Mama Training

As some of you may have heard already, the ladies in my organization are determined to turn me into a Kenyan mama by the end of my two years here. I’m already well on my way (except for the husband and children part, don’t worry mom). I have already mastered washing my clothes and the floors by hand, Kenyan style (although I prefer to use a mop for the floors instead of bending over dragging a rag across a soapy floor).

A few weeks ago we visited one of our nursery schools to have lunch with the kids. We arrived before lunch was ready so the ladies (who also run a catering group on the weekends) had me help cook lunch. I helped make a huge pot (think same circumference as a tractor trailer truck tire) of mboga (cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, onions). They also showed me the best type of firewood to fetch for cooking.

Last week we went to build a new house for a widow in one of the women’s groups we work with. She’s probably around my age (23) and has 4 kids and is already widowed. They were living in a very small house, I wouldn’t even call it a house, it was a room about 6 feet by 6 feet with a door and a roof. Their new house is much better. I helped chop vegetables for lunch. Like I said in an earlier post, the men build the foundation while the women cook lunch for everyone and then the women make the walls. While we were waiting for the men to finish the foundation I saw some of the women collecting water and bringing it to the side of the house to make the mud for the walls. They were carrying the buckets of water on their heads, which is how women carry most things here. I’ve wanted to carry water on my head since getting here so I went to help. I filled up a bucket and spilled a bunch while I put it on my head but I made it the few hundred yards up to the house without it falling. One of my male coworkers was making fun of me and saying that if he were to carry water on his head he wouldn’t spill and he’d be able to walk without using his hands to hold it (like I was doing). I told him to prove it and dragged him down to the water. He spilled and he had to use his hands. Everyone was laughing because men usually don’t carry water here. I guess he’ll think twice before bragging to me again, haha. I then helped do the mud walls and then gave out condoms to the widow, which made me feel like a good public health volunteer that day.

So, like I said, I’m well on my way to becoming a Kenyan mama. I think the next thing I’ll have to learn is too carry a small child on my back with a leso (piece of fabric).

A couple weekends ago I went to Kisumu with some other volunteers who I hadn’t seen in a long time. I got a sizzling brownie sundae with a corona with lime for dinner one of the nights, yesss. Then we went to a bar where we played pool and danced the night away. We were the only ones on the dance floor that night so we just requested all our favorite songs and had a blast.