As VSO is all about skill sharing, I thought I would take some time to share with you the skills I have learned since moving to Kenya almost nine months ago. To be honest the only thing I think about when I hear nine months is that it is almost the full gestation period of a human baby…don’t worry, no babies being gestated over here!
So here goes my Top 10 Skills Gained in Kenya thus far: (50% of them are non-transferable)
- Sleeping. The ability to fall asleep absolutely anywhere, at any given time, in any given circumstance and at any temperature. This includes sleeping with someone elses’ baby on my lap (not by choice), sleeping upright on a bus in 40 degree weather (because for some reason the windows are all closed – my guess is not to ruin all the fancy ‘dos) and waking up in a pool of my sweat. Also under this category is the amount of sleep I get. I balk at anything under 9 hours now.
- Squatting. Using a pit latrine, long drop loo, outhouse, hole in the ground or a nearby bush fine tunes your ability to squat. Hello quad muscles.
- Selective hearing. Mom, Dad – you thought I had mastered this years ago? Guess again. I’m better at it now. I no longer hear the calls for ‘muzungu’ or ‘odhiero’ nor do I take notice when someone else is speaking a foreign language in front of me. It’s all gone.
- Quilting. This should probably be downgraded to hand-sewing, since it does not yet resemble a quilt, but I am confident that one day it will.
- Communication with facial muscles. All it takes to hail my morning ride to work is a simple head nod or eyebrow movement. I can also say yes with my eyebrows.
- Eating Ugali. Yes, volunteers do wretch when I tell them my favourite food is ugali (essentially maize flour and water cooked until it’s hard and dipped in things) and mboga (kale), but I was sitting in a hoteli (restaurant) with a Kenyan returned VSO volunteer when she said to me “Wow. You eat like a Luo.” (see previous post regarding Luos) I will be starting an online class entitled “How to eat like a Luo” in August of 2012. Any takers?
- Riding a motorbike. While I haven’t fully mastered driving a motorbike without ending up in a ditch with a goat nibbling at my ankles, I am working on it. But I have however mastered jumping on the back of another motorbike and disappearing into the wind. And yes Mom, riding a motorbike does make you cool!
- Dancing. I have learned that I actually have a joint in my hips that allows me to dance and bend like all other Kenyan women. It is just severely out of practice (not quite a fully aquired skill).
- Participation. This is a big one. I knew this was one of the reasons I wanted to come to Kenya. My whole life I have only halfway participated in anything. School, my social life, etc. I promised myself that I would get more involved when I came here and I have. I am now the Regional Representative for Western Kenya on the Global Education Committee (as well as the Communication person) – which is running great environmental awareness projects across the country as well as Regional Representative (Western Kenya) for the VSO Committee. It is very inspiring to get involved in a variety of projects and I feel it has definitely helped me settle here better. These two committees keep me busy, but also force me to get a little more involved with my community and we have some great projects planned for the upcoming year!
- And at last Patience. ‘Pole pole’, meaning slowly slowly has somewhat become my mantra here in Kenya. It took me a couple of months to get used to it, but things just happen at their own pace and there isn’t much else you can do about it. This was another big one for me, as I am not the most patient person back in Canada and it has made things a lot easier to just let the frustrations roll off my back. Don’t sweat the small stuff 🙂
Many of these can be considered some of my biggest achievements thus far in my placement, however then I will need to add the fact that I was just approved for a VSO grant to conduct a month-long Strategic Development Planning Workshop in which I hope to assist my organization in redefining its goals and objectives for the next 5 years! Go me!
As well, I have not forgotten some other key skills that I would like to acquire: speaking Kiswahili and Luo, learning how to play my guitar, and spending more time cooking real meals.
Rambling Through Life 
Erin, your writing is so interesting. I will join your class on how to eat like a Luo. You must be doing an awesome job for VSO. Maybe they won’t let you leave after two years. Enjoy every minute. It sure is an experience.