Kanyagwal

What follows is the half term report I submitted to my supervisor.

Kanyagwal High School is located in Kanyagwal Location, Kisumu East District, Nyanza Province. The school is located in an open field off a dirt road next to a grove of eucalyptus trees. The school consists of 4 classrooms, arranged in a row, with offices and a walkway between Forms 2 and 3. There are currently 8 faculty, including the principal and deputy principal. Also there is a clerk, secretary, 2 cooks, 2 watchmen, and a variety of temporary workers. The school numbers 180 students with more Form 1s still expected to arrive.

The region of Kano plains, where Kanyagwal is located, is a wetland area. Nearby Lake Victoria provides an abundance of water to support rice farming, and various other forms of agriculture. I have observed sugarcane, maize, cassava, kale, mangoes, bananas, coconuts, tomatoes, and potatoes. Really, they grow just about everything. Food scarcity is not one of the primary concerns of the community, nor is water shortage under non-drought conditions. Lake Victoria also services a large fishing community, who enter the lake through small streams, normally overgrown with papyrus and hyacinth.

The students are drawn from the area surrounding the market of Riat, most from within 3 km of the school. Most students walk, but some have bicycles. Bikes are the main form of transportation here. It is between 30-45 minutes to bike to Ahero, but most teacher living there use motorcycles to commute. On Tuesdays there is market day in Ahero, and matatus run the route to Riat. From Ahero, it is about a 25 minute matatu ride to Kisumu.

My house is located about 1 km from the school, in a family compound. The house is comfortable, except for the heat and mosquitoes that are impossible to avoid. There is no electricity, but I am able to charge batteries thanks to solar panels on the roof of the compound’s main house. The choo and bathing area are both very functional. Water is no problem to access. My only gripe is that my mattress sucks, but I may splurge on a comfy one.

The region has a high prevalence of HIV. I am aware of some of my students who are infected, also that some of the girls are mothers, even a few Form 1s. The school has no explicit Life Skills curriculum, but I have attempted to incorporate some sex education into my lessons. I am not alone. Various community groups periodically visit the school, including the VCT, which provided confidential testing. People seem to know about HIV, it has affected most of their lives, but few volunteer information. I have discussed the issue a little with some of my colleagues.

Currently I am teaching well over my limit. I am scheduled for 32 lessons a week, 4 Forms of Biology, 3 Forms and Physics. I know the principal has requested the TSC provide a new teacher, but the government is slow and money’s tight. I cope by not actually attending all my lessons (indeed, 6 of them have scheduling conflicts). I make it my goal to attend each Form at least once a day, so I probably go to between 20-25 lessons. I am aware that this is not ideal, but everything is going fine. After all, it’s quality not quantity, and I feel that at least my notes are good.

The prospect for secondary projects is good, as the school needs just about everything. Currently they are digging a well so that we don’t rely on deliveries of water. After that there is need for latrines, a structure for the cooks, the construction of a lab and completion of the fifth classroom, which ran into financial difficulties. My first effort will be forming an environmental club, mainly to plant trees. The eucalyptus grows well here, as the region is a flood plain. I have made contact with a Professor Barrack Okeyo, of environmental science at Moi University in Eldoret. He will be assisting me in securing some seedlings from the Ministry of Forestry.

I find I am in good company. I like my fellow teachers, and have appreciated the support of Mr. Nandi and Mr. Omondi in particular. They cane the students, but we’ll work on that. The principal seems like an honest man, which is an improvement over the former headmaster, Mr. Oginga, who was transferred due to embezzling Ksh 2.5m, which is largely the reason for the school’s financial woes. The deputy is a good-hearted fellow. And the students are mostly polite and respectful. I get them laughing, so all is well. The rest of the community is somewhat a mystery to me, but I have made a few friends. One is particular named Clarkson has been very welcoming. And the mama of my compound, Doris, is a reliable and interesting woman. And otherwise, people are friendly. I see lots of smiles, so there is clearly some good to be had around here.

The First Week

I am seated in near darkness. The only light eminates from the LED of my iPod speaker, and the display off this sweet smartphone which I bought in Kisumu. Ahh, that glorious city. I spent the weekend there with some other volunteers. Staying in cheap hotels and drinking like a freshman. I am happy in the knowledge that there is an escape should I require it.

Hard to imagine that it is only 20 clicks away, I haven't even left the district! And yet my town is without electricity, roads, adequate water or sanitation, and the people live in houses made of mud. The frontier of development as it were.

The closest big town is Ahero, located on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway, 10 km from Lake Victoria. The power ends after kilometer 5, and my town is at kilometer 7. The surrounding area is floodplains and bush, so lots of rice growing and mosquitoes.

And the school! Ah, the school. I think I shall grow to love it with time. It's quite small, about 200 students. Eight teachers, including myself, the principal and deputy principal. There were nine, but the Biology teacher skipped town last week. So who is making up the difference? You guessed it, the Dom. It's fine for the moment, as the form 1 students have yet to arrive. But once they do it will be hell. They keep telling me they are going to get somebody, but I grow more skeptical by the day. But oh well, whatever comes. And my co-teachers are cool as shit. (I went drinking with the religion teacher yesterday). The students are fine. Half the time they are mocking me, but the other half they are rapt with attention. I think a few of them may even escape this places.

So yeah, in summary, this phone is awesome. Samsung B7320. Tell your freinds. G'night.

BZZZZ EEE-ERN... CONNECTION REESTABLISHED

THE INTERNET. IT EXISTS!!!!

Joyous this day is, now that I am reconnected to the world. I apologize to all of you who were hoping for some regular updates to this blog, alas I have failed to connect these last few months. The trouble wasn't that there is a lack of Internet (indeed there is a nationwide EDGE network in Kenya). The problem was that being me, I just had to upgrade to the latest Mac OS, Snow Leopard, which was incompatible with the driver for this internet dongle thingie. As you might have guessed, tech support is a bit lacking in Kenya, so to upgrade the driver I had to wait until I returned to Nairobi, which is where I am currently writing from.

So what's going on? It's been an eventful 2 months of training, which is now over. A pair of my trousers were stolen off the clothesline. I may have visited Tanzania accidentally (there was some confusion over where exactly the border is). I have eaten a bunch of odd parts of a goat, including the liver, intestines and stomach lining. I have toured an AIDS clinic in a truckers town (you can imagine what kind of business the locals engage in). My entire group has passed our language proficiency test, so we are all allowed to remain in Kenya (a Peace Corps Kenya first, I am told). And I have had altogether too little to drink.

Tomorrow is our swearing in ceremony, which will be held at the US ambassadors residence, on account of it being the 45th anniversary of Peace Corps Kenya. The Kenyan Minister of Education has been invited, but I doubt he will show (I'm afraid I can't elaborate, as I'm sure it would violate some kind of contractual bit about not commenting on politics, but read the news if you are interested. And then on Thursday it's off to site, and next week I begin teaching science (the new Missionary position, as it were).

So where is I going? The village is called Riat, it's next to the town of Ahero, near the city of Kisumu, in Nyanza province. Apparently I will be living about 4 km away from Lake Victoria, so I expect a fishy sort of diet. The climate is hot... and humid... and altogether uncomfortable. Lots of mosquitoes, which means lots of malaria. And lots of HIV, a cozy 15.3% adult infection rate! Fun stuff. I'm psyched.

Oh yeah, It's the same area where Obama senior was from, the Luo tribe. I've been trying to shift gears and forget my Kiswahili to make room for DhoLou. But it sucks spending two months on a language only to have to start with a brand new one (they aren't even in the same language family). No point bitching I suppose. Wish me luck!