Since the last time I wrote on here:
I went on an awesome safari where I got to see all kinds of crazy animals
I finished up a successful program in Kisongo ward where we tested hundreds of people for HIV and taught thousands.
I went to a place called Paradise (Peponi in Kiswahili) for 2 amazing nights of camping on the beach and waking up early only to lounge in a beachside hammock. Paradise? Absolutely.
I got to go to Dar es Salaam and hang out with my old friend Mershil for an evening.
I then returned to Zanzibar, still the most beautiful place I've ever been, and traveled to the east side of the island to a place called Jambiani, in a resort run by some really chill Rasta men. Paradise continued.
I then flew back to Arusha (I was planning on taking a bus but booked a last minute flight because I couldn't bear leaving Zanzibar any earlier than I had to).
And now I'm in Babati, the town I lived in last year. We're doing a program about an hour and a half's walk outside of town in a place called Singe Ward, which is beautiful, green, and hilly and has awesome views of Lake Babati. I live in a spa-colored house (greenish light blue for those of you who don't know my sister Jeanne) with pomegranate and papaya trees in the yard. I could not be more excited to live and work in this area again.
Thanks for reading!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Life as a Kiongozi (Leader)
I promise I have a very good reason for going a whole month without updating this. And basically that reason is that all the time I've spent in town anywhere near an internet cafe has been time spent working.
Being a coordinator with SIC is really seeing the whole volunteer program from a new perspective. It's been really good for me, being able to lead the orientation I sat through last year, see how more things work from within SIC, and help the volunteers coming to Tanzania for the first time get adjusted and used to their jobs as volunteers.
We spent 10 days doing our orientation at Sokoine Agricultural University, just outside of Arusha. It was really beautiful, with different trees and flowers growing everywhere, and kind of felt like summer camp for volunteers and teaching partners. We have an awesome group, by the way, of 10 American volunteers, 8 Tanzanian teaching partners, and then me and my fellow coordinators Adam and Uswege. Leading us all is Steena, who was my coordinator last year and has continued to move up through SIC.
After orientation we moved to Kisongo ward, about an hour outside of Arusha. The biggest village, where we also have our field office (my home), is called Engorora, and we have three other villages in the area. It's an area where people mostly come from the Maasai tribe, so on top of my Swahili I get to learn some of the Maasai language. A quick lesson: "Takwenya" is how you greet older women. Women can also use it to greet men, but it's less common.
I do a lot of walking going around to visit the volunteers in their homestays, and a lot of organizing things for the volunteers. At our first HIV testing day in Kisongo ward we tested about 200 people in a busy market area. There will surely be many more to come.
Next week we'll have a Halloween party, and some of us will go on a safari to the Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire, where I'll get to see a lot of elephants (and lions, and giraffes, and much more). So life is good!
Until next time!
Being a coordinator with SIC is really seeing the whole volunteer program from a new perspective. It's been really good for me, being able to lead the orientation I sat through last year, see how more things work from within SIC, and help the volunteers coming to Tanzania for the first time get adjusted and used to their jobs as volunteers.
We spent 10 days doing our orientation at Sokoine Agricultural University, just outside of Arusha. It was really beautiful, with different trees and flowers growing everywhere, and kind of felt like summer camp for volunteers and teaching partners. We have an awesome group, by the way, of 10 American volunteers, 8 Tanzanian teaching partners, and then me and my fellow coordinators Adam and Uswege. Leading us all is Steena, who was my coordinator last year and has continued to move up through SIC.
After orientation we moved to Kisongo ward, about an hour outside of Arusha. The biggest village, where we also have our field office (my home), is called Engorora, and we have three other villages in the area. It's an area where people mostly come from the Maasai tribe, so on top of my Swahili I get to learn some of the Maasai language. A quick lesson: "Takwenya" is how you greet older women. Women can also use it to greet men, but it's less common.
I do a lot of walking going around to visit the volunteers in their homestays, and a lot of organizing things for the volunteers. At our first HIV testing day in Kisongo ward we tested about 200 people in a busy market area. There will surely be many more to come.
Next week we'll have a Halloween party, and some of us will go on a safari to the Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire, where I'll get to see a lot of elephants (and lions, and giraffes, and much more). So life is good!
Until next time!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Baadaye Nairobi na Karibu Tanzania (Later Nairobi and Welcome to Tanzania)
Hello again everyone!
My last couple of weeks in Nairobi were action-packed. I became much more comfortable matatu-hopping and exploring the city (highlights include hiking the Ngong Hills, playing with monkeys in City Park, seeing Kibera, touring the UN compound, and going inside the National Archives). I had a lot of practice facilitating theatre workshops with APT, which I think was the best thing I got out of the internship. And I got to enjoy the company of my new friends, who I will hopefully meet again soon.
On Friday I took a bus from Nairobi to Arusha, which was as easy as I could have hoped. I got back to the Support for International Change Office where I met my boss Steena (she was in my position last year and has continued to advance) and some more of the SIC staff.
Then my old teaching partner Joseph came to meet me and took me back to spend a night at his family's home - where I could not have felt more welcomed. There was a sign on the wall Joseph had made that said, "Wellcome Home Becca, We Love You", next to some pictures he had of our teaching group from last year. Meeting Mama Joseph and Bibi Joseph especially helped explain where Joseph gets his energetic personality - it was lovely.
We then traveled back all the way to our old village, Qash. We had impeccable timing, because as we arrived we ran into our old friend Wilson, the secondary school student who led the peer educator group, driving a motorbike down the road. He then led us to the secondary school, where there was a religious graduation ceremony for the Form 4 students. So many people remembered me, I felt like a celebrity! Wilson told me they were greeting me like I was Obama.
We stayed for two nights in Qash and I got to see so many old friends. We stayed with Mama Bakali, who had been Joseph and Gerald's homestay, and came to visit my old homestay. I danced at a political rally with the ladies of Kamajingijingi, the dance group that adopted me last year. Joseph has invested in some land in Qash where he is growing beans with the help of our old friend Rama, who has become a much better friend to Joseph, and I got to help inspect their crop. On Sunday I ate 7 times because everyone wanted to invite me for some food.
But not everything is peachy in Qash. A teenage girl named Rahela, who was the sister of Chulo who ran the duca with a pool table that we frequented last year, died three months ago when she tried to abort a pregnancy using local herbs. This news was especially sad to me because I remember Rahela challenging Joseph to play pool and bringing us cokes and seeming so young and full of energy. I'd heard about the same trend in rural Uganda, and this is part of why Mukisa from Budondo wants to set up a Women's Reproductive Health Center as one of his first priorities, but it really sunk in for me that this is common in villages throughout East Africa.
On Monday I returned to Babati, via Or'ngadida, where SIC was holding a testing and Community Health Worker training. I was meeting my old friend and manager Dan at the primary school there, and ended up being swarmed by about 300 kids while waiting for him. So, naturally, I reviewed the "Fluids and Doors" and sang the ABK song with them (all part of what SIC volunteers taught them last year). Their memories were surprisingly good!
Babati town is growing - the football field now has a track and bleachers, which I couldn't believe. There I met up with my co-coordinator Adam, who happened to live in the same homestay I did last year, so we went together to spend a night there. Baba Felix continues to have the same joyful laugh, and Mama Felix still cooks up some wali na maharagwe tamu sana (very sweet rice and beans). I also got to meet up with Tumaini, a teaching partner of Adam's who I met briefly last year because she works closely with the street kids in Babati. She's doing a lot for them through an organization she founded, Tumaini La Mbele (Hope for the Future). Read more about it here and watch a video here.
Now I'm back in Arusha, have met up with some of my friends working on VP3, the volunteer program that's coming to a close today, and am set to get to work here.
Much love!
My last couple of weeks in Nairobi were action-packed. I became much more comfortable matatu-hopping and exploring the city (highlights include hiking the Ngong Hills, playing with monkeys in City Park, seeing Kibera, touring the UN compound, and going inside the National Archives). I had a lot of practice facilitating theatre workshops with APT, which I think was the best thing I got out of the internship. And I got to enjoy the company of my new friends, who I will hopefully meet again soon.
On Friday I took a bus from Nairobi to Arusha, which was as easy as I could have hoped. I got back to the Support for International Change Office where I met my boss Steena (she was in my position last year and has continued to advance) and some more of the SIC staff.
Then my old teaching partner Joseph came to meet me and took me back to spend a night at his family's home - where I could not have felt more welcomed. There was a sign on the wall Joseph had made that said, "Wellcome Home Becca, We Love You", next to some pictures he had of our teaching group from last year. Meeting Mama Joseph and Bibi Joseph especially helped explain where Joseph gets his energetic personality - it was lovely.
We then traveled back all the way to our old village, Qash. We had impeccable timing, because as we arrived we ran into our old friend Wilson, the secondary school student who led the peer educator group, driving a motorbike down the road. He then led us to the secondary school, where there was a religious graduation ceremony for the Form 4 students. So many people remembered me, I felt like a celebrity! Wilson told me they were greeting me like I was Obama.
We stayed for two nights in Qash and I got to see so many old friends. We stayed with Mama Bakali, who had been Joseph and Gerald's homestay, and came to visit my old homestay. I danced at a political rally with the ladies of Kamajingijingi, the dance group that adopted me last year. Joseph has invested in some land in Qash where he is growing beans with the help of our old friend Rama, who has become a much better friend to Joseph, and I got to help inspect their crop. On Sunday I ate 7 times because everyone wanted to invite me for some food.
But not everything is peachy in Qash. A teenage girl named Rahela, who was the sister of Chulo who ran the duca with a pool table that we frequented last year, died three months ago when she tried to abort a pregnancy using local herbs. This news was especially sad to me because I remember Rahela challenging Joseph to play pool and bringing us cokes and seeming so young and full of energy. I'd heard about the same trend in rural Uganda, and this is part of why Mukisa from Budondo wants to set up a Women's Reproductive Health Center as one of his first priorities, but it really sunk in for me that this is common in villages throughout East Africa.
On Monday I returned to Babati, via Or'ngadida, where SIC was holding a testing and Community Health Worker training. I was meeting my old friend and manager Dan at the primary school there, and ended up being swarmed by about 300 kids while waiting for him. So, naturally, I reviewed the "Fluids and Doors" and sang the ABK song with them (all part of what SIC volunteers taught them last year). Their memories were surprisingly good!
Babati town is growing - the football field now has a track and bleachers, which I couldn't believe. There I met up with my co-coordinator Adam, who happened to live in the same homestay I did last year, so we went together to spend a night there. Baba Felix continues to have the same joyful laugh, and Mama Felix still cooks up some wali na maharagwe tamu sana (very sweet rice and beans). I also got to meet up with Tumaini, a teaching partner of Adam's who I met briefly last year because she works closely with the street kids in Babati. She's doing a lot for them through an organization she founded, Tumaini La Mbele (Hope for the Future). Read more about it here and watch a video here.
Now I'm back in Arusha, have met up with some of my friends working on VP3, the volunteer program that's coming to a close today, and am set to get to work here.
Much love!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Murafa, Malindi, Mombasa, and the Birth of a New Kenya
After writing on here last week, the plans went almost according to plan. We left at 6AM instead of 3AM, and as a result of this and other delays missed the main part of the traditional wedding in the town of Murafa. But we still danced the night away with a crowd of what seemed like everyone in the village.
Thee following day was the church wedding, which was beautiful, and really interesting to me in comparison with American weddings. For example, first the couple cuts the cake and feeds it to one another, then they actually walk around and feed a piece of cake to all of their parents and siblings - a little different.
The ceremony was in the town of Malindi, which is the Little Italy of Africa. The tourism in Malindi is dominated by Italians to the extent that signs at attractions are posted in Italian, and when the Kenyan kids there see a white person they yell, "Ciao!" This is very odd on many levels, but I kind of enjoyed it.
Before we left Murafa, we visited Hell's Kitchen, a collection of really cool rock formations that made me wish I had paid more attention in Geology 108.
Upon stopping in Mombasa, it became very clear we couldn't just go back without staying for a couple of days. Mombasa has the beaches and nightlife that make it awesome to visit, but I think my favorite thing was getting lost on the windy narrow streets, snacking my way through the day on cassava and fruits bought from vendors for a couple of cents each. And the day we spent on the beach was pretty magical too.
Now I'm back in Nairobi, on a day that has been declared the "party of a century" for Kenya - the new constitution was signed and officially put into action today. And yes, I was there watching in Uhuru Park, because I couldn't resist the excitement. Check for me on the news footage! Current and former leaders from Kenya and other African countries graced the stage, and thousands of people gathered on a huge muddy hill decked out in these funny paper hats with the colors of the Kenyan flag and the words "Second Republic" - the First Republic being the one that just ended. There was so much joy in the air, and everyone kept reminding us how this was the kind of historical event that happens once in a lifetime. I feel really blessed to be here right now to witness this.
I'm off to hit the town tonight for the continuation of the Party of a Century - more soon :)
Thee following day was the church wedding, which was beautiful, and really interesting to me in comparison with American weddings. For example, first the couple cuts the cake and feeds it to one another, then they actually walk around and feed a piece of cake to all of their parents and siblings - a little different.
The ceremony was in the town of Malindi, which is the Little Italy of Africa. The tourism in Malindi is dominated by Italians to the extent that signs at attractions are posted in Italian, and when the Kenyan kids there see a white person they yell, "Ciao!" This is very odd on many levels, but I kind of enjoyed it.
Before we left Murafa, we visited Hell's Kitchen, a collection of really cool rock formations that made me wish I had paid more attention in Geology 108.
Upon stopping in Mombasa, it became very clear we couldn't just go back without staying for a couple of days. Mombasa has the beaches and nightlife that make it awesome to visit, but I think my favorite thing was getting lost on the windy narrow streets, snacking my way through the day on cassava and fruits bought from vendors for a couple of cents each. And the day we spent on the beach was pretty magical too.
Now I'm back in Nairobi, on a day that has been declared the "party of a century" for Kenya - the new constitution was signed and officially put into action today. And yes, I was there watching in Uhuru Park, because I couldn't resist the excitement. Check for me on the news footage! Current and former leaders from Kenya and other African countries graced the stage, and thousands of people gathered on a huge muddy hill decked out in these funny paper hats with the colors of the Kenyan flag and the words "Second Republic" - the First Republic being the one that just ended. There was so much joy in the air, and everyone kept reminding us how this was the kind of historical event that happens once in a lifetime. I feel really blessed to be here right now to witness this.
I'm off to hit the town tonight for the continuation of the Party of a Century - more soon :)
Thursday, August 19, 2010
APT and Life in the Big City
Since I got back from Uganda and wrote about my trip, I've actually gotten to focus in on the reason I came here: interning with Amani People's Theatre.
First, a little background on APT. It was founded as a department of another NGO, People for Peace in Africa, in 1994, at a time when many surrounding countries had serious issues maintaining peace (civil war in the Sudan, genocide in Rwanda, etc.) A group consisting primarily of university students decided to try to use theatre as a peace-building tool, not just in Nairobi but throughout rural areas in Kenya and even in refugee camps. Hence the name Amani, which means peace in Swahili. APT has since become independent and now runs several long-term programs as well as many short-term consultancies and collaborations with other groups.
There are three ongoing programs in Nairobi I am working with. One is in the Remand Home, where kids who have committed crimes or been lost and found by police live. Some are there for years, and some just for a few days, so sometimes we have 100 kids, sometimes 30. We meet there twice a week and mostly play games to build the kids' capacity for change and creating theatre about significant issues for them.
The next is at a school in Kibera, which I haven't actually visited yet because they have been on break, but it will start again next week.
The newest project is with a youth group in a church in a neighborhood called Kariobangi South. We just started visiting them this week, and will continue to go three times a week. The group is enthusiastic about Forum Theatre, and hope to put together a performance for their community through this workshop.
This neighborhood sits next to a slum built next to the biggest garbage dump in Kenya. Walking through this slum is an otherworldly experience - there is literally trash everywhere you look, the metal rooftops have turned reddish brown because of acid rain, and kids play in piles of filth. People kept telling me that Kibera attracts so much media attention for being the biggest slum in Africa that sometimes other slums in Nairobi are somewhat forgotten.
So I have been spending all of my afternoons co-facilitating theatre workshops, which has been perfect for me, getting a lot of practice being the 'joker', or the leader of the activities in Theatre of the Oppressed. In the mornings we often have work to do, planning or writing reports about our sessions. But we have also had some time to explore the city.
This weekend I am traveling to Malindi, sort of near Mombasa on the coast, for the wedding of Masha's sister (Masha is APT's director of finances and internship programs). There is a traditional wedding tomorrow evening and a church wedding on Saturday. We are leaving at 3AM, so I am planning on forcing myself to stay awake so I can sleep on the way.
Thanks to everyone who keeps updating me from home - even if it takes me awhile to respond I really appreciate hearing from you!
First, a little background on APT. It was founded as a department of another NGO, People for Peace in Africa, in 1994, at a time when many surrounding countries had serious issues maintaining peace (civil war in the Sudan, genocide in Rwanda, etc.) A group consisting primarily of university students decided to try to use theatre as a peace-building tool, not just in Nairobi but throughout rural areas in Kenya and even in refugee camps. Hence the name Amani, which means peace in Swahili. APT has since become independent and now runs several long-term programs as well as many short-term consultancies and collaborations with other groups.
There are three ongoing programs in Nairobi I am working with. One is in the Remand Home, where kids who have committed crimes or been lost and found by police live. Some are there for years, and some just for a few days, so sometimes we have 100 kids, sometimes 30. We meet there twice a week and mostly play games to build the kids' capacity for change and creating theatre about significant issues for them.
The next is at a school in Kibera, which I haven't actually visited yet because they have been on break, but it will start again next week.
The newest project is with a youth group in a church in a neighborhood called Kariobangi South. We just started visiting them this week, and will continue to go three times a week. The group is enthusiastic about Forum Theatre, and hope to put together a performance for their community through this workshop.
This neighborhood sits next to a slum built next to the biggest garbage dump in Kenya. Walking through this slum is an otherworldly experience - there is literally trash everywhere you look, the metal rooftops have turned reddish brown because of acid rain, and kids play in piles of filth. People kept telling me that Kibera attracts so much media attention for being the biggest slum in Africa that sometimes other slums in Nairobi are somewhat forgotten.
So I have been spending all of my afternoons co-facilitating theatre workshops, which has been perfect for me, getting a lot of practice being the 'joker', or the leader of the activities in Theatre of the Oppressed. In the mornings we often have work to do, planning or writing reports about our sessions. But we have also had some time to explore the city.
This weekend I am traveling to Malindi, sort of near Mombasa on the coast, for the wedding of Masha's sister (Masha is APT's director of finances and internship programs). There is a traditional wedding tomorrow evening and a church wedding on Saturday. We are leaving at 3AM, so I am planning on forcing myself to stay awake so I can sleep on the way.
Thanks to everyone who keeps updating me from home - even if it takes me awhile to respond I really appreciate hearing from you!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Beautiful Budondo, Bulunji! ("I am fine" in Luganda)
Hello once again from Nairobi! This week was pretty incredible.
Pia and I, along with Bernard Mukisa and his children Denis and Dia, left for Uganda on an overnight bus last Sunday night, and arrived in Budondo in the early morning. It took me about ten seconds to fall in love with Budondo. Everything is green and lush, and everyone is as friendly and welcoming as you could possibly imagine. I stayed with Mukisa's family at their house, where they have a large field with papaya trees, mango trees, jackfruit trees, coffee plants, a LOT of sugar cane (they sell this), and much more, and chickens and pigs wandering around it all. I was overwhelmed with the family's hospitality at every turn. Joining us was Liesl, a Stanford student who came to Budondo on a school trip last year and says it changed her life, so she felt she had to come back.
By day we played theatre games, reviewing some of what we learned last week but also learning how the Atuwa Troupe has used theatre since 2000. Occasionally they would let us help cut up fruit or wash dishes, but mostly they prepared all the food - matooke (boiled green bananas), roasted groundnuts, beans, potatoes - I was very well fed. By night we sat with lanterns under a sky covered with stars, sipping tea made from lemongrass and discussing Mukisa's dreams for Budondo's future.
Mukisa is among the most inspiring people I've ever met. After having studied drama in the then-Soviet Union, he felt responsible for using his education for the betterment of his home village, Budondo. Along with his wife Topista, their seven children, and many other community members he considers family, they started the Atuwa Troupe to educate and raise awareness about social issues through theatre. They always incorporate local folk songs and traditional dance to keep audiences engaged (expect videos!).
But the Atuwa Troupe is just the beginning of what will become known as the Budondo Intercultural Center. Mukisa is planning on building his property into an "alternative village" accessible to the community, running entirely on alternative energy, and including a Women's Reproductive Health Center, a library, an amphitheatre, a theatre training center, room for workshops on everything from entrepreneurship to organic farming, and much more. He wants to host international volunteers to contribute knowledge and ideas for all of these projects, and he hopes it can all be in place in the next five years. Who wants to go back with me? :)
Friday morning we left Budondo to spend the weekend in Kampala. We stayed with Mukisa's brother Sam, a doctor who lives in the Northern outskirts of town. We got to see a play at a theatre called Theatre La Bonita, which was actually more of a multimedia performance, and nothing like what I expected. We also got to explore town a little, visit Dia's university, and tour a Baha'i temple (there is only one on each continent). I also ran into my friend Stella, who was a teaching partner in Tanzania with me last year, and recognized from a distance on a crowded street the skirt I was wearing that she had helped me design last year - how small is this world?! I hadn't even known she was in Uganda, and it was so good to catch up with her.
We left last night and arrived in Nairobi this morning, refreshed and ready to get back to work here. Kenya's election was by nearly all accounts a success, fair and peaceful. I will probably have more stories after reconnecting with more people here.
Much love!
Pia and I, along with Bernard Mukisa and his children Denis and Dia, left for Uganda on an overnight bus last Sunday night, and arrived in Budondo in the early morning. It took me about ten seconds to fall in love with Budondo. Everything is green and lush, and everyone is as friendly and welcoming as you could possibly imagine. I stayed with Mukisa's family at their house, where they have a large field with papaya trees, mango trees, jackfruit trees, coffee plants, a LOT of sugar cane (they sell this), and much more, and chickens and pigs wandering around it all. I was overwhelmed with the family's hospitality at every turn. Joining us was Liesl, a Stanford student who came to Budondo on a school trip last year and says it changed her life, so she felt she had to come back.
By day we played theatre games, reviewing some of what we learned last week but also learning how the Atuwa Troupe has used theatre since 2000. Occasionally they would let us help cut up fruit or wash dishes, but mostly they prepared all the food - matooke (boiled green bananas), roasted groundnuts, beans, potatoes - I was very well fed. By night we sat with lanterns under a sky covered with stars, sipping tea made from lemongrass and discussing Mukisa's dreams for Budondo's future.
Mukisa is among the most inspiring people I've ever met. After having studied drama in the then-Soviet Union, he felt responsible for using his education for the betterment of his home village, Budondo. Along with his wife Topista, their seven children, and many other community members he considers family, they started the Atuwa Troupe to educate and raise awareness about social issues through theatre. They always incorporate local folk songs and traditional dance to keep audiences engaged (expect videos!).
But the Atuwa Troupe is just the beginning of what will become known as the Budondo Intercultural Center. Mukisa is planning on building his property into an "alternative village" accessible to the community, running entirely on alternative energy, and including a Women's Reproductive Health Center, a library, an amphitheatre, a theatre training center, room for workshops on everything from entrepreneurship to organic farming, and much more. He wants to host international volunteers to contribute knowledge and ideas for all of these projects, and he hopes it can all be in place in the next five years. Who wants to go back with me? :)
Friday morning we left Budondo to spend the weekend in Kampala. We stayed with Mukisa's brother Sam, a doctor who lives in the Northern outskirts of town. We got to see a play at a theatre called Theatre La Bonita, which was actually more of a multimedia performance, and nothing like what I expected. We also got to explore town a little, visit Dia's university, and tour a Baha'i temple (there is only one on each continent). I also ran into my friend Stella, who was a teaching partner in Tanzania with me last year, and recognized from a distance on a crowded street the skirt I was wearing that she had helped me design last year - how small is this world?! I hadn't even known she was in Uganda, and it was so good to catch up with her.
We left last night and arrived in Nairobi this morning, refreshed and ready to get back to work here. Kenya's election was by nearly all accounts a success, fair and peaceful. I will probably have more stories after reconnecting with more people here.
Much love!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
An Exciting Time to Be in Kenya
Hello everyone!
Since the last time I've written a lot has happened. First I spent a day on matatus (vans that carry passengers, like daladalas in Tanzania) to get to Makutano, a town in the Rift Valley where APT Facilitators were staying while working in Pokot, a nearby village. Unfortunately I missed all of the actual theatre there, but I heard some of the talk-back, got to know some people who work with APT, and got to visit around town. Then I also got to sit in on a training for APT facilitators about how to observe the upcoming election.
It's really exciting to listen to the debate about this election, because no matter what happens it will be a time of transition for Kenya. The proposed Constitution that's being put forward for referendum vote has many similarities to the American constitution. In the words of my friend Samuel, "According to your Constitution you elected one of our sons your President, so now we want that Constitution for ourselves!" But actually the most controversial aspects are about land reform, which involves a lot of ethnic tensions that go very far back into Kenyan history. It's really exciting seeing the news here and listening to different opinions about the vote.
After I left Makutano I spent the next two nights in Eldoret, where the aforementioned Samuel grew up, so he acted as a tour guide to Pia (my Austrian friend) and me. We had a lot of fun there - we toured a sort of museum and went shopping at the market during the day, and went out at night. The first night was a very Westernized nightclub, and the second night was all traditional African music, so it was a nice contrast.
We returned to Nairobi on Sunday, and since Monday we have been training in drama-therapy techniques with a couple from Charlottesville, Virginia. Some of it is review for me, but a lot of it is new, and in any case it's really fun to play with the APT group, who I feel I've mostly gotten to know now. Tomorrow we go to APT's project at a home for kids who are charged with crimes or sometimes just orphaned, and we'll use some of this drama-therapy.
The American couple also have a relationship with a theatre company called the Atuwa Troupe in Budondo, Uganda. The founder, Mukisa, and two of his children are staying and working with us now, and this weekend Pia and I will go back to Uganda with them and spend next week there! They do a lot of work incorporating music and dance into their theatre work, so I'm excited to see more.
I miss you all in the US! Congratulations to my cousin Meghan who was married last weekend in Massachusetts. I'm sorry I couldn't be there but right now I feel like this is where I need to be.
Baadaye! (Later!)
Since the last time I've written a lot has happened. First I spent a day on matatus (vans that carry passengers, like daladalas in Tanzania) to get to Makutano, a town in the Rift Valley where APT Facilitators were staying while working in Pokot, a nearby village. Unfortunately I missed all of the actual theatre there, but I heard some of the talk-back, got to know some people who work with APT, and got to visit around town. Then I also got to sit in on a training for APT facilitators about how to observe the upcoming election.
It's really exciting to listen to the debate about this election, because no matter what happens it will be a time of transition for Kenya. The proposed Constitution that's being put forward for referendum vote has many similarities to the American constitution. In the words of my friend Samuel, "According to your Constitution you elected one of our sons your President, so now we want that Constitution for ourselves!" But actually the most controversial aspects are about land reform, which involves a lot of ethnic tensions that go very far back into Kenyan history. It's really exciting seeing the news here and listening to different opinions about the vote.
After I left Makutano I spent the next two nights in Eldoret, where the aforementioned Samuel grew up, so he acted as a tour guide to Pia (my Austrian friend) and me. We had a lot of fun there - we toured a sort of museum and went shopping at the market during the day, and went out at night. The first night was a very Westernized nightclub, and the second night was all traditional African music, so it was a nice contrast.
We returned to Nairobi on Sunday, and since Monday we have been training in drama-therapy techniques with a couple from Charlottesville, Virginia. Some of it is review for me, but a lot of it is new, and in any case it's really fun to play with the APT group, who I feel I've mostly gotten to know now. Tomorrow we go to APT's project at a home for kids who are charged with crimes or sometimes just orphaned, and we'll use some of this drama-therapy.
The American couple also have a relationship with a theatre company called the Atuwa Troupe in Budondo, Uganda. The founder, Mukisa, and two of his children are staying and working with us now, and this weekend Pia and I will go back to Uganda with them and spend next week there! They do a lot of work incorporating music and dance into their theatre work, so I'm excited to see more.
I miss you all in the US! Congratulations to my cousin Meghan who was married last weekend in Massachusetts. I'm sorry I couldn't be there but right now I feel like this is where I need to be.
Baadaye! (Later!)
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