Letter from Haron!

Haron sent me a few new photos and a letter!  What a handsome young man, check them out:

LETTER FROM HARON:

Dear Mr. Thomas Mosier,

I salute you and your highly respected friends. It is my sincere hope and belief that you are all doing well and in good health. I have not written to you for quite some time but I always keep you in my mind and heart because you mean much to me.

I am fine too and am continuing well with my learning.

I am greatly pleased and humbled at the same time as I write to you especially when I look back and see the strong and firm foundation you have laid in my life. You squeeze your tight budget and devote your scarce resources, only to brighten my future. I must say that you are doing an exceptional, noble task and your kindness is quite overwhelming. In regard to this, I always remember you in my prayers and do ask God to shower you with his blessings, peace of mind and serenity of soul as you partake in your endeavors. I also wish to thank K.E.F staff, for the tremendous work they are doing, in ensuring all the necessities are provided in good time.

Currently I am in my 2^nd year, 2^nd Semester, and am joining 3^rd Year the coming September. It is my pleasure to inform you that I am doing perfectly well in my class work and other activities outside classroom.

In class work I have experienced a notable increase in the amount of work and content depth as I go up the ladder, especially in literature class which calls for both intensive and extensive reading and analysis of the creative works. For instance this semester I am working on thirteen texts (play and prose).

This work is not easy for an individual; it therefore calls us to gang up together with the classmates so as to handle the task in group discussions. This provides an opportunity and ground to learn from each other. Personally I have found it useful because the skills and knowledge I acquire are key in my teaching career.

Outside class work, I do engage in various activities such as participation in clubs and small group in Christian union. Currently I am a member of University a Christian union choir; I lead a small group of ten members in University Karate club.

On academic progress up to date it is important to let you know that I have sat all my examinations from the start to this far. I sincerely do apologize for the delayed results submission. It is not my fault because we have not been issued with the transcripts. If anything, I have been more than willing to send you the results transcripts for the update. The examination department has caused the inconveniences because the policy states the results should be availed to the student after every academic year. However this delay may have been caused by the transition period which the University has been undergoing since last year to early this year. It was in the process of being elevated from being a university college to a full pledged university, thus becoming the 9^th public university in the republic of Kenya.

The examination department has issued me with a provisional transcript for my 1^st year though incomplete. I thought it wise to send it, as I await the official complete script. Some of the courses have not been entered thus affecting my grade (attached transcript) once I receive the official complete script I will not hesitate sending it to you.

My mind is fully focused and set to utilize this opportunity  well because I am certain my  future will be a reflection of today and the ultimate goal of becoming a useful and reliable individual in the family and society will be realized by today’s work Through this precious opportunity, I am looking forward to correcting the situation which my family has been mired in by providing a bridge through which my younger sisters will get the other side of the river reiterate that the living standard, especially of my mother will be improved. Needless to say, I cannot refrain from thinking of those brilliant minds in the society, whose future is barred by darkness simply because of poverty in their families.

I am looking forward to time when I will revive someone hope by enabling at least one access education. Besides how can I be of use in the family and community if I do not see its problems as mine?

I am proud of Kenyan government because in its budget a lot of money has been channeled to education sector and this will enable children who otherwise could not afford to go to school access education. The president also has promised to issue laptops to primary school children.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE CONTINUED SUPPORT, AND MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU

HARON   KIMATHI

CHUKA UNIVERSITY

Haron forwarded me some photos!

I talked to Haron on the phone a few days ago for about an hour.  He just finished up the final exams for his second semester at Chuka University College and has a short break before returning in September.  Per normal, Haron studied vigorously and his tests seemed to go well.  With the extra time that break has afforded him, he shot a few pictures for us. 

The first set is of him doing karate at university.  He started doing Taekwondo when I was teaching at Athiru Gaiti Secondary school, but from the looks of it has evolved quite a bit in his practice (Haron's the one in the middle with the intense expression and really high foot!). 

The photos of Haron by himself were shot in front of the Chuka University College's main entrance - I remember passing that particular backdrop when I was traveling between Nairobi and Meru. 

The third set is him with fellow Christian Union (CU) members.  The CU is probably the largest Christian fellowship organization in Kenyan schools.  He's always enjoyed being an active leader in the group and after finishing his exams went on a week-long regional retreat with other CU members.

The last photo, of him with three younger boys is, I believe, from when he volunteered with other CU members to help a group of orphans.  Haron really does stay busy, especially considering that Kenyan students study far more than their American counterparts.

I'm really encouraged by the contributions the Kenya Education Fund has received on Haron's behalf.  We're close to raising the money for this year, but aren't quite there yet.  If anyone has been thinking about contributing but hasn't, this would be a super time to do so.  If a few of you take up the cause, you could be the ones to top off Haron's educational needs for the upcoming year.  And remember, if more than a few of you take up the cause now, the extra money will rollover to next year, reducing the number of times I send out future entreaties.

Details on how to donate:
Checks should be made out to the "Kenya Education Fund" and in the note section write "referred by Thomas Mosier."  All money with a referral from me (Thomas Mosier) will go to Haron.  Brad was really good last year about sending me periodic updates regarding received donations.  Of course, it helps if you send me a quick email at the time you send a check, simply stating that you are donating, which helps me ensure all donations are properly accounted for.

The Kenya Education Fund's donation address is:

    Kenya Education Fund
    360 East 72nd Street #C3405
    New York, NY 10021

Harambee for Haron Kimathi's Undergraduate Education

Dear friends and family,

I want to pass along a letter I received from Haron Kimathi (see post preceding this letter), one of my students from Athiru Gaiti Secondary School in Kenya.  Keep in mind, English is Haron's third language: Kimeru is his first (his tribal language or "mother tongue"), Kiswahili his second (spoken throughout East Africa), and finally English.  I'm pretty impressed with the progress in his writing since he graduated from secondary school two years ago, and am sure it will continue to improve throughout his time in college and beyond.

For those of you who haven't heard about Haron before (the email list is always changing… You can go to my Peace Corps blog to see last year's email), he was an exceptional student of mine during the time I taught as a Peace Corps volunteer.  In fact, he received the highest marks in the eight year history of the Athiru Gaiti Secondary School.  There was no way, though, that he would have been able to pay university tuition without outside support because when he was young, his father was beaten to death by an organized gang for refusing to pay the gang's "tax."  In Kenya, women weren't allowed to own land until the country adopted a new constitution in 2011, so all of Haron's father's belongings were divided up and distributed amongst extended family and non-relative villagers.

I don't believe that external aid is uniformly good.  I do, however, believe in promoting education.  Once Haron graduates and gets a job as a teacher, he will be able to provide for not only his future wife and children, but will also be able to help other Kenyans in need of money for their educations.  I'm 100% confident that over the course of his life, Haron will give others more money for school fees than he received because that is the culture of Kenya - most of the Kenyan secondary school teachers I knew were paying the school fees for not only their immediate families but their extended families as well; they would also regularly contribute at fund raising events for talented youth from their village.  In addition, Haron is an exceptionally caring human being who knows the feeling of having talent and a willingness to work, yet not knowing if he will ever have the opportunity to nurture it.

Due to our support last year, Haron has now completed his first year in a program to earn a bachelor's in education, which will qualify him to teach at secondary schools.  The next school year starts in September and at the very least we need to raise another $1,650.  Everything above and beyond this will roll over to the following year.  It would be fantastic if this year we raised the entire $4,950 to fund him through the completion of his program.  If we don't pull together the entire sum now though, I'll continue to pester you with emails in subsequent school years!  The organization handling and distributing the money we collect is the Kenya Education Fund, which is a non-profit with offices in both the U.S. and Kenya, started by Brad Broder, a returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Kenya from 1999-2001.  They've been a great organization to work with throughout this process and they're obviously fighting the good fight.

I'm donating $100; see the information below for details on how you can donate as well.  Last year I was deeply encouraged by the wide range of people who donated and by the messages tagged to the donations, including one by a friend from Reed: "I'd absolutely be willing to donate more than $100 if it's needed, especially when I reflect on all the mostly useless ways I've spent $100 on myself recently."  While we all like to think of ourselves as judicious keepers of our money, I concur that donating $100 to give someone the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty is infinitely more meaningful than most of the ways I use my resources.  However, everyone's situation is unique and every bit of what you do give is deeply appreciated.  Another great way to help is to expand the network by forwarding this message on to a few of your close friends or family members with a personal note included.

Attached to this letter are three pictures from when my girlfriend, Whitney, went to Maua to visit Haron, his mother, siblings, and extended family in September 2011.  As an example of Haron's generosity, he chopped down a tree, combined it with scrap wood, and built an additional room for her to sleep in!

 

Details on how to donate:

Checks should be made out to the "Kenya Education Fund" and in the note section write "referred by Thomas Mosier."  All money with a referral from me (Thomas Mosier) will go to Haron.  Brad was really good last year about sending me periodic updates regarding received donations.  Of course, it helps if you send me a quick email at the time you send a check, simply stating that you are donating, which helps me ensure all donations are properly accounted for.  Your donations are tax deductible provided that you do both of the following: (1) include your name and return address and (2) DO NOT write Haron's name directly on the check.  If you do both of those, the Kenya Education Fund will send you a thank you letter serving as a receipt of your tax-deductible donation.

The Kenya Education Fund's donation address is:

Kenya Education Fund
360 East 72nd Street #C3405
New York, NY 10021

Thank you for reading this email.  I hope the cause is as meaningful to you as it is to me and I hope to hear from many of you soon.  If you want to read this or last year's letter from me, head to my Peace Corps blog, Hunter Douglas of the Fiery Oven.  Make sure to read Haron's letter too!  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

I wish you all the best,

Thomas Mosier

 

 

Letter From Haron (May 2012)

Beginning with the 2011 academic year, a group of my friends and family began sponsoring one of my former students (Haron Kimathi) from when I was a teacher at Athiru Gaiti Secondary school in Kenya.  The following is a letter he wrote us in appreciation for our help and to inform us about life at Chuka University College.


Chuka University College,
P.O Box 109 (60400),
Chuka.
May 29, 2012.

Hello! How are you doing? How are your friends and family? It’s my hope that all
is well. I’m doing well too here at the university and more to that, my studies are
going on well.

The main reason of this letter is to let you and your friends know that you
have played a very important role in changing my life. In fact when I met you
at Athiru Gaiti secondary school as a Peace Corps volunteer, I had lost hope in
life, particularly in academics. I couldn’t believe whether my academics dreams
and ambitions could one day come true. Not until I met you that you revived
my academic dreams. It’s my pleasure therefore to take this opportunity to
thank you and other sponsors (present and future) for this great golden chance
you have offered me. It’s through your support that I’ve been able to join the
university. It’s true that you are straining your pockets to raise my fees which
require large sum of money. You are also denying yourselves a lot of things only
to help me.

My family and I always remember you in prayers and we pray for God’s
grace, peace, happiness and prosperity in everything you do. May God also grant
you long healthy life. In my studies I promise to work hard and smart and above
all uphold high level of discipline as I have always been so as not to let you
down.

At the university I’ve been introduced to various new topics of study.
Some are so much interesting while others are a bit challenging. For instance
in my first semester I had nine (9) units of study for example psychology,
communication skill, literary criticism and many others. Psychology is so much
interesting and very important as it tries to identify and provide solution to the
problems that teachers encounter as they teach and interact with the students.
It also explains the behavior of children at different stages of their growth and
development. This has been of great help to me as a teacher in handling my
students irrespective of their character, behavior and abilities while teaching.

“Communication skills” is a unit that deals with how to access information
from different sources and how to effectively deliver such information to different
social classes and those of concern, with great efficiency. It has helped me
learn how to socialize and interact with students in and out of the class as well
as to the general public. Literature as well has helped me build my vocabulary.
It requires a lot of reading. Every semester one has to read, interpret and
analyze at least two books; a play and a novel. In general this has equipped me
with knowledge and skills in interpreting, analyzing and criticizing the work of
arts. “English language” is also not left out in the group. It involves phonetics
and phonology.

Studying language and linguistics has made me knowledgeable in English
language. This will help me deliver quality services to my students.

Over the weekdays, I usually start my day at 05:00 hr by attending
morning prayers and retire to bed at approximately 21:00 hr when I’m done with
my day’s activities. Morning prayers take one hour after which I get to my room
to prepare for the lectures of the day. Most of my lectures start at 07:00 hrs. The
number of lectures that I attend varies each day and the units also vary in their
credit factor. Most of the time when I’m not having any lecture, I spend my time
in the library trying to read more and do assignments as well as carry out other
co-curricular activities. Most of my classmates and course-mates are serious
people, who are working very hard academically. I am a karateka (shotokan
karate style) and a footballer too. I’m an interim chair of the shotokan karate
club of Chuka University College and a member of the Christian Union choir.
These activities help me remain spiritually and physically fit.

Chuka University College is a public institution established on 27 th Sep
2004 by Egerton university council. It’s situated approximately 186 Km from
Nairobi along Nairobi-Meru highway. The establishment of the college has
a prophetic history i.e. foretold by a famous philanthropist; Jerusha kanyua
who said “A mountain would come up at Ndagani”, the actual location of the
University. The university was developed 58 years later hence her vision came
true.

Finally, having been offered an opportunity to realize my academic
dreams and ambitions by you and your friends, I’ll try all my best to be
successful and change the living standards of my family and the community
according to my ability. I’ll ensure that all those behind me get access to
education through ensuring that all the requirements are available. Secondly, I

will make proper use of the knowledge and skills I’ve gained to provide quality
services to my students and above all, join hands with other well wishers
in changing the lives of less fortunate children in the society. Doing this,
will be the only way of expressing my gratitude to you for transforming my life.
May you live long to extend your great help, not only to me but also to others
with similar and/or related problems as mine.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU, YOUR
FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

Yours faithfully,

Haron kimathi

Help Send an Exceptionally Worthy Kenyan Student to University!

Dear friends and family,

What is a "harambee?" I learned about the culture of "coming together" while living in Kenya as a Peace Corps volunteer and learning Swahili. Many of my students struggled to pay their school fees, but one student in particular stood out to me as being exceptionally dedicated to learning, amazingly kind, and utterly in need of outside financial assistance to fulfill his goal of attending university and becoming a high school teacher. When I met Haron Kimathi he was the school captain at Athiru Gaiti Secondary school - the school I taught at. "Captain" is a position not found in American high schools, but is somewhat akin to a student body president, except with at least three times the number of responsibilities.

To attain the position of captain Haron had to be seen by the teachers as a paragon of model student character and be respected by his peers (who were in the position of both nominating and obeying him). I lived in the school compound and, for a period of time, started my days at 5am, at which hour, even over school holidays, Haron would already be in his classroom studying by a kerosene lamp. With this devotion he earned the highest marks in the secondary school's history, qualifying him to go to university.

Unfortunately, Haron's father was murdered when Haron was a boy. Haron has many siblings and out of them he was the only one to finish secondary school. He was able to do this because he touched the principal of Athiru Gaiti Secondary school, who was willing to make special arrangements so that Haron could have basic amenities (such as kerosene to study by), and because he touched my friends and family who paid his secondary school fees. Haron has shown his ability to succeed academically, and yet an even bigger financial challenge looms in front of him, one which requires me to broaden the scope of those I reach out to.

Out of the many degree programs he could take, some of them paying more than others, he desires to be a secondary school teacher because he recognizes the profound positive impact they can have on their students' lives. In Kenya I met teachers who would work 10 or 12 hour days consistently but I also met far too many teachers that did not have sufficient internal motivation to show up more than 50% of the time. I can say without hesitation that Haron will be in the former group and will be an immense asset to his students. Not only will he be the type of secondary school teacher Kenya needs to inspire its youth, but supporting him at this juncture will ensure he gets a job as a salaried government teacher, which will help break the cycle of poverty for him and his family.

Haron has been admitted to Chuka University College for the fall term, which begins towards the end of this August. There is a non-governmental organization in Kenya (begun by a former Peace Corps Volunteer) called the Kenya Education Fund, which is willing to perform the logistics of handling the donations and dulling them out to Chuka University College each semester. Additionally, they will send a receipt of donation to each individual who donates to them, meaning your donation will be tax deductible. Per year (two combined semesters) the cost for Haron to attend school will be 143,500 Kenya Shillings, which is approximately $1,793.75 (the approximate conversion rate is 80 KSH to 1 USD). The non-profit only requires an 8 percent overhead charge for their services, which is 11,480 KSH or $143.50. Therefore, the four years cost for us to put Haron through school will be $7,749.

I know many individuals have had to tighten their pockets the past couple of years. I certainly do not have very deep pockets considering I just returned from the Peace Corps; however, I believe deeply in this cause and am going to donate $100. I am going to do this because I know the money will have a bigger impact on the course of Haron's life than it will on mine.

Additionally, I would greatly appreciate your assistance in passing along this message to people you know who may be willing to contribute. The goal is to raise all of the $7,749 now, so that the organization is assured they wont let Haron down in agreeing to sponsor him. Also, that way you don't have to hear from me on a yearly basis.

Checks should be made out to the "Kenya Education Fund" and in the note section write "referred by Thomas Mosier." It certainly would not hurt to also attach a small separate note affirming that you were "referred by Thomas Mosier" and, of course, include your return address so they are able to send a tax exemption receipt. Their New York office's address is:

Kenya Education Fund
360 E. 72nd St. #3405
New York, NY 10021

It would be helpful if you are also willing to send me a quick email when you contribute so I can track how close we are to achieving our goal and to provide me a means of checking to ensure your money goes into the correct KEF fund.

Remember, since Haron is starting university at the end of August, we only have about one month to raise this money, so please act at your earliest convenience.

I sincerely appreciate that you took the time to read this lengthy email. I hope to hear from all of you!

All the Best,
Thomas Mosier

P.S. - The picture at the top features Haron (on the right in the suit jacket) with a few other students who all helped me to build a brick pizza oven (shown in their midst). The picture below is of Haron (left), me, and Elijah (who was by far my best physics student) in front of a patch of arrow roots we planted at Ahirtu Gaiti Sec school.

Upon Arriving in Washington D.C.

I wrote a few notes about initial impressions of America after so long away:

Customs officials with canines, the officers jumping, hollering, and some some sniffing themselves in hopes of finding clandestine deposits.

I manually bound myself up 60 stairs, receiving looks of disbelief from the mass of otherwise stoic escalator passengers.

Near the top, but before my eyes see what lies over the escalator's horizon, I smell a familiar yet foreign smell: chips - as I know them in Kenya - but this poignant aroma cannot be derivable from deep friend potatoes and salt alone, the way they were prepared in Kenya. After two years of passing densely packed chips shops in Nairobi and the smaller towns I am an expert, and these tasty American morsels are frauds.

I have arrived in the land of intention, where all systems are refined & paradise lost.

Mt. Kenya Fading

I wrote this haiku when I was in the plane flying over Mt. Kenya on my journey home, no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer but unsure of what I was to become:

Mt. Kenya fading,
plane climbs; setting Sun glows red.
Life changes again.

And an alternative version:

Sun setting, plane climbs.
I see my old home below.
Then everything fades.

Rwanda

Today is my last in Rwanda. My impression is that the country is very similar to other East African countries, except that there was a huge genocide here. This series of events has changed the country in many ways; however, I am left feeling amazed that, at least on the surface, Rwandans such strength and national unity in moving on.

There are still beggars here, but the majority of these beggars do not have festering wounds or life-long diseases as they do elsewhere. Instead, many of them have scars where their extremities were hacked off - obviously removed outside of a hospital. For instance, I saw a beggar with 3 inches of forearm the elbow. I also saw a women whose entire face was one huge scar. She had trouble opening her eyes beyond that of a strained squint because the tissue healed improperly. People with missing legs and crutches fashioned in a backyard are almost the norm. And these are the survivors, over 1 million people were massacred.

Undoubtedly this has left a huge emotional and psychological scar on the country, but it is an extreme testament to Rwandans that without the beggars, the Kigali Memorial Center (genocide memorial), and the references by outsiders you would not suspect that such atrocities had taken place here.

The other way in which I have felt the genocide is through my pocketbook. After the world realized that they could have very easily prevented the genocide (the U.N. Lt. General on the ground predicted 5,000 troops with authority to keep the peace would have been enough to prevent most of the 1,000,000 murders) the country was flooded with NGO's and foreign aid workers. This has brought with it a lot of money, and a demand for good hotels, not the $6 cheapies that people like myself desire/require.

As a starting point to learn about the genocide, I recommend the film Hotel Rwanda, which seems to accurately depict one man's attempt to help others during the chaotic months of the genocide.

Ethiopia and Mt. Kilimanjaro

The first leg of my post Peace Corps travels was to Ethiopia with Whitney, a fellow PCV. We had a great, yet too brief time, which allowed us to see most of the tourist sites we wanted to, but left us always on the move from one attraction to the next. One of the most amazing sites we experienced were the rock-hewn churches in Lalibella. There are at least 6 full size churches and many other smaller ones, all of which were carved out of a single piece of rock.
One very fun aspect of the trip was simply meeting fellow travelers. Two of our favorite were Rutger, a Dutchman, and Jorge, a Mexican movie professor.

Whitney and I arrived back in Nairobi at 2am on January 1st, and before dawn on the 3rd I was on a bus bound for the town of Moshi in Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro proved to be tied for the distinction of most difficult physical activity I have ever done (right up there with running a full marathon after only training for a half and doing the round-the-Mt.-Hood trail in one day). We left our highest camp at just after midnight and climbed 1200m through scree, finally reaching the summit at sunrise (right around 6am).
Our guide told us that at the summit (5875m), the air contains only half of the oxygen that it does at sea level. Needless to say, I was happy to have made it but, rather unfortunately, did not have the energy to spend a lot of time exploring the summit. Our group had 12 climbers, but we split into a faster and slower group for the summit climb. I'll let you guess which group the five of us plus our guide, Salim, were.
Tomorrow I am headed off to western Kenya, my stepping-off point for exploring Uganda, Rwanda, and possibly a corner of the DRC. More pictures when I return.

Finishing My Peace Corps Service

I am amazed, the time has come for me to ship off back to the Great American Frontier to face the challenge of figuring out how to get someone to pay me to do work I am passionate about.

I know that my blogging has always been erratic, but I am warning you that from this point forward it will most definitely be even more so. The reason is that on December 15th I will officially cease to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. On the 16th I am flying to Ethiopia to experience that for a little more than two weeks. Then a day after flying back to Nairobi I am headed to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro (1 week) and then lay on the beaches of Zanzibar for a few days. From there I am rushing to western Kenya to meet up with another returned PCV to visit Uganda, Rwanda, and maybe the DRC for about 15 days.

That bring me to February 3rd, which is when my dad is coming to visit. Him and I will be visiting my school and surrounding area, then are headed to Lamu, the most beautiful Swahili city intact in Kenya. After that I will be visiting a friend in Western Kenya until I fly out for good on March 8th.

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There are so many things that I am leaving behind. I don't intend to suggest that passion fruit plants are at the top of the list of things I will miss, but I took a picture of them that I like the other day and thought I would include a little about them because I don't think people in the US have seen them.

I planted these four vines in the summer of 2009. They were so fragile and vulnerable that I had to enclose them in sticks to keep chickens from eating them and the dogs from sitting on them.
Now they are so massive that they have grown all the way up to the peak of my roof and half way down the other side. They flowered about two months ago, at the start of the rainy season, and now have lots of fruits. Only a few of them are currently ripe enough to eat, but the next PCV in the house will eat so many he will get sick of them.

Below is a picture I took of one of the flowers. The spherical fruit emerges from center, as the flower simultaneously wilts and falls out.

Last Dance With My Students (Figuratively)

Just before the last day of school, my students and I finished our world map project, which we started back in August. It felt so relieving to be done with it and to hear all the positive comments from passersby.
Then, a few days after school closed, I made pizza with some of my most helpful students for the last time. We made 12 pizzas and 6 loaves of bread, which was more than we could finish. They got to take leftovers home, I did not spy on them at home but I would be curious to see what percentage of their treasure they shared with their family. I would probably have been pleasantly surprised in many cases.
I tried to make sure they did most of the steps in order to know that they can carry on after I leave. I still helped out a little bit, including here, where was showing them how to properly flick the pizzas off of the paddle.

American Friends: Thanksgiving and Otherwise

At Thanksgivings past I have had small responsibilities like making the gravy, but this Thanksgiving us PCVs did not have our elders around, so we took the lead role. Additionally, being Kenya, I not only took on the traditionally patriarchal role of turkey carver, but also of turkey killer and disembowler. Everyone who was present helped with the preparation, and together we enjoyed a feast. There was so much food that I even got to have one of my favorite post-Thanksgiving meals, which is turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce.

Lots of awesome photos were taken, but unfortunately I do not yet have them. Instead, I have pictures of a feasting day a month or so before Thanksgiving. This feast included a roasted goat, Mr. Kobia's family, and a couple of PCVs.

After we butchered it we got to sit down a little bit and start the consumption phase of the day. The old man in both of these photos is Kobia's father. He is tied for the position of being my favorite old Kenyan man (see "My Farewell Party" for a picture of my other favorite old man). He has earned this title because he seems so frail, and I think he also has cancer, but every day he goes out to find nappier grass to feed the goats. He continues to putz around the family farm for the majority of the day, and is always just so well tempered. What is it about becoming old that makes some mens outlooks on life ripen so much? Maybe we can try to learn their secrets before we become old ourselves.
I guess the visit was more of a feasting weekend rather than a single day because the day after visiting Mr. Kobia's family we cooked pizza. Here is my good friend Ari, looking all big and strong, chopping wood in front of the Peace Corps emblem I painted.
Here is me, getting all lit up by the fire:
I don't know why exactly, but I really like making pizza at night. Maybe it is just the contrast in lighting. Seeing the flames shoot out of the top of the oven is awesome. Maybe it is also because I know that after I tire myself out chopping wood, tending the fire, making the pizza, my only other work for the day is eating pizza; then I get to sit down, relax, and sleep.

Mr. Kobia's two oldest sons joined us for the evening. It was fun sharing the time and experience with them.

My Farewell Party

I have helped spur a tradition of having staff parties after the end of each school term. This term the party carried special significance as it was the last function I would attend as a staff member. As such, the staff agreed to have the party at the school and slaughter our own goat instead of going to a restaurant and ordering the food.

I was trying to get rid of my chickens, so I donated three, which I demanded that we roast and coat with the delicious barbecue sauce recipe I remember using as a child.
Then every gave speeches, which is a necessary part of any function in Kenya. People said lots of nice things about me, but generally repeated the refrain, "we are so happy you have brought the library. Make sure to keep us in your mind and bring us something else." I don't think I will be bringing anything else. I tried to make it clear that not every PCV has the opportunity to do big projects, and that this one sort of fell into my lap, but I understand their perceptions and desires.

Then they sang an impromptu rendition of a traditional Meru song. The man in the front is a new English teacher at the school. The song and dance was his idea.
Then we took a staff picture:
and carried on the informal festivities, which surprised me by extending well into the night. What surprised me even more was that when it got dark the Kenny Rodgers American country music came on and we had a dance party. I even danced, which most of you probably know is fairly uncommon.
The male teacher in the picture is Benson. He is actually a retired teacher turned school inspector turned administration chief. In order to make a little money and keep busy he has started teaching again. He is tied for the position of being my favorite old Kenyan man.

Newspaper Article: Amount of Money Taken Through Corruption

Check out this article in The Standard, one of the two largest daily newspapers in Kenya.

270bn KSH is lost to corruption each year. That is approximately 3.3 billion USD every year. The article provides very jarring comparisons of that sum to the budgets of ministries within the Kenyan government, but as an American I have been thinking about it in terms of foreign aid.

The PEPFAR program in Kenya has a yearly budget of about $500 million ($15 billion worldwide budget over 5 years). The worldwide Peace Corps budget for FY 2010 is $373 million. I was not able to find the USAID budget for Kenya, but in fiscal year 2005 I found that USAID proposed to invest approximately $1 billion for all of sub-saharan African in the areas of development assistance, child survival and health, and Global AIDS Initiative funding.

Any way you slice it, $3.3 billion comes up as A LOT of money and is probably comparable to, if not greater than, the yearly foreign aid to Kenya. How do Kenyan members of parliament continue to wield an ability to raise their own paychecks? Maybe it is because there is enough foreign aid that services will still be provided. How come schools function even if $3.3 billion is stolen yearly? Maybe it is because governments are forthcoming with money to help out.

Thoughts On Building a More Perfect Union

After finishing Parting the Waters, I had a strong desire to read something a little more politically upbeat. Audacity of Hope is effective in its goal of giving me hope and left me a little more optimistic than before.

It is clear though that many of the changes he proposes wont be effected, which led to to wonder, what change in the American system would be most effective at shifting the social conscience of our nation? Are we largely shaped in the image of our parents or what are the external factors carry that carry the most influence over us? For instance, if all children receive more education in elementary school about the poverty of the bottom half of the world's population, would that lead them to become more socially liberal? What about mandating a community service component to students' learning from an early age? What if we took children from affluent schools to do activities with children from schools in poorer areas and vice versa? I believe that, if my personal aims in these proposals are ignored, most conservatives as well as liberals would agree they are generally wholesome additions to a child's education.

It is clear that most Americans want ours to be a meritocratic society, which we usually apply to financial standing, but what extending the idea of meritocracy to social beliefs also: we want a child from the morally worst household to have the support to become the most virtuous person. Would objective activities such as community service or pen pals in Africa change their world views?

Of course, their must be a strong critical analysis component to these activities because otherwise you might breed people who think debt-relief to African governments or direct budget supplements is a good idea (the problem is that these programs promote higher levels of corruption without a proportional increase in public outcry against the vice).

I was always raised to believe that education is central to shaping who you become and that it is one asset no one can take away from you. Maybe if we place weight on a well rounded and high quality education system in all corners of America, our future sons and daughters will make socially enlightened decisions on issues that are today vehemently debated.

Date of My Return To the USA

I will be arriving in Portland, OR on March 9th, 2011.

Book Review and Subsequent Reflections: Parting the Waters

One of my goals before leaving Peace Corps was to finish reading Parting the Waters, an extensive biography of Martin Luther King Jr.'s involvement in the civil rights movement from 1954-1963.

Unfortunately, for our collective ego, a facile summarization of the book would be that it is a 922 page record of atrocities committed by Americans against our own people, in many instances receiving the tacit, and sometimes explicit, consent of individuals within the government. Here is one of the many graphic examples supporting this compendium:

At the beginning of the Freedom Rides to test the enforcement of desegregation of inter-state bus facilities, the local police formed a pact with local segregationists that they would not arrive at the scene for at least ten minutes. In this context, “a dozen men surrounded Jim Zwerg, the white Wisconsin exchange student [ who was on the Freedom ride . . . ] one man pinned Zwerg's head between his knees so that the others could take turns hitting him. As they steadily knocked out his teeth, and his face and chest were streaming with blood, a few adults on the perimeter put their children on their shoulders to view the carnage. A small girl asked what the men were doing, and her father replied 'Well, they're really carrying on.' ”

When the police did arrive they issued an injunction against the Freedom Riders, stating that they were under arrest for inciting violence, ignoring the fact that their movement was grounded in the principles of non-violence and blatantly disregarding all of the violent acts committed against them.

In light of these barbarous attacks and repression by city and state officials it would be reasonable to expect agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation to aid in the prosecution of the true criminals. Conversely though, under Hoover's orders the FBI seemed primarily interested in falsely interpreting situations in a manner to suggest that King's associates were communist spies, directed by Moscow to subvert the United States government. Throughout this era, Hoover hid behind the supposed necessity of protecting implanted agents and informants as grounds for offering only unsupported accusations to the executive branch. To hide this affront to justice, after King was assassinated a federal judge ordered all FBI files related to King be sealed away, preventing public scrutiny of the FBI's groundless claims until 50 years later when a legal team fought, and won, the declassification of the files.

Reading these accounts within Parting the Waters, which are supported by an 82 page bibliography, makes me feel ashamed to be a human being and an American, and makes me distrust what we, the public, believe we know about the work of our government. If the same secrecy exists today that existed then, even Obama may not know exactly which lenses certain branches of our government are using to filter their presentations of information.

To put into a broader context why I am embarrassed, societies with a written history have existed since around 5,000 BC. A conservative estimate of the rise of the first democracy is 500BC, with the rise of Athens. In 1776 America began the journey towards democracy with the declaration of independence, at which point our founding fathers acknowledged as “self-evident, that all men are created equal” and that we have been endowed by our creator with “unalienable Rights, [ . . . ] Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” It took roughly 200 years for these rights to be applied to Americans with more skin pigment than the founding fathers. In the broader context of colonialism and world slavery, it took approximately 6,960 years for these Rights to be nearly universally recognized across the globe (approximately 6,980 years for the dilatory South African government). Stated another way, minority groups have had their rights recognized for loosely 0.7% of recorded history and 2.4% of democratic history. These numbers of course are all debatable, and simply to to highlight the point that it has taken a very long time for civilizations to globally acknowledge equality based on skin color. Many people might even argue that we have not currently reached an acceptable recognition of Rights (consider, for example, people deemed “illegal aliens” by the government who have lived in America for almost their entire lives).

If something so basic has taken so long, what will happen now that our world is changing ever-more quickly, both ecologically and technologically? I am left feeling pessimistic that societies can pull together for the pressing, yet controversial, issue of transforming economies for the sake of environmental preservation.

Further, given the short time span over which “unalienable Rights” have been recognized as a preclusion to commit the atrocities of slavery and racially inspired violence, what should lead us to believe we have now reached a point where our social institution will forever dutifully protect basic human rights and freedoms?

Perhaps the problem is based on the observation of Reinhold Neibuhr (quoted in Parting the Waters), that “only in extremity do people 'discover what they really live by.' ” Only when a situation disrupts our complacency and rouses us from routine existence do we recognize an intrusion upon our core values. When we become complacent again, forgetting past struggles, so to may our application of rights wane.

Oloitokitok

I am back in town, for a week of assisting with the 2010 Math/Science Secondary Education Pre-Service Training. The new training group is great: they are eager, level-headed, and will make good teachers.

In addition to assisting the Peace Corps staff to organize sessions and choose sites for the trainees, I also went to visit my host family. I wanted to bring them a chicken, and wanting to arrive as early as possible after the day's work was done, I ran with the chicken held in both hands out in front of me. I ran for maybe 3 kilometers this way, which I am sure was a fantastic site for all those I passed.

The last time I slaughtered a chicken for my host family was the end of December 2008. This was the first chicken I had ever slaughtered, so when I cut off the head and it kept moving I was startled and let it go. Yes, the chicken did run around with its head cut off, but it also flew, spraying blood on me and on my younger host brother's clothes. Needless to say, I had something to prove, and I did prove it. I chopped the head, defeathered it, and removed the internal organs. The only time I embarrassed myself was when I broke its leg to butcher it and a mix of chicken juices got into my eye.

Afterwards I sat outside, looking up at Mt. Kilimanjaro and husked black-eyed peas for my host mother. While sitting there I felt this overwhelming calm about me and I thought to myself that this is how I imagined my Peace Corps experience. I imagined leading a simple life, a slow life, filled with many calm moments sitting outside in cool shade. My experience has been this way in some instances, but in others I have chosen to retain my stressed out technology-crazed life (take the netbook that I am writing this on as one example). Instead of making time to separate rocks from unprocessed rice, I find it much nicer to buy processed rice with the rocks already removed. Often times, when people want to talk talk talk about nothing, instead of entertaining them I become fidgety and make an excuse to leave.

My life is certainly less crazy than it has been at many points, but I have retained more of my Western customs than I expected to.

After my nice sit, watching the cows and goats and husking peas, I went inside to talk to my host father about lots of things of little importance. We sat, and I enjoyed it. I did not become very fidgety. Then we ate, and realizing it was getting late, instead of rushing back to the hotel I asked if they had an extra bed to sleep there.

Leaving at 7am, I began my quick paced life again, running back to the hotel to shower, eat, and rush to Peace Corps training.

Theft: A Lost Knife and Self-Questioning

Friday morning, while walking past the row of classrooms I encountered a student walking in the other direction. When we got closer I realized he had a knife twirling from his king ring; not only that, but the knife was mine!

He told me he had purchased it “in Nanyuki, or rather, it was Meru town.” You cannot find CRKT knives in Kenya. Even in Nairobi there are only two stores that sell serious outdoor gear and they sell a single brand of gear (not CRKT).

When the student was called to the principal's office the story changed again and the student said he purchased it in Nyeri at the gate to a Scout camp out we attended. And the price at which he purchased this knife new? 350KSH, or approximately $4.50. Admittedly CRKT is a cheaper brand of knife, but I bought this one for at least $20.

The worst part of this ordeal was that while I was reclaiming my knife from him I had in my other hand a picture of him and 4 other scouts smiling and enjoying themselves at the aforementioned camp out (the first camp out I took them on). Unlike America where there are many adult leaders who participate in the camp outs, I was alone with them for two nights. We cooked together, played frisbee, and shivered next to one another.

I interacted with them very freely. As an example, the only dry area at the camp was my tent, which I offered as a storage facility for the grains. The scouts entered it even when I was not present, which I permitted them to do because I trusted them.

I do still trust most of them. The biggest question I have is to what extent my faith in them can change their habits. For instance, I was also dismayed to find out on the more recent camp out that they were trying to trap animals. I guess trapping animals is the sort of activity most boys would do if they thought they had the opportunity, even American boys. In Kenya though, trapping animals is very illegal, yet the animals are still over-trapped, leading to a decline in animal populations.

As a parent, a leader, or a teacher, how should I balance showing my disapproval with offering loving-kindness to keep them from hardening their deviant behaviors? Does it take two people working together to pull this off? - One who is the yin, showing unconditional love, and the other who is sharp and critical? I am a 24 year old male and I find myself fitting the stereotype that young males tend to be critical and exacting in their code of conduct. And, like a true addict, I find myself justifying it, while simultaneously acknowledging that I make more enemies than friends through this conduct. My self appraisal might be hyperbolic to some degree, but I guess the point is I am still at a point in my life where I am trying to figure out how to be a good coach and mentor.

I wanted quick and moving justice exacted on the student, but the principal and deputy were more verbally critical of the behavior than they were with their actions – which I see to be neither yin nor yang, but just ineffective.

After the knife was paraded as evidence I sat down with it, filed out the dings, tightened the bolts, and gave it to a Kenyan friend: I did not miss the knife too greatly while it was gone.

Why I Am Skeptical of Donating My Money to NGOs

NGOs obviously do a lot of good. Take for instance AMREF, which has the endorsement of the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation and has a 4 star charity rating from "Charity Navigator" (whoever that is). There is no way to get the endorsements that AMREF has without doing MANY good things.

I wonder if they really need my money though... Take the following situation as an example:

There is a Peace Corps Volunteer living in desert Masai-land somewhere south of Nairobi. Shortly after he arrived at his site AMREF showed up with four computers. They explained that the computers were loaded with all sorts of health-related education software and that the students should be instructed to use the software to raise their awareness of health issues and how to protect themselves. Sounds great, right? Well, this school's electricity comes from a few small solar panels. The electricity is powerful enough to charge cell phones and power approximately one laptop at a time, but NOT powerful enough to run even one desktop, let alone four.

Okay, so AMREF made a single mistake... they did not confirm whether or not the computers could function before they took off in their shining luxury Land Rover, but thankfully they came back some time later to check how things were coming. Only one of the computers had been taken out of the box until the morning when AMREF was to arrive, at which point the other computers were hurriedly set up and dusted off. The officials arrived, were shown around, and were told by the school that things were going great: THANKS FOR THE FREE COMPUTERS, we are making excellent use of them (as receptors for passing dust)!!! At the end of the visit the volunteer took the officials aside and informed them of the charades they had just been put through. The official looked concerned and instructed the volunteer to begin sending AMREF reports on the subject. The volunteer acquiesced at first, but never received a reply and eventually quit.

Some months later along comes AMREF again, this time with a 72" thin screen, state-of-the-art, impress-your-neighbors TV in tow (Okay, I don't know the exact size of the TV, but the box was more than 4 ft. long and about 2.5ft tall). They told the school the TV was for the school's HIV/AIDS resource center. The problem? The school has no resource center and has no plans of constructing one. Additionally, again, the school's electricity is almost definitely not sufficient to power an electricity sucking vampire like this one. When I visited my friend some months after the TV arrived I found it in the corner of a storage room, still in its box.

As I said, in other situations AMREF does probably do useful things to improve community health. I wonder though, how many other schools and communities are targeted in such ridiculous ways.

This story is meant to highlight the dissonance between what people hear about from NGOs about the need for more money and the NGOs ability to wantonly spend money.

This state can be attributed to a few factors, among them: (1) NGOs usually do not have people on the ground to assess potential methods of conveying information and (2) in order to increase the scope and reach of their organization they must continue to show donors they need more money, which can become a vicious cycle.

Additionally, NGOs (and groups like Peace Corps) really want to brag about how many people they are reaching per money they are spending. A one-time investment such as a TV and a few computers allows them to say that they are initially reaching around 350 students and around another 70 each year, which if true would be great. Therefore, they have some incentive to ignore the finer details of their projects and focus on the report numbers.