I Started a Trend in Mbita, Kenya.

The theme of our trip to Mbita has been determinants of health. Mbita is located right on Lake Victoria in one of the poorest districts (Suba) in the poorest of the Kenyan provinces (Nyanza province). Our doctor who travels with us (Dr. John) was leading this module for us since he has started a few projects with his own Canadian NGO in Mbita at the hospital and various other places here.

A little about Mbita:
Mbita has the highest HIV aids rates in the whole of Kenya due to its location. Mbita is kinda on an island, so anytime the residents need the hospital they have to travel off the island and for quite a distance and on really crappy roads by motorcycle or bike. Basically, if a woman was having a baby she would probably opt to have it at home instead of make that difficult journey.

Because Mbita is on the lake there are lots of fishermen who are coming and going from the island and are having sex with the women in the village. These women consent because it is the only way for the women to feed themselves and their children. As a result, the number of people with HIV aids is really high due to the nature of the town’s location in conjunction with the high poverty.

What we did:
The CFSIAers were really lucky because Dr. John introduced us to his contacts who were East Africans working towards developing their community in mbita. Most of these were grassroots initiatives that were funded from abroad. My group had a discussion with a woman named "Benta" who had started a school for orphaned or partially orphaned children, many of whom are also HIV positive. We also learned that she started a feeding program at this school so that the children could get at least one nutritious meal a day with vegetables from a farm that she also opened up because the veggies in the market are too expensive, especially during the dry season.

We went to visit "little stars academy" the next day and the school was amazing! The children were sooooo excited to see us and we spent some time playing with them and looking around their classrooms and asking questions. They were really curious about Canada and wanted to know the name of our prime minister and the name of our premier which kinda caught me off guard! And then they sang for us and they sang WAKA WAKA by shakira!! I want to know how that song got to these kids in what seems like the middle of nowhere!

What really struck me was the energy that these kids had and you know, it’s probably because of this feeding program that Benta started. I never realized the obvious connection between 'nutrition and health' and 'nutrition and education' and how these kids are bound to study better when they are healthy and full. Benta sure is doing something right cuz her school just placed first out of 149 on their standardized tests.

Outside of school time:
We would take trips into town every day to where they had lots of tailors n really beautiful African fabrics (that I neeeedddd to buy n make pillows from). Anyways a lot of ppl got skirts and shirands n shorts made for like five or less Canadian dollars. I totz started a trend by getting a headband made (which was a total challenge because I didn't realize how much my Swahili sucked). The tailors were laughing at me and I ended up having to go onto the street and just scream "does anyone speak English?" At which point a random girl named Rosemary came to help me out. They made me a headband in ten mins and then back at our place everyone liked my headband so much that about ten ppl went back the next day and got them made for themselves and the tailor in the store made one for herself too!!! I'm going to start a trend in africa, I know it. (haha). Anyways I have some great pics and stories from my time in Mbita but now we are off to the Maasai Mara to go see some animals and we are camping!!!! Soooooooo I think ill get some great shots n hopefully some great stories to share. Happy reading week everyone :)

Some shots from Mbita: 

Little Stars Head Office

The farm that little stars grows their food on

Shelby at the grocery store at Mbita

Me and Georgia at little stars!

note the headband i got made

Thumbs up to you too