Hello Again

We have had technical difficulties...welcome to Africa!  We are still staying at 'Josh's' place in Valley View south of Mlolongo. It feels like home now. 
Don, Judy & I are the only Mzungu (whites) doing HIV testing. Josh, of course, does. But he is busy organizing. We have only been testing out in the field (in tents set up in local slums). I had my first 2 positive tests Friday. The look on their faces is terrible.


There are twelve people living in the house: Selema, the house lady, who is AMAZING!, two African teenagers who were orphans that Josh and his partner 'adopted', 8 volunteers from Winnipeg, and of course, Hank (Josh).
We get up and Selema (and Don!) make breakfast.  Don & I make coffee :D.  We share 2 toilets and 1 shower. 
Around 8:30 or 9 we start out on the dusty, fetid road for the 3 km walk to the centre. There is some organizing, then, with the locals from the centre we carry plastic chairs, tables, tents and supplies to the matatu spot and travel to a slum. Sometimes we break for lunch. Hank takes the Mzungos to a safe restaurant, then back for the afternoon.

Safari

Rob, Don and Judy are currently on a safari. As internet is unheard of where they are, I was asked to update the blog.

The trip to get to the wildlife reserve was 7 hours, most of the land they saw was completely empty. On the first night, they saw something like 2 lions, 10 giraffes and a hippo. At night, their camp has an armed Masi guard to keep the lions out. Their first Masi guard was named Jackson. They should be just finishing their second day of the safari with two more to go. It sounds like they are really enjoying themselves.

A side note about one the of pictures posted below:
There is a picture where the caption says that one of the men in the photo is named Hank, that man is actually Josh Schettler, whom all of the locals call Hank.

Unbelievable!

The past few days have been very busy and very hot and dirty. We have been spending the majority of the day volunteering at the HIV clinic. We have gone out into different towns and the youth do a skit which represents safe sex and HIV testing. Then we approach the people and talk to them about the testing and condoms. Today and yesterday we did mobile testing in tents and also went into brothels (whore hotels) and distributed female condoms to all the prostitutes. Now that was eye opening to say the least. Yesterday the first woman Don tested was positive for HIV. She also has a one year old child who now has to be tested. UNREAL. The people stare at us like they have never seen a white person before. They are very happy to see us. They call us Mwongo. All I can say is I have never seen anything like this before and it has been very humbling.

The First Week

This is the entrance to Josh's HIV Centre

Don's the jolly green giant around here!

The only view of the Nairobi plain from this restaurant is from the men's bathroom. 

Being Don, he had to help this guy with his stuck cart.

We went here to do an 'Outreach' (Josh's staff put on an outside plays for the locals breaking down barriers on sex and HIV.

We set up a mobile testing centre, run out of tents, along the main highway where all the truckers come for hookers.

This adorable little girl was waiting for her mother while Don tested her in the tent. It was Donnie's 1st test ever. She was positive for HIV.

Left is Jemma, a brand new volunteer. She came with Nikki on the right, from Edmonton. They were both basically 'parachuted' in to the centre by a volunteer organization that charges volunteers for placements. The girl in the middle is Debra, a friend of Josh's mom's from Norwood, who flew out with us.

A test being administered.

Rob, Deb, Judy, Hank, Wendy

The local sobeys.

The Ray Center Head office

The town bull.

Our compound(ValleyView)

The staff advertising we will put on a play.

The airports

Winnipeg Airport

This is Rob, Don and Judy at the Winnipeg Airport before their first flight.

Wow

We landed safely, but it was grueling.  We are staying in a house in Valley View Compound. Last night there were 13 of us sleeping here. It's kind of like staying at the cottage: we all eat in the living room (there is no place else).  We all had beds, I'm in a bunk, Don and Judy have there own room (Kenyan double).  Along with us 4, there are 2 more Winnipegers; Katy Keats, who is a friend of Josh's, and Deb Kushner, a friend of Josh's mom.
Our house keeper, Salima, is an amazing cook, so we have been eating very well.  Last night we had chapattis and ndengu, which is like a spicy lentil chili. 
It's about 26 outside, but with the sun directly overhead it feels more like 30 plus. Right now it's very dry, and the winds pick up fine dust and blow it everywhere. The culture shock is overwhelming.

Arrived Safe and Sound

Earlier this afternoon, Rob, Josh, Judy, Don and the other people that they were traveling with landed in Kenya. They spent about 17.5 hours in the air and 8 hours of layover.
Madi

1 more sleep!

Packing, and trying to keep my feet nailed to the ground tonight. 

More Thanks

I also want to give a big thanks to Karen Naumiuk, along with Alesha & Shawn Kozarchuk, plus:

• Megan Brisca (Dufferin School)
• John Hasenack (Elmwood High)
• Holly Mackie (Principal at Carpathia)
• Kathy G. (CGC Wpg #1)
• Kim Campbell (RETSD)

For all the pencils and sharpeners.

Thanks

I want to thank Sydney & Summer, both 8 from Christ the King School. They, along with Summer's mother Joanne, baked and sold cookies to raise almost $200. This will go a long way to helping Josh at the clinic. Joanne, who is a teacher at Elmwood High, also sent along a large supply of pencils. Thanks ladies.

First Stop

We will be working at an HIV center with Josh, just south of Nairobi in Mlolongo for our first week in country.