I Spent a Day With a Woman Farmer in Kisumu — Couldn’t Keep Up

Blown away. Are there really so many hours in one day? Chapter #8 of Making a Difference with SANGO-Kenya.

All photos by the author

One of the more fascinating and exhausting days in my recent trip to Kisumu was when we tagged along with a farmer who agreed to show us what her day consisted of and how she does things. Giving us a glimpse of her life. Leaving me in awe of her and of the challenges she faces daily.

This is chapter #8. You can read the first chapters here: Chapter #1, Chapter #2, Chapter #3, Chapter #4, Chapter #5, Chapter #6, Chapter #7

Throughout the day I kept thinking about her incredible productivity and energy and what a total wimp I was in comparison.

The day has a more or less fixed schedule and many of the tasks are very time sensitive. She needs to complete a whole lot before going out to her job as a community health worker in the middle of the day.

Getting the children ready.

Her household is a large, blended family with nine children of different ages whom she needs to get ready for the day. Some of them will need to have food prepared for them to eat at school, and others will get a meal there.

The school day is very long. Some ages have a break in the middle of the day in which they come home (the younger children). Otherwise, they return only in the late afternoon. Families eat together usually only in the evening.

Tending to the cows.

Every morning, the cows need to be cared for. This is a multi-step process. The cows need to be milked and taken to pasture so they can feed. The process is like a logic puzzle because the cows need to be separated for milking and walked one at a time to the pasture area since they each have a different temperament and sense of territory.

A cow is separated from the rest and tied to a tree so her calf can feed.

Another cow is tied in order to be milked.

The cows are led one by one to a pasture where they can feed. This takes about 15 minutes for each.

Cleaning the yard.

This team of one deals with everything that needs to be done.

Sweeping the kitchen.

Tending to the chickens.

Feeding the chickens. They rush over when she calls.

Chicken are relatively low maintenance. They roam the yard during the day and go in at night. However… they need specific conditions in order to lay eggs (which can later be collected) and our farmer supplements their autonomous feeding with periodic feedings.

The chickens roam the property during the day and come in at night.

A chicken and the eggs she has laid

Going out as a community health worker.

With her scale, ready to leave for her job.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., she works as a community health worker. This includes going out to the community to make the initial diagnosis of Malaria or Dengue fever and following up with sick people.

She has very few tools in her arsenal: a scale, a thermometer, and a pad on which she can write a referral to a clinic in case she suspects she has found a sick person.

Laying out her equipment before leaving.

Doing the family’s laundry.

The laundry is done in the yard, and of course, like almost all activities…, it needs water that has to be fetched from the nearby well.

A collection of jerrycans is stored in a shed and is constantly used and replenished.

Once clean, the laundry is hung up to dry.

Caring for her elderly mother-in-law.

Her mother-in-law lives nearby, and our farmer is her primary support network. She brings her food in the middle of the day and sees she is alright in the evening, and she helps her farm crops that are on her property.

The mother-in-law’s property is just across the road.

Our farmer prepares a snack for her mother-in-law and brings it over every morning

Fetching water.

Many farmers have to fetch water from distant locations. She considers herself lucky having a well a few minutes away.

Water for every use must be carried in jerrycans from the well, located nearby on the mother-in-law’s land. It is about a 15-minute round trip to get two jerrycans’ worth of water.

Water is raised from the well…

It’s an arduous process, the pail needs to be lowered and raised several times in order to fill the container

Placed in jerry cans for transporting back

Finally, the well is locked. This is a valuable resource.

Cooking and cleaning up afterward.

Dishes and cups are stored outside. Cookware is stored mainly in the kitchen.

Cooking is done in a kitchen hut over an open-fire stove, but all kitchenware and dishes are handled outside in the yard.

Doing the dishes.

I often wonder about the pose that the women take for so many of the daily tasks. So much of the day is spent bent over.

Cooking in the kitchen over a Jiko stove.

The Jiko stove is an improvement over the traditional three-stone stove. It uses far less wood, produces more heat, and produces less smoke. SANGO-Kenya training teaches farmers to build it.

Many of the vegetables used for cooking are grown by her in her farm.

Sometimes small fishes from the lake are prepared for the evening meal.

The high efficiency Jiko stove is built into the kitchen floor.

Taking grain to the mill.

The mill is operated by the farmers who bring over grain to be ground.

There is a communal mill close by that people can use (for a fee). They bring over the grain they would like to grind, run the mill and leave payment.

The ground corn is deposited in a pail to be transported home.

Ready. This will be used to prepare Ugali which is served in nearly every meal.

Farming her multi-story garden.

The multi-story gardens are a simple technique that really enhances the garden’s productivity.

Another contribution of SANGO-Kenya is the multi-story gardens. We train farmers to build and farm using these very efficient yet simple systems.

Compost is prepared in another corner of the yard with organic waste and used for farming.

Collecting vegetables to be used for cooking later on today.

Out for some shopping.

Off to go shopping

Luckily, there is a grocery store nearby, within walking distance.

Most transactions are done using a phone, and money is sent using text messages. Cash, of course, is also used.

A testament to the state of personal safety here is that all transactions happen through steel bars.

Once payment is made, the items are passed through the bars.

A few stores are located within walking distance of the house.

Oh, and there is that too….

Rental houses on her property

On her property are a few houses that she rents out and manages… Just so no one thinks she is slacking off.

I got tired just following her around while she was doing her daily chores. The list is so long, and so much of her family’s (and extended family’s) well-being lies on her shoulders.

She told me she sees this as her mission. Not even an overtone of complaint in her voice.

A few scenes from the day.

Next…. From Her point of view. The hardships of the Kisumu women farmers

In the meantime… if you want to learn a bit more about SANGO-Kenya and the program. You can check it out here: https://sango-kenya.org/

…and you can see more of my photos here: https://www.rozinphotos.com/