Pangea Trip to Africa

A Good Time Was Had by All

2007-07-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

We finished up the Pangea part of the trip on Monday, when we drove from Kisumu to Nakuru where our driver dropped Allan, Jerry, and myself. Bob and Duane Edwards (Pangea's newest member who joined us for the last 5 days) went on to Nairobi where they caught their planes home that night. Our last few days continued the trend of visiting very interesting and inspiring projects.

We spent Friday with GWAKO, a group that does water projects for communities who are providing comprehensive services to orphans and caregivers. They are a faith-based group, which made some of us nervous, but they assured us that their water projects were to help everyone, with no strings attached. To be realistic, this part of Kenya is so Christian that any evangelism would be preaching to the choir. In the end, even the most skeptical were impressed by their work. They took us to visit a women's group in a fairly remote village--their proposal to us last year was to put in this well, but we turned them down; luckily they found other funding. Their services are very complete and very organized...we saw some of the best record-keeping we've ever seen among African groups. While we were in the obligatory ceremonial welcome, the venue was invaded by a "small snake", which freaked me out and that, in turn, amused them. As has happened several times on this trip, the women "bonded" with me, especially the leader of this group. She asked me how many children I had. When I replied "two", she looked sad and said "why so few?" She really didn't understand when I tried to explain that it was a choice and quite common in our country. Later, when Bob introduced himself and said he had 2 kids, she pointed at me and smiled, as if to say "I guess you were telling me the truth."

We got back to Kisumu about 2:30 and spent the next couple of hours roaming the market, shopping for a gift for Rabuor Village, and relaxing. The next morning, we headed out with two representatives of World Neighbors to visit one of their projects. We were all impressed by their approach, which is to provide lots of training to build the capacity of the local organization. In this case, the CBO works in 18 villages that are working together on a reforestation project to rescue their land from some severe soil erosion (there are big gullies that "eat" the land whenever there are heavy rains upstream). Again, we connected with the community members (maybe we're getting good at this?) and had some very interesting side conversations.

That afternoon, we arrived in Rabuor Village (Loyce's home) where we spent the next two nights in her parents' home. They've outfitted the former homes of her two oldest brothers as guest houses, and that's where we stayed. We toured the many aspects of the Rabuor project, had a chance to really talk with people about the sunflower project, and have the rare privilege of seeing how the family lives (pit latrine, bucket showers, and all). Loyce and her crew on the ground are starting to expand their dreams, already working with 10 neighboring villages and expanding the sunflower business.

We look forward to showing some of our pictures and telling some of the best stories when we see you all in Seattle. Best, Chris and the rest of the team

Kitale - Common Ground Project

2007-07-12T01:13:00.000-07:00

Hello from Kisumu, where it's a hazy day in the mid-70s. I hear it's hot in Seattle. Tuesday we left Dar es Salaam on a 5:25 a.m. flight (groan) and flew through Nairobi to Kisumu, where we met our driver Kennedy. We did a little shopping, and met with Rose Waringa, who heads a new organization named Precious Tears Initiative. Kennedy had nixed our plan to visit her site before driving to Kitale, so we had her join us for lunch to hear about her program working with orphans and grandmothers. It sounds like an interesting approach, so we arranged to go there at the end of the day today. After lunch, we drove 3 hours to Kitale, where we were greeted by Joshua Mashinga, the director of Common Ground. The children from Pathfinder Academy, the school run by CG, entertained us and presented us with a beautiful woven wall hanging of the Pangea logo. After a quick cup of tea, we went to our hotel, which is a golf club most assuredly built by the British. The facilities were straight out of the 50s...the shower has an on-demand heater built into the showerhead. You turn on the heater with a switch outside the bathroom door, but a big sign says you have to start the shower running first or "the boiler will blow up!" The club is too far from the center of town to walk there for food, but there is a dining room with very cheap food. This is a case of "you get what you pay for"--the chef must be British trained, because the food was bland and poorly prepared. Oh well. Yesterday we spent the entire day with Joshua, touring numerous community sites and meeting with quite a few self-help groups. Most of what we saw was centered around bio-intensive gardening, which is really effective. It increases yield by 5x, it emphasizes a balanced kitchen garden that will provide all the nutrients, and each group that is trained sees an immediate increase in health and revenue from their small farm. Joshua is somewhat of a renaissance man, who has incredible energy and must not sleep much. We feel that anything he does will be helpful to the community, but currently much of his time is absorbed by running the school. He wants to get out from under that, and we hope he can, so he can return to his passion. We talked with him about the future and about ways we might be able to help him leverage his time. All in all, a very impressive program and an amazing leader! Best to all, Chris

Days 3-6: Mombasa and Dar es Salaam

2007-07-08T22:18:00.000-07:00

It's just before 8am on Monday morning and we're in Dar es Salaam. Chris, Allan, and I (Bob) have finally found an Internet cafe that works (!) and has a ferociously fast net connection, at least by African standards.

We met with Harvest of Hope on 7/5. Impressive. Dr. Okemwa, an oceanographer, has made this school his retirement project. The school has been in operation for five years, and the grounds are a former farm. The chicken pens have been turned into classrooms, and the stable is the meeting hall. That sounds jury-rigged, but the result looks tailor made for a school -- maybe a dozen nice-sized and tidy classrooms going from primary school through secondary. The kids looked happy and healthy. The administrator asked them to introduce themselves, which they did (shyly). She said that introducing themselves to the "distinguished visitors" was a big deal for them.

Our flight on Thursday from Mombassa was uneventful, though delayed. We stopped in Zanzibar en route and got a nice view as we flew in.

On Friday (7/7/07) we saw Mama Rhoi's One Stop Center. Had a nice BBQ. We brought Nerf footballs, a Frisbee, and horseshoes. We had to show the kids how the games were played. I had a lot of fun showing the kids how to throw the various toys (too bad you throw a football the opposite way from a Frisbee). And here I was worried that I wouldn't find kids my own age...

Once some of the kids got it, they'd then show the others. There's quite an age range at the school -- roughly 6 to 16, I'm guessing. It's a surprisingly big orgnization. 150 or so students, a couple of dozen or so who are boarders, teachers and admimistrators. Rhoi has big plans to build a new 3-story schoolhouse.

Friday was the last day of the week-long HIV training (for both students and adults) that Pangea paid for, and we were at the "high table" at the awards ceremony. Looks like good community presence and participation (which we're increasingly seeing as important). There appears to be the inevitable friction between an organization and the local government, but perhaps our presence gave the One Stop Center a higher profile in the eyes of the officials.

Sunday was a break day. We visited a crafts bazaar and shopped in the local grocery store. Today (Monday) we're going back to visit the Teens Against AIDS camp. Rhoi had wanted to run a water pipeline (the well runs dry around December), but it seems to make more sense to drill a new well. They'll be able to irrigate more crops and perhaps sell water to the community. She should be able to get a much deeper well with a water tank to hold two weeks of water (electricity isn't reliable, especially in the dry season) for the grant money that we have given.

More football and Frisbee, perhaps? Allan has been asked to teach a yoga class and we'll also install the software we brought as gifts, and maybe do a little computer training. We met the three young adults who lead the Teens program on Saturday, and we'll start with a longer chat with them to learn what progress they've had.

Tuesday we have a 5:30am (!) flight back to Kenya. Won't be getting much sleep that night. Duane Edwards, a new Pangea member, is planning on meeting us when we get back to Kenya.

Everyone's healthy here and jet lag is behind us. Wish you were here!

Days 1 and 2: St. Marg., MMAAK, EAC

2007-07-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

As I sit typing this, a small lizard is crawling on the wall in front

of me. We're in Mombasa, Kenya and it's Tuesday evening, the end of

our second full day.

Our first visit was with St. Margarita's. (That's the group on the

shore of Lake Victoria, and we bought them tractors and pumps to work

their idle fields.) We met with four of them (at the hotel rather than

on site, unfortunately) and the discussion was quite informative. They

began in 1986. Sounds like their success has been contagious, and

neighboring communities are clamboring for the government to provide

what St. Margarita's has done.

Their focus is on the upcoming generation, not the present generation

of adults. Even though ARVs (anti-retroviral medicine) is becoming

available for free from the government, stigma has kept many adults

from even getting tested. Seems like tough love, but practical.

From a big picture standpoint, their focus is evolving from water

(success) to health (success) to education (the current focus), and

they're working to get kids from primary school into secondary school

and then even to college.

Later on Monday we met with the Movement of Men Against AIDS of Kenya.

This is a group that we *didn't* fund last time, and one new twist on

this trip is to see a few of these almost-but-not-quite groups.

We were quite impressed with this group also. Their focus is behavior

change in the HIV+ men (getting them to help with the nursing tasks of

relatives, reducing domestic violence, etc.), boosting their optimism,

and reducing the stigma. "Positive masculinity" is their motto, which

sounds odd to American ears, but seems to work here.

They work in 5 provinces and have a total of roughly 3000 clients

(either direct or indirect). They're loosly affiliated with similar

groups around the Lakes area (DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania).

[Seen on the way to dinner last night: the Jesus is the Answer Dental

Clinic. (I don't think so, unless Jesus has a DDS degree...)]

Today (Tuesday) we flew to Mombasa, on the coast. We visited the East

Africa Center and Suzanne Jeneby showed us around. Their current

location is well used but cramped, and she showed us a new 6-acre plot

nearby. No buildings yet, but they have plans and are working on the

permits. They expect to break ground on the Pangea-funded clinic in

about a month. Suzanne is returning to Seattle to work on a Master's

program at UW, and she's eager to visit us at one of our meetings or

lectures. We met Francis and Kennedy, the two men who will be taking

over day-to-day operations. Looks like the EAC will be in good hands.

More soon!

Lift-Off 2007

2007-06-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

Today begins the prelude to our adventure: the long trip to Africa. Jerry and I are already halfway there (France), Bob Seidensticker leaves Seattle tonight, and Allan Paulson is the last one out tomorrow afternoon. It takes about 24 hours to make the trip: 9 hours to London, a few hours layover, and another 8-9 hours to Nairobi--crossing 11 time zones in the process. Obviously, jet lag will be an issue the first few days.

We have a very rich (and exhausting) itinerary planned, including visits to all 6 projects funded in 2006, to 3 groups who submitted proposals in 2006 but weren't awarded a grant, to 2 new groups, and a return visit to Sauri Millennium Village. And we hope to do a little sightseeing on our one free day in Dar es Salaam.

We'll do our best to update this blog every few days, depending on availability of internet access, so check back often and feel free to share it with anyone you think would be interested.

Asante sana,
Chris Doerr

Preparing for the 2007 Trip

2007-06-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

It's June 1st, and we're a month away from our arrival in Africa for this year's site visit. There will be 4 Pangea members traveling: Allan Paulson, Bob Seidensticker, Jerry and me. All the arrangements are made, we've all gotten the shots we need, and we have tickets and visas in hand. We'll be in Africa a few days longer than last year, which gives us more time to spend with each grantee. We'll actually stay at Rabuor village in Kenya for two nights, and will spend two days helping at the Teens Against AIDS summer camp. We'll update the blog just before our departure, and then as often as possible during our trip. Feel free to share this blog with others who might be interested. Wish us luck! Chris

Visits to CARE Tumaini Projects and ARK School

2006-06-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

Our Africa trip is winding down. Yesterday, Chris and Jerry left for the peaceful shores of Zanzibar. Sydney and I spent the day with staff from CARE International visiting two Tumaini projects. Tumaini means hope in Swahili. It was an interesting contrast going from our small grantees to organizations benefitting from PEPFAR money. Both programs follow specific funding guidelines, reporting requirements and continuous monitoring by CARE staff. The first one we visited, UMAKI, was about an hour out of Dar es Salaam in an area called Kibaha. It was actually located on a military base and at least one of the program managers was in uniform. I learned later the military plays a much different role in Tanzania. They have not fought in a war since Edi Amin left Uganda and have had no internal conflicts so they spend their time doing community work. The second organization, Jipeni Women and Community Organization, is closer to Dar but still felt rural. The program manager is a dynamic, young woman named Beatrice Janda. Both organizations are charged with indentifying people living with HIV/AIDs (PLHA) and most vulnerable children and orphans (MVO), providing psychosocial support, mobilizing communites, finding volunteers in each village and training them on home based care, food subsidies, transportation for receiving ARVs and education including uniforms and supplies so orphans can go to school. They cover large areas with populations of 50,000- 100,000.

Sydney left today after some whirlwind shopping and 10 minutes on Coco Beach (we had to see the ocean before leaving). Mama Rhoi (Executive Director of ARK Foundation) met me back at the hotel and took me to visit the Teens Against Aids(TAA) office at the ARK secondary school. Victoria (TAA office support) was meeting with two of the team leaders (Sargent and Leandra) from the TAA camp we visited on Tuesday. They were discussing how to follow up with participants to encourage membership and then went over the flipchart notes they had taken during the sessions. The three questions addressed during discussion were what is a teen? what is the role of community? and what are teen rights? The general theme across all groups was education, poverty and health(including HIV), having a voice in their family, the community and government, freedom/responsibility to organize and survival. Mama Rhoi's role with the teans and the secondary school are quite amazing. She motivated Charles Dingo to mobilize teens and start TAA, she continues to be their mentor. The secondary school was started by Ark. It sits on a piece of property donated by the government and provides education and room and board to about 300 orphans and most vulnerable children. It also houses a community nursery where single mothers working in nearby mines leave their children for care. Mama Rhoi is mom to many of the orphans living at the school.

This has been a truly exceptional trip and look forward to sharing photos and more information when we get back.

Linda

Dar es Salaam and Teens Against AIDS

2006-06-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

This is Sydney writing from the Peacock Hotel in Dar. It is early morning here on Wednesday June 28th and the internet connection is actually pretty speedy at this hour.

Yesterday we visited the Teen's Against AIDS project. The day began with a bit of uncertainty when our escort ( a woman who we had not had previous contact) arrived with a car too small to carry all of us. We resolved that problem and headed off to visit a youth camp organized by Teens Against AIDS with the help of the ARK Foundation (Washington DC based). As it turns out, the camp was located on Masaii lands, and we were the honored guests of both the Masai community and the Teens Against AIDS. As Chris said in the van on the way back to Dar, all the stars were aligned to make this visit a highlight of our journey. The Masaii people typically keep to themselves and continue to live their traditional lifestyle. The camp was for orphaned and vulnerable children from very young through teens from all over Tanzania. The purpose of the camp was to provide education on HIV/AIDS and to empower the youth to take control over their own lives.

The leader of the Teens project was actually in South Africa tending to his father who was receiving special medication for AIDS. He is said to be an exceptional young man with much charisma. We were welcomed by his assistant, Victoria, who is also a very bright capable young woman who did a great job of being our host and organizing the day. We were also welcomed by "Mama Roie" from the ARK Foundation who attends this camp annually and works closely with the Teens on an ongoing basis. She is an amazing Ugandan woman who lives and works in Washington DC and travels to Africa 4 - 5 times a year. She was our translator and communication link to the whole experience.

The location of the camp is also the place where the education center that will be built as part of our grant will be located. We saw the outline of the building trenched in the grass. The Teens have already produced much written material and we were provided copies in English. They have held three training sessions and are already making a big impact with the Masai community that we met. The young people in the Masai are learning about the transmission of AIDS and how to protect themselves for the first time. The youth have been able to take the message to their parents and they are being listened to for the first time. The parents of the Masai youth in attendance at the camp invited their parents to come for a discussion on female circumcision ( or female genital mutilation). The parents heard for the first time that the daughters did not want to participate in this practice!!

During this year's camp the Chief of this comunity agreed to allow his teen aged daughter leave to attend the ARK secondary school. This is an incredible measure of respect between him and the Teens Against AIDS and the ARK Foundation.

We were treated to traditional Masai singing and dancing as their honored guests - not as tourists. The day was an experience of a lifetime. We feel very good about having funded this organization and will relay more details when we return to Seattle.

Chris and Jerry head to Zanzibar today. Linda and I will visit a couple of CARE Tanzania projects today.

Asante Sana,

Sydney

Checking In - St. Margarita and Wild Animals

2006-06-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

We've just returned from 4 days out of email range. The first two days were spent traveling to, and visiting, the St. Margarita Development Center. We were all most impressed by what we saw there--the depth and holistic nature of the programs, the passion of the leaders, the involvement of the community. Too much to recount on 33k dialup, when we have an early flight to catch in the morning, but you will like what we learned about them. The region where they work, the Suba District, is the hardest hit with HIV/AIDS in the country. Prevalence of the virus is known to be 42%, but they believe that most adults in the community are actually positive. Michael Obuya, group leader, told us they feel like their mission is to save the children. The population of Suba District has dropped from 400K to 200K because of AIDS. Michael was in the hospital when we arrived, having just been diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension, and we visited him there. Linda describes the hospital as "about as bad as it gets," and it certainly was grim. The doctor told us 90% of the patients are HIV+. It is so overcrowded that there are beds in every corridor, and people are lying on the walkways waiting to be seen. We saw one young boy getting last rites as he waited. Our project has helped give this community hope, and we were all touched by their courage. More details when we see you on July 17.

From Suba, we headed to the Masai Mara game park where we spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning seeing the most incredibly variety of wild animals: lions, a leopard (rare), elephants, giraffes, zebras, a couple of wildebeests (the migration is just starting), hippos, crocodiles, warthogs, antelopes, gazelles, vultures, etc. etc. Jerry got a new camera before we came, with 10x optical zoom and image stabilization, so he was able to get incredible pictures of the animals. Our stay at the game lodge was less than ideal, since they were overbooked and we drew the short straw among the tour groups. Sydney and Linda had to share, and Jerry and I were in the staff quarters (primitive).

We've spent many hours in the van, since every road in Kenya seems to be in poor repair. Very few are paved. The roads approaching the game park are unbelievably bad, resulting in a bone-jarring ride and very slow progress (25 kilometers/hour). It took us 10 hours today to get back to Kisumu, and we were all tired and crabby by the time we arrived. Not to mention filthy dirty from the dust. We've been lucky so far with the weather...not too hot (I hear it's hotter in Seattle), and a few rain showers in the late afternoons when we were ready to head back to the hotel anyway.

We'll try to post another entry after our day with the Teens Against AIDS group.

Ciao, The Pangea Travelers

Pangea visit to Ikonzo Musanda Self Help Group

2006-06-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

Greetings All!

Just a quick post to let you all know we are doing well but facing the challenges on sending news via very slow connections and limited computer availability.

Yesterday we vistiting the Ikonzo secondary school built with money from a 2005 Pangea grant. We got quite the welcome from Francis Anyona, the students, parents, teachers and a large executive committee. There are 33 students in this first class including 16 girls. Half the students have lost at least one parent and some both. The classroom was modestly furnished and has acquired a limited supply of books and laboratory materials. The students were a little shy and I could sense they are anxious but excited about being the first class. They put on a wonderful song and dance lead by a young girl named Claire. Claire is the oldest child of a woman that lost her husband two years ago and has many other children at home. Claire was recruited by the teachers for this year's class because of her excellent performance in primary school. She hopes to become a doctor.

In the afternoon we visited a Millineum Village Project in the village of Sauri. We saw a clinic, village phone, agricultural project and a spring water source before the afternoon rains threatened to close the road. It is an amazing example of how community mobilization and adequate resources lead to rapid implementation of quality programs.

We head to Homa Bay and St. Marrgarita Development Center today. I have to go. I've been accused of being on Africa time because I was late yesterday.

Linda (and Jerry, Chris and Sydney)

Ikonzo and the Millennium

2006-06-21T11:24:00.001-07:00

Today we visited the second Pangea project in the Kisumu area, Ikonzo Self Help Group. The village of Ikonzo is about an hour from Kisumu. Most of the ride was on a paved road. We were met by members of the Ikonzo executive committee, teachers, students and parents at the primary/secondary school. The primary school has been in the village of Ikonzo since 1938 and recently, teachers and parents donated 7 acres of to be used for the school and a community library. Pangea's 2005 grant funded the construction of a secondary school classroom. A community library is also planned and construction will begin in the near future. There are 33 student's enrolled in the 1st class including 16 girls. Approximately half of the students are orphans or come from single parent households. The student's recited poems and sang for us. Claire, stands out in my mind as an exceptional student. She is the oldest child of a single parent. Her father died two years ago. She was recruited by the teachers for her strong academic performance in primary school. She lead the class in their song and dance. Claire hopes to be a doctor. Most of the students at Ikonzo come from very poor families and are unable to pay school fees. This is a challenge for the Ikonzo group in trying to meet ongoing expenses at the school. I got a real sense the students are a bit anxious and at the same time excited about being in the first secondary class. Government officials are scheduled to visit the school in July. If the school passes this inspection they will receive certification and eventually paid teachers.

In the afternoon we had the opportunity to visit a Millineum Village Project in the village of Sauri. This was the first MVP in Africa. We were able to tour the health center, a village phone, an agricultural area and a spring fed water source before the afternoon rains threatened to close the road. We were most impressed with the community organizing around the 8 areas of the millineum goals and how successful they were at implementing their objectives very quickly. It was an excellent model of how community moblilization and adequate (lots of) resources improve the likelihood of success. It would be great fun to come back near the end of the 5 year grant cycle to see all they have accomplished.

Visit to Loyce's Rabuor Village

2006-06-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

Today will be a hard act to follow. We were given an incredibly warm welcome at Rabuor, and an introduction to African culture that I'll never forget. Dawnson Owuor, a full-time employee of Rabuor Village Project, met us in Kisumu and escorted us to Rabuor, which is difficult to find. It took about 40 minutes: 20 minutes on an asphalt road that we would think poorly maintained, and 20 minutes on a dirt road that was difficult to drive even when dry.

Once at Rabuor, about 50 members of the Rabuor Women's Group greeted us with singing and dancing, and then they were joined by a swarm of small children from the nursery school, laughing and clapping. After a prayer, official welcome and introductions to the key players in Rabuor, we toured the school and had more singing and recitations by the children. These kids are under 7, and there are about 150 of them; 3/4 are orphans, and the rest pay a small monthly stipend (<$1) to attend. They sang several songs in English ("I'm a little teapot") and several of the more brave recited poems, most of which had a religious base. The school is a spotless, well-kept building with two classrooms, a small pharmacy (just launched), an office, storeroom, and kitchen. The kitchen includes 3 energy-efficient wood-burning stoves which were donated by Slum Doctors.

After touring the school, we took a walking tour where we saw a field of sunflowers (part of our project), and a location where members of the Rabuor Youth Group make adobe-like bricks by hand. We also saw the foundation for a storage building to hold the sunflower oil press, the oil, the seeds, and quarters for the night watchman who will watch over the building's contents. The proposal we funded included 22,000 kenyan schillings for this building, but that would only have built a 10x10 hut. Seattle-based Rabuor Village Project coughed up enough extra money to expand it significantly. We ended our walk at Loyce's parents' homestead, a compound that contains 5-6 small huts. We were served an abundant lunch inside the main house, where we sat at the table and the rest of our entourage and the family sat in the sitting area. After lunch, we toured the homestead, seeing one of the hybrid goats ("diel"), the chickens, cows, and sunflowers being dried and the seeds extracted. We saw three bags of seeds that have come from the first crop. Dawnson told us that approximately 40 acres of sunflowers are being cultivated, by the 29 women who signed up after they were told about the project. Some of the youth group (age 18-25) are helping to train the women and in some cases helping prepare and plan the fields. Now that the project is showing results, many other women who were originally skeptical are now wanting to participate. The storage building is scheduled for completion in a month, and they will start producing oil at that time. They've already done some marketing, and they have already got orders from some of the surrounding schools to supply them with oil.

They have not yet purchased the goats, but will have them by the end of the month: 2 bucks and 4 pregnant does. Rosemell (Loyce's mom) has had her example goat for about 9 months, and it has already fathered one mixed-breed goat. These goats are preferable to the local goats because they grow bigger, have more meat, and are resistant to illness.

We returned to the meeting area, where we had a ceremonial meeting. There were formal thanks from village spokespeople, then we told Pangea's story and thanked them for their welcome. We presented the gifts we brought (40 plates and 50 spoons for the nursery school, and a journal for Rosemell to keep group records in), which were graciously received. The Youth Group told us about their origin and goals, and performed a couple of HIV/AIDS awareness skits for us. These young men are amazing...they were quite and retiring when introducing themselves, but then started their act and were dynamic and charismatic. Next, Rosemell told the story of the Rabuor Women's Group, which started in 1973 and grew very slowly until HIV/AIDS started threatening the community. Next, five representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture were introduced and talked about how they collaborate with local villages and international partners. (It seemed to us that Rabuor was doing well without their help, and we weren't sure that bringing their attention to Rabuor was a good thing.) Finally, the pastor of the Rabuor Church gave a farewell prayer.

We had been supposed to have tea at Rosemell's before leaving, but all of a sudden it started to rain. And when it rains in Kenya, it really rains. Our driver came running and said we had to leave right away or we wouldn't be able to get through the worst parts of the dirt road. We said our goodbyes hastily, and jumped into the van. The ride back to the main road was harrowing...it was difficult to see and the road in some places had become a stream. At one point, we got stuck and were afraid we were high-centered on a rock, but Kennedy finally got us moving again.

All in all, today was a wonderful adventure. I can only hope the next few days will be half as good.

Love to all,
The Travelers

More experiences at Common Ground

2006-06-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Today is my last full day with the people of Common Ground. The past six days we (two other Village Volunteers - Dena Jasper and Jeanette Herting) and I have been very active in all aspects of life of Pathfinder Academy and with the "Communities" supported by the Common Ground Program. Dena and Jeanette are teaching women and students at Pathfinder to cook using solar ovens. Dena raised money from friends and family at home to buy solar ovens to give to community leaders and women interested in training others. The women have been very excited by the possibilities of cooking with these ovens. Their excitement was evident in their smiles and laughter and even spontaneous song and dance! Very fun! I became the official photographer and have been very happy to have Allan's camcorder to capture the song and dance.

We have visited many small communities.

A farming cooperative ( 40 families) is using biointensive farming techniques to make it possible for a large family to support themselves on one acre of land. There crops and animals appear very healthy and their farming techniques very simple yet sophisticated.

A women's self help group has learned to make pots with local clay from the Nzoia River - a 4 km walk from the potting "studio". They make clay stoves used by locals to cook using fire wood or charcoal. They sell the stoves in the farmer's markets and also to their immediate neighbors. They were in the process of firing 600 stoves in their kiln when we were their.I spoke with these women about potential "Potters for Peace" water filters project. These locals may be very helpful in providing local knowledge in creating clay water purification filters. We also spoke with these women about their current water use practices. They have a deep well but their pump is broken and they don't have the 36,000 shillings needed to fix the pump. Currently they walk 4 km to the river for their water. They know that they get typhoid from this water but their prefer to take their chances rather than spend time and fire wood to boil the water. This will be a very difficult education project to change the practice of drinking unpurified water.

Two HIV/AIDS widows each with 7 to 9 children have set up very small retail kiosks where they sell products that they buy in bulk and repackage for sale to their immediate community. This provides them with shillings to buy essentials and also means that their neighbors do not have to walk so far to buy such things as tea, cooking spices, cooking fat, salt, sugar, bread, laundry soap etc.

Another widow - Grace- with young twins has set up a tailoring enterprise in her home where she makes dresses and also does embroidery on her dual powered singer sewing machine. The three of us "Village Volunteers" oredered a dress which Joshua will mail to us in Nairobi before we leave Kenya.

These microenterprises as well as others that I have not yet visited are supported by the 2005 Pangea grant to Common Ground.

Other activities since my last post include a day of Music competition amongst the primary schools of the Kitale district. This is a major event with what seemed like 30 to 40 different schools. Pathfinder students placed quite high in this competition and will go on to Provincial competition held in a town about 70 Kms from Kitale. Then if they do well there they will go to Nairobi for the National competition. The african children are very skilled and naturally talented when it comes to singing, drumming, and dancing. I had a great time that day!

I met with each of the 13 pathfinder students currently supported by Pangea. I have pictures of all and video of some. One of the girls is an orphan who is in 7th grade and boards at pathfinder. She is an amazing musician, an excellent student, and very kind to the younger children. She appears to have natural leadership skills.

Another of the girls lives with her Mom and 6 siblings in a tiny mud home. Her name is Robai and we visited her garden yesterday. She is the primary gardener for the family and grows maize, firewood, kale, carrots, cabbage, avocados, tomatoes, and mangos. She sells the food to provide money for seeds for the garden and other minimal essentials for the family. In the dry season her garden provides enough wood for cooking. In the wet season they need to buy dry wood. We gave her 200 shillings (about 3 dollars) so that she could buy seeds for tomatoes and kale. She was so taken with our visit that she gave us one of her hens! Joshua let us know that we could not refuse \ so now there is another hen at Pathfinder. Joshua will give her the first chick born to this hen.

Today's activities will include a visit to another widow, Gladys, where we will do the memory box project. This is a Village Volunteers project that allows the family to write about family members and draw pictures of how they remember the recently deceased or about memories of those who are sick. Gladys is currently taking ARV drugs for AIDS treatment.

Tomorrow we leave for Kisumu, and a night at Mama na Dada in volunteers huts. Tuesday morning Joshua and I will meet up with Chris, Jerry, and Linda at the Imperial hotel in Kisumu.

Asante sana,

Sydney

Last Minute Preparations and Trepidations

2006-06-18T00:08:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, we fly to Africa from our home-away-from-home in Toulouse, France. After rereading the safety reminders from Shana Greene, who helped us arrange the trip, and the health warnings from the UW Travel Medicine Clinic, we're a little apprehensive but also very excited to start this adventure. We'll do our best not to look like rich tourists, allow our pockets to be picked, get mugged in Nairobi, catch malaria or dengue fever, get sick from eating the wrong kinds of food or drinking the water, etc. etc.

Despite all the warnings, we expect to have a fantastic experience that will alter our view of the world. We know we'll meet many wonderful people, learn what life is like in rural Africa, and see some beautiful scenery and big animals. We hope to come back with more extensive knowledge of each of the projects Pangea funded in 2005 and how we might help them in the future.

Today, we're trying to figure out how to cram our clothing (minimal), medications & first aid supplies (extensive), and gifts for the projects into two small roll-around suitcases.

Wish us luck!
Chris & Jerry

My first week in Kenya

2006-06-13T02:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Life in kenya is full of wonderful people dealing with challenges with hope and hard work and vision for the future. Nairobi was exhausting, frenetic, polluted, and stimulating! People everywhere trying to get somewhere through traffic unlike anything I have every seen. I was hosted by a wonderful family who picked me up from the airport, fed me (wonderful food), and took me around Nairobi on Mutatas just like a local. Crossing the street is a unique experience that I wouldn't try on my own. For two hours I went with Njoki ( one of my hosts) to a home for abanded babies. We changed them and fed them and played with them. What incredible work. The attitude is hopeful and many of the babies are adopted mostly by Kenyans and some by foreigners. Many of the babies are HIV+ and are more difficult to place.

My 8 hour bus ride to Kitale was quite an experience, being the only non-Kenyan. We stopped once for a toilet break. Imagine! The country side was beautiful. At one point we slowed down for zebras crossing the road.

Now, I have been living with the people of Common Ground in a hut built for Village Volunteers for 4 days. This is one of the programs we at Pangea have sponsored. The program is an amazing story mostly because of the energy and vision of the director, Joshua Manchinga. The beauty of the story is the understanding of the interconnectidness of school, community and the environment. The center piece is the PathFinder school. It is a private school for anyone in the surrounding community. Most of the children are very poor and dealing with extreme challenges of family life, and long distances to walk to school. Joshua works hard to find sponsors for the children to allow them to come to the school. After being open for only 4 years there are 298 students in grades K through 7. They will add 8th grade next year. The school is unique in that the children are taught the importance of working within their community. They are taught from very early grades the principles of bio-intensive farming and are taught to go out to the adult community and teach so that families can be self-sustaining on a small plot of land. The children are intent learners and know how fortunate they are to be able to attend school - especially the girls. Pangea is sponsoring 14 children who would otherwise not be able to attend school at all. Tomorrow I will be able to talk with them and learn their stories directly from them. The Common Ground program also makes connections between people and supports creation of such community groups as the Masaba Widows Group. These women have been widowed, many from HIV/AIDS, all have young children, and as women many were left with nothing after their husbands died. These women, now are supporting each other by using bio-intensive farming, and engaging in microenterprises such as tailoring, brick making, and farming. They are energetic, welcoming, creative, hopeful and even joyful in their lives. I wish everyone could meet them! Today I will meet other community groups benefitting from the Common Ground Program. Pangea has also provided support for the microenterprises of the Masaba Widows. We can feel very assured that this support for both the children and the Widows is being well used!

Joshua felt so strongly that he wanted to meet the whole group traveling from Pangea that he is going to travel with me to Kisumu to meet for an hour or so with all 4 of us.

Take care everyone. When power is up and connections are good and I am in Kitale again I will update this post.

Asante sana,

Sydney

Leaving on Wednesday

2006-06-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday, June 14th, I leave Seattle to join the Doerr's and Sydney in Kenya. First, though, I will be going to Kampala, Uganda to meet my friend Samuel. I first met Samuel 2 years ago while visiting a program at his school called Straight Talk. It is a program organized for youth to meet with their peers for support and to talk about relationships with girls (or boys), families, HIV/AIDs, etc. . Samuel and I have become good friends (mostly through the internet) and he will be taking me to meet his friends in Kampala and then out to his village to meet his family. I will also meet with Kevin Fitzcharles, CARE's Country Director in Uganda.

One week countdown

2006-05-29T06:52:00.000-07:00

Good Morning,

One week from today I will embark on a journey that has been part of my dreams since my college days. I wanted to join the Peace Corps as a new graduate and then life happened. As I entered "retirement" my goal was to find a way to serve the global community through volunteer work. A few months later I learned of Pangea, joined the group and here I am setting off to Kenya and Tanzania!

I will arrive in Nairobi on June 7th and travel to Kitale Kenya on June 9th. I will be in the Kitale area until June 19th. So, my plan is to post stories to this blog beginning on June 8th when I get to an internet cafe in Nairobi.

Asante sana,

Sydney

Setting Up the Blog

2006-05-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Pangea members, friends, and families,

Next month, four Pangea members will travel to Africa to visit our grantees and other grassroots groups that might be future partners. I've set up this blog so we can post updates and maybe even photos so you can share in the fun.

Sydney Munger leaves June 5 to work for two weeks as a volunteer at Common Ground Project (one of our grantees). Linda Mason, Jerry, and I will meet her in Kisumu, Kenya the morning of June 20. Whenever we can get access to the internet, we'll let you know how it's going.

For readers who don't know about Pangea, you can learn about our group at www.pangeagiving.org.

Kwaheri ("goodbye" in Swahili),
Chris Doerr