get water from the Well for my bath, take a bucket bath, get ready, drink my powdered milk dissolved in hot water and eat my tangerine on the walk to school. I usually make it to school right before 7, just in time for my French tutoring session which runs until 8, when our regular sessions begin.
As most of you know I was having a big problem with cockroaches, so for about a week now, right before I go to sleep, I’ve been lining the bottom of my door with my thick French text books. It had been working well, or so I thought. When I woke up yesterday morning, I switched on the light, un-tucked my mosquito net from under my mattress, swung my legs over the side of the bed, ready to slip my feet into my slippers when suddenly, a massive cockroach comes zooming out from under my desk! I quickly picked up my feet, put them back in the bed and securely tucked my mosquito net back under my mattress. I watched as the stupid (huge) bug crawled into my shoes. After a few minutes I saw it climb out of my shoe and head for the door, where it tried to leave, but because of the stupid books I lined to keep roaches out, it kept this one locked securely in my room with me! Oh the irony! I felt so helpless; I literally sat in my bed and cried. I watched the cockroach crawl in and out of my stuff and cried for about 45 minutes. Then, when I saw it come closer to my bed, I quickly pulled out the mosquito net, picked up my shoe and crushed it! It was now 6:50; I was so nervous and jumpy that I didn’t take a shower or brush my teeth, I grabbed my jeans, the first shirt I could find, grabbed an orange, and got the hell out of the house and headed for school. When I got to school I brushed my teeth took out my kindle and read some Harry Potter to put me in a better mood. From there, my day fell into place.
Our first session was language, following that was a session on “Sexual Assault Reporting Impact and Response which was run by our PCMO Nurse Anne and our Safety and Security Officer Ruth. After lunch we had an emotionally charged session on Mental Health. We discussed how our mental and emotional state will be very volatile during our service. We will have high “highs” and low “lows”. Some of it is caused by the work we do, where we live and just the fact that our lives have changed COMPLETELY!
We were then asked to list the concerns we’ve had since being in country, here are a few:
1. Water shortages
2. Snakes
3. Outdoor bathrooms
4. Lack of sanitation
5. No electricity
6. No doctor
7. Flooding
8. Malaria
9. Diarrhea
10. Dangerous spiders
11. Cockroaches (!)
12. Roads that were sometimes impassable
13. Armed robbery
But I think it’s really important to note that though we all listed these things as our concerns, we can handle these things (because we are, daily!) the things that we’re all really struggling with is the culture, the feelings of isolation, the language barriers and being culturally sensitive. I like to think of myself as being non-judgmental and an extremely tolerant individual, but I’m having a hard time adjusting to the gender roles in this country.
We recently had a session on gender roles where one activity had us draw an American girl and all the opportunities available to her in the States. My group drew “The Bill of Rights”, a school, a diploma, a hospital, and airplane and mountains, and at the center of it all, we drew a boy. We then explained to the rest of the group that In America girls have rights, they can go to school, they have access to health care, they can go to university, they can travel, work and vote. We drew the boy because in America, girls have the same opportunity as boys, in Cameroon that is definitely not the case. Boys are valued much more in their families and their communities.
This ties me into another major session we had on “Girls Empowerment”
The United Nations defines the importance of the empowerment of the Girl Child in two parts:
1. Parental Engagement: Parents should act as the first line of defense of their children’s rights.
2. Child Participation: Children should be given resources and tools from the family and community to take control of their own lives.
(Sessions are starting, I’ll finish this later)
You've probably seen some pretty harsh things in Kenya, but I would guess this is a life-changing experience. I admire your resilience. Keep strong--I'm sure this is a chapter in your life that will make you even more remarkable!
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