colors of the houses, the vivid clothes

Kids coming home with me from school!
I say "Nipe Tano" or Hi Five and they laugh hysterically!

I think everyday that I could never have imagined the colors of the houses, the vivid clothes, the sights and sounds of this country......my new "home" in Kenya. The differences are experienced from both sides of the relationship! Africa has greeted me with a vengeance however.
Training is rigorous, another 8 weeks of Kiswahili, cultural and biz practices, medical ad nauseum,plus all the work in getting around on tightly packed, rutted red dirt paths, sometimes 6 mi per day on foot. All fascinating but exhausting. Then there are elephants moving slowly through the bush. We'll see if am really a hearty Coloradan. Kenyan and American staff, other trainees are amazing people. Several couples and strays my age, and all that youth too...to keep us going.
Several marriage proposals too, but i don't have enough goats to make the dowry requirement.
(and yes everyday I ask "what am I doing here!" Hoping to enjoy living in another culture wasn't it?)
Dutch

Riding the Mattatu or local taxi

Sardine Can! Hold on!

Dutch's family in Kenya

Sofia, my Mama runs a small cafe, Alvin is 3 yrs, Tasha 10 yrs, does everthing including helping me with Swahili, SoshaSosha (grandma) Love Ma

En Route from Nairobi to Tanzania border

Saturday June 11 - En route from Nairobi w staff and other vols, to Tanzania border, 31/2 hrs in sardine bus! We went to mall in Nairobi for new phone cards with armed guards...but am at home with Acacia trees, and the wonderful Kenyans...

Sawa, sawa....
D

My Address as of June 6, 2011 in Kenya

Dutch Hodges PCV
US Peace Corps
PO Box 698 - 00621
Village Market
Nairobi, Africa

Fed Ex Works but is very expensive for a small package.

My work at the Dupres House

My Work at Brenda Dupres House

There’s a sign in the yard at the house where Brenda Dupres Grew up that says “Roots Run Deep Here”

For Brenda whose father built their home on Gordon Street in the Lower Ninth Ward in the year she was born, it couldn’t be truer. Both sides of her family – her father’s as  brick layers and her mother’s as  teachers were deeply rooted in the Lower Ninth. So when Katrina flooded the house with 15 feet of water in 2005 (they were rescued on the roof after 3 days) Brenda just didn’t lose the house she had been living in after her parents died; she lost her sanctuary and her father’s legacy (the African American families tend to live in the same house, same block for generations) and her tightknit community.

Brenda and her son and grandson left the area for a while, but were worried about people’s claiming destroyed properties.

Seven weeks after the storm when Brenda returned, it was a scary sight. “Everything was gray” she recalled, two large pines, were down, but the brick foundation still intact. “The houses around the corner were demolished and in the middle of the street.” The entire neighborhood was uninhabitable. Brenda had friends who helped her find places to stay, and she finally found a FEMA trailer but suffered illnesses she believes were caused by it.

Brenda received money from Road Home, but not enough to cover a complete rebuild. She was also afraid of becoming another victim of contractor fraud. She tried to find a reputable contractor and began work on the downstairs of the house, but did not have enough to finish the job. This is when the St Bernard Project comes in. They said yes to her application and she now pays for the materials with her remaining grant.

Every week of my month here new teams of people from around the country arrive to be volunteer workers. Church groups, families, couples, and co-workers with me grab hold of the sheet rock, drill, sand, put on texture, prime, paint, and install windows, and doors. Work on Brenda’s house began in

October and I will see it completed when I leave here May 11. It’s a good thing they are not paying me by the hour, but I’ve managed to become a pro at Uniline laminate flooring, love to use the roto zip drill to trim drywall, and put an Erwin Quick grip on my Christmas list!

The “Gulf Bags”!

In addition to keeping time with a woman called Katrina, I have been working two days a week in wetlands restoration. In the area situated at the southern end of the Mississippi delta are the marshes of the Delta National Wildlife Refuge, an area of bayous, islands and river canals which include the Channel Islands and Breton (one of the oldest designated National Wildlife refuges by Teddy R). Dominated by migratory birds and the important flora and fauna which provide the aquatic habitat for the needs of numerous shellfish and fish species, (redfish, plain ole mullet and the blue crab shrimp) the dynamic landscape has suffered from manmade damage (levees, oil spills) and no longer serves as a natural protector to New Orleans and other coastal communities.  New “speed bumps” on the ocean floor are being created by teams of volunteers (that be me) who are hand crafting crevasses or cuts in the floor of the Mississippi and in the channels near the Gulf. This allows the salt laden river water to spread to ponds, water passes and the open water.

The process also includes the planting of our “gulf bags”.  We put a quart of root zone humus or mulch full of oil digesting molecules created from cow manure (including everything from mucus and intestinal fluids) phosphate and other amalgam ingredients into non-toxic jute. This mixture has been “cured” at certain temperatures for two years and joins a little cork grass to take hold as a stabilization strategy that is now serving as a remediation effort around the world. The eco ecoli doesn’t like the root humus but any remaining oil on the plants and sandy bottom does. And the soil is nurtured  by the new grasses.

Dear Friends,

I have had a little trouble getting out of the country….( I always knew housework wasn’t healthy – 2 days before staging for Namibia was to begin I was the recipient of a spider bite that dragged me to St. Lukes).   I am in the process of being re-deployed to Kenya as a member of the Peace Corps, Small Enterprise Development Team.

In the meantime I am all better and this Spring I am working with ‘Katrina’ efforts to rebuild the community in New Orleans.  I will be leaving for Africa again in early June.  Here is the current information about the St. Bernard Project, until then – Stay Loose!

calamity Dutch

http://www.stbernardproject.org/v158/

The St. Bernard Project has rebuilt homes for more than 350 families with the help of 32,000+ volunteers. With thousands of families still unable to afford to rebuild the homes they own, and with 200+ families in New Orleans still residing in FEMA trailers, SBP is determined to finish the job.  Since Mardi Gras is all about tradition and family, we ask you to donate and "Get on the Float" with St. Bernard Project so we can continue to restore the traditions of our deserving families and bring them home.