where an apple costs more than a pineapple

A lesson in Bukusu, Bungoma's local dialect

Milembe: Hello

Milembe lundi: Hello again (often used to directly follow the first hello; common with Swahili and Bukusu greetings)

Nama kwakina Obama: I come from the land of Obama! …An essential phrase which has been known to win free fruit or matatu (shared bus) rides.

Thursday was a big day for me - as opposed to the rest of the days since my move to Kenya? - since I got my three project assignments to kick off my time here.

I had a meeting with Andrew, the founder, and Veronica, the of special projects who will be leaving One Acre Fund (OAF) next month. Both of them have MBAs from Northwestern, and whatever teaching methods they use there must really work because I have never felt so serious about a job in my life. We began by going over the regular performance reviews I would have during my time at OAF (focus points: pro-activity; goal-oriented work planning and work; thoroughness and work standard; packaged, pro-active communication, no procrastination … and that doesn’t include the sustainable impact or professional skills issues!) and then moved on to the three initial projects I will be responsible for.

Each project description was a page long, complete with rationale behind the project, goals and deliverables, a timeline, suggested resources, and related projects. By next week I will need to complete a flow chart that explains what exactly I intend to cover during each week, and then a weekly plan broken down further into daily tasks. Honestly, this reminds me of the management class I took at Madison and hated, but I can also see how it will help my self-management and organization.

So here are the three projects (drum roll, please):

1. Put together brief on procedure, cost, duration for approval, etc for Kenyan work visas – which none of us currently have. (Shhh…)
   
2. A cost-cutting project designed to make our repayment from farmers cover 50% of total costs, something we are doing in other areas but not in Bungoma South.
3. A really open-ended radio advertising project for which I need to survey a random sample of farmers, find out what radio stations they listen to, and research the feasibility/cost of getting airtime. Then, if things work out, I’ll have a role in designing the ad. Sort of intimidating, but at the same time a pretty awesome opportunity to actually take charge of a project and see it through to completion.

Yesterday was a pretty exciting day as well, back in the fields. I watched an “input delivery," where the fertilizer and seeds are taken from the cereals board where they are stored to the site where the farmers gathered for review of planting strategies, and finally the bags are divided among the farmers. It’s actually a fairly complicated procedure and I was simultaneously excited to be a part of it and glad that it wasn’t something I was in charge of for my first project. After all, if even one bag of beans is miscounted, it could cost half of a harvest and cause a painfully prolonged hunger season.

After watching the Kenyan men, I had to try carrying the bags. Here I am loaded up with 75 kg, or about 160 pounds. The Kenyans were shocked ("Oh, mzungu women are very strong!")

During the afternoon I went out into the fields with Lukas, and we spent a few hours walking between farmers' homes. (Left: One of the farmers explains his own business of growing and selling seedlings. He is very appreciative of all he has learned from OAF "I make many mistakes, but I learn, and next year I will be the number one farmer!") Anyway, after being in the equatorial sun from 11:30 until 2, I had a little strip of sunburn where I had missed with my SPF 70 sunscreen. Nothing like a reminder to be diligent about things like that...

Not-so-typical Kenyan farmhouse. Lukas and I were both impressed by how neat and orderly this home was - although the outhouse had been blown apart by recent winds and was looking quite undesirable.

Farm with a beautifully plowed field. Let the rains begin!

The fields themselves were interesting, and the walk with one of the field officers equally so. At one point we walked past a school - at which point all of the students shouted the compulsory "WAZUNGU!!" (plural for foreigner/white person) and lined up at the gate to stare. However, there were a couple school-aged kids sitting on the opposite side of the road who did not partake. Lukas asked about them, and Simon (the field officer) explained that their parents were unable to pay the school fees to send the kids to school. The Kenyan government recently mandated free education for all, but in a corrupt system such mandates are rarely followed in practice. And in families with upwards of 10 kids, as many have here, even a small school fee can preclude an elementary education.

A different set of schoolchildren next to our input training. Paul, Veronica, and I were trying to get them to imitate our dance. This is about the best response we got.

Finally, after dinner the entire group decided to head to a bar and then club in town. We played pool and drank local beer, and in a sense it wasn't much different than the European, Asian, or American bars and clubs I have visited. (Wow, that makes me sound like a more exciting partier than I really am.) Except of course that the electricity went out and everyone waited patiently for the generator to kick in.

We danced until about 2:30 and then took boda-bodas - a bicycle taxi where you sit on a makeshift cushion over the rear wheel - back home. Normally they cost 10 Kenyan shillings (about 15 cents) for a ride anywhere in town. Last night, because it was so late, we paid a whopping 20 shillings. I've traveled cheaply before, but 30 cents for a post-midnight cab has to be a new record...

Other hardly reportable news: our internet, power, and water all went out yesterday - which is why I was unable to provide an update. Fortunately the internet and power have returned, but the water is still out. The water main broke in town, so all of Bungoma is without running water right now - which in a sense is easier than it would be in the US since we are accustomed to getting so much of it from a well and taking bucket baths anyway. Still, it will be nice to be able to flush the toilet and wash my hands when the main is repaired!

i have a little problem i've been working on. it’s called world hunger.

After a fabulous Indian dinner last night, I got to know people a bit better before heading to my bed for the first time. I propped open my windows and was astounded by the melody outside. Because I'm pretty sure I can't identify the majority of the animals that partake in the nightly chorus, I made a recording:

A brief overview of the structure of One Acre Fund, before I describe my day…

The expat staff is in charge of developing experiments to test different combinations of fertilizer, seed, soil, etc. From my discussions with different employees and my observations today, it appears that most of the staff works about 50 hours a week – and even more right now, as we prepare for rainy (planting) season to begin.

Other than the expat staff, there are a few hundred Kenyan employees, who range in a hierarchy from field director (FD) to field manager (FM) to field officer (FO) to farmer. I met one FM and three FOs today, and was surprised that three of the four were female. Not only that, but none of the men seemed the least bit resentful of taking planting advice or being admonished by the women for talking out of turn. This is so different from China, where women are expected to be quiet and submissive; and even different than in the US, where women are so infrequently at the top of company hierarchies!

As far as what we do: One Acre Fund consists of farmers who receive input materials (fertilizer and seeds) as well as planting instructions and demonstrations from One Acre Fund – directly from the field officers, who are able to speak Swahili or the local dialect – and provide a portion of their output in exchange for these services. It's sort of like a collection point for the farmers' vast experience and knowledge, combined with some experimentation to see if farming methods can be improved further. Since the average farmer more than doubles production after joining, they seek membership and are incredibly respectful of and grateful to the One Acre Fund staff.

Onto my day.

After a wakeful night of jetlag, I got up at 8 o'clock this morning to head to the fields with Matt, another relatively new staff member who is already amazingly competent. We began the day watching a training session, where three field officers gave farmers detailed instructions from a packet Matt had organized on the different planting materials and methods to be used in each section of the experimental plots. The conversations that followed were an interesting jumble of Swahili and English, which was translated by a field officer so I could follow.

Kenyan countryside, next to where we were planting

Probably the most amazing part was just interacting with the farmers and feeling personally incorporated into their lives. Each came to shake my hand when he or she entered, and each thanked me personally before leaving. We began and ended the meeting with a prayer session (of which I understood nothing except "thank you," as it was in Swahili as well), sang a Christian song, and waved our hands about in a gesture that was meant to help bring the rains. I wondered if the farmers knew how far removed their everyday life was from my reality; and yet despite their poverty, in some ways I envied how much more real theirs seemed, connected to the soil, animal life, and the constant comfort of family.

Showing how to use the metered rope and jembe (digging tool) to appropriately plant seeds. I'm going to be an expert farmer by the time I get back...

Two little boys that took a special interest in me, outside the house where we held our farmers' meeting.

After the meeting, which ended up lasting for nearly five hours, we walked to a farm and watched the measuring and planting. Since the farms we work with are mostly about one acre (thus the name of the organization) it was humbling to see that the plot of land designated for One Acre Fund experimentation took up the entirety of some farmers' land. After we stood watching the measurements, and being watched by groups of Kenyan children, we went inside the hut to enjoy sodas together. Again it was totally surreal – sipping Fanta in a small clay hut, learning important Swahili phrases and discussing the upcoming rains.

Matt and I left the farmhouse after an hour or so and headed to the plant nursery, where One Acre Fund carries out small-scale experiments and ensures the quality of seed before distributing to farmers. We sorted, weighed, and counted seeds and finally left for home at nearly 6 o'clock.

Finally, as a perfect closure to a long and exhausting day, six of us (five guys - burgers, anyone? - and me) went to play ultimate Frisbee at a green space in town. I summoned my reserves of energy and ran around crazily enough to make up for my extreme lack of skill, even managing to score a few points. Afterward we made a pact to make it a weekly event, but realized that the heavy upcoming rains would interfere with our evening game. Lukas suggested that we play on Wednesday afternoons instead of evenings, when it would be drier. Andrew’s reply is the source of my title quote: "Two problems with that, Lukas. One, the equatorial heat at midday. Two. I don’t know about you guys but I've got a little problem I’ve been working on. It’s called world hunger."

you are now crossing the equator

...posted on several signs we passed on the bus journey today (guess we were hovering around latitude zero?).

Random overland view. I was actually trying to capture the zebras on the right, which didn't turn out so well - but the fauna is descriptive in itself.

Dinner starts in 20 minutes so I'm going to have to blog quickly - lucky for you because I'm sure I could make this entry last until your fingers get tired of scrolling.

After delaying my flight one day in exchange for a $750 travel voucher, I boarded an 8.5 hour flight to Amsterdam, spent 4 blurry hours in the Amsterdam airport (if you're thinking shrooms, sorry to disappoint; just physical and mental exhaustion), and got on another 8.25 hour flight to Nairobi. I arrived at 8:30 pm, in time to go through immigration, get my bags, and find a hotel.

For those of you who worried about me traveling alone in Kenya, I can assure you that my trip was entirely safe and I did not once feel even slightly threatened. I also came to terms with the rationale behind my total lack of fear: I leave on a journey "alone" but never remain so for long. I just talk openly and smile a lot, and before I know it I have found allies and friends who keep me from feeling the uncertainty of solitude. This trip, for example, I met a French marine biologist who does the deep sea filming for Planet Earth; a poli sci PhD candidate at Columbia who is doing research on post-civil-war attitudes in Burundi; a Kenyan taxi driver who could not have been older than 16 but helped me find a hotel with a solid rate; and finally, on the bus, a Kenyan affiliated with Duke University who works in an office connected to One Acre Fund.

I feel obliged to share one story, since I previously mentioned the impact of country gatekeepers, i.e. immigration officials. The Kenyan official did not disappoint. Despite the long line behind me, he paged through my passport and demanded, "So much travel but you have never visited Kenya? I think this is a serious problem." And then made me learn three Swahili phrases before I could proceed to get my bags - which were, unsurprisingly, already waiting for me by the time I finally completed the visa procedure.

Streets of Nairobi before the 8 am bus took off for Bungoma

In some ways, traveling in Africa has made me especially thankful for my time in China/Southeast Asia as as preparatory journey. Some especially evident parallels:

• How foreign I am. (They have a word for it here, too - in China I was "waiguoren"; here everyone calls me "mzungu.") From my departure from the airport to my arrival in Bungoma, I did not see one single person who was not black. By the time I was arriving in Bungoma, I realized I was avoiding looking at my own skin, which 24 short hours seemed to have become strangely, almost irridescently pale. However, people did not stare at me quite as much as in China, and the few people who did look at me seemed to be laughing or smiling to themselves, as if it were cute or funny that I happened to be present. I have appreciated that about Kenyans in general so far: they have been perpetually smiling, friendly, easy-going.
  
• Squat toilets. I'm a pro.
• Buses. I boarded the one today and was shocked at how nice it was. Sure, there was no air conditioning, and it bumped up and down crazily over the unpaved roads, but the seats were all cushioned and in their proper positions. There was a place to stow baggage underneath and compartments above for carry-on items. And, best of all, it was not overcrowded; we had assigned seats and did not even fill the entire bus.
• Street food. Today at our lunch stop I had no problem pointing to a few items at a cart: bread, chicken, and a Fanta. The total? About one US dollar. So glad to be back in the land of low prices!
• Time change. Just as I experienced no jet lag in my return home from China, I navigated the 9 hour change to Kenya time with ease and now already feel that it is 7:30 on Tuesday evening. I'm pretty sure my irregular sleep and hectic lifestyle actually help me in this regard!

Okay, so onto Bungoma, my home for the next 4 months. Mom, I'm sorry, I don't hate it, and I probably won't be coming home next week. It has actually surpassed every expectation. I'm in a housing complex with 6 homes, 4 of which are occupied by One Acre Fund employees. There are 11 of us total (4 girls and 7 guys), and I think the oldest person is not more than 30. My first impression: they are all really outgoing, friendly, extremely articulate and witty individuals. With the exception of one guy, they've all been here for at least 6 months, and have the lifestyle here pretty well established: every night of the week we cook together, and the schedule is set at the beginning of the month for a nightly chef and sous-chef. (I better brush up on my cooking skills?!) Last weekend they took a group trip to a resort town in Uganda. This weekend we're visiting friends of one employee in a small Ugandan city right across the border, and the weekend after that will be an all-girls weekend in Kampala, the Ugandan capital. Apparently I've been planned into the trip even though I hadn't even arrived yet at its inception. I like that.

About my housing: We got electricity last week (!) in my house, and WIRELESS INTERNET two weeks ago at a house up the hill. I still don't have running water, so I bathe in a bucket, but not a big deal - there is running water elsewhere in the house, and we have an on-site family who fetches well water and even cleans for us a couple days a week. It's hardly roughing it, but I guess the point of the program is not to do missionary work per se but to establish a profitable enterprise by which development and good business practices can go hand in hand. Also I was very pleased to see that when I arrived, Andrew - our director - was trying to convince a couple of the guys to go running with him. Apparently there are fabulous trails here, and so much to see.

My bed, awaiting me upon my arrival. Gotta love the free One Acre Fund T-shirt and mosquito net. Also, apologies for not getting more of the room in the picture, but this is as much as I can capture in one shot. (It's pretty small...) But rest assured, you are not missing nothing, as there is nothing else in my room.

I can't believe how African it really feels - the trees, the desert, the mountains, zebras and monkeys - and I have been here a day. All in all, I am already settling in and feel incredibly fortunate to once again have stumbled upon such an incredible place. So far, so good.