Karibu Kenya

28-6-2010

It's the phrase we use when things don't go quite right. When we don't know how to use American terminology to explain what just happened. When we're so exhaused it's best summed up in this two word expression. I'm in a Machakos hotel conference room listening to a nervous woman speak about living positively. The whole experience here is a contradiction. The noisey street below covers her frail voice, but we'll choke if we close the windows. The feedback from the microphone randomly kicks in, but when it's working properly it gives her a voice. The community health worker steadies her hand as she reads from her notes. The audiences attention is fading. This morning we waited for 20 minutes for our speaker to arrive. He got halfway through his presentation before we were shuffled off to see his work in progress. One hot matatu ride later 10 PCT and a few trainers find themselves at the bottom of one of Machakos' infamous hills. "OK we walk to the top from here." When you don't understand something here you can rule out sarcasm. And walk we did. Me and my vicious cold made it to the top to experience a beautiful view of the city and neighboring villages. Back in the conference room trainees are keeping occupied by exchanging specatcles, playing one orange/one cup (that's a new one to me) and chugging water to make the next bathroom break come sooner. One lone woman stands infront of us and explains her adoration of children and the absolute terror they go through when they loose their parents to AIDS. She gives them hope through toys. Something to occupy their minds. We flew from America, left our family and friends, and underwent days of training, stressing out comfort levels to the max to be here in the presence of a saint. We are here to train our prospective community...but WHY are we here? Welcome to Kenya. At this moment in training I feel like we've been given more opportunities that the total countries populous. Kenyan people face challenges everyday, and this finally hits me as we watcha group of high school students act out their everday lives for perfect American strangers. They've rehearsed, reviesed, and revisited their own live-changing moments just to be heard. We have so much to learn....The culture is more complex and complicated. Women carry a huge portion of the stigma, like a 10L just of water HIV is hauled around in the open, people see you coming and clear the pack. We're learning how to demistify myths and what we thought was changing the Kenyan way of life. A huge weight has just been thrown on us through training, citing all the roadblocks we're sure to encounter. Finally, a month into training we are realizing that it's not about chaning minds, it's about informing people to make the right decisions. We are tired, yet motivated, stressed, but excited, and we are anxious to get to site. Karibu Peace Corps Kenya.