Officially a PCV

So I'll try and post everything I can remember. (Also I've been adding to this off and on for like 2 weeks so it might seem choppy)

Host Family Appreciation


So the last day we were in Loitokitok we had host family appreciation day. All the host families and trainees came togethor for speeches, skits, thank yous and whatnot. My family and I exchanged gifts. They gave me some Maasai belts and some other things, I brought some Seattle things including some smoked salmon from Pike's Place Market which can travel just fine (hint hint).

What was really a cool moment was as we were watching the speeches and all that, my host family cousin, little Paul whose 8 I think, was crawling all over me and messing around in the same way that he did on my Baba that made me think he might have been my little brother on the first day we met. I didn't really expect to become close with my host family when I came over here, but over long cooking and washing sessions with Mama and watching football games with Baba, I truly consider them family. My Mama, was tearing up as they left us at the compound we stayed our last night in. It was very sad. I get daily calls or SMSs from them checking on me and telling me how they miss their "dear son." I'm most likely going back to Loitokitok to spend Christmas with them.

Nairobi

So we then left for Nairobi where we stayed for about 4-5 days where we binged on burgers and pizzas. I also went to a microbrewery (one of two in probably all of Kenya not counting home brewers that could kill you) and had some of the first decent beer in a long time. It was a magical time, and it was odd going to these nice places and seeing other non-Kenyans and getting good service. The first night we actually felt very uncomfortable, granted we adjusted quickly.

Besides burgers, pizza, and beers we also met our supervisors. Everyone's Community Based Organizations (CBOs) assigns someone to be your Supervisor (or counterpart depending on the situation). So I met David who is a Pastor by profession from my community.

Swearing In


So on the last day in Nairobi we went to the Ambassador's residence for the swearing in ceremony. Lots of speeches, media, etc. The Ambassador has been taking an unprecedented role of being very vocal about the upcoming constitutional referendum, so he gets lots of press nowadays. But he's not the only one....

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000014770&catid=159&a=1

Everyone quoted in that article are people I trained with. The best is that Mr. Brian Schultzenberger is actually the volunteer posted closest to me and one of my really good friends. The whole thing about him driving a BMW back in the states is actually just a huge inside joke amongst our training class. I mean he actually did, but he's also like the biggest sweetheart and often described as adorable. So the joke started by our language cluster was that whenever someone gives him a hard time or cracks a joke either he says or one of us says "Hey! He drives a Beamer! So back off!" Somehow that inside joke ended up in the paper, and countrywide everyone in our training class died laughing.

Site

So, after a 10+ hour trip west we ended up in Western Province Kenya. Webuye is the closest decent sized town. I'm based in Chetambe which is a location that has 40 or so villages, the one I currently live in is Sipala.
As stated earlier I am working with Chetambe Rural Community Based Organization, which is an organization that works to support orphans. So far I've just been getting to know them and the area. Also, we (the 5 PCVs in the area around Webuye) are working with an NGO called Voices of Africa to help bring Information Communication Technology to the rural areas through Rural Internet Kiosks. I think I explained that before. You can find more about the NGO at their website:

http://www.voicesofafrica.info/

Oh and my housing fell through so currently I'm living with a family again. Cons: Don't get to cook for myself, not a ton of privacy. Pros: Don't have to clean for myself, saving tons of money on food and whatnot. They are supposedly working on building me a house, so we'll see how that goes.


Referendum

So Kenya is having its big constitutional referendum this week. Peace Corps decided to be over protective like it always is and banned us from travelling for the week. Plus side is they gave us permission to stay with other volunteers for that week. So I'm staying in Mumias with some friends for the week. This town has a big sugar factory so it has some amenities that the rest of us don't have, like supermarkets with cheese, 3G internet, etc.

Also, we have an in at what we are calling the local country club, which is really just like a golf course, restaurant, pool and bar for the upper management of the sugar factory and members. So while laying low for the week we've been living it up.

Well that's it for now.

Oh and my new address is... (I think, this is the PO box and everything, just not sure how exactly you put it all together)

Jason Clopper
c/o Chetambe Rural CBO
PO Box 831
Webuye, Western Province
Kenya