The feeling of breathing again..........
Dear Friends,family and to Einar:
Learning even a little of the local language raises the spirit of the local people. To them it shows commitment and dedication to whatever you are doing for and with them. 'Brothers side by side' working in a union and all it takes is a little effort to be part of them. As I walked the streets greeting everyone in the local dialect, eyes pop open, jaws drop and innocent giggles fill the air with amusement. They say,' the Asian speaks our language, how does she know how to say it', my friend conveyed to me. They ask me, 'how do you know our words, have you been here for 2 yrs' and I laugh at the amazing compliment since I have only been in the village for 1 week. My friend teaches me more and more everyday and my anxious mind is ever so glad to learn more because every word introduces a new adventure.
On another note:today, I made a schedule with one of the schools in Khwisero and on the verge of scheduling 5 more schools next week to receive my CPR/First Aide Emergency Trainings and I cannot wait to test out the CPR anytime kits made by the American Heart Association for family and friends. Also this past week I finally had a little break through to the professor that I had been communicating within the past month or so. He is a zoologist at the University of Nairobi that has done some projects on malaria vector management in neighboring areas to my work site here at Khwisero. Today he give me some contact information for obtaining bed nets and tomorrow I am expecting to get more information that would be useful for my drainage rehabilitation project, indoor spraying as well as the presently used the chemicals for the spraying. This information I believe will be quite helpful to the villagers and members in the schools but we shall see as time progresses how much I can get done in the little time I have here in Kenya. I have already visited some schools (at Muerreshi primary and secondary schools) and give some lectures to the kids on malaria vectors and the focus of my lecture was to make clear to the children that mosquitoes do not only come out when the rain falls which is a common belief amongst not only the children but some elders and their parents too. The lecture was a hug success as was expressed by the teachers in the school; they thought it was innovative and smart since I told the children in a manner that they could understand. I can’t wait to present the lecture to more schools because I know that just like when I learned new things that my parents did not know and I told them about so they can learn that these children will do the same. They can explain to their parents what they learned about the malaria vectors and so help with reducing malaria outbreaks by educating the general population on integrated vector management techniques. I tell the children that mosquitoes are like people and like people they can have babies anytime of the year whether it is raining or not and like people when they get hungry they will come out and bite you whether it is raining or not because if you are hungry you eat whether it is raining or not. When I talk to the kids and ask them questions they answer very well and the teacher translates everything I say for the younger kids to understand since the older kids are familiar with the English language.
On a rather concerning note: I am glad I am not in Nairobi since there was a bombing on Sunday at a church gathering, there were not any foreign nationals that were killed but there was a report that 6 people died and many were injured. I would like to say a pray to God to protect the people in Kenya through this trialing time and to watch over us as we sleep at night and rise the next morning awake to serve him another day. Amen…..Well that is all I have for now I will up date you all as I go along. Thanks for reading and God Bless……
Yours Always,
Renee Orie
Friday, June 18, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
