3.07.2010

ikasi wanje... (oluluiya)... MY ASSIGNMENT

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In 2007 the Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey estimated that 1.4 million Kenyans are living with HIV... and that number continues to increase. To put this in perspective, Kenya is about the size of Arizona and has more people living with HIV than the entirety of the United States.

My Peace Corps assignment will be to work under the Kenya Government Ministry of Health's strategic plan for HIV/AIDS prevention, which includes the A-B-C (Abstinence, Be faithful - monogomy, Condoms) approach to HIV transmission prevention. I am not paid, but I am giving a living allowance of $5/day (yes, 5 US dollars a day)... which translates to 5000 KES every other week. And that is more than enough money to live off of... we're practically treated like royalty.

Specifically, I will be working for the Rehema AIDS Intervention Program in the small village of Cheptulu located in Kakamega Forrest (the only rainforrest in Kenya) within the Western Province. My organization is very similar to what I did in the US... It is an AIDS Resource Center and VCT (volunteer counseling and testing). My target group, that I will be working specifically with are youth clubs, PLWA (people living with HIV/AIDS), and Women. (I am especially enthusiastic about the women's groups!!) I fulheartedly believe in female empowerment and the impact it will have in this country.

I am fairly close to the Uganda border and Lake Victoria, (which means I have to be very diligent to prevent disasters such as malaria and mango flies) and my nearest city is Kisumu. The local tribe is abaluiya (the luhya people). They are the second largest tribe in Kenya, to the Kikuyu, and are known as the abundu bwa mulembe (people of peace)... which, apparently, is an offensive term to them... they choose to interpret the title as 'a bunch of push-overs.' I am learning the oluluiya dialects maragoli and tiriki, which aren't too bad (Masai is the most difficult). My "winter" is the rainy season from March through May, the "summer" (dry) season is January through February and apparently there are monkeys... and snakes... in the trees.


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