A little health comm theory....I actually am doing work over here.

This is one of the posters we are going to take to the schools to test tomorrow. The kids are all really worried about diseases so we are using that threat to entice them to wash their hands. The campaign title will hopefully be "Wash Away Diseases" and the messages will all work toward building self and response-efficacy....empowering the kids to believe that they can wash their hands and that washing their hands will actually prevent them from getting sick. This poster says "Washing your hands is easy" and gives the steps to washing hands the right way.

Kibera

The rest of the team is working in Kibera, an informal Nairobi settlement. Below is the video they put together as an update for Rotary. The conditions in the slum are hard to handle. There are no toilets so the residents poop in bags that they throw anywhere they can, kids are running around in raw sewage and burning trash with no shoes. This video does not even begin to give a full picture of the horrible conditions people are living in but it is a start. Also, a little overview of the project.

Tigers in Kenya

I forgot to mention that all of last weekend's shenanigans were a result of meeting up with some fellow Wittenbergers here in Kenya, Stephen Uhle and Jacob Schmalze. In fact, my old boss at Witt was the one who gave Steve that flag...the omniscient Linda Beals. It has been nice to have these guys around. I got to enjoy dinner and gellato with them at their fancy Nairobi apartment last night and their are many other adventures in the works. Got to love Wittenberg connections half way around the world.

This is Africa

My fellow travellers and I have embraced the phrase "This is Africa" from Shakira's popular World Cup song and turned it into an Acronym "TIA". Since Nairobi is a rather big city and we are living relatively comfortable lives, it can be easy to forget that we are actually in Africa. We reserve use of "TIA" for those times that really remind us exactly how far away we are from home. On bad days, the phrase becomes "TIFA". This weekend was 100% "TIA" and 100% awesome. (Insert cheesy, Shooter McGavin double point here) But seriously, it was amazing.

On Friday, a few friends and I headed up to Lake Naivasha about an hour outside of Nairobi. After a windy, mountian drive complete with death-defying truck passing on a two lane road, we were glad to crack open a Tusker and head out for sundowners on the lake. We all piled into a friend of a friend's (thats the way it works here) boat, went hippo watching and then drove out to an island called Hippo point for a bonfire. I did my best to act cool as we came upon a herd of hippos. Everyone here seems to have a hippo attack story and is quick to remind you that they are the most dangerous animal in Africa. We were 30 feet away from them...no big deal or TERRIFYING, you decide. While bonfiring, we very quickly ran out of firewood, forcing us to pile back in the boat to head to the same friend of a friend's bar. It was an amazing night. Each new person we met was more welcoming than the last.

Saturday morning we woke up, enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at the bar and headed out to meet our group for a day of hiking and camping. We hiked the gorge in Hell's Gate National Park where we saw wild zebra everywhere....new favorite animal. The mountains and the park reminded me a lot of Colorado, minus the zebra. It was so nice to be out of Nairobi. I am definitely not a big city girl. Saturday night we made a traditional Kenyan dinner around the campfire. The Americans taught the Kenyans about roasting marshmallows but I don't think anyone was very impressed. We told ghost stories over a few Tuskers and headed to bed.

Sunday we spent walking around the Crescent Island Nature preserve where we were literally 10 feet away from zebra, giraffe, wildabeast, gazelle....it was incredible. We even saw a baby giraffe that was just born in April. I guess this really is Africa.

Soap Making

If you have been following the blog, you know that I am working on a hygiene campaign for a local school. The focus of the campaign is hand washing and one of the most important parts of hand washing is using soap. It seems simple, but at a school where running water is a luxury, soap is not exactly readily available. Coincidentally, we got wind of a women's group in one of the slums who is making their own liquid soap and selling it for profit. We tracked them down and made our way to the Korgocho slum so we could learn the art of soap making as well. After getting ahold of a woman named Tina (soap-maker? booking agent? we weren't really sure) the day before, we set out in search of our soap-making lessons with nothing but the hard to pronounce name of a church (Careo Bungy??) and the promise that we would meet a man there who would take us into the slum. Kenya does not cease to surprise me. All according to a very vague plan, we were dropped off at the church, met by a delightful man named Bernard and guided to what turned out to be a soap-making workshop for the community. We had told the soap-maker that we would pay for the chemicals she needed to teach us....turns out we were the workshop sponsors. We were introduced to all the teachers and parents at the local school, shown a video about hygiene in Swahili and then taught how to make soap. Now we can teach the teachers at our schools too. Hopefully this will make hand washing sustainable. No worries, I will run a soap-making workshop when I get back to the states so all of you can learn :)

Happy and You Know it

Happy and You Know it from Ashley Petersen on Vimeo.

Of Course I've Met Barack Obama

Well hello again. A lot has happened since my last update. This picture is from a school visit that my colleagues at Ecotact, Rina and Gerald, and I did last week. We are building a hygiene campaign for Kirangari Primary School. During our visit we conducted focus groups, hung out with the kids and just observed daily life at the school. As you can see, we were a big hit. Hundreds of kids were following us around during their recess, telling us stories, singing us songs and asking us questions. The teachers said that they were excited because they don't see many mzungus (white people). When the kids found out I was from the U.S. their first question was "Have you met Barack Obama?". I was tempted to make up a story about how we were best friends but opted for the truth instead..got to set a good example and all. The school is in Kikuyu, named for the tribe that is from that area. It also happens to be the tribe of Barack Obama's Kenyan relatives. See how much I am learning here?

The visit to the school was a blast but it was also very sad to actually sit down and talk to the students. Their biggest concern was about diseases. We had so many questions about tuberculosis, typhoid, and HIV from tiny children. I am not sure I even could have pronounced tuberculosis when I was their age. There is just such a heightened level of awareness about those things here. I am really glad that I can be a part of something that has a chance at improving the quality of life for these kids and teachers. Right now, all the kids and teachers use pit latrines that are in really poor condition without any running water to wash their hands. Soon they will have toilets with running water for drinking and washing their hands. Happy day.

Kiswahili Lesson for the Day

Asanti = Thank you

Mathare Freestyle

The boys in this Mathare youth group all freestyled for us about sanitation and their lives growing up in the slum.

Jambo Sister....

Well, we have made it through our first week here in Nairobi. Our group is moved into our new apartment and aside from a few water/electricity issues, all is running smoothly. The first week working in the Ecotact office was extremely interesting. I am the only one from my group there all the time so I am learning a lot about Kenyan culture and trying to pick up some swahili. The Ecotact staff is friendly and lunch is prepared every day with tea at 10 and 4. My first lesson in culture was all about Kenyan time. Whenever someone wants to set a meeting, they laugh at me when I ask "what time?". I am always told that there are only two times...morning and evening. It is an adjustment but also very relaxing to not feel rushed.

Yesterday I met up with a friend of a friend here in Kenya, Stephen Rigby. I was very proud that I was able to find my way around our neighborhood by myself to meet him! It was nice to talk with a fellow American who has been here a while about how different Africa is from the states.

The food here is amazing...we have been to a lot of really great restaurants and nothing is too expensive. The local beer is Tusker...I have already had my fare share and am sure it will be my savior after one of these long work weeks. Every Sunday a Masai Market sets up in the parking lot outside of the mall by our house. There are tons of booths with African masks, bags, jewelery and decorations. Everyone tries to get your attention by saying "Jambo sister" and offering to trade you for something (anything!) that you have on your person. Today a man offered to trade me for my hair tie on my wrist. Of course by "trade" he meant my hair tie plus 500 shillings. Today I bought two beautiful bags for 600 shillings, about 8 dollars. I can't wait to buy everyone at home presents. I miss you all and hope to talk to you soon!

Ash