Hiatus from the Hiatus

So I haven’t written in this blog for a really long time, and there are both good reasons and no reasons for it. Sorry. But I think I will pick it back up again.

I recently went to 14 falls near my site. I went once with another volunteer a few months ago, just to check it out. It was nice to look at, but they said that you could jump off the waterfalls. So when I returned I had a swim suit and was determined to do the jump. I hired a guide, Moses, to lead me across the river. It was a pretty wide river and due to the recent rains we’ve been getting, the current was really strong. The guide was necessary because you are walking across these large rocks with fast slowing water going over your feet up to your knees, and if you don’t know where the gaps are, you could slip and be washed over the waterfall. I’m fine to jump off of it, but I didn’t want to fall. So we finally reached the place to jump off. Moses said it was 19 meters high. I’m not sure about this measurement, but it certainly felt high up when you stand there and tell yourself that you are going to jump. Moses went first to show me where to jump to avoid rocks. I finally mustered up the courage and took the leap. It was a huge rush! At one point during the fall, I thought “wait, I’m still falling?!” When you jump, the water that is rushing over the fall with you gets frozen in suspended animation. Since it is falling at the same rate as you are, you feel like you are falling in slow motion. I jumped off that waterfall twice then Moses took me to a smaller one that we could dive off of. It was amazing.

He then took me to a large vertical rock in the middle of the river that had a tree growing out of the top. The tree had these thick long roots that draped over the rock face and we climbed up to the top. He told me that a long time ago, before Africans knew about Jesus, the elders used to make sacrifices here. I could see why, it certainly felt like a significant place when I was there.

After I dried off in the sun a little bit, I walked up stream about 100 yards to a bend in the river where the hippos hang out. I sat and watched them surface and snort for a while, then headed back to site. It was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a while.

In the Field….

So other than just having fun, my work has been really picking up momentum lately. This is a welcome change, and I am feeling productive and happy to be accomplishing something. I spent three days in the field each of the last two weeks. I did half a day teaching about Malaria, half a day on Water Sanitation, then the other two days on HIV/AIDS issues (like basics of how it’s spread, and how to resist stigma, and how to use a condom properly). The first group I met with had 85 people show up, and they were mostly older mamas and papas. It was nice to address the questions they had, because it is clear that rumors spread like wildfire in the rural setting. Some of the questions they ask are:

“If I close the lid on my jerry can really really tightly will it kill the bacteria?”

“Can I get Malaria from being rained on without an umbrella?”

“How do I know that the condoms don’t have HIV in the package?”

“Can I get HIV from deep kissing?”

and many others like them. I give the presentations in English and my counterpart translates into Kikamba (the local dialect, as most people in the rural areas don’t even speak Kiswahili). I think the fact that I am a visitor from another country and the fact that the presentation is translated by my counterpart, who is known, trusted and well liked by the rural community members, I think they actually listen and believe most of the material. Even if they don’t change their behavior immediately, at least they are getting the information they need in order to live happy, healthy lives.

Birthday in the City

So after two straight weeks of good field work I came to Nairobi to celebrate my birthday. There were a few other volunteers in town who also had may birthdays so we celebrated together. It turned out to be a great weekend. I played two games of pickup ultimate frisbee (mostly with UN and development work people), I had a delicious Ethiopian meal, and went out to a few bars. I also went to a gym on saturday to use the treadmill. It’s nice to get a good run in without worrying about farm dogs chasing you and biting you. Also the gym had a sauna, steam room, and rooftop pool which made it worth it.

So all in all it’s been a great month of may, and I will try harder to continue to update the blog now that I feel I have more to say.

Hope all is well where you are.

Nik