Reflection on the values and beliefs of different cultures

Last week illuminated some very interesting and shocking values and beliefs that exist in Kenya. There was a huge scandal in the national news (and throughout the country) because two Kenyan men were married in the UK. I have never experienced such incredible homophobia. I was immediately reminded of what a bubble I’ve been living in, in the bay area. People were going crazy because of these men. What was the most shocking was that even people who I have become close to expressed some very disrespectful and hateful views about homosexuals. My supervisor at work (which is a faith-based NGO - mainly Christian, with some Muslims) actually sent an email to everyone at work entitled “REPENT” and went on to say, “REPENT! The world is coming to an end. This is bad. Jesus needs to come back NOW!” Attached were photos from the marriage between the two Kenyan men in the UK. I was absolutely shocked and incredibly offended. It was especially surprising that it came from my supervisor, because I’m close to him and he’s an authority figure, but most of all because Hope Worldwide Kenya says it does work with the MSM (men who have sex with men) population. I haven’t seen them making an effort to get in touch with the homosexual population…and now I understand why.
After reading the email, I immediately deleted it while exclaiming (aloud), “I don’t agree with this.” When asked why by my friends, I began to explain why I believed in homosexual rights…especially the right to wed. They were shocked that homosexuals were able to marry in some states. But what really caught me was that when I was trying to explain the way I thought about these issues I found myself constantly explaining that my views were not very representative of America as a whole. That was a very humbling experience, and it really inspired me to continue my research on stigmatization of the homosexual community in the US. It is very different to read about people in the US (or around the world) who strongly disagree with homosexuals and think they should be “punished,” but it is an entirely different thing to have friends that say that. It makes it WAY more personal, and I think this experience really made me realize that those people, who are incredibly homophobic, really do exist—they aren’t just random people who are in the news, documentaries and movies. I know it sounds really nieve to say…I do understand that homophobia exists (that’s why I did my honors thesis on it), but I guess I didn’t really understand to what extent. One of my friend’s host sister even said that if her son was homosexual she would kill him…she was completely serious. Wow.

So that was definitely an eye-opening experience for me. On a similar note, the past few weeks have been the first time, in my life, that I’ve really had a full conversation with very devout Christians about their beliefs(homosexuals obviously made it into those discussions). One of the more interesting conversations actually grew out of that homophobic email my boss sent me. I asked my friend if people really thought the world was coming to an end because people from the same sex were falling in love, having sex and getting married. She said “Yes!” like I was crazy to be even asking such a question…like she was asking “you don’t?!” When I asked why her explanation was as follows: “Because the bible prophesizes that when people start behaving badly and ‘against god’s will’ and when there are devastating diseases such as HIV/AIDS the world will come to an end.” When I asked her why the world didn’t stop earlier she said: “There were never homosexuals when my grandma was alive. Women obeyed their husbands and there was no diseases like HIV/AIDS.” I was SHOCKED when I heard that but tried not to give my thoughts away so I just smiled. She noticed my change in behavior and asked why I was smiling. I pointed out that homosexuals were probably around when her grandma was growing up because there were homosexuals in America at that time…heck, there is evidence that there were homosexuals in ancient Rome (they’re even mentioned in the bible!!). I also pointed out that there have been devastating diseases before HIV/AIDS…black plague. She had never heard of it. She was also very disbelieving that homosexuals existed before her grandma’s time. I told her they probably hid it because they knew they would be discriminated against (actually probably killed). I had some anger when I heard her say these things (not towards her, but towards the beliefs that she was representing). I am trying really hard to be understanding and accepting of different cultures and religions, but it is SO hard when they compromise the rights of other human beings. People here always talk about women’s rights; that they are human beings, just like men, so they should be treated equally. But then there is this huge double standard because it doesn’t apply to homosexuals. News flash: THEY ARE HUMANS TOO!!!! It really makes me so frustrated. It is hard to distinguish where the line is drawn between respectfully informing people about my beliefs and being culturally sensitive. I try to do the former, but I’m afraid that by doing so, I’m risking being culturally insensitive and rude. It’s definitely good experience. I’m learning how to tread lightly but still express my beliefs.

On a completely different note: work is going well. I’m in the midst of writing my grant for the project I want to do with PLWHAs (people living with HIV/AIDS). It is due by the end of this week, so I’ll be VERY busy. I’m really excited about it though. We are going to do a training with PLWHAs about how to start “kitchen gardens” in their homes. With these skills, PLWHAs can grow vegetables in their kitchen just using a sack with soil in it. Not only will this provide them with sustainable access to vegetables, when they start growing enough, they can sell them in the market and earn money to buy more food. This afternoon my advisor and I are meeting with Unity Bank to see if they can come and speak at our training session with PLWHAs about microfinance. Tomorrow we are meeting with the ministry of health, Likodep (a community development/ microfinance NGO) and the ministry of agriculture. I’m very excited for these meetings and getting my project up and running.

This past weekend was wonderful. It stopped raining on Thursday and has been hot and sunny for the past five days (knock on wood!). On Friday, Amanda and I went to this really amazing restaurant called Tamarind and had some good seafood. On Saturday, I went to town with my host sister and we had lunch with her good friend Superior (great name ☺. It was really nice to meet her and we had a good time. Then I met Amanda at Fort Jesus and walked around there with a tour guide. It was VERY interesting and I took lots of pictures. Fort Jesus was built by the Portuguese, when they first came to East Africa, as a military fort. A couple of years later, the Arabs took over and converted it to a place to keep slaves during the slave trade. Then the British army took it over and it was a government prison until independence. It was so interesting to see the artifacts and hear the history of the place (those of you who know me well know how I love visiting historic sites).
Later that night Amanda and I went to a house party to celebrate Halloween. It was at the house of a peace corps volunteer we know through FSD. It was SO much fun. Amanda went as a zebra and I, a cheetah. We had to get really creative with costumes, and I think we definitely succeeded. We used a headband and attached drawings of cheetah and zebra ears. It was pretty great considering the limited resources we had.
But yeah, things are good and I’m getting ready to write my grant this week. Wish me luck!

oxoxo Anna

The Wrath of el Niño

El Niño has hit Mombasa. And man, is it intense! It has been raining practically non-stop for the last few days and it is supposed to keep raining for another week. NO GOOD! The intensity of this rain is like nothing I've ever seen. It rains so hard that you actually think the roof is going to fall in (and in some houses it has...mainly in the slums though). The roads turn into rivers and in Mikindani, where there is not really much of a paved road, everything is VERY muddy. I haven't been outside for a couple of hours, but one of my co-workers just stepped inside and said that down the road from work (where I pass to go home) the water was up to his mid-thigh. YIKES!! talk about flooding. It should be interesting to see how life goes on when the flooding gets worse. I'm a little nervous right now because I have the images we see in the media back home flashing through my head right now (rushing, waist-high, rivers rushing through the middle of town and destroying everything in its path). Not the most comforting of thoughts. I'm sure if things get really bad, FSD will re-locate us, but right now I'm just wondering how I'm going to get to and from work. I'm sure my sister knows some good routes.
Other than that, things are good. George and Jerusa (two members of the FSD site team) came to work yesterday and gave me and my supervisor, Salim, a $200 US seed grant to get started on my project. I'm getting really excited about my project, and we have already started planning the intervention. Right now I'm working on my grant proposal, which I will submit to FSD next week to try and get funding for the project (up to $1,000 US).
This weekend I was planning to walk through old town with my friend Amanda and then go to the beach. But maybe we'll have to postpone that... take a "rain check" (literally). There is also a Halloween party in Likoni on Saturday that we wanted to go to. Hopefully the rain will let up a little so we can do that.
Well, I best get back to work. Hope all is well back home. I miss everyone so much, but I'm definitely still enjoying myself :)

love to all,
Anna

Adventure to Malindi

The past few days have been VERY good. Thursday was great because I was able to go into a nearby village and conduct one-on-one community mobilizing with two of my co-workers. It was such a rewarding and interesting experience. It was pretty amazing to me that within just a 2-3 minute walk from town (Mikindani) we were in, what looked like, a VERY rural area with mud huts/thatched roofs and dirt roads. My co-workers, Jonathan and Carol, and I went to people's homes and just sat and spoke with them about whether or not they had been tested and what they knew about HIV/AIDS. The responses varied a great deal from; "No, we haven't been tested because we (this was a couple) trust each other" (these same people thought HIV/AIDS was only transmitted through sex), and "yes we've been tested, we know our status and we know how to prevent becoming infected." I was actually surprised by how many people had been tested. I think that may have something to do with the past work of Hope Worldwide, but also that they live in a relatively developed area (i.e. not very "rural" because they are only a couple minutes walk into town). I plan to work more with Jonathan on educating the local community about HIV/AIDS and mobilizing them to get tested and know their status.
Friday was also an awesome day because I spent the whole morning developing my work plan for the remaining months. My main project will be to develop some sort of income-generating activity for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) in Likoni. During our needs assessment last weekend we found that one of the main reasons PLWHAs go off their medication (ARVs) is because they don't have enough money to buy food, and taking ARVs without food is not good because the ARVs will be less effective and it oftentimes makes people very sick to take them on an empty stomach. I have scheduled a meeting with a micro-finance organization in Likoni, called Likodep (where Amanda works). I look forward to working with them to develop a sustainable solution to our problem.

So...on to the FUN stuff :) This Saturday Amanda and I took a beautiful matatu drive up the coast to Malindi. The city/town was very beautiful and surprisingly clean. There is a HUGE Italian influence in the town, which was nice for meals :) Apparently Malindi is supposed to be a crazy tourist town, but since we came during the off season, it was pretty barren (except for the locals). While this made our night a little less exciting than we'd hoped, it was a perfect situation for a relaxing sunday morning. When we arrived in Malindi we checked into our hotel, Eden Rock, and had some delicious lunch of crackers, cheese and red wine (a meal I have been longing for, for a couple of days☺. When we finished, we immediately changed into our bathing suits and went for a long walk on the beach and then into town. There is much more craft work in Malindi, than in Mombasa (this is probably because more tourists go to Malindi than the actual downtown Mombasa)…so we perused over some of those crafts and then headed back to the hotel for a swim in the ocean. At night we went to a restaurant/bar called “Stars and Guarders”…a very strange name (not as strange as some of the other names we saw there though; one restaurant was called “Baby Marrow,” hmmm…and a boat was named “Trani”…when I saw that I was like; “I’m home!!”). Apparently that was the place to be that night, so we stayed for a while. But we went home relatively early when we noticed that we were definitely the youngest there and were surrounded by disgusting old white men with their young African girlfriends. Old white men “dating” young African women seems to be a “trend” here…i.e. Sex tourism is big on the coast, which is very strange, and slightly uncomfortable to witness.
We woke up this morning, had a delicious (western) breakfast (of fruit and toast ☺ and then hung out at the pool for a while. It felt SO good to swim!! After a couple of hours of swimming and reading/tanning by the pool, we went for a walk on the beach and then headed into town to grab some lunch and catch a matatu ride home. All in all, it was a successful weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I definitely needed to get away for a bit and relax.
Well, I’m off to bed now. I hope everyone is well. Know that I’m thinking of you all ☺
Oxoxoxo Anna

Kenyatta Birthday

Mambo! As most of you know, my birthday was on Tuesday, October 20th. Lucky for me, the 20th also happens to be a national holiday, Kenyatta Day (essentially Kenya's independence day), so my friends and I had the day off from work! We all went to Mombasa beach and spent the day laying in the sun and frolicking in the Indian Ocean. I LOVE the beaches here! The sand is SO white and so soft and the water is actually the temperature of a luke-warm bath. Mombasa beach is located on the northern coast, and is surrounded by some very nice beach resorts. My friend Amanda and I took a walk to a nearby resort called Voyager to use the restroom and have a little look around. The 20 minutes or so that we were on those grounds was the first time in 3 weeks that I didn't stick out. There we SO many mzungus!! It was definitely an interesting experience. My host sister told me that I shouldn't even try to go use the restroom in the resorts because they wouldn't even let me on the grounds (she even laughed at me like I was crazy when I asked). But Amanda and I just walked right into the resort, no questions asked. It was so strange. I felt like we were back in the 1950's or something, where the color of your skin determined your access into certain areas. It was definitely shocking to me.
Amanda and I also noticed what a distorted view of Africa the tourists that stay in these swanky resorts must get. Most tourists don't even venture into the city of Mombasa. They just stay within the walls of the resort. It was so surreal and kind of infuriating how drastically different the resort was from the actual way of life in this area. But I'm not going to lie, it was nice to get a peak into the luxury of it all...and it was VERY luxurious.
After hanging out on the beach for the afternoon, the other interns and I headed into town for some dinner. We all indulged in some "American cuisine." I never thought I would order a hamburger in a foreign country, but that was the only non-Kenyan food option the restaurant offered. And boy, it was GOOD! I have to say, one of the things that I miss most from home is the cuisine. I miss simple meals, BREAD, salads and cheese. Ugali is definitely NOT growing on me. It is just pretty gross. But I do like pilau (which I actually had tonight)..which is essentially like the Kenyan version of Paella, minus the fish (and substituted with beef). I was telling my co-workers that the day I get home I'm going to have some baguette (mmm!), some cheese (mmmm!!) and a yummy yummy salad (mmmmmmmm!!) and maybe some wine. hahaha!
So my birthday was good. I missed everyone from home though...probably the most I have during my entire stay here. But not to worry, I was fine by the afternoon when I went to the beach :)

As for the internship, things have been moving VERY slowly up until now. Today was very exciting though! In the morning I went with some community mobilizers to speak with community members in a nearby village. It was SO interesting..especially because (unlike other meetings I've had) the mobilizer I was with, Jonathan, translated for me once in a while. He asked me if I had any questions and if I had anything to say to them....so I was able to indirectly communicate with the community. I actually felt like I was doing something to help which was a really rewarding feeling.
In the afternoon I finally met with my supervisor to discuss the project that I will be working on during my time here. I'm very excited to start working on it. Last week we had a sensitization session for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) in Likoni. We met today and talked about our findings...what gaps there were in ARV adherence and what solutions the community suggested. Some of the major gaps we found were that many of the community members do not have enough money to sustain a nutritious diet (which is crucial to the effectiveness of ARVs) and they are lacking information about how HIV/AIDS works on the biological level and the role ARVs play. During our meeting we came up with some income generating ideas (such as holding training sessions to teach PLWHAs skills that they can use to earn some money) and ways to disseminate information about ARV maintenance.
I'm excited to start work on that project tomorrow!!
As for now, I must go to bed...I have an early rise tomorrow morning.
Kwaheri!

Hello everyone! I'm done with the first week of work. I have already learned a lot about how Hope World Wide works, but I'm looking forward to actually making a tangible contribution. We had the forum with a group of people living with HIV/AIDS yesterday. I was looking so forward to it, and it was interesting, but I didn't really understand anything anyone was saying because it was all in Swahili. I could follow a little bit, based on the limited vocabulary I know, but most of the things they said went over my head. I look forward to having a meeting with my supervisor..in English..to learn what the people had to say about their experiences living with HIV/AIDS and taking ARVs. After the forum was over, I went to a local pub in Likoni where my supervisor was holding an information session with commercial sex workers. The day was very interesting, but I felt SO out of place because everything was in Swahili and everyone called me "mzungu" even though I was introduced to them. I know mzungu is not a derogatory name here, but it just doesn't make me feel very welcome. I also feel pretty unwelcome and out of place when most people who talk about me laugh at me. I'm sure it's not intended to make me feel unwelcome but it certainly has that effect.
I think yesterday was the first day that I really felt some intense culture shock. It may have been because I stayed up until 5am with my friends and my host sister. But I felt exceptionally sensitive towards the difference of life here. I just was really longing to hear english and see some familiar faces, and be back home where everything is just so much more calm, quiet and comfortable. I soon got over it, but it was definitely interesting for me to notice.

Well, I hope you all are doing well. I miss you all so much and I hope to hear updates of your lives soon!!
oxoxo Anna

Hope World Wide

Mambo! I started work at Hope World Wide on Monday. The first day was interesting, but I didn't really do much. My supervisor wasn't in the office so I went into the field and helped to set up a VCT clinic in a town in the north called Frere town. It was really interesting to see what the VCT counselors did, but because I'm not qualified to do any counseling, I ended up just sitting in the shade the entire day. It ended up being kind of boring after a while because not many people came as it was the first day. I was kept amused by my male co-workers who were shamelessly hitting on me the ENTIRE day. I can forsee that the gender disparities will be something that I will need to get used to and try to accept for the time being.
Yesterday was much better because I was able to meet with my supervisor, Salim, and hang out in the office with the other female volunteers. I've made fast friends with two women especially, named Risper and Winnie. During my meeting with Salim I learned that I will be helping with a new initiative to provide social/medical support (remind them to take their medications and provide them with tools to overcome stigma) for people living with HIV/AIDS...which made me VERY happy because it's exactly what I wanted to do while I was here.
Later in the day I met with Winnie, who works to provide communities and at risk populations (sex workers, men who have sex with men etc.) with prevention education. I learned that I will be traveling to a town on the South coast in November to do outreach and prevention education. I will be staying there for a week and I will work with high school students, muslim imams and at risk populations. I'm VERY excited about this. After our discussion, Winnie and I went to a community mobilizing event in Mikindani (where Hope World Wide is located, and where I live). It was very interesting. There was a youth group there playing loud music and doing skits to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention. The community became very involved and were asked to answer some very hard questions. It was really great to watch (even though I didn't understand most of what they said:)
Today was the best day so far. I went to Likoni (on the south coast) with my supervisor (Salim) and one of the VCT counselors, Linet. We met with the head nurse at the Ministry of health in Likoni and discussed plans to spearhead our project to provide support for people living with HIV/AIDS. Tomorrow we will be meeting with a group of 15 patients (each with one family member or friend). We will conduct a needs assessment to see what type of support would help them most to take their medication.
I am VERY excited to go to work tomorrow and start getting immersed in my project! As for now, I must go and have some dinner.

oxoxo anna

Katika Mombasa...

So I am at the end of the first weekend I've spent in Mombasa. It was VERY fun. I was able to walk around my neighborhood, Mikindani, with my host sister yesterday and she showed me how to get to work. It's not that far at all. My neighborhood is very nice. It is kind of the "suburbs" of Mombasa. It takes me 20-30 minutes, by matatu, to get to town...but it really seems so much farther away because it is SO different. Mikindani is mainly residential, with small shops along the road. It is more like a small town. Mombasa is so big and very crowded all the time and is definitely a "city."
I feel so lucky to have such a great family. Everyone in my house, mama Irene, baba Irene and Gardener, (in Swahili culture, young people call the elders by "mama/baba" and the first name of their child...usually first born daughter/son...but I call them mama/baba Irene because I know Irene and not their first borns) are all very welcoming and kind (I think I said this in the earlier post, but it definitely needs repeating..because it is SO true). I already feel really at home here.
Last night Irene and her friends took me clubbing. Irene and I caught a matatu into town and met her friends at a club called Club Rio. Then, after a drink or so, one of their friends gave us a ride to a club on the North Coast called Tembo. It was VERY nice. It was also very touristy and we met some guys from the Dutch Navy (which was random). Then we took another matatu to go to this local hang out place called Bob's. It's a pub located in front of a large parking lot, and they just turn the parking lot into a huge party. SO many people and kinda overwhelming. By that point, (3:30) I was getting VERY sleepy and really wanted to go home. Irene was shocked that I was so tired because in Mombasa, when people go out they stay out until 5am or so. Ah! I'm going to have to adjust to that :)
Today was also an AMAZING day. I woke up at 9:30 or so and had a leisurely morning until around 11am, when I took the matatu (by myself!!) into town. I hadn't taken a matatu on my own yet so I was very proud of myself when I made it to town safely. AND I didn't get ripped off!!! A major feat. I really didn't even have to bargain that much. I've noticed it helps when I try to speak in swahili to them.
I ran a few errands in town and then met up with the other interns and took the ferry to Likoni (South Coast) to go to a beach (Shelly Beach). We met Amanda there (she lives in Likoni) and took some piki-pikis (motorbikes) to the beach. OH MY GOD!!! It was the most beautiful beach I've ever been to! The sand was perfectly white and soft and the water was a clear light blue color. It was VERY shallow water (like up to your ankles) for probably a mile or so and then the waves started breaking. But there were little natural pools scattered throughout and we just swam in those. It was so picturesque, and SUCH a different feel from Mombasa city and Mikindani. I think it's funny how whenever I travel to a different part of the Mombasa area, I feel as if I'm in a completely different place entirely.
But yes, a very good weekend indeed. I hope everyone is doing well! My thoughts are with you all...and I get to look at most of your lovely faces every day because I taped my pictures from home above my desk.

Well, I'm going to start studying my Swahili and then go to bed. Kwaheri!! oxoxox

P.S. I've been meaning to send postcards to everyone but honestly, there are ZERO postcards in Mombasa. It is very strange considering it's supposedly a "tourist destination." The only postcards I've seen are cheesy ones of Lions and their cubs. I'm holding out until I can find actual Mombasa postcards. Just Fyi.