘window’ in the entire house, and allowed the smoke from the grill to escape. On the other side of the kitchen was the bed where the first wife and the husband slept. I have no idea where the put the other wives.

They invited us to sit and talk for a while, mostly to ask questions. I was mostly interested in how they viewed their way of life, and they said they loved it. Some of them have been to Nairobi and said they didn’t like it because it’s too busy, fast, and there is no nature around them. But then again, if you have grown up only really knowing one way of life, it would be hard to find an appreciation outside of what you are comfortable with, or rather what feels like home to you.

After meeting the Maasai, we went on our first trip out to the Mara! I was so excited. They said at the beginning we would see the smaller, grazing animals, especially the gazelles and impalas, and eventually it would get to the bigger ones the further we drove out. It was late in the afternoon, and we wanted to get back in time for dinner, so we didn’t stay out in the Mara too long. The animals we were able to see were the impalas, gazelles, wildebeests, giraffes, elephants, zebras, lions, buffalos, a few exotic birds, jackals, and hyenas. We saw so many incredible animals, and I loved being so close to them. It felt safe in the vehicle, and I had no desire to leave (especially around the lions), but it was so incredible to just be in the real environment instead of a zoo. They were in the wild, doing what they needed to do to survive, and we got to experience that with them.

At one point there was a large group of female lions in an area that had already attacked a wildebeest, and they were feeding on it. All of the Safari trucks began surrounding them from a distance, and we just sat and watched. It. Was. So. Insanely. Awesome. And then what was even more amazing was that a very large group of wildebeests (it looked like hundreds) came running from a distance toward the lions eating the member of their herd. They eventually surrounded the lions, looking like they were going to attack. Our driver Marcus said that they were mourning for their loss. All of these wildebeests traveled from afar just to mourn the loss of a member of their herd. 

The lions finally noticed the wildebeest’s presence and confronted them. I thought they were going to fight, but the wildebeests eventually ran away after one of the lions charged toward them. We drove away toward the huge herd about 150 yards away from the feeding lions, and while we were there, the wildebeests charged again! So we drove back and tried to see the action. The lions actually walked away from the dead animal and lay together as a group in the shade behind one of the safari trucks. While they were there, the wildebeests just surrounded their dead for a while and did nothing. Eventually the lions got tired of waiting, and confronted them again, driving the herd away again for the final time. They all ran off into the distance and did not come back again.

Seeing the animals on the first evening was wonderful, and I loved it. But I would have to say my favorite part of the entire first day experience was witnessing my first African sunset. It was seriously like no sunset I have ever seen before. It was unbelievably beautiful, and I tried so hard to capture its  beauty through pictures. We parked our van on the side of one of the paths, stuck our heads out of the top, and patiently watched it set before us. The colors were bright, vibrant, and striking; changing with each moment the sun sank further. And in a span of only a few minutes, it had already set.

I think I took around 300 pictures on the first day, which sounds successful….except for the fact that my camera died and I had not brought my charger with me. I was so mad at myself. I even went around asking other people if they had Canon chargers, but apparently Canon decided to make every battery in their cameras different sizes, making each charger too short or too thin in width for my battery. So I had to accept my very unfortunate situation and do my best to remember everything I’d seen without pictures. However, everything was so new and exciting; I highly doubt I will ever forget it.

The second day we woke up very early to go on a day long ‘drive’. The plan was to drive all the way out to where the hippos and crocodiles were, and eat lunch with the monkeys. The animals we saw earlier in the morning were the same as the day before. The ones I was really wanting to see where cheetahs. I think cheetahs are so interesting. I love how fast they are—able to run up to 70 mph when attacking prey. They literally deplete every ounce of energy in their body to run that quickly, and have to rest for long periods after, but the fact that an animal can move faster than some speed limits on highways is beyond full comprehension for me. 

The Hippo and Crocodile river was about three hours from the gate and camp. Upon crossing over the bridge, Marcus stopped the van and allowed us to look out the top, and down toward the waters. We saw a few hippos bathing in the sun outside of the river. I saw this one bump in the water directly below us that looked like a rock, but it also looked like the back of a hippo. I said it was a hippo and Sam was adamant about it only being a rock. All of a sudden the bump fully submerged itself in the water, and immediately shot back up with the full, gigantic body of a hippo, mouth wide open. Everyone yelled with excitement and Marcus laughed at us.

 When we arrived at the shelter, it was time to eat lunch, and we were informed of the Vervet Monkey manifestation in that area. Apparently these monkeys like to live in areas near water, in bigger bushes to accommodate the larger groups they stay with. Marcus so disliked these monkeys that he chose to eat in the van haha. We sat by the bush of monkeys, holding on to our plastic food containers for dear life. Marcus had given Sam a rubber whip to scare the monkeys if they got too close to our food. The entire time we were eating, the monkeys stared (some were babies as big as my first and so cute!), only a few feet away, waiting to pounce on our food if it was left unattended. I asked Marcus the Swahili word for ‘no’, and he informed me that it was ‘hapana’. However, it never occurred to me until later that if the monkeys knew any human language it would be Maasai and not Swahili. Either way, they took the hint, and I learned more Swahili. Win.

At one point I had dropped my napkin on the ground, and leaned down just for a second so that I wouldn’t litter, and the next thing I know, Sam was cracking the rubber whip and I screamed after looking back and seeing one of the more persistent monkeys grabbing at my plastic container of food. The monkey squealed, dropped my food, and ran back into the bush, still staring at us. Immediately after, Marcus yelled out, “Jessica, why did you just scream?” and all I replied back with was, “Why would you assume that was me?!” and he just laughed.

After an eventful lunch, one of the men gave us a tour of the Hippo and crocodile river, which was nice to be able to walk around instead of sitting the van longer. When we were rounding one of the corners, I saw a hippo floating on its side by the shore. I had just assumed it was relaxing away from the hippo chaos in the middle of the river. I mentioned it, only to realize right after that it was actually dead. It had scratches down the side of its belly and on its face. The tour guide said it looked like the hippo had gotten into a fight and lost. The hippos will compete for male honor and control of the area, and apparently hippos are just really aggressive. An extremely large hippo was staring at the smaller dead one, with scratches down his side as well. I guess we know why the baby hippo died now.

Seconds after we all saw the dead hippo and the tour guide explained what had probably happened, a crocodile lashed out of the water and tried to bite into the dead hippo! It was so crazy! The guide said after about three days’ time, the crocodiles will have finished off the dead body of the hippo. Normally crocodiles in this river grow up to about nine feet, which sounds extremely  terrifying, but in comparison with the hippos weighing over one ton a piece, the crocodiles don’t stand a chance. And they know it.

On the way back from the Hippo/Croc river, Marcus was called about CHEETAHS nearby. It was a baby and the mama hanging around near a bush, right beside a large open field. They were so beautiful, and sat perfectly without moving or walking away. We probably stayed there for thirty minutes just watching them. I wished so badly that I’d had my camera with me.

Those were one of the last animals we saw as we ventured back. There are the “Big 5” that are promised to be seen, like the giraffe, elephant, lion, zebra, and…something else, and then the “Big 2” that are not promised, which are the rhino and the leopard. Leopards are actually more prevalent than cheetahs, but they tend to be much shyer. We also never saw the rhino, but I’m okay with that. They are honestly not that interesting to me, and they probably could have taken down our van if they’d really wanted to.

When we got back to the camp, we had a two hour break before dinner, so I grabbed my quiet time stuff, my Digestive biscuits (which were the BEST cookies ever until I had a bad experience with them a couple of days ago), and sat out in the dining area, facing the beautiful Mara. After I finished, Sam and Anna came from their tents, got beers from the bar, and we all sat, drank, read, and talked for a while. Eventually Anemika, Soni, and Tian came from their tents, and we all lounged and laughed until dinner. I seriously don’t think I could have ended up with a better group of people.

The next morning, on our last day, we went for a short drive to see the sunrise and see the animals one more time before heading back to Nairobi. We didn’t see any new ones, but every time you see any animal, it’s always doing something completely different and interesting because they are in their real environment. My favorite part was when we saw two male lions sitting in one of the pathways. They were so gorgeous. I’d only seen female lions up close until that moment. There is something about male lions that are just amazing. Fridah and I were talking about lions in general, and she was saying the only thing lions are really afraid of are the Maasai. And honestly, I don’t blame them. At one point there were also two German girls leaning out of their Safari truck and yelling at the animals in German. I kind of thought it was hilarious.

                That is basically the entirety of my first (and hopefully not last) African Safari. It was seriously one of the best trips I’ve ever taken, and would hands down recommend to anyone who comes to Africa. Make an effort to go, no matter how far it is! As far as safaris go, I promise it doesn’t get better than Africa, although Animal Kingdom in Disney World did a really good job mimicking the African lands. But seriously, go. You won’t regret it. 

       

                I’m sorry this blog is so late; I started it right after I got back from the Mara, but then I got a little lazy as the week went on. I’ll be sure to start Week 5, the last week and few days, very soon.

                 

               Until then, have a great week, and to my family and friends in Munich, I will see you soon!!

Love, Jessica

Here's a link to my Safari Pictures from Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151466959925235.840905.654390234&type=1&aft=10151467031875235&l=b5e8e65b91

Shujaa - Week 3, Nairobi, Kenya

               Today is the Saturday after my third week in Nairobi, and I’m currently sitting in a coffee shop called Java at a mall called YaYa. I love the name of this place and I’m so glad there’s a coffee shop about a ten minute walk away from Fridah’s apartment. It’s kind of nice being in here though because it’s known for being a place a lot of foreigners come to since the food is very similar to back home, and in Munich. I just ordered a banana chocolate milkshake :). That will make writing this blog so much more enjoyable (than it already is.)

                This week the program I worked with is called ‘Shujaa’ or ‘Hero’ in Swahili. They work to create a higher awareness of HIV throughout Kenya in different regions and DISCs (Drop-In Service Centers), or places they’ve set up their services. They mainly work with sex workers, who are generally women between the ages of 18-20 and some being as young as 16, truckers who overnight on the roads where sex workers work, and the general population. They have VCT centers (HIV, Counseling, and Testing) where people can come to get tested to find out if they’re positive, and then be told what their best options are if they are living a ‘positive’ life. Outside of Counseling they can also participate in Health Education classes, which teaches them about the overall and side effects of HIV, what condoms are and how to use them properly (condoms are a really weird concept to Kenyans because it’s ‘not natural’), and really just how to live their lives as safely as possible.  

Monday and Tuesday were days spent in the office, and Wednesday was the day we took our six hour trip to Eldoret, which is north of Nairobi and about two to four hours away from the Uganda border. Every quarter, the people in charge of Shujaa in the Nairobi office take certain trips to different DISCs in different cities to check up on them, see how everything is going, see how their target numbers are and whether they’re meeting them, etc. Basically that they’re providing something for the community that has been efficient and beneficial. The one in Eldoret is really young, and we also traveled two hours north of Eldoret to Kapenguria, which had just started in January of this year.

  When they told me the trip was going to be six hours my mouth dropped open—I’d had no idea it would take so long. But it may have been one of the fastest six hour car rides I’ve ever had. The scenery on the way to Eldoret is absolutely gorgeous, and I found myself taking more pictures of the scenery on the way there and back than I did throughout the whole trip at Eldoret. Every time you look out the window, there’s the gorgeous Rift Valley, gigantic saltwater lakes and ponds, animals of every kind (there were even zebras on the side of the road!!), small shacks that people live in, huts, and even mud houses the closer you got to Eldoret, which is a lot smaller than Nairobi and more rural. However, it is growing a lot, and I actually find it better than Nairobi. It’s quieter and calmer, with a lot of beautiful scenery. A lot in Nairobi is go-go-go, with different building projects, the roads always under construction, and I always feel like I’m on my toes. 

 

When driving into Eldoret, there’s a huge white wall saying ‘Welcome to Eldoret, the City of Champions’ and then it has the painted pictures and dates of all of the Olympic Champions from their town. I had completely forgotten about when Zeller always used to talk about how fast Kenyans were in high school! He’d always told us to run like gazelles or run like Kenyans, and the old memory made me smile. I asked whether the most champions came out of Eldoret because it appeared that most years were from this specific town. Catherine, who is the director of Shujaa, told me that there were two particular tribes who are actually known for dominating in track. She said in the 800m and faster Kenyans generally dominate the world, and have for years, and I think one girl from Kenya recently won a big race, but it wasn’t Olympic. The news on TV in Nairobi was showing it as ‘another win’ for Kenyans. I think it’s extremely interesting how these tribes, for whatever reason, just have a very specific gene for running so fast. They train every day their entire youth and young adult lives, win a gold medal, and can retire before they’re thirty. To me that’s amazing considering the amount of poverty you see in Kenya. One talent with one sport can completely change your life in a country that really struggles at times to support themselves.

The first place we drove to was one of the Shujaa Discs in the city, and they made us tea and had a general meeting to see how the Eldoret region is doing with the community so far for this quarter. PS Kenyans are obsessed with tea. Germans are obsessed with coffee. And now I’m being made into an addict of both worlds. Also when Kenyans drink tea, they don’t just put a tea bad in hot water, which is what I’m used to. They make really hot whole milk, put it in a large thermos, and then put tea bags in mugs and pour the milk from the thermos. My body is not used to the thickness and creaminess of the milk at all, and it has made me unbelievably sick on many occasions, so I have to stick to regular hot water. But they’re always incredibly surprised when I tell them I can’t drink the milk. 

Anyway, the meeting lasted for a couple of hours, and then after Catherine showed me around their facilities, which were so interesting. I’m always so curious to see how various places in general are set up, whether it be an office like Shujaa, a restaurant, a hotel, mall etc. Sometimes it looks like regular places like home and other times it looks like old, torn down-ish buildings on the outside, but fixed up nicely on the inside. I kinda like it. It’s really all you need. 

After the time at the Disc, we went to church at the Eldoret Church of Christ, which is also a sister church of Nairobi, Munich, and Clemson. I had no idea one existed in such a small town, but it was really encouraging because instead of being overwhelmed by many people, there was maybe around sixty and you could see they were all really close with one another. It reminded me a lot of Clemson. Their church gathering was in an old school building near a large field overlooking a few tall buildings from the city center. The sun was setting and streaming through the trees, while some of the school kids played soccer out in the large field. I tried taking a picture, but I feel like a picture just never gives such beautiful sites the justice they deserve.

After church we went downtown to find food to eat, and specifically that my body wouldn’t reject, which took a little bit since it was getting dark and the night life was picking up. As soon as I got out of the truck, a child came up to me asking how I was, telling me their name, and that they wanted to go to school. Then a couple more kids ran up to me and starting saying the same things, and Catherine, Rosaline, and Boogwa pulled me away from them and said to keep walking. 

Apparently there are a lot of street kids in Eldoret due to the elections from 2007. I didn’t know this beforehand, but apparently around that time they had a new election and after their current president was elected, riots broke out everywhere and people kind of lost their minds. There were killings, bombings, fires, and all kinds of devastation. Many kids lost their parents and homes, making street children a lot bigger problem than they’d ever previously been. That was really scary, and sad, because these kids out of desperation and hunger are turning into people that they shouldn’t be forced to be.

After we ate, we went to our hotel called Pacifica, which was just recently built and on the outside of town, and quieter. This hotel was SO NICE. I was absolutely shocked due to the fact that the room they gave me was bigger than Fridah’s room and my StuSta room combined times three. And they gave me two beds, there was a balcony, and I had a gigantic bathroom and wireless. I haven’t had wireless at night outside of the office since I’ve been to Nairobi, so I was extremely excited. (Unfortunately, however, it did cause me to lose more sleep than necessary.) The first night I was also having issues with the plug. I have an American plug, a European converter, and nothing to fit in the wall. So the staff downstairs took almost twenty minutes looking for an adaptor for me while I watched ‘Charlie St. Cloud’ in the lobby with Zac Efron. An American movie in English in a foreign country on TV was a beautiful thing. Although I think hearing Zac Efron in German or Swahili would have been highly entertaining as well.

My hotel room!

Thursday was another traveling day further north from Eldoret. We had breakfast at the hotel breakfast buffet (and they had normal food!!!) and then drove to the building they’re thinking of utilizing as a Disc for Eldoret. It’s a truck stop road a little ways out from the city center, and a really excellent location. You can always tell when a highway generally has a lot of large trucks because the trucks are usually so weighed down with what they’re hauling, that it leaves deep gauges in the road from the tires. The weight from the trucks literally changes the shape of the roads, making it miserable to drive on at times. The building they want to use is located directly in front of a lodge for truckers, which actually works really well for the program because one of the lodge rooms is going to be permanently turned into an HIV testing room, allowing truckers to privately come in and test at will.

After seeing the office (and stopping a market with houses made out of mud!), we drove two hours north to Kitengela, which is where they’ve just started the January Shujaa program. We met the Kitengela Shujaa coordinator at a restaurant and then they showed us their ‘possible VCT/Discs buildings’ and any implementation ideas. Katherine and Rosaline had a meeting to attend, so Boogwa and I went to the Kapenguria Museum. I had no idea what to expect at first since it was such a small town, but I very quickly learned about Kenya’s famous ‘Kapenguria Six’ that were imprisoned in this small town. The cells they were locked in were behind a sign labeled ‘The Heroes Cells’, and each cell had the name of where each person stayed. Biographies were placed in the cells of each person, along with their portrait. One cell was ‘dressed up’ to look like it had when they’d stayed there, which consisted of a weaved carpet and big tin bucket for waste.

The story of the “Kapenguria Six” is really long, but really interesting, so here’s a link to them on Wikipedia. Kenyans adore these men, and they’re famous in Africa. Seriously, educate yourselves!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapenguria_Six

 

There was a lady who gave us a tour and she was very sweet. We went in and through each part of the museums they had, which basically displayed various tribes from their region and how they used to look like, dress, the tools they used, and houses they lived in. She took us to an area behind the buildings that had four mud houses! I got so excited because I’ve always wanted to see what they look like on the inside. There was a house for the ‘first wife’, the ‘second wife’, the ‘first boy’, the ‘livestock’ for nighttime and a large pen area for during the day. We took lots of pictures and at one point the lady asked me if my head was burning (because I’m white), and got really excited when we took a picture together inside a mud house. She liked me because I’m a Musungu haha. 

After the museum we picked Katherine and Rosaline up and went to get lunch before heading back to Eldoret. Boogwa wanted to stop and get fish for dinner, so we waited in the car and devoured mangos. Mangos are so popular here and Kenyans eat them like champs. I eat them like a child, with it all over my face and clothes, and they serious have no such problems. Then Catherine went to meet a friend in the city while Rosaline and I got tea and food, and talked for a while. 

Thursday night I also had an epiphany about my life and freaked out looking up ten million things on the internet as far as jobs, internships, and volunteer stuff with CDC, DSW (a German company has a partnership with HOPE in Kenya, and they even have an office here!), and then graduate programs involving public health (HIV) and the Master’s International programs. Master’s Internationals are graduate programs partnered with Peace Corps, where the first two years of graduate are done at the university, and the last two are done at the country you’re assigned to or have chosen. The problem for me is that they don’t have partnerships with medical schools, so I’m looking at having to choose between graduate school and medical school. CDC offers a specific fellowship for medical students in their third year (clinical year) where they’re allowed to practice in a foreign country, but only if their interested in doing international work. And it looks very competitive.

I think part of me is really trying to push away the idea of medical school just because of the stigma that comes with American medical schools. I’m just really not interested in going back into the dog-eat-dog approach to school like being pre-med produces. I know a lot of other programs are hardcore too, but there’s something about medicine that’s just unbelievably cut-throat and aggressive, and I don't like the idea of being pushed into that personality type just to succeed in medical school. I just want to be like Patch Adams and build my own hospital and play with kids all day. Is that really too much to ask? I still have time though, so thank goodness I don’t have to choose between MCATs and GREs just yet. I find standardized testing unbelievably irritating by the way. I felt like that opinion was important to include in this blog.

Friday I woke up early to meet for breakfast and head to another meeting at a clinic called AMPATH. They wanted to meet with Shujaa basically because both programs are fighting to help the community in the same ways, and they’re afraid of reporting the same numbers and making it seem as if more people are being helped than actually are. I actually found the meeting very entertaining because the two groups were forced into agreeing to a partnership, but you could see from both sides that neither was budging, and neither was going to pack up and leave Eldoret. So it turned into this very polite form of ‘we refuse to leave’ game. It took three hours for them to decide to partner and find specific actions to move forward. However, It was an overall encouraging meeting for both sides because now they can work to make a lot of progress in the community together.

This coming week I will start working with Fridah and her Blood Safety department, and then continue with them next week since, on Wednesday, I’M GOING ON A THREE DAY SAFARI TRIP to Masai Mara!!!! I’m so excited. I’m going as a single in a group of seven other people I don’t know, but I’m okay with that because it’s a safari and I’ll be taking tons of pictures anyway. And they’ll probably be tourists like me from other countries, which is always something interesting to look forward to.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and I can’t wait to write about working with Fridah and the safari trip!

Until next week, Jessica

PS: Here's a link from the HOPE Worldwide website about the 'Sleeping Children around the World' day in Mukuru. Enjoy! 

http://hopewwkenya.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=330:sleeping-children-around-the-world-scaw-visits-mukuru&catid=45:care-a-support-information&Itemid=263