It can sometimes be frustrating to have classes and Monday was one of them. Organizers of the EMPOWER classes get a page of organizing rules in both English and Kiswahili. They also get a list of requirements for the potential participants. Then on the first day of class, the participants get a copy of the sheet, again in English and Kiswahili. We make a big deal of saying that they should have already seen this sheet, but that will go over it to make sure they're in agreement. They're a number of things in it, but one of them is that they must be able to read and write in either English or Kiswahili. The point is made that they can not take the exam orally, etc. etc. Sounds simple enough right.
Well, on Saturday, after our 5th 4 hour class, one of the men came to us and said that he would not be able to take the test on Monday because he was illiterate. The good news, in a way, was that he had recently learned he was positive and wanted to come to the class so that he could learn how to take better care of himself. It was nice that he came and also that he was honest with us.
We decided that we would make a special certificate of Attendance for him rather than a certificate of Completion. It was quite similar, but didn't list the name of the class on it. It just read something like completed an HIV/AIDS program of ICODEI. It then said "Through knowledge we can all learn to live healthier lives." This way, he gets something for coming but it doesn't in anyway disclose his status.
So Monday comes around and we pass out the exams. Only one person said they needed the exam in Kiswahili. We always tell them that we really don't care which version they choose, but if they choose English then they need to understand it enough to read the questions without it being explained to them in Kiswahili AND they need to write their responses in English. Seems simple enough.
But, back to the woman who needed it in Kiswahili. I'm watching them all take their tests and see that she is just sitting there with her paper and occasionally looking around the room. I finally ask Mary the translator to talk to her. Come to find out that she is not only illiterate, but that she really can't even understand much Kiswahili. She pretty much only understands Luhya. So, here she has sat for 20 hours, not even understanding much of what we have said. It makes you want to say "What the _____ (insert your own level of profanity) have you been thinking this whole time
Mary tried to see if she at least understood some of the basics that we had discussed. No such luck. She was able to say that blood transmitted HIV, but couldn't name any other fluids. There's only 3 others so it's pretty bad. You just wonder why she choose to sit there for the whole time. Uggh! Such is life! We were quite close to the farm so I did run back and make an Attendance certificate for her.
So, of the 15 people who were able to sit for the exam, we had 9 that passed. Some of them passed with flying colors whereas others were pretty shabby. The 4 that failed, probably failed because of taking it in English. It was clear from there few correct answers that English was an issue. We're doing a make up on Thursday and they have to take it in Kiswahili. I think that they want to show us that they understand English, but in doing so just mess up. I don't care how they get the information they learn back to their community, but just that they do it.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Yes, All is Fine
Well, it's time for me to get a note out to all of you. I'm beginning to get emails asking if everything is all right. The answer is yes. Frankly, things have been a little boring so I haven't had much to write about. I have been doing EMPOWER on and off this week, so I can right about that today.
The group is actually fairly close to the farm. That being said, it's still pretty far into the interior. It's being held in a very small church with small windows and a tin roof. That should be read as little breeze and heating up like an oven in the midday sun.
There are a LOT of children at this location. More so than any of the other classes I've been to. Not only are there a lot of kids, but there are a lot of kids that are absolute brats. They love to play with the Prado by standing on the running boards, kicking the tires, etc. What this means is that they keep setting of the car alarm. Doing that means that the alarm first tries to call Reuben's phone. If his phone is shut off, then it calls my phone until it gets an answer. What this also means is that it went off 5 times the other day and interrupted class repeatedly. It took the class organizer to threaten them with something bad, because when he came back in the had gone away and stayed there. I'm not the most patient of persons and was ready to get the "big stick" as they say here and go after the children. They definitely believe in threatening with the switch, and so usually you don't have to use it, just show it. One girl in particular was always at the car and giving a defiant look.
The class has been good. They were quite late one day and that's when they realized that we marked them absent for being late. This means that they have to make up the class before they get a certificate. The 4 that came late (only by 10 minutes or so) stayed for the class anyway. We've decided that as long as they make it on time for the rest of the class, we'll give them the certificate as long as they pass the exam. One of the problems is that this is planting season and so they are all out in the fields before coming to class. We've moved the start time back a bit to accommodate this.
We headed down to Kisumu yesterday so that one of the volunteers could get her visa extended. It always ends up taking the whole day, but we got it done. We also picked up some fish for dinner. Kisumu sits right on Lake Victoria so you can get Nile Perch and tilapia. There's a difference between the two but I have no idea what it is and which one we got. All I know is that for about $16 we bought 5 huge fish to take back for dinner. I've done this before, but I have to say that this fish was the best I have ever had. Definitely fresh from that day.
The one problem with eating fish is that I have picked up this terrible pickiness (sp?). It comes from my mother who loves to fish, but can't eat fish if it tastes the least "fishy." My favorite picture of my mother is when she was 6 years old and had gone fishing with my grandfather. She is dressed in bib overalls. My grandfather is at one end of a bamboo pole and my mom is at the other end. In between them are a number of fish, hanging from the pole. This is way off track from Kenya, but you'd think that she'd like fish for as much as she loves the process of fishing. Course, it could be the fact that she broke her arm as a child when another kid hit her hard with a dead fish. But, enough of that.
Basically, I'm getting back into the swing of things on the farm. There is a lot of work to do to get things back up and running for the onslaught of summer volunteers. It looks like we'll be at full capacity in July. June and August are just about full. This is all good for the sake of the programs being run. ICODEI provides a great service to the community and that community has been lacking care since things were shut down in January.
The group is actually fairly close to the farm. That being said, it's still pretty far into the interior. It's being held in a very small church with small windows and a tin roof. That should be read as little breeze and heating up like an oven in the midday sun.
There are a LOT of children at this location. More so than any of the other classes I've been to. Not only are there a lot of kids, but there are a lot of kids that are absolute brats. They love to play with the Prado by standing on the running boards, kicking the tires, etc. What this means is that they keep setting of the car alarm. Doing that means that the alarm first tries to call Reuben's phone. If his phone is shut off, then it calls my phone until it gets an answer. What this also means is that it went off 5 times the other day and interrupted class repeatedly. It took the class organizer to threaten them with something bad, because when he came back in the had gone away and stayed there. I'm not the most patient of persons and was ready to get the "big stick" as they say here and go after the children. They definitely believe in threatening with the switch, and so usually you don't have to use it, just show it. One girl in particular was always at the car and giving a defiant look.
The class has been good. They were quite late one day and that's when they realized that we marked them absent for being late. This means that they have to make up the class before they get a certificate. The 4 that came late (only by 10 minutes or so) stayed for the class anyway. We've decided that as long as they make it on time for the rest of the class, we'll give them the certificate as long as they pass the exam. One of the problems is that this is planting season and so they are all out in the fields before coming to class. We've moved the start time back a bit to accommodate this.
We headed down to Kisumu yesterday so that one of the volunteers could get her visa extended. It always ends up taking the whole day, but we got it done. We also picked up some fish for dinner. Kisumu sits right on Lake Victoria so you can get Nile Perch and tilapia. There's a difference between the two but I have no idea what it is and which one we got. All I know is that for about $16 we bought 5 huge fish to take back for dinner. I've done this before, but I have to say that this fish was the best I have ever had. Definitely fresh from that day.
The one problem with eating fish is that I have picked up this terrible pickiness (sp?). It comes from my mother who loves to fish, but can't eat fish if it tastes the least "fishy." My favorite picture of my mother is when she was 6 years old and had gone fishing with my grandfather. She is dressed in bib overalls. My grandfather is at one end of a bamboo pole and my mom is at the other end. In between them are a number of fish, hanging from the pole. This is way off track from Kenya, but you'd think that she'd like fish for as much as she loves the process of fishing. Course, it could be the fact that she broke her arm as a child when another kid hit her hard with a dead fish. But, enough of that.
Basically, I'm getting back into the swing of things on the farm. There is a lot of work to do to get things back up and running for the onslaught of summer volunteers. It looks like we'll be at full capacity in July. June and August are just about full. This is all good for the sake of the programs being run. ICODEI provides a great service to the community and that community has been lacking care since things were shut down in January.
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