Hello Everyone! Sorry for the delay, our internet was down for most of the weekend!

Things have gone on well here this week as our project coordinator, Robinson, has returned to the island along with Richard the director of the Ekialo Kiona Center. With their vision we’ve been able to accomplish a lot towards our project goals and have gotten to meet more friends around the island that are partnered with us on the reforestation effort!

Mae and Kathryn left last Sunday to visit Berlin’s (their host mom) mother’s home in Homa Bay. They had a safe trip and a fun time meeting the family. They report that both Berlin and her mother are determined to marry them both to Kenyan men. They returned on Monday without any wedding plans.

While they were gone to Homa Bay I remained at EK on Monday and performed a radio broadcast with Nancy and Eric on the radio team and Nick Olambo, a farm specialist here at the center. We discussed the cultural value of forests with callers who offered their comments and questions. The radio team and Nick did a lot of translating to Dhluo to make sure that everything that we had to communicate was well understood. We’re about to do our next broadcast and I’m excited to do it with our whole team!

On Tuesday we met with the nearby Sena Mixed Secondary School to teach some of the theory behind the reforestation effort. This week the emphasis was the environmental importance of maintaining forests. Afterwards the teacher was excited to tell us that some of the topics we covered, like the water cycle and nitrogen cycle, also come up in the students’ coursework. They were so excited about this and the way we presented the material that they want to host us again for an extra lesson.

Wed, Thursday, and Friday were all spent setting up nurseries. On Wed we worked at Ramba with a wise old tree farmer there named Oguta, on Thursday at Ugina with the women’s group there, and on Friday at both the EK center and at Sena Secondary. A nursery essentially consists of a 8 x 5 ft bed of well tilled earth on which seeds are scattered, watered, and covered in some topsoil and mulch. These beds, in 2 weeks, will yield small seedlings that we can transfer to plastic tubing filled with dirt where they can grow protected for about 9 more months until they are planted in the wild. By this time next year, the center is on track to plant 10,000 seedlings around the island!

Robinson working on the nursery in Ugina

On Saturday our team and one of the other volunteers at the center made pancakes (with a really tasty banana sauce) for Mae and Kat’s host family. Afterwards we all attended church together (it was long) and then split up for the afternoon washing clothes and helping EK members set up their own facebooks! Sunday we took the first part of the day at a nearby beach with Adam and two students here from Penn, relaxing and chatting an unwinding from the busy week.

That’s all from this week, we’re excited for what’s ahead and stressing over how little time we have left! Only two weeks remain before we leave all our friends and this beautiful island, we avoid thinking about it!

University of Minnesota Nourish team checking in from Mfangano, so y’all don’t think we’ve been eaten alive by ants or scorpions or something, though in the past week, that has happened. The good news is, we’re still kicking.

Sunday, we took a hike up to the top of the island, which is called Soclo. We visited a few of the sacred forests, Wakinga and Kwitutu where we learned that some of the older people on the island believed that their ancestors resided within the forest. So if it didn’t rain, they would go into the sacred forests and sacrifice a goat or a chicken, in hopes of appeasing the ancestors.  We saw a monkey on our hike up, as well as the entire south side of the island. This island is beautiful, it’s hard to believe we’re in the middle of a lake because the lake is so vast, it looks like an ocean.

Monday, we spent the day WWOOFing, (World Wide Organization of Organic Farmers) which is basically exchanging labor for room and board.  One of our mizungu (white) friends is WWOOFing full-time on Joel’s farm. Right now, it’s bean season so we all shelled beans while listening to the radio under the shade of a large tree.

Tuesday, we visited Sena Secondary School and taught the Agriculture Forestry Green Club about the cultural importance of trees. After we all introduced ourselves, one of the students raised his hand and said, “Excuse me, but normally when people introduce themselves, they tell us their marital status.” Everyone laughed, and when Theo said that we were all single, we received a standing ovation.

Wednesday, we worked on the farm, moving seedlings  around. Mae started going stir crazy because time passes differently here. We wake up at 7, help out with chores and eat breakfast, before taking what I call “the mid-morning nap” at 8. We get to the EK center around 8:30 and then hang around checking e-mail and greeting all the people that walk by until about noon. On Thursday, Mae told Ana that she couldn’t take any more sitting around, so Ana suggested that Mae plant a few trees around EK.  It’s hard work. Mae used a sharp stick to dig a fairly deep hole in the ground, planted the little seedling, and now waters it twice a day.  In the afternoon, we also traveled to Ugina to speak to a women’s group who will establish their own tree nursery as well.

Friday, we worked on the farm again, transplanting some more seedlings into bags.  In the afternoon, Mae wasn’t feeling so well, and decided to skip out on the soccer tournament. Theo and I traveled by piki-piki to Rumba where all the high school teams were playing a 3 sport tournament, soccer, volleyball, and netball, which is kind of like basketball, minus the dribbling and jumping.

Mae is doing fine, after sleeping for a solid 20 hours, and we’re excited to see what next week brings!

Love from Mfangano,

Kathryn

We are finally here on Mfangano Island!! Even though we arrived two days, it seems like we have been here for forever. Speaking of the idea of time, time is a very loose term here on the island. My host father Daniel, who is a teacher at primary school tells me that if he wants a meeting with parents to start at 10 he must ask them to arrive at 8. Kenyan time means that being late means being on time. Odd, I don’t think that would ever work in the hustle and bustle of the states.

We have been placed with some absolutely wonderful families here on Mfangano. Kathryn and myself have our own personal mud hut, a luxury indeed. Our family contains some of the nicest humans you will meet in this island, and maybe in the world. Our family is led by two wonderful parents Berlin and Daniel. Berlin is the receptionist here at the Ekialo Kiona center, the hub of Organic Health Response. She is the best cook on the island and a caring individual indeed. She even refers to us as “her daughters.” Daniel, like I mentioned before, is a teacher and very modern man for the island. Like his beautiful wife he is very, very kind and can facilitate great conversation. There are six children in the family: Sara-Paulette (5), Glender (7), Eckter (8), John (12), Salamon (15), Lorine (16). All beautiful and very smart, John especially excels at mathematics.

Theo is also with a very nice family. George is the father of the family, a very traditional Luo man and super happy individual. He has a very nice family compound with multiple huts. Theo shares his hut with his Luo brother Edwin (21). They get along very well, always by each other’s side. Esther, the mother, is a strong and serious Kenyan woman. She is also a church leader which is perfect for Theo. In addition to Edwin there are four other children: Innocent (4), Violet (12), Stella (20), Whyton (26).

As you would imagine there are lots of differences when it comes to new culture. We are obviously adjusting to the new food and new living conditions, however everyone absolutely loves it. Myself included, I adore Mfangano and Kenya. I am so lucky to be living here on this beautiful island with beautiful people. I could not have ever asked for better.

Today we embarked on a five hour hike to the very top Mfangano, called Soklo. We were able to see Kinga and Tutu (Sacred Forests) and the tower that provides internet and radio broadcast for the EK center. What beautiful views of Kenya and Lake Victoria. While we loved the hike and playing with our siblings, we are very excited to get down to business tomorrow. The plan is that our weeks will be filled with teaching secondary school classes, facilitating conversation in women’s groups, planting trees in the new tree nursery, and broadcasting our “tree talk shows” on Friday. We love the flexibility we are given here and can’t wait to update you again with our progress!

Much love from Mfangano,

Mae

Where is Mfangano?

Our team is 5 days and 6 flights away from Mfangano Island, Kenya, and we’re more excited, antsy, and nervous than any of us can explain to our curious and interested relatives and friends. Having not traveled abroad beyond a week’s trip to Mexico, I spend most of my waking hours thinking about the trip: what to bring, the travel plans, team meetings, last minute emails and calls with Organic Health Response in Kenya, reading articles, and writing blog posts!

For anyone who hasn’t heard about our project, three U of MN students – Mae, Kathryn, and myself (Theo) – are heading to Mfangano Island on the behalf of the UMN student group Nourish. The HIV/AIDS prevalence on the island is estimated at over 30%. We’re working on the ground with an organization called Organic Health Response that has been on the island for several years working with the community to address this issue as well as ecological and communication projects. Nourish is sending $5000 and the three of us to help launch a reforestation project. We’ll meet with secondary school students, women’s groups and host radio broadcasts to discuss the issues of deforestation that the island currently faces. We’ll also help in the construction of new tree nurseries. The trees of the island are important ecologically, economically, and culturally for the island’s residents. Our goal is to re-awaken a recognition of that importance, and offer alternatives to current slash and burn practices.

Beauty of Lake Victoria

None of us can really be ready for what we’ll experience and learn. We plan to make a lot of friends, begin to understand the people and culture of the island, witness poverty unlike any that we’ve ever seen, and be inspired by the steps that are taken every day by people just like us to live in their situation. We have many questions heading in, and we may have even more when we head home! But regardless we can’t wait to soak in as much as we can from the islanders, OHR, and each other as we grow in more ways than we can imagine now.

- Theo