Jambo

Jambo rafikis!
and thank you for stopping by. I was actually deadset on NOT having one of those cheesy blog websites that all the hip kids have these days. I made a valiant effort to stay blog-free with the yahoo mass email, but failed because:

1) Safari.com, one of Kenya’s main internet sources, charges me per minute AND per gigabyte downloaded on the internet, which would leave me almost broke

2) I still don’t know how to properly send emails (some people didn’t get my first email, while others got 17 copies of it)

3) I am just way too important and too high-profile of a guy to deal with silly mass email letters.

So here I am with my cheesy blog website. In my first email that SOME of you received, I gave you the web address of my fellow volunteer, Tim Constantino. Well, I’m thinking that my blog is going to be just like his, just with more grammar and spelling mistakes, and silly comments under some of my pictures. And way more refererences to Jesus, like this one:

This me singing a song I just recently wrote. It's called "I professed my love to the Lord, and I all I got was this lousy hat"

Frequently Asked Questions (from first mass email)
1) Keller, what does “Muzungu” mean?
A Muzungu (mu-zoon-goo) is basically just a white person. I hear this term every time I step out of the house. It’s kind of funny in a way. For example, I walked by a group of school kids the other day, and the one says “Hey Muzungu, Why is your nose SO SHARP?” Without even giving me a chance to reply, the entire group of kids fell on the ground laughing uncontrollably. At that point I decided that if getting yelled at and made fun of in public is my contribution to help others less fortunate than me, so be it.

2) Keller, what do you do in your free time?
I like to read a little bit. I brought my guitar over so I’ll have plenty of time to practice that. If anyone has any guitar tabs for any good songs, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send them my way. . And we buy bootleg DVDs in Kakamega to watch on our computers. These bootlegs are way better than the ones we used t get at 52nd and Market n high school. Many of th DVD's here have 9 movies on one DVD. I just got the Pauly Shore collection the other day with Son-In-Law, Jury Duty, and Encino Man on the same DVD. The vendor actually paid me to take it

3) Keller, why is your humor so bizarre?
I sometimes ask myself the same thing. Being a Muzungu in Kenya is not easy. For safety reasons, I am not allowed out after dark. Being inside so for hours on end can make time go by very slow. Pauly Shore movies can only do so much. So my humor basically comes from being delirious with boredom. But in all honesty, the main reason my humor is so bizarre is because I was infected with Malaria the first day I got to Kenya, so by now it has probably spread to my brain.

4) Keller, I heard there are rats living in your walls. Is this true?
Yes indeed my friend, there ARE rats living in the walls of the house I am staying in. And rats are nocturnal animals, so sometimes when I am trying to sleep, I can hear a big group of rats running around above me, which makes it hard to fall back asleep. But I heard that rats are deterred by awful guitar playing, so I’m doing as much of that as possible when I am awake and not at work. We are also getting a product called STORM, which is a rat poison that makes rats thirsty, so they leave the house and die gruesome horrible deaths on the front lawn and in the back yard. I’ll be sure to post pics of the carnage

5) Keller, would you consider Pat Nowlan your “boy”?
Dude’s my boy

6) Keller, who is your hero, your inspiration? Who is it that makes you want to be a better person? Who is that makes you want to go out and be somebody?
Pat McKeever

7) Keller, why are you so damn cool?
I guess some things are just better left unsaid

IMPORTANT
Before continuing I need to do two things:

1) I apologize to my mom in advance for anything that I might post that might make her nervous about my safety. Mom, my red hair horrifies even the toughest Kenyan street boys, so no need to worry

2) I plead to my immature friends not to write anything bad on the “comments” section of this site. Some young kids and some family will check out this site from time to time, along with the millions of my adoring fans from across the globe. So if you want to harass me, please do so via email

Program
Notre Dame Mission Volunteers is a program set up by the Sisters of the Notre Dame De Namur. In the United States, NDMV is partnered with the Americorps, and is represented by hundreds of volunteers all over the country. Yet the international program is basically brand new. NDMV sent two volunteers overseas to Malava, Kenya for the very first time last year. This year there are 6 volunteers going to three different locations

-Malava, Kenya

-Nairobi, Kenya

-Lima, Peru

From Left: Sissy Corr SND (executive director of NDMV and overall classy individual), Arielle (Nairobi), Tim (Malava), Katherine (Lima), Me (Malava), Kathleen (Lima), and Sandra (Nairobi).


Orientation
I first arrived in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, and stayed for 11 days. During my stay, I had a 6-day orientation that was run by DKA, a non profit organization that is based in Nairobi. Our orientation leader happened to be the one of the two girls that served in Malava, Kenya last year. Her name is Cat, and she (along with her friend Cindy) was part of the first NDMV international program. My orientation consisted of Swahili lessons, trips to all different parts of Nairobi, including the City Center (which we Americans call downtown) and different slum neighborhoods, and multiple lectures about Kenyan culture and safety/protection. Here are some pics of the City Center.

National Archive Building

Nakumatt Supermarket

The Cathedral

One entire day was actually spent at Rescue Dada, where Sandy and Arielle will be volunteering all year. It was a geat experience, and not just because we got to skip out on our daily two-hour Swahili lesson. Rescue Dada (swahili for "rescue daughter"), a program run by DKA, finds young girls on the streets (or in other dire situations) and gives them 3 meals a day, a place to live, and a quality education. It’s an amazing program. The girls went insane when we showed up, basically because 4 muzungus actually wanted to spend time with them. It was great experience, and I can’t wait to go back when I return to Nairobi.

Here is my roomate Tim, with some of the girls from Rescue Dada

After Nairobi was finished, we made the trip to Malava by Akamba (bus). Since we got to see where the girls worked in Nairobi, they came to Malava to see where we were going to work for the next year. The place is called the St. Julie Center, and it is a therapy center for physically/mentally handicapped kids

Here is the St. Julie Center. I'll write a blog about work once I get some more pictures

I knew that leaving the comfort of the States for a new way of life was going to be a tough transition. Coming to Kenya was a tough transition. Staying in the capital city of Nairobi was a tough transition. Then it was time for Malava and boy was I in for a some culture shock.

Malava, Kenya
The small village I am spending my year of service in is a quaint little town called Malava. It is located in the Western Province of Kenya. Kenya is bordered by Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, and the lovely and peaceful countries of Somalia and Sudan. Malava is about an 8-10 hour bus ride from Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. The nearest city to Malava is called Kakamega, which is about a half hour mutatu (minivan used as a bus)ride away. About two hours away is the city of Kisumu, which is a beautiful city that sits on Lake Victoria, the second largest lake in the world. You can actually see Lake Victoria from outer space (side note: to be honest I have never been to outer space, so let’s just hope my orientation leader wasn’t lying).

Some interesting facts and insights about Malava:
-The town just got electricity LAST YEAR

-Approx 95% of the residents don’t have electricity

-I am almost certain that most residents have NEVER ONCE encountered a human being with red hair and freckles. This is based solely on te residets' reactions to seeing me

-Some adults have assumed that because my roommate Tim has black hair, he is from either Italy or India, and because I have red hair, I am from either Switzerland or Norway

-Malava has one paved road. It is the road that leads to Kakamega, Kisumu, etc. The rest are dirt roads that travel DEEP into the bush of rural Kenya.

-The main means of public transportation (for the ones lucky enough to afford it) within Malava is a Boda Boda, which is a man riding a bicycle with a comfy seat on the back for the customer. The main means from Malava to other towns is Mutatu (minivan).

-The kids are taught English in school, so they know some. But given that it’s a rural area, many of the parents weren’t properly educated and don’t know a word of English

-Many Malavans use their tribal speak as their main language, not Swahili. They all understand and speak Swahili, but don’t use it too often. So here in Malava, some people speak Luhya first, then Swahili and some scattered English.

-After the initial shock of having a Muzungu living and working among them, the residents of Malava are really nice and welcoming people

- Here is a replica of the huts that many Malavans reside in. Some have brick houses, but it is expensive for them to make brick, so many go hut-style. It's hard to see, but the sign says “1^stwife’s hut” because yes, many tribes still practice polygamy.

So on the last day of my orientation, we went to Kisumu and had lunch at a resort called Kiboko Bay (Kiboko is Swahili for Hippopotamus). The resort was located on a part of Lake Victoria called Hippo Point, and we ate lunch poolside, and looked out for Hippos, but found none. But I plan on spending many vacation days there, so I’ll post some Hippo pics as soon as I get some.

This is the view from where we ate at the Kiboko (Hippo) Bay Resort in Kisumu.

Another Great View