1. About a month ago, I bought a new couch. Having guests is much nicer now… it was awkward before when people had to stand.
2. Around the same time I also bought a larger mosquito net. I makes sleeping a less claustrophobic experience:
3. Lastly, about two weeks ago I (actually ErinRose) discovered that I do in fact have running water for a few hours a week. This has literally changed my life. My clothes and I are much cleaner than ever before. All this time I had just assumed that the faucet never worked, but in fact the city rations out water to my school from time to time, so Monday and Tuesday mornings, if I turn on the faucet and wait a few minutes, water will eventually come out!
OK, enough of that. I have to run because I’m off to a weekend event (some kind of HIV workshop / games thing), but here are my nine English/Math students from the vocational school:
4 replies on “3 Easy Steps to a Better Home”
Paul,
This really does bring back the memories. When I was there, the water would run several days a week during the early morning (sometime after midnight and before 6 a.m.) for a short period of time. If I left the tap open overnight and left a 5-litre bucket under the tap, it would usually be about half full by the time I woke up in the morning. That would give me enough water for some daily needs. If I saved up the water over several days, I had enough to do some laundry.
Carey
Sometimes (although rarely) the water comes out so fast that I have to stay in the house to make sure the bucket doesn’t overflow. It’s amazing… I just stand there and watch it.
Hi Paul,
I came across your blog through Peace Corps Journals Kenya. It’s very cool- glad people like you are sharing their stories!
I’m a RPCV Botswana (04-06). I live in Corvallis, Oregon where I’m working on a graduate degree in International Health. I’m active in Oregon State University’s Engineers Without Borders chapter who is working on a project in Lela, Kenya. EWB is an interdisciplinary group with professional and student chapters with the goal of helping communities meet their basic needs. This particular project is focused on water supply and quality, the specific plan of which is to be determined after an assessment trip in December. Lela is a tiny, tiny village outside of the still fairly small town of Migori, just north of Tanzania, south of Homa Bay. The other nearest sizable town is Kisumu (north of Homa Bay).
I’m contacting you because I am seeking a PCV in that area of Kenya to serve as a contact for us and I was hoping your might know someone in that region. There’s so much about an area that we can’t know without being there, hence, it’d be great to have someone who can field questions about the region, the environment, etc. I’m contacting other PCVs in Kenya as well, just to try and get help from anyone who might be able to point me in the right direction.
If you know someone in that region, please do let me know, especially if you can tell me how to get a hold of them. Thanks a lot, and good luck in the rest of your service!
Best,
Susanna Murrie, suztheday@gmail.com
Another volunteer just sent out a mass email with all this info… hopefully someone in the area can help you out.