Almost Done with Training

So decided I should take the time to let everyone know what I'm up to. I've been putting it off because I usually just want to sit around and be lazy when I get done with training for the day.




What I'm doing right now


Currently I'm in pre service training or PST, although that will be over as of Wednesday next week when we swear in as official Peace Corps Volunteers or PCVs. So the 36 of us in this training class (29 Public Health trainees and 7 Small Enterprise Development or SED trainees) are in Loitokitok (LTK).


LTK is beautiful because its in the shadow of Mt Kili and my host family is amazing. Other than that LTK is a dust filled hole that no one likes. We also might just be sick and tired of training.


Training consists of two main parts: language and technical. Their are some other things like cross-cultural, medical, etc, but language and technical are the main two things that dominate our time.


Language was for the first week and a half working on Swahili. Swahili is spoken almost everywhere in Kenya, but since its not the primary language in most parts of the country most of us learn local dialects. So after get our toes wet in KiSwahili, we all switched to our local dialects we will be using at site (site is what we call the place we will actually go do work, its also where we get to stop being treated like children, more on that later). I'm learning Tachoni which is one of the 26 dialects of Luhya. Luhya is one of the good sized tribes in Kenya, it has 26 sub tribes, Tachoni being the smallest of them, making its dialect damn near useless outside of where I'll be. Oh well, the 6,000 speakers of Tachoni will appreciate it hopefully.


We have our Language Proficiency Interview tomorrow. We have to score an intermediate low on it before we can go to site. Theoretically they can send us home if we don't, although generally they just provisionally swear you in and make you stay in Nairobi to work on language until you're at the level you need to be. Nairobi, while being dangerous, also is seen by PCVs as pretty great because they have western food and other amenities.


Technical training varies by sector (SED, Public Health, Education, etc). I really think our Technical Training Facilitator, Emmanuel, does a good job. Him and our APCD (SED Volunteers' boss) Louis have essentially set up training to be a hands on practical learning experience. A lot of our time has been spent working with local women's groups or youth groups to have them start businesses. One group is starting to raise chickens to sell eggs, another buys oil (like fuel for stoves ands stuff) in our town and sells it in another that doesn't have a real big retail outlet, and ours... well... is a longer story. We originally were paired with some young guys and we worked out with them a business buying peanuts on the Tanazian side of the border where the Kenyan shilling goes further and roasting them and selling them in LTK. They fell off the face of the earth after the second week, probably because they found out we weren't going to be paying for any of this. Donor Syndrome or Dependency Syndrome is a big deal out here. They see white skin and think dollar signs (or shilling signs?). So we switched projects to work with an already established business run by a group of people living positively. "Living Positively" is the term for people living with HIV/AIDS, and I really like it because it spins the term from that of victim or sufferer to something more positive. They have a few activities including farming and making beaded jewelry. We've been working to create them a website (which should be up next week, props to Tyler for help with their logo). Me and my partner Rich also had a training session with them to teach them how to use email and internet. We have a few other things on top of those we're trying to help them out with.


Other parts of technical training include going to microfinance institutes (sidenote big rip off for most people), having panelist sessions with local business people, financial institutions and cooperatives and having current PCVs coming back to train us. All in all its been very helpful and interesting.


All this comes to an end next week when we swear in. Swearing in ceremony will take place at the US Ambassador's house which will be sweet. The end of training is bitter sweet. While the heavy workload, rigid structure, 6:30 curfew, and constantly being treated like children gets old, we've all grown extremely close and its gonna suck being spread all across the country.


What I'm doing at site (maybe...)


So PC pairs PCVs with local Community Based Organizations or CBOs. Mine is located in Chetambe, which is near Webuye in Western Province sort of near Uganda. My CBO is Chetambe Rural CBO.


So what I think I'll be doing is pieced together from the paperwork I have and the video my APCD made of when he did his site visit. The CBOs primary function, as far as I can tell, is to help support orphans with school fees and other financial needs. The Kenyan government's prefference is not to have orphans live in orphanages but live with extended family members and receive aid. My role, as far as I can tell, will be to help them develop and/or improve existing income generating activities or IGAs. Common IGAs for CBOs in Kenya include Beekeeping, Brickmaking, Fish farming, etc.


So, my paperwork only has info about that side of the CBO and a side project that I'll get to further down. In the video there is also a part where this guy is talking about a agricultural cooperative. When I asked my APCD about it, he said when they called the meeting both showed up. So I will probably be working with them too...? TIA (TIA means This Is Africa, its a term borrowed from the movie Blood Diamond, something thrown around by me and my friends here).


So one IGA that I know I'll be doing is something called a rural internet kiosk (RIK). Its essentially a computer in a big phone booth looking thing that can be used by three people at once, solar powered and has satellite internet. Many applications to help development including education, health awareness, and research for farmers on things that afflict their crops or new ways to increase their harvest. For my part, its making sure that it turns a profit for the CBO.


Things Maybe I left out


-My host family is amazing. My Mama is amazing and I'm often told by other (usually bitter) trainees that I'm spoiled by her. She does stuff like gets us cheese from Nairobi (try going a month with out it and then talk to me) so we can make quesidillas and stuff. My Baba is big into (proper) football. He refs and used to coach (huh, reminds me of another father figure I know). I have a little sister who is currently at boarding school, but we had fun when we hung out the first week. They are also Manchester United fans which is amazing. My Baba's sister, my host family aunt, is actually another trainee's Mama. So our families hang out a lot and so I have some cool extended family here too.


-Food sucks here. Sorry, maybe that sounds harsh. On day one in Kenya, like hour one really, we asked some PCVs what their favorite food here was, their answer...."Next question." With a few minor exceptions (like chapati) food here is bland and basic. Its weird too, because they have the ingredients and stuff to make more flavorful and interesting foods, they just don't. Oh well, soon enough I'll get to cook for myself.


-The pics of my house in Chetambe look too good to be true. I'm just hoping it turns out to be as awesome as it looks. Other trainees are moving into shacks and mud huts soon. Sorry guys, you can come visit.


-While you can still send stuff to the Nairobi embassy address, its highly suggested you wait until I get my at site address. Otherwise stuff received by PC for me may not get to me for awhile.


-This will only be understood by a few of my friends in the states. Their are like 4-5 restaurants in LTK trainees go to. One is called Arsenal Cafe and has a big gooner logo outside. A decent amount of my trainee friends can't understand why I refuse to enter it. Also, you will often see cars or motorcycles with a combo of Man U, Chelsea, and/or Arsenal stickers. It boggles my mind (very very very rarely do I see a Liverpool logo, I guess even Kenyans got standards). They do love premier league here though, a lot of teenagers and guys my age are super knowledgeable on it. Also, little kids to adults call me "Rooney." Apparently being white and having a similar hairline is enough to make me look like him to them.


-Remember how I used to be a kid person? LTK has undone that. No way to really fully explain it, but after on a daily basis kids yell at you constantly "HOW ARE YOU?!?!" in this nasally tone over and over, it wears on you.






Keep your eyes peeled for a video about PST in the next week or two. Also while in Nairobi I'll have the bandwidth to skype, so let me know if you're interested in seeing my sweet African beard. Bigger and manlier than the American version.


PS Sometimes my tone may come off negative or cynical, but overall I'm having a good time, meeting amazing people and enjoying myself so don't take my comments to seriously. Well, you shouldn't really ever take me seriously, but you probably already know that.


PPS What the heck is going on with the Sounders? I'm gone for 6 weeks and what happens?


***UPDATE***


So I wrote this yesterday but was having internet difficulties so I decided to wait until today to post it. So did my LPI and think it went all right. After that we went to the Kimana Wildlife Sanctuary where we saw in the wild giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, elephants, zebras, monkeys, etc. I also touched a lion. Yep, read that one more time. I touched, with my hand, a lion. Several actually. One of the trainers who was nice enough to take us (he's Maasai and the park is run by the Maasai) also told us a story of how he killed a baby giraffe. When some of the girls with us horrified by that statement asked why, in a completely straight face with no intonation whatsoever he responded, "Lunch." According to him the heart of a giraffe is very "sweet." They tend to say sweet when anything tastes good, whether its actually sweet or not. Apparently, that trainer (he's not my language teacher) tells stories like that he always tells them like they are completely normal, like the time his dad was attacked by a lion. TIA.