IT'S NICE TO BE AN EUAV

 

Through this program we are given the opportunity to develop and implement small sustainable projects.

Like the many bricks that are used to build a house.

We live in the community, with the community. Constantly, through communication and active listening, we try to understand what the needs are.

It is a job that requires attention, patience and time. A lot of time.

It is a job that pays off with much, much satisfaction.

A practical example of this is the "Assessment Day" for children with disabilities held in Shianda, during which 67 children with disabilities have been assessed, many institutions have been involved, an entire community has been informed and trained.

After the visits to the groups, the participation in the Group meetings, the questions and the processing of all the information, a day dedicated entirely to children with disabilities was realized.

The beginning of a training for the community came to life.

Working all together we will acquire awareness of the “Opportunities for people with disabilities”; creating solid social networks, with the aim of guaranteeing everyone assistance in the social, educational and health fields.

Special thanks to the many experts of the area who attended this day and to the groups of volunteers. 

It's much more than a group of colleagues, it's a group of friends.

Community is energy.

4th month: clock is ticking

Today I celebrate my 4th month in Shianda! Things have changed so much since I arrived here. I remember being scared and unsatisfied during my first month, worried that my job here would not have taken off, but I was wrong.Now I find myself being so busy keeping up with all the activities. I spend my days going around Shianda to check on the groups. They often call me to ask me to come and see their seedlings, or to make vertical bags together. I feel so grateful at the end of the day, after seeing how they appreciate the activities I have been implementing with Mondo and WEFOCO.

Mixing soil and manure with Esukura, Emusirasire and Bumini groups

Collecting stones for the vertical bag

Vertical bag in the making

The time I have left in Kenya is now less than I spent here. I am starting to realize that I will be gone very soon. On one side I am sad about it because working in agriculture requires time, and I probably won't have enough time to collect data on the impact of the project on vertical bags, nor on the new one, I am planning for August. However, I see that the groups are capable of managing by themselves and are committed to applying new skills and technologies to their work in the fields. I guess I will just try to enjoy most of the time I have left, working hard with the groups, making sure they will continue like this.

Jackfruit: the biggest existing fruit

Monthly meeting with some of the chairladies and secretaries

Separating maize seeds from the husk

"NICE TO MEET YOU"

"NICE TO MEET YOU"

Ready, set, go. Let's get to know the Shianda community.

I waited a long time to start telling again precisely because I didn't want to take time away from this process. I have dedicated myself to it with body and mind.

So many emotions have crossed me in recent months that it is not easy to summarize.

It was months of phone calls and appointments.it was miles of walking and boda boda.it was landscapes that changed before my eyes..it was cornfields, expanses of bright green grass, banana trees, palm trees..It was dirt roads, holes, puddles, sun and rain..it was animals, flowers, colors, scents..but above all, it was PEOPLE.

  

I began in my role as a volunteer by moving far and wide in the extensive territory of Shianda. I went to meet the beneficiaries of the projects and introduced myself to them. In fact, due to the pandemic, many of the activities have been suspended, including those of the project I am dealing with, concerning the issue of disability. This means: no volunteers in the field for a long time. As often happens, As I told in my previous post, in this time people "have waited".

What I found in common in all the groups was the enthusiasm. The joy with which they welcomed me was overwhelming. I believe that this enthusiasm is a recognition of the work that MONDO and WEFOCO have been doing for years in Shianda. A beautiful message from the local community.

 

   

    

Introduce myself, see people's faces, listen to stories, discuss difficulties, challenges, desires ... in a mix of languages, given by English, Swahili and Luhia, and in a mix of sounds, given by cows grazing in the gardens or the chickens that flutter inside the houses .. it was very exciting.

The knowledge was a great window into life here. Community is life.

NICE TO MEET YOU SHIANDA, THANK YOU FOR THE WELCOME!

Challenges force me to be creative...

 

Habari (Kiswahili way to greet), my name is Eugenie Probst and one month ago I came as a Junior EU Aid Volunteer for psychosocial and organisational support to work with Wefoco (Western Focus Community Organisation) in Shianda, Western Kenya.

 

Besides our apartments at sunset

 

The first month was full of new experiences and went by very fast… and I feel like I have been living in Shianda for a long time already. I enjoy the nature around! My surroundings are not full of buildings – like in Germany – but full of trees, grass and crops, as nearly everyone around Shianda uses land to grow vegetables and fruits. I also love the fresh fruits like bananas, mangos, and papayas, which they sell at the market and which taste here so much better than back home. Somehow, I even like the “slow” lifestyle. Everyone is busy, but not in a rush. Of course, sometimes I start to be impatient when waiting for participants arriving to meetings one hour later, but at the same time I admire the patience and ease of the people. 

 

 

Dance teacher and students after practice

 

 

Gym at Shianda

It took me only 2 weeks to find my comfort place in Shianda… the local gym, filled with self-made training-accessories and lots of sport-loving and welcoming visitors. That is where I found people to dance with and as dancing makes me happy, this place with its people makes me happy, too.

 

 

 

 

 

Two of the apartments for the volunteers

 

However, there were of course also challenges in adapting to the new environment. For example, getting used to washing clothes by hand, which I am really bad in as my clothes seem to be dirty all the time (but at least they smell good because of the washing powder). Or to figure out how to shower with a basin and a plastic bottle, which in the end, is more convenient than it sounds…  (and even more environmental friendly due to less water usage)… I do not even miss the shower anymore! Somehow, all challenges force me to be creative and this is the part I enjoy. For example, it made me giddy when I was able to steam my own wholewheat bread and a banana chocolate cake in a self-made “steam-oven” with the pots I found in my kitchen.

Self-made steam oven

 

 

 

 

 

If it comes to work, I have to be creative, too. My work focuses on the area of guidance and counselling (g+c). As a social worker with additional counselling education, I am supposed to develop and conduct trainings on basic counselling skills for different groups in the communities. 

 

One of those groups are the g+c teachers at the 28 Secondary Schools around Shianda. While working with previous volunteers on gender-related topics at the schools the g+c teachers voiced that they have a need for counselling training as many of them were assigned to be g+c teachers without educational background in counselling. Following this request my EUAV position was opened. 

 

For me this is a very interesting project, as I see talking about problems and emotions as an essential process to maintain mental health. Doing lots voluntary work with youngsters before I see especially a huge value for the youth on their way to adolescence to have the opportunity to talk to adults which can listen and guide them to cope with daily-life and emotional problems and to form their personality. 

 

In my first month I spent lots of time talking to local actors in the area of psychology and social work about counselling to understand its context in Kenya. All the people I have met have been amazingly welcoming and helpful. They made themselves available to share their knowledge and experience with me to make me better understand the perception and local value of counselling. 

 

Counselling is not yet fully established in Kenya, but – as I learned – becomes more and more valued and important. I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the awareness about counselling and mental health, especially in the rural communities in Kenya. 

 

Besides that, I started to work with the gender-based violence (gbv) ambassadors, trained by WEFOCO in a project of previous EUAVs. Since their training on gbv last year they have been doing valuable work in Shianda to raise awareness on this topic and support community members affected by gbv. They also expressed interest in a counselling training as it is important for their gbv-related work. However, they also voiced demand to learn more about counselling of youth. Together we decided on the topics that should be covered in their counselling training. The outline of the 3-day-seminar is ready to be filled with life and the training will be hopefully conducted in the end of July or beginning of August. 

 

Sometimes I feel like my work is not progressing fast enough. I have still a long way to go to reach my goals and train local community volunteers, the g+c teachers, and – hopefully – create a training of trainers. At the same time, I know that I have to be patient AND that I need the time to observe and understand the local context to be able to develop appropriate counselling trainings. I am motivated to do so!

 

WEFOCO's gender-based violence ambassadors