The Beach, Half Marathon, and Deaf friends

Normally in America, even the 8 hour car drive from Kansas City to Beloit Wisconsin was a pretty long road trip. Here, I find myself much more willing to spend time traveling, often under less than ideal travel conditions. So when I organized a trip to the northern part of the coast with another volunteer, it didn’t bother me that much that I had to spend as much time on cramped buses and matatus as I would on a beautiful beach. In the end it was well worth it. I first went up to Garissa to meet Rachel, the other volunteer. Garissa is the closest site to the Somalia border and is jokingly referred to as peace corps somalia, but it is actually a very friendly and safe place. Plus the food there is better than in Matuu. We then boarded a bus through the middle of nowhere to take us to the Coast. It was about 15 hours of bus ride total each way on dusty dirt roads. The bus drivers are all loaded on Miraa and drive like there’s a prize for the best time. It is perilous to say the least. We stopped off in Malindi for a bit which is not as far north as Lamu. We met up with more volunteers and decided to splurge on some nice food and drinks, as it felt like we were on vacation. Malini, and much of the coast in general, sees a lot of tourists. Many come from Italy, which is evident by the number of Italian food products that are available. There are a few good pizza and pasta places, and even a gellato cafe or two. We even found all the ingredients for bloody marys to enjoy on the beach!

After finally making it to Lamu, we saw that this little island was worth the trip. The historic architecture and layout of the old town reminded me of a coastal Morocco with all the twisty alleyways. People there were very friendly and laid back, and fortunately a little more used to white people. We didn’t feel like we stuck out quite as much as we do at our sites. The roads are so narrow that donkeys are the main means of transportation. Since the island depends on them so much, they actually take care of the donkeys here, as opposed to how most other beasts of burden are treated else where. We spent a whole day on the beach and wandered through the streets eating fresh coconuts and fish samosas. It was hard to come back to site after such a wonderful break, but it’s nice to be back where people know me.

After I got back I helped finish up the Rain Catchment project at the nearby orphanage/school. There were a few more hiccups with the project, but now they are at least able to catch some rain. And perfect timing too, as the short rain season has just started. We plan to have a small celebration at the end of the month to commemorate the tank and to celebrate the end of the school session.

For Halloween weekend I went to Nairobi. The peace corps administration was pretty worried about having too many volunteers in town for the holiday so our big party plans were struck down. In fact, the only reason I was allowed to come in was to run a half marathon I signed up for. I was a little nervous about it, since the Lamu beach trip was right in the middle of my training. I really didn’t know what to expect for my first half marathon. I ended up being able to go to a party of people I play frisbee with in Nairobi the night before. I really wanted to take it easy for the race, but Halloween is my favorite holiday and I just couldn’t help myself. I went dressed as Calvin and Hobbes and most of the expats there were also decked out in some serious costumes. It was nice to feel the spirit of the holiday, but only getting 3.5 hours of sleep before my first half marathon might not have been the best decision. I guess it worked out in the end, as I finished at 1:47:47. Not a phenomenal time, but something I can work to improve. Of course the Kenyans won the marathon. They started 25 minutes before those of us in the half, and the winner finished just as I did. So that means he ran twice as far as I did in only 25 minutes more. Yikes.

This past weekend I went to Embu to help Ginnie, a deaf-education volunteer, with her “field day.” She wanted to teach her students some life skills and give them a fun day with games and activities, and wanted a male volunteer there to help connect with the students. I have learned a little KSL (Kenyan Sign Language), but I’m no where near fluent. I knew enough to communicate a little with the younger students, and if I didn’t understand a sign, they could finger spell it slowly for me to understand. We had a three legged race, a sack race, football and frisbee, and arts and crafts. We also had the older ones participate in a “good decisions” game to teach them about HIV/AIDS. Prizes for the kids included stickers, face paint, and toothpasts donated by another volunteer’s family. Toothpaste may not seem like much of a prize, but these kids were pretty ecstatic about it. Just before lunch time, a land rover pulled up to the school. A wealthy businessman from Nairobi had brought some food donations for the kids, just out of the kindness of his heart. Apparently it’s not an uncommon occurrence at a school for the deaf/handicapped. You can imagine the excitement for the kids, not only a whole day of games and excitement, but now they all got juice and biscuits (cookies) on top of it. They were all cranked out with sugar for the rest of the day. It was hectic, but nice to see them so happy. It can be really sad working with these kids. The really young ones are around 5 years old, and the older ones are in their 20′s. Most of their parents never learn KSL and therefore don’t really communicate with them. They form some great bonds with each other, but, some are really missing a primary care giver. They are lucky to have people like Ginnie and the businessman who care about them enough to help when they can and give them encouragement and emotional nourishment. They may not be able to hear their own squeals of delight, but I will never forget the sounds of 97 children laughing and not caring if other people hear them.