Rain, The Recession and Reagan Med Center

Today is a strange day.

First of all, the sky was hazy this morning on the way to work. Normally its clear and bright; I've not seen it like this before and it seems unnatural. It also hasn't rained in five days. The maize is starting to look a little lackluster. The word on the street is that it should rain EVERY day in the rainy season, with a break of one, or two days at the most. So this is irregular. Elizabeth's theory is that the rain patterns are changing because people have cut down so much of the Kakamega forest for firewood and settlements. My hunch is global warming may have a hand in it, too: the rains were pretty late this year. I've never paid so much attention to rainfall, but I've never lived in a agricultural community that doesn't use irrigation, either.

Second, the office is feeling very sedate today. We got word a few weeks ago that we'll have to cut our program budgets by 50%, and the reality of our new situation is sinking in. My understanding is that private donations from Canadians are down 30%, we will not be getting any of the usual grants (Rotary Club Canada, Wild Rose Foundation, etc.) that have been part of our annual budget for years, and CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) may cut our funding for this year entirely, or if our grant is renewed, it will be for a reduced amount.The recession has caught up with Kenya.

Thus, no new scholarships for 2009 for orphaned or extremely needy students (normally we do two rounds of scholarship applications per year), no personal effects or school supplies this trimester (toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, maxi pads, pencil, 3 pens and some binder paper) for the the existing high school and technical school students we sponsor (we may even have to drop some of the students entirely), no medical camps, no staff training or development, some elementary teachers may be fired (which is crazy, because they're stretched thin as is), no 10 o'clock tea, no mandazi (fried dough) on Fridays and no new mirco-loans. Additionally, two vacant positions will not be filled and we are considering moving to smaller offices.

Also, we are all grounded from doing local travel to the Centres until the final, revised, halved budget is approved in Canada. So I haven't been able to go out with Steve to continue teaching English to the adult learners or to start meeting our five loan groups. I want to pay for Steve's transportation with my own money (a trip to the field on a matatu is only about 2 dollars), but that wouldn't be fair to everyone else who's had to stay put. So I'll wait. I guess I could also try to go out alone, but I need Steve's help in translating in Luhya and Swahili a lot..

So even though this is all pretty devastating (to the kids the most), Kenyans are generally an upbeat bunch, and my coworkers are making the best of it -- joking when they can and rolling with the punches. We'll come through it. We're looking for additional grant funding possibilities on-line and I'm even checking out Kiva which Audrey at CG turned me onto, to see if we can partner with them. I'm excited about the Kiva possibility and would be thrilled if it works out. When I get a job and have an income, I'll look forward to sponsoring an orphan's school fees.

And lastly, as a lot of you know, my boyfriend is at UCLA Reagan hospital right now undergoing a series of pretty involved surgeries for a bacterial infection (long story—he blogs about it here). Today, I am coming to understand the meaning of the phrase "worried sick": My thinking is foggy (more so than usual!), my stomach is in a knot, I feel warm, my temples are tight and I feel exhausted, even though I got an (almost) full night of sleep. Everyone's been really supportive of both me and him, but I sucks being half way across the world when you wish you were home. Don't worry though: I'll be OK, and more importantly, he'll be OK, but I will be happy, relieved, and grateful when this is over and he doesn't have to deal with being sick or in pain, constantly having blood drawn and tests done, having to decipher various medical opinions, being stuck in the hospital, having to deal with insurance crap, etc, etc!

And actually, in writing this post, I'm feeling better already... therapeutic blogging.

Love from Africa and thanks for your support,

Katy