First things first, I’m still alive! I’m really sorry that I’ve not been in touch for so long. Things have been pretty busy lately and one other small problem has been that I have not been well for a little while. I managed to pick up what they diagnosed as amoeba, probably from drinking water. I had a really high fever for about 3 days and then lets just say interesting things going on with my guts. I went to the hospital in town to be tested for whatever it was that was making me ill and had a blood test. The guy who did it couldn’t find a vein and basically just stabbed me in the wrist with a needle and poked around until he found one! Not the most pleasant experience but he then did ask me out on a date so it can’t be all bad I suppose! He then told me that thankfully didn’t have malaria or typhoid but had got a bug from water. Great!
A weeks worth of medication was prescribed and I realised one day in that I hadn’t read the box properly (actually my 9yr old Kenyan brother realised) and instead of one tablet three times a day. It was in fact 2 tablets 3 times a day. This was written in big letters on the outside of the box, but in my slightly weakened state I’d not understood properly (that’s what I’m telling myself anyway). So eventually once I started taking the right drugs I began to get some appetite back. On the last day of my medication Lucy and I went into town for our day off and had lunch at the Tea Hotel () I was just about able to enjoy our coffee followed by chicken and cheese sandwich (Sounds strange but when you’re living on maize mush/Ugali it’s pretty amazing, even when you’re sick!). This day we also went to the post office and I was able to pick up some more of my birthday cards, thank you very much to those of you who’ve sent post! It’s such an exciting thing to go unlock the posta box and find a letter or card. I will write back!
I’m now basically back to 100%, though am still eating like a small child and everyone is always telling me to eat more ugali. I’m so glad that I’m back to normal because it really is no fun being ill in Kenya. I’m not used to being weak and not even able to walk into the office with my backpack. It was very annoying! I was very well looked after by the Sisters and by Lucy, as much as it was repetitive them telling me I have to rest, it was true!

Anyway, I should probably let you know how things are going in the project and host family. Things at home are still really great. It’s lovely having lucy around and we often get told off for talking English too fast. Every evening we sit in the kitchen with mum and our brother/sisters, laughing and telling stories or going back to old stories like when Laura ordered Ugali Plain in a hotel. (Apparently a big no no!) Memo, our younger sister is now back for the month of April on school holidays and it’s really nice to have her back since she was such a big part of my moving here in the beginning. Weldon is building a house next door and has also moved back to the village in the meantime. I’ll put up some pictures of the house in progress when I remember. Maybe I’ll move in when it’s finished!
We went to visit our uncle’s house in the next field a few weeks ago. It’s a brick house, has inside toilet and running water, tilled floors and even provision for power when it eventually reaches the village in a few years. Lucy and I were a little shell shocked, we kept repeating ‘it wouldn’t be the same experience if we lived here’. It’s true, we wouldn’t have the same memories if we didn’t have to use the long drop or pick the flies out of the bucket before having a wash! The biggest thing is that that house is empty for most of the year since the family live in Nairobi… why could we not just move in while they’re away?! (‘it wouldn’t be the same experience if we lived here’)

Things in the project…
Piia has now left and got a job in Nairobi working for the Finnish embassy so its now just Lucy and I. Weldon is often away at training or in town. Recently he went to Finland with Piia while she was training for her job so we’ve been coordinating the whole project for a couple of weeks. I’ll give a bit of a run through of the projects we’ve been doing so you get an idea of how things have been going.

Peer Youth Education
This is a group of youths out of school who we’ve been training in conjunction with the Kericho Youth Centre. About 23 of them come to COWART every Monday morning for training in HIV prevention and peer youth counselling. Then on another day of the week they go out in groups of 3-4 to a school to teach a group of about 25 students what they’ve been learning this week.
It’s been going well. Even though schools have been really slow to contact us and we have to chase them and the PYE students have been a bit nervous to go into schools without taking a ‘white person’ with them! Otherwise we’ve been well received and things are going well. The training is supposed to last for about another 2 months before they get their certificates but they’re now asking if we can fast track the rest of the training because some of them want to go off to college in May. This is proving a bit of a dilemma because we really wanted to train them to become a team who could constantly be going into schools and training students rather than just get their certificates for their CV’s and leave. We’ll have to see because really the Kericho Youth Centre are running things and will have the final say. I’m running a session on Values, Attitudes and Beliefs on 3rd May so will get to planning it soon to try and make it as interesting and Kenyan friendly as possible.

Football
Over Easter Lucy organised a football tournament for primary, secondary schools and outside football clubs. Three days of matches ending with the finals on Easter Monday. It was a really amazing event, hundreds of locals came to watch and the teams really enjoyed playing. On the odd occasion the clubs complained a little (Well… a lot) about the state of the pitch, the ball, the fixtures etc. But she handled them all like a pro! You’d never know she’d not organised something like this before. Weldon arrived back from Finland in time for finals day and we also had the District Officer, Ministry for Youth and Sports, Sister Lucy and others make speeches about peace and youth working together. It was exhausting but really good! Even though out team from COWART and the primary school we live next to both lost in the finals… next time we’ll get the trophies back!

Other than those things we’ve been spending a fair bit of time organising finances and other things within the office. Paper work is not a Kenyan strong point so it’s been a bit difficult, especially with Weldon away all the time but we’re getting there.
We’re also now hoping to begin training two Kenyan guys to be office assistants so that when we leave the project it will be able to be sustained by local people and not rely on international volunteers as much as it does at the moment.

In other news, Lucy and I along with Bianca (another volunteer from Austria) will be heading off to Masai Mara on the 19th for 3 days and then possibly joining Bjorn and Josh to go to Tanzania for a few days from the 22nd. We’ve been working out the costs and things, it looks like an expensive holiday but after 3 months basically working solid I think it’s going to be much appreciated!
I was also wondering if any of you know of any youth projects out in Kenya that I might be able to go and visit while I’m here? I’m working on how I could see the country and figured that visiting other projects might be a good way to network and also see new places too. Let me know if there are any or any people you know who might have contacts. It would be much appreciated!

ICYE UK and Kenya have been really helpful lately in listening to my moaning about Kenyan work ethic and small CBO’s so I’m really grateful to them for that. Also those of you who have been on the receiving end of my ramblings about things as usual, Thank you! Things here run so differently to at home and everything is much slower so sometimes it’s frustrating but maybe I’ll get used to it.

I’ve added a few more pictures too so hope you’re getting more of a picture of life in Kenya.
Once again post is appreciated; I do have a new address though.
Will now be using the Sisters address because it’s easier to pick up post from there rather than going all the way into town.

The address for now is:
Laura Griffin
St Francis Catholic Mission
PO Box 39
Kiptere 20213
Kenya
East Africa

I do miss you all and hope you’re having a great 2010 so far! Cant believe I’ve been gone 3 months now!
See you relatively soon! (Sooner if you want a Kenyan holiday!)