Week 3: The project has started!
I have been here for three weeks already. It is wild to think I am 8,000 miles away from my loved ones. Away from the people I call my family. I have barely been away from my mom for more than a week, so going on the fourth week without being in her home, having her hug me, and pushing her away is crazy. This trip has dramatically changed me, even though I have barely been here. Living in Kenya has made me understand how living in America is a privilege. I have always known that industrialised and non-industrialised countries are vastly different. But I never actually knew.
On Friday, I talked with a PhD student at icipe about Kenya. She said most people here don’t care about mental health or therapy. At first, I was like, wow, I can’t believe that, but I could. The things most people worry about in The United States are so different from the worries of the Kenyans. People in Kenya worry about their basic necessities. They don’t have the resources to worry about mental health and therapy when they cost so much and poverty is so rampant. Whereas in the United States, most people have the basic needs or there are programs to give them basic needs, so we can worry about mental health or even minuscule issues that don’t matter. Even the politics of the countries are so different.
On Monday and Tuesday, I started working on farms. Monday was our pretest day to determine whether our questionnaire was ready for our research. I had changed up a few questions because I felt they were redundant. On Tuesday, we started the actual study. We went to many farms and interviewed seven people!
Wednesday was the most challenging day this week. Joyce had left to be with her family. I know she is visiting her family for a little while, and it’s good for her and them, but I didn’t want her to leave. I am selfish. Joyce has impacted me so much in these past weeks. She is the one I talk to if I have a problem with something. She is the one I go to if I feel lonely and miss my family. Joyce is like another mom.
Pari and I also went to school that day. We felt we had to leave early because it was a crazy day. Once we got to the school, we had to teach a maths class immediately. We gave the students who got answers right and participated lollipops. They went feral about the lollipops — the students stood on a desk and yelled, “Teacher,” and so on. Once we finished the class, we noticed that many kids were getting into trouble. In Kenya, most schools allow teachers to hit students with sticks. I believe that you should not hit kids. I feel like that only teaches them to be afraid of you. It does not teach them not to misbehave. But that is the culture of the schools here.
I also made some friends with the 8th graders. They had asked for my help on a project they were working on about female genital mutilation. I was so happy to help them with their project!
Friday was a cultural day so that we could have the day off. Pari and I saw a few workers and research students dressed in cultural outfits, listened to music, and saw cultural dances. The host had forced us into performing, too. As Americans, we don’t have a culture because American culture is a mixture of all sorts of cultures. We don’t have just one. They are all so different. However, we danced to Cotton Eye Joe because we felt that this was a song that many Americans know. I thought the experience was embarrassing, so I returned to my room afterwards. It turns out we won the performance! Later that day, we ran into the judge, and she told us we won 500 shillings (3.89 USD)!
On Saturday, we went to the farms again. The leading farmer approached me at the farms and asked if I was married. I keep a ring my boyfriend gave me on my left hand in case of this. I told the farmer I was engaged because I had just told the translator I had one more year of high school left. The farmer then proceeded to say, “Engagement is not real. It can end and you can have many engagements. Marriage is the real deal. You know I have a lot of sons. They are still young and looking for wives.” I was so confused. It was a crazy thing to say to someone, but it is the culture. People here get married young. Once we returned, the PhD student we had been becoming friends with invited us for dinner. We had fettuccine Alfredo! It was so good!
Sunday was dull, but having nothing to do for the first time was relaxing. I was able to catch up with some TV shows and get a nap in! The PhD student also took us out to pick up snacks, which was nice! I have been craving chocolate for the past week, so I could finally enjoy some once I get back that night.
Overall, this week has made me miss American food. One day, I asked for grilled cheese, my favourite food for lunch. The only thing that keeps me alive. However, I did not get a grilled cheese; I got bread with the tiniest amount of overly melted cheese. I was so disappointed. I do very much miss a proper grilled cheese and goldfish.
