Oktoober

Täna 19 oktoobril algab minu viimane kuu Shiandas. Homme 20 oktoobril on Mashujaa ehk Kangelaste päev, neile, kes võitlesid Keenia vabaduse eest.
Praegu on meid Shiandas seitse vabatahtlikku. Piltidel oleme õhtusöögil Wefoco direktori Estheri juures, õhtusöök kujunes meeleolukaks koosviibimiseks vaatamata vihmasajule.
Ilm on muutunud, kui varem hakkas sadu kella 5-6 paiku õhtul, siis viimasel nädalal on sadu alanud isegi kell 1 päeval, ühel korral sadas õhtust hommikuni ja seda märkisid ka kohalikud ära.
Oktoobrikuu põhisündmuseks on olnud Mondo uute toetuslaste valimine ja mõõtude võtmine koolivormide õmblemiseks.
Kui me augustis lastega Kisumus käisime, siis lisaks sellele, et lapsed olid väga vaiksed, tundusid osad lapsed minu meelest ka liiga kõhnad.
Mikrofinantseeringu toel sai poodi muretsetud kaal ja kohandatud ka pikkuse mõõtmise koht.
Kehamassiindeksi - BMI arvutamise tulemused on kahel järgneval pildil:

Kokku on tänavu alatoitlusega tugiprogrammi lapsi 12, neist 9 poissi ja 3 tüdrukut.
Oktoobri kuu jooksul toimub veel järgmisel nädalal tikkimiskoolituse II osa ja Novembri pookimisnädala ajakava ning kohtade kinnitamine.

Esimesel pildil puhkehetk Chenda-Kalas kus käisin poogitavate puude arvu täpsustamas ja teisel pildil minu enda aiandus- loodan, et vähemalt 2 avokaadot/mangot saavutavad pookmiseks vajaliku suuruse ning jäävad siia mõnesse gruppi suurt saaki andma :-)

Selle rahuliku tugeva kohaliku looma pildiga tundub sobilik see postitus lõpetada. Asjad edenevad aeglaselt kuid kindlalt ja minu viimane tegevus siin enne ärasõitu saab olema seotud maaga ja naistegruppide tuleviku parendamisega parendatud puude näol.
Puid saab olema 100.
Umbes nagu Eesti 100 :-)
Ikka kurb on, et see aeg siin nii kiiresti on läinud, no alles ma ju tulin...
Tervitustega,
Ester

256 days on the field

Dear volunteer,

of course every experience is different and every volunteer is someone with his or her own personality. But somehow, my experience shows that there are some qualities, which are familiar to each volunteer. For example, joking, all the volunteers I’ve met like to joke and laugh! What an important quality to have. And of course caring! We do care immensely about our job and the people and the organisations we work with. Even though we are put off sometimes we still try to push on through, showing persistance and strength. Finding reasons and solutions and not losing the motivations is a challenge which is very common in a volunteer life. And we do it!

So, here’s to volunteers! “It is what it is” ;) :)

My first month in Shianda village

Habari zenu? How are you all?

After my first month in Shianda, a rural area in Western Kenya, I would love to share with you some of my feelings and experiences J  let me introduce myself first!

My name is Inma Ortiz, I’m 28 years old and I was born in a village of Cordoba, in the south of Spain. I studied Psychology and later on International Development and I specialized on gender issues. I have been in the field before in Kenya and Tanzania that’s why I’m so happy to be back in these amazing lands.

As an EU Aid Volunteer, my duty here is to start a gender project, together with my colleague Marion, mostly advocating for gender equality and raising awareness to prevent violence against women and girls. This first month we have been meeting the WEFOCO team, different schools and groups, sharing, observing and doing some sort of needs assessments with the different collectives we will work with.  The identification of the needs it is really useful and crucial before starting any project, especially when the context is new. So…let us start the action properly and then we will share how it goes!

For now, I would love to share how it actually is to live in Shianda for me. Before coming I was living in a city and I was really tired of it, looking forward to live in a more peaceful and natural environment.  And…here I am!! :D I find my life here simple and humble, a way more sustainable and respectful with the Earth. What do I mean? Let me share some examples…

At home, we do not have running water so we have a water tank outside and we collect water from the tank with a bucket to take it inside, for shower, toilet, kitchen…everything! The truth is you get used to it very quickly and, at the same time, it makes you aware of the water amount you use, you become more careful. With my flatmate Andreia, we are reusing the water in all the ways we can to not waste it. During late afternoon and evenings it usually rain, what do we do apart from enjoying the fresh air? We collect the rain water.

What about eating? We get our veggies and fruits every two-three days from the market, it means we eat fresh food, then the waste becomes compost and/or food for the chickens we have in our garden, a beautiful cycle isn’t it? Legumes, rice, pasta, oil, soap…most of the things we need we find them in the local market as well. When avoiding supermarkets, apart from supporting small businesses you are avoiding plastic waste, in fact, I’m producing so little non-organic waste. In Shianda , there is not a waste management system so people just burn the trash; as an alternative, Andreia and I always think if it can be reused and we usually find what do with it- it boost your creativity!

Apart from these pieces of my daily life, I’m connecting with nature more, it cycles, understanding we are nature too and we should learn to live all together, in harmony.

Life is simple, the reality is that we do not need so much; we just need to value the ones we have and give thanks every day.  Let’s be conscious, every change starts with you!

Beautiful sunsent from home

Collecting rain water

Creative fruit platters

Creative furniture

Creative furniture

Trying to grow avocados

Chickens enjoying our organic waste