The Start of an EMPOWER Class

I am so far behind on my blogging, but will try to get caught up this morning. I started my first EMPOWER training since returning to Bungoma. It's actually very nice because it is only about 20 minutes from the farm in Kabula. And, I think it is the closest to a main road of any place I have been to while in Kenya. It can't be more than a half mile off the main road. There are 16 participants. One group is from the other side of a town and bicycle about 15 miles to get to class each morning. Another group is made up of women that will ultimately train other women. And then the third small group are men from right around the church. It's surprising that the group that travels the farthest is the group that is always there on time. Kenyan time is always a bit different from what we, as Americans, are used to. It's good for either building my patience or trying my patience.

People are truly keen to learn about HIV and how to prevent it. Once again, everyone in the room knows people who have died of HIV/AIDS and the orphans that are sometimes left behind. The questions I receive can be the same that I get asked in the States or they can be remarkably different. The common one here is how long HIV lives in a corpse. In the interior areas where I teach, the bodies are prepared at home and buried in a coffin or simply wrapped in a blanket. You would think that scientists would have come up with an answer but it is still and indeterminant length of time. We end up discussing the need to treat the body with care because of both HIV and then other germs that are present as a result of natural decomposition.

We have the day off today because it is the last day of Ramadan and one of the participants is Muslim. In this are of Kenya about 95% are Christian and 5% are Muslim. Over on the coast the numbers are simply reversed. It's actually a relief as I have been going fairly strong and need some time to rest and take a long afternoon nap. We'll have class again on Monday and then Tuesday will be the exam, practice teaching and graduation.