Archive for March 2009
How Do You Market That?
Sunday, March 29, 2009 | 8:32 pmWhat do you do when your business is under water, in the literal sense?
This is exactly the question I’ve been asking myself for the last two months. Not long after I arrived, I discovered that the mangrove boardwalk is partly underwater at high tide, and completely underwater at spring tide. That means that [...]
Waidaka
Friday, March 27, 2009 | 10:28 pmI’d like you to meet Waidaka. He is 6 years old. Waidaka lives in my compound with his mama and baba. In Kenya, the parents often take the name of their children. For example, Waidaka’s parents are known by everyone in the village as “Mama Waidaka” and “Baba Waidaka.” I doubt [...]
Curious Things About Rural Kenya - Part Two
Friday, March 27, 2009 | 7:34 pmSo, here is the second installment of “Curious Things.” Hope you like it…
Music
With no real musical history of their own, Kenyans borrow the worst of American music, including rap, rap, and more rap. There is some traditional music here, but even their sounds are borrowed from Nigeria or Tanzania. Local music videos here [...]
One Love Island
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 | 5:34 pmOn Saturday, I traveled to One Love Island, a camping-style experience on an island near Ngomeni on the North Coast of Kenya. It’s the project of a fellow SEDICT volunteer named Chris; he is working with his Kenyan supervisor to expand and improve services, hash out issues with land ownership and use, and [...]
Curious Things About Rural Kenya - Part One
Friday, March 20, 2009 | 8:33 pmIn my past four months in Kenya, I’ve managed to compile a list of things that were seemingly curious to me as an American visitor. As time goes on, these things seem less strange to me, but I thought it would be fun to talk about them, for my friends who have never been [...]
A Swahili Wedding
Sunday, March 15, 2009 | 9:06 pmI traveled to Mombasa today to attend a wedding reception. Amina, my supervisor, invited me; she is the older sister of the groom. The guest list boasted an impressive 900 people; I didn’t get an exact count, but I’d be willing to wager that there were at least 600 people packed into the [...]
Needing Article and Logo
Friday, March 13, 2009 | 11:42 amI need some help, and I’m hoping that a couple of my very resourceful and creative friends out there are willing.
I am looking for a specific academic article. I’ve found only an abstract so far, and I think it may contain some information that will get me two steps closer to understanding the history [...]
Visit From The US Ambassador
Tuesday, March 3, 2009 | 8:51 pmToday, my tiny village received a surprise visit from the U.S. Ambassador, Michael E. Ranneberger. There were mumblings of his visit yesterday, but it wasn’t until 11:00 am (saa tano) that we received confirmation of his impending arrival. He was coming to visit the Gazi Women Boardwalk – the project to which I [...]
Corruption
Monday, March 2, 2009 | 11:46 amFor years, the people of Kenya have been struggling with the problem of corruption, especially among government officials. I’m not here to talk about in detail about the current level of corruption in Kenya, or the detrimental toll it takes on the poor. In fact, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I am here [...]