I think I’m a very systematic person when it comes to writing—especially academic writing. And I do want to approach this blog in an academic manner. I’d much rather have a specific set of guidelines as to what topics I should cover, what my thesis and arguments are, and what my supporting evidence is. Hence, ‘blogging’ makes me slightly uncomfortable, as I don’t know what exactly to write about/cover. Most of my posts will probably be a series of lists. Our Western Heads East coordinator, Bob, had warned us during pre-departure orientation that every one of us will inevitably make mistakes here and there throughout our trip. I will try to be as cautious as I can, but I apologize in advance to my readers, WHE, JKUAT, and/or anyone else I may misrepresent or offend.
What I learned from pre-departure:
- The misunderstanding with Ghandi’s “Be the change you want to see in the world”. Being a student of social/developmental geography, I am inevitably concerned and deeply affected by the knowledge of global social and political issues. I’ve always known that I wanted to “be the change” I want to see in the world and “help” people. (I quote such terms, as they are very much socially defined.) Pre-departure touched on the idea of privilege a lot. Being the change does not necessarily mean deciding what you want to be changed in the world, and imposing such beliefs upon others. Sometimes it is hard to go into a situation without realising the imbalance of power between you and the other parties. And in doing so, we may falsely believe that we should have all the answers to world “problems”. I am glad I was made consciously aware of this.
- The idea of “helping” people. Following the discussion on the imbalance of power and the false belief of having all the answers… It would be detrimental to believe we, as interns or volunteers or social workers or developmental researchers or whomever, are here to “help”. We are not here to help anyone. We must recognize the value, vast knowledge base, and power of others. In doing so, we can achieve much greater things together by sharing expertise and knowledge in order to achieve common goals.
- The idea of “development”. As a person who has received her entire education in Canada, I have been taught from a young age to categorize countries as “developed” or “developing”. It just makes things simpler to group countries or people, especially ones with which we are unfamiliar. However, every country is, technically, developing. Development is a continual process, and the level of development in a country lies upon a continuum rather than falls into two all-inclusive categories. It was hard for a finance/geography student to accept this (as ignorant as that is), but I am trying.
Isabella, Germaine, and I arrived on the 19th. What we did/what has happened so far:
- The hostel washroom flooded on our first night (bad design of where the drain was located.) We spent most of our first evening in Juja mopping up the floor and collectively decided it was probably a bad idea to shower in our apartment.
- Visited and walked around campus, walked around the area (grocery store, the main street). The architecture in Juja is very interesting. It has a very art-deco feeling to it, with the colours and geometry. Perhaps it was due to the Japanese influence? The Japanese influence on buildings is very evident on the entire AICAD area as well as a few buildings around Hotel Senate, where everything looks simplistic but orderly (the square designs especially), with a touch of traditional (such as the roofing). (I’ll try to upload some pictures later!)
- Went to visit Nairobi twice: elephant orphanage, giraffe orphanage, museum, etc.
What I am thankful for:
- Kathleen (the KWHE intern who has been here for 3 months already)! I am so happy we have someone who has already been through the adjustment process and is able to guide us at every step along the way. (But also sorry you had to go through it alone!) All your expertise is definitely pricelessly helpful to us.
- The beautiful weather. Chilly at night, not too dry, and not too hot during the day. Definitely better than Toronto weather (or at least the two weeks of Toronto weather I did experience before leaving for Kenya).
- Isabella and Germaine, the two other WHE interns, as well as the other Ivey inters who have made the transition a lot less lonely. We definitely have a well-rounded team with a comprehensive set of skills and I truly believe we can accomplish something in our short time here.
- Water, electricity, access to the Internet (although limited, but much better than I had expected).
- Being away from my small business in Canada, which absolutely consumes me at times.
- Time to read and write.
- Amazing/sad stories fellow interns shared. It made me realize how insignificant my own “problems” are; truly appreciate the phrase “First World problems” now.
On our second day here, we were up until 2am talking about the yoghurt project. Kathleen was very excited (perhaps the wrong word here) to share the experience with us. I was shocked to learn about the struggles she has been through, but also incredibly impressed with how far she has come and how well she has put everything together so far. She is amazing. Things she had shared that I had previously not known:
- Contrary to my assumptions prior to leaving Canada, the kitchen is not open or ready to open soon. There are still many challenges to overcome before that can happen, and there is still a lot to do.
The greatest challenges we are facing:
- The yoghurt program involves three main organizations/people: Western University, JKUAT, and our co-ordinator in Kenya. All three have differing and in some cases mutually exclusive goals for the program, which may prove to be very difficult for us WHE interns to mitigate.
- The laid-back, easy-going Kenyan culture, which is incredibly relaxing for us, but also a major barrier to getting things done with haste and efficiency.
- Short-term vs. long-term goals:
- Short-term: we want to open the kitchen before we leave Juja in three months
- Medium-term: we want 10 more kitchens to be opened in surrounding rural areas
- Long-term: we want the kitchens opened to be sustainable
- Time: Will we have enough time to finish everything?
- Lack of leadership: Who will oversee/maintain leadership of the yoghurt program?
On one hand, I feel confused and powerless, given what we’ve been told. On the other hand, I feel confident that we can overcome these difficulties and anxious to get started! I think the most important thing for us now is to continuously make and revise a schedule of goals for the program.
Things I personally hope to gain from this experience:
- Personal growth and development
- Better define my role as a global citizen; how I fit into the world
- Figure out what it is I actually want to do after graduation (haha)
Things I hope we can accomplish before the end of next week:
- Meet with our co-ordinator, JKUAT student club, and the Director of Food Sciences
- Define the ultimate and unified goal of yoghurt program
Until next week!
- Sophie
Hi Sophie,
Great blog, thanks for the update and detail. There have not been 10 kitchens that have started and failed. There have been 14 kitchens started and 3 have failed, 2 start and stop and the other nine are functioning with varying degrees of production (see Mwanza intern blogs). There are also another 6 'unofficial' kitchens that have started organically in Mwanza using the starter culture from one of the kitchens who gets the probiotic bacteria from NIMR. Very ambitious goals to start 10 kitchens before leaving Juja. I think it will be a major accomplishment to have the one model kitchen on campus operating in a sustainable manner.
Best,
Bob
Posted by: Bob Gough | 06/17/2015 at 02:27 PM
Hi Bob,
Sorry, I will edit that information right away. I heard it from another intern... but I should have double checked with someone else. Yes, we are focusing on starting the one kitchen at JKUAT but our supervisor is aiming for 10 in Kenya in the future! :)
Posted by: Sophie | 06/18/2015 at 08:19 AM