The last week and a half since we've been back from Mombasa has been an interesting one for a number of reasons. In regards to the kitchen, we're finally making some real headway on the project! The water tank is finished complete with sink, our partition is in, the windows are being installed tomorrow, and the wiring should be finished in a matter of days. It feel so good to look in at our space and not just see an empty concrete room anymore! I think everyone here is reinvigorated by the progress that's been made and are now starting to see the final picture. Since the projects are wrapping up, Blake and I sat down with a member of the Muungano staff named Preston to see just how much had been spent so far from our budget. We we're expecting to be waayyy over budget due to a number of unforseen expenses that I will get to later. To our surprise, due to the fact that we didn't end up needing to put a chimney in and there were some bricks left over from another project at the school, we were a grand total of $12 Canadian over budget. Of course since then we've already had some more expenses as the projects are wrapping up, but I think all of the handling of the money for the kitchen space should be done by the end of the week with us coming in only minorly over budget- a huge relief!
Of course, this has not been smooth sailing! It seems almost every project we've done so far has given us some kind of trouble, but so far putting in the electricity has been the most aggravating from my perspective. We originally got the quote from the electrician about how much installing electricity would cost, including all materials and the electricity company's start up fee. This totaled 65,000 KSH or about $800 CAD. We then travelled with him and another staff member to Kakamega in order to drop off our electricity forms to the company and buy his supplies. One thing that has been frustrating for Blake and I lately is the stigma that comes with being a foreigner here- specifically that you must be very wealthy. It's hard to explain to people that we're students who are in debt and making no money this summer, therefore we do not have much extra to be spending outside of our own needs and the project, especially since I specifically have not received any grants or financial help from the school. This stigma seemed to follow us everywhere when we went into Kakamega! Sometimes even people who know us from the project expect that Blake and I will be paying for their needs out of pocket when we travel anywhere, which of course can become kind of awkward as Blake and I had not budgeted travel expenses for multiple people. While we are very understanding that even five dollars here means more to the people we are working with than it does to us, with all the trips we've had to take it's starting to add up. Even people on the mutatus will sometimes ask us to pay their fare and people on the streets will simply ask us for money when we say hello. Of course all this happened on our way to Kakamega and i was starting to miss being in Canada where I simply blend in by the time we reached the city. We then went to the electric company and were told that electricity would take about a month and a half to install- not ideal as we're only here for another 2 months. Isaac, the staff member we were traveling with, suggested that if we basically bribe the company that we could get it sooner. The idea of having to pay more money for someone to do their job was something Blake and I were not prepared to do, but as many people have said, this is the way things get done here in Africa, so we agreed to meet someone from the company back at the school in the afternoon to discuss the matter. We then headed to a hardware store to get the electrician's supplies. It turned out he had grossly underestimated the cost of wire and we ended up 20,000 KSH or about $250 CAD over budget! We called Louise and she approved this, so we bought the supplies and headed back to meet the people from the electric company. When we sat down with them they told us that in order for them to install the electricity quickly it would cost us an extra 40,000 KSH on top of the company's 38,000 KSH start up fee! After already having spent more money than planned that day both personally and on the project, I was ready to lose my temper at this obscene level of bribery required to get the job accomplished, and suspected that yet again the price had something to do with us being Canadians. We managed to keep our cool though, and politely told them that it was too much and we would have to figure out something else. Since then Charles has been able to talk to someone at the company and make sure our form is being processed and may have a few contacts he can use to get the job done a little faster WITHOUT paying extra.
After this hurdle things have calmed down a little and Louise was able to give us some good advice on dealing with the issue of money. Although unfortunately we simply do not have enough to be handing out money to everyone who needs it, Blake and I decided to make some Canadian-style food for Rose, our housekeeper who we adore, and Charles, our main business contact who graciously hosted us in Bungoma without asking for anything in return. We decided to make tuna pasta salad, a delicious vegetable quiche, and some rice pudding. It was so nice to have some food from back home and both Charles and Rose enjoyed it as well! We also sent some pasta and rice pudding home with Rose for her children who are adorable. We are hoping to hold another dinner later in the summer for the entire staff of the school, but we need some time to save up in order to buy all the food we would need.
Right now we are just waiting for the projects to be completed (minus electricity for the time being) so we can paint the room and start ordering our lab and kitchen supplies! We are also eagerly awaiting the arrival of more people to our little house, specifically Louise and her friend Marg in early July. More visitors will be arriving both in the middle of July and in August, so it looks like we have about 2 more weeks before our quiet house isn't so quiet anymore! It will definitely be nice to have some more people here! But for now we are carrying on as usual and doing what we can at the school. I will update you later as the project continues!
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