Rabbits and Re-purposed sheets

How time flies………let me tell you what we've been up to.

First, Vinicent and I finished the rabbit pen.  I had a rough idea in my head of how the pen would work, but did not feel the need to draw it out, make dimensions, or otherwise plan it very well.  As my mom can attest to in regards to the majority of my projects (especially those involving sewing) that doesn't typically work well for me.  So imagine my delight and surprise when this one did :)  I taught Vinicent how to measure the stakes so they would at least be equi-distant from each other, and Daniel was in charge of cutting the binding wire into equal pieces for attaching the chicken wire to the stakes.   The other children supervised and gave all kinds of helpful chattering advice in swahili.   I left a message for the hospital fundi (carpenter/workman) asking if I could borrow his saw to make the bottom of the stakes into points so they can be driven into the ground.  I had also planned to show Vinicent how to use a saw……….of course, assuming I was more skilled with a saw than he.   When I got home from the wards I found that Vinicent had already done it……and done a better job than I would have.  I guess 12 yr olds are a little more independent and capable here compared to what I'm used to :)  These kids humble me on a daily basis.

The next day we put the girls to work as well adding the finishing touches, which, of course, involved duct tape.   The rabbits seem to be enjoy their new fenced-in freedom, and made short work of the grass.   We now have a fully functioning, and completely portable, rabbit enclosure.  Not too shabby for a mzungu girl and a 12 yr old boy.

(Pictured behind the rabbit fence is the animal house, where the rabbits and chickens go at night).

On another note, I enjoyed a long awaited victory: Back when I was first moving the kids into the children's home, I had a frustrating incident involving sheets.  I bought 8 sets of sheets (pink for the girls, blue for the boys) and was very pleased with myself, both with my matchy-cutesy efforts as well as the good deal I got.  That is-until I got them all washed and on the beds……..it was then I realized there were about 6 inches shorter than the mattresses on both ends.  What?!  

"Oh," Jacky had said, "You got boarding school sheets."  That got a blank stare from me. 

 "You know, they're for students," she said, as if it were an explanation.  Okay……….Why students don't require the full length of bed covering is still a mystery to me, but long story short-I've had a trunk full of worthless sheets for over a year.  Every time I go in the back room to get something off the shelves, I see it there, taunting me.  Reminding me of my cultural ignorance and wasted funds.  Grrr……

So imagine my delight during my annual inventory, when I found we needed new curtains in several rooms and 6 pillowcases needed replacing.  Ah ha!  The sheets will be redeemed.  I asked Jacky to get her sewing machine threaded up, and I showed her my project.   Some of them could be hung lengthwise as double curtains, others cut in half and made into pillowcases.  Well.  That just sent Jacky into a fit of giggles.  When she finally composed herself, she said, "I've never known a mzungu (white person) who made things, instead of just buying them.  You are such a clever girl, Jessie."  Makes me wonder about the other Americans she has encountered in her lifetime………...

I don't know if hanging a curtain-sized piece of fabric in a window and calling it a curtain is necessarily "clever", but when the expectations have been set low,  it's easy to impress :)  

We now have new curtains and pillowcases in the rotary house and the children's home-and more importantly-my useless sheets have been redeemed :)  

Thank you Lord, for the small things.  

Jessie :) 

Stargazing and School Visits

I feel like my time here is going by so fast. 4 weeks is simply not enough time to get all the work done and do all the exploring/adventuring I need/want to do. Alas......I shall do what I can. So the girls and I have been working hard and playing hard. We took a short impromptu overnight trip to the Kakamega rainforest. Poor Jess had a delayed flight, so she arrived about 18 hours before the trip. Not much time for jetlag recovery, but she has proven to be a trooper :). Two of our coworkers and new friends, Ben and Sam, also joined us.

Somehow I talked them into waking up at 4:30 in the morning and I led them on a little sunrise hike to a lovely spot above the tree line where you can see the whole forest. This group was apparently in better shape than my previous groups, and we made it up to the top well before the sunrise, and got to watch the stars for a while. Thankfully we had ample snacks to hold us over :)

Waiting for the sunrise.......

A few days later I took them on another gorgeous and grueling hike to the top of the mountain behind my house, to Emmatsi Primary School. We gave an off-the-cuff address to the entire school of +400 kids, since they were all waiting for us, and our presumed words of wisdom :). After that we pulled all the class 7 and 8 girls out and taught them all about (giggle, giggle) pads, periods, and things of that nature. The female teachers were also there and also received pads. They will be available to the girls to answer questions and talk more if they have questions in the future. (Take a look at toolittlechildren.org to learn more about our cloth, reusable maxi-pad project).

The girls were particularly fond of the pads with the frog print backing-Nice work Rio Verde ladies!

We met with the male teachers before our talk with the girls, and we pleasantly surprised at their ability to talk about menstration and their desire to help their female students. What gems. I didn't know they also had a secondary school (high school), so I will be returning to the mountaintop on my next trip to distribute more ;)

My doctors thoroughly enjoyed the 45 min hike up winding, unmarked mountain paths between log cabin-sized boulders to get up to the school. For some reason, these narrow, unnamed trails are forever etched in my memory, while I often need google maps to get around Durham, despite the fact I've lived there over 6 years. Funny how the mind works sometimes......
Xoxo,
Jessie

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The Battle of the Bank

Life has been clipping along here at a steady pace and I realized I haven't updated my avid readers in awhile (that's you Mom;). It has been a 3 week struggle to get my online banking password. I opened an account here last year to reduce the cost of transferring the monthly budget, and realized when I got home I needed an online PIN. Well, contrary to its name, it cannot be emailed-at least not until you've filled out the paper request form. So I patiently waited 7 months while western union continued to make a king's ransom off my transfer fees. So I filled out the form and was told I would recieve it within 24 hours. I did not. Went back to the bank. Filled out the CORRECT form. Still did not recieve. Went back to the bank to ask more questions. Waited. Didn't recieve. Went back again. Didn't recieve. Went to Kisumu branch(farther away and bigger) and found out my branch isn't authorized to issue codes. Started over. Spent 3 quality hours with branch manager and customer service. Was told I would get an email in 24 hours. No such email. Returned to Kisumu. Repeat last 3 sentences. Then.........hallelujah-I got it! After the jubilant moment of signing in......I found out they require you-after securely signing in-to request another code that's texted to your phone to verify its you. Your Kenyan phone. AKA-not accessible from US. I spent a defeated moment with my face down on the table. As I lay there-cheek to placemat-I decided it was time for a short break from this. This epic battle of Bank vs. Jescah will recommence Monday morning.........stay tuned.
Last weekend I got to have a lovely Sunday afternoon off and spent it at the house of my dear friend, Lynet. After the hike to get there, I was honored to find a kuku (chicken) feast laid out. We had a shady outdoor picnic that ended with a delightful food coma and some quality sun-basking.

Vinicent and I are busy constructing a portable rabbit shelter so his bunnies don't have to stay cooped up in their dark little house all day. We trekked the 20 min to the hardware duka and selected our wood pieces, chicken wire, nails and binding wire. We will also be repurposing an old mosquito net. The shopkeeper was skeptical of our plans, but it all makes sense in my head, so what could go wrong, right? I'll let you know how it turns out.

In other news, my doctors have all arrived. Dr. Hardison and his wife. Jess (from Duke) and Sarah and Suzanne (U of Tenn). We are having all sorts of fun.

Suzanne meets the rabbits.

Vinicent, Daniel, and Sarah doing a little evening studying. We'll be honest-the adults have been reading the children's books as much as we've been reading Harrison's Internal Medicine. I've learned all out pre and post-sinusoidal blood flow thought the liver AND how the Rift Valley was formed (thanks National Geographic for kids;).
Now that Jess has carried over the other half of my supply of cloth maxi-pads we are getting ready to distribute them to schools. I met with a new school last week, Ebulako Primary, and they are very excited to get involved in the Pad Project. I have also been busy arranging for the group of nursing students, who are coming in March, to bring pads and teaching to several new schools-as the lovely ladies back home are producing pads faster than I can bring them over. YAY! It's a problem I am happy to deal with ;) Keep up the good work!
Love love,
Jessie

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