Malaria Mural: Using Art to Teach Health

I rode passed a talented community artists painting a school sign and immediately asked the driver to make a U-Turn. Michael Juma is a brilliant artist and art teacher and was overjoyed at my proposed idea of working with some of my students to make a malaria mural.

The mural is located at Nangina Mixed Primary School, a name you should all be very familiar with, I’ve talked about this school and the projects I’ve done there here, here, here, here and here. The class 1-8 school population is 732 total: 374 boys and 358 girls. The early childhood development/ECD classes have approximately 150 students and there are 16 teachers working and volunteering at the school bringing the schools total population to approximately 898.

4 students who expressed an interest in art first drafted their own mural designs which we used as inspiration for the final design. These students assisted in the actual painting of the mural. The winning sketch that heavily contributed to the design of the mural was from Reagan Omondi a student in class 8/8th grade.

The days of painting served as a functional art class. Michael explained every step and students were able to ask questions. This was the first time the students were receiving formal art training. They learned a little about color theory, scaling and being creative in their designs.

The mural was started on March 10th and completed on March 12th 2014.

Camp GLOW: Girls Leading Our World…in Funyula

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud” -Coco Chanel

I coordinated a Camp GLOW: Girls Leading Our World, in my local community where we focused on character development, health/healthy living and professional development. Camp GLOW is a PEPFAR and Peace Corps initiative, they hold large regional camps annually in Kenya. I applied for a grant through World Connect to host a local GLOW in my community.

You might remember a few of my students were selected to attend Peace Corps Kenya’s Western Region GLOW. In the regional camps each volunteer can nominate 2-3 students to attend. My students came back and the hundreds that remained wondered why they didn’t have the opportunity. I’ve never had a project feel so necessary. I’m happy I was able to host a project encouraged by my community.

130 girl students ranging from ages 10-19
9 participating schools
5 days to impart knowledge and have a ton of fun
6 volunteer trainers who lead sessions for 3 days
6 community professionals who participated in the career panel
160 bed nets distributed/sold in a community where finding nets is a challenge unless you’re pregnant.
96 bottles of water guard distributed to encourage clean water practices

The stats above are some quantifiable measures of what I was able to achieve with help from my fellow volunteers and community members.

Camp Schedule:

Day 1: Registration

Day 2: Character Development

• Self Esteem and Body Image
• Peer Pressure
• Self Expression Art Project/Self-Portraits
• Gender Roles

Day 3: Health

• Menstruation and Reusable Sanitary Pads
• Malaria
• HIV/AIDS/STIs
• Healthy Relationships

Day 4: Professional Development

• Goal Setting and Vision Boards
• Entrepreneurship
• Crafts/Developing Skills to Create Goods
• Career Panel

Day 5: Community Presentation Day

• Student testimonials
• Art Presentation
• Talent/Entertainment
• Speech: Area Representative
• Speech: Area Chief
• Health Presentation: Water and Sanitation
• Health Presentation: Malaria Prevention
• Pineapple Eating Contest
• Presentation of Awards

I heard of the transformation that occurs during Camp GLOW. I feel so privileged to have seen these girls come out of their shells, find their voices, and work on their talents. I transformed as well.

I don’t want to paint a picture of helpless girls and women. I don’t think I could if I tried. These girls and women who carry water and firewood for miles, who work in farms and care for cattle, who are in charge of the families health and nutrition and sanitation, these girls are strong. Their schedules are intense and usually start before the sun rises. However, when you try to understand the stagnation in their ability to be as successful as they have the potential to be you can look to some limitations placed on them by societal gender roles, lack of education and education opportunities, lack of resources, lack of an accurate account of their self worth.

I never want to forget a moment of the time I had with them.

 

 

 

Potential Career Path: Funeral Photographer

I’ve done some unexpected things as a Peace Corps Volunteer all of which pale in comparison to my day as a funeral photographer. I just wanted to help my family and they wanted pictures to remember this event.

I was hesitant to take pictures of people crying or saying their final goodbye. Grieving is such a personal experience. Also, I may have been grieving more for this woman who’s name I didn’t know until an hour into the 3rd day of the funeral celebration and whose casket was in a tent 5 feet from my house than many of the people present.

Death is just dealt with differently here and I think they may have it right or at least a way that’s less traumatizing than we do in the west. They accept it as a part of life. It’s not something to fall apart over. It’s a time to celebrate. I don’t want to paint a picture that there was no grieving because her children were completely destroyed the way anyone would be when they lose their mother.

I think I was successful. My Mama and Baba were very impressed with the photos and since I printed so many other family members and friends were able to get some. If I helped them celebrate her life than it was completely worth my discomfort.

 

More Kids with Bears

I had a few remaining bears after my distribution. Here are my faves.

Mother Bear Project. Putting Smiles on my Kids Faces

Two titles are better than one.

“The Mother Bear Project is dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of a hand-knit or crocheted bear.”  I love the objective of this organization and I’m so thrilled to have been able to work with them.

Though I had planned with the school staff, bear distribution day was a complete surprise to the early childhood development/ECD/preschool class. They always see me and I’m never there to see them, my life skills class is geared towards the older students. That day was different. OH MAN I love those kids…they smile from an honest place.

I had such a blast. Normally I would have created a health lesson but Mother Bear really wants a day that’s centered around the joy of getting a gift out of love. I had entirely too much fun. We played and colored and ran outside. Each student went home with a bear and the feeling that people all over the world are rooting for their health and happiness.

The mother bear project was recently highlighted in the Huffington Post. Read it HERE. Teespoon readers who also knit and/or crotchet, please consider supporting this project by making a bear.

OVPs: Rae’s Jiggers Project

What have I been doing in my silence? Living. A friend reminded me that’s what we should be doing and I quite agree.

Sometime’s I want to do it all. I want to tackle each and every one of Kenya’s health and social ills and solve them. Then I want to move to another country and solve their ills too. I can’t, sadly. I’ve realized one way to do my small part is to help volunteers with their projects when I can. OVPs = other volunteer projects.

Rae has done fantastic work for the last 3-6 months coordinating a mass jiggers campaign in her area. Jiggers is a sand flea that burrows into the skin, usually the hands and feet, and without treatment it could lead to immobility or an inability to use the limbs where the infection has progressed.

There were some children who crawled to the treatment area because they were in too much pain to walk. There were over 200 community members treated. The photos below show the treatment day. The treatment was conducted in phases. Each patient’s infected areas was washed with soap and water and their nails were clipped. The newly cleaned areas received their first 15 minute soak in the purple dying potassium permanganate followed by oiling with vaseline. Each patient was sent home with all the goods and medicine to continue their treatment as directed by the community health workers. Later each home was fumigated to kill the flea and each patient was provided with a pair of shoes. Not wearing shoes in an un-cemented area is usually the dangerous practice that leads to the infection.

I would love to do this project in my community after seeing the extreme cases. I had a chat with my public health worker thinking we didn’t have jiggers and was told that shame, poverty and the advanced cases where people can’t walk prevent treatment. I think we need to do something about this. I’m not sure if time or funding will permit me to execute this project but I will continue to help Rae in anyway I can as this will be a focus of her work for our remaining 6 months in Kenya.

It was such a transformation. As they left children and adults alike were laughing and so hopeful.

 

To Dry Your Fish, Hang it on the Fence

My family has suffered a lost. Similar to American funeral traditions the family is coming together to support each other and celebrate the life that has passed on and food is very much apart of both the support and the celebration.

Today I bought four beautiful fish for our family dinner.

Water and oil don’t mix so before you fry the fish you have to dry out the water. I have seen this drying process happen in several ways but never hung on the fence.

This picture came out crazy against the ominous sky. I think it may be my favorite photo of my whole service.

Operation Reforestation: A Day of Planting Trees

Kenya is using trees faster than they can plant them and faster than those planted can mature. Paulino from Trees for the Future came to our training and explained the impact of deforestation in Kenya; their website put’s it like this:

“Kenya’s land has been so heavily logged that it now has less than two percent forest cover. This has not only affected the climate but also the economy, since the country now must import timber from other nations for construction. The main cause of deforestation is the felling of trees for firewood, without replanting them. Communities near tea factories have cut down immature trees and sold them to the factories…”

They equipped each volunteer with a couple bags of seeds that tend to grow well in their area. I was given leucaena leucocephala seeds, a tree native to southern Mexco and Central America and grows well in tropical climates. The leaves of this tree is a good source of animal feed and the timber is good for firewood.

We planted 22 planter bags and only used about 1/3 of the seeds I was given. When I return to the home to check on the seedlings in the coming weeks we’ll plant more. The two bags of seeds should fill over 60 planter bags.

 

Elewana Education Project Camps

A dream site is a so rare that it is often considered a theory rather than an actual place but my friend Andrea has a dream site. Her site has schools equipped with science laboratories and computer centers. She has the Kiwimbi public library that could rival some American libraries and the mission house with the Elewana Education Project. I love Elewana. I love what they stand for. I love the staff. I love the students that are dedicated to helping.

Elewana’s mission “is to empower youth to become agents of change in their communities by improving access to quality education and facilitating understanding of global issues through cross-culture interaction and learning. ‘Elewana’, the Swahili word for understanding and agreement, speaks to the heart of the Elewana Education Project.”

I hope you’re seeing the trend with this project, my life skills classes and the H.O.P.E. Scholarship Initiative that I’m extremely passionate about creating opportunities for educational advancement for students of color.

I stumbled on the Elewana Education Project and its camp while visiting Andrea and was invited to stay and teach and since some of my favorite volunteers were already planning on participating I accepted with no coercion needed.

These camps are attended by students who are in the top 5 of their class to provide prep  for the KCSE which can only be compared to the SAT’s but much more difficult because it’s by subject and covers everything they’ve ever learned or should have learned in secondary/high school.

Camp 7 was the girls camp. Camp 8 was for boys. For both camps I co-facilitated similar sessions: essay composition, reading comprehension, goals and decision making, health and an extracurricular session on culture.

I was so impressed with the student’s ideas and their passion to work for change in Kenya.

Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World)

I didn’t get to teach at Camp GLOW. I don’t know what I was thinking; the application just slipped my mind. Luckily I had the opportunity to nominate 3 of my girls, all of which were selected to attend this year’s camp. The 3 girls I choose have been leaders in my life skills class from the onset. We chatted on the way to camp, it was nice and it was cute; when I picked my girls up after the camp they talked my ear off. They were amazed by their experience.

Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) is an annual PEPFAR sponsored camp held regionally in Kenya. Throughout the week the girls were taught on safe sex, team building menstruation and making reusable sanitary pads, crafts and income generating activities. This wouldn’t be a Peace Corps camp if they didn’t go on awesome field trips. This year the students were taken to a VCT (volunteer counseling and testing center for HIV) and to the Impala Park where some of them got to pet a cheetah.

The camp is comprised of hearing and deaf students, and though that may not seem like a big deal it absolutely is, for many of the hearing students it’s their first time interacting and learning from a deaf person. Opening this dialog is the first step to eliminating the stigma deaf people have in the rural villages throughout the country. My girls were thrilled to show me the Kenyan Sign Language alphabet.

For one of my students it was her first time travelling to Kisumu, the closest major town outside of our small town. For all of my students it was the first time they saw Lake Victoria. It was the first time they experienced a week focused on their development. It was the first time they were meeting so many girls from all over the Western region.  They made fast friends with the other 57 girls who attended the camp.

I’ll have to do a sister post with more photos from the camp once I get my hands on them. Here at least, is our journey to the camp.