Week 6: We venture into the Kenyan hinterland

 On Monday I went to Impact (the organization I'm here to work with). There are other student interns staying in the same place as me that go there too, so I was told to go with them to be picked up at 7:30. I discovered in the morning that they weren't going because they were being picked up from here to go "in the field." The other students told me to just got wait at the end of the street and an Impact vehicle will see me and pick me up. They also said not to worry if I was passed because sometimes they are full and another will be by shortly. It turned out that no one had told the drivers about me, but luckily I have experience with being forgotten, so I didn't wait long to contact Impact and one of the vehicles had to turn around and come back and get me. And thus started a rather awkward day for me.

Since the person who oversees interns wasn't there, I think they really didn't know what to do with me. One lady took me around and introduced me to everybody--at least 30 people. I didn't remember most of their names. Then I was given a desk and left. I knew I was there to help with a grant application, so I just started reading about it. After about an hour, someone came and gave me a couple 40 page booklets with their strategic plan and 2024 report. Shortly after, everyone left the office and I could see them having a meeting outside. I knew I wouldn't understand anything anyways, so I just stayed and worked on reading the booklets and preparing the grant application. So yeah, my morning was awkward. Later I was talking with a staff member and found out that he was working on the same grant application only with McGill university, so then I was without a purpose.

In the afternoon I met with the head of operations and she assigned a girl to work with me. Soon they had a work plan for the week. They would have a driver take the kids and me to Twala, to stay for 3 days and another staff member that would be in the area would take around with him to all the things he was doing. On Tuesday afternoon a driver arrived in an outback style jeep. The kids were pretty excited, but that wore off really fast because the road was so bad. Shortly after we arrived in Twala, Lizzie was sick. I actually really enjoyed the drive but I wasn’t sitting in the back.

I think I mentioned earlier that Twala is a women's cooperative. It is a pretty amazing place. We got to stay in this place that provides an immersive Maasai experience. And I was assigned to help them improve their brochure. So that is what I have been working on. I'm no marketer, so it isn't an easy assignment, but I will do my best to help them. We were the only guests that were there at the time and were treated very well. The cooperative has helped these women to gain some financial independence and challenge a lot of harmful Maasai taboos. But they also honour their heritage. We participated in a song and dance with the ladies, were provided with a campfire every night, and ate more traditional foods. We didn't eat true Maasai style food--milk with cow's blood, but it was still different from what we had ever eaten. 

dancing with the ladies

traditional Maasai hut

This was where we waited for 3 hours before the meeting started

The area had these cool rocky outcrops

Twala provided us with traditional blankets for campfire

the ladies that performed for us

Magdaline, our guide

I was taken around to Impact's meetings with Indigenous groups in the area. The first meeting was with the leaders of 3 communities in the area to discuss water sharing. All the meetings were in Maa, so I didn't understand much ( I managed to catch a few words that chatgpt  interpreted for me.) The water meeting had some pretty outspoken participants, but in the end, they all came to an agreement. They also took me to a school that Impact is supporting. They teach trades like plumbing, carpentry, masonry and hairdressing for the Indigenous youth in the area. The courses are only 3 months and they come out certified in the end. I was given a tour and in every class someone had to speak to me about what they were doing. The school is very new--they 2nd cohort is just finishing up their programs, but so far it is looking beneficial. It is affordable--only 5000 Kenyan shillings and many of the kids found jobs rather quickly. They also learn computer skills and about running their own business.

 The next day I was taken to a meeting where they met to discuss what they had done with the funding they had received from Impact and what they would like to do for the next phase. The meeting was supposed to start at 9--we didn't start until 12. Even then, they didn't have enough for a full quorum, but eventually it filled right up. Once again the meeting was in Maa, so I couldn't understand much, but it was just fascinating for me to look at the people. Most of them showed up with at least some form of traditional Maasai clothing--especially the women. They were very striking. Most of the men showed up with sticks or clubs. Apparently it is a status thing. It didn't take them too long to agree on what they wanted to do with their funding. They all wanted to use it for land restoration.

On our last day at Twala, many women came and displayed their beadwork for us. There were so many of them, it took us over an hour to look at all of them. And then I felt bad that I couldn't buy something  from every one of them. We got some fun little souvenirs. Malachi got a Maasai club known as a rungu. He plans to use it for his fantasy games. Of course, he was drawn to all the weapons. They had knives and a bow with arrows. Lizzie loved all the jewelry.  

We got back Friday afternoon. In all my driving around, I saw zebras, giraffes, baboons, dik diks and lots of camels. Oh and we saw hartebeests fighting. People keep camels in that area for their milk. They don't eat the grass, and are well-adapted for the increasing droughts they have. Another example of how climate change hurts the most vulnerable and marginalized the hardest. Water didn't use to be a contentious issue among the Maasai people, but they have had such long droughts and the area (I'm told) is not as green as it once was. 

I didn't see them, but that area has a lot of elephants. When driving around, we passed through special gates meant to keep elephants out. At Twala, if they get in, they will destroy the Aloe plants and use their tusks to break into the greenhouse. (Green houses here are not plastic, but more like a mesh, meant to keep it cooler and to keep out pests). Our guide at Twala told me that she would occasionally encounter elephants on her way to and from school. When that happened they had to carefully stay down wind of them--sometimes walking way around them. If the elephant smelt them, they would be in big trouble.