Today is the first of August, my last month here in Kenya.
The last two months have definitely been full of activities and events. I have lost count of how many financial trainings I have done with the groups that we work with at WEFOCO! That was definitely very rewarding; I surely hope that they put the teachings in practice. This allowed me to go even more around the area of Shianda, getting to know a few more places as I worked with a few new groups. Working with the beneficiaries of WEFOCO is rewarding and challenging at the same time. Different languages, ages, cultures and habits of learning. For sure, one of the most difficult challanges was teaching something new to older women, who have all the right of being used to do things their way for many years. Nonetheless, they showed interest and willingness to put into practice new learnings and habits to improve their current situations.
Adaptation is key! Having done most of these trainings at the group's houses, sometimes we did it outisde (better light and environment) sticking the papers on the walls to have somewhere to write, sometimes we had to rush in a small room to run away from the storms. The important thing is to enjoy the moments, which I am sure I will miss once I will move away from Shianda.
For June and July I had a great helper: David. He is a university student from Kisumu and he helped me with translation during our training sessions with the groups, his help was truly appreciated! Having the additional struggle of some people not knowing English, some only speaking Luhya (the local language), David really helped out with making sure that they understood the concepts that we were discussing and that they were active and participating.
Recently, I also had the chance to give financial training to a school nearby Shianda (more were planned but some technicalities got in the way). It was very nice to host a session with both the teachers of the school and the students. Unfortunately all the schools are closed now, so I am not sure if I will be able to have more school sessions before leaving. During our first visit at Ahong'injo school I had promised to play a football game with the students once we would go back. So, the following week I kept my promise and had a fun game! Everybody asked me to sponsor their team, to open a football academy and to find them teams in Italy. Unfortunately I cannot do that, but if some of the readers are interested to help, please reach out!
Last week, Emma, Valery and I went for a long weekend trip to Lake Turkana. I had seen it on my lonely planet guide and seemed truly a fascinating place to visits, with its Central Island having three different lakes (so, a lake, with an island, with lakes inside, pretty cool in my opinion!). The journey there was a big adventure: many matatus, a lot of time, sleeping in random guesthouses with crazy heat during the night a night motorboat ride on the lake with the rain all around us (but not on us!) the island was definitely worth the hustle.
In Kitale, we met up with a guy I had casually met in Nairobi several months ago. That day we had to wait for hours for our buses: I was travelling back to Shianda and he was going to Kitale. We had exchanged numbers and the other day we met up and the four of us went to Kitum Cave in Mount Elgon National Park, supposedly the elephants go there to consume salt, necessary for their health.
I will make sure to enjoy all the small things of this last month, and to write a final blog post to conclude my journey here in Shianda!
Mattia
