9/28/2007 Club Matoso – The saga continues

Our new mandate not only from the Kenyan Ministry of Health but also another NGO called FACES is for us to start doing pediatric anti-retroviral therapy. Currently, we are referring all of those patients out to the local hospitals (local being an hour away by a vehicle, assuming you can pay for the ride). Thus, they feel that kids are falling through the cracks and we should try to fill one of them. I’ve been working on it, and it’s going to be a monumental challenge. The main accomplishment has to be an easy to understand protocol. We’ll see if we can pull it off.

Normally, when I write in my journal, I sit on the porch of my lodge. It looks out onto the lake and since I face Northwest, I always have a good view of the sunsets. I just re-read a book called “Fup” and a character mentions in there “I have seen 10,000 sunsets in my life. Not one of them looked the same. What more can we ask for?” I can probably agree with that. The porch is a wonderful place to just sit and read or write or relax. The “sea breeze” blows pleasantly and the weather has been so far quite hospitable.

These past few days, we’ve been lucky to enjoy the full moon. There’s no ambient light or light pollution here because there are no power lines to the area, i.e. everything beyond Migori (the nearby “big” town) has neither electricity nor sanitation. Without the background brightness, we experience the full glow of the moon, and it is amazingly luminescent. From the front door of my dwelling, the moon casts shadows, and I could even read by its light. In fact, the night sort of appears to be a “Nuit Americaine” – almost like the day-time w/ a dampening filter. Nice.

Last weekend involved a lot of traveling and walking. On Friday, we went to Migori to get some business done. The ride on that bumpy-ass dirt road is a tiring experience unto itself. It lasts at least an hour in each direction, and the creative driving needed to navigate the track disallows any opportunity to rest in the car. Normally, I like long car rides, as I take the opportunity to doze. But on these trips, I cannot wait to get out of the car (and perhaps kiss the ground).

On Saturday, the plan was to take the “Big Fish” (seriously, that’s what it’s called – it’s a big green passenger shuttle; privately owned but serves as the public transportation in the area) to Migori and from there to go to Dollith’s house (one of the clinicians here) by Cockroach (a mode of transportation that involves piling 15 people (I am not exaggerating) into a hatchback; and so-called because they’re small, fast, and look like darting Cockroaches from above). Well, the Big Fish came earlier than normal and we missed it. Then we tried to walk to Otho, which I think is about 2 miles from us. It’s all uphill and Tami (the other volunteer) concluded that I was a wimpy walker because I couldn’t keep up with her 5’11’’ stried. Thankfully, Chacha (the Director of the Education Department) picked us up in a Lalmba Landcruiser because Jackson (Personnel Director) was also going to Otho.

Once in Otho, which serves as a sort of depot for the Cockroaches, we jumped into one, paid the 150 Kenyan Shillings (2 dollars), and rode the rest of the way to Migori. Once in Migori, we met up with Dollith and Wilkester (who I keep wanting to call Winchester even though she is not white, fat, balding, or fictional) and we piled into another Cockroach to Bondo. Then from Bondo we took the Kenyan equivalent of a cycle-rickshaw to Wilkester’s house. This mode of transport involves a single passenger sitting on the back of a bicycle and then gets escorted to his destination. The bicyclists are quite skilled and hardy for they must navigate the ruts and bumps in the road, ride uphill with an extra 150 pounds on the back (and no, I haven’t lost any weight, yet, despite the bad food), use only a single gear, and doing it all for only Ksh 50 for a 30 minute trip (80 cents). Jeez!

At Wilkester’s house, we enjoyed chai (it’s interesting how much Indian influence there is here). Tami understands far more Duoluo (the local language) than she speaks. Thus, when Wilkester’s mother-in-law greeted us, I was the only one left out of the loop since Tami could follow the entire conversation. I enjoyed myself in spite of being excluded from the conversation, for the grandma was quite fund and had a great sense of humor (when it was translated for me…). At one point, she noticed I was not drinking my chai. When I told her it was because it was too hot, she became very preoccupied with finding a way to cool it down. It was endearing. She sort of reminded me of Dadi (Dad’s Mom).

After Wilkester’s place, we headed to Dollith’s birth home where we had lunch. Before lunch, I expressed that I was a little tired. This comment prompted Dollith to insist that I go to sleep. It was unnecessary but it probably solidified my reputation as a wimp. For the most part, I just lay on the bed without sleeping.

On the way back, Tami and Dollith didn’t want to risk anything with me as far as the walk back, and they sent me again with a bike all the way back to Bondo. I’m glad, for the entire trek was uphill. Plus, the path we took gave me an excellent experience of the countryside. I saw a lot neat things and unfortunately a few malnourished kids also. Granted, Matoso is no huge metropolis but its rural-ness is much less than where we were visiting.

The Cockroach ride home from Migori to Matoso was punctuated, literally, by 3 flat tires. After the first, the spare got us to Otho. In Otho, we just hung around while they tried to repair the spare, as it went kaplooie also. Luckily, I had both signal on the cell and time, and Mom called at a perfect time so that we could talk.

Then, we resumed riding towards our destination crammed in like sardines, and the tired went flat yet again. However, the fact that I am writing this blog is proof that we made it home alive and I assure you, in one piece.

On Sunday, we walked a lot because we got lost finding Daniel’s (driver and registration dude) house. He had invited us for lunch. Lunch was actually quite good. We had fried fish. When I saw it, my stomach lurched. Hoever, it turns out I really enjoy the fish when it’s fried. Of course, I ignored the sacuma (spinach) and the Ogale (or Ugali – I don’t know how it’s spelled). A friend of Daniel’s was also there and he was quite conversational with us. For the most part, we discussed politics and a little about the rural Kenyan life and Luo culture. We ventured outside after lunch and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time under the shade of his trees and the continuous breeze off the lake. Man, it was a nice afternoon.

Well, there is actually more to write but I am tired. Therefore, I will sign-off for now. You, who decided to take time out of your busy day to read this, are probably sick of reading it now anyway. I’ll try to make the next one shorter.

Cheers!