Honeymoon in Kenya! Part 3b: Sirua Aulo Academy

Trophies won in the past few years!

** I've already written about all the ways Sirua Aulo is breaking the mold/mould. This post will simply chronicle our trip. **








School tour
- I will post pictures as if you were walking with us, starting from the bottom of the hill and walking up.

Main entrance to main building (with upper primary classes, library, and administrative offices)

Still walking up the hill past the main building. There's the 3-room block in which the middle will be the special education classroom! Behind that building to the left is the NEW dining hall donated by Northpointe Community Church in California.  

They are almost done with construction of the special education room.

Still walking up the hill past the special education room. That is the boy's dormitory at the top. You can see a little of the dining hall on the left. 

Standing in front of the special education room looking down, you can see the lower primary classrooms on the left and main building on the right. 

Same position from special ed classroom looking downhill, but panned toward the right. Main building in front of us, girl's dormitory directly to the right of it, and up the hill, closer to where I am standing, is the the building with the baby and nursery classes.

We are walking toward the lower primary classes...

... where this sign is posted! 

Looking downhill from left side of main building. Recognize that hill with the little bunch of trees? That's home!

Wednesday, September 11

Dan's aerodynamics lesson with Standard 8 students and paper airplane contest

After the lesson, we gave each student a piece of paper and taught them how to fold a paper airplane. Then we had them all write their names on their plane so that when we went outside, we'd know who won the contest!

Linda's first staff workshop: Discipline vs Punishment (The Power of Praise)
The Human Rights Watch published a summary of Kenya's culture of corporal punishment in September 1999. In it, it recommends that the international donor community:

• Fund workshops to train Kenyan teachers in non-physically abusive methods of classroom management, tie contributions to attendance and participation in these workshops, and support the creation and distribution of materials to instruct teachers in these methods.

That's YOU! Everyone who supported our trip and the special education classroom! From the inception of Sirua Aulo Academy in 2008, Emmanuel has established a firm no-physical-abuse policy in the school. However, neither he nor the staff had learned of any effective alternatives for discipline. They have been issuing detentions, extra homework, or labor tasks around the grounds. Some teachers are still in the habit of making negative examples of students, saying things like "Joey came late. Don't be like Joey."

This is not unusual anywhere in the world, both in the school and home environment. Dan says his art teacher used him as a negative example in his Australian elementary school. I myself have been given extra work for misbehavior in the American education system. The methods I shared over the next few days are considered the latest in evidence-based practice in special education. However, it is all entirely applicable, and in fact highly useful, for children in general education. And that is how I presented the information to the entire staff.

Staff sitting around the school's library, laughing because I had them partner up and pretend to be their naughtiest student so they can practice using positive language and praise. 

Thursday, September 12
Dan's hour-long lecture on electricity to Standards 6-8 in the new dining hall.
The lecture he gave was similar to the one given at Sister Freda's to the high school girls, except to about five times more students and with a dusty chalkboard instead of a marker board. Even though the subject was a bit over the head of the younger students, the Std 6 and 7 teachers said they didn't want their students to miss out, especially since they will eventually be covering electricity later.

But the older Std 8 students were just as engaged and interested as the girls at Sister Freda's! It was great that Dan brought some demonstration material from Australia because the kids were learning about electricity and electromagnetism without batteries, bulbs, wires, or anything but their textbooks. Two years ago, an engineer volunteer installed and donated solar panels to the school for lighting, but of course the children are not allowed to touch those.

Linda's second staff workshop: The Individualized Education Plan
Emmanuel thought the idea was so good, it should be applied to ALL Sirua Aulo pupils. I explained that it can be quite extensive and over-kill to do it for ALL students... We settled on his implementing this for only the struggling students instead :-)

I went over all the basics... Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance, Short-Term Objectives using the S.M.A.R.T.  technique, and determining the who/what/when/where/how of Long-Term/Annual Goals. Each teacher had to think of one student and one long-term goal, then from there consider how the student is doing now, and what the steps are in between. I made sure to emphasize their consideration of the child's STRENGTHS.

Dan's homework project

The Std 8 science teacher and Dan talked about how he could leave the demonstration materials with him on a set display board. Using found materials, Dan worked on it at home until it got too dark to work...

   

Friday, September 13

There wasn't enough material at home so Dan finished the project at school using more found material.

 

Dan did another paper airplane activity with the lower primary kids
Dan and I made over thirty paper airplanes for the kids, thinking we would work with one class at a time, but due to time constraints and the children's adamant interest, we had three classes at once! So the kids had to throw and then share with their neighbor... They really enjoyed it!

Linda's third staff workshop: Neurodiversity and Positive niche construction
I designed this entire lesson around a book titled Neurodiversity in the Classroom by Thomas Armstrong. It has fantastic information for teachers with kids of any caliber.

"Just as we celebrate diversity in nature and cultures, so too do we need to honor the diversity of brains among our students who learn, think, and behave differently.
In Neurodiversity in the Classroom, best-selling author Thomas Armstrong argues that we should embrace the strengths of such neurodiverse students to help them and their neurotypical peers thrive in school and beyond." 

Using the book as a guide, I compared teaching a child to growing a garden. If you want your plants to thrive, then you give them every necessary element. Why wouldn't you do the same for a child? Thomas Armstrong calls the creation of more favorable conditions so that the child has the best chance for growth "Positive Niche Construction."

Plants Need	and Children Need
- Sun	- Strengths-based learning
- Water	- Positive role models
- Fertilizer	- Assistive technologies/Universal design for learning
- Soil	- Environmental modifications
- Space	- Positive career aspirations
- Air	- Strength awareness
- Pruning	- Human resources

Saturday, September 14
Linda's fourth staff workshop: Intro to ABA and PBS... And conclusion
I talked about Applied Behavior Analysis and Positive Behavior Support only as an introduction to the concepts and theory behind them. I have no formal training in these areas, so that is my disclaimer. It was important to emphasize that childrens' behaviors tend to have a communicative or functional purpose. It was another way to help the teachers get out of reactionary punishment and into positive discipline development.

The drawings on the chalkboard are my attempt at explaining which children need our extra effort and care. I drew a bell curve and said to imagine that this was a graph of their students' academic and functional achievements. Teachers have the habit of teaching to the students in the upper 50%. That's because they usually behave better and accomplish more, so it's natural to cater lessons to them. They're the "easy" ones. However, I argued that though they get high grades, you shouldn't be too proud of their achievements. You didn't need to tend to that garden; it was already flourishing. If you left it alone, it will likely still do well.

Contrast them to the the lower 50%. These are the ones for whom you will have to till the soil, add more fertilizer, and give more sunlight. If you left this garden alone, it will likely not improve. But when they start to get better grades, behave more appropriately in class, work harder, you know it was because of your input.

Updates with sponsored kids
I've been sponsoring Brian and Lerionka since 2008. They have really grown!

                                      2008                                 ---->                                 2013

Honeymoon in Kenya! Part 3a: Oronkai

Tuesday, September 10

Google maps estimated that from Kitale to Oronkai village would take 4 hours. That's assuming roads are fully paved from point A to point B! In reality, it took 8 hours by car.

Almost "home"! Heading toward the second hill on the left.

Road congestion

We spent the rest of the day just resting and catching up with Emmanuel and his family. The following photos will be out of order from the four days we stayed here, so that the next blog posts will just be about the school.

A female calf was born while we were there! Emmanuel says they've named her Linda because I was there. If it were a boy he would have named it Dan. :-)

We chose to stay in the hut on the right. Two bunk beds separated by a partial wall fit inside. 

View toward the path leading to the road (opposite the huts). The cement fixture on the right is a water tank. 

Sun is starting to set!

Cattle are still very valuable in the Maasai culture and lifestyle. We drank fresh (boiled) cow's milk with chai every day... several times a day...

Larusi is Emmanuel and Lilian's youngest child at 3.5 yrs old!

Honeymoon in Kenya! Part 2: Sister Freda's Foundation

September 8

We caught the 7:15am flight from Nairobi to Kitale. We only had two days here, but I wanted Dan to meet the "Mother Teresa of Africa", an amazing woman named Sister Freda. She left her job as a nurse in a private hospital in 1994 to open a two-room clinic near the slums of Kitale in order to serve people who could not afford treatment or get to the hospital. With the support of Village Volunteers, she has since turned the clinic into a proper hospital with an operating theater, pharmacy, and laboratory! Only about 2% of her patients are charged for their healthcare because the rest come from extreme poverty.

Sister Freda's projects continued to expand and develop. In 2004, Sister Freda began offering a nursery school and daily feeding program due to the severity of the malnutrition and disease she saw in the children from nearby villages. At the same time, she has been running a small orphanage for the neediest. She soon opened up a nursing college and girl's high school in 2011. 

[See short videos from my April 2011 visit] 

Sister Freda picked us up at about 8:30am when we landed. She took us to brunch and then church. Service was held in one of the classrooms at the high school. Dan observed just how musically talented Kenyans are by the numerous spontaneous outbursts of song :-)

After church, Sister Freda gave us a tour of her campus. Her newest project is to complete a new building for the children in the nursery class. It will be in memory of her late husband, Richard Robinson. She is awaiting funds to complete the building. She has just secured enough funding from a past volunteer to complete the building!!!

We spent the evening enjoying dinner with Sister Freda and six American volunteers! There was another Village Volunteer there who arrived just a day before we did. Betty LaSorella is a 75-year-old writer from Chicago. She had great ideas to teach and work with the Girls High School students on creative writing. I bet they learned a lot from her, gained confidence, and embraced their imagination!

And there was a family of four from Texas who came to deliver a cargo container of used American medical supplies! The mother of the family was an assessor for Project C.U.R.E. She had come a year and a half ago to assess Sister Freda's work and her needs and came back this time with her sister, husband and daughter. WOW I think there was $400,000 worth of medical equipment in there (according to the Project C.U.R.E. website). Sister Freda requested to keep the container so that they can turn half into a consultation room and half into storage.

September 9

Dan began by teaching the children in the nursery classes about aerodynamics. Yeah, he's THAT good.

Ok actually he just explained that airplanes can fly without engines or pilots. This was demonstrated with paper airplanes.

In Kenya, English and Kiswahili are their national languages. But children grow up first learning their tribal language in their homes, and hearing Swahili in the villages and community. English is taught in school and used in most mass media and literature. That is why the teacher in the video has to translate for the children; they are still learning English. We started off in the classroom and then went into the playground, where the baby class joined us, too. The orderly line lasted about 5 minutes.

Later Dan did a lesson on electricity with the older students in the Dr. Ken Gerdis Girls High School. It was great timing, we were told, because the Form 8 students were just learning about it. The teacher was glad that Dan reviewed something he had just gone over.

The students were so engaged and interested! They asked great questions and seemed to be inspired by Dan's talk about the field of engineering. Dan brought some homemade electronics to demonstrate his topic. In this video, Dan had just explained that humans are also conductors of electricity, and electrons will flow if you complete a circuit even across two people.

Kitale and its surrounding areas are connected to the country's main power supply, so the students do have experience with having light in the rooms and access to a communal TV. However, the questions they asked at the end of Dan's talk were enlightening for us as to their daily experience and concerns. They had many questions about when it rains, such as "why does the power always go out when it rains?" and "why should we stay away from the walls of our house when it rains?"... and some clever questions about alternative energy! Several asked about solar power. One girl asked about geothermal energy and another asked why we can't harness the power of lightening.

After Dan's talk, I was taken to a class of second year nursing college students. I reviewed the normal swallowing process and introduced the types and risks of dysphagia. The students then paired up and practiced feeding each other as one acted as patient and the other as caregiver. The "patient" was to keep his/her eyes closed and arms crossed to simulate what it is like to be helpless and compensated. We then discussed the patient's experience and what they would've preferred, what are some safe feeding strategies. Hopefully they can then use the information/experience for when they train caregivers or feed their own patients.

Honeymoon in Kenya! Part 1: Mombasa

September 3-4

Our honeymoon began with nonstop travel from Melbourne to Mombasa. Three flights and a 45-minute taxi ride finally settled us into a social dinner at Nguuni Sanctuary hosted by the East African Conference on Communication Disability. 

Giraffes came to pose for us in the sunset!

I took a picture of everyone taking a picture of the event's cake :-)

There, we met with some incredible people from all over the world. Perhaps about half of the attendees were from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, but the others were from Rwanda, Ghana, Germany, the USA, and even Australia (besides us, that is). I was also surprised to find that only some were speech therapists! The rest were special education teachers, general education teachers, PTs, OTs, and school directors. 

Exhausted, we slept very well that night. 

September 5

I spent the following day attending conference proceedings at the hotel while Dan had a relaxing time editing papers on the laptop we brought. Views from around the hotel overlooking the Indian Ocean:

The population of Kenya is about 43 million. The country does not have any training or degree programs for speech therapists, so it is quite amazing that the Association of Speech and Language Therapists Kenya (ASLTK), founded earlier this year, already has 17 members, nine of them practicing SLTs. The others are volunteers, affiliates, assistants, or honorary members. Of the practicing  SLTs, seven work in Nairobi and two in Mombasa. I was one of the only ones at the conference representing therapy work in the rural Western areas.

One of the presenters invited her Ghanian colleague to the front to show us a song and dance she invented to encourage kids with and without special needs to participate together. In Ghana, it is typical for a person to be given a nickname based on the day of the week he or she was born. This song celebrates each birthday-name. This example was for Thursday birthdays. 

September 6

Finally, a whole day to ourselves! We decided to visit two places -- Fort Jesus and Bombolulu Village.

Fort Jesus(Forte Jesus de Mombaça) is Portuguese fort built in 1591 by order of King Philip I of Portugal (King Philip II of Spain), then ruler of the joint Portuguese and Spanish Kingdoms, located on Mombasa Island to guard the Old Port of Mombasa, Kenya. It was built in the shape of a man (viewed from the air), and was given the name of Jesus. In 2011, the fort was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, highlighted as one of the most outstanding and well preserved examples of 16th-century Portuguese military fortifications. Between 1631 and 1875 the fort was won and lost nine times by the nations contesting control of Kenya. 

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Jesus

Dan pretending to push me along in the seat in which Queen Elizabeth II sat when she visited in 1952. 

I knew that we ought to get a tour guide from within the museum to ensure we get a fair and honest tour guide. Well, Kenya got one over me anyway. The guide showed us around the inside and then said we were now his friends and as friends, we would get special treatment. By that he meant he would show us the outside of the Fort and even take us on a tour of Old Town. And at the end of it (actually after I told him we ought to return to the taxi driver who had been waiting for us the past two hours!), we got his special request for his extra services... to the tune of 3,000 ksh! We only gave him about 1,000 ksh (about $11-$12 USD/AUD) for his guilt trip and parted ways. 

This is how we got into/out of the Fort's perimeters! VIPs only!

A snippet of what Old Town looks like

Our taxi driver said this tour guide was employed by Fort Jesus museum and was not allowed to ask for money within the walls... that's why he gave us this "special" tour outside of it. In any case, Dan was glad to have seen it because of its historical and cultural value. Old Town has actually been submitted for approval as another UNESCO World Heritage site, but it would not have been safe for us to explore the area without a guide. We decided it was worth the few extra bucks solicited.

Our last stop was to Bombolulu Village. The following is their own description. 

Bombolulu Workshops and Cultural Centre... works with more than 100 people with different abilities, men  and women artisans to help them overcome their physical limitations and empower them economically and socially to become fully integrated members of their communities, also providing social benefits to the workers e.g. Clinic, Nursery School, Social Hall, Sports, HIV Prevention, etc. Bombolulu started in 1969 and the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya took over in 1987.

My favorite part was discovering that their Mobility Aid Workshop is a Wheelchair Provision and Assembly Center (WPAC) through Whirlwind Wheelchair International! Run by local people with disabilities, they put together the RoughRider all-terrain wheelchair and distribute them as their own independent shop. I've run into two other functioning and fantastic WPACs in other countries as well. Always satisfying to see great international development models succeed! 

September 7

Spent the day lounging in the hotel before taking our one hour flight back to Nairobi for the night. There, we were picked up and welcomed by a Village Volunteer driver and host. We were fed dinner and had a nice night's sleep in preparation for our early morning flight the next day, to Kitale (See: blog Part 2).

Special education classroom to celebrate a wedding? Why not?!

In lieu of gifts for ourselves, we would like your help sponsoring a special education classroom to be built at Sirua Aulo Academy (SAA) in Transmara, Kenya! We are so dedicated to this cause that if we do not raise enough funds (e.g., approximately $8,000 USD), then we will top it off ourselves. Some day we will go there to see it as part of our honeymoon! This school holds a special place in Linda's heart because she has been involved in it since prior to its inception. Linda first met its founder in 2007 when she volunteered through Village Volunteers, a U.S.-based "501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works in partnership with rural village and capacity-building programs to support the development of sustainable solutions for community survival, education, and growth." The Kenyan community-based organization Linda visited is called Namunyak Maasai Welfare (NMW). NMW was founded by a visionary and leader named Emmanuel Leina Tasur. We encourage you to read about him, SAA, and the circumstances that motivated him to form the school in this 2008 interview by New America Media.

Back in 2008, there were temporary buildings and only 70 students. Can you spot the foreigner!?

Emmanuel's latest updates are that enrollment has been increasing every year due to its reputation as a nationally competitive private school. Even though their school is only 5 years old, SAA's students are performing so far above the national average that other schools in Kenya have been visiting them and trying to emulate their policies and practices! Here are just a few of SAA's unique teaching methods and values:

• SAA welcomes students and staff from all tribes, and has a policy of hiring no more than three teachers from any one tribe. In a country that still divides itself among tribal allegiances, this is an unprecedented move that has already demonstrated outstanding results.
• SAA's pupils are orphans and vulnerable children (who require outside sponsorships to attend), as well as other Kenyan children whose parents are able to pay their full registration. This is another extraordinary move, as it has been breaking down social-economic barriers and stereotypes.
• SAA does not use corporal punishment, which is still the predominant disciplining method around Kenya. Instead, SAA encourages good behavior through positive teacher/student rapport and well-rounded student development. Emmanuel feels this is the main reason his school is outperforming the rest.
• SAA is the only place in the Transmara district of 120,000 residents to welcome children with disabilities. Linda introduced two children with disabilities to the school in 2008, and since then she has returned twice to discuss with the staff about teaching, helping, and incorporating children with disabilities in the school. Their acceptance has further helped de-stigmatize children with disabilities in the community. This classroom will be the first of its kind in the area.
• SAA boasts the only library in the district! In 2008, Linda brought them two suit-cases full of books to kick off their literary collection. From two shelves of donated books five years ago, to an entire room full now! (As a sign of her dedication to the school, Linda's last donation in 2011 included her seven Harry Potter books...)

Linda video-recorded her first distribution of books to kids in this class. They are speaking Swahili.

• SAA is striving to become self-sufficient. They have their own farm and they are teaching their students how to help work it. Emmanuel is also a skilled safari guide. His independent side business called Karma Kenya (Linda came up with this name for him!) provides extra funds for his school.
  • Just as a side note, Karma Kenya does not make enough to cover teacher salaries or school supplies, so if you would like to sponsor a child in addition to the classroom fund, please visit One Way Out Kenya to identify a child who is waiting for you! OWO was founded by another alumna volunteer specifically to help everyone coordinate sponsorships.

You have many options to make your financial contribution! All donations are tax-deductible for U.S. citizens. We will receive regular reports from VV of the name and amount of every contribution.

1. Write a check made out to Village Volunteers and write your email address and "for Linda & Dan" in the memo line. Mail the check directly to Village Volunteers. This is the preferred method.
• Village Volunteers 5100 S. Dawson St., Suite 202 Seattle, WA 98118 USA

Visit http://www.villagevolunteers.org/donate/ to donate online. Choose "Namunyak Maasai Welfare NMW" in the dropdown box and write "for Linda & Dan" in the Other field. Note that Paypal deducts a 3.7% transaction fee from the total amount.

Wire directly to Village Volunteers. Contact info@villgevolunteers.org, or call (206) 577-0515 for VV's account information. Then notify them of the amount deposited and the fact that it was "for Linda & Dan" after you have sent something.

If you have any questions about SAA, NMW, VV, or any other acronym (!), we would be happy to discuss it in the reply field below. We sincerely Thank You for giving this project your serious consideration.

Linda with Brian at age 5

Brian at age 8!

ThWB Name Change

Dear Friends,

I value you as a supporter of Therapists Without Borders (ThWB), and respect your right to know what is going on with the organization. My apologies for the lack of updates lately.

ThWB has changed its name to PhilanTherapy International. This is due to a cease and desist request from Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres in December of 2011. Despite our offer to use a disclaimer on all our materials, among other suggestions, they fear the public will assume we are affiliated with each other from our similar names and overlapping service provision.

We did not wish to pursue a legal battle over this name, yet it has taken us a year to settle the issue. The board of directors and I are excited to take this opportunity to take what we have learned as an organization in the first year and revitalize ourselves with our new image when it is ready. We are still working on a new brand identity and website.

Thank you again for your ongoing support. I expect a smooth transition, and hope that PhilanTherapy International will be a useful resource for therapist volunteers.

Sincerely,
Linda

Ghana Summary

My time here is drawing to a close, and by God's grace I've accomplished more than I had hoped to achieve with this trip.

Ghana Accomplishments:
* Interviewed all teaching staff at KCISS
Purpose: To discover their teaching experience and educational background, their current struggles and their desires for further learning, in order to share with future volunteers so that they can properly prepare for their workshops and training projects
Project: Special Ed Teacher Training (ThWB Special Ed Division)

* Copied Ghana's Special Education Curriculum book
Purpose: To know what the Ghanian government expects teachers to be teaching in special education
Project: Special Ed Teacher Training (ThWB Special Ed Division)

* Copied all students' current files & get their pictures
Purpose: To start ThWB's confidential files on all students/patients served by therapist volunteers which will allow volunteers to prepare for their visit as well as to have a virtual database of therapy, education, and training provided through the past/present/future.
Project: Database (ThWB Special Ed Division)

* Met staff at local hospital and its fledgling "rehab" department
Purpose: Establish official partnership so that when they receive therapist volunteers they know what to expect; also to learn about their hospital so that I can prepare volunteers for their visit.
Project: Service Expansion (ThWB Medical Division)

* Met director of a local NGO, called Project All In Motion, which distributes wheelchairs and other adaptive equipment in addition to facilitating community sensitization and patient re-integration into society
Purpose: Get to know grassroots projects to learn what's been done, their philosophies, projects and support system, and ways ThWB may be able to fulfill needs
Project: Service Expansion (ThWB Wheelchair Provision Division (WPD) & Home Healthcare Division)

* Met director of local NGO, called UNITE, dealing with healthcare and development
Purpose: Get to know grassroots projects
Project: Service Expansion (ThWB Social Welfare Division)

* Identified and profiled several individuals with disabilities, gave initial consultation
Purpose: To find out who are not currently being served and what kind of services they need; to give them hope and some guidance on therapeutic techniques
Project: Database (ThWB Home Healthcare Division)

* Met with directors of 2 other special needs schools in Volta Region
Purpose: To learn how different special education schools are run in the area, their strengths and their needs
Project: Service Expansion (ThWB Special Education Division)

* Established a 'headquarters' for ThWB volunteers in Volta Region
Purpose: Identify where volunteers will stay, how they will be treated when here, the hosts' responsibilities, and have a local person/place for Ghanian organizations to contact if they need to work with ThWB
Project: ThWB Infrastructure

On the Ghana news, Wednesday, 4 May 2011

-- Increased rainfall in the Eastern area caused the Weija Dam to rise above 47 feet. An employee of the Dam explained that 4 of its 5 spillways had to be opened to release the pressure as a precaution, and said that's the only thing they can do with that excess water. They noted the irony of this water being wasted while other parts of Ghana are experiencing drought.

-- Hawking on the streets of Accra is one of the results of people flocking to the city looking for work and not finding any other opportunities. However, hawking has caused such traffic jams that they have imposed a ban over the past year to help traffic flow. Unfortunately, hawkers cannot afford the high price of renting a stall in the market and still end up on the streets.

-- Many of the main streets in Accra are now in the dark due to people stealing the street light cables and breakdowns due to weather, dust, and unreported crashes. Authorities lack funds to repair and address these issues for many reasons, including delays in their grant proposals and denials, and the thieves/hawkers trying to sell them back their stolen, stripped down cables.

Ghana day 5

I think I lost a bit of weight in Kenya due to that small bout of food poisoning, and now am gaining the weight back (and them some!) in Ghana because my skirts are getting tight! Children are literally starving from malnutrition in Africa, and this American gains weight. Who'd've thunk it? The food I'm being served so far is delicious; initially too spicy for me but now they've adjusted for me :)

Ghana is clearly more "developed" than Kenya. Most roads are paved and smooth. Most areas have electricity and they are not solar powered. Most places seem to have access to clean water. The city of Accra has a developed traffic system with lane lines and traffic lights. That's about as far as my comparison can go re: development. Otherwise, they also make homes with mud and use a thatched roof, or tin. They also carry enormous weights on their heads hands-free. They also cook using stones, charcoal, and/or firewood. They also have regular police checkpoints along the roads where they try to get money from drivers for things like not using a proper case to hold their license.

My host boasted that "Ghana is the most peaceful country in Africa", "Ghanaians are friendly", and that while corruption does exist around here, it is not as rampant as Kenya. In fact, he said I can reliably mail something from the USA and expect them to receive it on this end!! For mail to get to our recipients in Kenya, we usually mail the package domestically to the next American volunteer to fly out and give it to them directly. Hah!

I spent Thursday through Saturday night in a village called Adaklu, Sunday night in Tokor, and tonight I am not sure the name of the next village. By Tuesday I'll be going to Kpando where I'll spend the rest of my time in Ghana, May 3-17. At Adaklu, I profiled a couple people with disabilities and had 2 meetings with local leaders and committee members. I even met with the surrounding community's chief of chiefs, who said they place their hopes on me and my organization (to help their members with disabilities and their caregivers)... but I was bold and turned it around to express our hope to assist them to help themselves... He wasn't so intimidating as his title may sound... we came across him sitting on a wooden bench under a thatched shade cover wearing a polo shirt and black pants with sandals. This is the modern day African even in the rural parts :-)

Yesterday in Tokor I met the "Queen's spokesperson" for the community. Apparently the Queen is in Accra on business, and in her absence is an older lady named Comfort. Oh yes, other Ghanaian names I liked are: Mission, Precious, and Mercy.

All day Saturday and most of the day on Sunday, hundreds from around the village of Adaklu gathered in and around my host's compound to celebrate what they told me was a rare occasion, which they see as miraculous and worth all this loud music, singing and dancing... One man survived a car accident (he stood up and showed his right collar bone, which he said broke and "they tied [his] arm back") and a woman gave birth to two healthy daughters despite medical and financial problems.

Puts life into perspective, doesn't it?

Nairobi again, en route to Ghana

My flight is at 3:30am, so I am hanging out in the in-country coordinator's apartment. I have completed my month in Kenya, and it has been a great success! I apologize for not updating the blog more often, though I have had access to internet at least once a week. The problem has been that a weird series of full page ads crop up instead of my log in page whenever I open blogger, and I haven't been able to find how to close them out or avoid them without clicking on anything on it... and since connection speeds have been, say, less than optimal, I've decided to wait it out.

Let me start by clarifying a few things about living standards in rural Kenya. I didn't HAVE to cut my hair short; as far as I know, no other volunteer does this prior to visiting and they are perfectly fine and happy! For myself, I am impatient with vanity and have thick hair that grows fast, so I wanted to cut it anyway.

Also, I have not been attacked by insects, either in the showers, toilets, out and about, sleeping, or anywhere! I had a couple bite here and there, but they were gone within 24 hours, and I haven't even been wearing repellent! They say it's mosquito time because it's rainy season, but really, considering I had suffered over 40 bites within 2 weeks in Belize last year, it must be super safe for any traveler here. I almost wondered if it were necessary to let down the mosquito net around my bed every night, since I nary saw one any evening.

Things have also changed since the last time I was here in 2008; electricity is coming to one village, and had expanded in other villages! Some roads have been paved, and a toilet has been installed at Dago village (one where you pour water in to flush) for volunteers.

I did achieve the goals I set for my trip here, except for reading Harry Potter every day... I realized the kids had enough trouble with my American accent without my having to explain things like streetlights, office buildings, and zoos for them (all in the first book).

In addition to profiling at least 30 people with disabilities in the 3 villages, I've interviewed 11 candidates for the Butterfly Project, 29 students being sponsored or needing sponsorships at Namunyak, made several series of videos for Village Volunteers' YouTube channel for fundraising efforts, discussed starting 3 special education schools and/or rehabilitation clinics at each of the programs, been introduced to a school for the Deaf in Kitale as well as a rare public school accepting kids with physical disabilities, measured 4 people who might benefit from a fitted wheelchair, talked about providing counseling/mental health services and their needs at each of the villages, and even joined in on a mobile clinic outreach effort in a slum called Kipsongo, in which hundreds of men, women and children pushed and shoved to get in to the one room where we were treating wounds, removing jiggers, dispensing medicine, and injecting shots.... I've never ever seen anything like it.

After the first couple weeks, I was already on the verge of tears, having come across so many desperate, seemingly hopeless situations. The day after the overwhelming outreach clinic, I received news of the results of Kevin's doctor appointment. It's not elephantiasis - it's a tumor that has spread its infection to his thigh (not pictured), and damaged the integrity of his bones from the knee down, and will have to be amputated.

I finally allowed myself to cry that night.

How is it fair, in this world in 2011, that a boy with so much ahead of him will now have to lose his leg because something wasn't identified and treated properly earlier? It wasn't just Kevin's situation that got to me, nor the hundreds of sufferers begging for the most basic care, nor the other 30 cases I had profiled for therapeutic help. It was the gaping disparity between the two worlds I live in - the American one that suffers from affluenza and the rest of the world that seems to suffer from everything else... or sometimes from the symptoms of the former.

But I have hope, just like all the caregivers who thanked me for visiting them, asking about them, caring about them. I recovered myself from the tears with the knowledge that, though we couldn't save Kevin's leg, we can save his life. I tried to remember that the whole purpose of my month in Kenya was to discover what and where the needs are, and then send the right people, finances, and opportunities to fulfill those needs. That I just happened to be the first to find and try to help them, so it starts off appearing more hopeless and helpless. That if I didn't come around doing so at this time, we don't know who could have died waiting, or how long caregivers would have suffered in silence, wondering what their child with a disability is going to do when they die because he can't take care of himself. As soon as I can encourage others to care enough to help personally or financially, lives will no doubt get better.

We'll see what the next 3 weeks in Ghana will bring.