Well i’ve been missing in action for the past couple of weeks, part of it was procrastination of putting in what I have on my journal on to the computer, I was in the Bush (forest) though, and part of it was just being busy and too tired at night to do anything meaningful. I’ve been enjoying my time with Jesse over the last couple of weeks. Jesse is a senior at Washinghton University in St. Louis. He is a very smart and level headed kid, anthropology major who like most intelligent people has no clue of what he wants to do with his life. The other day we were watching Al-Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” and after the movie Jesse wanted to change to his major to environmental science, but i guess that documentary has that affect on a lot of people. I’m pretty sure most of you must have seen it but if not then please do, i guarantee you that it will change the way you think about the life you are living.
pics added (http://picasaweb.google.com/alirzaidi )
Coming back to Jesse, he is part of a group of 28 kids from a bunch of liberal arts colleges is in the US who are in Kenya for a semester. Jesse in his last month is working with ICROSS as his Independent Study project. Jesse and I had been in Longausua, southern Kenya, mostly Masai land, monitoring maternal health care at the ICROSS clinic and working on a proposal for a small new project in the area. I’ve put the pics online. We both had a hell of a time, lived in the BOMA, a traditional Masai home. The captions and pics will explain it all. I’ll hopefully write in detail about what we did there and the project that we hope gets approved. After getting back from the BUSH jesse and I spent 4 days re-writing the entire Annual Report for ICROSS, probably made it worse. I’m going to attach a copy in the email with the hope that most of you ignore it but if you are brave enough please feel free to read about what ICROSS does.
Well today on the18th of April, I woke up to find out that I’m heading to Nakuru in Western Kenya. It is a city of about a million and ICROSS has several projects in and around the city. Although Kenya has about 7 percent of its population affected with HIV/AIDS the small towns around Nakuru have a staggering 1/3rd of its population with HIV. My job will be to get as many personnel stories as I can, put them up on blogs and websites so that you guys know about them. Look at the project from the Policy stand point. See where ICROSS and the GOVT policies are affecting the people and get to learn as much as I can from this whole experience. I should hopefully make it back on the 24th just in time to witness MILAN kick MAN UNITED’S butt in the UEAFA Champions League, go KAKA (Milan and Brazilian midfielder), thats right all you Man U lovers you’re going down, and also watch the KIWI’s take the ICC World Cup.
Well i’m going to call it a night right after this song “Man Atkeya Bay Parwa Dey Naal” by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, written by Baba Bulleh Shah is going to end, funny how a 17th century Sufi’s poetry is helping a guy in a remote village in Africa. Anyways most of you must be thinking i’m crazy.
Good night and good luck.
2 comments:
Hi Ali. It was good to meet you and Jesse in Longosua and later in Karen. I will post the photos and some commentary on my own visit to the ICROSS work in Nakuru and Samburu over the next few weeks. And as for the dinner a few nights ago- well what can I say?
Each individual who plays a part in the work has their own talents, approach and personal history, that influences the way they interface with the world. One way or the other, there is no doubt in my mind that the work that has been done by ICROSS on the ground is making a real and positive difference to the lives of people in some of the most deprived areas in Kenya , and that the teams of Kenyan workers who are there working with ICROSS Kenya deserve support.
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