Living with the Ambia Family

After one week of living in a hotel in Kakamega, I have finally moved into my homestay house! I am living with the Ambia family, in the city of Shivagala in South Kakamega district, which is about a 30-minute matutu ride to downtown Kakamega. The houses are arranged in “compounds” – areas of land where the extended family lives together. In my compound, there are about four houses and about 50 meters of crops. The houses are set up very close to each other, so the family always spends time with each other. The village is definitely much smaller than downtown Kakamega. There is one main dirt road that intersects the highway to Kakamega. On the road, there are a few shops that sell the basic necessities, such as vegetables and water. Every 50 km or so, there is a church. It is incredible how many churches there are! My homestay mom kept pointing them out to me today, and I eventually started laughing each time she would point one out because there are so many. They are much smaller than the ones in America, some were the size of a small shop and others were the size of a house. There are also TONS of schools. About every 100 km, there is either a primary school (grades 1-8) or a secondary school. Here, it is just as common to go to a private, boarding school as it is to go to a public, mixed school. If the family can afford a private school, most of the children will go there. My house has a main living room, with chairs all facing a television (I was not expecting that!), a kitchen, a washroom for the bucket shower, and three bedrooms.
My homestay family is very friendly and welcoming to me. My homestay mom, Hellen, is a small farmer and has asked me to call her mom. She grows corn, beans, and other vegetables that I’m not sure of. There are also three cows in the front of the house, one pig, two dogs, and one cat. She has eight children (amazing!): one of them lives in our house with her four-year-old son; one other lives in another house in the compound; one lives further away in Kakamega; and one lives in Texas. The rest are either in school or living somewhere else in Kenya. The family is in the Luyha tribe, so they either speak Kiswahili to each other or Kiluhya. Tribes are much different than how they are stereotyped to be (no bonfires and African dancing…). It mainly signifies where a person comes from. In Kakamega, the main tribe is Luyha, but there are some people in the family that come from other places in Kenya that are from different tribes. You are not supposed to inter-marry within two different tribes, but it is becoming more accepted now.
Yesterday when I first got to my homestay I was overwhelmed, to say the least. I was introduced to the family, and then played with the children (the 4-year-old, Daryl, and an 8-year-old, Alvin) for the next few hours. They were very fun to play with, but after awhile it got to be very exhausting. Daryl is a trouble-maker and likes to come into my room and steal my things. He also scratches and kicks. But apparently he really likes me, and started to cry when I told him I wanted to rest and stop playing. I may turn into the family babysitter by the end of the two months!
Afterwards, I watched the family make dinner. It was very interesting because they do not have running water or stoves. There is a well in the front of the house that they take water from, and then they treat the water, and store it in huge pots for the day. They also use charcoal, gas, or firewood to cook the food. Firewood is the cheapest, but when they are in a hurry they will use the other two. They also have a bucket for us to wash our hands in before and after dinner. And I have finally used the pit latrines and bucket shower that I have been anticipating. The pit latrine is about 30 meters away, so I need to take a flashlight at night. Hellen prepared my bucket shower for me this morning; she used one bucket of cold water and one of boiling water and then mixed the two to make a nice warm bucket for me. It will take a little while getting used to showering this way.
Today, I have gone to church for the first time! (Sidenote: Daryl has just come into my room and started spraying bug spray all over his clothes. Oh jeez.) It was only a two-minute walk to get there. My homestay mom had me walk in the front of the church during the service and introduce myself. Afterward, they said a prayer for me. I wish I knew what they had said. Hellen knows everyone in the village – it is truly amazing. After church, she introduced me to all the people and walked me around the village. We spent two hours this morning walking in one direction and two hours this afternoon walking in another. It seemed like she knew everyone in the city. For dinner tonight, I helped make chipati and ndengu (my favorite meal). It is not as difficult as I had expected so I am excited to make it when I get back to America.
It is getting late and I need to wake up early tomorrow morning for work. To be continued!