FINALY! A BLOG! The first month of work!
on Beatriz Pujol (Kenya), 09/Oct/2009 11:22, 34 days ago
OK. Here it is. I have been promising this for nearly a year. Is it really this easy? I am going to try to load all of my past updates on here as well!It has been a month since I last wrote. Things have been busy and crazy. I am now living and working in Nairobi. It is anexhaustingand overwhelming city! About a week after I returned from my visit to the US I was told I was being moved out of the lovely place I was living, in a great part of town and with nice roomies! I was not thrilled, to say the least! In the end I was moved to a small, but ok, flat right on a VERY busy and loud highway! I moved in with a new volunteer from Ireland, Marie. She is a speech and language therapist (SLT) and works on the same project as I am. We got along well and it is nice to have someone with whom I can debrief at the end of the day! After getting some issues regarding water, broken pipes and electricity dealt with, the apartment would be fine. IF we were able to get some sleep. After 1 month of no sleep we have given up and are looking for a new place! Not an easy task in Nairobi. Wish us luck!The new job is coming along. It is soo completely different from my last placement! The people I work with are very professional and have a strong work ethic (sometimes too strong!- assessing kids from 9-4 straight with no break!). They are eager to work together and there is a lot of skill and information sharing among myself and the professionals with whom I am working. I am currently working at two different centers in Nairobi but will be adding a third one soon. I am at Kenyatta National Hospital 3 times a week when I am in Nairobi. I have never worked in a hospital and I am enjoying it. I am in the Psychiatric dept where kids with autism are diagnosed and in the OT (occupational therapy) dept working alongside the therapists (primarily those who are trained in Sensory Integration Therapy). I have begun seeing a few kids with autism. I see them with the parents, my SLT roomie and therapists or teachers at the hospital. The idea is to do sustainable work. So, to share skills with other professionals. The other center I am at is across town. One day a week we are doing assessments of kids along with the staff there. I am always assessing any kids that may have signs of autism. If there is not one then I help with other kids and am learning more about cerebral palsy, hydrocephaly, epilepsy and other disabilities. We have also done some community outreach work and will be doing a bit more. I spoke at a meeting/workshop of parents and special needs teachers. There was about 60 participants and when I asked how many people knew what autism was, only 3 raised their hands! The knowledge of autism is very limited. Even parents whose kids are diagnosed do not know what is means and have never been told anything about it unless they have means to access information such as books or internet. At the end of the month I will be adding KISE (Kenya Institute for Special Education) to my places in Nairobi.The kids I have been assessing range in age from about 2 years to late teens. Some of these kids are 9, 10 or 15 and have been hidden in their home all these years with no services. There are large cultural beliefs about witchcraft. If a child has a disability it may be believed that the child/family is cursed. Therefore, families keep their children hidden in order to protect them and the family. There is little correct information available about disabilities, especially mental or psychiatric disorders. The work with physically disabled, vision and hearing impairments has been going on for nearly 30 years and therefore there is more understanding and tolerance. The more rural one goes, these beliefs become stronger and stigma is a bigger issue. But it exists even in Nairobi.Other than working In Nairobi, I am ment to be traveling to three provinces and visiting 6 more districts. I spent a week in Nyanza province (famous because that is where Obama's dad comes from). Nzanza was very green and the temperature was cooler and very nice. It rained every afternoon which was lovely! I was in Homa Bay (about 8 hours from Nairobi) which is a small town on the South side of Lake Victoria. There are lots of hills and I found it beautiful! I stayed with two volunteers there, Rachael and Falguni. It was nice to have company and get home cooked meals! The coordinator of the EARC there was great. He was ready for me and had set up several visits to schools and the hospital OT/physio dept. There was also a meeting of all special ed teachers and other professionals in the field. I got to hear all that was happening and what the strengths and challenges are in the district.From HB I headed South for nearly 4 hours to Kuria district. VERY remote. I got to the oh so happening town of Migori and had to get in a station wagon to get to Kehancha where I was heading. Matatus do not go there because they cannot handle the dirt road. They cram as many people as they can into the car. They wanted me to share the front bucket seat with another person along with my luggage. I said "no" so I paid double the price! Instead the driver shared his bucket seat with another passenger (I am NOT kidding!). There were at least 4 large adults in the backseat with luggage and in the hatch there was tons of luggage/food/etc and 1 person. Then on the way at least 3 more people were picked up and added to the hatch! We traveled down a rough dirt road for 30 min. to get to the small but beautiful town of Kenancha. Ok, the town itself is nothing to write home about. It is like most small towns in Kenya. A dirt road with small businesses alongside. But the area and views are beautiful! I found the people really nice and soo eager for help. There is nothing down there. In almost every town I have been to there are tons of sings of NGO's all over. Not here. It is right on the border with Tanzania and they say the govt. has forgotten them. I think they are right! I met the DEO (district education officer) and the EARC worker and I were given his car and driver to visit schools. One school was way in the bush about another 30 minutes on a rougher dirt road. The headmaster of the school was friendly and gave us a tour. They have special needs kids who are integrated in the school but they haven't had a special needs teacher for a year. So no-one really knows what to do with these kids. And the biggest problems in this district is food. The kids do not eat all day, so learning isn't easy. At lunch time the kids normally go home for lunch, but when lunch came most kids just stayed, as there is no food at home. Very sad. In Kehancha there may be 20 kids with special needs enrolled in a school but only 5 may come regularly. The families do not see value in people with special needs and do not understand that they can learn and be productive members of the family or community, so they are not sent to school. So, even when a child is identified, is hard to gain access to the child. I really liked this community and am looking forward to working with them.Next week I head to Rift Valley, to West Pokot. Way up North. I still need to get to Western. But my roommate was there and able to do the assess the needs there. These initial trips are for introduction and assessment purposes. The funding to do trainings and for the EARC's to function and get new materials has not been released. That is because no official plan has been put into place and signed off on by the ministry of education. So, this week the 5 volunteers already in country for this project were brought to Nairobi and we sat in planning meetings all week. I am sick so I missed yesterday (heard it was a LONG day!). But it is finished, just needs to be looked at by VSO and then sent to the ministry. We are a bit at a stand still without that money. We can do things in Nairobi, but are much more limited in the rural areas. Got to love the way things work here in Kenya!So, other than work, my social life has certainly picked up in Nairobi! So that is one good thing about this city. There are lots of volunteers here and the expat community is large, so it is easy to meet people. I have less Kenyan friends here, but friends from all over the world. Most weekends there are events going on so I am out dancing or at parties most of the time. I went to the International Trade Show which was really great. I was completely amazed at how organized it was! I also got to see President Kibaki as he rode in on his motorcade.I celebrated my 38th birthday with friends here in Nairobi. I spent the day pampering myself with a massage, haircut and mani/pedicure. In the evening I had dinner at a wonderful Ethiopian restaurant with about 10 friends. Then we went on to a Moroccan bar for drinks and dancing. Was out till three am and hurting the next day! But it was a lovely evening!For the most part things are going well for me. Just struggling being in a big city. I am not a citygirl in the best of cities. And I would not classify Nairobi as the best of cities! I miss my quiet rural life. I enjoyed Nairobi much more when I came to visit every so often and could get all the good things here and then head back to tranquility in Kitui. So, the traveling does help me get to the rural places. Although the means of travel is rough by buses and matatus. We will eventually get a vehicle for the project and although we will all share it, it will help tremendously!I want to share the story of my first visit to the post office in Nairobi. In Kitui when I received packages, they would have gone through costumes in Nairobi and arrive with a fixed price I had to pay in order to get the package. I always wondered how that price was determined and would get angry to have to pay $10-20 on a box that someone from the US had paid a fortune to send. But other than a long line in Kitui, it was usually very easy and straightforward. NOT the case in Nairobi. When I was in the US I sent some boxes of clothes and work materials here as I was filling my suitcases to the limit. So, a few weeks ago I got the yellow slips telling me I had packages to pick up. So one Saturday I head to the main post office in town only to be told I have to go to another post office and that it is not open on Saturdays. Great! So, this past Monday morning I head to the correct po. I do not have to be at VSO for a meeting until 2:30, so I figure I have plenty of time. Now, I have been told in detail what a nightmare the experience will be, so I prepare myself (so I think). I arrive at 11 am. I finally find the customs room. I go to the first desk and give them my slips. They quickly produce my three boxes. Then I am sent to the next desk where they open them and list everything inside. Then I re-tape them and leave them there. I am sent to the office of the "boss" (the customs bigwig). He asks me where I am from and what I am doing. I tell him and he tells me of a friend who has a son with autism. He calls him and I speak with him and promise to let him know when I am doing a training. SCORE! I am in with the Big Man! So, I ask him how the prices of the items are determined and he tells me it is all on a computer program. But, essentially he tells I can negotiate. He asks what I want to pay, I say 500 KES (ab0ut $6)/box. He says fine and marks it down. I am back to the last desk I was at and they do some calculation and the figure comes to 450 KES (About $5). COOL! Then I go to the cashier, who does not actually take money, but gives me a paper to take to the bank. I leave the po and walk down the street to the bank. I walk in and see a HUGE line. Thankfully that is not where I need to go! I get helped quickly and head back to the po. I think I am home free. It has only been an hour! I then go back to the cashier who sends me to another desk for a print out that I paid. Then to another desk and this woman tells me I have to pay 1100 KES/box for a "holding" fee as the boxes have been there 18 days! I flip out! She sends me to her manager (not the customs guy, but the manager of the po). It takes me a bit to find his office and I have now yelled at a few people. (Note: have not eaten or had coffee and now it is about 12:30 and it has been a rough few weeks in Nairobi.) So, by the time I go in to the manager's office (there are 3 Kenyan women in there as well) I just loose it completely. I go on and on about this country and being a volunteer and the Ministry of Education. Basically make a complete idiot of myself. I am told very calmly that I just need to explain why I didn't get in to the po to get my package in the first 7 days and tell him how much I would rather pay. I tell him 100 KES/box and apologize profusely! I then go back up to the customs office to find it is closing for lunch. I yell, "NO, I have been here 2 hours!". They let me in! (Crazy white chic on the loose!). I go back to the desk to pay the woman then to the cashier again then to get my boxes. I am told they have been locked up for lunch until 2 pm. I burst into tears!! Have I mentioned how Kenyans DO NOT show emotions, especially tears and NEVER in public. The poor woman is desperately trying to calm me down and calls someone on her cell and tells them a woman is crying. I finally get my packages and 2.5 hours later leave the po. So, I have a request of no more packages unless I specifically ask for one. It really is not worth it! And, I can never show my face at the po again!!!!Well, that is all for now. I will try to put photos on here. I have just posted all my US trip photos on facebook and am now putting up my birthday pics!