Kenya - the Ins and Outs of the Summer!

My summer with KCP consisted of wearing many different hats and trying to master the key to any successful volunteer experience: being adaptable! I came to Kenya on the education committee, ready and armed to teach women’s groups about water sanitation and hand hygiene. This was based on the philosophy that knowledge and education is vital to understanding the need for a water filtration system like the “CeraMaji”. Jessica and I were privileged to be invited to several women’s groups around Kiminini. These groups already had relationships built with KCP from the previous summers and meet weekly to discuss issues important to the community.

Some of these groups were not easy to access and involved walking for hours into the bush. Walking through the gorgeous landscapes and getting to know our translator and friend Lynette was one of my most fond memories of the summer! After hours of walking and arms weary from carrying a cumbersome “CeraMaji” water filter, you would find yourself wandering into a dark hut, filled with warm women and big smiles. Learning a few Swahili words helped to break the ice and Jessica and I so enjoyed the teaching and group participation. The questions asked, were at times difficult to answer. They really brought to light the struggles of daily life, not to mention the struggles of waterborne illness and disease. These are

among the poorest women in the world, making on average $1 CAD a day. Currently most get their water from open streams contaminated with animal feces, trash, etc. They and their children have all had typhoid several times. Diarrhea and waterborne illness is still the biggest killer of kids under five. Still the community spirit prevails and these groups find ways to buy water filters by pooling funds each week and buying one filter a week until everyone in the group has one (called a merry-go-round). I so respect their determination and strong spirit.

Afterward the session, the women’s groups would serve food and drink and socialize. This inevitably led to singing and dancing. There is nothing quite like a group of 20 or so women, emerging from a dark hut to the daylight, singing, hooting and trying to teach a few white girls how to dance! We laughed till we cried and felt the joy that so contrasts these women’s difficult lives.

After a few weeks, the teaching wrapped up and was taken over by a larger and more important task: marketing! Suddenly I was tossed into a crowd of Kenyans and had to sell our filters! I have to admit, initially nothing seemed more terrifying to me! Heading into a crowd of poor Kenyans and convincing them that not only did they need to use a water filter but to BUY one…and from a white person…seemed impossible! Impossible, it wasn’t! Kenyans know the destructive effects of unsafe water. They have all experienced the devastating economic and health consequences of typhoid and cholera, not to mention the deaths of family members due to these illnesses. Inherently, most knew they needed a water filter and safe water. To buy it from a group of white people, when a “free” culture prevails from a white hand, now that was the challenge! The cost to treat Typhoid in Kenya is lengthy and costs 3000KSH ($38 CAD) but our filter only costs 1200 KSH ($15CAD) and the filter last for three years ($5 CAD a year for 99.9% clean water for the whole family)! Even $15 CAD is a huge purchase when the average wage is about $60 CAD a month. However, free filters are not a KCP mandate. So many NGOs come to Kenya and Africa with their free "solutions", none of which last. People don't value free things that don't make sense to them, aren't practical, aren't local and are provided by NGOs who won't be here in a year’s time when the product breaks down. KCP hopes to be Kenyan run and fully self sustainable. It's local, simple and was developed with Kenyans, for Kenyans and you could feel the excitement of the people when introduced to the product. KCP really took time to develop something great!

This year, times were especially tough in Kenya. There was a food shortage due to drought and soaring unemployment rates. As I came home and thesummer continued, I realized the full extent of the worst drought in 60 years in the horn of Africa. Still, the summer has many successes and filter sales sky rocketed to numbers never seen previous. Marketing strategies were revamped several times and the summer was busy with several big market days, sales events and local initiatives to get these filters on local grocery store shelves. I came to enjoy selling filters, feeling the rush of a sale, knowing that it was going to eradicate waterborne illness for the family I sold it to.

Speaking of the hunger, it really affected me to see the reality of people starving but the images I will never forget are those of the street children. They live together in gangs and roam the streets together. You will never see a more sick, impoverished, dirty and hungry group of kids. The reality that is hidden in the world vision commercials is that the children (yes, age 4 and up) sniff glue. They do this for two reasons: 1.) the inhaled fumes get them high (and allow them to forget about the hunger) and 2.) the glue fumes physically stops the severe hunger pangs. The street kids walk around with bottle of glue held to their nose or mouth, high as ever, with their hands out, begging for food. They can be aggressive and unpredictable. The worst part is that even feeding them does not solve the long term problem. To see children not only starving on the streets but also high really shocked me and made me feel forever guilty for the extreme gluttony and waste of north America and my life there. This is one of the dark sides of Kenya. Coming home I vowed never again to take for granted a full belly, a warm home, a comfortable bed and the privilege of the hope of a long life.

See Jessica Hogan's blog on the Innovative Canadians for Change if you are interested more in the volunteer work that we did:) http://icchange.ca/blog/kcp.aspx