The donors are coming! The donors are coming!

Week 1and Week 2of the attachment have really flown by. Week 1 was interrupted by the Kenya version of the Primary Elections. The road I have to use to get to town was impassable due to disgruntled voters setting fire to things in the middle of the street in protest over their candidate missing out in the Elections. Life was, thankfully, back to normal by Monday.

I happened to be interning at just the right time because there were donors coming to check up on projects they have funded. As such, I got the chance to go to the field and see some of the work being done. The project I visited combines Health (mainly family planning),Water and Sanitation (Water tanks in homes and eco-friendly toilets with a hand-washing station), and Conservation (tree-planting and other income-generating activities).

 Members of the Women's Groups lead the convoy to the sites.
(It would not be a function in Africa without singing and dancing)

An Ecosan Latrine

These things are pretty cool. Liquid waste is separated from solids. Solids are combined with ash to kill bacteria and composted for about six months before being used as fertilizer. Liquid waste is also recycled apparently as a natural insecticide on crops. These are great for places with poor soil conditions because they are above ground.

One of the vegetable patches and tree seedling nurseries.
The tree seedlings are sold.

A person from the local community explains what they have achieved with the donor funds.

The Attachment Begins

Today is Day One of working with Organization Number 2 of the case-studies.* Apparently internships in Kenya are called Attachments. Don't know why I find that a weird name. Anywho, in comparison to Org. 1 where I basically reviewed documents and interviewed staff at my leisure, Org 2 has a timetable of all the things they want me to see and do. At the end, I am to present them with my observations of what they are doing well and what they can improve. I am nervous about giving them recommendations but oh well, that is part of what we do right? This is a two-way street after all. Today I go a crash course in all the projects the Org does. Tomorrow we move on to the environmental projects specifically. There are some field visits planned as well which I am excited to see.

I also had a You-are-not-in-America experience today when at 10:00 a lady walked in to the office where I was sitting with a bunch of cups and proceeded to serve us 10:00 o'clock tea. Whaaaat? Tea time? Brought to me? I could get used to this.


* If you are wondering why I haven't given names of the organizations I am working with, it is because Organization 1 asked to remain undisclosed and I am yet to clear a reveal with Organization 2.

Onward and forward!

I am happy to report that it looks like the stars are aligning well this year so far on the research front! I just spent two weeks working with a non-governmental organization that is one of my (hopefully) three case studies for a more in-depth look at the realities of evaluation and monitoring development projects. I am also planning to get a first-hand look at their project which is about a two-hour drive away from me. Looking forward to opportunities for taking pictures and speaking to some people in the community. I start work with the second organization next week and am in the midst of getting the third one lined up.

Post-Holidaze

Happy New year to one and all!! I am a bit late, I know but I am still recovering from the masses that descended on us during the holidays. My sister-in-law and nephew were in town from the U.S. too so we had family over to meet her. Christmas Day was spent with about 30 people in the house. I am so used to cold Christmases that it felt weird grilling outside.

Now that the fun has come to the end, it is back to the grind. I am headed back to the U.S. in February so I don't have much time and a lot of work to do. Stay tuned...