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Facts and Figures
January 19, 2001
| 80% |
Average loss of cattle in Maasailand |
| 57% |
Percent of Kajiado District fed by OCI |
| 19% |
Malnutrition rate in children under the age of five in the
Kajiado District* |
| 31,934 |
Number of people David and Danny were in charge of feeding
in Mashuru Division |
| 191,604 |
Kilograms of maize David and Danny were in charge of distributing
each month |
| $2.62 |
Price in US dollars of gas per gallon in Kenya as of March 12, 2001 |
|
*According to the survey we conducted in the fall of 2000.
Danny and I are now living part time in the small town of Kajiado, about a two hours
drive from Nairobi. Kajiado is really just an oversized roundabout which houses the
main offices for the
 |
The Jeep. We liked to
sleep on top of this
hill. |
Kajiado District. OCI is in charge of distributing food to
270,000 people to fulfill a famine relief contract with World Food Programme. Danny
and I are in charge of the Mashuru Division of the Kajiado District. Mr. Aho bought
us a little Suzuki jeep so we can travel around our division. It's older than I am
and has a striking resemblance to a mail jeep - it even has the steering wheel on
the right side (the standard here in Kenya). The jeep is quite under powered with
only an 800cc engine - slightly larger than a motorcycle engine.
Alphabet Soup
February 19, 2001
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The Warehouse. All of the
maize bags
were carried and
stacked by hand. Each bag
weighs about 110 lbs.
|
Danny and I got back last Friday from a four-day workshop for our World Food
Programme work. It covered such fascinating topics as: PRA Techniques
(Participatory Rural Appraisal), VIPP (Visualization In Participatory Programs),
needs assessment, and, in general, learning how to Empower The Community. The
workshop had to do with the work Danny and I are doing with World Food Programme.
We are in charge of feeding Mashuru Division, which is about 30,000 people.
(Map of Mashuru Division)
We have eight food monitors working under us who see that the food is handed out at
56 distribution points.
Yesterday our jeep died on the way back from the
workshop. It kept running worse and worse, until I had to help push it up a hill.
That's when we gave up on it. Our little blue Suzuki is now at the mechanic getting
its engine rebuilt. Oh well.
"We hit a bump and the engine died"
Approximately March 14, 2001
We continue to have fun camping in the bush, chasing ostriches, and collecting
chameleons. So far we have driven about 2,000 miles for the World Food Programme
project, mostly on primitive dirt roads and cow trails. On Monday Danny and I were
driving to the World Food Programme office in Kajiado when we hit a bump and the
engine died. We looked under the hood and noticed that a piece of our electrical
system had fallen off. So I had to catch a ride back into town to get a new one.
Bother. Bumps are a real problem for our Suzuki, especially since that's what the
roads are made of here. The tires rub on the wheel wells,
the back door falls open, the headlights die, or the engine dies.
Suzuki Ailments
Parts we fixed:
(Partial List) |
Ignition switch, spark plug wires, windshield wipers, engine mounts, windows,
horn, doors, roof-rack, tires, headlights, transmission, distributor, brakes,
gas cap, engine (completely rebuilt). |
| Trouble-free parts: |
Carburetor, radiator. |
|
Simon
I met a boy named Simon today. He speaks good English and said he wanted to be my
friend, so he gave me a key chain. I asked him, "Do you go to school?" and he said,
"No, my parents can't afford it." They used to have 57 cows. Now they have three.
Even though the rains have come, the effects of the drought linger on.
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