A Hard Day of Work
Reflecting on my last week here in Kenya is very easily described by a song that some of you may have heard of sung by pop artist Rihanna where she mentions the word “work” 72 times. I have done all sorts of different work this week - ranging from sitting in the office composing a questionnaire for local farmers, to actually going and taking soil samples from farmers fields.
On Wednesday I was given a “Mother.” Her name is Matilda, and she is here to make sure that everything makes sense and to translate in the field! She helped us formulate our questionnaires and has helped every World Food Prize intern at icipe. My project is over “Gender perception of the fall armyworm and its impacts of livelihoods in Western Kenya and Uganda” so basically I get to ask farmers from all over Western Kenya and a small part of Uganda how this new invasive pest is affecting their lives. I worked on my questionnaire for the rest of the week! By Monday I was able to test it out but that’s a story for next week!
The national holiday of Eid was soon approaching and for a boy from a small town in Iowa I was completely lost as my new friend Akbar explained to us the history of the Muslim holiday. He explained to us some of the mythology in the Qur’an and how scientifically you could see heaven from the Kaaba if you stood on top with a telescope but apparently that is extremely against the rules so I guess we will never know! We all sat and listened attentively as he told us a story about how Moses argued with God until God finally gave in and agreed to let them pray only 5 times a day instead of 40.
On Friday I got to work for six hours counting tiny larvae in cups for one of the Cornell students research projects. The next day we continued to help the Cornell students with their projects by accompanying them out into the field. I was given the task of taking five 1x1x1 foot soil samples from each field and then bagging them. After the first farm was finished I had accidentally broken the shovel and Silous quickly fashioned me a new “portable shovel.” Once I walked out of one of the last fields with the 50–60 lb bag over my shoulder one of the students asked me if I had been carrying bags of dirt by myself. Apparently they had been using two people for all the previous sites and forgot to tell me.
One day in the field bent over shoveling, carrying heavy bags of dirt, and counting tiny bugs had put into perspective “a hard day of work.” The fact that some people did similar tasks everyday of their lives made me really appreciate the work that everyone at icipe is doing every day. The people here aren’t just out in the lab learning about these pests, they are out in the field everyday, collaborating with farmers teaching them new methods and making Africa a better place. I am so proud to be a part of the work here and to truly be able to say that I have helped people already and most importantly made some friends along the way. Saturday I was able to ask some of the new farmers about this “new pest” (fall armyworm). They told me what they were finding and it helped me to grasp the severity of the damage, and how I could help solve this problem that had flown here all the way from America. I am happy to be working at such an amazing place in such a beautiful land. As for Sunday, I was privileged enough to go on a safari but that’s a story for tomorrow!
If you have any questions at all please feel free to ask and I’ll get right back to you if i’m not in the field or asleep! Check back in tomorrow for my safari blog!
