The rain is back. Just in time to save the maize and beans that Kizito planted last week. Everyone in the village had started to get a bit anxious about their recently planted crops after nine days without rain.
Without maize, there would be no ugali. No ugali? Unimaginable. Ugali is the Kenyan staple food,
eaten at least twice a day. It is a polenta-ish mush that tastes kind of like mashed up corn tortillas. It actually tastes better than I’m making it sound. Saumu said that if you don’t feed a child ugali, no matter how much they have eaten that day, they will go to sleep complaining of being hungry.My time here in Eregi is going by so quickly. I am comfortable with my Kenyan family, am super busy with the various projects that I'm working on, and love living in the village. The days are flying by.
This week I spent a day doing errands in Kakamega, the nearest town. This gave me the chance to get the hang of a
few different types of transportation here. I took a "piki piki" (motorcycle taxi) to the main road. Then I took a bus to the next market area. Next, I took a "matatu" (vans that work like buses...very convenient because they are everywhere but they often don't leave until full) to Kakamega. I got around Kakamega by "bodaboda" (bicycle taxi). Getting to and from the town was a lot more fun than just driving a car.I'm really excited about the solar start up business that I've taken the lead on. Solar technology has a lot of potential to sell well and be quite helpful in rural villages where there is no electricity.
I’m partnered with two Kenyan guys my age, Mike and Philip. Working with them has been great. As part of this project, I have been testing out different products, setting up stands at local markets (next to ladies selling dried minnows and fresh avocados), collecting feedback from buyers and potential buyers, creating excel spreadsheets to track costs and profits, etc. This week we are launching a pilot program at a local secondary school that will enable students to pay for solar lights in installments without going into debt. The students will hopefully really benefit from the lights because they can use them to study at night. I knew next to nothing about business before coming to Kenya so this has been a very interesting, hands-on, learning experience for me.One of the things I like most about living in Eregi
is that there are so many incredibly cute, very friendly kids. Whenever I walk anywhere, random kids join me along the way. They never tire of shouting out “mzungu” (white person) and asking me how I am. Sometimes, the language barrier makes conversation impossible, so we walk together in silence for half an hour. Kizito's sister runs a nursery school that I help out at a couple
days a week. There is also a group of kids from around the neighborhood (among them are Newton, Gryphon, and Titas...great names) who come around every evening for games. I think I’ve played enough monkey in the middle and crazy eight’s in the past few weeks to last a lifetime. I love it though.I hope everything is going great with all of you.
Love, Emmiliese
Pictures:
1) Planting maize
2) Riding a pikipiki with Philip
3) Philip, Mike, and Accadius selling solar lights
4) With St. Peter's ECD (nursery school) kids
5) Cutie pies I met while walking to work
6) With girls from the neighborhood (Purity, Seline, and Skolvia) and my Kenyan brother
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