Projects Galore

As I enjoy my lazy Sunday and the calm before the storm, sipping coffee and preparing for the start of Week 5, I am amazed by how fast time has been flying this term. A big part of that is because I’m involved with several projects outside of the actual teaching process, and those projects are right up my alley, which makes me very excited about working on them.

The first project is a result of a long running conversation I have been having with several teachers over the past couple of terms about how to provide support for parents / families of Deaf children as some of these teachers were interested in starting something that would address that issue. I spoke about the parents outreach program that my mom (along with a couple of other parents) worked for back in upstate New York when we lived there, and a couple of the motivated teachers had many ideas on how to apply some of those principles and ideas into a Kenyan society. The basic goal is to establish a Community Based Organization (CBO – the local counterpart to your NGO [non-government organization]) to serve that population. The organization has an uphill battle as the attitude about disability and Deafness is that it is still very much a shameful part of society. The teachers I am working with are hoping that with exposure to other Deaf Kenyan adults, awareness of various organizations of and for the Deaf in Kenya, that attitude will slowly change. We just had our first meeting yesterday to approve the constitution, elect the officers, and figure out who would talk with the banks about opening accounts, and renting a mailbox. The start up of this organization is definitely difficult and complicated, but I am feeling positive about the process thus far. My role in this project is something similar to a support staff – I help the teachers find various resources, drafts of guidelines, bounce off ideas, and perform other basic functions for the initial boost – the idea is to promote sustainability, as I do definitely want this organization to continue to do good work long after I COS.

Another iron in the fire is the Training Design and Evaluation session for the Peace Corps in Nairobi in mid-October. It is exactly what it appears to be – it is a four-day brainstorm session with the training staff at Peace Corps and a couple other volunteers to help Peace Corps develop a better Pre-Service Training (PST) for the upcoming group of Deaf Education volunteers. I am excited about this project, as I, along with the rest of the current Deaf Eds, have many ideas on how to improve the training process (while the training process will never be perfect, I hope the work that we will do will help the process). Part of this session, I hope, will also help the current volunteers figure out what our roles and responsibilities are for the new folks. Next month, our beloved Kenya will be invaded by yet another group of trainees set for 2010-2012, making my group, the 2009-2011 folks the old fogeys of Deaf Eds, which is unbelievably crazy. I don’t think I will even believe it until I actually meet them!

Not only that, Pwani Secondary School for the Deaf (the new secondary school that I’m teaching a couple of subjects for) just got a new Headteacher assigned to the school. While the Headteacher has some experience in special education, she has almost no exposure or experience with Deaf education. While that is a challenge on the parts of the teachers and the students, she has appeared to be very open to learning about Deaf education, learning KSL, and a various other things, so the Headteacher of Kibarani has assigned me the duty to help her with this learning process. I started by printing out many Deaf [insert subject here] 101 documents / websites for her – for example Deaf Culture, Deaf Education, Bilingualism, and a variety of other things. If there are any websites or resources that you think I should pass on, please feel free to post in comments or email me. Additionally we will be starting one-on-one tutoring sessions in KSL and she will be observing classes and seeing how people teach by using KSL. It is my hope that she will evolve in a person that has positive views and attitudes toward the Deaf community at large, especially of the students of Pwani, which will help the school be everything that it can be.

In the midst of all that, there is a huge weekend just before I am scheduled to head off to Nairobi for the TDE workshop, filled with events and competitions between schools of the Coast Province that we are all preparing for. The first couple of days consist of dramas, dancing, poetry, and various other activities relating to HIV/AIDS, organized by the KSLRP (Kenya Sign Language Research Project) – all this will happen at Kibarani. Schools from faraway towns and villages of the Coast will be coming to Kibarani for a few days, and we will be expecting upwards of 300 children and however how many teachers for the weekend. After the day of cultural activities, most, if not all, the kids will be headed to Mombasa for the Lions World Day, which is mainly a track and field event.

So yea, a lot of things happening these days.

Things I Have Always Wondered About …

… but that I never had guts to try, or only heard stories from friends of friends about it happening to include blowing up hearing aid batteries.

You read that right – blowing up hearing aid batteries.

I think every hearing aid wearer (albeit in my case, a very brief career) at one point in our lives heard the story of the blowing up of the batteries and in my case, and I’m sure many others, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to see one of them blow up.

I got the opportunity to do so last night. I was on night duty, walking around campus, and shooing all the younger kids back to the dorms when one boy hid his dead hearing aid battery, and then tossed it in a fire. Needless to say, that drew quite a crowd of kids toward the fire, and sprayed some dazzling sparks.

Secretly delighted by the show, I gave the kids a lecture about safety (but seriously – I’m not even going into the whole safety thing here – its just too big), and then again this morning during morning assembly, I stressed the importance of appropriately disposing of the batteries.

Last night, after the whole shebang (pun totally intended), I was talking with a hearing aids wearer online, and this is our conversation, slightly paraphrasing (as this is from memory).

“This kid threw his dead hearing aid battery into the fire.”
“Did it blow up?”
“Yep.”
“Cool! I need to try that!”

Beware anyone who decide to try and cross the Deaf community – we’re armed with hearing aids batteries!

Those Damn Yankees

I just finished Gone With the Wind a couple of weeks ago so please don’t blame me too much if the whole southern accent and thinking may have inserted itself in me slightly as I think about the New York Yankees. The New York Yankees are having a hell of a year, doing a hell of a job in the Bronx – this has to be one of their best seasons, and I am pissed I am unable to watch them.

Those Damn Yankees.

I could not watch Derek Jeter being the classy man he is and breaking the Iron Horse’s record for most hits as a Yankee. I will not be able to watch Mariano Rivera be his usual top notch self, holding opponents scoreless with his incredible cutter in his save opportunities. I will not watch the Yankees enjoy a comfortable lead over the Boston Red Sox in the American East pennant race for the first time in a few years.

Those Damn Yankees.

I read about Teixeira making amazing catches on first, the soaring homers at the new stadium, A-Rod being his usual blustery self and doing what he have always done (albeit surrounded by scandal), Posada growing better as he ages, this year’s stellar crop of pitchers, Pettitte, A. J., C. C. (sorry, Matt!), Joba, and we can’t forget Hughes who has been incredible in his role as a set-up reliever, but reading dispatches from beat writers is nothing in comparison to watching the games themselves.

Those Damn Yankees.

I won’t watch them play in the postseason (unless I find a place that has satellite TV and opens at 4 in the morning – what are the chances, do you think?!), I won’t be able to just pick up a copy of the Daily News or the NY Post and look at the back page to see what headlines the writer have come up with for the image on the back page (yeah, yeah, I know I can look it up on the internet, but it’s just not the same).

Those Damn Yankees! Okay, okay – I’m excited about what the Yankees are accomplishing this year, but still I can’t watch them, dammit! All together now – just one more time … Those Damn Yankees!

Legacy of the Peace Corps

My last trip of the August Holiday was to Lamu, which was amazing, gorgeous, so much like Zanzibar. It was different in one way that may not be noticeable to the casual traveler – it felt so Kenyan. Indeed, it is Kenya, and it felt at home for me. It was a great few days away, in a familiar way. It was a fantastic way to end the August Holiday, especially when we stopped by Watamu for a dance party with a large group of PCVs (and many new Public Health PCVs – we’re not the babies out here anymore! It was quite a shock to realize that).

Throughout the holiday, I have been having conversations with several people, both Kenyan and American, and many of these conversations have returned to the same topic – what the hell am I doing here as a Peace Corps Volunteer? Is the Peace Corps good for Kenya? We talked about the development of the Deaf Education system in Kenya, the changes in ASL and KSL, and a variety of other things. So, naturally, that prompted me to write something about it, and to talk out my thought process, and about some of the conversations I have been having.

Numerous Kenyans, both hearing and Deaf, told me about their connections with the Peace Corps. Many have been taught by one or two, others worked with volunteers in various capacities, and some had memories of friendship. Many of the teachers at Kibarani, including the Headmaster was taught by a Peace Corps Volunteer at one point in their lives. Deaf people in prominent positions across Kenya told stories about Deaf Education Volunteers who taught them (the Peace Corps-Kenya Deaf Education program opened in 1992), and about the volunteers that they later befriended – many who incidentally went to Gallaudet when I also went there. Kenya’s relationship with the Peace Corps have lasted for forty-odd years as Peace Corps showed up in Kenya one year after Kenya’s independence, and for the most part it is reflected in a positive light.

Numerous books have been written about the dependency on foreign aid by African countries, and I read a few before my service, and a few more during my service so far, a good example of this kind of book is Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux who wrote about seeing the sparkling white land rovers or land cruisers with the logo of the aid organization and the kind of help that they provided throughout his trip from South Africa to Egypt. The white land cruiser and land rovers are indeed iconic in Kenya, and I’m sure they are also iconic in many other African countries. In addition to the enormous dependency of aid money, Kenya has a huge corruption problem – it is second in the world in corruption second only to Nigeria. Many times I have become unsure of my position as a foreigner, a mzungu, whether it is in Kenya (or should I say, Kibarani)’s best interest to have me as a Peace Corps Volunteer involved in the development of their education system.

Throughout the conversations I have had with American and Kenyan friends about these ideas and feelings, and for the most part I have got the feedback that Peace Corps being here seem to have benefited the Deaf Education system in Kenya. Progress in Deaf Education of Kenya is glacial, most definitely, but talking with the RPCVs and other people involved in the education system who shared their experiences from the mid 90’s, late 90’s, and throughout the 2000’s, I could see progress. The founding of the Kenya Federation of Deaf Teachers in 2003, more and more Deaf students graduating from secondary school being qualified for colleges and universities, and shifting the focus to actually paying for things (such as participating in GRO), rather than having things handed out to you on a silver platter. So, yes, while progress is glacial, it is being made.

I am starting to see my imprint being made in various situations in Kibarani, my relationships with the Headmaster and other teachers becoming stronger, friendlier, and my opinions are being respected more. I have many goals for Kibarani, already a pretty good school in comparison to many others. I used to feel a little guilty about being assigned to “a good school” when I could be assigned to a school that needs more of an overhaul of their dynamics. I now realize that it is my assignment to make Kibarani the standard, the example for other schools to look up to. To push the teachers, push the students, and the administration to do better in a few different small ways, bringing the school closer to what the school can become.

I have sixteen months left in my service – it has been hard to believe that I have already been here for ten months, and that this term is my third term. I am feeling even more confidence in my ability as a teacher this term, I have started working on a couple outside projects with a few of the teachers, which I will talk about at a later point when everything falls in place. At this point, I am feeling good about what I am doing for this school, and I hope that this feeling will continue over the next sixteen months.

Amazin' Zanzibar

After working for GRO, accompanying my kids back to Mombasa and dropping them off, I was ready for a true vacation.

By that, I meant a true vacation, not the PCV share a bed with two other people way, backpacking it through the coast, but a true vacation. And a true vacation we got. I met Paul and Erin at the tail end of their Cross Sector Training in a very fancy hotel, starting off the vacation in a nice way, a great and air-conditioned room (ah, air conditioning, how I miss you …), a nice night out with a few of the other PCVs, and just a good way to relax after a good and intense week.

Paul, Erin, and I then headed down to Paul’s house in Mombasa and started thinking about buying the bus tickets to Dar-es-Salaam, and after talking with a few other volunteers who visited there, and thinking about the eight hour bus ride, then the three hour ferry ride … we started looking at the plane tickets available, and the thought of an hour’s flight to Zanzibar rather than something like 12 hours of travel appealed greatly to us. We awaited the arrival of Alyssa and Matt who had taken the overnight train that took 20 hours rather than 12 (par for the course), and after twenty hours on the train, they were in agreement, so we excitedly bought plane tickets, like little children in a candy store (speaking of candies, GRO staff gave me some American candies for volunteering to help out, and this was excitedly shared amongst the travelers, so I guess you could say we were truly kids in a candy store). Below is a view out of the first plane I have been on in 2009.

Arriving Zanzibar, we headed to Stonetown where we stayed at a decent hotel, did a lot of walking, a lot of eating of amazing seafood, and drank some fancy cocktails. We also checked out the spice tour as well as slave caves, and enjoyed the artichecture of Stonetown. We also checked a couple of beaches, saw a gorgeous sunset from a happy chance of being at a bar on the roofdeck. Playing cards and reading were also on the programme, as we were serious about relaxing, and relax we did!



After four days, we headed to Paje, a beach on the eastern coast of Zanzibar, and it was amazingly gorgeous. A few of us caught the gorgeous sunrise the first morning we were there. More great seafood, fancy cocktails, books, naps, walks along the gorgeous beaches, bodysurfing (where I had an unfortunate wave steal my sunglasses), and exploring a bit of the reef when the tide went out a couple of kilometers awaited us for the next few amazing days in Paje.





Returning to Mombasa early in the morning yesterday, I was refreshed and relaxed, but I was also ready to head home to Kilifi. I wanted to chill at home for a few days before my next trip, do some laundry (which I am doing in between writing blog entries), and just be home. After a week in luxurious (by Peace Corps standards) settings, it was a bit of adjustment to return to Kenya, where orders get mixed up, encounters with street kids addicted to glue in Mombasa, the hustle and bustle of cars and people in Mombasa – needless to say, I was ready to get to the peaceful campus of my school!

Matt, Alyssa, Erin, and Paul – thanks for being great traveling buddies – I look forward to our next trip!

Global Reach Out

As exams drew to a close, teachers started planning various projects for the August break, a few going to Nairobi University, others in Mombasa, and one in Uganda, a few wanted to focus on their shambas, and a variety of other things. I had a few things on my programme, Global Reach Out, a trip to Zanzibar, hopefully a trip to Lamu (that is still in the works), and a few days at home before the school term starts again in September.

I had volunteered to escort two of my Form One students to the Kenya Youth Leadership Camp in Nairobi, sponsored by Global Reach Out. You can read about them here, and look at the blog for the Kenya 2009 Program here. The basic idea is to bring American and Kenyan people between the ages of 18 and 29, and have these two groups of people work together to create a five-day leadership style of camp for the secondary school students, two chosen from each secondary school in Kenya, modeled on the Youth Leadership Camp in the United States.

Traveling with two students to Nairobi, a city that I don’t particularly like, for a number of reasons, was an interesting experience – the kids were great, and had no problems, but I found myself unable to relax (traveling is usually a relaxing experience for me, for some weird reason), being responsible for them, and just dealing with the Kenyan transportation system which had us arrive Nairobi two hours later than expected (or maybe we should say, just as expected, grin), and it was just a bit of work working out all the details.

When we arrived the campground, called the DEPOT, it was great to be back in the camping mode, it was really interesting to see the American delegates go through the same mind process I went through during my first weeks of PST, and it really threw me off, the fact that I have been in this country for nine months, and I have become much more familiar and understanding of the variety of cultural conflicts. The two groups worked together, regardless of all the cultural conflicts, the choppy KSL that the Americans picked up, the fact that the summer camp concept is extremely foreign to Kenyans, and developed a great camp.

My kids loved every minute of it. I saw both of them grow, their confidence building, and their communicating skills leaping in bounds. They were surprised, and then very proud to discover that everyone that works for GRO is Deaf. I think that this may be one of the first times that they realized that they could actually amount to something, just like all the Kenyans, the Americans, and the admin staff who were also Deaf.

We played all the classic games, steal the bacon, capture the flag, had an Olympics type of day with crazy ass relays running in lesos and a variety of other things. We also had team building activities with the kids, trying to encourage them to have an opinion, and develop leadership skills. At the end, the kids complained that it was just too short, which made all of us proud that they really enjoyed and learned a lot during this week. The result-oriented Americans complained that they did not see much difference in the kids but we talked about the slow process in Kenya, and that our impact in this camp would not be felt for another few years when these students grow up and start working in leadership roles.

I was worried that seeing the Americans would make me homesick for ASL, for the US, for the American Deaf community and my friends that I am missing tons, but strangely it did exactly the opposite. It only strengthened my resolve that I was doing the right thing by being in Kenya and serving in the Peace Corps. Seeing the Americans were fantastic for me, a boost and a reminder of home, but at the same time, also making me feel good about what I am doing here (but oh my goodness, the s’mores rocked – that’s definitely one thing that I missed about camping back in the states!).

I am excited about GRO for next year, and I hope to be again involved in some capacity, working with another two great groups of Americans and Kenyans.

Mepho Dreaming

Mepho is the anti-malaria medication that I am taking, and a side effect of this once weekly pill is very weird and lucid dreams.  Don’t go to the wiki page because Mepho sounds like the boogeyman drug, but I have not had problems with it up to now (knock on wood).  I decided to write a few of the dreams that I have had in only one night (that I have been able to remember, at least), and each time I wake up with a start, wondering if it was just a dream, or if it really did happen.

Dream #1: I was talking with a meter tall chocolate bunny about investigating a crime involving another chocolate bunny.  We went to the hutch with search dogs, but the dogs kept eating the chocolate bunnies, so we had to have numerous burials for the bunnies we accidentally killed with the dogs.  After a while, one of them woke up and their ears poked out of the freshly dug grave like a zombie would in a zombie movie, and started helping us solve the crime. 

[Note: I had just finished the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so I think that may have something to do with the ears poking out of the grave …]

Dream #2: I was dancing with another PCV when we started melding into one person.  We fought about which site to return, where to travel, who we wanted to talk to, who we wanted to see, and just basically everything.  We were like two people in one unambiguous blob.  It all got so intense, and the blob heated up so much that it nearly burst in flame. 

After that dream, I woke up in the middle of the night with a start, and for a few moments, I was horrified and thought that it had really happened.  After a minute or two, I realized that I was not in a blob, but under my mosquito net, and that I was laying on my bed, in my bedroom, in my house.  You can imagine the relief I felt.  While it was not necessarily a nightmare, it was just really weird.

Dream #3: I was teaching my KG-1 class, and the kids kept flying around the classroom.  I was nearly at my wits end when I started zapping the kids with a stun-ray type of device and they all started to fly lower and lower until they finally settled in their seats.  At that point, all the kids lost their flying capabilities. 

There were several other dreams that night, but I could not remember them.  These kinds of dreams usually occur the night of the weekly dose, or the next night.  I have heard stories of the medication affecting a person so much that they have to switch to Doxy or Malrone.  I hope to avoid the switch to Doxy because Doxy makes you extremely sensitive to the sun, and that’s not a good thing if you’re living in a costal area right on the equator. 

At this point I am just enjoying the vivid dreams, so hopefully that will still be the case when I COS.