On the Beach
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 5:43 AM
0 comments
Monday, September 28, 2009
Last Blog From Kenya
Last Blog From Kenya
September 28, 2009
Hujambo rafiki na jamii,
(Greetings friends and family)
We are about to leave this beautiful place with all of the beautiful friends and family we have made here, to return to our home in the USA and see our American family and friends whom we miss very much. So, we will leave with mixed feelings – sadness and happiness.
On our last weekend we traveled to Mombasa, Kenya’s port city on the Indian Ocean. This is the 3rd or 4th time that we have been at the Indian Ocean, but our first in Kenya. It is a very warm body of water, and the colors are quite beautiful: greens, blues, aquamarines.
Mombasa is very large compared to Kisumu and has about 2 million people, and is a pretty congested place. It is about as different culturally as it can be from Kisumu. The culture is Swahili – a mix of Arabic, Muslim, and East African culture, and is reflected in the food, dress, etc. There are many more Muslims than here. The food has a lot of Arabic influence and is nicely spiced. Many of the women are veiled, and only their eyes are showing. We also found many Somali’s who have probably left Somalia because of the problems there.
As we have told you before, we are helping the adolescent girls program make a CD. Last week at a party we had at our house we were told that one of the songs on the CD is about us. We were quite moved. It is a very very nice gesture, and one we will always treasure. We will send you the words after we return home and will also try to send you the music so that you can enjoy this beautiful music as much as we do.
Malaria and other problems continue to be a scourge here, and for us it hits home when one of our close friends and/or their infant children gets sick. While there is a lot of research going on, for the time being, as far as malaria goes, bed nets seem to offer the best hope. But the problem there is the affordability of them for so many people. It is a pretty simple solution and only costs $10 per net. There are lots of programs around that buy and give them to poor people in Africa. If you really want to save the life of a pregnant woman or infant, buy a treated net. It works!
There was just an interesting report in the paper about AIDS and circumcision which is supposed to reduce it by some 60%. However, the prevalence is still rising, and here on the coast, actually around Mombasa where upwards of 90% of the males are circumcised, the AIDS rate continues to rise. Many men have multiple partners and multiple wives, and so the virus keeps on spreading. Here where we work, our Reproductive Health Department spends a lot of time providing education to women and men, but it is much more difficult to reach men. Last week, we convinced a tuk tuk driver to give condoms to his friends, and he gave out 3 boxes (300 condoms) and came back for more. Anything helps. The key is not to give up and to keep on trying new things.
School is free here, but still there are uniforms to buy, shoes, notebooks, pens, pencils, etc., and lots of people just can’t afford it. When there is a family of boy and girl children, it is usually the boy child who gets to go. The girls stay home and help take care of the younger siblings, help with the chores, etc., and then the merry go round begins: early sexual activity without knowledge of what happens; perhaps rape; early marriage; the concept is that they don’t need an education because they will be taken care of by some man, and maybe this man has other wives and young girls and perhaps Aids/std’s, and round and round we go.
We were invited to dinner the other night at the home of a young man and his family – wife and 2 young children. Also his sisters. We have never felt so welcomed and comfortable, especially in a place where we didn’t know most of the people. This African culture is so warm and welcoming, and that is probably why we love it here so much. (And the food was delicious).
Here in Kisumu, there have been extremely heavy rains which brought flooding and some destruction. Last week 5 people died from the flooding. First there was drought and everyone prayed for rain, but the prayers must have been answered with a little too much rain. Still in the rest of the country and throughout most of East Africa there is a severe drought. People are starving; the livestock are dying by the thousands, and the fields are bone dry. Climate change, if that is what it is, is really taking a toll. So food security remains one of the most important issues. This is a tough place to be: it is difficult to find a job; aids, malaria, cholera, tb, malnutrition, flooding, drought. Kind of sounds like the 10 plagues that Moses wrought upon the Egyptians so long ago. But yet there is a lot of hope and people like us get up every day and come to work with our colleagues, and together we try to make a difference, and you know what – together we do make a difference. Remember, if you save one life you save the world.
Well, we came here to build capacity, empower and teach, and we think we did, but we were also educated and empowered, and our understanding of other cultures was once again expanded. It would be tough to see if we gave more or got more. Everyone thanks us, but I think that at our going away party tomorrow we will have a lot to thank you’s to say to all of the wonderful people here. This may be the only place that we would be willing to come back to for another volunteer experience, although, not the only place. We have once again made very good friends and strong relationships. There will be some tears tomorrow, probably from those of us who are going and those that are staying. I, Peter, have another family here – a sister, a daughter, a son, that I will never forget and that I will be forever close to.
OK, we will see you soon, and for some of you, even before you open this blog.
Oh yeah, one funny thing: A week or so ago, early in the morning I was checking email and I heard Hinda screaming: Help, Help, Come Quick! Apparently a frog had jumped up out of the drain just as Hinda was turning on the shower. Peter to the rescue. Our drains just drain out onto the ground, so it was pretty easy for Mr. Froggy just to up the drain, and also the shower drain has a hole in it so you know the rest of the story.
Love and hugs,
Mzee Peter and Mama Hinda
September 28, 2009
Hujambo rafiki na jamii,
(Greetings friends and family)
We are about to leave this beautiful place with all of the beautiful friends and family we have made here, to return to our home in the USA and see our American family and friends whom we miss very much. So, we will leave with mixed feelings – sadness and happiness.
On our last weekend we traveled to Mombasa, Kenya’s port city on the Indian Ocean. This is the 3rd or 4th time that we have been at the Indian Ocean, but our first in Kenya. It is a very warm body of water, and the colors are quite beautiful: greens, blues, aquamarines.
Mombasa is very large compared to Kisumu and has about 2 million people, and is a pretty congested place. It is about as different culturally as it can be from Kisumu. The culture is Swahili – a mix of Arabic, Muslim, and East African culture, and is reflected in the food, dress, etc. There are many more Muslims than here. The food has a lot of Arabic influence and is nicely spiced. Many of the women are veiled, and only their eyes are showing. We also found many Somali’s who have probably left Somalia because of the problems there.
As we have told you before, we are helping the adolescent girls program make a CD. Last week at a party we had at our house we were told that one of the songs on the CD is about us. We were quite moved. It is a very very nice gesture, and one we will always treasure. We will send you the words after we return home and will also try to send you the music so that you can enjoy this beautiful music as much as we do.
Malaria and other problems continue to be a scourge here, and for us it hits home when one of our close friends and/or their infant children gets sick. While there is a lot of research going on, for the time being, as far as malaria goes, bed nets seem to offer the best hope. But the problem there is the affordability of them for so many people. It is a pretty simple solution and only costs $10 per net. There are lots of programs around that buy and give them to poor people in Africa. If you really want to save the life of a pregnant woman or infant, buy a treated net. It works!
There was just an interesting report in the paper about AIDS and circumcision which is supposed to reduce it by some 60%. However, the prevalence is still rising, and here on the coast, actually around Mombasa where upwards of 90% of the males are circumcised, the AIDS rate continues to rise. Many men have multiple partners and multiple wives, and so the virus keeps on spreading. Here where we work, our Reproductive Health Department spends a lot of time providing education to women and men, but it is much more difficult to reach men. Last week, we convinced a tuk tuk driver to give condoms to his friends, and he gave out 3 boxes (300 condoms) and came back for more. Anything helps. The key is not to give up and to keep on trying new things.
School is free here, but still there are uniforms to buy, shoes, notebooks, pens, pencils, etc., and lots of people just can’t afford it. When there is a family of boy and girl children, it is usually the boy child who gets to go. The girls stay home and help take care of the younger siblings, help with the chores, etc., and then the merry go round begins: early sexual activity without knowledge of what happens; perhaps rape; early marriage; the concept is that they don’t need an education because they will be taken care of by some man, and maybe this man has other wives and young girls and perhaps Aids/std’s, and round and round we go.
We were invited to dinner the other night at the home of a young man and his family – wife and 2 young children. Also his sisters. We have never felt so welcomed and comfortable, especially in a place where we didn’t know most of the people. This African culture is so warm and welcoming, and that is probably why we love it here so much. (And the food was delicious).
Here in Kisumu, there have been extremely heavy rains which brought flooding and some destruction. Last week 5 people died from the flooding. First there was drought and everyone prayed for rain, but the prayers must have been answered with a little too much rain. Still in the rest of the country and throughout most of East Africa there is a severe drought. People are starving; the livestock are dying by the thousands, and the fields are bone dry. Climate change, if that is what it is, is really taking a toll. So food security remains one of the most important issues. This is a tough place to be: it is difficult to find a job; aids, malaria, cholera, tb, malnutrition, flooding, drought. Kind of sounds like the 10 plagues that Moses wrought upon the Egyptians so long ago. But yet there is a lot of hope and people like us get up every day and come to work with our colleagues, and together we try to make a difference, and you know what – together we do make a difference. Remember, if you save one life you save the world.
Well, we came here to build capacity, empower and teach, and we think we did, but we were also educated and empowered, and our understanding of other cultures was once again expanded. It would be tough to see if we gave more or got more. Everyone thanks us, but I think that at our going away party tomorrow we will have a lot to thank you’s to say to all of the wonderful people here. This may be the only place that we would be willing to come back to for another volunteer experience, although, not the only place. We have once again made very good friends and strong relationships. There will be some tears tomorrow, probably from those of us who are going and those that are staying. I, Peter, have another family here – a sister, a daughter, a son, that I will never forget and that I will be forever close to.
OK, we will see you soon, and for some of you, even before you open this blog.
Oh yeah, one funny thing: A week or so ago, early in the morning I was checking email and I heard Hinda screaming: Help, Help, Come Quick! Apparently a frog had jumped up out of the drain just as Hinda was turning on the shower. Peter to the rescue. Our drains just drain out onto the ground, so it was pretty easy for Mr. Froggy just to up the drain, and also the shower drain has a hole in it so you know the rest of the story.
Love and hugs,
Mzee Peter and Mama Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 5:29 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
"Are we almost there?" (End of a 5 hour hike)
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 7:52 AM
0 comments
Black & White Colobus Monkey, Kakamega Forest
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 7:51 AM
0 comments
Fishing Boat , Maboko Island, Lake Victoria
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 7:41 AM
0 comments
Blog 8, Kisumu, Kenya
Blog 8
Kisumu, Kenya
September 15, 2009
Hujambo family and friends,
This will be our next to the last blog. Next weekend, we will be going to Mombasa, and after we return we will only have a couple of more days left and will write a small blog to you.
In short, we love it here in Kenya, the country, the NGO we are volunteering with, and most of all the people we work with. They are kind, friendly, welcoming, helpful, and more and more. We can’t say enough about them and we will miss them so much. We will somehow have to find a way to come back.
There have been some very interesting and good things happening here with us and our organization.
• We are nearly finished with making an audio CD performed by the girls in one of our programs. These teen and early twenties girls have had more than a tough life and this program has helped them become strong young women. They sing beautifully and they will sell the CD and earn some money for their program and themselves;
• Two volunteers from Boston University who were here for about 6 weeks wrote the life stories of these young women, and our NGO is going to publish them and possibly include the CD with the book;
• Another good idea: Many people here are very poor, and some cannot even afford to buy sanitary napkins. So they may use old newspaper or cloth. For the young girls in school it is embarrassing to say the least and so they may not go to school during their periods because they are made fun of. Our NGO is now making washable and re-useable sanitary pads – an idea they got from another NGO. They are being made by the girls in our vocational training program, so their training is not only theoretical, but very practical and useful;
• Because hand sanitizer is expensive and hard to get here, we discovered using the internet that it is easy to make – aloe vera and alcohol, so we are working with our nutrition production project and a group of HIV positive women who already make soap to make hand sanitizer. Aloe vera grows wild here, and they are learning how to extract the gel from the plant. For the alcohol, at least for the experimental part of this process, we are using a local home made brew – “changaa” – which is not legal, but we got hold of some, because it is much cheaper than buying alcohol, so if we ever bring you some, don’t drink it. I tasted it and it is pretty strong stuff;
• We made a slide show about our organization and used it as a teaching tool. They now use it to show to visitors, and it is pretty good, even if we say so ourselves. The music in it is one of the songs that will be on the CD – a very beautiful, and moving song about conquering AIDS. We put the slide show on our You Tube site,(www.youtube.com/hindapeter) and will also helped our NGO develop their own You Tube site and have loaded the video there as well.
• To make fundraising a bit easier we are going to put a PayPal link on their website so that some of you and others can easily donate to them. The PayPal link can only be put on in the US;
• A few days ago, we had a “media day” that we helped conceive and organize, where local media representatives could learn about our NGO, and also spend a day in the slums where our NGO does most of it’s work. It was a great success. Here is an excerpt from an email to us from one of the media participants. This is what our volunteering is all about. Even small steps, like helping this one person have a better understanding is a success for us:
Peter,
Thank you very much for coming all the way from America just to tell me about what is going on in my neighbourhood,you are such a wonderful man.
I have learnt alot and at one point I was touched when I came into reality how AIDS is fighting the less fortunate in our society.
I wish I had resources to assist I would have done much but still my power as a journalists I believe will bear some fruits.
We were to be in Kampala recently to attend a traditional “Introduction” – a traditional event where the two families of the bride and groom come together, the dowry is negotiated and paid, and it is basically a traditional wedding. Unfortunately, as you may know, violence broke out in Kampala on the day we were to take the bus there and we couldn’t go. The government of Uganda would not let the Kabaka – the Buganda King travel to a youth rally. Many people were killed, there were a lot of fires that burned businesses and quite a few people were injured. We were very worried about our Ugandan friends and family, but none of them were hurt, and it was to be our last visit there, so we could not say goodbye to them. We are sad, but fortunately we are safe. Sorry you could not see us in our traditional Ugandan clothing.
We are making a potluck for the people we work with and asked them to RSVP and tell us what they will bring. So, here is a cultural boo boo: There don’t seem to be such things as potlucks here, and most of the time, when you are invited to dinner, you come and eat and not bring the food. But it will be ok – our strange ways are being accepted – the Kenyans are very accepting. People are telling us they are coming and slowly we will find out what they will bring, although some are bringing something special which they want to keep a secret. I know we will have lots of fun with our friends here whom we are very fond of.
A few days ago, I was making sun tea, where you put tea bags in container with water and put it out in the sun to steep. The woman who works in our compound came by and asked what I was doing, I explained I was making tea and when it was done I would take it in the house and put it in the fridge. She looked at me and asked if I would then heat it up to drink, so I told her no I would put ice in it and drink it. She seemed very puzzled and couldn’t quite understand why I would want to put ice in tea to drink. This is the only country we have been to where, when you order a drink, like soda or beer, you are asked if you want it warm or cold. Oh well, each to his own taste, that’s what makes life interesting.
A couple of weeks ago, our friend Jonis, who had been visiting from the USA, and I went to the our NGO’s vocational training program and got pedicures. It took about 3 hours, but the girls did a great job and our feet never felt so good. And the price, 300 Kenyan shillings, or about $4. Some things are really inexpensive but most things are higher priced here in Africa.
Our work is still going strong. There seems to not be “winding down”, and we suspect that we will work until the last possible moment – the end of the day that we leave. In particular, Peter helped put together a system for obtaining bids for the building and a review process that has worked very well, and will be used as a model for the rest of the building. With his help, contracts for the new building have been issued for the electrical, door frames, and metal grill work for the windows and doors, and soon for the doors. Most important is the process he has helped to develop for the future.
As for Hinda, she has developed and instituted a client record system and a pretty sophisticated data base and has trained the medical staff to use them. This is a big step forward for this group. The head nurse now is really computer literate, and data is being entered daily into the computer data base with information collected by the community health workers. Also, for the first time, there is a record system so that accurate record keeping can take place and a color coded system developed so that client records can be easily found.
Both we, and our organization are pleased, and we feel comfortable that we have taught something and left templates and systems for the future. This capacity building when it works really helps people and organizations do for themselves what they might have been unable to without the help of “capacity builders” like us.
You know there really is such a thing as “African time”. It just takes some getting used to. African time is what someone referred to once as: “Westerners have watches and Africans have time”. We are pretty used to it now since one of our children – guess who - runs on African time. You just get used to it, and go with the flow. And once you do, you reduce your stress. The other day, at a meeting called for 9, the person came at 10:30 and when I asked him what time it was, he said: “9 African time”.
See, that’s how it works.
Buying an airline ticket isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Like the airline tickets for our trip to Mombasa and back to Kisumu.
1. Call the travel agent and book the flight;
2. A week before departure, check the ticket;
3. Find out that on the return trip from Mombasa to Kisumu, you land in Nairobi after the flight for Kisumu has already left;
4. Call the airline and told to go to the airport and make the change;
5. The airline makes the change, but the printer is broken, so no new ticket;
6. Writes the information on the old ticket, but in the wrong place;
7. Now want to buy tickets to go to another destination;
8. Printer still does not work;
9. Can’t get change;
10. Leave without the change and hard copies of our 2 sets of tickets;
11. Hope we can get on the planes;
12. If not, come to visit us here in Kisumu
A short story about an honest American:
In planning a visit to Kampala to attend the introduction of our friend, we needed to wear nice and traditional clothing, including dress shoes which Peter didn’t have. All over Kisumu, and most of this continent, it is easy to buy used shoes made to look like new. Peter didn’t want to buy shoes just to wear one time, so I convinced the shoe seller to “rent” me the shoes, kind of an unusual idea. His name is Elvis, and he called a few times to make sure I was legit. Then I returned the rented shoes, and he was a bit surprised to get them back at all, especially in the same condition that he “rented” them to me in. I could have given him a phony number and he would never have found me, but in addition to being honest, I really wanted to show him that Americans, at least these two Americans were honest and true to our word.
So, this is quite long and we will end now. Hope you look at the slide show. We think you will like it – the photos and the music. The photos are Peter’s and the music sung by the Sisterhood for Change girls and young women.
Love and hugs to all of you,
Kijana Mdogo,("the youngest boy" – a pun on the fact that Peter is the oldest here), and Mama Hinda
Kisumu, Kenya
September 15, 2009
Hujambo family and friends,
This will be our next to the last blog. Next weekend, we will be going to Mombasa, and after we return we will only have a couple of more days left and will write a small blog to you.
In short, we love it here in Kenya, the country, the NGO we are volunteering with, and most of all the people we work with. They are kind, friendly, welcoming, helpful, and more and more. We can’t say enough about them and we will miss them so much. We will somehow have to find a way to come back.
There have been some very interesting and good things happening here with us and our organization.
• We are nearly finished with making an audio CD performed by the girls in one of our programs. These teen and early twenties girls have had more than a tough life and this program has helped them become strong young women. They sing beautifully and they will sell the CD and earn some money for their program and themselves;
• Two volunteers from Boston University who were here for about 6 weeks wrote the life stories of these young women, and our NGO is going to publish them and possibly include the CD with the book;
• Another good idea: Many people here are very poor, and some cannot even afford to buy sanitary napkins. So they may use old newspaper or cloth. For the young girls in school it is embarrassing to say the least and so they may not go to school during their periods because they are made fun of. Our NGO is now making washable and re-useable sanitary pads – an idea they got from another NGO. They are being made by the girls in our vocational training program, so their training is not only theoretical, but very practical and useful;
• Because hand sanitizer is expensive and hard to get here, we discovered using the internet that it is easy to make – aloe vera and alcohol, so we are working with our nutrition production project and a group of HIV positive women who already make soap to make hand sanitizer. Aloe vera grows wild here, and they are learning how to extract the gel from the plant. For the alcohol, at least for the experimental part of this process, we are using a local home made brew – “changaa” – which is not legal, but we got hold of some, because it is much cheaper than buying alcohol, so if we ever bring you some, don’t drink it. I tasted it and it is pretty strong stuff;
• We made a slide show about our organization and used it as a teaching tool. They now use it to show to visitors, and it is pretty good, even if we say so ourselves. The music in it is one of the songs that will be on the CD – a very beautiful, and moving song about conquering AIDS. We put the slide show on our You Tube site,(www.youtube.com/hindapeter) and will also helped our NGO develop their own You Tube site and have loaded the video there as well.
• To make fundraising a bit easier we are going to put a PayPal link on their website so that some of you and others can easily donate to them. The PayPal link can only be put on in the US;
• A few days ago, we had a “media day” that we helped conceive and organize, where local media representatives could learn about our NGO, and also spend a day in the slums where our NGO does most of it’s work. It was a great success. Here is an excerpt from an email to us from one of the media participants. This is what our volunteering is all about. Even small steps, like helping this one person have a better understanding is a success for us:
Peter,
Thank you very much for coming all the way from America just to tell me about what is going on in my neighbourhood,you are such a wonderful man.
I have learnt alot and at one point I was touched when I came into reality how AIDS is fighting the less fortunate in our society.
I wish I had resources to assist I would have done much but still my power as a journalists I believe will bear some fruits.
We were to be in Kampala recently to attend a traditional “Introduction” – a traditional event where the two families of the bride and groom come together, the dowry is negotiated and paid, and it is basically a traditional wedding. Unfortunately, as you may know, violence broke out in Kampala on the day we were to take the bus there and we couldn’t go. The government of Uganda would not let the Kabaka – the Buganda King travel to a youth rally. Many people were killed, there were a lot of fires that burned businesses and quite a few people were injured. We were very worried about our Ugandan friends and family, but none of them were hurt, and it was to be our last visit there, so we could not say goodbye to them. We are sad, but fortunately we are safe. Sorry you could not see us in our traditional Ugandan clothing.
We are making a potluck for the people we work with and asked them to RSVP and tell us what they will bring. So, here is a cultural boo boo: There don’t seem to be such things as potlucks here, and most of the time, when you are invited to dinner, you come and eat and not bring the food. But it will be ok – our strange ways are being accepted – the Kenyans are very accepting. People are telling us they are coming and slowly we will find out what they will bring, although some are bringing something special which they want to keep a secret. I know we will have lots of fun with our friends here whom we are very fond of.
A few days ago, I was making sun tea, where you put tea bags in container with water and put it out in the sun to steep. The woman who works in our compound came by and asked what I was doing, I explained I was making tea and when it was done I would take it in the house and put it in the fridge. She looked at me and asked if I would then heat it up to drink, so I told her no I would put ice in it and drink it. She seemed very puzzled and couldn’t quite understand why I would want to put ice in tea to drink. This is the only country we have been to where, when you order a drink, like soda or beer, you are asked if you want it warm or cold. Oh well, each to his own taste, that’s what makes life interesting.
A couple of weeks ago, our friend Jonis, who had been visiting from the USA, and I went to the our NGO’s vocational training program and got pedicures. It took about 3 hours, but the girls did a great job and our feet never felt so good. And the price, 300 Kenyan shillings, or about $4. Some things are really inexpensive but most things are higher priced here in Africa.
Our work is still going strong. There seems to not be “winding down”, and we suspect that we will work until the last possible moment – the end of the day that we leave. In particular, Peter helped put together a system for obtaining bids for the building and a review process that has worked very well, and will be used as a model for the rest of the building. With his help, contracts for the new building have been issued for the electrical, door frames, and metal grill work for the windows and doors, and soon for the doors. Most important is the process he has helped to develop for the future.
As for Hinda, she has developed and instituted a client record system and a pretty sophisticated data base and has trained the medical staff to use them. This is a big step forward for this group. The head nurse now is really computer literate, and data is being entered daily into the computer data base with information collected by the community health workers. Also, for the first time, there is a record system so that accurate record keeping can take place and a color coded system developed so that client records can be easily found.
Both we, and our organization are pleased, and we feel comfortable that we have taught something and left templates and systems for the future. This capacity building when it works really helps people and organizations do for themselves what they might have been unable to without the help of “capacity builders” like us.
You know there really is such a thing as “African time”. It just takes some getting used to. African time is what someone referred to once as: “Westerners have watches and Africans have time”. We are pretty used to it now since one of our children – guess who - runs on African time. You just get used to it, and go with the flow. And once you do, you reduce your stress. The other day, at a meeting called for 9, the person came at 10:30 and when I asked him what time it was, he said: “9 African time”.
See, that’s how it works.
Buying an airline ticket isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Like the airline tickets for our trip to Mombasa and back to Kisumu.
1. Call the travel agent and book the flight;
2. A week before departure, check the ticket;
3. Find out that on the return trip from Mombasa to Kisumu, you land in Nairobi after the flight for Kisumu has already left;
4. Call the airline and told to go to the airport and make the change;
5. The airline makes the change, but the printer is broken, so no new ticket;
6. Writes the information on the old ticket, but in the wrong place;
7. Now want to buy tickets to go to another destination;
8. Printer still does not work;
9. Can’t get change;
10. Leave without the change and hard copies of our 2 sets of tickets;
11. Hope we can get on the planes;
12. If not, come to visit us here in Kisumu
A short story about an honest American:
In planning a visit to Kampala to attend the introduction of our friend, we needed to wear nice and traditional clothing, including dress shoes which Peter didn’t have. All over Kisumu, and most of this continent, it is easy to buy used shoes made to look like new. Peter didn’t want to buy shoes just to wear one time, so I convinced the shoe seller to “rent” me the shoes, kind of an unusual idea. His name is Elvis, and he called a few times to make sure I was legit. Then I returned the rented shoes, and he was a bit surprised to get them back at all, especially in the same condition that he “rented” them to me in. I could have given him a phony number and he would never have found me, but in addition to being honest, I really wanted to show him that Americans, at least these two Americans were honest and true to our word.
So, this is quite long and we will end now. Hope you look at the slide show. We think you will like it – the photos and the music. The photos are Peter’s and the music sung by the Sisterhood for Change girls and young women.
Love and hugs to all of you,
Kijana Mdogo,("the youngest boy" – a pun on the fact that Peter is the oldest here), and Mama Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 7:39 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Blog 7 Kenya
Blog 7
Kenya
Jambo!
We hope you are well as we are here in Kenya. In just a bit under a month we will return to the USA to see many of you – it will be very nice after such a long absence.
We spent last weekend at Lake Nakuru National Park, in the Central Rift Valley, noted for it’s flamingos. Lake Nakuru is a shallow alkaline lake where hundreds of thousands, if not more, flamingos live. Because of the draught here the lake is quite low, and some flamingos have moved on to other lakes nearby and then they will be back.
We usually don’t stay in very fancy resorts, but this time we decided to pamper ourselves a little, and also since we wanted to stay inside the park so as to go out before dawn to photograph and see wildlife. There are only two places to stay in the park other than in tent sites, (and we don’t have a tent), and they are both pricey. Well, it was fancy and somewhat expensive with too much good food, especially desserts, but we probably won’t do it again anytime soon.
And speaking of tea, the area near Lake Nakuru is a big tea growing area, and quite beautiful with rolling hills and lots of beautiful acacia trees. If you have never seen tea, the green is very vibrant green, unlike most other greens that you find in nature. The only other that we have seen that resembles that color are rice paddy’s. The area goes on for miles and miles in all directions. Kenya produces a huge amount of tea which is exported around the world, and is quite good. Kenya also produces coffee, and in fact, there is a lot of tea and coffee throughout East Africa. You may know that coffee was first grown here in East Africa, we think in Ethiopia.
To contrast the beauty of the tea plantations, on the way home from the weekend we passed several IDP camps which were created as a result of the post election violence last year. Unfortunately many people have not returned home after those very bad days. Some because they may be afraid, and some because they may not have any homes to return to. Even though we were not here during that time, we hear about it often, and it certainly took a terrible toll. Here in Kisumu, there are still quite a few burned out buildings, and it is a frequent subject of discussion. For those of us/you who have not experienced this kind of thing, consider yourself lucky, and for those of you who have, we hope that it will never happen again, although humans seem to have a penchant for doing bad things to each other.
Our work is continuing to progress very well, although as the time for us here grows shorter, the work doesn’t diminish at all, and we both feel very committed to complete our responsibilities. Our bosses and colleagues keep on threatening to keep us here. Seriously, some very good work related things are happening: We have created several data bases, the most important of which is for the medical clinic to use to enter client data; we are trying to produce a CD of songs performed by the girls that our program works with; we did a very good report writing training and later this month we will do a slide show training; and created a patient registration and record keeping system. Once again, we try to increase the capacity of our staff colleagues and the organization. Our fundraising is going extremely well, and we designed and introduced the idea of wrist bands which we are now selling along with raffles to raise money for our new building, and getting money from businesses, etc. We are very happy being able to help, and if some people learn new things from us, then we will be satisfied. We will continue to help even after we return home.
After nearly 10 years of volunteering around this planet, and asking people to come and visit we just had and now have our first visitors: a family from Uganda who are very close friends spent a few days here, and an old and close friend from Seattle is here with us now.
One of the ideas that we had after crossing the border and seeing condom dispensers there, we thought it would be good to do a staff training about the use of condoms. Our Reproductive Health Specialist, a very bright, (and beautiful) young women did an excellent presentation with a staff colleague about how to use condoms, why they are important, etc., and at the end of the training, everyone, including us were given condoms to keep with us at all times, (in case of an emergency need). Anyway it was very good training, and also did a lot to help team building among the staff.
Have you ever heard singing frogs? We have lots of them right out our windows and they sing – not croak – from darkness to sometime in the early morning before dawn. Very interesting and noisy. They sound like crickets but they are in fact frogs.
Kenya just had their census, and we took part and were counted. It was very interesting to us. One of the questions asked about tribal affiliation, and many Kenyans were opposed to it in view of what has happened here before. We asked the census taker about the response she was getting and she told us that most people would not give their tribe and declared themselves Kenyan. When we were asked who the head of the family was, we both looked at each other and said, both of us. The census taker seemed a bit confused, and so asked who the oldest was, and it was Peter, so he was declared the head of the household. In fact as most of you know, it is Hinda who earns most of the money in our family. So, this is where cultural beliefs come into play. Anyway, we will be counted again in the US census nrxt year, and so when the world population is figured out, there will be two too many. Guess who?
There are many words in Kiswahili that are very similar and sometimes the same as both Arabic and Hebrew. A lot of Kiswahili is based on Arabic and there are many Arabic and Hebrew words that are the same. To make it even more interesting, some words are English with something tacked on the end such as “weekend”. One of the most interesting words is “tsedaka” which is something like charity in Hebrew, and also exactly the same in Swahili, and also in Arabic. In Hebrew there is the greeting shalom, in Arabic it is saalam, and in Kiswahili, it is salama. Night in Hebrew is layla, and in Swahili, lala, and in Arabic, it is quite similar.
As some of you may know, the Chinese are doing a lot of development in Africa. When we were volunteering in Ghana a few years ago, the Chinese were working on a lot of public projects, and here in Kenya, we saw Chinese contractors building roads this past weekend. We think that there is a lot of Chinese infrastructure building on this continent.
We will end with this funny observation: Next to the little airport here in Kisumu, there is a golf course, and as we were driving by the other night, we noticed that there were headstones and graves right in the middle of the golf course. The golf course must have been a cemetery at one time, or at least people were buried in that area before it was a golf course.
Well, almost the end. The graves stones on the golf course remind us of the “night runners” that live here. What are night runners? Well they are kind of like ghosts who come to your house at night and bang on the outside of your house. When they finally wake you, they are happy and they run away. By the way, they are naked. I guess we are heavy sleepers, since we haven’t been awakened yet.
Ok dear friends and family. Watch out for the night runners.
Love,
Mzee Peter and Mama Hinda
Kenya
Jambo!
We hope you are well as we are here in Kenya. In just a bit under a month we will return to the USA to see many of you – it will be very nice after such a long absence.
We spent last weekend at Lake Nakuru National Park, in the Central Rift Valley, noted for it’s flamingos. Lake Nakuru is a shallow alkaline lake where hundreds of thousands, if not more, flamingos live. Because of the draught here the lake is quite low, and some flamingos have moved on to other lakes nearby and then they will be back.
We usually don’t stay in very fancy resorts, but this time we decided to pamper ourselves a little, and also since we wanted to stay inside the park so as to go out before dawn to photograph and see wildlife. There are only two places to stay in the park other than in tent sites, (and we don’t have a tent), and they are both pricey. Well, it was fancy and somewhat expensive with too much good food, especially desserts, but we probably won’t do it again anytime soon.
And speaking of tea, the area near Lake Nakuru is a big tea growing area, and quite beautiful with rolling hills and lots of beautiful acacia trees. If you have never seen tea, the green is very vibrant green, unlike most other greens that you find in nature. The only other that we have seen that resembles that color are rice paddy’s. The area goes on for miles and miles in all directions. Kenya produces a huge amount of tea which is exported around the world, and is quite good. Kenya also produces coffee, and in fact, there is a lot of tea and coffee throughout East Africa. You may know that coffee was first grown here in East Africa, we think in Ethiopia.
To contrast the beauty of the tea plantations, on the way home from the weekend we passed several IDP camps which were created as a result of the post election violence last year. Unfortunately many people have not returned home after those very bad days. Some because they may be afraid, and some because they may not have any homes to return to. Even though we were not here during that time, we hear about it often, and it certainly took a terrible toll. Here in Kisumu, there are still quite a few burned out buildings, and it is a frequent subject of discussion. For those of us/you who have not experienced this kind of thing, consider yourself lucky, and for those of you who have, we hope that it will never happen again, although humans seem to have a penchant for doing bad things to each other.
Our work is continuing to progress very well, although as the time for us here grows shorter, the work doesn’t diminish at all, and we both feel very committed to complete our responsibilities. Our bosses and colleagues keep on threatening to keep us here. Seriously, some very good work related things are happening: We have created several data bases, the most important of which is for the medical clinic to use to enter client data; we are trying to produce a CD of songs performed by the girls that our program works with; we did a very good report writing training and later this month we will do a slide show training; and created a patient registration and record keeping system. Once again, we try to increase the capacity of our staff colleagues and the organization. Our fundraising is going extremely well, and we designed and introduced the idea of wrist bands which we are now selling along with raffles to raise money for our new building, and getting money from businesses, etc. We are very happy being able to help, and if some people learn new things from us, then we will be satisfied. We will continue to help even after we return home.
After nearly 10 years of volunteering around this planet, and asking people to come and visit we just had and now have our first visitors: a family from Uganda who are very close friends spent a few days here, and an old and close friend from Seattle is here with us now.
One of the ideas that we had after crossing the border and seeing condom dispensers there, we thought it would be good to do a staff training about the use of condoms. Our Reproductive Health Specialist, a very bright, (and beautiful) young women did an excellent presentation with a staff colleague about how to use condoms, why they are important, etc., and at the end of the training, everyone, including us were given condoms to keep with us at all times, (in case of an emergency need). Anyway it was very good training, and also did a lot to help team building among the staff.
Have you ever heard singing frogs? We have lots of them right out our windows and they sing – not croak – from darkness to sometime in the early morning before dawn. Very interesting and noisy. They sound like crickets but they are in fact frogs.
Kenya just had their census, and we took part and were counted. It was very interesting to us. One of the questions asked about tribal affiliation, and many Kenyans were opposed to it in view of what has happened here before. We asked the census taker about the response she was getting and she told us that most people would not give their tribe and declared themselves Kenyan. When we were asked who the head of the family was, we both looked at each other and said, both of us. The census taker seemed a bit confused, and so asked who the oldest was, and it was Peter, so he was declared the head of the household. In fact as most of you know, it is Hinda who earns most of the money in our family. So, this is where cultural beliefs come into play. Anyway, we will be counted again in the US census nrxt year, and so when the world population is figured out, there will be two too many. Guess who?
There are many words in Kiswahili that are very similar and sometimes the same as both Arabic and Hebrew. A lot of Kiswahili is based on Arabic and there are many Arabic and Hebrew words that are the same. To make it even more interesting, some words are English with something tacked on the end such as “weekend”. One of the most interesting words is “tsedaka” which is something like charity in Hebrew, and also exactly the same in Swahili, and also in Arabic. In Hebrew there is the greeting shalom, in Arabic it is saalam, and in Kiswahili, it is salama. Night in Hebrew is layla, and in Swahili, lala, and in Arabic, it is quite similar.
As some of you may know, the Chinese are doing a lot of development in Africa. When we were volunteering in Ghana a few years ago, the Chinese were working on a lot of public projects, and here in Kenya, we saw Chinese contractors building roads this past weekend. We think that there is a lot of Chinese infrastructure building on this continent.
We will end with this funny observation: Next to the little airport here in Kisumu, there is a golf course, and as we were driving by the other night, we noticed that there were headstones and graves right in the middle of the golf course. The golf course must have been a cemetery at one time, or at least people were buried in that area before it was a golf course.
Well, almost the end. The graves stones on the golf course remind us of the “night runners” that live here. What are night runners? Well they are kind of like ghosts who come to your house at night and bang on the outside of your house. When they finally wake you, they are happy and they run away. By the way, they are naked. I guess we are heavy sleepers, since we haven’t been awakened yet.
Ok dear friends and family. Watch out for the night runners.
Love,
Mzee Peter and Mama Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 11:20 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Ben, A Maasai Warrior With The Spear He Killed A lLon With
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 8:20 AM
0 comments
Blog 6, Kenya and Uganda
Blog 6
Kenya and Uganda
August 18, 2009
Jambo - Gybale Everyone! (just showing off our linguistic skills – Swahili and Luganda)
This blog will be a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and some of the photos are as well as you have seen. There are several photos of older people. We took these at a Medical Camp that we volunteered at. A medical camp is where volunteer doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and others provide nearly free medical diagnoses and free drugs to people in a particular village, however no one is turned away. Sometimes as many as 550 people attend. Our NGO provided Family Planning workshops there, and we helped out here and there. Hinda gave out sweet rolls to the kids.
There are lots of stereotypes around about many things, including those that maybe even some of you have about Africa, e.g. “The Dark Continent”, etc., and we try to dispel these notions when we see and hear them. Part of our responsibility is to try and present factual information which we always try to do.
However, there are also lots of stereotypes about the USA also that we have seen and heard here in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa and around the world, and we want to share a few of these with you. You may find a few of them amusing, and like many stereotypes, there may be a grain of truth to some of them. We think that some of what follows must come from TV or the movies, or who knows where. As we heard them from different people, it gave us the opportunity to provide a more accurate description of our country and then also talk about African culture and how things are done or not done, so a learning experience for all.
• “A Mercedes Benz car is a poor man’s car”
• “Many people in the USA want to go to jail because there is good food and accommodations, and you can earn a good salary” - African jails are notoriously bad, and perhaps an African who was unfortunate to go to an American jail reported on the conditions there as compared to an African jail.
• “The government gives everyone in America money” - This gave us the chance to talk about poverty, hunger, homelessness, the 47,000,000 in our country who lack health care, etc.
• “In America, the people only wear clothes one time and then throw them away” – As you may know, many of the clothes that people wear here are used from the USA and from Europe, so we were able to talk about merchandising, “throw away society”, fashions from year to year and more, and also explain that with the faltering economy there may in fact be less clothes coming here and elsewhere – even many Americans are keeping clothes longer and even shopping in thrift stores themselves.
• “Everyone wants to go to America because it is an easy life there” – The reality we said is not so easy, especially for new immigrants, and the kinds of jobs available – service jobs, or domestic help does not make life easy. On the other hand, there is opportunity in the USA. President Obama is of course a great example.
So, over the past couple of months we have had a lot of interesting discussions with a variety of people. We know that we have learned a lot, and we think that those that we talk to have also.
One of the things we have heard over and over is that many people here live on less than $1 a day, and this is not a stereotype, but unfortunately true. Perhaps more true in some African countries, or in parts of countries, but certainly true here in those communities of Kisumu that we work in with our organization. And that is precisely why we are here to work with our NGO to raise that less than $1/day to something considerably more, and make life better for as many as possible. And you know what: they are doing it pole pole – slowly slowly, with training, education, microfinance programs and more, and it is our good fortune to be able to help them a bit. We are doing a lot of empowerment work and capacity building, and they are doing a lot of the same, especially with teenage girls and women.
A couple of interesting expressions that we hear here:
• When a “mzungu” (white) encouraged a domestic worker to leave her job and work for him, she was “snatched”
• When we asked the woman who runs our compound to have one of the workers help us with something, she told us she would “detain” him
• In English, there are a lot of letters in a word that are silent, while in some of the local languages, all of the letters are pronounced, so for example: “clothes” is pronounced “cloth es”, and Wednesday is pronounced “Wed nes day”
One of the best places to eat here in Kisumu is the Mamba Hotel where they serve the best “Kuku Choma” (Grilled Chicken), so whenever you want kuku, you know where to come.
We spent the last weekend in Kampala, Uganda where we have volunteered twice and have very close friends and African “family”. We went to attend the wedding of one of our friends.
We went on the Akamba Royal bus – a 6 ½ - 7 hour bus ride. Well there is nothing “royal” at all about that bus. The air conditioning didn’t work, and the seats were broken, so we had to sit in nearly a reclining position, which didn’t make the woman behind us with a sick infant very comfortable, and the seat in front of us, also broken, so neither were we comfortable. And then about 15 or 20 miles about of Kampala, the bumper to bumper “jam” began. So we arrived late, but we also started late.
Another stereotype is “African Time”. Well, we know it is only a stereotype, since many things are on schedule, but there are also lots of things that start late, or even not at all. Sometimes it can be frustrating, but “se la vie”. In fact the wedding was late, and everyone got there late, so in fact it started on time.
This wedding was a Catholic wedding in the largest Catholic cathedral in Kampala. Rita – our friend, was the 6th wedding of the day there , and we think there was going to be another one following. Our happy bride was dressed in a white gown and like all brides looked beautiful. We were proud to have been able to be with Rita on this important day.
It hadn’t rained in Kampala for a month, so of course it rained the whole time we were in the church – a couple of hours. The ceremony – mass was pretty traditional Catholic, but there was a lot of very nice African music. As the 4 previous just married couples filed out before our wedding started, they were given a send off by their guests with a lot of ululating – in Swahili, it called sagalagala, and in Luganda it is akayuyuu. We love it!
So we went to the reception which was held in a garden outside. Everything was soaked including the table cloths so everyone got a little wet, especially when it started to drizzle some more, but not for too long.
We were very honored to be recognized as “honored guests”, and we were asked to address the bride and groom which we did. We taught the audience to say in Hebrew “Mazal Tov” (Congratulations) and we led the 600 guests in the traditional Hebrew toast “L’chaim” (To life).
When we arrived in Kampala two nights before the wedding we went to a “kasiki” kind of a party for the bride to be and her friends and we were welcomed so exuberantly by our friends and “family” that we nearly fell over a couple of times. We love them all dearly.
One more funny word we learned at the wedding. A “flukie” is someone who crashes the party to get free food. But we were told that an anti flukie machine was installed. Flukie is Ugandan and not Kenyan and comes from the word fluke – not intended, so it makes sense, just sounds funny to us.
Local travel here in Kisumu is by tuk tuk, boda boda, and matatu. A tuk tuk is a springless 3 wheeled cart that sound like tuktuktuk;, a boda boda is a bicycle taxi where the passenger sits on the back; and a matatu is a 12 passenger van that never has less than 20 – 25 stuffed inside. If you don’t have back problems now, you will after riding a tuk tuk on Kisumu’s rough dirt roads – guaranteed.
This is getting far too long, so we will end here by telling you that are work is going so well and we and our NGO are extremely pleased. It really couldn’t be better. It is a great place to work with very friendly and talented people. And friendly is a good adjective for most Kenyans and Ugandans.
And finally, each day we have lunch that is prepared and served by the girls in one of our training programs. We usually pay between 50 and 60 Kenyan Shillings about 65 - 75 cents. Today we had “green grams and chapatti and fresh passion juice. Green grams are lentils.
OK dear friends and family, so long for now.
Love,
Mzee Peter and Mama Hinda
Kenya and Uganda
August 18, 2009
Jambo - Gybale Everyone! (just showing off our linguistic skills – Swahili and Luganda)
This blog will be a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and some of the photos are as well as you have seen. There are several photos of older people. We took these at a Medical Camp that we volunteered at. A medical camp is where volunteer doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and others provide nearly free medical diagnoses and free drugs to people in a particular village, however no one is turned away. Sometimes as many as 550 people attend. Our NGO provided Family Planning workshops there, and we helped out here and there. Hinda gave out sweet rolls to the kids.
There are lots of stereotypes around about many things, including those that maybe even some of you have about Africa, e.g. “The Dark Continent”, etc., and we try to dispel these notions when we see and hear them. Part of our responsibility is to try and present factual information which we always try to do.
However, there are also lots of stereotypes about the USA also that we have seen and heard here in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa and around the world, and we want to share a few of these with you. You may find a few of them amusing, and like many stereotypes, there may be a grain of truth to some of them. We think that some of what follows must come from TV or the movies, or who knows where. As we heard them from different people, it gave us the opportunity to provide a more accurate description of our country and then also talk about African culture and how things are done or not done, so a learning experience for all.
• “A Mercedes Benz car is a poor man’s car”
• “Many people in the USA want to go to jail because there is good food and accommodations, and you can earn a good salary” - African jails are notoriously bad, and perhaps an African who was unfortunate to go to an American jail reported on the conditions there as compared to an African jail.
• “The government gives everyone in America money” - This gave us the chance to talk about poverty, hunger, homelessness, the 47,000,000 in our country who lack health care, etc.
• “In America, the people only wear clothes one time and then throw them away” – As you may know, many of the clothes that people wear here are used from the USA and from Europe, so we were able to talk about merchandising, “throw away society”, fashions from year to year and more, and also explain that with the faltering economy there may in fact be less clothes coming here and elsewhere – even many Americans are keeping clothes longer and even shopping in thrift stores themselves.
• “Everyone wants to go to America because it is an easy life there” – The reality we said is not so easy, especially for new immigrants, and the kinds of jobs available – service jobs, or domestic help does not make life easy. On the other hand, there is opportunity in the USA. President Obama is of course a great example.
So, over the past couple of months we have had a lot of interesting discussions with a variety of people. We know that we have learned a lot, and we think that those that we talk to have also.
One of the things we have heard over and over is that many people here live on less than $1 a day, and this is not a stereotype, but unfortunately true. Perhaps more true in some African countries, or in parts of countries, but certainly true here in those communities of Kisumu that we work in with our organization. And that is precisely why we are here to work with our NGO to raise that less than $1/day to something considerably more, and make life better for as many as possible. And you know what: they are doing it pole pole – slowly slowly, with training, education, microfinance programs and more, and it is our good fortune to be able to help them a bit. We are doing a lot of empowerment work and capacity building, and they are doing a lot of the same, especially with teenage girls and women.
A couple of interesting expressions that we hear here:
• When a “mzungu” (white) encouraged a domestic worker to leave her job and work for him, she was “snatched”
• When we asked the woman who runs our compound to have one of the workers help us with something, she told us she would “detain” him
• In English, there are a lot of letters in a word that are silent, while in some of the local languages, all of the letters are pronounced, so for example: “clothes” is pronounced “cloth es”, and Wednesday is pronounced “Wed nes day”
One of the best places to eat here in Kisumu is the Mamba Hotel where they serve the best “Kuku Choma” (Grilled Chicken), so whenever you want kuku, you know where to come.
We spent the last weekend in Kampala, Uganda where we have volunteered twice and have very close friends and African “family”. We went to attend the wedding of one of our friends.
We went on the Akamba Royal bus – a 6 ½ - 7 hour bus ride. Well there is nothing “royal” at all about that bus. The air conditioning didn’t work, and the seats were broken, so we had to sit in nearly a reclining position, which didn’t make the woman behind us with a sick infant very comfortable, and the seat in front of us, also broken, so neither were we comfortable. And then about 15 or 20 miles about of Kampala, the bumper to bumper “jam” began. So we arrived late, but we also started late.
Another stereotype is “African Time”. Well, we know it is only a stereotype, since many things are on schedule, but there are also lots of things that start late, or even not at all. Sometimes it can be frustrating, but “se la vie”. In fact the wedding was late, and everyone got there late, so in fact it started on time.
This wedding was a Catholic wedding in the largest Catholic cathedral in Kampala. Rita – our friend, was the 6th wedding of the day there , and we think there was going to be another one following. Our happy bride was dressed in a white gown and like all brides looked beautiful. We were proud to have been able to be with Rita on this important day.
It hadn’t rained in Kampala for a month, so of course it rained the whole time we were in the church – a couple of hours. The ceremony – mass was pretty traditional Catholic, but there was a lot of very nice African music. As the 4 previous just married couples filed out before our wedding started, they were given a send off by their guests with a lot of ululating – in Swahili, it called sagalagala, and in Luganda it is akayuyuu. We love it!
So we went to the reception which was held in a garden outside. Everything was soaked including the table cloths so everyone got a little wet, especially when it started to drizzle some more, but not for too long.
We were very honored to be recognized as “honored guests”, and we were asked to address the bride and groom which we did. We taught the audience to say in Hebrew “Mazal Tov” (Congratulations) and we led the 600 guests in the traditional Hebrew toast “L’chaim” (To life).
When we arrived in Kampala two nights before the wedding we went to a “kasiki” kind of a party for the bride to be and her friends and we were welcomed so exuberantly by our friends and “family” that we nearly fell over a couple of times. We love them all dearly.
One more funny word we learned at the wedding. A “flukie” is someone who crashes the party to get free food. But we were told that an anti flukie machine was installed. Flukie is Ugandan and not Kenyan and comes from the word fluke – not intended, so it makes sense, just sounds funny to us.
Local travel here in Kisumu is by tuk tuk, boda boda, and matatu. A tuk tuk is a springless 3 wheeled cart that sound like tuktuktuk;, a boda boda is a bicycle taxi where the passenger sits on the back; and a matatu is a 12 passenger van that never has less than 20 – 25 stuffed inside. If you don’t have back problems now, you will after riding a tuk tuk on Kisumu’s rough dirt roads – guaranteed.
This is getting far too long, so we will end here by telling you that are work is going so well and we and our NGO are extremely pleased. It really couldn’t be better. It is a great place to work with very friendly and talented people. And friendly is a good adjective for most Kenyans and Ugandans.
And finally, each day we have lunch that is prepared and served by the girls in one of our training programs. We usually pay between 50 and 60 Kenyan Shillings about 65 - 75 cents. Today we had “green grams and chapatti and fresh passion juice. Green grams are lentils.
OK dear friends and family, so long for now.
Love,
Mzee Peter and Mama Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 8:19 AM
1 comments
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Kenya Blog 5
Blog 5,
Maasai Mara, Kenya
August 7, 2009
Jambo!
We hope that this finds you well. We are both fine and happy, though we do miss you, our family and friends.
This is going to be about our recent trip to the Maasai Mara and our experiences there.
The Maasai are a tribal group living in Kenya and Tanzania, and the Mara is a large national park here in Kenya. It is about 500 square kilometers. On the Tanzanian side, the park is called the Serengeti, and is perhaps 5 times as large. We came to visit Kenya this time of the year so we could witness the great Wildebeest migration from the Serengeti to the Maasai Mara. The Wildebeest usually follow the rains and the green grass for grazing, but this year East Africa is experiencing a very serious drought, so the migrating herds are a bit confused. They seem to come and go back and forth across the border, always looking for the green grass.
There are hundreds of thousands, and maybe even millions, and you see them in very, very long lines for miles and miles and hours and hours just plodding along. Interestingly, the Zebras migrate along with the Wildebeest, so you always see them together. Somehow most of the grazing animals get along with each other quite well, and it is only the predators that upset the balance a bit when they are hungry.
In Africa, the “big 5” are the Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Cape Buffalo, and Leopard. We saw all save the leopard, but for 2 nights outside our tent, one was heard quite distinctly and close. We are going to another national park at the end of August – Lake Nakuru – and there will be leopards there as well, and we hope to see one. They are very elusive.
The Maasai Mara is extremely beautiful – most of it is savannah. While there are lots of animals, there are also a lot of tourists, especially now to see the great migration. In other countries where we have gone on safari, there were very few tourists, but also fewer animals, so you have to make your choices. We were very satisfied with the Mara.
The Rhinos that you see in the photo above are quite rare: they are black rhinos as opposed to the white rhino. The difference is not color, but the size of the mouth. The white has a wide mouth and the black a narrow one. The croc is in the Mara River waiting for a herd of Wildebeest to cross. Many of them crossed on the Sand River, which is now dry, and why it is called the Sand, and there are no Crocodiles there.
Unlike nearly all of the people who visit the Maasai Mara who stay in pretty luxurious and expensive lodges and luxury tented camps, we stayed in a Maasai community run small tented camp. It was moderately priced, and quite nice. The benefit was that the half dozen or so young Maasai warriors who worked there made us part of them and we got to know them and they us, very well. And we learned much, some of which we will tell you about.
By the way, the Maasai came to the Mara because they were displaced by the colonial British who wanted there land. Kind of like the Native Americans and the US government, the Australian Aborigines, and the New Zealand Maoris.
The Maasai is a pretty closed community of people. There is very little, hardly any intermarriage. For the most part they are polygamous, with men taking as many wives as they can afford in terms of paying a dowry. As you may know, the Maasai life revolves around cattle, and like their close relatives – the Karamajong in Uganda near the Sudanese border, they believe that all cattle belong to them. Most of their diet is cow milk and blood, and occasionally meat. They also have goats and sheep, but the meat they eat is beef, and it is not often, perhaps monthly. They do not grow any crops.
The dowry price for a wife may be 10 cows and 10 goats and 10 sheep, and perhaps some shukas – the capes or blankets that the Maasai warriors wear.
Maasai men don’t get circumcised until they kill a lion, (not really allowed in the park anymore), or at least a Cape Buffalo. Then they go off into the bush for a couple of months before they return to the village. Of the 5 men in our camp, 2 had killed lions, and 2 more were still hoping to. Only one did not want to.
About 99% of girls according to the Maasai we spoke with undergo FGM – Female Genital Mutilation, often when they are only 9 or 10. The founder of “Oldarpoi” the camp we stayed in, is developing a shelter for 30 girls who want to escape FGM. . He has asked permission of the chief’s to have the girls stay in the shelter, and the chief’s have agreed. They will try to work it out with the girl’s families.
His village was only a couple of kilometers from our camp, and we went there to visit his mother, sister, blind grandmother, and other members of his family. Maasai villages are interesting. The dwellings are surrounded by a wall where the cattle are enclosed each night to protect them from predators like lion, cheetah, and leopard. The smaller animals are kept inside the dwelling in a closed off area. These living places are made of sticks and covered with fresh cow dung, and when it dries, it is like adobe mud or brick. They are built by the woman of the family. Inside it is very dark – only tiny windows so the predators cannot come in – and very hot since there is no ventilation and the fires burn inside for cooking at least 3 times a day.
In one of the villages we visited where a number of our Maasai warrior friends lived who worked at our camp, live about 80 people from only 3 families, and there is no intermarriage, so wives come from different villages, some as far as 40 or 50 kilometers away.
This shelter is very much needed. If you want to help, go to www.iseemaasai.org and you will learn how. We made our own small contribution – about $40 – enough to purchase a truckload of Mara stone to help build the shelter. Anything helps.
This non profit has the following explanation of FGM and what they want to do about it on their web site: Maasai girls who reject the ceremonial practice are disowned by their families and rejected by their community for failing to meet the expectations and tradition of their people. For most of the 9-12 year old Massai girls who do undergo the circumcision, a lifetime of immense physical and psychological agony results. After the girls are horrifically stripped bare of their external sexual organs, one in five die. For the survivors both physical intimacy and childbirth become painful experiences that recall the nightmare of their mutilation. Besides building a village to take in the young Maasai refugees, ISMDI is out to educate the Massai people of the brutal consequences of female genital mutilation while creating alternative rites of passage ceremonies for the culture to embrace.
Most of the Maasai in the Maasai villages are uneducated because they cannot afford to go to school. There are school fees to pay, and uniforms to buy. If someone does get the opportunity to attend school, it is usually a male child. The girl child is married off, and builds the houses, takes care of the children, does the cooking and the laundry, while the husband tends the cattle and gathers food for his family or families. There are lots of little children, and family planning is unheard of and until things begin to change, would not be acceptable. Hopefully, education and people like the man who started the shelter and Oldarpoi are going to change things, but poli poli (slowly slowly), but it will come. Unfortunately, there will be a lot of death, pain, illness, and grief before that happens.
By the way, Oldarpoi which means “sausage tree” – there are a lot of them in the Mara, was given by the community to raise money from fees to build the shelter and improve the community. 40% of what we paid went back to the community for these purposes, and we would rather have our money go there than into some rich person’s pocket.
The good news is that as time goes on some of the Maasai are getting educated and they have different attitudes toward a number of things. In talking with two of the Maasai men who worked at our camp, when I asked about FGM they said it is their culture, their wives are circumcised but each has a daughter and they will not allow them to be circumcised. Their practice now is to only eat meat, no vegetables or fruit, chicken, eggs, etc. But since they have been to school, they told me they go to a market and buy those things for their children. One man even has 8 chickens and even though people in his village make fun of him, his child is not anemic or malnourished.
The Maasai warrior practice of jumping is so the highest jumper chooses the most beautiful girl for a wife. And the young Maasai warrior to be who is the first to thrust his spear into the lion gets the mane and others get the tail, claws, etc. About 20 young men go out to kill a lion armed only with spears. When you see one of these lions from only a few feet or meters away, they are pretty intimidating. The rules in the Park are that no animals may be killed so the practice of killing a Lion is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
In one of the huts we visited, we sat in the kitchen which was about 6 or 7 feet square and all of a sudden, there were no less than 10 people there. We were offered wine made from the fermented and dried “sausages” from the sausage tree, and African tea. The wine was good, but since Peter didn’t know how potent it was, he only drank a half a cup. The left over jug was brought to the camp that night and it looked like most of the men were feeling pretty good after a short time.
That night we also had a dinner in the bush with “mbuzzi chama” – roasted goat over an open fire. Very good! Just as some of the warriors started heading back to the camp in the dark, they came running back. They ran into a Cape Buffalo and dropped the chairs they were carrying. Most of us piled into the van, and the rest ran along side. One warrior threw his spear, but missed. Cape Buffalo are exceptionally dangerous, especially the bachelor males, and is considered the most dangerous animal in Africa. No one was hurt and all’s well that ends well.
Finally, our cook was a Maasai warrior named Willy who learned how to cook in a luxury Japanese lodge in the Mara. He can even make sushi, but we didn’t get any, but his Spanish omelets and pancakes were good and so were his dinners.
Just before we end, we have to tell you that our work is really going well. We just did a dynamite report writing workshop, Hinda has taught a one of the employees how to use a computer and she is delighted. She is doing lots of organizational work, and hopefully making a difference. Peter’s fundraising mentoring of our NGO’s staff is also going very well.
So, goodbye for now. More in a couple of weeks. Next week we are going to Kampala to attend a wedding and we’ll tell you all about it.
Love,
Mzee and Mama
(Peter is now a Maasai elder with his own shuka, elder club, and sword.)
Maasai Mara, Kenya
August 7, 2009
Jambo!
We hope that this finds you well. We are both fine and happy, though we do miss you, our family and friends.
This is going to be about our recent trip to the Maasai Mara and our experiences there.
The Maasai are a tribal group living in Kenya and Tanzania, and the Mara is a large national park here in Kenya. It is about 500 square kilometers. On the Tanzanian side, the park is called the Serengeti, and is perhaps 5 times as large. We came to visit Kenya this time of the year so we could witness the great Wildebeest migration from the Serengeti to the Maasai Mara. The Wildebeest usually follow the rains and the green grass for grazing, but this year East Africa is experiencing a very serious drought, so the migrating herds are a bit confused. They seem to come and go back and forth across the border, always looking for the green grass.
There are hundreds of thousands, and maybe even millions, and you see them in very, very long lines for miles and miles and hours and hours just plodding along. Interestingly, the Zebras migrate along with the Wildebeest, so you always see them together. Somehow most of the grazing animals get along with each other quite well, and it is only the predators that upset the balance a bit when they are hungry.
In Africa, the “big 5” are the Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Cape Buffalo, and Leopard. We saw all save the leopard, but for 2 nights outside our tent, one was heard quite distinctly and close. We are going to another national park at the end of August – Lake Nakuru – and there will be leopards there as well, and we hope to see one. They are very elusive.
The Maasai Mara is extremely beautiful – most of it is savannah. While there are lots of animals, there are also a lot of tourists, especially now to see the great migration. In other countries where we have gone on safari, there were very few tourists, but also fewer animals, so you have to make your choices. We were very satisfied with the Mara.
The Rhinos that you see in the photo above are quite rare: they are black rhinos as opposed to the white rhino. The difference is not color, but the size of the mouth. The white has a wide mouth and the black a narrow one. The croc is in the Mara River waiting for a herd of Wildebeest to cross. Many of them crossed on the Sand River, which is now dry, and why it is called the Sand, and there are no Crocodiles there.
Unlike nearly all of the people who visit the Maasai Mara who stay in pretty luxurious and expensive lodges and luxury tented camps, we stayed in a Maasai community run small tented camp. It was moderately priced, and quite nice. The benefit was that the half dozen or so young Maasai warriors who worked there made us part of them and we got to know them and they us, very well. And we learned much, some of which we will tell you about.
By the way, the Maasai came to the Mara because they were displaced by the colonial British who wanted there land. Kind of like the Native Americans and the US government, the Australian Aborigines, and the New Zealand Maoris.
The Maasai is a pretty closed community of people. There is very little, hardly any intermarriage. For the most part they are polygamous, with men taking as many wives as they can afford in terms of paying a dowry. As you may know, the Maasai life revolves around cattle, and like their close relatives – the Karamajong in Uganda near the Sudanese border, they believe that all cattle belong to them. Most of their diet is cow milk and blood, and occasionally meat. They also have goats and sheep, but the meat they eat is beef, and it is not often, perhaps monthly. They do not grow any crops.
The dowry price for a wife may be 10 cows and 10 goats and 10 sheep, and perhaps some shukas – the capes or blankets that the Maasai warriors wear.
Maasai men don’t get circumcised until they kill a lion, (not really allowed in the park anymore), or at least a Cape Buffalo. Then they go off into the bush for a couple of months before they return to the village. Of the 5 men in our camp, 2 had killed lions, and 2 more were still hoping to. Only one did not want to.
About 99% of girls according to the Maasai we spoke with undergo FGM – Female Genital Mutilation, often when they are only 9 or 10. The founder of “Oldarpoi” the camp we stayed in, is developing a shelter for 30 girls who want to escape FGM. . He has asked permission of the chief’s to have the girls stay in the shelter, and the chief’s have agreed. They will try to work it out with the girl’s families.
His village was only a couple of kilometers from our camp, and we went there to visit his mother, sister, blind grandmother, and other members of his family. Maasai villages are interesting. The dwellings are surrounded by a wall where the cattle are enclosed each night to protect them from predators like lion, cheetah, and leopard. The smaller animals are kept inside the dwelling in a closed off area. These living places are made of sticks and covered with fresh cow dung, and when it dries, it is like adobe mud or brick. They are built by the woman of the family. Inside it is very dark – only tiny windows so the predators cannot come in – and very hot since there is no ventilation and the fires burn inside for cooking at least 3 times a day.
In one of the villages we visited where a number of our Maasai warrior friends lived who worked at our camp, live about 80 people from only 3 families, and there is no intermarriage, so wives come from different villages, some as far as 40 or 50 kilometers away.
This shelter is very much needed. If you want to help, go to www.iseemaasai.org and you will learn how. We made our own small contribution – about $40 – enough to purchase a truckload of Mara stone to help build the shelter. Anything helps.
This non profit has the following explanation of FGM and what they want to do about it on their web site: Maasai girls who reject the ceremonial practice are disowned by their families and rejected by their community for failing to meet the expectations and tradition of their people. For most of the 9-12 year old Massai girls who do undergo the circumcision, a lifetime of immense physical and psychological agony results. After the girls are horrifically stripped bare of their external sexual organs, one in five die. For the survivors both physical intimacy and childbirth become painful experiences that recall the nightmare of their mutilation. Besides building a village to take in the young Maasai refugees, ISMDI is out to educate the Massai people of the brutal consequences of female genital mutilation while creating alternative rites of passage ceremonies for the culture to embrace.
Most of the Maasai in the Maasai villages are uneducated because they cannot afford to go to school. There are school fees to pay, and uniforms to buy. If someone does get the opportunity to attend school, it is usually a male child. The girl child is married off, and builds the houses, takes care of the children, does the cooking and the laundry, while the husband tends the cattle and gathers food for his family or families. There are lots of little children, and family planning is unheard of and until things begin to change, would not be acceptable. Hopefully, education and people like the man who started the shelter and Oldarpoi are going to change things, but poli poli (slowly slowly), but it will come. Unfortunately, there will be a lot of death, pain, illness, and grief before that happens.
By the way, Oldarpoi which means “sausage tree” – there are a lot of them in the Mara, was given by the community to raise money from fees to build the shelter and improve the community. 40% of what we paid went back to the community for these purposes, and we would rather have our money go there than into some rich person’s pocket.
The good news is that as time goes on some of the Maasai are getting educated and they have different attitudes toward a number of things. In talking with two of the Maasai men who worked at our camp, when I asked about FGM they said it is their culture, their wives are circumcised but each has a daughter and they will not allow them to be circumcised. Their practice now is to only eat meat, no vegetables or fruit, chicken, eggs, etc. But since they have been to school, they told me they go to a market and buy those things for their children. One man even has 8 chickens and even though people in his village make fun of him, his child is not anemic or malnourished.
The Maasai warrior practice of jumping is so the highest jumper chooses the most beautiful girl for a wife. And the young Maasai warrior to be who is the first to thrust his spear into the lion gets the mane and others get the tail, claws, etc. About 20 young men go out to kill a lion armed only with spears. When you see one of these lions from only a few feet or meters away, they are pretty intimidating. The rules in the Park are that no animals may be killed so the practice of killing a Lion is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
In one of the huts we visited, we sat in the kitchen which was about 6 or 7 feet square and all of a sudden, there were no less than 10 people there. We were offered wine made from the fermented and dried “sausages” from the sausage tree, and African tea. The wine was good, but since Peter didn’t know how potent it was, he only drank a half a cup. The left over jug was brought to the camp that night and it looked like most of the men were feeling pretty good after a short time.
That night we also had a dinner in the bush with “mbuzzi chama” – roasted goat over an open fire. Very good! Just as some of the warriors started heading back to the camp in the dark, they came running back. They ran into a Cape Buffalo and dropped the chairs they were carrying. Most of us piled into the van, and the rest ran along side. One warrior threw his spear, but missed. Cape Buffalo are exceptionally dangerous, especially the bachelor males, and is considered the most dangerous animal in Africa. No one was hurt and all’s well that ends well.
Finally, our cook was a Maasai warrior named Willy who learned how to cook in a luxury Japanese lodge in the Mara. He can even make sushi, but we didn’t get any, but his Spanish omelets and pancakes were good and so were his dinners.
Just before we end, we have to tell you that our work is really going well. We just did a dynamite report writing workshop, Hinda has taught a one of the employees how to use a computer and she is delighted. She is doing lots of organizational work, and hopefully making a difference. Peter’s fundraising mentoring of our NGO’s staff is also going very well.
So, goodbye for now. More in a couple of weeks. Next week we are going to Kampala to attend a wedding and we’ll tell you all about it.
Love,
Mzee and Mama
(Peter is now a Maasai elder with his own shuka, elder club, and sword.)
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 10:20 AM
1 comments
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Kenya Blog 4
Kenya Blog 4
July 27, 2009
Jambo! (Hello!)
Hinda said we didn’t have much to write, so here goes nothing. We do have lots of good photos though, and there are some things to write about .
Many people who live in cities like Kisumu, Nairobi, Mombasa, and other places do not call where they live home, unless of course that is where they grew up and where their families are.
Where they live is in a house, and home is in their ancestral village where they were raised, and where families, and relatives live and where many people return from time to time to visit. Makes sense to me. I, Peter have lived in Seattle for almost 40 years, but home will always be New York. My (Hinda) home is Seattle where my family now is.
Also here in Kenya, and perhaps all over Africa, there are many couples who are separated. The wife and children may live in one city where she is working, and the husband in another where he is working. Why? It is difficult to find a job, so one works where they can. This must be difficult for families, especially for young ones just starting out. We would miss each other if we had to live in separate cities and only see each other monthly, or less than that. We hope that the economy will improve for our Kenyan friends, but it will take awhile.
A slum is always bad, but we recently visited a slum area of Kisumu where our NGO has programs, called Nyalenda. It is not nice: lots of garbage and open sewage, very poor living structures, little or no indoor plumbing, non-existent roads that even a four wheel drive vehicle would have a tough time getting around, and all of the bad things one would think about in a slum. We hear all the time about the corrupt government, and it is unfortunate that the money that could and should be used to improve the lives of the people is not reaching that destination, and all knows where it goes. Will it get better? Hopefully, but until then, we, others like us, and the organization we are working with have to continue poli poli (slowly slowly) trying to improve things with the scant resources that we all have. Otherwise, how do you sleep at night, knowing that if you don’t at least try to help bring about some change, even less will improve. So that is why we are here and that is why our NGO is here, and there are lots of folks like us, and lots of NGO’s that are trying and working hard.
Hinda has been teaching a woman she works with – a nurse – how to use the computer. And this nurse who we shall call “H” is doing great. She started at “0” and now can type a basic document, file it, retrieve it again, etc., etc. Hinda has a good method. She first teaches “H” and others how to play computer Solitaire which teaches hand/eye coordination, and then goes on from there. When we leave in a couple of more months “H” will be computer literate. Sometimes when you can’t change the whole world, it is OK to empower and build capacity in just one person, and then “H” can pass on what she has learned to someone else.
Another concept we both use to teach and have been for years is K I S S – Keep it Short and Simple, and it always goes over well. It really is what many of us should do more. Perhaps we should use more of it in our blogs. Seriously though, we do incorporate often in many of the things we do, and after we return from the Maasai Mara, we will do a Report Writing workshop and use KISS as a teaching tool.
When we were first thinking of coming here to Kisumu, we were told that lots of people would claim to be a relative of Barack Obama. Well, that really hasn’t happened, but we think that one of our colleagues actually is a distant cousin so we are told, and there are lots of little Michelle’s and Obama’s running around.
In this blog, there is a photo of a Muslim man in a red Kaffiyeh. One day recently we went to eat tilapia at “Tilapia Beach” with our E.D. and about 9 or 10 men, all Muslims sat down next to us. Peter wanted to photograph them because they looked interesting, and so after a while he went to their table and asked permission to photograph. They agreed, asked him to sit down with them, gave him a cold drink, and then all of them, including Peter began a long discussion. It seems that 4 of the men were from Jordan, and 2 from Pakistan, and were here to help teach the local Muslim community. Peter then wondered to himself if he should tell them that he is Jewish, and of course he did, so the discussion got even better, and all agreed that we are all brothers and sisters; that there are many more similarities than differences between Jews and Muslims; and that most of the problems were caused by politicians. So what else is new? In the end, Peter made a friend with a man, whom we hope will become friends with our NGO. So, the moral of all of this is don’t be shy. The worst thing that will happen when you ask is that you will be refused. And the photo is good, isn’t it. He has a great smile.
Yesterday we took a leaky boat on a 2 hour ride to reach Maboko Island in Lake Victoria where Dr. Richard Leakey many years ago, discovered evidence of stone age culture on the island. We didn’t see any, however, what we did do was spend a great few hours walking around and seeing how people on Maboko Island still are living a very traditional life fishing, growing maize and other crops; having cows, goats, and chickens, and more. We met several families who invited us into their mud and thatch bondas, and had the opportunity to talk at length with them, and share information about us and our family with them. This was very traditional living, and a very good learning experience for us. Once again, we saw the effects of the drought in this area – dried out corn fields. And the corn that did survive is very very small. It will be very difficult over the next few months for these people. We saw a few children who looked pretty malnourished, and things will probably get worse before they get better.
On the other hand, on Saturday, we participated with some staff from our organization in a medical camp, where volunteer doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and our Reproductive Health Coordinator and another young woman went to a small village about an hour or so out of Kisumu to examine and give basic health care to the villagers in that area. Our RH person gave two excellent workshops on Family Planning to mixed groups of men and women, sort of unusual to have that mix together talking about family planning, and then our NGO was invited to come back to the village to help them start some self help programs. So, it was a good day.
Next week we are going to the Maasai Mara for a 4 day safari and to relax. We will tell you all about it in a couple of weeks, and hope to have good photos.
We wish you good health and good luck in whatever you are doing.
Love and hugs,
Babu and Nyanya (Grandfather and Grandmother)
By the way, Peter has been temporarily named Kijana Ndogo Sana (the youngest man) Of course he is the oldest, but he and all enjoy that title of honor. However, once we leave, it will return to its rightful owner who once again will be the youngest oldest. Actually, he is almost 5 years youngest than Peter and 2 days younger than Hinda.
July 27, 2009
Jambo! (Hello!)
Hinda said we didn’t have much to write, so here goes nothing. We do have lots of good photos though, and there are some things to write about .
Many people who live in cities like Kisumu, Nairobi, Mombasa, and other places do not call where they live home, unless of course that is where they grew up and where their families are.
Where they live is in a house, and home is in their ancestral village where they were raised, and where families, and relatives live and where many people return from time to time to visit. Makes sense to me. I, Peter have lived in Seattle for almost 40 years, but home will always be New York. My (Hinda) home is Seattle where my family now is.
Also here in Kenya, and perhaps all over Africa, there are many couples who are separated. The wife and children may live in one city where she is working, and the husband in another where he is working. Why? It is difficult to find a job, so one works where they can. This must be difficult for families, especially for young ones just starting out. We would miss each other if we had to live in separate cities and only see each other monthly, or less than that. We hope that the economy will improve for our Kenyan friends, but it will take awhile.
A slum is always bad, but we recently visited a slum area of Kisumu where our NGO has programs, called Nyalenda. It is not nice: lots of garbage and open sewage, very poor living structures, little or no indoor plumbing, non-existent roads that even a four wheel drive vehicle would have a tough time getting around, and all of the bad things one would think about in a slum. We hear all the time about the corrupt government, and it is unfortunate that the money that could and should be used to improve the lives of the people is not reaching that destination, and all knows where it goes. Will it get better? Hopefully, but until then, we, others like us, and the organization we are working with have to continue poli poli (slowly slowly) trying to improve things with the scant resources that we all have. Otherwise, how do you sleep at night, knowing that if you don’t at least try to help bring about some change, even less will improve. So that is why we are here and that is why our NGO is here, and there are lots of folks like us, and lots of NGO’s that are trying and working hard.
Hinda has been teaching a woman she works with – a nurse – how to use the computer. And this nurse who we shall call “H” is doing great. She started at “0” and now can type a basic document, file it, retrieve it again, etc., etc. Hinda has a good method. She first teaches “H” and others how to play computer Solitaire which teaches hand/eye coordination, and then goes on from there. When we leave in a couple of more months “H” will be computer literate. Sometimes when you can’t change the whole world, it is OK to empower and build capacity in just one person, and then “H” can pass on what she has learned to someone else.
Another concept we both use to teach and have been for years is K I S S – Keep it Short and Simple, and it always goes over well. It really is what many of us should do more. Perhaps we should use more of it in our blogs. Seriously though, we do incorporate often in many of the things we do, and after we return from the Maasai Mara, we will do a Report Writing workshop and use KISS as a teaching tool.
When we were first thinking of coming here to Kisumu, we were told that lots of people would claim to be a relative of Barack Obama. Well, that really hasn’t happened, but we think that one of our colleagues actually is a distant cousin so we are told, and there are lots of little Michelle’s and Obama’s running around.
In this blog, there is a photo of a Muslim man in a red Kaffiyeh. One day recently we went to eat tilapia at “Tilapia Beach” with our E.D. and about 9 or 10 men, all Muslims sat down next to us. Peter wanted to photograph them because they looked interesting, and so after a while he went to their table and asked permission to photograph. They agreed, asked him to sit down with them, gave him a cold drink, and then all of them, including Peter began a long discussion. It seems that 4 of the men were from Jordan, and 2 from Pakistan, and were here to help teach the local Muslim community. Peter then wondered to himself if he should tell them that he is Jewish, and of course he did, so the discussion got even better, and all agreed that we are all brothers and sisters; that there are many more similarities than differences between Jews and Muslims; and that most of the problems were caused by politicians. So what else is new? In the end, Peter made a friend with a man, whom we hope will become friends with our NGO. So, the moral of all of this is don’t be shy. The worst thing that will happen when you ask is that you will be refused. And the photo is good, isn’t it. He has a great smile.
Yesterday we took a leaky boat on a 2 hour ride to reach Maboko Island in Lake Victoria where Dr. Richard Leakey many years ago, discovered evidence of stone age culture on the island. We didn’t see any, however, what we did do was spend a great few hours walking around and seeing how people on Maboko Island still are living a very traditional life fishing, growing maize and other crops; having cows, goats, and chickens, and more. We met several families who invited us into their mud and thatch bondas, and had the opportunity to talk at length with them, and share information about us and our family with them. This was very traditional living, and a very good learning experience for us. Once again, we saw the effects of the drought in this area – dried out corn fields. And the corn that did survive is very very small. It will be very difficult over the next few months for these people. We saw a few children who looked pretty malnourished, and things will probably get worse before they get better.
On the other hand, on Saturday, we participated with some staff from our organization in a medical camp, where volunteer doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and our Reproductive Health Coordinator and another young woman went to a small village about an hour or so out of Kisumu to examine and give basic health care to the villagers in that area. Our RH person gave two excellent workshops on Family Planning to mixed groups of men and women, sort of unusual to have that mix together talking about family planning, and then our NGO was invited to come back to the village to help them start some self help programs. So, it was a good day.
Next week we are going to the Maasai Mara for a 4 day safari and to relax. We will tell you all about it in a couple of weeks, and hope to have good photos.
We wish you good health and good luck in whatever you are doing.
Love and hugs,
Babu and Nyanya (Grandfather and Grandmother)
By the way, Peter has been temporarily named Kijana Ndogo Sana (the youngest man) Of course he is the oldest, but he and all enjoy that title of honor. However, once we leave, it will return to its rightful owner who once again will be the youngest oldest. Actually, he is almost 5 years youngest than Peter and 2 days younger than Hinda.
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 10:45 PM
0 comments
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The Obama Gate, Provincial Hospital, Kisumu
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 10:57 PM
2 comments
Blog 3 Kenya
Blog 3
Kisumu, Kenya
July 13, 2009
Hello all!
It is time to write again and update you on what we have been doing and seeing.
We are both well and we are doing well. Keeping pretty busy at work and we are pleased with our progress. One of our assignments with the organization we are working with here is to help with their fundraising efforts to raise money necessary to build a new facility.
With just a little bit of mentoring, and some capacity building, the fundraising campaign has taken off like a rocket, and everyone is very pleased, but no one more than us. For us, it has always been about empowering and capacity building, and while it can be easier to do it yourself, it really doesn’t work. The folks here are bright and capable, and sometimes, all it takes is a new set of eyes – not being able to see the forest through the trees.
The goal is to have the first phase of the building completed by January 2010, so that the programs can move in by then, and we think there is a pretty good chance of that happening. Wish us luck!!
For all of my life I have been wearing undershirts – and it wasn’t until very recently that I learned that in this part of the world they are called “wife beaters”.
Well, Barack Obama is of course in the news much recently because of his recent trip to sub Saharan Africa, but unfortunately not to Kenya, his ancestral homeland. Never the less, there is a lot of Obama presence here: “Obama Gate”, the entrance to the district hospital; Obama driving schools; Obama’s photo on matatus, and the naming of children, including the 8 month old daughter of one of our workmates – she is named Michelle, and if you count back about 8 months, it will be easy for you to figure out why. She is adorable and I (Hinda) got to hold her for some time on Friday, many of the babies are afraid of me because I am white and in the small, poor villages they have never seen someone of my color. This Michelle, however, took to me like I was her grandmother. We played and laughed and when her Mom came to get her she was surprised to see how happy Michelle was. I almost could not give her up. One of the men who works with this woman asked me if I had a baby the same age as Michelle, I said, “do you know how old I am? He said, 40?) I thanked him and told him my age and he was dumbfounded.
One of you recently asked us if we had any photos of giant insects. Unfortunately we don’t, but if you want us to we can take some photos of tiny ants in the packages of bread we buy. We have been told they are harmless, and they probably are. By the way, there are these tiny ants EVERYWHERE. However, accompanying this blog is a photo of a REALLY MONSTER lizard. Check it out!
We have finally found a place where there is really good cake, so if you want to have a good dessert with us, come on over. We do have an extra bedroom for you.
We live and work in a neighborhood named after one of Kenya’s early heroes during the time of independence – Tom Mboya who unfortunately was assassinated in Nairobi in 1969. I think he was a Luo, the predominant tribe from this part of Kenya. Speaking of Luo, Peter has also learned a few words of Luo, but is mainly learning Kiswahili and is doing well. He can even speak in short – very short sentences. Kind of like our grandson, Joseph who is 2, but people say his accent is good, and it always a good way to make friends. He now has 6 pages filled in his notebook of Kiswahili and Luo words and expressions.
One of the traditional dishes of Kenya is nyama choma – grilled meat, so last night we had great kuku choma (grilled chicken) and it was so good we ate the whole thing along with ugali, a doughy paste made from maize meal, and Hinda had chips (fries)
This past Sunday we took a very interesting and relaxing 3 hour boat ride on Lake Victoria. We went on a small boat with a “long tail” engine. Lots of very beautiful birds, some hippos, MONSTER lizards, and our guide Titus, was talking to all of these in their language. Did they understand and answer? Ask Titus.
We spent most of the time along the shore and photographed fisherman, women washing clothes, people bathing, men pulling in fishing nets and mending them on shore, and more. Unfortunately, the lake, the second largest in the world with Lake Superior the largest has many problems: being fished out slowly but surely, hyacinth which are not native encroaching on the shoreline, and Nile perch eating everything in site.
Floated past beautiful papyrus, (remember baby Moses who floated in a reed basket among the papyrus in ancient Egypt). Papyrus is used here and in Uganda for lots of things, including mats, rafts, paper, chairs, and more.
And after returning from our boat excursion on Lake Victoria we had delicious whole fried tilapia, and Hinda again had chips.
How lucky we are!!
Did you ever think how lucky those of us who live in the western world are? Aside from having access to everything we want and need, we usually have the money to buy what we want and need.
On our various volunteer assignments in the developing world we have seen abject poverty, sickness, heartbreak, death, and the difficulty of getting just basic needs met.
We spent one recent morning at the clinic of the organization we are working with in Kisumu, Kenya. It was the day of the week that mother’s bring their babies, who are in a program to help malnourished children. The community health workers go around the community and find children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, who are malnourished. They are entered into the program to bring them to the state of not being malnourished and having the ability to grow. How heartbreaking, the children are, skinny, lethargic and don’t even have the energy to cry. They are held by their mothers and just listlessly lie there. 80% of the mothers are HIV positive and have taken drugs to prevent passing on the disease to their babies. In these cases it is recommended that the baby be breast fed for only 6 months so they do not continue to drink the mother’s milk and perhaps contract the disease.
This is how the program works; an orphaned unmarried teenage mother of two is found in the community. Her children are malnourished and she has no means of feeding them. The children are enrolled in the program, they are given nutrient and vitamin enriched packets of special food to supplement anything the children eat. The mother is counseled on reproductive health and given family planning/birth control options. She is then put in touch with the food security program where she is taught to grow some food and maybe raise a chicken who will lay an egg a day by the time it is 4 months old. All the time the mother is being counseled the babies get their supplements and as the mother gets more food she is able to feed them as well. Once the emergency situation is passed, the mother is put in touch with the training program, where she can learn catering, hairdressing, or tailoring. She is also put in touch with the microfinance program where she can get a small loan to start a business.
The above story is how the program works, in most cases, Of the 338 children enrolled in the program last year, 298 of them successfully completed the program. Some of the children die and others just disappear.
For every one of the success stories there are just as many, if not more, children and mothers that never get taken care of, that die or just barely survive for long periods of time.
We have been touched by these people and their overwhelming needs. We continue to do our little bit to make things better, but sometimes feel overwhelmed. We are hopeful that the small things we do will make a difference in a few lives. And the skills we pass on to the organizations we work with will help build the capacity of those people to make changes in their own communities.
Ok for now dear friends and family, There is quite a lot here and lots of photos. Enjoy.
Talk to you again soon.
Love,
Mzee Peter and Mama Hinda
Kisumu, Kenya
July 13, 2009
Hello all!
It is time to write again and update you on what we have been doing and seeing.
We are both well and we are doing well. Keeping pretty busy at work and we are pleased with our progress. One of our assignments with the organization we are working with here is to help with their fundraising efforts to raise money necessary to build a new facility.
With just a little bit of mentoring, and some capacity building, the fundraising campaign has taken off like a rocket, and everyone is very pleased, but no one more than us. For us, it has always been about empowering and capacity building, and while it can be easier to do it yourself, it really doesn’t work. The folks here are bright and capable, and sometimes, all it takes is a new set of eyes – not being able to see the forest through the trees.
The goal is to have the first phase of the building completed by January 2010, so that the programs can move in by then, and we think there is a pretty good chance of that happening. Wish us luck!!
For all of my life I have been wearing undershirts – and it wasn’t until very recently that I learned that in this part of the world they are called “wife beaters”.
Well, Barack Obama is of course in the news much recently because of his recent trip to sub Saharan Africa, but unfortunately not to Kenya, his ancestral homeland. Never the less, there is a lot of Obama presence here: “Obama Gate”, the entrance to the district hospital; Obama driving schools; Obama’s photo on matatus, and the naming of children, including the 8 month old daughter of one of our workmates – she is named Michelle, and if you count back about 8 months, it will be easy for you to figure out why. She is adorable and I (Hinda) got to hold her for some time on Friday, many of the babies are afraid of me because I am white and in the small, poor villages they have never seen someone of my color. This Michelle, however, took to me like I was her grandmother. We played and laughed and when her Mom came to get her she was surprised to see how happy Michelle was. I almost could not give her up. One of the men who works with this woman asked me if I had a baby the same age as Michelle, I said, “do you know how old I am? He said, 40?) I thanked him and told him my age and he was dumbfounded.
One of you recently asked us if we had any photos of giant insects. Unfortunately we don’t, but if you want us to we can take some photos of tiny ants in the packages of bread we buy. We have been told they are harmless, and they probably are. By the way, there are these tiny ants EVERYWHERE. However, accompanying this blog is a photo of a REALLY MONSTER lizard. Check it out!
We have finally found a place where there is really good cake, so if you want to have a good dessert with us, come on over. We do have an extra bedroom for you.
We live and work in a neighborhood named after one of Kenya’s early heroes during the time of independence – Tom Mboya who unfortunately was assassinated in Nairobi in 1969. I think he was a Luo, the predominant tribe from this part of Kenya. Speaking of Luo, Peter has also learned a few words of Luo, but is mainly learning Kiswahili and is doing well. He can even speak in short – very short sentences. Kind of like our grandson, Joseph who is 2, but people say his accent is good, and it always a good way to make friends. He now has 6 pages filled in his notebook of Kiswahili and Luo words and expressions.
One of the traditional dishes of Kenya is nyama choma – grilled meat, so last night we had great kuku choma (grilled chicken) and it was so good we ate the whole thing along with ugali, a doughy paste made from maize meal, and Hinda had chips (fries)
This past Sunday we took a very interesting and relaxing 3 hour boat ride on Lake Victoria. We went on a small boat with a “long tail” engine. Lots of very beautiful birds, some hippos, MONSTER lizards, and our guide Titus, was talking to all of these in their language. Did they understand and answer? Ask Titus.
We spent most of the time along the shore and photographed fisherman, women washing clothes, people bathing, men pulling in fishing nets and mending them on shore, and more. Unfortunately, the lake, the second largest in the world with Lake Superior the largest has many problems: being fished out slowly but surely, hyacinth which are not native encroaching on the shoreline, and Nile perch eating everything in site.
Floated past beautiful papyrus, (remember baby Moses who floated in a reed basket among the papyrus in ancient Egypt). Papyrus is used here and in Uganda for lots of things, including mats, rafts, paper, chairs, and more.
And after returning from our boat excursion on Lake Victoria we had delicious whole fried tilapia, and Hinda again had chips.
How lucky we are!!
Did you ever think how lucky those of us who live in the western world are? Aside from having access to everything we want and need, we usually have the money to buy what we want and need.
On our various volunteer assignments in the developing world we have seen abject poverty, sickness, heartbreak, death, and the difficulty of getting just basic needs met.
We spent one recent morning at the clinic of the organization we are working with in Kisumu, Kenya. It was the day of the week that mother’s bring their babies, who are in a program to help malnourished children. The community health workers go around the community and find children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, who are malnourished. They are entered into the program to bring them to the state of not being malnourished and having the ability to grow. How heartbreaking, the children are, skinny, lethargic and don’t even have the energy to cry. They are held by their mothers and just listlessly lie there. 80% of the mothers are HIV positive and have taken drugs to prevent passing on the disease to their babies. In these cases it is recommended that the baby be breast fed for only 6 months so they do not continue to drink the mother’s milk and perhaps contract the disease.
This is how the program works; an orphaned unmarried teenage mother of two is found in the community. Her children are malnourished and she has no means of feeding them. The children are enrolled in the program, they are given nutrient and vitamin enriched packets of special food to supplement anything the children eat. The mother is counseled on reproductive health and given family planning/birth control options. She is then put in touch with the food security program where she is taught to grow some food and maybe raise a chicken who will lay an egg a day by the time it is 4 months old. All the time the mother is being counseled the babies get their supplements and as the mother gets more food she is able to feed them as well. Once the emergency situation is passed, the mother is put in touch with the training program, where she can learn catering, hairdressing, or tailoring. She is also put in touch with the microfinance program where she can get a small loan to start a business.
The above story is how the program works, in most cases, Of the 338 children enrolled in the program last year, 298 of them successfully completed the program. Some of the children die and others just disappear.
For every one of the success stories there are just as many, if not more, children and mothers that never get taken care of, that die or just barely survive for long periods of time.
We have been touched by these people and their overwhelming needs. We continue to do our little bit to make things better, but sometimes feel overwhelmed. We are hopeful that the small things we do will make a difference in a few lives. And the skills we pass on to the organizations we work with will help build the capacity of those people to make changes in their own communities.
Ok for now dear friends and family, There is quite a lot here and lots of photos. Enjoy.
Talk to you again soon.
Love,
Mzee Peter and Mama Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 10:18 PM
0 comments
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Okeko Wilberforce, our guide in Kakamega Forest
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 8:32 PM
0 comments
Black & White Colobus Monkey, Kakamega Forest
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 8:27 PM
0 comments
Blog 2 Kenya
Blog 2
Kisumu, Kenya
July 6, 2009
Hello everyone!
For those of you who are Americans, we hope you had a good Independence Day Holiday, and for those of you who are not, we hope you had a great 4th of July.
We are now in our “permanent” home here in Kisumu. It is called “Pabari’s Paradise” for good reason: It is like being in a beautiful botanical garden, complete with swimming pool. We have a very nice 2 bedroom cottage including a very comfortable screened in living room, so come on over. Like many places here, and elsewhere in Africa we are in a compound that is fenced and has a security gate with 24 hour guards, but we also have Maasai men who patrol the street at night, so we feel pretty safe. We would feel safe anyway, but why not have a Maasai warrior around.
Work is going very well, and Peter is immersed in a capital fundraising campaign to build a new center for the NGO we are with, and Hinda has taken on, once again, helping to develop HR and other policies, as well as mentoring the staff at the clinic that is a part of this group, and both of us are doing some computer mentoring. Peter has done a sample slide show, and will use it as a teaching tool. Our work colleagues are extremely friendly, and we feel very wanted and a part of the group.
Peter’s Kiswahili is expanding daily and he is impressing lots of people. So you see, a 71 year old dog can still learn new tricks. Right Sserunjogi?
This weekend we visited the Kakamega Forest, the only Kenyan vestige of the unique and once mighty “Guineo-Congolian Forest eco system – virgin tropical rain forest that once stretched from the Congo all the way to Uganda. It is quite beautiful and the trees reach to the sky. It is so wild that trees actually kill each other to survive. There are over 400 species of birds and 400 species of butterflies, and no less than 7 different primate species including the blue monkey and the black and white colobus. We hiked through the forest with a local guide who taught us much, and also brought us back safely. Were we alone, it would be pretty easy to get lost. We stayed in a beautiful retreat that at the turn of the 20th century was the home of the owner of a saw mill. It was pretty posh, but quite simple. When we arrived we were told that at 4 we would have tea or coffee and “delicious” cake, and it really was. Wow!! By the way, there are no malaria mosquitoes in Kakamega and it is only an hour or so out of Kisumu.
So Hinda asked the guide: “Why are they called blue monkeys?” And the guide said, (yes, you guessed it), “Because they look blue”, and Peter said: “Duuh”.
We now walk back and forth to work, but also use “tuk tuk’s” and “matatu’s” to go to the center of town or to the market, etc. What are tuk tuk’s and matatu’s. Those of you who have been to Thailand , India, and perhaps other places will recognize them as 3 wheeled covered motorbikes which sound like tuktuktuktuk………………………………… and have no springs, and here most of the roads aren’t paved. As for matatu’s, they are simply passenger vans that are supposed to hold up to 12 people, but can always squeeze in 20 or 21, or more, but they are cheap – usually 20 “bob” (shillings), about 25 cents. Each morning at about 5:30 the matatu’s on the main road near our home, are blowing their airhorn’s looking for passengers. Sounds like a herd of elephants moving through the jungle.
You know of course that near here is where President Barack Obama’s father’s family comes from, and so we were not surprised to see the “Obama Gate” as one of the entrances to the Provincial Hospital. Speaking of the hospitals, one of the students here who is assigned there part time took a video to show us one of the women’s wards: 2 women to a bed, rats, cockroaches, and then told us that the women’s ward is better than the men’s ward. You may remember our description last year of the big hospital in Kampala where we had to help our friend who without our help, or someone’s would not have had sheets, pillow, blanket, food, bedpan, X-rays, or not much of anything else. It is pretty severe for poor people. Here at the hospital, the doctor only comes once a week and “sees” – literally, 250 patients in a day. The daily care is by interns and nurses. There is a long way to go, and it could be better, but things like corruption and not caring certainly make the going rough and slow.
The modern world is still mind boggling for those of us who grew up before TV, jet planes, and of course, mobile and satellite phones. So there we were in the middle of the Kakamega rain forest Saturday night and we called our son Adam from our mobile to his satellite phone where he was at our summer family cabin in the middle of the Cascade Mountains in the State of Washington in a deep valley surrounded by 9,000’ peaks, and we were able to talk to each other – we felt like the astronauts on the moon. It was great.
Well, after all those movies about Africa when we were kids, Peter is finally being called “bwana” the Kiswahili word for man or sir. For a women it is “bibi” – no relation to Bibi Netanyahu! More often for Peter he is referred to as Mzee, a polite term for an elder, and Hinda once again is Mama or Mommy.
OK for now. Hope you are all well. Stay in touch and we will also. We love to hear from you.
Love and hugs,
Mzee and Mama
Kisumu, Kenya
July 6, 2009
Hello everyone!
For those of you who are Americans, we hope you had a good Independence Day Holiday, and for those of you who are not, we hope you had a great 4th of July.
We are now in our “permanent” home here in Kisumu. It is called “Pabari’s Paradise” for good reason: It is like being in a beautiful botanical garden, complete with swimming pool. We have a very nice 2 bedroom cottage including a very comfortable screened in living room, so come on over. Like many places here, and elsewhere in Africa we are in a compound that is fenced and has a security gate with 24 hour guards, but we also have Maasai men who patrol the street at night, so we feel pretty safe. We would feel safe anyway, but why not have a Maasai warrior around.
Work is going very well, and Peter is immersed in a capital fundraising campaign to build a new center for the NGO we are with, and Hinda has taken on, once again, helping to develop HR and other policies, as well as mentoring the staff at the clinic that is a part of this group, and both of us are doing some computer mentoring. Peter has done a sample slide show, and will use it as a teaching tool. Our work colleagues are extremely friendly, and we feel very wanted and a part of the group.
Peter’s Kiswahili is expanding daily and he is impressing lots of people. So you see, a 71 year old dog can still learn new tricks. Right Sserunjogi?
This weekend we visited the Kakamega Forest, the only Kenyan vestige of the unique and once mighty “Guineo-Congolian Forest eco system – virgin tropical rain forest that once stretched from the Congo all the way to Uganda. It is quite beautiful and the trees reach to the sky. It is so wild that trees actually kill each other to survive. There are over 400 species of birds and 400 species of butterflies, and no less than 7 different primate species including the blue monkey and the black and white colobus. We hiked through the forest with a local guide who taught us much, and also brought us back safely. Were we alone, it would be pretty easy to get lost. We stayed in a beautiful retreat that at the turn of the 20th century was the home of the owner of a saw mill. It was pretty posh, but quite simple. When we arrived we were told that at 4 we would have tea or coffee and “delicious” cake, and it really was. Wow!! By the way, there are no malaria mosquitoes in Kakamega and it is only an hour or so out of Kisumu.
So Hinda asked the guide: “Why are they called blue monkeys?” And the guide said, (yes, you guessed it), “Because they look blue”, and Peter said: “Duuh”.
We now walk back and forth to work, but also use “tuk tuk’s” and “matatu’s” to go to the center of town or to the market, etc. What are tuk tuk’s and matatu’s. Those of you who have been to Thailand , India, and perhaps other places will recognize them as 3 wheeled covered motorbikes which sound like tuktuktuktuk………………………………… and have no springs, and here most of the roads aren’t paved. As for matatu’s, they are simply passenger vans that are supposed to hold up to 12 people, but can always squeeze in 20 or 21, or more, but they are cheap – usually 20 “bob” (shillings), about 25 cents. Each morning at about 5:30 the matatu’s on the main road near our home, are blowing their airhorn’s looking for passengers. Sounds like a herd of elephants moving through the jungle.
You know of course that near here is where President Barack Obama’s father’s family comes from, and so we were not surprised to see the “Obama Gate” as one of the entrances to the Provincial Hospital. Speaking of the hospitals, one of the students here who is assigned there part time took a video to show us one of the women’s wards: 2 women to a bed, rats, cockroaches, and then told us that the women’s ward is better than the men’s ward. You may remember our description last year of the big hospital in Kampala where we had to help our friend who without our help, or someone’s would not have had sheets, pillow, blanket, food, bedpan, X-rays, or not much of anything else. It is pretty severe for poor people. Here at the hospital, the doctor only comes once a week and “sees” – literally, 250 patients in a day. The daily care is by interns and nurses. There is a long way to go, and it could be better, but things like corruption and not caring certainly make the going rough and slow.
The modern world is still mind boggling for those of us who grew up before TV, jet planes, and of course, mobile and satellite phones. So there we were in the middle of the Kakamega rain forest Saturday night and we called our son Adam from our mobile to his satellite phone where he was at our summer family cabin in the middle of the Cascade Mountains in the State of Washington in a deep valley surrounded by 9,000’ peaks, and we were able to talk to each other – we felt like the astronauts on the moon. It was great.
Well, after all those movies about Africa when we were kids, Peter is finally being called “bwana” the Kiswahili word for man or sir. For a women it is “bibi” – no relation to Bibi Netanyahu! More often for Peter he is referred to as Mzee, a polite term for an elder, and Hinda once again is Mama or Mommy.
OK for now. Hope you are all well. Stay in touch and we will also. We love to hear from you.
Love and hugs,
Mzee and Mama
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 8:24 PM
0 comments
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
A New Person: Peter and NJ After 1 Year of ARV's
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 11:34 PM
1 comments
Blog 1 Kenya
June 24, 2009
Kisumu, Kenya
Dear Family and Friends,
We are now in Kisumu, Kenya where we will be volunteering for the next 3 1/2 months. Before arriving here, we spent a week in Kampala with friends and African family where Peter celebrated his 71st birthday with an RSVP Birthday Bash. Peter can still dance, although he had a difficult time keeping up with his granddaughter Maggie and daughter Atyero and all his friends. Hinda is still a great dancer but also had a hard time keeping up with the young folks. At the party a few people were asked to say a few words which were very special and meaningful to the both of us, and we were both deeply moved and honored.
In August we have been invited to a wedding in Uganda, and it is another honor for us so we will attend. In September we have been invited to an introduction ceremony where the couple to be wedded are formally introduced, and gifts are given to the brides family from the groom and his family. We will wear traditional clothing and will share photos with you. Once again we are honored to be invited. We were given parts of these clothes when we went to the home of daughter Atyero to visit and where when parents visit it is customary for them to receive a gift. Peter will wear a kansu,and Hinda a gomesa.
As we were waiting at the airport in Nairobi to board the flight to Kisumu, we watched 7 men sitting on the ground under a jet liner. They were jacking up the plane by hand - do you know much one of those baby's weigh? -and then it took them several hours to change one of the tires. We hope they screwed the lugs on good and tight. Glad it wasn't our plane. Happy Landings whoever you are!
Kisumu is the 3rd largest city in Kenya after Nairobi and Mombasa. It sits on the shores of Lake Victoria, the second largest fresh water lake in the world. Actually, we are right across the lake from Kampala and at the same latitude, just about at the equator.
Kisumu town is small compared to Kampala and Nairobi, but seems to have all we will need and will be easy to get around.
We just rented a very nice cottage within a 10 minute walk or so from the office. Two bedrooms - so you are welcome - and a swimming pool. It won't be available until July 1, so until then we will stay at another beautiful brand new apartment owned by the same landlord. We will be the first tenant, and there is a pool there also.
Peter has already picked up a few Kiswahili words, and by the time we leave should be able to get along with the basics.
The weather so far has been clear and quite warm, although the locals don't agree that it is hot yet. Uh oh! Lots of green all over, and very pretty hills. It is exciting to be here in the Great Rift Valley. This is where humans first evolved, and we shall soon be doing some exploring and sending you photos and blogs. So we have come back home to Africa and actually where it all began for us humans.
The organization we are volunteering with is quite impressive with most programs focusing on reproductive health. The Executive Director is a visionary "par excellence" and referred to as Mama "K". We expect to work closely with her and learn a lot as well as teach as much as we can. When we arrived at "K" we were welcomed with "Welcome to the 4 K's: Kenya, Kisuma, "K", and Kogelo, the ancestral home of Obama. Kenyans and all Africans, and we too are very very proud of this man. One of the most exciting programs is a nutrition program. The organization which we shall call "K", has developed a nutritional cereal or porridge for children and adults which are being distributed and/or sold to the clients on a sliding fee basis, but very soon will be marketed in retail shops.
We understand that this part of Kenya has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infections and a considerable amount of child malnutrition. One of the reasons explained to us is because in this part of Kenya, there has been a lot of opposition to the political party in power and has thus not received important resources to fight and alleviate these scourges. Perhaps with the new power sharing agreement things will get better.
As we drove around Kisumu for the past couple of days, we saw burned out buildings as the aftermath of the election violence last year. Many people had to flee to here from their villages, and of course it put a strain on resources and services. "K" helped to provide emergency food and other support.
We will tell you lots more, but just wanted to start off with this. More later.
Hope you are well and happy. We already miss you. Come to visit!
Love,
Peter and Hinda
Kisumu, Kenya
Dear Family and Friends,
We are now in Kisumu, Kenya where we will be volunteering for the next 3 1/2 months. Before arriving here, we spent a week in Kampala with friends and African family where Peter celebrated his 71st birthday with an RSVP Birthday Bash. Peter can still dance, although he had a difficult time keeping up with his granddaughter Maggie and daughter Atyero and all his friends. Hinda is still a great dancer but also had a hard time keeping up with the young folks. At the party a few people were asked to say a few words which were very special and meaningful to the both of us, and we were both deeply moved and honored.
In August we have been invited to a wedding in Uganda, and it is another honor for us so we will attend. In September we have been invited to an introduction ceremony where the couple to be wedded are formally introduced, and gifts are given to the brides family from the groom and his family. We will wear traditional clothing and will share photos with you. Once again we are honored to be invited. We were given parts of these clothes when we went to the home of daughter Atyero to visit and where when parents visit it is customary for them to receive a gift. Peter will wear a kansu,and Hinda a gomesa.
As we were waiting at the airport in Nairobi to board the flight to Kisumu, we watched 7 men sitting on the ground under a jet liner. They were jacking up the plane by hand - do you know much one of those baby's weigh? -and then it took them several hours to change one of the tires. We hope they screwed the lugs on good and tight. Glad it wasn't our plane. Happy Landings whoever you are!
Kisumu is the 3rd largest city in Kenya after Nairobi and Mombasa. It sits on the shores of Lake Victoria, the second largest fresh water lake in the world. Actually, we are right across the lake from Kampala and at the same latitude, just about at the equator.
Kisumu town is small compared to Kampala and Nairobi, but seems to have all we will need and will be easy to get around.
We just rented a very nice cottage within a 10 minute walk or so from the office. Two bedrooms - so you are welcome - and a swimming pool. It won't be available until July 1, so until then we will stay at another beautiful brand new apartment owned by the same landlord. We will be the first tenant, and there is a pool there also.
Peter has already picked up a few Kiswahili words, and by the time we leave should be able to get along with the basics.
The weather so far has been clear and quite warm, although the locals don't agree that it is hot yet. Uh oh! Lots of green all over, and very pretty hills. It is exciting to be here in the Great Rift Valley. This is where humans first evolved, and we shall soon be doing some exploring and sending you photos and blogs. So we have come back home to Africa and actually where it all began for us humans.
The organization we are volunteering with is quite impressive with most programs focusing on reproductive health. The Executive Director is a visionary "par excellence" and referred to as Mama "K". We expect to work closely with her and learn a lot as well as teach as much as we can. When we arrived at "K" we were welcomed with "Welcome to the 4 K's: Kenya, Kisuma, "K", and Kogelo, the ancestral home of Obama. Kenyans and all Africans, and we too are very very proud of this man. One of the most exciting programs is a nutrition program. The organization which we shall call "K", has developed a nutritional cereal or porridge for children and adults which are being distributed and/or sold to the clients on a sliding fee basis, but very soon will be marketed in retail shops.
We understand that this part of Kenya has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infections and a considerable amount of child malnutrition. One of the reasons explained to us is because in this part of Kenya, there has been a lot of opposition to the political party in power and has thus not received important resources to fight and alleviate these scourges. Perhaps with the new power sharing agreement things will get better.
As we drove around Kisumu for the past couple of days, we saw burned out buildings as the aftermath of the election violence last year. Many people had to flee to here from their villages, and of course it put a strain on resources and services. "K" helped to provide emergency food and other support.
We will tell you lots more, but just wanted to start off with this. More later.
Hope you are well and happy. We already miss you. Come to visit!
Love,
Peter and Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 12:48 AM
1 comments
Friday, June 19, 2009
A Good Story
Blog 1
Kampala, Uganda
June 19, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
We are here in Kampala, Uganda visiting friends before we go to Kisumu, Kenya where we will be for the next 3 ½ months volunteering. Some of you may remember that when we volunteered here a year or so ago, we helped a young woman who was dying of AIDS and TB become better. When we first met her she only weighed 32 kilos. Well this young woman, now 19 weighs over 45 kilos, and some even call her fat. It is remarkable how an organization like the one we were involved with coupled with modern life saving drugs and a good dose of compassion can not only save lives, but make them wholesome. So when we visited her a couple of days ago, she gave us this letter which we want to share with you. There are lots of feel bad stories here in this part of the world, but here is a feel good story.
Love and Hugs,
Peter and Hinda
P.S. Am having my 71st birthday here in Kampala with Ugandan friends and family.
“14 June 2009
Hullo Mr. Peter,
I’m very glad that your back and see how I am now. I’m relly very happy & my thanks goes to K*** as a whole, Mr. LK and more especially to you who gave me all the support while I was bed ridden. Your support, the care from the organization contributed a lot to my gaining back my life. Though I was down I was relly appreciating whatever you were doing & supporting. Dear Mr. Peter you were so kind, loving & caring for me. There’s nothing I can do as a reward but just to say thank you & may the almighty God add like 100 years to your life. As you left I remained still in the hands of the K*** organization & Uncle K continued to look after me up to where you’ve found me now. I’m now healthy & enjoying myself which I thought would not come. Dear Peter, how can I thank you!!! Even if I die now I will go with a clean heart because of the love, care & support you & the organization showed me. I will keep on praying for you day and knight because I take you & the K*** management as my savior. This is just a message of appreciation to you coz I’m very very happy for your coming back & finding me walking, doing everything as others.
Lots of Love from, JN”
Kampala, Uganda
June 19, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
We are here in Kampala, Uganda visiting friends before we go to Kisumu, Kenya where we will be for the next 3 ½ months volunteering. Some of you may remember that when we volunteered here a year or so ago, we helped a young woman who was dying of AIDS and TB become better. When we first met her she only weighed 32 kilos. Well this young woman, now 19 weighs over 45 kilos, and some even call her fat. It is remarkable how an organization like the one we were involved with coupled with modern life saving drugs and a good dose of compassion can not only save lives, but make them wholesome. So when we visited her a couple of days ago, she gave us this letter which we want to share with you. There are lots of feel bad stories here in this part of the world, but here is a feel good story.
Love and Hugs,
Peter and Hinda
P.S. Am having my 71st birthday here in Kampala with Ugandan friends and family.
“14 June 2009
Hullo Mr. Peter,
I’m very glad that your back and see how I am now. I’m relly very happy & my thanks goes to K*** as a whole, Mr. LK and more especially to you who gave me all the support while I was bed ridden. Your support, the care from the organization contributed a lot to my gaining back my life. Though I was down I was relly appreciating whatever you were doing & supporting. Dear Mr. Peter you were so kind, loving & caring for me. There’s nothing I can do as a reward but just to say thank you & may the almighty God add like 100 years to your life. As you left I remained still in the hands of the K*** organization & Uncle K continued to look after me up to where you’ve found me now. I’m now healthy & enjoying myself which I thought would not come. Dear Peter, how can I thank you!!! Even if I die now I will go with a clean heart because of the love, care & support you & the organization showed me. I will keep on praying for you day and knight because I take you & the K*** management as my savior. This is just a message of appreciation to you coz I’m very very happy for your coming back & finding me walking, doing everything as others.
Lots of Love from, JN”
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 2:57 AM
0 comments
Monday, February 09, 2009
Reflections at En Avdet,, Negev Desert, Israel
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 9:02 AM
0 comments
Reciting Evening Prayers in Sde Boker, Israel
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 9:01 AM
0 comments
Member of African American Community in Dimona, Israel
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 8:59 AM
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Blog 2 Turkey, Blog 3 Israel
Blog 2 Turkey, Blog 3 Israel
February 9, 2009
Jerusalem, Israel
Dear Friends and Family,
Excuse us if we are writing too often, but we want to share our travels, experiences, and thoughts with you.
We just returned from a great week in Istanbul were we stayed with our old friends that we first met in 1960. By the way, their flat is on the 7th floor and it is 105 steps up – we only did it once a day. There are chairs to sit on and rest on each landing – thankfully, and Hinda needed to use them.
Istanbul is one of our favorite cities, and we have concluded that we could easily live there. It is a city of neighborhoods, and in each neighborhood there are all kinds of shops and restaurants. It is a city of 12 million people, and the traffic is horrendous, but there is a large bus system as well as a very nice subway and an above ground tramway. And many people walk.
A day or two before we left the weather turned very nice and warm and made the remainder of our stay quite pleasant. We took a ferry with our friend to the largest of the Princess Islands – Buyuk Ada (Large Island), and the return trip to Istanbul at night with the city all lit up was truly beautiful.
Because of the speech in Davos by the Turkish President, Israeli travel to Turkey from Israel has dried up. Usually there are lots of Israeli's going there because it is close and cheap. On the day we went, on a Boeing 737-400, there were only 40 passengers. We actually were told not to tell anyone we were Jewish or that we came from Israel. So, despite President Erdogan's tough talk, the Turkish travel industry is offering trips to Turkey for 4 days including air, hotels, and all meals for less than $200, but it doesn't seem that many Israeli's are taking up the offer. Hopefully things will calm down soon. In fact, Turkey is trying to get an Israeli prisoner who has been held by Hamas for a couple of years released. Politics is interesting isn't it? We should also remind you that Erdogan is running for re-election, and on Turkish TV we saw his party giving away large major appliances, (they said it was for poor people – but who do you think those poor people are going to vote for?
We left Turkey with a bit sad because we will miss it and we will miss our dear friends, as well as the best food and desserts in the world as far as we are concerned. To be sure, we will be back for we will need to return to where our married lives began more than 48 years ago.
Here in Israel, we have been bouncing around between one or another of our family, all of who are anxious to have us stay with them and all of them are very gracious hosts. It is very nice of them and we are very thankful.
We spent a couple of days in the north, in the Galilee, and just this afternoon returned to Jerusalem where we spent the last day and a half in the Negev. This is a small, but very beautiful and diverse country – deserts; oceans, including the Dead Sea which is 400 feet below sea level and is the lowest place on earth; forests; rivers; fertile agricultural sections; and of course everywhere you step, you go back into history millennia.
One of the highlights of being an AJWS volunteer is meeting people from all over the world. One of these people we met in Uganda in 2004 and she was also volunteering there. We met up with her here, and tomorrow she is talking us to the tunnel under the Western Wall and to the City of David located just outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.
On this visit to the Negev we had a very interesting experience. In our guide book there was a description of an African Israeli community, and so since we were passing through Dimona where this community is located we tried to find them and find them we did. Guess what? This is a group of some 3,000 African Americans who started coming to Israel in the 60's. They do not consider themselves Jewish, but nor are they Christians or Muslims. In the 60's, they went to Liberia for 2 years to learn how to live in a place that was not like America, and many of them returned to the USA. The rest came here. It was fun talking and listening to this group with their American slang and customs. It seemed to us that they spoke very little Hebrew. They told us that they just got licensed to begin a kibbutz after 40 years of trying. In fact only one of their group has become a citizen and the rest are permanent residents. We remember a lot of the controversy surrounding this group over the years. Should they be allowed to become citizens? Who knows – it is not our decision. They are loyal to Israel, and even though their children at the age of 18 are not drafted into the army, most of them volunteer because they want to be like most other Israeli's. Anyway, it was an interesting experience talking and eating with them.
Well, tomorrow is a big day in Israel – Election Day. Nearly everyone tells us when asked that "Bibi" Netanhayu will be elected although none of them want him, but want Tsipi Livni instead. So if he is going to be elected and no one we have spoken to will vote for him, obviously some one will. We'll see what happens tomorrow. If he does win, it may be a challenge for the Obama administration, since he is a pretty conservative politician and the leader of a fairly conservative party.
So, Shalom for now. We leave for the USA on Saturday – Valentine Day. We had a great trip both here and in Turkey. After we get back, we will start thinking about our next big jaunt – volunteering in Kenya for 3 1/2 months beginning in mid June.
Love,
Peter and Hinda
February 9, 2009
Jerusalem, Israel
Dear Friends and Family,
Excuse us if we are writing too often, but we want to share our travels, experiences, and thoughts with you.
We just returned from a great week in Istanbul were we stayed with our old friends that we first met in 1960. By the way, their flat is on the 7th floor and it is 105 steps up – we only did it once a day. There are chairs to sit on and rest on each landing – thankfully, and Hinda needed to use them.
Istanbul is one of our favorite cities, and we have concluded that we could easily live there. It is a city of neighborhoods, and in each neighborhood there are all kinds of shops and restaurants. It is a city of 12 million people, and the traffic is horrendous, but there is a large bus system as well as a very nice subway and an above ground tramway. And many people walk.
A day or two before we left the weather turned very nice and warm and made the remainder of our stay quite pleasant. We took a ferry with our friend to the largest of the Princess Islands – Buyuk Ada (Large Island), and the return trip to Istanbul at night with the city all lit up was truly beautiful.
Because of the speech in Davos by the Turkish President, Israeli travel to Turkey from Israel has dried up. Usually there are lots of Israeli's going there because it is close and cheap. On the day we went, on a Boeing 737-400, there were only 40 passengers. We actually were told not to tell anyone we were Jewish or that we came from Israel. So, despite President Erdogan's tough talk, the Turkish travel industry is offering trips to Turkey for 4 days including air, hotels, and all meals for less than $200, but it doesn't seem that many Israeli's are taking up the offer. Hopefully things will calm down soon. In fact, Turkey is trying to get an Israeli prisoner who has been held by Hamas for a couple of years released. Politics is interesting isn't it? We should also remind you that Erdogan is running for re-election, and on Turkish TV we saw his party giving away large major appliances, (they said it was for poor people – but who do you think those poor people are going to vote for?
We left Turkey with a bit sad because we will miss it and we will miss our dear friends, as well as the best food and desserts in the world as far as we are concerned. To be sure, we will be back for we will need to return to where our married lives began more than 48 years ago.
Here in Israel, we have been bouncing around between one or another of our family, all of who are anxious to have us stay with them and all of them are very gracious hosts. It is very nice of them and we are very thankful.
We spent a couple of days in the north, in the Galilee, and just this afternoon returned to Jerusalem where we spent the last day and a half in the Negev. This is a small, but very beautiful and diverse country – deserts; oceans, including the Dead Sea which is 400 feet below sea level and is the lowest place on earth; forests; rivers; fertile agricultural sections; and of course everywhere you step, you go back into history millennia.
One of the highlights of being an AJWS volunteer is meeting people from all over the world. One of these people we met in Uganda in 2004 and she was also volunteering there. We met up with her here, and tomorrow she is talking us to the tunnel under the Western Wall and to the City of David located just outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.
On this visit to the Negev we had a very interesting experience. In our guide book there was a description of an African Israeli community, and so since we were passing through Dimona where this community is located we tried to find them and find them we did. Guess what? This is a group of some 3,000 African Americans who started coming to Israel in the 60's. They do not consider themselves Jewish, but nor are they Christians or Muslims. In the 60's, they went to Liberia for 2 years to learn how to live in a place that was not like America, and many of them returned to the USA. The rest came here. It was fun talking and listening to this group with their American slang and customs. It seemed to us that they spoke very little Hebrew. They told us that they just got licensed to begin a kibbutz after 40 years of trying. In fact only one of their group has become a citizen and the rest are permanent residents. We remember a lot of the controversy surrounding this group over the years. Should they be allowed to become citizens? Who knows – it is not our decision. They are loyal to Israel, and even though their children at the age of 18 are not drafted into the army, most of them volunteer because they want to be like most other Israeli's. Anyway, it was an interesting experience talking and eating with them.
Well, tomorrow is a big day in Israel – Election Day. Nearly everyone tells us when asked that "Bibi" Netanhayu will be elected although none of them want him, but want Tsipi Livni instead. So if he is going to be elected and no one we have spoken to will vote for him, obviously some one will. We'll see what happens tomorrow. If he does win, it may be a challenge for the Obama administration, since he is a pretty conservative politician and the leader of a fairly conservative party.
So, Shalom for now. We leave for the USA on Saturday – Valentine Day. We had a great trip both here and in Turkey. After we get back, we will start thinking about our next big jaunt – volunteering in Kenya for 3 1/2 months beginning in mid June.
Love,
Peter and Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 6:42 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Blog From Turkey
Blog 1 From Turkey
İstanbul
Feb 3, 2009-02-03
Merhaba (Hello) from İstanbul!
We are here in İstanbul visiting very old friends that we met here in 1960 - 1962 when we lived in Ankara. Some of you may know that the day after we were married we moved here where Peter was posted when he was in the Army. So Turkey has a special meanıng for us: this is where we bagan our life together as a couple. Also, when we lived here, we met a young couple from İsrael who became our closest friends and so this trıp to Turkey and İsrael has special connections for us.
For the past few days, the weather has been cold and rainy – similar to what we are used to back in Seattle, but se la vie. İstanbul is, in our opinion, a world class city – very large and cosmopolitan, and a mix of the old and the new. İt is full of beautiful mosques and historical buildings and has the best markets including the spice market where the smells are an unforgettable mix of cheeses, olıves, every conceivable kind of spice, etc. And so crowded it is nearly impossible to navigate the narrow alleys, though from time to time a delivery truck somehow works its way through the crowd without running anyone over.
İstanbul ıs a city of neighborhoods, and we are staying with our friends in their apartment in an interesting part of the city where many Jews, Armenians, and Christians live, as well as Turks of course. Our apartment is on the top floor of a 6 floor building – 105 steps and no elevator, so once we leave in the morning we don't return until the evening after we have walked for hours and kilometers – miles it seems.
İt has turned out to be a very interestıng trip for us at this time, to İsrael and Turkey. İn İsrael of course there is the Gaza war, and here in Turkey, there are very high anti İsrael feelings with large demonstrations and emotional speeches by the Turkısh president . We have decided not to tell anyone that we have been in Israel and that we are Jewish, since the atmosphere feels very volatile here. Each night on TV, the news replays the emotional speech by President Erdogan while sitting next to Shimon Peres of İsrael and there are many many news commentators talking about it throughout the day and evening on all of the Turkish news programs.
Never the less, we do feel comfortable and safe, and we love Turkey as much as we always have. İt continues to have a special place ın our heart. Turks are warm and hospitable people, and we continue to rate it as our favorite place. The food ıs superb, and we eat our way through the day, and then in the evenıng, our friend Taylan has cooked another delicious dinner just as we remember her mother doing more than 48 years ago when we lived ın Ankara. And the desserts – wow! This ıs not a weight loss trip for sure.
Yesterday we went to a hamam – Turkish bath. When you emerge an hour or so later you are clean – clean – clean, and a bit wıped out after having been scrubbed, massaged, and boiled lıke a lobster in the 115 – 120 degree heat of the hot room. The masseur really worked Peter over while Hinda's masseuse seemed a bit gentler. This hamam was built in 1714 and is very beautiful insıde – all marble. After her bath, Hinda received a gift of black panties, while Peter received nothing but feeling beaten up! İt was lots of fun, felt good and after a few hours of recuperation, we might be willıng to try it again.
We continue to do most of the usual tourist things like visiting Aya Sofia. The Blue Mosque, The İstanbul Modern Art Museum, Topkapi, and many other sights. We have been to some of these before but always find something new to discover.
Today it ıs raining and cold so we will stay inside drinking tea until the weather clears. Back to İsrael in a couple of days. We will write again from there.
Love, Hinda and Peter
İstanbul
Feb 3, 2009-02-03
Merhaba (Hello) from İstanbul!
We are here in İstanbul visiting very old friends that we met here in 1960 - 1962 when we lived in Ankara. Some of you may know that the day after we were married we moved here where Peter was posted when he was in the Army. So Turkey has a special meanıng for us: this is where we bagan our life together as a couple. Also, when we lived here, we met a young couple from İsrael who became our closest friends and so this trıp to Turkey and İsrael has special connections for us.
For the past few days, the weather has been cold and rainy – similar to what we are used to back in Seattle, but se la vie. İstanbul is, in our opinion, a world class city – very large and cosmopolitan, and a mix of the old and the new. İt is full of beautiful mosques and historical buildings and has the best markets including the spice market where the smells are an unforgettable mix of cheeses, olıves, every conceivable kind of spice, etc. And so crowded it is nearly impossible to navigate the narrow alleys, though from time to time a delivery truck somehow works its way through the crowd without running anyone over.
İstanbul ıs a city of neighborhoods, and we are staying with our friends in their apartment in an interesting part of the city where many Jews, Armenians, and Christians live, as well as Turks of course. Our apartment is on the top floor of a 6 floor building – 105 steps and no elevator, so once we leave in the morning we don't return until the evening after we have walked for hours and kilometers – miles it seems.
İt has turned out to be a very interestıng trip for us at this time, to İsrael and Turkey. İn İsrael of course there is the Gaza war, and here in Turkey, there are very high anti İsrael feelings with large demonstrations and emotional speeches by the Turkısh president . We have decided not to tell anyone that we have been in Israel and that we are Jewish, since the atmosphere feels very volatile here. Each night on TV, the news replays the emotional speech by President Erdogan while sitting next to Shimon Peres of İsrael and there are many many news commentators talking about it throughout the day and evening on all of the Turkish news programs.
Never the less, we do feel comfortable and safe, and we love Turkey as much as we always have. İt continues to have a special place ın our heart. Turks are warm and hospitable people, and we continue to rate it as our favorite place. The food ıs superb, and we eat our way through the day, and then in the evenıng, our friend Taylan has cooked another delicious dinner just as we remember her mother doing more than 48 years ago when we lived ın Ankara. And the desserts – wow! This ıs not a weight loss trip for sure.
Yesterday we went to a hamam – Turkish bath. When you emerge an hour or so later you are clean – clean – clean, and a bit wıped out after having been scrubbed, massaged, and boiled lıke a lobster in the 115 – 120 degree heat of the hot room. The masseur really worked Peter over while Hinda's masseuse seemed a bit gentler. This hamam was built in 1714 and is very beautiful insıde – all marble. After her bath, Hinda received a gift of black panties, while Peter received nothing but feeling beaten up! İt was lots of fun, felt good and after a few hours of recuperation, we might be willıng to try it again.
We continue to do most of the usual tourist things like visiting Aya Sofia. The Blue Mosque, The İstanbul Modern Art Museum, Topkapi, and many other sights. We have been to some of these before but always find something new to discover.
Today it ıs raining and cold so we will stay inside drinking tea until the weather clears. Back to İsrael in a couple of days. We will write again from there.
Love, Hinda and Peter
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 12:06 AM
1 comments
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Blog 2 From Israel
Blog 2 From Israel
January 28, 2009
Dear Friends and Family,
Things have been very interesting for us here and so we want to write again to you before we leave tomorrow for a week with friends in Istanbul. We have spent the last several days just outside of Tel Aviv with Peter's cousins in their beautiful, very modern house. It is as nice as any you would find in the best neighborhood of Seattle. Part of it being so nice, is that they have a beautiful lemon tree and a beautiful pomela tree in the front yard. Yesterday, Michael, our cousin, shook the pomela tree to get a fresh pomela and one did fall off, but then another one fell down from about 6 feet up and hit Peter right on the head. It weighed a couple of pounds and it hurt him. We all had a good laugh. Lucky it was soft.
We continue to be taken with the contrasts in this country. There are all kinds of them, and the one that is foremost is between Israeli/Jew, and Arab and/or Palestinian. Last night while watching the news we heard a very disturbing report about a young Arab man who was severely beaten in Tiberius by a gang of Israeli's. As we traveled through the beautiful Galilee area in the north of Israel, we were warned by our relatives and friends to stay out of Arab villages since emotions are running high about the Gaza situation, and that tourists may become victimized. We did go through a number of Arab villages and had no problems., including having lunch in a fun Bedouin restaurant.
At "The Wall" in Jerusalem we watched very religious Jews praying next to young soldiers with guns on their shoulders, and in the Old City we saw beautiful young Arab women wearing hijabs (head covers) and at the same time wearing short skirts and high leather boots with spiked heels arm in arm with older Arab women who were nearly completely covered from head to toe. Similarly, there are many young Israeli women dressed in very low cut blouses and very short skirts and boots and nearby are orthodox Jewish women in long dresses whose hair is also covered. With both the Muslim women and the religious Jewish women, the head coverings and long clothes are for purposes of modesty, but also show a lot of contrasts.
In Jerusalem, a city more than 3,000 years old there are ultra modern structures nearly atop much more sedate and perhaps hundreds if not more years old. Jerusalem is one of the most beautiful cities we have ever seen, the old mixed with the new all sitting atop high hills make for a delightful sight. There is a new train being build in Jerusalem and it is the most modern structure we have seen, it has many stations and the main station is atop a suspension bridge, similar to the Golden Gate bridge in the US with an ultra modern sculpture at the end. What a sight!
Life is very stressful here for most people – and for those of our generation there has never been a period without some kind of war. We went to Sederot near the Gaza strip where rockets have rained on that city and it's resident daily for the past 8 years and imagine how stressful that is. We went about 300 meters from the Gaza border where we found it remarkably quiet and peaceful, not knowing that earlier in the day an Israeli military truck had been blown up and an Israeli soldier killed and three wounded. Then last night the Israeli Air Force bombed Gaza. By that time we were far away. However, when we were in the north a couple of days ago we did see a number of fighter aircraft flying around and also trucks carrying tanks away from the war area. Even with all of this, the people of Israel have been able to create an extremely modern country with all the modern conveniences, high tech and high fashion. Many tell us that Israel is really the 51 st state of the United States. Except for being at war all the time and the different language, it could be.
The north is very green with beautiful rolling hills and lots of olive orchards, banana groves, orange groves and lots of other fruits and vegetables. The Sea of Galilee is drying up because of the drought and it is a national crisis since it provides Israel with one third of its drinking water. For the past few days, the air has been full of dust or fine sand which blew in from North Africa – Libya and the visibility has only been a few hundred meters or less. Yesterday and today has been much better.
Also in the area around Gaza, it is extremely fertile and there are fruits and vegetables of all varieties. Here in Israel, we see radishes larger than tomatoes, and the most beautiful vegetables. The other night in the north we stayed at the kibbutz – Deganya Bet and for breakfast ate in the dining hall. We don't have enough space to describe how many different kinds of cheeses, breads, vegetables, yoghurts and other dairy products, cereals, fruits, etc., etc. there were, and all of it grown there and as healthy a breakfast as imaginable.
Tonight is our last night in Israel before leaving for a few days in Istanbul. We are looking forward to seeing our old friends and eating wonderful Turkish food. We must admit that Israel has come a long way in their food preparation since we first came here in 1962. There are really good restaurants and coffee houses everywhere. Even so, we still love the falafel and shwarma the best.
We will write again from Turkey, Love, Hinda and Peter
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 12:32 PM
0 comments
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Hinda in Jaffa, Israel
Labels: Hinda in Jaffa, Israel
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 5:52 AM
0 comments
Israel January 22, 2009
January 22, 2009
Israel
Hello Everyone,
We are writing this blog from Israel a couple of days after watching Barack Obama’s Inaguaration, probably along with millions, in not billions of people around the world. Everyone here in Israel is very optimistic about the Obama presidency, and what it will mean for this very tormented part of our world. And we also, as most of the people here are very hopeful.
When we arrived here a few days ago, the war in Gaza was still in full swing, and the day before yesterday a cease fire came into effect. Will it last? Who knows.
One of the reasons that we are writing this is to bring you some of the feedback about the war in Gaza that we have been trying to gather from many different types of people.
More than one person has told us is that there is no “left” in Israeli politics at the moment because nearly all Israeli’s are supportive of their government’s position in Gaza. It seems to be a pretty unanimous feeling here.
Simply put, after nearly 8 years of rockets fired from Gaza into Southern Israel by Hamas, Israel finally has had enough. And for these past 8 years, Israel pretty much just “bit it’s tongue”.
The timing of the Gaza action is interesting as well. Of course, there are lots of logistical reasons that we are not privy to, nor are most people here. However, there are many who believe that it may have been initiated under President Bush’s watch knowing of his strong support of Israel, and while everyone here is hopeful about President Obama, he has not yet had the opportunity to implement his Mideast policy, and so until he does, people are a bit cautious.
It is a really interesting time to be here. For us, who have close family here as well as very close friends, we have always been worried about their well being. No one is happy or gloating about all of the civilians who have been killed and wounded, however, there is no question that Israeli’s from all walks of life and from the entire political spectrum feel that the actiion was their only choice.
Now that Barack Obama has become the 44th President of the United States of America there is a lot of hope that his leadership will not only improve things here in Israel and the Middle East, but throughout the world as well, especially for our country, nd of course we hope so also.
We have been enjoying ourselves here spending these first few days with family and friends, but also having some time to ourselves to do a little exploring. Tonight we are going to "Ha Kotel" – "The Wall" in the Old City of Jerusalem, because we want to see it at night all lit up and hopdfully get a good photograph that we can share with you.
Yesterday we spent in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and visited the open market in the Yemeni Quarter of Tel Aviv and also spent the afternoon in Jaffa which is over 4,000 years old and very beautifully restored. Had dinner with our oldest friends, Zeev and Rachela who we have know since we were in Turkey together in 1961 and 1962. Our lives have grown in parallel ever since.
We will spend the next few days here in Jerusalem staying with our cousins and then go to Turkey for a week to stay with friends whom we first met there in 1960. When we return we will spend a couple of days in the desert and then we are not sure.
We have a rental car and one of our cousins lent us a GPS to help us get around. The GPS is funny because we can only input the addresses in Hebrew, but we have programmed it to give us the directions in an English speaking voice. Lucky Peter can read and write Hebrew.
OK for now. Once again, let us hope for a continued peace and a brave new start for America.
Peace and Love,
Peter and Hinda
Israel
Hello Everyone,
We are writing this blog from Israel a couple of days after watching Barack Obama’s Inaguaration, probably along with millions, in not billions of people around the world. Everyone here in Israel is very optimistic about the Obama presidency, and what it will mean for this very tormented part of our world. And we also, as most of the people here are very hopeful.
When we arrived here a few days ago, the war in Gaza was still in full swing, and the day before yesterday a cease fire came into effect. Will it last? Who knows.
One of the reasons that we are writing this is to bring you some of the feedback about the war in Gaza that we have been trying to gather from many different types of people.
More than one person has told us is that there is no “left” in Israeli politics at the moment because nearly all Israeli’s are supportive of their government’s position in Gaza. It seems to be a pretty unanimous feeling here.
Simply put, after nearly 8 years of rockets fired from Gaza into Southern Israel by Hamas, Israel finally has had enough. And for these past 8 years, Israel pretty much just “bit it’s tongue”.
The timing of the Gaza action is interesting as well. Of course, there are lots of logistical reasons that we are not privy to, nor are most people here. However, there are many who believe that it may have been initiated under President Bush’s watch knowing of his strong support of Israel, and while everyone here is hopeful about President Obama, he has not yet had the opportunity to implement his Mideast policy, and so until he does, people are a bit cautious.
It is a really interesting time to be here. For us, who have close family here as well as very close friends, we have always been worried about their well being. No one is happy or gloating about all of the civilians who have been killed and wounded, however, there is no question that Israeli’s from all walks of life and from the entire political spectrum feel that the actiion was their only choice.
Now that Barack Obama has become the 44th President of the United States of America there is a lot of hope that his leadership will not only improve things here in Israel and the Middle East, but throughout the world as well, especially for our country, nd of course we hope so also.
We have been enjoying ourselves here spending these first few days with family and friends, but also having some time to ourselves to do a little exploring. Tonight we are going to "Ha Kotel" – "The Wall" in the Old City of Jerusalem, because we want to see it at night all lit up and hopdfully get a good photograph that we can share with you.
Yesterday we spent in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and visited the open market in the Yemeni Quarter of Tel Aviv and also spent the afternoon in Jaffa which is over 4,000 years old and very beautifully restored. Had dinner with our oldest friends, Zeev and Rachela who we have know since we were in Turkey together in 1961 and 1962. Our lives have grown in parallel ever since.
We will spend the next few days here in Jerusalem staying with our cousins and then go to Turkey for a week to stay with friends whom we first met there in 1960. When we return we will spend a couple of days in the desert and then we are not sure.
We have a rental car and one of our cousins lent us a GPS to help us get around. The GPS is funny because we can only input the addresses in Hebrew, but we have programmed it to give us the directions in an English speaking voice. Lucky Peter can read and write Hebrew.
OK for now. Once again, let us hope for a continued peace and a brave new start for America.
Peace and Love,
Peter and Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 5:49 AM
0 comments
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Pride of Tree Climbing Lions in Ishasha Wilderness
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 12:01 AM
0 comments
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Saddleback Crane and Cormorants on Kazinga Channel
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 11:58 PM
0 comments
Email 9
Email 9
Kampala, Uganda
May 4, 2008
Dear Friends and Family.
So, once again we are learning that all good things must come to an end, but as Tevye might say, “On the other hand, there is a silver lining in every cloud”, and the silver lining is of course that we will be leaving in just a week to return to many of you.
For Peter, he is already beginning to exhibit separation anxiety, and does not look forward to saying goodbye to so many good friends we have made here. Although Hinda acts more stoically, the same is true for her, whether she admits it or not.
OK, here is the wrap up:
As for work, before we left for a very nice week on safari, we worked very hard, and when we return to work tomorrow, Peter will be doing 2 workshop trainings a day through Saturday, and Hinda will help with a couple of them, but she will be pretty busy with her tying up her own loose ends. We have worked very hard here, but we really have accomplished a lot, and we already see many results, both with some of the individuals we have worked with and the organization itself. While we know that not everything we did will be cast in stone, quite a lot of it will. We really believe in teaching someone how to fish and not give them a fish every day forever, and while it can be slow and frustrating, it does work and it is very gratifying and those who learn how to fish are left with all of their dignity because they are not getting a handout.
In sum we have helped develop and taught how to do job descriptions, a number of organizational policies, computer training, internet system upgrade, medical department review and recommendations, slide show and video training and production, fundraising mentoring, and lot and lots of problem solving as well as participating in most of the management meetings that have been held during the past 3 ½ months that we have been here. We are proud and satisfied, and without a doubt this has been our best volunteer experience, and at least on a par with a previously very productive one – interestingly enough, right here in Kampala four years ago.
Having said all of this however, we feel that even though we have given much, we have received much more in return from the people we work with and the culture we are immersed in. We old dogs are still learning!
For the past 6 days we have been on a safari that took us to Western Uganda near the Congo border. We spent two nights in Ishasha were there are a number of tree climbing lions, and we have a photo here to show you. We think there is only one other place where this culturally learned behavior exists. At Ishasha we stayed in a very remote wilderness tented camp on a river with baboons, monkeys, and hippos making lots of noise all night long.
The next two nights were at Queen Elizabeth Park where we saw many elephants and about a 9 foot long rock python, and lots of antelope, Cape Buffalo, and stayed in a very nice lodge.
The next night we stayed in a 100 year old tea plantation “banda” (traditional African house) where we trekked for chimpanzees and finally found them. Much bigger than we thought, and just finding them with our guide “Silver” was a real learning experience. It was quite dark in the forest, but we got a good photo which we are displaying here.
Finally, the last night we stayed at Semliki national park right on the Congo border and saw lots of Uganda Kob and learned a lot about their mating behavior. On the way back to the lodge we were able to photograph a spitting cobra which we lit up with a spotlight. We were able to observe Black and White Colobus monkeys including an all white baby.
Peter is called “Papa” by his new daughter Atyero – a woman we work with who has a 1 ½ year old son, so now we are grandparents again, and also have a daughter for the first time. It is a very nice custom to be adopted into a clan, (Lugave/porcupine for Peter, mushroom for Hinda), a tribe, (Muganda) and be named Katende and Nabuusa.
Anyway, time to end and go back to work tomorrow, and before we know it we will be home. We have just learned that there will be a small get together for us next Thursday and we are looking forward to saying goodbye to our new and dear friends here in Kampala.
Love and hugs,
Katende ne Nabuusa, a woman of substance
Kampala, Uganda
May 4, 2008
Dear Friends and Family.
So, once again we are learning that all good things must come to an end, but as Tevye might say, “On the other hand, there is a silver lining in every cloud”, and the silver lining is of course that we will be leaving in just a week to return to many of you.
For Peter, he is already beginning to exhibit separation anxiety, and does not look forward to saying goodbye to so many good friends we have made here. Although Hinda acts more stoically, the same is true for her, whether she admits it or not.
OK, here is the wrap up:
As for work, before we left for a very nice week on safari, we worked very hard, and when we return to work tomorrow, Peter will be doing 2 workshop trainings a day through Saturday, and Hinda will help with a couple of them, but she will be pretty busy with her tying up her own loose ends. We have worked very hard here, but we really have accomplished a lot, and we already see many results, both with some of the individuals we have worked with and the organization itself. While we know that not everything we did will be cast in stone, quite a lot of it will. We really believe in teaching someone how to fish and not give them a fish every day forever, and while it can be slow and frustrating, it does work and it is very gratifying and those who learn how to fish are left with all of their dignity because they are not getting a handout.
In sum we have helped develop and taught how to do job descriptions, a number of organizational policies, computer training, internet system upgrade, medical department review and recommendations, slide show and video training and production, fundraising mentoring, and lot and lots of problem solving as well as participating in most of the management meetings that have been held during the past 3 ½ months that we have been here. We are proud and satisfied, and without a doubt this has been our best volunteer experience, and at least on a par with a previously very productive one – interestingly enough, right here in Kampala four years ago.
Having said all of this however, we feel that even though we have given much, we have received much more in return from the people we work with and the culture we are immersed in. We old dogs are still learning!
For the past 6 days we have been on a safari that took us to Western Uganda near the Congo border. We spent two nights in Ishasha were there are a number of tree climbing lions, and we have a photo here to show you. We think there is only one other place where this culturally learned behavior exists. At Ishasha we stayed in a very remote wilderness tented camp on a river with baboons, monkeys, and hippos making lots of noise all night long.
The next two nights were at Queen Elizabeth Park where we saw many elephants and about a 9 foot long rock python, and lots of antelope, Cape Buffalo, and stayed in a very nice lodge.
The next night we stayed in a 100 year old tea plantation “banda” (traditional African house) where we trekked for chimpanzees and finally found them. Much bigger than we thought, and just finding them with our guide “Silver” was a real learning experience. It was quite dark in the forest, but we got a good photo which we are displaying here.
Finally, the last night we stayed at Semliki national park right on the Congo border and saw lots of Uganda Kob and learned a lot about their mating behavior. On the way back to the lodge we were able to photograph a spitting cobra which we lit up with a spotlight. We were able to observe Black and White Colobus monkeys including an all white baby.
Peter is called “Papa” by his new daughter Atyero – a woman we work with who has a 1 ½ year old son, so now we are grandparents again, and also have a daughter for the first time. It is a very nice custom to be adopted into a clan, (Lugave/porcupine for Peter, mushroom for Hinda), a tribe, (Muganda) and be named Katende and Nabuusa.
Anyway, time to end and go back to work tomorrow, and before we know it we will be home. We have just learned that there will be a small get together for us next Thursday and we are looking forward to saying goodbye to our new and dear friends here in Kampala.
Love and hugs,
Katende ne Nabuusa, a woman of substance
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 11:32 PM
0 comments
Friday, April 11, 2008
Walking to Work Along Railroad Tracks Near Our House
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 4:47 AM
0 comments
Eric, Hinda and Mercy Waiting to Eat Tilapia
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 4:46 AM
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Nansubuga's 16 Year Old Daughter with Coffee for Chewing that She Will Sell and Nansubuga's House, Shop, and Twins
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 4:35 AM
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Email 8 from Kampala, Uganda
Email 8
Kampala, Uganda
April 11, 2008
Dear All,
We can’t believe it; we have been in Kampala for two and a half months and will be leaving to come home 30 days from today.. Time is going by very quickly and we are as busy as ever.
Everyday we perform as troubleshooters, editors, teachers, consultants, friends, counselors, writers, and jacks of all trades. Peter has some special skills that are very useful one is being the KCCC official photographer and the other is being a drummer at morning prayers. He is really having lots of fun drumming and we all get into the beat of the African music to help start the day. It is a very good practice.
Because the staff here knows we like the music so much, last Tuesday evening some of them performed for us and we were able to record the session. We now have it on a CD and will be able to enjoy it after we get home. All of it is religious music but with the African beat and drums it is wonderful, and the singing is very beautiful. We hope to play it for you when we are back in the US.
For those of you who read our email 7, you know we had a very adventurous weekend and then on the following Monday, Hinda discovered she had malaria. She has a much better understanding of what malaria is all about now. Certainly it is easy to see why so many people die from it: a million a year (1 person every 30 seconds), and many of those are here in Africa. If it is not diagnosed quickly and medication prescribed, that is when people die. She was very sick for a week. Luckily, she was diagnosed quickly and the physicians here at the KCCC clinic are very good and knowledgeable about treatment options. The medication she was given was the latest and best available, although it is not approved in the USA, it really worked. Malaria takes all of your strength and requires you to just rest and drink lots of fruit juices. After a week and a half she finally tested negative for the malaria parasites and began to feel better. People here were very concerned about her and kept praying for her, making her fresh fruit juice and asking Peter how she was. It is nice to be in such a caring environment surrounded by people who have nothing but are willing to do anything you need whenever you need it.
Peter put together a slide show for KCCC and it is great: it has photos, narration and music, (he recorded the morning singing and drumming. People were so impressed that everyone wants to know how to make one, so now he is giving classes on making slide shows and putting them on DVD’s. We are bringing one home so any of you who are interested can certainly see it. And, if we can get a fast enough connection, we will put it on our You Tube Page before we leave here, or if not, when we get home.
Our friend, Adam, is still in the hospital. Every time we go to see him we need to bring him food and give him money. Everyone we speak with agrees that the government of Uganda should do more about the way healthcare is provided to the people of this country. The hospital is something out of the 1930’s and in order to get care you must pay for everything: you need an xray, ok, but you must pay 10,000 shillings to the person who takes the xray. Of course no one knows where the money goes - and right into his pocket is a very good possibility in view of the fact that the hospital and care is free. Turns out Adam has to be in the hospital for another 3 weeks so we will be helping to provide for him. He doesn’t have any money and no one to help him.
At every turn there are people who need help. There are too many to help them all so we just do what we can. A typical day will include at least one or two people who are in such trouble that it is hard to turn away. Like the elderly man who came to see the man who we share an office with: his 4 children had died of AIDS and related illnesses, his wife was in the hospital dying of AIDS, he has AIDS, he had not eaten for a week. Godfrey, the man who shares the office had no money and all he could give the old man was part of the Coke that Peter had just bought for him. Or, the women who works as a community volunteer here at KCCC whose 24 year old son was stabbed on his way home from watching a soccer match, and because he had to wait for over two hours to get treated at the hospital he bled to death. Or, the 14 year old boy who was finally found after being missing for a month. He had run away because his stepmother was very hard on him and he was afraid to be with her when his father was not home (she probably beat him) (his mother died of AIDS when he was very young). He had been living on the streets and looked and smelled very bad. KCCC will try to intervene with the parents and make sure he is safe.
Enough bad stuff, we are also having fun. Yesterday, some of our friends took us to a “pork joint”. It was great. We were six people, ate a huge amount of fresh grilled pork, laughed and talked. All for about $15. A few days ago we went to the beach with some friends and had fresh grilled tilapia. Cost was about the same as the pork. All of this food is served without utensils so they give you water and soap to wash with first, then you eat with your hands and then they give you more water and soap to wash with again. Hinda is having a hard time getting used to eating this way and keeps a good supply of Kleenex in her bag, but Peter is enjoying every minute.
So, enough for now. We will be going on a 7 day trip at the end of this month and we will write after we return. Then one more week, and we will be homeward bound.
For our Jewish family and friends, Chag Sameach !! – Happy Passover !!
Love and hugs,
Katende Peter ne Nabuuso Hinda, a Woman of Substance.
Kampala, Uganda
April 11, 2008
Dear All,
We can’t believe it; we have been in Kampala for two and a half months and will be leaving to come home 30 days from today.. Time is going by very quickly and we are as busy as ever.
Everyday we perform as troubleshooters, editors, teachers, consultants, friends, counselors, writers, and jacks of all trades. Peter has some special skills that are very useful one is being the KCCC official photographer and the other is being a drummer at morning prayers. He is really having lots of fun drumming and we all get into the beat of the African music to help start the day. It is a very good practice.
Because the staff here knows we like the music so much, last Tuesday evening some of them performed for us and we were able to record the session. We now have it on a CD and will be able to enjoy it after we get home. All of it is religious music but with the African beat and drums it is wonderful, and the singing is very beautiful. We hope to play it for you when we are back in the US.
For those of you who read our email 7, you know we had a very adventurous weekend and then on the following Monday, Hinda discovered she had malaria. She has a much better understanding of what malaria is all about now. Certainly it is easy to see why so many people die from it: a million a year (1 person every 30 seconds), and many of those are here in Africa. If it is not diagnosed quickly and medication prescribed, that is when people die. She was very sick for a week. Luckily, she was diagnosed quickly and the physicians here at the KCCC clinic are very good and knowledgeable about treatment options. The medication she was given was the latest and best available, although it is not approved in the USA, it really worked. Malaria takes all of your strength and requires you to just rest and drink lots of fruit juices. After a week and a half she finally tested negative for the malaria parasites and began to feel better. People here were very concerned about her and kept praying for her, making her fresh fruit juice and asking Peter how she was. It is nice to be in such a caring environment surrounded by people who have nothing but are willing to do anything you need whenever you need it.
Peter put together a slide show for KCCC and it is great: it has photos, narration and music, (he recorded the morning singing and drumming. People were so impressed that everyone wants to know how to make one, so now he is giving classes on making slide shows and putting them on DVD’s. We are bringing one home so any of you who are interested can certainly see it. And, if we can get a fast enough connection, we will put it on our You Tube Page before we leave here, or if not, when we get home.
Our friend, Adam, is still in the hospital. Every time we go to see him we need to bring him food and give him money. Everyone we speak with agrees that the government of Uganda should do more about the way healthcare is provided to the people of this country. The hospital is something out of the 1930’s and in order to get care you must pay for everything: you need an xray, ok, but you must pay 10,000 shillings to the person who takes the xray. Of course no one knows where the money goes - and right into his pocket is a very good possibility in view of the fact that the hospital and care is free. Turns out Adam has to be in the hospital for another 3 weeks so we will be helping to provide for him. He doesn’t have any money and no one to help him.
At every turn there are people who need help. There are too many to help them all so we just do what we can. A typical day will include at least one or two people who are in such trouble that it is hard to turn away. Like the elderly man who came to see the man who we share an office with: his 4 children had died of AIDS and related illnesses, his wife was in the hospital dying of AIDS, he has AIDS, he had not eaten for a week. Godfrey, the man who shares the office had no money and all he could give the old man was part of the Coke that Peter had just bought for him. Or, the women who works as a community volunteer here at KCCC whose 24 year old son was stabbed on his way home from watching a soccer match, and because he had to wait for over two hours to get treated at the hospital he bled to death. Or, the 14 year old boy who was finally found after being missing for a month. He had run away because his stepmother was very hard on him and he was afraid to be with her when his father was not home (she probably beat him) (his mother died of AIDS when he was very young). He had been living on the streets and looked and smelled very bad. KCCC will try to intervene with the parents and make sure he is safe.
Enough bad stuff, we are also having fun. Yesterday, some of our friends took us to a “pork joint”. It was great. We were six people, ate a huge amount of fresh grilled pork, laughed and talked. All for about $15. A few days ago we went to the beach with some friends and had fresh grilled tilapia. Cost was about the same as the pork. All of this food is served without utensils so they give you water and soap to wash with first, then you eat with your hands and then they give you more water and soap to wash with again. Hinda is having a hard time getting used to eating this way and keeps a good supply of Kleenex in her bag, but Peter is enjoying every minute.
So, enough for now. We will be going on a 7 day trip at the end of this month and we will write after we return. Then one more week, and we will be homeward bound.
For our Jewish family and friends, Chag Sameach !! – Happy Passover !!
Love and hugs,
Katende Peter ne Nabuuso Hinda, a Woman of Substance.
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 4:28 AM
0 comments
Sunday, March 30, 2008
PeterPaul Negotiating Dowry With 2 of Vastine's Brothers
+Negotiating+With+2+Brothers.JPG)
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 11:42 PM
0 comments
Ironing in the Village With Charcoal Iron
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 11:29 PM
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Email 7 From Uganda
March 31, 2008
Email 7
Kampala, Uganda
Hello All,
We know that we have written recently, but we just had such an interesting experience that we want to tell you about while it is still fresh in our minds.
You remember that shortly after we returned to the US after our work here in 2004, one of our good friends, PeterPaul, and his wife Vastine asked us to name their first born; Hannah, then a year and a half later we named Jesse, and last year we named Benjamin.
It seems that PeterPaul has never met Vastine’s aging parents, and they have not ever seen two of their grandchildren, so PeterPaul and Vastine arranged to visit them. But you don’t just visit for this type of meeting which is really an introduction ceremony. You have to engage in certain tribal rituals, and they include the husband’s parents. Well, PeterPaul’s parents are dead, so we, because we are the children’s grandparents, (jaja’s), we are also PeterPaul’s “caretaker” parents, and consequently he asked us to accompany them to Vastine’s village.
We agreed, and here is an interesting story about that trip this past weekend.
Vastine’s village is in the extreme southwest of Uganda, and it in our opinion the most beautiful part of this very beautiful country. The area borders Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The land is very productive with high rolling hills. In fact it is very close to where all of the gorillas in Uganda live. The crops are matooke, several species of banana, pineapple, cassava, coffee, avocado, eucalyptus, papaya, ground nuts, (peanuts), beans, and lots more. In fact, just about all of the food we ate in Vastine’s village was from her familiy’s farms.
So we were to board the bus at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, and it was only supposed to take 5 hours, (that must be African time). The bus was old and rickety and didn’t leave until 9:30. We had the good fortune to have seats, and there were no chickens or goats on board. (that is for the return trip, for surely you know that it is cheaper to buy a live chicken in the village and bring it back to the city than the other way around.) On the way, here are a couple of noteworthy things that happened: On one of the steep hills, the bus had to disembark all of us so that it could climb to the top; a man from the health ministry got on and rode for about 30 minutes and gave a lecture on HIV/AIDS and safe sex, and then gave out condoms – we have a box of 3 in case of an emergency. And then to top it off, the bus’ radiator overheated spreading steam in the bus and of course everyone thought it was on fire, and some people even jumped out of the bus windows. But Katende knew better.
PeterPaul took us on the wrong bus. Wrong because it didn’t go all the way to our destination, and also because it left the paved road and spent a couple of very rough hours on a very bad dirt road. So when we got to the last stop, we then had to arrange to get to Vastine’s village. It was now 6:30 p.m. and darkness was approaching. It was not a good idea to just take any transportation especially since there were these two “Bazungu’s”(white people) along, and aside from being over charged, there was too much of a risk of becoming prey to bandits. Vastine was finally able to raise her brother on the mobile phone, (the network doesn’t always work there), and he was going to send a car. He did, but the car took 2 more hours to arrive, and then another two more hours over a very very rough road in darkness to arrive at Vastine’s village, and it got stuck in the mud once, and once again we had to disembark. It was now nearly 11 p.m..
If you think we are ready to go to bed, even though we were very hungry, guess again. Now it is time to meet the relatives, but not Vastine’s aged parents. Around 12:30 a.m. we were all given a huge meal, and at about 1:45 p.m. we went to bed. Can you envision Katende and Nabuusa in a single bed? That is where we slept. It is really dark there, and the stars are magnificent.
Remember, this is a very rural village: no power, no running water, no plumbing, (neither indoors or outdoors) (something like our place at Lake Chelan). But to offset all of that Vastine and her family were so hospitable and accommodating, that it would be hard to imagine any thing more.
After we went to sleep, there was a very big storm, and it rained until mid-day on Saturday.
After breakfast, (all meals are cooked in an adobe brick kitchen building over a charcoal and wood fire) – only the women cook, it was time to get on with the business of the reason for the visit – negotiating the dowry that PeterPaul and Katende had to provide to Vastine’s parents.
First, two of Vastine’s brothers explained the customs. PeterPaul is from another tribe which has entirely different customs. All of us would talk and then the brothers would go to the parents and present our proposal and then return and give us feedback. Two hours later we received the feedback: Immediately, we were to provide two cases of beer, one case of soda, and money to both the mother and father, and more money to provide food for relative and those who dropped in to visit..
Because PeterPaul does not have much money, he could not afford all of these things, plus was yet to be presented when the other shoe dropped. So Katende and Nabuusa agreed to provide the two cases of beer and 1 case of soda, and PeterPaul agreed to do the rest.
OK, now for the rest: PeterPaul was told that because the family knew he did not have much money, that they would not ask him for goats. Great! But, he has to give them 4 cows by year end. He of course agreed, and he now has to save as much as he can. The year end time was also negotiated.
Now it is time to meet the parents and other family members, so we walked down the hill to Vastine’s parents modest cottage. Her father (83 years old) and her brothers and sister’s and their families were gathered in a small room, and one of her brother’s took charge of the introduction ceremony. After PeterPaul provides the cows there will be a more formal introduction ceremony.
Vastine’s brother Joseph introduced all of the family. PeterPaul was not permitted to see Vastine’s mother(79 years old). Then PeterPaul made a very nice speech, and so did Katende. Many of the family members also spoke, most prominently Vastine’s father. After an hour or so, both PeterPaul and Vastine’s parents agreed on the terms, and Vastine’s father welcomed PeterPaul to the family, and also PeterPaul indicated that Vastine’s parents were now his parents as well. Then PeterPaul and Katende gave the money to Vastine’s father.
Applause was given as is the custom of that clan and tribe. We were given permission to shake the hands of the parents and to take some photos.
We then went back up the hill to eat, and then some of us hiked up a very high hill to view this very beautiful country from all directions. Hinda stayed behind with the women and spent a delightful couple of hours observing how the women help one another by taking care of each others children, doing the laundry together, cooking together, etc. They were so good natured and although there was lots of laughter because Hinda is not used to washing by hand, not having any light and needing a flash light to see, she was accepted graciously.
Before dinner, we all went back down to the parents house to say good by in as much as were rising at 5 and leaving at 5:30. And so there were long goodbye speeches, and Vastine’s father was concerned that he could not buy us a drink. So as it happened, because it was dark – no power in the cottage where we were staying, Nabuusa mistakenly took a long swig if Waragi, gin made from bananas to take some pain pills rather than water for her back which hurt from the long bus ride and not enough sleep, and that story got a good laugh and also was accepted by the old man as our drink.
Once again, we ate after 10 pm and then went to sleep in our single bed. Around 5:45 a.m. in the pitch black we walked about ½ mile through the matooke plantation to where we met a car to take us to the bus.
The bus was nearly full, but we got seats, and took a different route, so we got back to Kampala in only 7 hours. On the way we picked up some people with live chickens, sugar cane, and even a man with his own stool to sit on, and we actually arrived back in Kampala after a scant 7 hours or so. By the way, one chicken was stuffed in a plastic bag with only his head sticking out and placed on the overhead rack, during the ride the poor chicken got squeezed tighter and tighter each time a piece of luggage was put on the rack, by the end this poor chicken looked very worn out. Katende almost didn’t make it back, because at one of the stops he had to use the toilet and the bus didn’t want to wait, so Katende ran to get the bus which had actually left the parking lot, and all of the passer bys yelled “run Muzungu (white man), run, and Katende did just that and was once again with Nabuusa, a woman of substance.
Love,
Katende ne Nabuusa
Email 7
Kampala, Uganda
Hello All,
We know that we have written recently, but we just had such an interesting experience that we want to tell you about while it is still fresh in our minds.
You remember that shortly after we returned to the US after our work here in 2004, one of our good friends, PeterPaul, and his wife Vastine asked us to name their first born; Hannah, then a year and a half later we named Jesse, and last year we named Benjamin.
It seems that PeterPaul has never met Vastine’s aging parents, and they have not ever seen two of their grandchildren, so PeterPaul and Vastine arranged to visit them. But you don’t just visit for this type of meeting which is really an introduction ceremony. You have to engage in certain tribal rituals, and they include the husband’s parents. Well, PeterPaul’s parents are dead, so we, because we are the children’s grandparents, (jaja’s), we are also PeterPaul’s “caretaker” parents, and consequently he asked us to accompany them to Vastine’s village.
We agreed, and here is an interesting story about that trip this past weekend.
Vastine’s village is in the extreme southwest of Uganda, and it in our opinion the most beautiful part of this very beautiful country. The area borders Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The land is very productive with high rolling hills. In fact it is very close to where all of the gorillas in Uganda live. The crops are matooke, several species of banana, pineapple, cassava, coffee, avocado, eucalyptus, papaya, ground nuts, (peanuts), beans, and lots more. In fact, just about all of the food we ate in Vastine’s village was from her familiy’s farms.
So we were to board the bus at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, and it was only supposed to take 5 hours, (that must be African time). The bus was old and rickety and didn’t leave until 9:30. We had the good fortune to have seats, and there were no chickens or goats on board. (that is for the return trip, for surely you know that it is cheaper to buy a live chicken in the village and bring it back to the city than the other way around.) On the way, here are a couple of noteworthy things that happened: On one of the steep hills, the bus had to disembark all of us so that it could climb to the top; a man from the health ministry got on and rode for about 30 minutes and gave a lecture on HIV/AIDS and safe sex, and then gave out condoms – we have a box of 3 in case of an emergency. And then to top it off, the bus’ radiator overheated spreading steam in the bus and of course everyone thought it was on fire, and some people even jumped out of the bus windows. But Katende knew better.
PeterPaul took us on the wrong bus. Wrong because it didn’t go all the way to our destination, and also because it left the paved road and spent a couple of very rough hours on a very bad dirt road. So when we got to the last stop, we then had to arrange to get to Vastine’s village. It was now 6:30 p.m. and darkness was approaching. It was not a good idea to just take any transportation especially since there were these two “Bazungu’s”(white people) along, and aside from being over charged, there was too much of a risk of becoming prey to bandits. Vastine was finally able to raise her brother on the mobile phone, (the network doesn’t always work there), and he was going to send a car. He did, but the car took 2 more hours to arrive, and then another two more hours over a very very rough road in darkness to arrive at Vastine’s village, and it got stuck in the mud once, and once again we had to disembark. It was now nearly 11 p.m..
If you think we are ready to go to bed, even though we were very hungry, guess again. Now it is time to meet the relatives, but not Vastine’s aged parents. Around 12:30 a.m. we were all given a huge meal, and at about 1:45 p.m. we went to bed. Can you envision Katende and Nabuusa in a single bed? That is where we slept. It is really dark there, and the stars are magnificent.
Remember, this is a very rural village: no power, no running water, no plumbing, (neither indoors or outdoors) (something like our place at Lake Chelan). But to offset all of that Vastine and her family were so hospitable and accommodating, that it would be hard to imagine any thing more.
After we went to sleep, there was a very big storm, and it rained until mid-day on Saturday.
After breakfast, (all meals are cooked in an adobe brick kitchen building over a charcoal and wood fire) – only the women cook, it was time to get on with the business of the reason for the visit – negotiating the dowry that PeterPaul and Katende had to provide to Vastine’s parents.
First, two of Vastine’s brothers explained the customs. PeterPaul is from another tribe which has entirely different customs. All of us would talk and then the brothers would go to the parents and present our proposal and then return and give us feedback. Two hours later we received the feedback: Immediately, we were to provide two cases of beer, one case of soda, and money to both the mother and father, and more money to provide food for relative and those who dropped in to visit..
Because PeterPaul does not have much money, he could not afford all of these things, plus was yet to be presented when the other shoe dropped. So Katende and Nabuusa agreed to provide the two cases of beer and 1 case of soda, and PeterPaul agreed to do the rest.
OK, now for the rest: PeterPaul was told that because the family knew he did not have much money, that they would not ask him for goats. Great! But, he has to give them 4 cows by year end. He of course agreed, and he now has to save as much as he can. The year end time was also negotiated.
Now it is time to meet the parents and other family members, so we walked down the hill to Vastine’s parents modest cottage. Her father (83 years old) and her brothers and sister’s and their families were gathered in a small room, and one of her brother’s took charge of the introduction ceremony. After PeterPaul provides the cows there will be a more formal introduction ceremony.
Vastine’s brother Joseph introduced all of the family. PeterPaul was not permitted to see Vastine’s mother(79 years old). Then PeterPaul made a very nice speech, and so did Katende. Many of the family members also spoke, most prominently Vastine’s father. After an hour or so, both PeterPaul and Vastine’s parents agreed on the terms, and Vastine’s father welcomed PeterPaul to the family, and also PeterPaul indicated that Vastine’s parents were now his parents as well. Then PeterPaul and Katende gave the money to Vastine’s father.
Applause was given as is the custom of that clan and tribe. We were given permission to shake the hands of the parents and to take some photos.
We then went back up the hill to eat, and then some of us hiked up a very high hill to view this very beautiful country from all directions. Hinda stayed behind with the women and spent a delightful couple of hours observing how the women help one another by taking care of each others children, doing the laundry together, cooking together, etc. They were so good natured and although there was lots of laughter because Hinda is not used to washing by hand, not having any light and needing a flash light to see, she was accepted graciously.
Before dinner, we all went back down to the parents house to say good by in as much as were rising at 5 and leaving at 5:30. And so there were long goodbye speeches, and Vastine’s father was concerned that he could not buy us a drink. So as it happened, because it was dark – no power in the cottage where we were staying, Nabuusa mistakenly took a long swig if Waragi, gin made from bananas to take some pain pills rather than water for her back which hurt from the long bus ride and not enough sleep, and that story got a good laugh and also was accepted by the old man as our drink.
Once again, we ate after 10 pm and then went to sleep in our single bed. Around 5:45 a.m. in the pitch black we walked about ½ mile through the matooke plantation to where we met a car to take us to the bus.
The bus was nearly full, but we got seats, and took a different route, so we got back to Kampala in only 7 hours. On the way we picked up some people with live chickens, sugar cane, and even a man with his own stool to sit on, and we actually arrived back in Kampala after a scant 7 hours or so. By the way, one chicken was stuffed in a plastic bag with only his head sticking out and placed on the overhead rack, during the ride the poor chicken got squeezed tighter and tighter each time a piece of luggage was put on the rack, by the end this poor chicken looked very worn out. Katende almost didn’t make it back, because at one of the stops he had to use the toilet and the bus didn’t want to wait, so Katende ran to get the bus which had actually left the parking lot, and all of the passer bys yelled “run Muzungu (white man), run, and Katende did just that and was once again with Nabuusa, a woman of substance.
Love,
Katende ne Nabuusa
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 11:16 PM
1 comments
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Email 6 From Kampala, Uganda
Email 6
Kampala, Uganda
March 25, 2008
Dear Friends and Family,
We are fine and hope that you are as well. We have a lot to tell you, so let’s go:
• We just spent the 4 day weekend in a remote park, which we visited nearly 4 years ago to the day and visited some of the people that we met 4 years ago. We flew in with a small plane (17 people) and landed on a dirt strip and then proceeded to a new lodge. Among our group was the Swedish Ambassador and his wife, the British High Commissioner and his wife who is also the President of the International Women’s Organization, the President of Centenary Bank ,a high USAID official, and a couple of common folk like Katende ne Nabuuso. We saw lots of game, beautiful scenery, and had the opportunity to visit a small village where we learned much and took some beautiful photos.
• Marua, or Ajon, is a local brew made of fermented millet, and across the street from us, in a private house is an ajon bar. Each time we pass, they ask us to come and visit, so one day we did, and Peter tasted the ajon. It is drunk with long reed straws (about 3 feet long) from a pot that is in the center of the group. Tastes sort of like warm wine. We wanted to be friendly and get to know them. Most of those guys across the street don’t speak Luganda so Peter started to teach them.
• 25 years ago on March 14, the first person with AIDS was discovered in Western Uganda in a small fishing village near the border of Tanzania. Our NGO has a group composed of HIV positive and negative people called the Post Test Club which was invited to sing for the occasion that also included among the guests the President of Uganda and the Ugandan Parliament. We stayed the night in a very low cost guest house with those of us who traveled together from our NGO, and the next morning traveled for a very long time over one of the worst roads in all of Uganda, Whew! Peter was delegated to be the photographer, but alas, because of the presidential security was not allowed to bring his camera to the commemoration. And when Hinda tried to use the President’s sanican, she was turned away. After the President used it one time, it was loaded on a truck and hauled away. Thus there was only one sanican left for Hinda and the other several thousand who were there. But ---- it was kept very very clean by an attendant who would not let Hinda enter until he had cleaned it.
• Hinda has nearly finished the job descriptions and in the next week or two will present her findings and recommendation on the clinic to the Management Committee. Peter will be giving a class on Outlook later this week. And, the Strategic Plan is finally finished. We feel very much a part of things here, and we are. We are pretty much just staff members doing, eating, attending meetings and prayers (although we don’t pray) just like everyone else. We like our colleagues very much, and they like us equally.
• “Westerners have watches and Africans have time.” Now you know what African time means.
• This coming weekend we are going to the West to visit the family of one of our friends from 4 years ago. PeterPaul had asked us to name his 3 children during the past 4 years, and thus we are their “jaja’s” (grandparents), and consequently PeterPaul’s mother and father. His in laws have never met him, and he hasn’t been able to perform the necessary rituals to meet them unless his father is with him. Because his father is no longer living, Peter will be his father and this visit will start the negotiations for the dowry. We will tell you more after we return. We are deeply honored.
• Another friend from 4 years ago was injured in a motorbike accident, and we had to take him to the largest government hospital in Uganda. Don’t be fooled by the word largest. Mulago hospital is different than what we had expected. Our friend couldn’t get an X-Ray unless we, or someone paid cash up front; the ward had no sheets, no blankets, no food, no water, no bed pan, etc., etc., and so we and other friends including PeterPaul brought all of that; and then he couldn’t get the proper treatment unless we, or some one paid in advance – which we also did. How can you leave your friend with a broken hip and no treatment? We couldn’t. He has to be in the hospital 6 weeks in traction. He could not get an operation because he has AIDS. PeterPaul is taking care of his 3 year old son, and somehow, we and others are making sure our friend has food and whatever else he needs. In the ward, entire families are sleeping on the floor, under the bed and bringing food, blankets, etc., and in general taking care of their family member. We have arranged for someone to take care of our friend.
• Peter was the subject of one of the sermons here during the Lenten season when there was a sermon each morning from one of the staff. Most were quite good. About Peter, it was about being open to new things no matter what your age, and specifically about Peter learning to drum when he is nearly 70.
• Hinda found a shop that sells clothes for “Women of Substance”.
• We took our two vulnerable children with AIDS – Ivan and Herbert - that we have been supporting for the past 4 years to the Kampala version of Disney World and they had a great time and so did we. It was a very big treat for them. We also took them for lunch and ice cream. We are committed to supporting them until it is no longer necessary. Herbert wants to be a neuro-surgeon and he is certainly smart enough. He just needs the right breaks which may be quite difficult because he is so poor. Ivan wants to become an airplane engineer and for him also it will be difficult, perhaps even more so, for he has no one, just us. Herbert still has his mother and she has AIDS also. So, let’s hope.
OK, that’s about all for now. Sorry for such a long blog. Hope you enjoy the photos.
Love and hugs,
Katende ne Nabuuso
Kampala, Uganda
March 25, 2008
Dear Friends and Family,
We are fine and hope that you are as well. We have a lot to tell you, so let’s go:
• We just spent the 4 day weekend in a remote park, which we visited nearly 4 years ago to the day and visited some of the people that we met 4 years ago. We flew in with a small plane (17 people) and landed on a dirt strip and then proceeded to a new lodge. Among our group was the Swedish Ambassador and his wife, the British High Commissioner and his wife who is also the President of the International Women’s Organization, the President of Centenary Bank ,a high USAID official, and a couple of common folk like Katende ne Nabuuso. We saw lots of game, beautiful scenery, and had the opportunity to visit a small village where we learned much and took some beautiful photos.
• Marua, or Ajon, is a local brew made of fermented millet, and across the street from us, in a private house is an ajon bar. Each time we pass, they ask us to come and visit, so one day we did, and Peter tasted the ajon. It is drunk with long reed straws (about 3 feet long) from a pot that is in the center of the group. Tastes sort of like warm wine. We wanted to be friendly and get to know them. Most of those guys across the street don’t speak Luganda so Peter started to teach them.
• 25 years ago on March 14, the first person with AIDS was discovered in Western Uganda in a small fishing village near the border of Tanzania. Our NGO has a group composed of HIV positive and negative people called the Post Test Club which was invited to sing for the occasion that also included among the guests the President of Uganda and the Ugandan Parliament. We stayed the night in a very low cost guest house with those of us who traveled together from our NGO, and the next morning traveled for a very long time over one of the worst roads in all of Uganda, Whew! Peter was delegated to be the photographer, but alas, because of the presidential security was not allowed to bring his camera to the commemoration. And when Hinda tried to use the President’s sanican, she was turned away. After the President used it one time, it was loaded on a truck and hauled away. Thus there was only one sanican left for Hinda and the other several thousand who were there. But ---- it was kept very very clean by an attendant who would not let Hinda enter until he had cleaned it.
• Hinda has nearly finished the job descriptions and in the next week or two will present her findings and recommendation on the clinic to the Management Committee. Peter will be giving a class on Outlook later this week. And, the Strategic Plan is finally finished. We feel very much a part of things here, and we are. We are pretty much just staff members doing, eating, attending meetings and prayers (although we don’t pray) just like everyone else. We like our colleagues very much, and they like us equally.
• “Westerners have watches and Africans have time.” Now you know what African time means.
• This coming weekend we are going to the West to visit the family of one of our friends from 4 years ago. PeterPaul had asked us to name his 3 children during the past 4 years, and thus we are their “jaja’s” (grandparents), and consequently PeterPaul’s mother and father. His in laws have never met him, and he hasn’t been able to perform the necessary rituals to meet them unless his father is with him. Because his father is no longer living, Peter will be his father and this visit will start the negotiations for the dowry. We will tell you more after we return. We are deeply honored.
• Another friend from 4 years ago was injured in a motorbike accident, and we had to take him to the largest government hospital in Uganda. Don’t be fooled by the word largest. Mulago hospital is different than what we had expected. Our friend couldn’t get an X-Ray unless we, or someone paid cash up front; the ward had no sheets, no blankets, no food, no water, no bed pan, etc., etc., and so we and other friends including PeterPaul brought all of that; and then he couldn’t get the proper treatment unless we, or some one paid in advance – which we also did. How can you leave your friend with a broken hip and no treatment? We couldn’t. He has to be in the hospital 6 weeks in traction. He could not get an operation because he has AIDS. PeterPaul is taking care of his 3 year old son, and somehow, we and others are making sure our friend has food and whatever else he needs. In the ward, entire families are sleeping on the floor, under the bed and bringing food, blankets, etc., and in general taking care of their family member. We have arranged for someone to take care of our friend.
• Peter was the subject of one of the sermons here during the Lenten season when there was a sermon each morning from one of the staff. Most were quite good. About Peter, it was about being open to new things no matter what your age, and specifically about Peter learning to drum when he is nearly 70.
• Hinda found a shop that sells clothes for “Women of Substance”.
• We took our two vulnerable children with AIDS – Ivan and Herbert - that we have been supporting for the past 4 years to the Kampala version of Disney World and they had a great time and so did we. It was a very big treat for them. We also took them for lunch and ice cream. We are committed to supporting them until it is no longer necessary. Herbert wants to be a neuro-surgeon and he is certainly smart enough. He just needs the right breaks which may be quite difficult because he is so poor. Ivan wants to become an airplane engineer and for him also it will be difficult, perhaps even more so, for he has no one, just us. Herbert still has his mother and she has AIDS also. So, let’s hope.
OK, that’s about all for now. Sorry for such a long blog. Hope you enjoy the photos.
Love and hugs,
Katende ne Nabuuso
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 5:56 AM
0 comments
Monday, March 10, 2008
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Email 5 From Kampala
Email 5
Kampala, Uganda
March 10, 2008
Hello again!
It seems that we are writing more often than we have in the past, but it also seems that we have lots of things to tell you, so without further adieu, here goes, (remember, you have free will so you don’t have to read everything we write, but we hope you do). We are also sending some “snaps” (photos).
• Work is going well, but we work long hours, much more than we are used to. Hinda is still working on those job descriptions. Seems that our “boss” who is in fact charming has charmed her into doing more than what she intended. His name is Charles and now that he found out he was born in the same year as her oldest son, Seth, he keeps reminding her that he is just like her son and so she should help him out. She falls for it everytime. Peter is beginning to be successful with the problem of no/little internet “mpole mpole” – slowly slowly. Also he is still hard at work with the senior management team in putting together the next strategic plan, and is also doing a lot of computer tutoring/training/mentoring, as well as mentoring the fundraiser. Hinda has thoroughly analyzed the medical clinic and is ready to present a very comprehensive report and recommendations, and both of us, along with other staff have developed a number of operational procedures. (Everyone loves Hinda, and Peter can actually say whole sentences in Luganda and is still playing the drums at morning prayers. Finally, we have arranged for the staff to get free eye exams from the same eye care shop that we got to know 4 years ago, and they are also giving a hefty discount. Lots of people here have bad eyes, since there no one has enough money to purchase glasses.
• Our little rented car’s battery finally died, and it is not easy to get a new battery, especially on a holiday (Saturday was International Women’s Day). Filling stations don’t sell them, although they do sell lots of food and sundries. After 3 tries, a mechanic came on a boda boda (motorbike taxi) carrying a spare battery and in no time got our sick car started and then told us to go immediately and get a new battery. Not so easy. About 3 hours later and being run around by people wanting to charge us twice what we should really pay, we finally got one and also the accompanying photo of the man with the cool shades and no teeth who was hanging out at the battery shop and wanted to trade his sun glasses for our prescription glasses. No way!
• For those of you who are following Jacqueline, she has been kind of forced by the lead counselor to get out of bed and sit outside. Actually, she is a little better, taking her meds, but very very week. We thank those of you who contributed some money for emergency food, but KCCC can use more. There are lots of Jacqueline’s here. Just send a check to our house, and let us know the amount and we will give KCCC the money, and you will help save a life!!
• It is very hot here, and by the time we get home, we don’t feel like cooking. KCCC has a vocational training program which also includes cooking and catering, so we hired them to cook for us 3 evenings a week. For 4,000 Ugandan Shillings a night, ($2.36), we get a dinner in a takeout container usually consisting of several starches and a bit of meat. We have asked that they cut the starches from 3 to 1 and reduce the salt. So, they get another client, and we don’t have to cook.
• The day to day living is hard here, it is hot, the power goes off frequently, the traffic is impossible, the roads are worse, people are ever so poor and work very hard. But there is a bright side, we live in a lovely apartment and there are three people who work in our compound who are delightful. One is a young man, Geoffry, he has a wife and 4 children in a town far from here and sees them only on holidays, he drives and does chores like opening the gate when we come home or go out no matter what time it is. Anne, who is an older woman we all call “JaJa” (grandmother), she does the laundry and although we don’t have anything white anymore, everything is a certain shade of grey, she is always willing to help us and make sure to iron everything including our underwear. And the third is Margaret, who works 7 days a week 24 hours a day as the housekeeper and maid for the people who own the complex and us but always has a pleasant word and she heard I like fresh flowers so every few days we come home to find freshly cut flowers on the living room table from the garden. See the photo.
• We have been looking for a place to go to have a Passover Seder. We were going to go to the Abayudaya – the Ugandan Jewish community, but we could only go for a weekend, and it is too expensive. What to do? We considered flying to Israel for a week or so to visit family and friends, but that is even more expensive. Then, just like it was ordained, we overheard some people speaking Hebrew in a store, and Peter struck up a short conversation with them in Hebrew, and we were told that we would be invited to a Passover Seder with a group of Israeli’s who are here working temporarily in Uganda. You can always find a Jew nearly anyplace in the world.
• The rainy season seems to be upon us, When we say rain, we mean like in Noah’s day. Deluges! But luckily, most of the rain has been at night. It will probably continue until late April or early May.
• One of the ways to describe life here is noise, noise, noise, dust, dust, dust, traffic, traffic, traffic. Here is a photo of what it normally looks like at one of the intersections on the way to work. Cars, motorbikes, bicycles coming and going from every direction despite one way streets, stop signs, etc.
• If you have heard of “African time”, you know that means that time has no meaning. For Peter, that is very difficult. Well, finally, after nearly 70 years, Peter is learning patience from the Africans, and he seems ok with it. Of course there is nothing one can do about it, so why get stressed for nothing.
Let’s end here. Check out the photos.
Sula bulungi, or seeva bulungi, (have a good day, or a good night whatever time it is for you.
Love and hugs,
Katende and Mrs. Katende Peter
Kampala, Uganda
March 10, 2008
Hello again!
It seems that we are writing more often than we have in the past, but it also seems that we have lots of things to tell you, so without further adieu, here goes, (remember, you have free will so you don’t have to read everything we write, but we hope you do). We are also sending some “snaps” (photos).
• Work is going well, but we work long hours, much more than we are used to. Hinda is still working on those job descriptions. Seems that our “boss” who is in fact charming has charmed her into doing more than what she intended. His name is Charles and now that he found out he was born in the same year as her oldest son, Seth, he keeps reminding her that he is just like her son and so she should help him out. She falls for it everytime. Peter is beginning to be successful with the problem of no/little internet “mpole mpole” – slowly slowly. Also he is still hard at work with the senior management team in putting together the next strategic plan, and is also doing a lot of computer tutoring/training/mentoring, as well as mentoring the fundraiser. Hinda has thoroughly analyzed the medical clinic and is ready to present a very comprehensive report and recommendations, and both of us, along with other staff have developed a number of operational procedures. (Everyone loves Hinda, and Peter can actually say whole sentences in Luganda and is still playing the drums at morning prayers. Finally, we have arranged for the staff to get free eye exams from the same eye care shop that we got to know 4 years ago, and they are also giving a hefty discount. Lots of people here have bad eyes, since there no one has enough money to purchase glasses.
• Our little rented car’s battery finally died, and it is not easy to get a new battery, especially on a holiday (Saturday was International Women’s Day). Filling stations don’t sell them, although they do sell lots of food and sundries. After 3 tries, a mechanic came on a boda boda (motorbike taxi) carrying a spare battery and in no time got our sick car started and then told us to go immediately and get a new battery. Not so easy. About 3 hours later and being run around by people wanting to charge us twice what we should really pay, we finally got one and also the accompanying photo of the man with the cool shades and no teeth who was hanging out at the battery shop and wanted to trade his sun glasses for our prescription glasses. No way!
• For those of you who are following Jacqueline, she has been kind of forced by the lead counselor to get out of bed and sit outside. Actually, she is a little better, taking her meds, but very very week. We thank those of you who contributed some money for emergency food, but KCCC can use more. There are lots of Jacqueline’s here. Just send a check to our house, and let us know the amount and we will give KCCC the money, and you will help save a life!!
• It is very hot here, and by the time we get home, we don’t feel like cooking. KCCC has a vocational training program which also includes cooking and catering, so we hired them to cook for us 3 evenings a week. For 4,000 Ugandan Shillings a night, ($2.36), we get a dinner in a takeout container usually consisting of several starches and a bit of meat. We have asked that they cut the starches from 3 to 1 and reduce the salt. So, they get another client, and we don’t have to cook.
• The day to day living is hard here, it is hot, the power goes off frequently, the traffic is impossible, the roads are worse, people are ever so poor and work very hard. But there is a bright side, we live in a lovely apartment and there are three people who work in our compound who are delightful. One is a young man, Geoffry, he has a wife and 4 children in a town far from here and sees them only on holidays, he drives and does chores like opening the gate when we come home or go out no matter what time it is. Anne, who is an older woman we all call “JaJa” (grandmother), she does the laundry and although we don’t have anything white anymore, everything is a certain shade of grey, she is always willing to help us and make sure to iron everything including our underwear. And the third is Margaret, who works 7 days a week 24 hours a day as the housekeeper and maid for the people who own the complex and us but always has a pleasant word and she heard I like fresh flowers so every few days we come home to find freshly cut flowers on the living room table from the garden. See the photo.
• We have been looking for a place to go to have a Passover Seder. We were going to go to the Abayudaya – the Ugandan Jewish community, but we could only go for a weekend, and it is too expensive. What to do? We considered flying to Israel for a week or so to visit family and friends, but that is even more expensive. Then, just like it was ordained, we overheard some people speaking Hebrew in a store, and Peter struck up a short conversation with them in Hebrew, and we were told that we would be invited to a Passover Seder with a group of Israeli’s who are here working temporarily in Uganda. You can always find a Jew nearly anyplace in the world.
• The rainy season seems to be upon us, When we say rain, we mean like in Noah’s day. Deluges! But luckily, most of the rain has been at night. It will probably continue until late April or early May.
• One of the ways to describe life here is noise, noise, noise, dust, dust, dust, traffic, traffic, traffic. Here is a photo of what it normally looks like at one of the intersections on the way to work. Cars, motorbikes, bicycles coming and going from every direction despite one way streets, stop signs, etc.
• If you have heard of “African time”, you know that means that time has no meaning. For Peter, that is very difficult. Well, finally, after nearly 70 years, Peter is learning patience from the Africans, and he seems ok with it. Of course there is nothing one can do about it, so why get stressed for nothing.
Let’s end here. Check out the photos.
Sula bulungi, or seeva bulungi, (have a good day, or a good night whatever time it is for you.
Love and hugs,
Katende and Mrs. Katende Peter
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 10:53 PM
0 comments
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Baby girl behind our office in her playpen
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 10:29 PM
0 comments
Email 4
Email Number 4
Kampala, Uganda
March 2, 2008
Hello Everyone,
We are well, and hope you are also.
We have been here a little bit more than a month, and besides things like the heat, the more than occasional lack of power and water, we have no complaints, but rather, much to tell you – about our accomplishments, challenges, and lots of funny little experiences, so without further delay, let us begin, (in no particular order).
Peter’s Luganda skills, both speaking and even writing are improving every day. He carries a little notebook everywhere and each day writes down a new word or two. We don’t know who likes it more, Peter, or the Ugandans, but both are very impressed. (Peter has always been good at picking up languages, and everywhere we go he can get along in at least the basics, if not more. On that note, we want to share with you an email from a work colleague which will once again show you how well we get along here and how much we like Ugandans, and they us: “Hello beautiful guys,
just love you guys you make the world go round for quite many. Be blessed”
When you see the accompanying photo, you will better understand this story. Especially in the poorer areas of town, milk is delivered in bulk by bicycle – not pasteurized. As the milk can begins to empty, the delivery person stops at whatever water source is nearby and “tops it up” – we are sure you understand. Needless to say, this added water could come from any sources (including open drains and the like), and is an important reason why so many children get sick. We are not kidding – this is a very serious problem along with other just as serious sanitation problems.
In our last blog, we told you the story of a young woman who is quite ill and who lives in one of KCCC’s patient houses. She is 18. Her name is Jacqueline. She has AIDS and a very serious case of TB which must be brought under control before she can receive ARV therapy for her HIV/AIDS. We have put a photo of her here, and even though she looks very sick, and she is, she is beginning to get better. We and others on the staff have been getting her food and encouraging her to take her meds and get stronger, and it may be working. We got her a thermos to keep her juice cold. She has been up and down, but those of us who are helping are determined to save this one girl’s life. It will not solve the bigger problems, but we say that “if you save one person, you save the world”. We asked you to help by donating a little money to start an emergency fund for people like Jackie, and so far we have raised a couple of hundred dollars. It will go a long, long way, but more money will go a lot further for Jackie and others like her.
We have been working very hard – long hours at least from 8 a.m. to 7 or 7:30 at least 3 days a week and the other 2 days we work from 8am to 5pm, and while it tires us, it is ok, we will only be here until mid May. Hinda is really doing a great analysis of the problems and some recommendations for the medical clinic. However, the only real solution is more space. Both of us participate in long meetings with the management staff, they are not terribly efficient but we can only help them so much, and when we ask to be excused because we may not know about a particular issue, we are asked to stay and contribute. We feel respected and wanted. Peter is still busy working with the fundraising staff, and has kind of become the staff photographer and is working with other staff to put together a slide show while teaching them how to do it. And of course, both of us are always pulled away to handle fires that crop up, the latest of which is getting the office internet provider to keep the internet up and connected.
If there is power there is no internet – when the internet comes, the power goes away.
A couple of days ago when we came home we were excited to see that the power was on and we did not have to be in the dark, but we were informed by one of the house workers here that the “water was over, but would be coming back tomorrow”. It did but we feel like we can’t win, either power or water but not both!
The papers tell us that in the month of March the “power shedding” will affect our area as follows: 11 days no power, 10 nights no power. So is this new? No, just normal. Last night there was no power and no streetlights, this morning there was power, and the streetlights were on.
The other day, the E.D. picked up Peter’s local newspaper and asked if Peter was finished reading it and was told yes. He then looked at it briefly and commented that there was nothing good about it, and if the locals don’t like it, then why should the foreigners?
For those of you who have lived or traveled to countries like Uganda, you know that most of the clothes that most of the people wear are second hand, although they look like new. Everyone dresses in clean, starched and pressed clothes every day, and many of them do not have running water, or power, (ever)! In addition, Ugandans are the friendliest most polite people we have ever run across.
While the cost of some things are high, some things are still inexpensive: Hinda bought a house dress (used) for $7, and today, Peter got a haircut, including tip for $3.50.
By the way, lots of people here are rooting for Barack Obama – wonder why? (we are too)
So, we will come to a close for now and wish you the best.
With love and hugs
Mr. and Mrs. Katende Peter
Kampala, Uganda
March 2, 2008
Hello Everyone,
We are well, and hope you are also.
We have been here a little bit more than a month, and besides things like the heat, the more than occasional lack of power and water, we have no complaints, but rather, much to tell you – about our accomplishments, challenges, and lots of funny little experiences, so without further delay, let us begin, (in no particular order).
Peter’s Luganda skills, both speaking and even writing are improving every day. He carries a little notebook everywhere and each day writes down a new word or two. We don’t know who likes it more, Peter, or the Ugandans, but both are very impressed. (Peter has always been good at picking up languages, and everywhere we go he can get along in at least the basics, if not more. On that note, we want to share with you an email from a work colleague which will once again show you how well we get along here and how much we like Ugandans, and they us: “Hello beautiful guys,
just love you guys you make the world go round for quite many. Be blessed”
When you see the accompanying photo, you will better understand this story. Especially in the poorer areas of town, milk is delivered in bulk by bicycle – not pasteurized. As the milk can begins to empty, the delivery person stops at whatever water source is nearby and “tops it up” – we are sure you understand. Needless to say, this added water could come from any sources (including open drains and the like), and is an important reason why so many children get sick. We are not kidding – this is a very serious problem along with other just as serious sanitation problems.
In our last blog, we told you the story of a young woman who is quite ill and who lives in one of KCCC’s patient houses. She is 18. Her name is Jacqueline. She has AIDS and a very serious case of TB which must be brought under control before she can receive ARV therapy for her HIV/AIDS. We have put a photo of her here, and even though she looks very sick, and she is, she is beginning to get better. We and others on the staff have been getting her food and encouraging her to take her meds and get stronger, and it may be working. We got her a thermos to keep her juice cold. She has been up and down, but those of us who are helping are determined to save this one girl’s life. It will not solve the bigger problems, but we say that “if you save one person, you save the world”. We asked you to help by donating a little money to start an emergency fund for people like Jackie, and so far we have raised a couple of hundred dollars. It will go a long, long way, but more money will go a lot further for Jackie and others like her.
We have been working very hard – long hours at least from 8 a.m. to 7 or 7:30 at least 3 days a week and the other 2 days we work from 8am to 5pm, and while it tires us, it is ok, we will only be here until mid May. Hinda is really doing a great analysis of the problems and some recommendations for the medical clinic. However, the only real solution is more space. Both of us participate in long meetings with the management staff, they are not terribly efficient but we can only help them so much, and when we ask to be excused because we may not know about a particular issue, we are asked to stay and contribute. We feel respected and wanted. Peter is still busy working with the fundraising staff, and has kind of become the staff photographer and is working with other staff to put together a slide show while teaching them how to do it. And of course, both of us are always pulled away to handle fires that crop up, the latest of which is getting the office internet provider to keep the internet up and connected.
If there is power there is no internet – when the internet comes, the power goes away.
A couple of days ago when we came home we were excited to see that the power was on and we did not have to be in the dark, but we were informed by one of the house workers here that the “water was over, but would be coming back tomorrow”. It did but we feel like we can’t win, either power or water but not both!
The papers tell us that in the month of March the “power shedding” will affect our area as follows: 11 days no power, 10 nights no power. So is this new? No, just normal. Last night there was no power and no streetlights, this morning there was power, and the streetlights were on.
The other day, the E.D. picked up Peter’s local newspaper and asked if Peter was finished reading it and was told yes. He then looked at it briefly and commented that there was nothing good about it, and if the locals don’t like it, then why should the foreigners?
For those of you who have lived or traveled to countries like Uganda, you know that most of the clothes that most of the people wear are second hand, although they look like new. Everyone dresses in clean, starched and pressed clothes every day, and many of them do not have running water, or power, (ever)! In addition, Ugandans are the friendliest most polite people we have ever run across.
While the cost of some things are high, some things are still inexpensive: Hinda bought a house dress (used) for $7, and today, Peter got a haircut, including tip for $3.50.
By the way, lots of people here are rooting for Barack Obama – wonder why? (we are too)
So, we will come to a close for now and wish you the best.
With love and hugs
Mr. and Mrs. Katende Peter
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 10:23 PM
1 comments
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Email 3 from Kampala, Uganda
Email 3
Kampala, Uganda
February 20, 2008
“Jaybalay” (An informal hello in Luganda)
Once again, here we are and we don’t want to let too much time get by so that we have so much to write that it will be difficult to send to you because of the slow, on again - off again internet connections.
When we were here 4 years ago, we began to pay the school fees for the first two children – Herbert and Ivan - with AIDS that Reach Out began to help, and we have been paying those school fees every year since then. We have taken a couple of photos of them with us, and you can see how healthy and strong they now are. Herbert just finished first in his class out of 280 students, and Ivan has had some school problems but he is healthy. It was good to see them; we brought them T shirts from Seattle and a little spending money. Ivan had just had his locker broken into and all his possessions were stolen including his shoes, so we helped buy him new shoes.
At the daily morning prayers, there are three different kinds of drums, and Peter has now become the drummer that plays the major beat while the other two do the rhythm. He will soon graduate to the rhythm section!! (see the photo). Also Peter has done a few prayers in Hebrew thanks to Rabbi Beth of Temple Beth Am, and also a rabbi who just came to visit Uganda as a part of an AJWS delegation. Besides the interest in hearing Hebrew, Peter was teased a bit about now “speaking in tongues”. Many of the staff want to learn more about Judaism, so we are going to have an informal discussion with them next week.
We have been invited into the homes of several of the staff here and we are leaning quite a lot about tribal and clan customs. It is very interesting and very complicated with lots of taboos, rules, special relationships, etc. One of the good things we have seen here and elsewhere in Africa, is that families take care of each other, especially when a sibling dies, and then the remaining sibling or siblings take the children in, whether they can afford it or not. It is in our opinion a fine example of “family”.
Last week, Peter was standing outside where clients were waiting to be seen in the medical clinic and a woman asked to have her photo taken. (see photo) After taking a few photos, Peter sat down with her and they began to speak. She told Peter that she was very frightened that she would die from AIDS and could not sleep at night. She was at the clinic to get her first ARV’s. Peter assured her that the ARV’s would make her healthy and that she would be fine and she asked, “Sure?”, and Peter said “Sure!”. “I feel better already” said the woman. “I like you!”. So what does this little story mean? It means that hope may be the strongest medicine you can give and a kind word never hurts.
The miracle of Uganda is that when you wake up in the morning there is power – electricity. More often than not, we come home about dusk – here on the equator the sun rises around 7 a.m. and sets around 7 p.m. – and there is no power. While we are sleeping the power comes on, and then in the morning it is gone. We are becoming really good at shaving and putting makeup on in the dark. Now you understand the miracle of Uganda. We never used to believe in miracles, but this is one that we do believe in. We are also getting out share of religion: At 5:20 a.m. the Muslim muezzin chants his prayers which we hear loud and clear from a nearby mosque; then we go to work and attend a Catholic prayer service, and we are Jewish of course. Even though the words and prayers are different than what we are used, it seems a nice way to start the day especially with the lovely singing and drumming.
At our apartment we don’t get either CNN or BBC, but we do get Al Jazeera which we watch while exercising early in the morning. It seems it is just like BBC and CNN. The other day they showed a 20 minute film made in Israel with Israeli’s and Palestinians called “West Bank Story”. It is a musical with the same theme as West Side Story and of course starts with conflict; there is a love affair between a Jewish soldier and a Palestinian woman, and then they all get together as a result of a fire that destroyed both of their restaurants. Too bad it is not the real world, but perhaps it will be. Remember the story above about “hope”?
Right now it is raining so hard that our poor community of Kamwokya is flooding! Very bad!! And it is so dark that we can hardly see our computer keyboards. Our little office has one tiny light. The rain is so loud that even though we sit only 3 feet apart, we have to shout
Peter is teaching our boss to use the computer – “an old dog teaching another old dog that you can teach an old dog new tricks”
We spent last weekend about 3 hours from here at Lake Mburro National Park and had a nice relaxing time with some other American that we met here. Saw lots of nice animals – see the photos, and it was nice to get away.
Hinda is hard at work helping with Job Descriptions and trying to deal with the extremely crowded medical clinic and help figure out how to decongest it. The situation is the proverbial one of having a one kilo bag and two kilos of stuff to put in it. Unfortunately, KCCC cannot reduce the number of clients, and the only real answer is more space, so we are working on that, but it will be a difficult row to hoe. The clinic is very small and sees a lot of patients, there is no room for patients who are really sick to lie down and often when one patient is getting an IV drip, they need to be moved to a chair so the next sicker patient can lie down. This morning we heard a child screaming from the clinic, she screamed and cried for some time so we went to see what was going on. There was a 2 year old little girl who was becoming dehydrated as a result of diarrhea so they were trying to give her some IV fluids, because she was so dehydrated it was hard to get the canula placed. Last night we participated in a workshop on report writing and did a presentation on how to write a case study, and Friday night we will do one on Report Writing.
We are also sending a graphic photo of what AIDS can look like. She is 18 and looks more 12. She was living with a family and was being sexually abused, and then when she became sick, the family threw her out, and her real family would take her back. She has very little food and KCCC does not have money or food to give. USAID and the World Food Program have focused their efforts on the north of Uganda, and so this is a major problem. We are finding out how much it will cost to provide some special soft foods for these “desperate clients, and so when we get back perhaps we can start a small fund and hopefully you will help. It is not possible to see people in this condition and not help, and that is why we spent only $1.50 or so yesterday to get her the food she needs. The counselor that took me to see her yesterday is extremely kind and compassionate. Much of that comes from the deeply felt Catholic faith of our co-workers.
As you may know all of the clothes and shoes people wear here is second hand, but I must say they all look brand new and people are always very neat and clean. A woman who is a clothes buyer came to meet Hinda yesterday, looked at her, told her what size she is and said she would be back in a couple of days with some clothes. We will see what she brings.
Peace and love from
Katede Peter and Nabuuso Hinda
Kampala, Uganda
February 20, 2008
“Jaybalay” (An informal hello in Luganda)
Once again, here we are and we don’t want to let too much time get by so that we have so much to write that it will be difficult to send to you because of the slow, on again - off again internet connections.
When we were here 4 years ago, we began to pay the school fees for the first two children – Herbert and Ivan - with AIDS that Reach Out began to help, and we have been paying those school fees every year since then. We have taken a couple of photos of them with us, and you can see how healthy and strong they now are. Herbert just finished first in his class out of 280 students, and Ivan has had some school problems but he is healthy. It was good to see them; we brought them T shirts from Seattle and a little spending money. Ivan had just had his locker broken into and all his possessions were stolen including his shoes, so we helped buy him new shoes.
At the daily morning prayers, there are three different kinds of drums, and Peter has now become the drummer that plays the major beat while the other two do the rhythm. He will soon graduate to the rhythm section!! (see the photo). Also Peter has done a few prayers in Hebrew thanks to Rabbi Beth of Temple Beth Am, and also a rabbi who just came to visit Uganda as a part of an AJWS delegation. Besides the interest in hearing Hebrew, Peter was teased a bit about now “speaking in tongues”. Many of the staff want to learn more about Judaism, so we are going to have an informal discussion with them next week.
We have been invited into the homes of several of the staff here and we are leaning quite a lot about tribal and clan customs. It is very interesting and very complicated with lots of taboos, rules, special relationships, etc. One of the good things we have seen here and elsewhere in Africa, is that families take care of each other, especially when a sibling dies, and then the remaining sibling or siblings take the children in, whether they can afford it or not. It is in our opinion a fine example of “family”.
Last week, Peter was standing outside where clients were waiting to be seen in the medical clinic and a woman asked to have her photo taken. (see photo) After taking a few photos, Peter sat down with her and they began to speak. She told Peter that she was very frightened that she would die from AIDS and could not sleep at night. She was at the clinic to get her first ARV’s. Peter assured her that the ARV’s would make her healthy and that she would be fine and she asked, “Sure?”, and Peter said “Sure!”. “I feel better already” said the woman. “I like you!”. So what does this little story mean? It means that hope may be the strongest medicine you can give and a kind word never hurts.
The miracle of Uganda is that when you wake up in the morning there is power – electricity. More often than not, we come home about dusk – here on the equator the sun rises around 7 a.m. and sets around 7 p.m. – and there is no power. While we are sleeping the power comes on, and then in the morning it is gone. We are becoming really good at shaving and putting makeup on in the dark. Now you understand the miracle of Uganda. We never used to believe in miracles, but this is one that we do believe in. We are also getting out share of religion: At 5:20 a.m. the Muslim muezzin chants his prayers which we hear loud and clear from a nearby mosque; then we go to work and attend a Catholic prayer service, and we are Jewish of course. Even though the words and prayers are different than what we are used, it seems a nice way to start the day especially with the lovely singing and drumming.
At our apartment we don’t get either CNN or BBC, but we do get Al Jazeera which we watch while exercising early in the morning. It seems it is just like BBC and CNN. The other day they showed a 20 minute film made in Israel with Israeli’s and Palestinians called “West Bank Story”. It is a musical with the same theme as West Side Story and of course starts with conflict; there is a love affair between a Jewish soldier and a Palestinian woman, and then they all get together as a result of a fire that destroyed both of their restaurants. Too bad it is not the real world, but perhaps it will be. Remember the story above about “hope”?
Right now it is raining so hard that our poor community of Kamwokya is flooding! Very bad!! And it is so dark that we can hardly see our computer keyboards. Our little office has one tiny light. The rain is so loud that even though we sit only 3 feet apart, we have to shout
Peter is teaching our boss to use the computer – “an old dog teaching another old dog that you can teach an old dog new tricks”
We spent last weekend about 3 hours from here at Lake Mburro National Park and had a nice relaxing time with some other American that we met here. Saw lots of nice animals – see the photos, and it was nice to get away.
Hinda is hard at work helping with Job Descriptions and trying to deal with the extremely crowded medical clinic and help figure out how to decongest it. The situation is the proverbial one of having a one kilo bag and two kilos of stuff to put in it. Unfortunately, KCCC cannot reduce the number of clients, and the only real answer is more space, so we are working on that, but it will be a difficult row to hoe. The clinic is very small and sees a lot of patients, there is no room for patients who are really sick to lie down and often when one patient is getting an IV drip, they need to be moved to a chair so the next sicker patient can lie down. This morning we heard a child screaming from the clinic, she screamed and cried for some time so we went to see what was going on. There was a 2 year old little girl who was becoming dehydrated as a result of diarrhea so they were trying to give her some IV fluids, because she was so dehydrated it was hard to get the canula placed. Last night we participated in a workshop on report writing and did a presentation on how to write a case study, and Friday night we will do one on Report Writing.
We are also sending a graphic photo of what AIDS can look like. She is 18 and looks more 12. She was living with a family and was being sexually abused, and then when she became sick, the family threw her out, and her real family would take her back. She has very little food and KCCC does not have money or food to give. USAID and the World Food Program have focused their efforts on the north of Uganda, and so this is a major problem. We are finding out how much it will cost to provide some special soft foods for these “desperate clients, and so when we get back perhaps we can start a small fund and hopefully you will help. It is not possible to see people in this condition and not help, and that is why we spent only $1.50 or so yesterday to get her the food she needs. The counselor that took me to see her yesterday is extremely kind and compassionate. Much of that comes from the deeply felt Catholic faith of our co-workers.
As you may know all of the clothes and shoes people wear here is second hand, but I must say they all look brand new and people are always very neat and clean. A woman who is a clothes buyer came to meet Hinda yesterday, looked at her, told her what size she is and said she would be back in a couple of days with some clothes. We will see what she brings.
Peace and love from
Katede Peter and Nabuuso Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 2:33 AM
0 comments
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Email 2 Uganda 2008
Email Number 2
Kampala, Uganda
February 9, 2008
Hi,
We didn’t plan to send this so closely behind the last one a week or so ago, but there are a lot of things happening, so we want to update you and also send a few more photos.
After we returned from here 4 years ago, one of our close friends from Reach Out had a child and honored us by asking us to name her, (Hannah), and then a year or so later, a second who we named Jesse, and just 7 months ago, another boy who we named Benjamin. So, we are their jaja, (grandparents), and we have now seen them for the first time. We are attaching photos of them.
It was also very nice to see all of the physical and systems improvements that we developed at Reach Out still in use.
We have been working quite hard and putting in long hours, but doing well. We have produced a number of templates, provided ideas, participated in helping to develop future courses of action, etc. Hinda is spending most of her time in the clinic, and Peter on the organizational development side. The medical clinic is extremely overcrowded, essentially like trying to put 2 kilos of stuff in a 1 kilo can, and so we are trying to come up with solutions ranging from establishment of satellite clinics to opening a new larger one. The clinic has been crowded for a long time, but CRS, (Catholic Relief Services) is requiring them to add 400 more clients in order to get more money, this seems to be the way things happen here. In order to get more money to provide services you are required to add more patients, no thought is given to whether you have the capacity to add more patients, but since there is always a need for more money, you add more patients, somehow. This is basically a physical impossibility, so Hinda and the staff have quite a challenge.
We usually eat local food at work provided by the agency, (matoke – boiled and mashed plaintains, posho – a porridge made of maize, rice, beans, a bit of meat or chicken for a sauce, and cassava. Lots of starch, a bit bland, not at all like West Africa where the food is quite spicy, but is fine. For many of the people at KCCC it may be the only meal of the day, so it is quite filling, and it gives us a chance to sit and interact with all levels of staff. Plates are piled high and people wonder why we only have a little bit. Peter is trying to keep his figure and for me, I don’t like it very much so I take only a little, maybe I will loose a pound or two.
The area where we work – Kamwokya as we mentioned before is basically a swamp, and from the main road descends steeply. There is no drainage, open sewers which people often use either as their toilet, or to dump their bodily and other wastes, and so last week there were 6 cases of cholera there, which in the simplest terms is really dangerous. But as in many places in Africa, little gets done to improve these poor communities, and KCCC is trying hard, but progress is very very slow. Don’t worry about us, we are fine and the office is at the top of the hill no where near the swampy area.
Since we can’t get CNN or BBC on our TV we watch Al Jazeera, which doesn’t really seem much different than the other two. Our other choices are 3 or 4 stations with evangelists, or some Ugandan language stations, so it is Al Jazeera and lots of reading.
We have probably told you before, but when you are the only two “muzungus” (whites) in a room or street full of M’afriks – blacks, you are reminded once again of how many African Americans feel when they are the only ones with white Americans, and it is good to be reminded from time to time, and help us to appreciate how other people feel by walking in their mocassins.
Our laptop had been acting up, so we had it serviced, and the diagnosis was that it was full of “pests”. Now there are no more pests, and it is fine, although we are not sure what these pests were.
Driving here – we rented a small car very cheaply – requires a daily dose of an anti anxiety pill. Drivers and passengers alike just hold on and open their eyes only occasionally. There are cars, motorbikes, bikes without lights, people in the middle of the road, passing on either side of you, pot holes the size of sink holes, etc., but being New Yorkers, we know how to push our way in and drive as aggressively as the Ugandans. I (Hinda) don’t drive, I just keep my eyes closed and feel relieved when we finally get to our apartment.
We have just started making plans to take a few trips around the country between now and the time we leave, and you will see some photos from there during the next few months.
Even though it is not the rainy season, it has been raining quite hard which floods communities as the one we work in, and increases diseases and also malaria mosquitoes which breed in standing water, so our clinic is seeing more malaria. For a while Uganda was in the lead in Africa in reducing HIV/AIDS, and unfortunately, it has fallen behind,
One of the unfortunate things about the violence in Kenya, is that many Kenyans who had to flee their homes and villages, (more than 300,000 now), have been living in refugee camps where those who have HIV/AIDS do not have access to their drugs and so they will soon become resistant to them, and then what? Not a good scene.
So, there are lots of problems left to solve, and we have a spare bedroom, so come on over. Uganda is a nice place and the people are great!
We have been following the primaries via Al Jazeera and the local papers, and so we are keeping up there.
Have you ever eaten in a parking garage next to the cars pulling in out? We have, and it is a little different than the places we normally eat, and of course there is noise and exhaust. So where did we eat? I Love NY, and we had pizza – good, and bagels – good, in Kampala of all places.
We will end here by saying that our power goes off several times a day both at work and at home, and because the fuel is so costly because it all has to come through Kenya, and not a lot is getting through, it is too costly to run generators. So as one of our Ugandan friends said, you eat dinner by candle light and then to bed.
So on that note, good night!
Love and Hugs,
Katende Peter and Nabuuso Hinda
PS I know this is really long but wanted to tell you a little story. We have befriended a couple of American physicians and a nurse who are here teaching at the medical school for a few months, one of them is an orthopedic surgeon. We had dinner with them after their first day at the medical school. The surgeon, Jim, told us he was very excited to be in the operating room, scrubbed and ready to give his knowledge to the Ugandan surgeons. Everything was ready and he could see many operating room lights on the ceiling, so he said, “ok, let’s turn the lights on and start”. Everyone just looked at him and then told him the lights did not work, so they operated with one ceiling light. He had a hard time but everyone else was used to it and did just fine. How spoiled we are to think the operating room lights might work!!
Kampala, Uganda
February 9, 2008
Hi,
We didn’t plan to send this so closely behind the last one a week or so ago, but there are a lot of things happening, so we want to update you and also send a few more photos.
After we returned from here 4 years ago, one of our close friends from Reach Out had a child and honored us by asking us to name her, (Hannah), and then a year or so later, a second who we named Jesse, and just 7 months ago, another boy who we named Benjamin. So, we are their jaja, (grandparents), and we have now seen them for the first time. We are attaching photos of them.
It was also very nice to see all of the physical and systems improvements that we developed at Reach Out still in use.
We have been working quite hard and putting in long hours, but doing well. We have produced a number of templates, provided ideas, participated in helping to develop future courses of action, etc. Hinda is spending most of her time in the clinic, and Peter on the organizational development side. The medical clinic is extremely overcrowded, essentially like trying to put 2 kilos of stuff in a 1 kilo can, and so we are trying to come up with solutions ranging from establishment of satellite clinics to opening a new larger one. The clinic has been crowded for a long time, but CRS, (Catholic Relief Services) is requiring them to add 400 more clients in order to get more money, this seems to be the way things happen here. In order to get more money to provide services you are required to add more patients, no thought is given to whether you have the capacity to add more patients, but since there is always a need for more money, you add more patients, somehow. This is basically a physical impossibility, so Hinda and the staff have quite a challenge.
We usually eat local food at work provided by the agency, (matoke – boiled and mashed plaintains, posho – a porridge made of maize, rice, beans, a bit of meat or chicken for a sauce, and cassava. Lots of starch, a bit bland, not at all like West Africa where the food is quite spicy, but is fine. For many of the people at KCCC it may be the only meal of the day, so it is quite filling, and it gives us a chance to sit and interact with all levels of staff. Plates are piled high and people wonder why we only have a little bit. Peter is trying to keep his figure and for me, I don’t like it very much so I take only a little, maybe I will loose a pound or two.
The area where we work – Kamwokya as we mentioned before is basically a swamp, and from the main road descends steeply. There is no drainage, open sewers which people often use either as their toilet, or to dump their bodily and other wastes, and so last week there were 6 cases of cholera there, which in the simplest terms is really dangerous. But as in many places in Africa, little gets done to improve these poor communities, and KCCC is trying hard, but progress is very very slow. Don’t worry about us, we are fine and the office is at the top of the hill no where near the swampy area.
Since we can’t get CNN or BBC on our TV we watch Al Jazeera, which doesn’t really seem much different than the other two. Our other choices are 3 or 4 stations with evangelists, or some Ugandan language stations, so it is Al Jazeera and lots of reading.
We have probably told you before, but when you are the only two “muzungus” (whites) in a room or street full of M’afriks – blacks, you are reminded once again of how many African Americans feel when they are the only ones with white Americans, and it is good to be reminded from time to time, and help us to appreciate how other people feel by walking in their mocassins.
Our laptop had been acting up, so we had it serviced, and the diagnosis was that it was full of “pests”. Now there are no more pests, and it is fine, although we are not sure what these pests were.
Driving here – we rented a small car very cheaply – requires a daily dose of an anti anxiety pill. Drivers and passengers alike just hold on and open their eyes only occasionally. There are cars, motorbikes, bikes without lights, people in the middle of the road, passing on either side of you, pot holes the size of sink holes, etc., but being New Yorkers, we know how to push our way in and drive as aggressively as the Ugandans. I (Hinda) don’t drive, I just keep my eyes closed and feel relieved when we finally get to our apartment.
We have just started making plans to take a few trips around the country between now and the time we leave, and you will see some photos from there during the next few months.
Even though it is not the rainy season, it has been raining quite hard which floods communities as the one we work in, and increases diseases and also malaria mosquitoes which breed in standing water, so our clinic is seeing more malaria. For a while Uganda was in the lead in Africa in reducing HIV/AIDS, and unfortunately, it has fallen behind,
One of the unfortunate things about the violence in Kenya, is that many Kenyans who had to flee their homes and villages, (more than 300,000 now), have been living in refugee camps where those who have HIV/AIDS do not have access to their drugs and so they will soon become resistant to them, and then what? Not a good scene.
So, there are lots of problems left to solve, and we have a spare bedroom, so come on over. Uganda is a nice place and the people are great!
We have been following the primaries via Al Jazeera and the local papers, and so we are keeping up there.
Have you ever eaten in a parking garage next to the cars pulling in out? We have, and it is a little different than the places we normally eat, and of course there is noise and exhaust. So where did we eat? I Love NY, and we had pizza – good, and bagels – good, in Kampala of all places.
We will end here by saying that our power goes off several times a day both at work and at home, and because the fuel is so costly because it all has to come through Kenya, and not a lot is getting through, it is too costly to run generators. So as one of our Ugandan friends said, you eat dinner by candle light and then to bed.
So on that note, good night!
Love and Hugs,
Katende Peter and Nabuuso Hinda
PS I know this is really long but wanted to tell you a little story. We have befriended a couple of American physicians and a nurse who are here teaching at the medical school for a few months, one of them is an orthopedic surgeon. We had dinner with them after their first day at the medical school. The surgeon, Jim, told us he was very excited to be in the operating room, scrubbed and ready to give his knowledge to the Ugandan surgeons. Everything was ready and he could see many operating room lights on the ceiling, so he said, “ok, let’s turn the lights on and start”. Everyone just looked at him and then told him the lights did not work, so they operated with one ceiling light. He had a hard time but everyone else was used to it and did just fine. How spoiled we are to think the operating room lights might work!!
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 11:59 PM
0 comments
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Email Number 1, Kampala, Uganda 2008
February 2, 2008
Kampala, Uganda
Hi all,
The photos are which relate to this email are: Entrance to our house in Bugolobi; KCCC where we work; Nabuuso Hinda and Charles, (who named Peter); A young boy peeking in our bedroom window.
Once again we have traveled far from home to volunteer for the next 3 ½ months and see if we can be of a bit of help.
We arrived at Entebbe Sunday night and because of some communication snafu’s there was no one to meet us at the airport. So we called the AJWS representative who happened to be in Nairobi, who called her friend, a taxi driver, who happened to be standing next to us, and so we got to our destination.
We just moved into our very nice apartment today, which is very close to where we worked when we were here 4 years ago, nearly to the day. And so we will be able to see our old and good friends frequently, and in fact we saw them yesterday, and all of us were hugging, screaming, etc. Some of them knew we were coming, but not all and when we all saw each other we had a great and warm reunion. In fact one of our friends had seen us riding in the car the day before and thought she was hallucinating, and another told us he had a dream that we were coming. In fact, the same day we left Seattle, I took one of my favorite caps to give to him because he loves baseball hats, so perhaps there is such a thing as fate.
Last night we stayed in a guest house and there was a party within 3 feet of our window attended by over 2,000 people, who were dancing, drinking, and carousing until 1 a.m., and then the clean up crew came and stayed until 6 a.m., so there was not much sleep for us last night.
Our new digs are very very nice: lots of art work, nice comfortable furniture, nice garden and landscaping, and once again, very close to very close friends.
We are working at KCCC – Kamwokya (pronounced Kamoja, with the accent on the Ka) Christian Caring Community. Kamwokya is a slum of Kampala, and KCCC was founded in 1987. It is basically a slum and floods when the rains come. Many people live their in very basic kinds of housing with “jury rigged” power, and no running water or toilet facilities. There are open sewers, and as you well know, that brings on a multitude of diseases and other bad things.
There are some 150 employees, who serve several thousand clients in a number of programs including a medical clinic, dental clinic, savings bank and micro finance, an elementary school, youth programs, vocational schools, mental health, and more. As we get to know more we will tell you more. Our initial assignments are to help develop a fundraising plan, and to look at how the medical clinic operates, and to help develop a photographic essay about KCCC which will be put on their web page and used for other PR purposes. As is the case with us, we are doing capacity building, rather than producing, although there will be some of that also. Suffice it to say that the staff is very friendly and nice to us and to each other. That seems to be a hallmark of Uganda and is one of the reasons we are so
We have been given Ugandan names: Katende Peter which means “praise him and Nabuuso Hinda, which means “small eyes”. Of course we have to be of different clans, for if we were of the same clan we would be brother and sister, and since we have now been married for 47 years, we would have to get divorced. Thus, Peter is from the Lugave (Porcupine Clan), and Hinda from the Mushroom Clan, and both of us, (we think) are of the Muganda Tribe, and of course we are Abayudaya, (Jewish).
Late Thursday afternoon, Peter was called down to the medical clinic to photograph a 10 year old girl who had been severely beaten by her mother because she was “roaming around”, and he also photographed the mother – both for documentation purposes. The dilemma however is that if the woman is arrested and jailed for abuse, who will provide for the this girl and her siblings. By the way, she was hit in the head with a large stone among other things, and after leaving our clinic was taken to the hospital. So, this is just one thing that is a part of daily life in Kamokya
Each day we come to work at 8:15 and join the entire staff in song and prayer. We know that you will think it funny that we go for prayers every morning, but the singing, accompanied by drumming is very rousing, and very enjoyable. Once a month, the prayer service is a mass, so you can now readily guess that KCCC is a part of the Catholic church. Four years ago, we were in a different Catholic church in a different slum of Kampala.
Our computer is acting up, and this is getting a little lengthy, so we will close for now and send hugs and kisses to all. We miss all of you, but we know we will see you again in a few months. We have added a couple of photos to show you some of what we have been telling you.
Katende Peter and Nabuuso Hinda
Kampala, Uganda
Hi all,
The photos are which relate to this email are: Entrance to our house in Bugolobi; KCCC where we work; Nabuuso Hinda and Charles, (who named Peter); A young boy peeking in our bedroom window.
Once again we have traveled far from home to volunteer for the next 3 ½ months and see if we can be of a bit of help.
We arrived at Entebbe Sunday night and because of some communication snafu’s there was no one to meet us at the airport. So we called the AJWS representative who happened to be in Nairobi, who called her friend, a taxi driver, who happened to be standing next to us, and so we got to our destination.
We just moved into our very nice apartment today, which is very close to where we worked when we were here 4 years ago, nearly to the day. And so we will be able to see our old and good friends frequently, and in fact we saw them yesterday, and all of us were hugging, screaming, etc. Some of them knew we were coming, but not all and when we all saw each other we had a great and warm reunion. In fact one of our friends had seen us riding in the car the day before and thought she was hallucinating, and another told us he had a dream that we were coming. In fact, the same day we left Seattle, I took one of my favorite caps to give to him because he loves baseball hats, so perhaps there is such a thing as fate.
Last night we stayed in a guest house and there was a party within 3 feet of our window attended by over 2,000 people, who were dancing, drinking, and carousing until 1 a.m., and then the clean up crew came and stayed until 6 a.m., so there was not much sleep for us last night.
Our new digs are very very nice: lots of art work, nice comfortable furniture, nice garden and landscaping, and once again, very close to very close friends.
We are working at KCCC – Kamwokya (pronounced Kamoja, with the accent on the Ka) Christian Caring Community. Kamwokya is a slum of Kampala, and KCCC was founded in 1987. It is basically a slum and floods when the rains come. Many people live their in very basic kinds of housing with “jury rigged” power, and no running water or toilet facilities. There are open sewers, and as you well know, that brings on a multitude of diseases and other bad things.
There are some 150 employees, who serve several thousand clients in a number of programs including a medical clinic, dental clinic, savings bank and micro finance, an elementary school, youth programs, vocational schools, mental health, and more. As we get to know more we will tell you more. Our initial assignments are to help develop a fundraising plan, and to look at how the medical clinic operates, and to help develop a photographic essay about KCCC which will be put on their web page and used for other PR purposes. As is the case with us, we are doing capacity building, rather than producing, although there will be some of that also. Suffice it to say that the staff is very friendly and nice to us and to each other. That seems to be a hallmark of Uganda and is one of the reasons we are so
We have been given Ugandan names: Katende Peter which means “praise him and Nabuuso Hinda, which means “small eyes”. Of course we have to be of different clans, for if we were of the same clan we would be brother and sister, and since we have now been married for 47 years, we would have to get divorced. Thus, Peter is from the Lugave (Porcupine Clan), and Hinda from the Mushroom Clan, and both of us, (we think) are of the Muganda Tribe, and of course we are Abayudaya, (Jewish).
Late Thursday afternoon, Peter was called down to the medical clinic to photograph a 10 year old girl who had been severely beaten by her mother because she was “roaming around”, and he also photographed the mother – both for documentation purposes. The dilemma however is that if the woman is arrested and jailed for abuse, who will provide for the this girl and her siblings. By the way, she was hit in the head with a large stone among other things, and after leaving our clinic was taken to the hospital. So, this is just one thing that is a part of daily life in Kamokya
Each day we come to work at 8:15 and join the entire staff in song and prayer. We know that you will think it funny that we go for prayers every morning, but the singing, accompanied by drumming is very rousing, and very enjoyable. Once a month, the prayer service is a mass, so you can now readily guess that KCCC is a part of the Catholic church. Four years ago, we were in a different Catholic church in a different slum of Kampala.
Our computer is acting up, and this is getting a little lengthy, so we will close for now and send hugs and kisses to all. We miss all of you, but we know we will see you again in a few months. We have added a couple of photos to show you some of what we have been telling you.
Katende Peter and Nabuuso Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 12:15 AM
3 comments
Friday, January 11, 2008
Change in Plans
January 11, 2008
Seattle, Washington, USA
Dear All,
It seems that there has been a slight change in plans for our upcoming volunteer trip to Africa. As you know, we were planning to go to Kisumu, Kenya on January 15, but in view of the violence there, both we and the AJWS felt it wiser to pospone going to Kenya, and so we are going to go to Kampala, Uganda on January 25. We will be working with KCCC: http://www.kamccc.org/. We are excited about going back to Kampala, (we were there in 2004, and seeing old friends again. The placement is a good one, and as soon as we get there you will be hearing from us. So to repeat some old sayings, "there's a silver lining in every cloud", and "all's well that ends well".
By the way, as an aside for those of you who follow and our interested in our photograph, we will only be doing digital phoography on this trip. As many of you know, digital has come a long way, and is at least as good, if not better in some cases as 35mm film. For you technophobes, Peter will shoot with both a a Canon G7 Pro Point and Shoot and a Nikon D200 DSLR, both at 10.1 megapixels, and Hinda with a 7 megapixel Canon Point and Shoot. Enjoy!
Peter and Hinda
Seattle, Washington, USA
Dear All,
It seems that there has been a slight change in plans for our upcoming volunteer trip to Africa. As you know, we were planning to go to Kisumu, Kenya on January 15, but in view of the violence there, both we and the AJWS felt it wiser to pospone going to Kenya, and so we are going to go to Kampala, Uganda on January 25. We will be working with KCCC: http://www.kamccc.org/. We are excited about going back to Kampala, (we were there in 2004, and seeing old friends again. The placement is a good one, and as soon as we get there you will be hearing from us. So to repeat some old sayings, "there's a silver lining in every cloud", and "all's well that ends well".
By the way, as an aside for those of you who follow and our interested in our photograph, we will only be doing digital phoography on this trip. As many of you know, digital has come a long way, and is at least as good, if not better in some cases as 35mm film. For you technophobes, Peter will shoot with both a a Canon G7 Pro Point and Shoot and a Nikon D200 DSLR, both at 10.1 megapixels, and Hinda with a 7 megapixel Canon Point and Shoot. Enjoy!
Peter and Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 9:38 AM
0 comments
Monday, December 03, 2007
Good News
We want to tell you about several very exciting events that have happened within the last month or two, one of which concerns our next AJWS assignment, and the others are follow up activities to projects that we started during our last two assignements in Namibia and Ghana.
We have recently learned that we will be going to Kenya in East Africa sometime in mid to late January until sometime early to mid may. We will be stationed in Kisumu, Kenya, which is located in western Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria, right on the equator. Interestingly, it is more or less across Lake Victoria from Kampala, Uganda where we volunteered in 2004, and we hope that we will be able to arrange to see some of our old friends from Reach Out in Kamplal. The name of the organization we will be working with is K-MET, (Kisumu Medical and Educational Trust) - a perfect assignment for us since the assignment will utilize both of our skills, (medical management, organizational development, and fundraising). As we learn more about what we will be doing, we will keep you informed with both stories and photos.
When we were in Namibia, we started a goat project modeled more or less on the Heifer International Project, and many of you bought goats to produce milk for AIDS orphans living in an orphanage.
We are very pleased to tell you that we applied to funding from JSoN, a Jewish organization for alumni of Jewish service organizations. Only two projects were funded for $5,000 each, and our goat project was one of them. The money will be used to provide a well for water for the goats and a vegetable garden for the orphanage, and also teach the children sound environmental methods of agriculture and animal rearing. By the way, the goat herd has increased substantially during the past 3 years (you can probably guess why), and this grant will enable the orphanage not only to provide more for the children, but for the project to be sustainable. We are very proud that this project was the first one ever awarded by JSoN.
Also in Ghana, many of you contributed small amounts of money to purchase coconut trees to be planted along the beach in Keta to keep it from eroding, and to supply coconuts, and coconut tree fronds to be used for roofing, feed, and other things, and also reinvigorate the local fishing economy which because of the erosion of the beaches had to move further and further away from where fish were caught to where they were smoked and processed in other ways. We are happy to inform you that the coconuts have now been purchased and planted, and hopefully some day, some of us will be able to go there, sit under those trees and enjoy the shade, the view, and the coconuts, and observe how the econmomy of this small oceanside community will have been reborn.
Finally, also in Ghana, we helped to start an emergency fund to provide life saving ARV's, (anti retro viral drugs) to children with HIV/AIDS. Through the generosity of many of you, for the very affordable cost of $68 for one years supply of ARV's, some 20 children now can live a happy and fulfilling life.
Once again, we, with your help are making changes in our world, and helping make life better for people who are not as fortunate as most of us Anericans. While these things may not be dramatic in the entire scheme of things, they are certainly dramatic for the individuals they help, and the most important thing is that with your help, we are able to continue to help. Remember, if we can't change the world, we can, and we are changing one life at a time.
We have recently learned that we will be going to Kenya in East Africa sometime in mid to late January until sometime early to mid may. We will be stationed in Kisumu, Kenya, which is located in western Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria, right on the equator. Interestingly, it is more or less across Lake Victoria from Kampala, Uganda where we volunteered in 2004, and we hope that we will be able to arrange to see some of our old friends from Reach Out in Kamplal. The name of the organization we will be working with is K-MET, (Kisumu Medical and Educational Trust) - a perfect assignment for us since the assignment will utilize both of our skills, (medical management, organizational development, and fundraising). As we learn more about what we will be doing, we will keep you informed with both stories and photos.
When we were in Namibia, we started a goat project modeled more or less on the Heifer International Project, and many of you bought goats to produce milk for AIDS orphans living in an orphanage.
We are very pleased to tell you that we applied to funding from JSoN, a Jewish organization for alumni of Jewish service organizations. Only two projects were funded for $5,000 each, and our goat project was one of them. The money will be used to provide a well for water for the goats and a vegetable garden for the orphanage, and also teach the children sound environmental methods of agriculture and animal rearing. By the way, the goat herd has increased substantially during the past 3 years (you can probably guess why), and this grant will enable the orphanage not only to provide more for the children, but for the project to be sustainable. We are very proud that this project was the first one ever awarded by JSoN.
Also in Ghana, many of you contributed small amounts of money to purchase coconut trees to be planted along the beach in Keta to keep it from eroding, and to supply coconuts, and coconut tree fronds to be used for roofing, feed, and other things, and also reinvigorate the local fishing economy which because of the erosion of the beaches had to move further and further away from where fish were caught to where they were smoked and processed in other ways. We are happy to inform you that the coconuts have now been purchased and planted, and hopefully some day, some of us will be able to go there, sit under those trees and enjoy the shade, the view, and the coconuts, and observe how the econmomy of this small oceanside community will have been reborn.
Finally, also in Ghana, we helped to start an emergency fund to provide life saving ARV's, (anti retro viral drugs) to children with HIV/AIDS. Through the generosity of many of you, for the very affordable cost of $68 for one years supply of ARV's, some 20 children now can live a happy and fulfilling life.
Once again, we, with your help are making changes in our world, and helping make life better for people who are not as fortunate as most of us Anericans. While these things may not be dramatic in the entire scheme of things, they are certainly dramatic for the individuals they help, and the most important thing is that with your help, we are able to continue to help. Remember, if we can't change the world, we can, and we are changing one life at a time.
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 10:41 AM
0 comments
Thursday, March 22, 2007
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 8:57 PM
2 comments
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 8:51 PM
0 comments
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 8:48 PM
0 comments
