day seventy five

It's hard to believe I've only been here ten weeks! Whilst I finally feel like I'm starting to fit in here, this week I have also become distinctly aware that I will never really fit in and someone will always look at me as a mzungu and try and take advantage of our "friendship".

Last week I had the extreme honour to go with one of our Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) to perform house visits. Whilst I live here in the community, I know I'm sheltered somewhat as I live in a really nice house with a concrete floor, glass in the windows and a big compound fence, whilst the vast majority of people live in houses constructed of mud with tin roofs and shutters as windows.

On our way to a house visit walking through some maize crops

Where I live in Western Kenya is what somewhere between urban and rural - imagine people having smallish houses on 1/2 - 1 acre plots and the land is farmed, every square inch of it. The main crops are maize, beans, tomatoes, onions, and tea. People also grow mangoes, bananas, avocados and coriander. Whilst people aren't rich by any sense, they aren't dirt poor either. However, in saying that, there is a lot of families living hand-to-mouth, and so when the torrential rains come they can't work in the fields and so don't earn any shillings that day.

So Jacob and I went a visiting - pregnant mothers due any day now, children who have dropped out of school, injured villagers and generally said hello to everyone. As a CHV Jacob records whether each household has a latrine with handwashing facilities, whether people are sleeping under mosquito nets, the level of education achieved by each household member, any illness experienced etc etc. Maternal and infant health is a big part of a CHVs workload, counselling mothers on breastfeeding and encouraging mothers to attend a health facility for regular check-ups during her pregnancy.

Finding a hard surface to write on

Demonstrating the water filtration system

Checking the ANC book

It was incredibly eye opening to what can be done just at the ground level in terms of public health action, but also the element of community and welcoming friendliness that I experienced was astonishing - there is no way that someone could come knocking on your door and perform a health survey for you and your family. There is such a sense of belonging and family that extends beyond the immediate blood relatives... nipenda (I like it). I seriously love it here, every day I am blown away by my beautiful surroundings. Hopefully it's not just a case of "the grass is always greener on the other side"