Today I was emailed by one of my friends at Duke asking me what I thought about my DukeEngage program and whether or not I would recommend it. I was surprised by just how quickly I responded saying yes.
I have been back from Kenya for almost two months now. I have been reluctant to write my final blog post due to laziness, tiredness, and the fact that I was home for summer. But also, I felt as though I needed time to process—to see how much I would learn from the experience and evaluate how it affected me.
While I was in Kenya, I told my dad that I am a changed woman. He laughed. Now that I am back, I realize that I am still the same old Alexis. Before I stayed in Kenya, I also went with the very idyllic hope that I would be changing the world, making a huge difference. But Kenya is still Kenya.
I realize now that no one can simply “change the world.” I did not make a huge difference in the hospital I was working at. Volunteers like me come and go every year. What is important is the small changes you make, the people you meet, and the little things you take from it. Although I did not cure AIDS, I did help to create a VCT center at my hospital for more people to be tested for HIV. Although I am not a changed woman, I do know more about another side of the world.
I will always remember certain things about my stay in Kenya:
-drinking tea at all times of the day
-little kids screaming “how are you? how are you?”
-being a mzungu
-the sticky mud roads
-the squished matatus
-all the fried foods (at least I know how to cook Kenyan food now!)
-the lack of running water
-the pit latrines
-my strategy to wash myself in a bucket shower
-ugali (the staple food)
-being on “african time”
-my lovely princess mosquito net
-doing laundry while showering
-all the skirts I had to wear
-the incompetent electricity
-the VCT opening (over 100 patients tested!)
-my going away party at the hospital with lots of dancing and singing
-being given a live chicken to take on the plane
-my welcoming homestay family
-the friends I made at the hospital
-the friends I made at the FSD office
-the friends I made with other interns
-and all the experiences I had at the hospital, at home, with friends, and while traveling
Although the world is not changed and I am not changed, there will always be things that stick with me. I have learned that development takes time and that there is no easy solution to the problems that face the world. And that even though America and Kenya are two completely different countries, we are all one and the same.
Tuesday 20 September 2011
Wednesday 20 July 2011
VCT Grand Opening
Tomorrow will be the grand opening of the VCT as well as my goodbye party at Shibwe! We have advertised the official opening throughout the village and expect many to come. The hospital has even invited church members to pray for the VCT and sing for my farewell. Plus, they want me to give a speech and cut the opening ribbon. I have been planning this day all week, moving boxes to clear out the Nurses’ Office, painting the walls, putting up flyers, etc. We even have a Plan B in case too many people show up to be tested. (We will be opening other rooms in the hospital for counseling.) Wish us luck tomorrow!
Tomorrow will also be my last day with my host family. In the evening, I will be staying at Sheywe Guest House, and waking up early for my flight from Kisumu to Nairobi where I will have a convenient 12-hour layover to explore Nairobi. And then off to Amsterdam and finally Los Angeles. I CANNOT believe how quickly the time has gone by! I will write my final post at home. But for now, I have a lot left to do – a grand opening and a million goodbyes.
PS. I have a total of 15 mosquito bites…on my left foot. Thank god I am taking antimalarials!
Tomorrow will also be my last day with my host family. In the evening, I will be staying at Sheywe Guest House, and waking up early for my flight from Kisumu to Nairobi where I will have a convenient 12-hour layover to explore Nairobi. And then off to Amsterdam and finally Los Angeles. I CANNOT believe how quickly the time has gone by! I will write my final post at home. But for now, I have a lot left to do – a grand opening and a million goodbyes.
PS. I have a total of 15 mosquito bites…on my left foot. Thank god I am taking antimalarials!
Wednesday 13 July 2011
Masai Mara
This past weekend eight interns decided to visit Masai Mara – the national park most famous in Kenya. The trip consisted of:
-My bus getting stuck in the mud and slipping off the road because of the rain. I then trekked in the mud all the way to the closest market where I would find a motorcycle to take me into Kakamega Town.
- 2 14-hour bus rides to Masai Mara and back
- 3 –day safari
- Stepping foot into Tanzania
- The viewing of many lions, giraffes, zebra, cheetah, and the migration of the wildebeests
Masai Mara is also known for being home to the Masai tribe. The tribe is famous throughout Kenya for being the more stereotypical and traditional “African tribe.” They live in a very remote and rural village in south Kenya, dress in robes, pierce HUGE holes into their ears, and have dancing ceremonies and traditions, such as killing a lion once a year.
For a small fee, one of the Masai villages near our campsite let us visit them. They performed one of their dances, showed us how to make fire without matches, and took us into their mud huts. Here is the Masai during their jumping competition:
and them teaching me how to make fire using sticks:
The culture of the tribe seems to be dying, though, because many of the children are now being sent to government-run schools in which they are forced to wear uniforms and are not allowed any piercings.
On my way home, I was again stopped by the rain and mud and was unable to use the road back to my village. I therefore stayed at Matthew’s house (a Duke student) for the night. For the first time, I went to the bathroom in a bucket in my room because it was apparently too cold to go outside. Always experiencing something new in Kenya!
I have officially started my project as of Monday. The fundi (carpenter) has already built the partition and doors, and today we began to paint the rooms!
On a sidenote: Last week, Kenya's Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (with help from USAID) began a national campaign to distribute 11 million mosquito nets to combat malaria. Shibwe was the location to distribute the nets throughout my village, so last week I helped the hospital accomplish this.
One of the workers at Shibwe took pictures of the mass distribution. So here are pictures of me distributing the nets, sitting with the matron (head nurse), and posing with the district officer:
-My bus getting stuck in the mud and slipping off the road because of the rain. I then trekked in the mud all the way to the closest market where I would find a motorcycle to take me into Kakamega Town.
- 2 14-hour bus rides to Masai Mara and back
- 3 –day safari
- Stepping foot into Tanzania
- The viewing of many lions, giraffes, zebra, cheetah, and the migration of the wildebeests
Masai Mara is also known for being home to the Masai tribe. The tribe is famous throughout Kenya for being the more stereotypical and traditional “African tribe.” They live in a very remote and rural village in south Kenya, dress in robes, pierce HUGE holes into their ears, and have dancing ceremonies and traditions, such as killing a lion once a year.
For a small fee, one of the Masai villages near our campsite let us visit them. They performed one of their dances, showed us how to make fire without matches, and took us into their mud huts. Here is the Masai during their jumping competition:
and them teaching me how to make fire using sticks:
The culture of the tribe seems to be dying, though, because many of the children are now being sent to government-run schools in which they are forced to wear uniforms and are not allowed any piercings.
On my way home, I was again stopped by the rain and mud and was unable to use the road back to my village. I therefore stayed at Matthew’s house (a Duke student) for the night. For the first time, I went to the bathroom in a bucket in my room because it was apparently too cold to go outside. Always experiencing something new in Kenya!
I have officially started my project as of Monday. The fundi (carpenter) has already built the partition and doors, and today we began to paint the rooms!
On a sidenote: Last week, Kenya's Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (with help from USAID) began a national campaign to distribute 11 million mosquito nets to combat malaria. Shibwe was the location to distribute the nets throughout my village, so last week I helped the hospital accomplish this.
One of the workers at Shibwe took pictures of the mass distribution. So here are pictures of me distributing the nets, sitting with the matron (head nurse), and posing with the district officer:
Wednesday 6 July 2011
Thank You! Thank You!
I apologize for the delay on the fundraising update – the internet has been down for the last couple days.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED!!!! The fundraising came to a total of $1100!! I am so grateful for all the contributions that have been made and for all the generosity! The funds will be making (what I hope to be) a huge difference at Shibwe Sub-District Hospital and for the people of Kakamega. Thank you, thank you!
In other news:
- Went on FSD’s ‘midterm retreat’ this past weekend with all 16 interns. We hiked to Crater Lake on Friday, and on Saturday biked 30 km in Hell’s Gate Park to a beautiful gourge. The weekend ended Saturday night with MILLIONS of Siafu ants invading our campsite (we were camping outdoors in two-person tents). The ants completely covered the tents that you could not even see the zipper! These ants are only found in East Africa and look almost like scorpions. They bite people by sticking their entire head into your skin and must be pulled out. (I did not get bit because I was perfectly happy to leave my stuff in the tent overnight.) It was GROSS. Needless to say, we slept elsewhere for the night.
- South Sudan is soon to be the newest country in Africa on Saturday, July 9!! Exciting news here (one of the interns is even courageously taking a matatu all the way to Sudan to be there on Saturday!).
Here is a picture of the group in front of Crater Lake and a picture of the gourge:
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED!!!! The fundraising came to a total of $1100!! I am so grateful for all the contributions that have been made and for all the generosity! The funds will be making (what I hope to be) a huge difference at Shibwe Sub-District Hospital and for the people of Kakamega. Thank you, thank you!
In other news:
- Went on FSD’s ‘midterm retreat’ this past weekend with all 16 interns. We hiked to Crater Lake on Friday, and on Saturday biked 30 km in Hell’s Gate Park to a beautiful gourge. The weekend ended Saturday night with MILLIONS of Siafu ants invading our campsite (we were camping outdoors in two-person tents). The ants completely covered the tents that you could not even see the zipper! These ants are only found in East Africa and look almost like scorpions. They bite people by sticking their entire head into your skin and must be pulled out. (I did not get bit because I was perfectly happy to leave my stuff in the tent overnight.) It was GROSS. Needless to say, we slept elsewhere for the night.
- South Sudan is soon to be the newest country in Africa on Saturday, July 9!! Exciting news here (one of the interns is even courageously taking a matatu all the way to Sudan to be there on Saturday!).
Here is a picture of the group in front of Crater Lake and a picture of the gourge:
Thursday 30 June 2011
Fundraising Website
The Foundation for Sustainable Development has just added my project to its website! Check it out: http://www.fsdinternational.org/donate/projects/LeVee
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Fundraising Approval
My project to make a VCT center and a second Consultation Room at Shibwe Sub-District Hospital has finally been approved and is ready for fundraising! You can donate by copying and pasting this link into your browser: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=M9SBCNKUSC3ZL or by clicking on this button below:
Donations can also be made by check payable to Foundation for Sustainable Development and addressed to me at my home in California: 1231 3rd Street, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266. Please write “Alexis LeVee, Kenya” on the memo line.
Donations will be received until July 4, 2011 and are tax-deductable.
Thank you so much for your support!!
Donations can also be made by check payable to Foundation for Sustainable Development and addressed to me at my home in California: 1231 3rd Street, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266. Please write “Alexis LeVee, Kenya” on the memo line.
Donations will be received until July 4, 2011 and are tax-deductable.
Thank you so much for your support!!
Monday 27 June 2011
Lake Nakuru
This past weekend I went to Lake Nakuru and it was one of the most exciting, frustrating, and scary experiences yet. Lake Nakuru is the fourth largest city in Kenya and famous for its national park. I found out about it from my aunt Jody (shoutout!) who emailed me an article about what is said to be one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.
Many of the decisions we made this past weekend were not the smartest. For example, the nine of us interns decided to take a 4 ½ hour matatu ride at 6 PM on a Friday night. This was against the wishes of our supervisor who warned us that nine mzungus travelling at night to Nakuru was highly dangerous. Instead of taking his advice, we signed a contract giving away any responsibility of FSD.
We arrived at our hotel safe and sound despite the comments throughout the drive to remind us that “this is how NGO workers die.” However, when we got there, the hotel kindly gave away our rooms (Good luck: 0; Bad luck: 1). Fortunately, another Kenyan was also searching for a hotel at midnight, and as it turned out works at Lake Nakuru National Park and knew much about the city (Good luck: 1; Bad luck: 1). He led us to a hotel that was much cheaper and safer than the first – only in Kenya can you find a hotel room for $6 a night! It is even cheaper when splitting it between four people. Even though the pit latrine was at the end of the hall, we were at peace knowing there was a security guard stationed at the front entrance.
The next day our new Kenyan friend, Willis, bargained a deal for our group to go on a one-day safari (Good luck: 2; Bad luck: 1). The safari through Lake Nakuru was absolutely beautiful! The lake is famous for being home to a third of the world’s flamingo population. But more importantly, we saw lions, giraffes, zebra, hyena, buffalo, baboons, rhinos, and so much more! It was such an incredible sight to see these animals in their natural habitats. The animals were only feet away from us (including the lion that was sleeping)!
Here are pictures of the baboons, the buffalo, and the giraffes:
Willis then took us to a hotel within the National Park where he works as a bartender. This hotel could not have been less than 5 stars, and looked like it was taken right out of a beach in Hawaii. It seemed most out of place since just down the road were huts where the Kenyans lived, but we took full advantage, ordering cocktails and coffee. After saying goodbye to Willis and our safari driver, we went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner and to a discotheque for dancing. At the discotheque is where we really stood out. Instead of the long skirts and covered shoulders that women in Kakamega are dressed in and what we have adapted to, these urban women were wearing tight dresses and heels. It was a club straight out of Hollywood! We were shocked but had an amazing time (Good luck: 3; Bad luck: 1).
The next day is when our luck began to run out. We decided to visit the Menengai crater about a 30-minute drive from the city. We hired a matatu to take us, but about ¾ of the way, the car started steaming and we were told that “the matatu was out of fuel” (Good luck: 3; Bad luck: 2). We then proceeded to walk to the rest of the way up. The crater was so astoundingly huge that it did not even resemble a crater! It was too vast to see its entire area.
Here I am standing in front of the crater:
After the matatu had been fixed, it picked us up from the top and drove us back down. We ate a quick lunch, and went back to the matatu station for a ride home. Within minutes of being at the matatu station, one of the street kids stole the wallet out of the backpack of another Duke student, Lauren (Good luck: 3; Bad luck: 3). He was about 15-years-old and proceeded to taunt us with his stolen goods, jumping in front of me and waving the stolen credit cards. Fortunately, when he jumped in front of me, I was able to snatch the credit cards out of his hands, but he had taken the money and wallet for good. I am starting to appreciate the rural life in Kakamega compared to living in an urban city like Nakuru, because although there are a few street kids in Kakamega, they are everywhere in Nakuru and were openly sniffing their glue bottles.
The bad luck had not run out just yet. Within the first half hour of our drive, the matatu was pulled over by a cop for not having our seatbelts on (people never wear seatbelts in a matatu) (Good luck: 3; Bad luck: 4). The police officer attempted to bribe us, asking for 2000 shillings each in exchange for him not sending us to jail. I FROZE. Luckily, another officer walked up and excused our wrongdoing (Good luck: 4; Bad luck: 4). I cannot believe I witnessed Kenya’s corrupt government firsthand! Kenya never fails to surprise me. After that, it was smooth sailing and I arrived at home just in time for supper. What a weekend.
Many of the decisions we made this past weekend were not the smartest. For example, the nine of us interns decided to take a 4 ½ hour matatu ride at 6 PM on a Friday night. This was against the wishes of our supervisor who warned us that nine mzungus travelling at night to Nakuru was highly dangerous. Instead of taking his advice, we signed a contract giving away any responsibility of FSD.
We arrived at our hotel safe and sound despite the comments throughout the drive to remind us that “this is how NGO workers die.” However, when we got there, the hotel kindly gave away our rooms (Good luck: 0; Bad luck: 1). Fortunately, another Kenyan was also searching for a hotel at midnight, and as it turned out works at Lake Nakuru National Park and knew much about the city (Good luck: 1; Bad luck: 1). He led us to a hotel that was much cheaper and safer than the first – only in Kenya can you find a hotel room for $6 a night! It is even cheaper when splitting it between four people. Even though the pit latrine was at the end of the hall, we were at peace knowing there was a security guard stationed at the front entrance.
The next day our new Kenyan friend, Willis, bargained a deal for our group to go on a one-day safari (Good luck: 2; Bad luck: 1). The safari through Lake Nakuru was absolutely beautiful! The lake is famous for being home to a third of the world’s flamingo population. But more importantly, we saw lions, giraffes, zebra, hyena, buffalo, baboons, rhinos, and so much more! It was such an incredible sight to see these animals in their natural habitats. The animals were only feet away from us (including the lion that was sleeping)!
Here are pictures of the baboons, the buffalo, and the giraffes:
Willis then took us to a hotel within the National Park where he works as a bartender. This hotel could not have been less than 5 stars, and looked like it was taken right out of a beach in Hawaii. It seemed most out of place since just down the road were huts where the Kenyans lived, but we took full advantage, ordering cocktails and coffee. After saying goodbye to Willis and our safari driver, we went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner and to a discotheque for dancing. At the discotheque is where we really stood out. Instead of the long skirts and covered shoulders that women in Kakamega are dressed in and what we have adapted to, these urban women were wearing tight dresses and heels. It was a club straight out of Hollywood! We were shocked but had an amazing time (Good luck: 3; Bad luck: 1).
The next day is when our luck began to run out. We decided to visit the Menengai crater about a 30-minute drive from the city. We hired a matatu to take us, but about ¾ of the way, the car started steaming and we were told that “the matatu was out of fuel” (Good luck: 3; Bad luck: 2). We then proceeded to walk to the rest of the way up. The crater was so astoundingly huge that it did not even resemble a crater! It was too vast to see its entire area.
Here I am standing in front of the crater:
After the matatu had been fixed, it picked us up from the top and drove us back down. We ate a quick lunch, and went back to the matatu station for a ride home. Within minutes of being at the matatu station, one of the street kids stole the wallet out of the backpack of another Duke student, Lauren (Good luck: 3; Bad luck: 3). He was about 15-years-old and proceeded to taunt us with his stolen goods, jumping in front of me and waving the stolen credit cards. Fortunately, when he jumped in front of me, I was able to snatch the credit cards out of his hands, but he had taken the money and wallet for good. I am starting to appreciate the rural life in Kakamega compared to living in an urban city like Nakuru, because although there are a few street kids in Kakamega, they are everywhere in Nakuru and were openly sniffing their glue bottles.
The bad luck had not run out just yet. Within the first half hour of our drive, the matatu was pulled over by a cop for not having our seatbelts on (people never wear seatbelts in a matatu) (Good luck: 3; Bad luck: 4). The police officer attempted to bribe us, asking for 2000 shillings each in exchange for him not sending us to jail. I FROZE. Luckily, another officer walked up and excused our wrongdoing (Good luck: 4; Bad luck: 4). I cannot believe I witnessed Kenya’s corrupt government firsthand! Kenya never fails to surprise me. After that, it was smooth sailing and I arrived at home just in time for supper. What a weekend.
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