6th month: furaha!

Here comes the end of my deployment in Shianda.

More or less as when I was here in at the beginning, my feeling are mixed. This last month was unexpectedly difficult, also the same as the first month. It is like closing a cycle.

But if I have to summarize my current feelings in one word, I would say "furaha", which translated from Swahili means "joy". At the end of the day, I am happy about my experience here. It has been tough, but it gave me a lot. I learnt so much about this job in community development, thanks to the support of Mondo and Wefoco, but also of all the farmers with whom I was working.

Another thing that really made me "furaha" were my colleagues. First of all, their stories and expertise in their fields of work were an insipration to me. Secondly, they gave me unimaginable support along my entire deployment. I am so grateful to them for having been so present here for me. The same I can say for the others EUAVs deployed in Nairobi, wihch whom I also shared incredible moments and experiences.

Eugenie made us a South African dinner!

My sister and my brother-in-law came to visit, so we gave them an exeperience of traveling comfortably by tuktuk

After a few weeks of turmoil and concern for the organization my last activities, while the elections were making everything unstable and unpredictable, I finally came to calm down and find peace. I started my last activity in sustainable soil management with the community groups, but again elections problems came in. Today I went for some activity-related errands at the agro-vet shop in Shianda, and the seller told me that my order for 20 sacks of lime could not go thorugh because of the ruling of the Supreme Court over the presidential elections' result. All transport from and to Kisumu were blocked, in the await of further developments. Well, they did it with a good reason. The ruling turned out to be against the candidate supported by the Luo, the majority tribe in Kisumu. It seems to be some chaos down there right now, so I understand it was difficult to bring the loads for the day here.

Workshop on sustainable soil management indoors at Khaunga because of the rain.

Despite this, I was able to do my workshops with three community groups today! It was also an occasion to say goodbye, and I really appreciated how warmely they were thanking me for all the time we spent together and the activities that we made.

Workshop in Khunyiri. Norman volunteered to explain how to make compost with the pile method, giving me the opportunity to take a picture!

Now it is time to think about what to do next and where, but I see that Kenya is a place that will always remain with me. It is true I had some very bad time also, but the overall experience was priceless. Suffering some blue moments and malaria was worth it. 

Saying goodbye to this little one, who has been my Swahili teacher for so long! And her mum, who also gave me a class right before her

The local gym is something everyone should try

Finally, after almost six months, I decided to visit the famous crying stone! This is really something in Kakamega County

5th month: elections time

Since I arrived in Kenya in March, I have been witnessing campaigning activities all around Shianda and other towns. This commitment to elections reached the apex during the last month of August. The elections took place on Tuesday the 9th, and it was impossible to carry out any kind of activity during the days before and the days after. Everybody was just concerned about the elections and their results, nothing more. This was a big moment for Kenya. Because here elections take place every 5 years, and in one single day Kenyans vote for President, Members of Parliament, Senators, Woman Representatives, County Governor, and Members of the County Assembly.

A campaign sign in Nairobi

Now that the President has been declared, even if with some delay, we are back in the field! Unfortunately, Kakamega County, the County where Shianda is found, had some problems with its ballot papers for the Governor's election. This means that there is still one election to do, but no day has been announced yet. Until that time, I have the opportunity to go visit all the community groups and see how they are doing. The sukuma (African kale) in their vertical bags is growing strong, and some of them have already started collecting it. In one case, that of the initial demonstration bag, the seedlings have even been changed now to leave room for new crops: beans and spinach, reusing the same sack. I also had the opportunity to share some ideas for the new training I am organizing, and all members seemed to be excited, as they always are when talking about agriculture. It is always interesting to talk with them about the differences in crops and diet between Kenya and Italy. We do not have mangoes or avocadoes, but I tell them about oranges and grapes. The funniest thing is the surprise on their face every time I tell them that I also eat ugali in Italy, but it is yellow and it is called polenta! 

Making vertical bags with Wichelu (3rd August)

Break with bread and margarine after work in the field with Olungabes (4th August) 

Checking on Khunyiri Orphans' sukuma (19th August)

 I can say that things are going well, but I am almost at the end of this experience, and I am having mixed feelings. On one hand, I realize that very soon I will abandon this environment that I came to love. The vegetation of Shianda and the landscapes of Kenya are amazing, same for the food. On the other hand, now that my flight back to Italy is approaching, I miss home even more, and I just want to complete all my tasks here as soon as possible to go back.

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

3rd month: something is growing

I am at the halfway point now! Time flies and seeds are sprouting. I used to have many concerns about my work here, and what to do if my presence here was really necessary. Now I can start to see some results, and I can say I am satisfied. All groups are very committed to participating in agriculture activities. I have been visiting some of them, or just calling them when it was not possible to meet. They were all showing a lot of gratitude for being part of the training, and they were proud to show me their Sukuma nurseries or tell me about them. 

Here I can see the beauty of being a EUAV: achieving results with just a little financial investment, but all your energies and time. I feel lucky to be part of this all, to have come to learn so much about local agriculture and, above all, local people.  I am also lucky to be here with the best possible co-EUAV! June gave us the opportunity to double party in my garden. On the 2nd of June, we celebrated the Italian Republic, with a homemade tiramisù prepared by Lisa and me. It actually was a Kenyan version, since mascarpone is impossible to find here and raw eggs are not the best idea. Soooo, we used cashew nuts and coconut cream to mock the classic cream. It was not a real tiramisùm but I can say it was delicious. The second occasion to celebrate was given by my halfway point, on the 20th. I used some of my personal supply of Italian rice to make a risotto with local pumpkin and mushrooms. Chatting in the garden, and sharing our experience here, while enjoying food and some drinks is just the best evening you can imagine in Shianda.

2nd month in Shianda

My second month in Shianda has gone, and I can finally seem to have understood what my purpose here can be.

It has been quite hard at the beginning because I was not sure about what to do here, or how to be useful. However, I learned that ideas and their development just come naturally. 

I conducted a needs assessment, visiting twelve groups, and asking them about their activities. Once you see that farmers are struggling against the same problems, it becomes easier to find a possible solution. I decided to try to find a way to increase the number of vegetables they cultivate, tackling the two main constraints farmers usually face: lack of water and lack of land. 

What do we do when the space is horizontally limited? We go vertically! Growing crops in sacks will allow planting vegetables like kale, spinach, cabbage, tomato, and onions in a reduced space. Moreover, the bags can contain water better than the soil, which drains easily.

Avocado seedlings dying in a nursery due to lack of water (Khunyri Orphans group)

An example of vertical bag seen from the top

These days I am busy organizing training on this topic for around 40 smallholder farmers. On one hand, I like the idea that this activity may enable them to improve their diets when consuming these vegetables, or their income when selling them. On the other hand, this can also be kind of stressful and scary. 

Monthly meeting with the chair ladies of the community groups

When you find yourself in a place like Shianda, and you start paying visits to the groups, to the local people, in their houses, meeting their families, and you listen to them sharing their life with you, you see you are in the right position to do something to help. Coming from Europe, with all possible economic means but a Western mindset, gives you the impression that you really do not know what you are really doing out of your possibilities, nor what you could do to have an impact on the wellbeing of the local population. It seems hard to detect where people place the border between everyday normal challenges and life struggles. Some things are not seen as a real problem, but just like the normal way of life here.

Use of compost to fertilize the soil

A funny example is how we consider washing clothes by hand as something dated and an avoidable activity, while people here do not trust washing machines. They do not understand how we can rely on some technology incapable of detecting stains as the human eye is.

This is to say that finding solutions to many problems can be very hard due to cultural differences, as there are different ways of seeing and interpreting reality.

Visiting Wichelu group and one of their composting sites

I do not know if I really understood the community, how things work, and what people are expecting me to do for them, but at least I will give it a try with this new idea. My final aim is, of course, to have a real impact on the life of these people, at least on those of some members of each group. 

1st month in Shianda: karibu!

My first month out of six in this tiny village in Western Kenya has gone. Time has been passing at very different paces each day, according to my mood of the day.

Looking for a way to make coffee

Certainly I had expectations and ideas about how my life could have been here, but you can never really know until you find yourself experiencing it. On one hand, I adapted easily to the Shianda’s way of life, despite many small and big things Europeans like me are not used to. For what concerns housing, I got used to cook on a gas cylinder in absence of a stove (this is twice more difficult when you are Italian and need to make coffee with your moka), taking showers without any shower cubicle in the bathroom, washing my clothes and linens by hand since washing machines are an unnecessary luxury when electricity and water are subject to interruptions. I believe these interruptions would make any Western person seriously aware of the lucky part of the world they come from: not having access to tap water for days can be a real challenge. This means you have to collect water from “emergency” tanks in your garden and use this to wash your dishes and brush your teeth. If these instances sound extreme to you, be aware that this is actually the most comfortable lifestyle you can dream of in Kenyan countryside villages like Shianda.

Basins for hand washing

While adapting to this all accommodation condition has been surprisingly fast, on the other hand I had a hard time giving up some of my deep-rooted habits. While during the day you can go for a run, some shopping, lunch out, or just a walk without worrying, but even enjoying the sun and some friendly chitchat with the locals, the same cannot be said for the evening. You have to worry for two major things when the sun goes down around 7 p.m.: mosquitos and your own safety when out. Night mosquitos may carry malaria, therefore you get ready in time by closing doors and windows, spraying mosquito repellant and pulling down a net over your bed. This if you are home, as you often happen to be since going around during nighttime is not the wisest idea. This situation was very hard for me to accept. I am used to live in European cities where it is common to go out for dinner or to a club during the night, but such kinds of entertainment do not even exist in these small villages, and even if they did, it would be dangerous. Eventually, you find other ways to spend your time within your safe four walls and go to sleep at 10 p.m.

My writing may sound very miserable, but I find it interesting to share this totally different way of living, with both its difficulties and positive aspects. Of course, in the end, these last exceed the early. Mondo and Wefoco’s (Mondo’s local partner) work here is of great importance to the people of Shianda. Feeling part of the community while contributing to Wefoco’s mission is something of great value. 

Visiting the community groups of women who live in the surroundings of Shianda made me aware of how much they rely on our help to face the many challenges that mark their lives. Many women in this area decide to join together as a group in order to share their finances, land and knowledge to achieve goals they could never reach by themselves. For example, during the last few years these groups have been joining Mondo and Wefoco’s poultry project: they were given an initial number of chickens with the purpose of generating income through the selling of eggs or chicks born from those laid eggs.

I have been visiting some groups to ask them how this and other activities are going and which are the main challenges to them nowadays. They told me they are still practicing chicken farming, selling eggs and/or chicks to pay for children’s stationary or putting this money in a common fund for any emergency a member could face in future. At the same time, they asked for some advice on how to improve their yields. They are increasingly worried about droughts, pests and fertilizers prices. For what concerns the latest issue, they are trying to rely on their manure compost only, but for the other two there is little they can do. Irrigation is possible only in few cases when there is a water source nearby, while finding an affordable and effective pesticide for insects damaging the crops is not always simple.

13th April: visiting Msalaba Women Group 

My aim is to help these women and their groups find a successful and sustainable way to generate income through farming despite all these current problems. Developing consciousness towards the market functioning, to be more competitive, choose the best crops and agricultural practices for specific kind of soil, location, and weather conditions, together with animal farming, can bring to secure revenues and an improvement in the lives of these people.

13th April: visiting Msalaba Women Group 

No matter how life is different here, how some days can be harder than others, what really matters to me is feeling like we can go further by cooperating together, and witness the results of this team work. 

Msalaba Women Group's irrigation system powered by photovoltaic energy 

14th April: Esukura Women Group's poultry cage for the night