Exploring a New Town, Bungoma!

Hello everyone! As usual, so many things have happened since my last post! First of all, on Thursday we got to meet the women’s group that we will be working with this summer and who will ultimately be running the kitchen once we leave. They went around in a circle and told us exactly why they chose to be part of this project and what their hopes for the project are. To my knowledge I‘ve never met someone with HIV before, but in this group of about 20 or so, almost all of them were HIV positive. When you think that this is just a small group of women in a rural area of West Africa, the reality of HIV and AIDS in this part of the world starts to become clear. As each expressed their gratitude to us and WHE for coming, as well as their hopes that the project would be a success, it fired us up to really get things started and work past our roadblocks as quickly as possible! We then spent the rest of the day trying to find a suitable lab space for the project and exploring several options, all of which came up to a dead end. We finally met with a man in the community who is a lab technician at the Mbale hospital and the husband of one of the Muungano board members. He told us that there are no suitable labs for our project in the area, and that our best bet would be to set up our own private lab in the community. This seemed a bit time consuming and costly, so we decided to explore one last option in Kayamega at the Lake Victoria North Water Services Board, where Charles’s cousin works. Through that connection we were told we would be able to use the lab for a temporary period this summer while we got another, more permanent, lab established, as they only have a very small incubator that they use regularly and no skilled technicians, only water analysts. With that knowledge we emailed Bob back at WHE about the possibility of setting up a lab space in Kiritu and are still trying to work out the logistics of all this. We’re all hoping for the best!

As well, on Thursday, the public health department came by to check out the space for the kitchen and let us know exactly what would have to be done to get the space ready and approved. The list included putting in a chimney, painting, and fixing the windows as they currently only have bars and no windowpanes. We are in the process of getting this priced and then we will have to let Louise, the founder of the Muungano foundation and the school we’re working at, know the total cost. So far the list seems to be getting longer and longer, including electricity, running water, the fees for public health, and now the requirements for the kitchen. Hopefully Muungano will have the money for all this as they also have other projects on the go, including of course, maintaining the school! All in all, Blake and I are again in a position of waiting, which seems to happen a lot here in Kenya! But this was okay as Charles kindly took us to his apartment in Bungoma for the weekend to stay. We got to see the city a bit and then Charles said he would take us somewhere we could go swimming. I think both Blake and I were expecting some sort of swimming hole, but to our surprise he took us to an outdoor resort of sorts just down the road from his apartment, complete with swimming pool, bar, and small restaurant. Needless to say, this quickly became our favorite place and we returned the next day as well to swim and take in some sun!

Another benefit of staying with Charles was getting to learn more about his life. Charles has been our main contact for all things on this project as he is incredibly reliable and efficient. He is also one of the happiest people I have ever met! He is always smiling and laughing and nothing seems to get him down. At the end of the day when Blake and I sometimes get frustrated, feeling like were exploring so many options only to come up with nothing, Charles is always quick to point out that at least we’re getting somewhere, even if it means just ruling certain things out. Often times at his apartment when we get up for breakfast, Charles already has a roomful of people there talking to him. He wanted to explain to us exactly what was going on and why he has so many visitors, so he launched into an incredible life story. We knew that he was a pastor at a church here in Bungoma, which wasn’t surprising as almost everyone here attends some kind of church, but he told us that when he was younger he hated God and in his childhood and adolescence he lost many friends because if anyone even mentioned the word God he would get up, walk out, and never talk to them again. He said in school he was at the top of his class, very bright and enrolled in all sciences (in Africa this means you are very desirable and popular) and so he thought the Bible was just a story and that people only believed because they were stupid, and since he was educated if he could just teach people then they wouldn’t need the Bible anymore. As well, he had many health problems as a child and was finally diagnosed with a heart deformity that could not be fixed. The doctors gave him 2 months to live when he was about 20 years old. His father was very high in the Kenyan government and so often foreign visitors would be directed through him, meaning Charles got to meet lots of people from abroad. Around the time that he was told he would soon die, a man came from Japan and when he met Charles he told him that he could pray for him. At his point he had given up all hope, his family was mourning, and he was desperate. So he made a deal with the man. He wrote on a piece of paper that if the man prayed for him and he got better, then he would serve God, and if the man prayed for him and nothing changed then he would never entertain the thought of God again. He signed it and the man prayed. The next day Charles went to the doctor to get checked out and said he had a problem with his heart and was dying. The doctor was confused and asked him if he was crazy because he said Charles’s heart was healthy and strong. Of course Charles went to his father and got one of the top doctors to take a look at his heart as well, and to the doctor’s amazement his heart was completely healed. In that moment Charles decided to not only start serving God, but also to dedicate his life to helping others do the same. He moved to Bungoma where he knew nobody and opened a small church. He currently works for five different organizations from Monday to Thursday, then spends Friday to Sunday working at the church, counseling people in the community, and helping those in need. He gives all his good clothes to the poor and those deemed ‘crazy’, will feed those that are hungry even if it means him and his wife going without food, and wants to open a school for children who don’t have the money for education but show great potential. He says the key to his  success has been that he now lives with a code of transparency, faith, and love and will only befriend those that live the same way, avoiding the corruption and what he calls “self centeredness” that stop some people here from being truly trustworthy. He runs the church with the idea that some people will believe by faith and others, like himself, must witness miracles before they’ll believe. We got the opportunity to go to his church this morning, which is Evangelical, and witness what he was talking about in a service they call 'deliverance'. This was so different than a church service in Canada (although I haven't been to an Evangelical church there) and included people screaming and falling to the floor as they were being prayed for or healed! It was a little alarming and much different than I'm used to, but also great to experience the faith of another culture. Everyone there was so passionate about what they were doing!  

Charles told us that in Kenya there is so many churches yet so much corruption because people feel the need to only do for themselves and are unwilling to do for others, taking what's not theirs if it will benefit them and they can get away with it. He says that he thinks North America is so blessed because we give our time and money for others. This caught me off guard as I’m not so sure I believe that given how blessed we truly are in Canada, we do much with what we have been given. Maybe its because, unlike in Kenya where people will show up at your door asking for dinner, we are simply to lazy to go out and look for those in need. In Kenya, poverty is all around you; you simply have to walk out the door to find someone that could use your help, in fact picking just one person or one group to help is the hard part. In Canada we walk out into our neighborhoods where everyone is as well off as we are and can simply avoid those parts of town where people live below our standards. I know, at least in my own personal case, the real reason is that I, too, am self-centered, and that I want for myself. Whether it’s free time, money, or any numbers of things, ultimately I make the choice to ignore those in need in my own community for my own benefit. After hearing Charles’s story and the stories of all the people he’s helped, I can safely say I have never met anyone so inspired and truly good as Charles. The commitment and compassion he shows to his church, his community, and this yogurt project are truly a blessing to those around him and to us!! I don’t know how this project would succeed without him, and he has definitely made me think about what it means to be in a position in privilege. 

In one of the caves on the way down...sorry I'm so sweaty and gross!

The view from the top looking out at the rest of the mountain and down on the town

Lastly, today we got to go to a local mountain here in Bungoma! It wasn't that large, but it certainly took a lot of effort to climb! Rachel, Charles's housekeeper, took us and the piki piki drivers also came to the top with us, which was a good thing because I'm pretty sure they had to take me by the hand and drag me half the way up as it was steep and I was running out of steam! On our way up we met a group of local boys who said they would take us an easier way to the top where we could see some caves and monkeys, so we followed them around the mountain and up another way. We did manage to see a monkey, but he ducked behind the rock when he saw our cameras! When we finally got to the top we stopped to take some pictures and have a quick snack before heading back down and trying to beat the rain home. I got a few bumps and bruises, and I don't know if the grass stains on my shorts will come out, but it was definitely worth it as it was one of the coolest things we've got to do here in Kenya yet! I attached some pictures I took with my playbook, I have better ones on my camera that I'll add once I have a cord!