The Ministry of Health and The Ministry of Education

Hi Everyone,

I have thought each year as we come to Africa that nothing can top the experiences of the previous year. But this year has been amazing. Yesterday, our afternoon events were quite extraordinary. These events confirm for me that there is a higher power directing our lives. I had asked after we delivered the tri-cycle wheelchair whether there were other polio victims within the local area. I was told yes. So it was agreed that we would see these polio victims at the Anglican Church of Kenya(ACT). What we saw where 4 people with serious medical issues. One was a man probably in his 40’s who was paralyzed on his right side. He walked with one crutch that was in pathetic condition. The next person was a 7 year old girl that had had a very bad infection. Her upper leg was badly scarred. The third person was a 4 year old that had never spoken or progressed as a normal child. The fourth person was a 3 year old that had mental issues. It was quite overwhelming. We were expecting to possibly provide another wheelchair. Not sure quite what to do, we said we would do what we could. The sad part about this situation is that the Chiefs and the government should be doing something about these sick people. I did ask whether the one legged man was getting the 2,000 Ksh per month and was told that he was. Later we agreed that it would be possible to get the one legged man a crutch. What was somewhat miraculous was later in the day Collins met a man at Soi Lodge that ran a center for helping people. The center was religiously based. But there was a UK Doctor visiting Kenya for the purpose of treating people with epilepsy. So Collins arranged a meeting with them in the evening and we talked for an hour with these 6 guests staying at the lodge. We opened and closed the meeting with a prayer, this time in English. More about that later. Anyway, the Doctor explained that providing health care required engagement from the local medical people. We explained that East Pokot has very little care. Not sure but I think there are no Doctors in East Pokot, an area the size of Delaware. But it was suggested that the people could be examined at the center or at places in Eldoret, Nakuru or Nairobi, provided transportation could be provided for them. The center director said that he wondered why so many people from Baringo County came to his county which is adjacent to Baringo. He said he would call the Ministry of Health Director of his County and urge him to call the Minister of Health in Baringo County. So we closed with a prayer and Psalm 125 was part of the prayer. Need to look up what it says.

After looking at the sick people, we walked a short distance to the Cana Rescue Girls compound. In East Pokot there are a number of facilities set up to rescue girls from FGM. FGM is a horrible cultural practice and girls are more and more just running away. But the problem is that they have no where to go. So facilities like the Cana Rescue do the best they can. The major challenge is to raise money for school fees. Here for HS you have to pay for everything. Almost all schools are boarding schools so it can be a substantial amount for a Pokot. But the good news is that Hifadhi Africa with our support managed to get 7 students graduated from HS this year. Because school was out while we were here, we had chance encounters with Havilah and Anthony. Both are going on to a university as are the other 5 students. The government will pay most of the fees/costs to attend a university. The problem is that the government doesn’t get the student paid till about the end of the first year so the student has to incur debt to somehow pay fees. FYI, 87% of the Pokot people do not go on to HS and 60% of their children have never entered a school. The Cana girls thanked us for visiting and Collins gave a particularly moving speech on the importance of education. We meet a lady that Collins calls his World Vision mom. World Vision had a program where they would directly help needy students but that program no longer exists.

So backtracking to the morning events, let me start by describing our journey. They have been heavy rains in Kenya basically since Feb. This has never happened before. Consequently, the roads are in bad shape. By roads I mean the trails that lead one through the bush. Rocks, sand, mud and pools of water. We really needed 4 wheel drive this time. We had several substantial river crossings but the vehicle handled it well. You just had to hang on to the handles attached to the inside of the roof. A couple of places we encountered tire ruts in the mud the width of a tire. With this kind of mud it is easy to get stuck because the mud lifts the vehicle off the ground and the tires loose traction. But our driver was skilled and used a combination of speed and good driving to plough our way through. The journey involves the greatest off road distance that we travel in East Pokot. The place is called Akwichatis. It is where Collins is from. Our purpose was to have a town meeting there. So we met Collin’s mother and 2 of his brothers before the town meeting and looked at the village which consisted of huts and like 10-15 corrugated metal buildings. A herd of burros walked through the village while we were there. The village is located next to the Natan River which is at high flow conditions. Collin’s Mother’s hut is across the river so the people walk through the river which for an old person would be quite challenging. I would not want to do it. So people started assembling and we went to the meeting grounds which is a shady spot under some trees. There aren’t many trees in East Pokot and almost all are located along river banks. So the town meeting began with a prayer. I don’t understand a word of Pokot or only a couple of Swahili words, but it appears that the Pokot people have religion started by Britain when Kenya was a colony. So the Silale Chief leads off the town meeting, followed by Collins, then Onemus, then me and last but not least Chris. Our presentations are translated by Collins or Onemus. Onemus is an educator who lives in Eldoret and whose wife is a principal at Nginyang HS. We met her last year at the teacher training in Taita Taveta(SE Kenya). For some reason the Pokot people gesticulate a lot and the male voices are very loud. We are thanked profusely for the maize donations funded by Rotary and the other good works we have done. We ask the people what their needs are and what is really evident this year is that the need request has grown exponentially. I guess success breeds more success. Requests for camels seem to be a top priority this year. It was stressed to us over and over that only camels and goats can survive in East Pokot because of the harsh climate. Jumping ahead a bit our vehicle driver went to the Nginyang market today. Mondays are market days. He witnessed the selling of camels, goats and cattle. The camels went for between $270-$320. We had been told that $500 was the going rate for camels. At the end of the meeting we passed out clothes donated by the Adventure of Faith Church and other individuals. We had a full 50 pound suitcase full of clothes. Was glad to get that suitcase emptied and not have to lug it around. Our standard modus operandi is to bring 4 50 pound suitcases and return with 2. It is always interesting to watch Collins interface with his people. They all know him and realize how much he has done for them. So Collins has to say goodbye to everybody and we usually have to physically drag him into the vehicle so we can make our next stop. 

So we go through Riongo, the place where we the day before we bought and sold 10 goats. The head administrator for Riongo wanted to show us a self-help group of ladies who wanted to start a business using a milling machine. There is a need for a milling machine because maize has to be taken to Chemolinogot to be ground and I think Chemolinogot is 30-40 kilometers one way. It is hard to tell distances here because you are constantly turning and weaving on trails. Again, we said we would do what we can. Wanting camels was brought up again. The milk of the camel is what they want. Haven’t witnessed these animals run, I couldn’t figure out how they corral them to milk them. What they do is they watch the camel when they are pregnant and when they are close to delivering, they tie them up. The keep the camels tied up till the milk goes dry. FYI, a camel pregnancy is 11 months.

So today our top priority was to go to the Sub County Office of the Ministry of Education to plead for the Ministry of Education to allow 28 Baringo County teachers to attend STEM education at Taita Taveta. It is a 2 day journey from Baringo County to Taita Taveta. In March 2018, the Ministry of Education passed a rule that no teacher could attend training of any kind during the school year. No exceptions. The Baringo teachers could not go to the STEM training. Onemus called a top official in the Ministry of Education in Nairobi and the answer was “NO”. We, of course, were considerably deflated. We were told to talk to the sub county education person and see if something could be worked out. So we left Soi Lodge and headed north. When we got to the Nginyang River, we were told that we couldn’t cross by driving through the water. The flow was too great and I agreed just by looking at it. There was a bridge over the Nginyang River but it was washed away in 1999. In previous years we saw one section of a 3 section bridge completed. This year we saw from a distance when crossing the Nginyang River upstream of the bridge that 3 sections appeared to be complete. The say looks are deceiving applies here. The bridge is like 80% completed. The cement has been partially poured but there is a ton of r-bar being spliced together by workman so that concrete could be poured and create a road surface. So to cross you have to climb a scaffold ladder, walk almost the full length of the bridge on top of the r-bar. The locals do it like they are walking on a flat surface. For Chris and I, it was challenging. We had people holding our hands on each side as we crossed and we made it eventually. So down a second scaffold ladder, walk through a bunch of big rocks and you are on the other side. So Collins worked his magic and got a person on the other side of the bridge to haul us to Chemolinogot in his pickup. So Collins and a bunch of people jump in the back of the pickup while Chris and I get in the back side of the 4 passenger pickup. 

The driver takes us to the sub county Ministry of Education Office, we arrive at 10:00, and we are greeted by the Head of the Office. But it turns out that today is his last day at work. He is retiring. His replacement is returning from a teachers conference in Mombasa and we have to talk to him. So we are told he will be at the office at 4:00 PM. By the way Collins had talked to this individual the day before and we had agreed on a 9:30 meeting. So what are we going to do for the next 6 hours. So we wander about 150 meters to the Ward Administrators office. There to greet us was an individual that I helped last year apply for a Rotary World Peace Scholarship. I saw him last year in Eldoret. So it is decided that there will be an impromptu meeting with the 7 ward administrators for East Pokot. Ward administrators are the people that make stuff happen in their area. One of the ward administrators we meet on Feb 26, 2015, when we kicked off the Rotary Global Grant was now the ward administrators for Tangulbei. Also, in the meeting is the ward administrator for Kolowa where Hifadhi Africa wants to start water projects using Microsoft money. So after the main meeting, Collins conducted 2 or 3 sidebar meetings that are quite productive.

So we are told by the education officials after several conversations with the new head of the office that we are to go to the Chemolinogot HS and talk to the principal there about the STEM education training. It is somewhat baffling why we are doing what we are doing. So off we go to the Chemolinogot HS. The principal there is very friendly and we met him last year in Taita Taveta. He is always smiling. So when we get there, we are essentially told that we should not formally submit the letters that Collins and I had drafted. Last night Collins and I drafted letters providing the total background on the STEM education training and explained how much would be lost if the 28 Baringo teachers do not attend. Part of the training is to provide devices called document cameras plus computers, training aids, etc. The teachers from Seattle that are providing the training are lugging a lot of gear to Kenya for the Kenyans. So we are told to give the letters to the Chemolinogot Principal. Turns out that the sub county officials and other people are willing to look the other way as long as the local principals agree that their schools can operate without the 28 teachers. Last year the schools operated and so we had won the battle, I guess. We were told that the Principal at Chemolinogot would call the other 8 principals and give them the OK to go. Welcome to Kenyan politics.

Also at Chemolinogot we did a computer presentation ceremony. Through Rotary funds and computers donated by people in the USA, we have furnished laptops to Chemolinogot HS. Chemolinogot HS is the focal point for the STEM education training and the laptops will be used in that training. Collins, Chris and I give a short speech on the importance of education. Gotten pretty good at that speech as I give it at the town meetings also.

Before we went to the HS, we killed time by going to the Sunrise Orphanage to kill time. I had requested to go there because I wanted to see the needs. The needs are even greater than most of East Pokot. They have nearly 600 orphans. There is a school for the 600 kids. There are 12 teachers and 3 unpaid volunteers. Having been to orphanages in Ethiopia and Uganda, I knew what to expect. But there were so many kids and by looking in their eyes, you can tell what life is like for them.

So we never did meet with the education guy. Turned out to be a productive day anyway. So off we go back to the bridge and do our crossing. We made it in one piece. Maybe next year the bridge will be complete.

So the driver picked us up and we headed to view 2 sites for a future community center. I am working a Rotary District Grant to build a building that will host a library and a place for kids to study when school is out along with a number of other purposes. The grant is for $7,000 and in the US, it would get you a door and a couple of walls. In Kenya it is almost enough to build a building. The architect’s building estimate is for $8,500. The two sites are both good. Yesterday we had a MOU signing ceremony with the Silale Chief. The MOU is part of the process to get approval for a Rotary Grant.

After that, we headed for the Soi Lodge. We wanted to get back earlier than our other days and we were successful in that part. But in the vehicle, we talk a lot. I saw large herds of goats, camels and cattle being driven along the road. I asked what was going on. It was explained that Monday is market day in Nginyang and the animals are being driven by walking to cities further south. Why are they doing this. Answer is the Kenyan Police. The police are corrupt and they have road blocks including spike strips and they stop trucks hauling animals and extort money from the animal owners. So to avoid this extortion, they walk the animals anywhere from 50 t0 150 kilometers. For some stupid reason, the police do not extort money when the animals are walking. When they have walked by enough police roadblocks, they load the animals into a lorry and haul them to Nakuru, Eldoret, Nairobi, etc. If the pastoralists did not walk the animals, they would have zero profit on the sale of their animals. Hell of a way to do business.

Will close for now. I have attached some photos and a video. Tomorrow we have a meeting with World Vision in Marigot and then we go to Kabarnet to meet with Baringo County Officials. We had a meeting scheduled with the Minster of Education for Baringo County. We cancelled that meeting which is probably a good thing.