My trip to Bumula and closure of the EmONC program

On the journey over to Bumula (about 2.5hr drive from Eldoret) this morning, we discussed Kenyan politics and the International Criminal Court (ICC) hearing. It seems that Eldoret had been affected badly by the post election violence in 2007/8. People were displaced from their homes, and homes burnt down. Even one of my colleagues returned home to hear that they planned to set his apartment alight. He gathered all his important belongings, and slept in the hospital that night. Sounds like a pretty treacherous time. As we got nearer to Bumula, we saw an overturned oil tanker. Apparently, people had run over to collect the fuel in the hope they could sell it. The lorry caught fire, setting these people alight. It's so sad to see the desperation of people here, and what they are driven to do in light of the poverty. The situation was similar to the gas leak in Nairobi and people trying to steal fuel to then sell it.

The meeting was really interesting. It was great to hear what a positive impact the EmONC 

(Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care ) project had on the villages. Many of the clusters explained how villages were looking to provide their own incomes by growing and selling groundnuts and maize etc. They opened their own bank accounts and were doing really well for themselves in terms of sustainability. No more tying the umbilical cord with grass, and the emphasis on using sterile equipment in the delivery process. They discussed the challenges and difficulties too. For example the facilitators were likely to drop out since they were volunteers and getting competition from other paying NGOs. All clusters appeared disappointed that the EmONC project was drawing to a close. One of the ladies had written a song and dance which she performed to the group, and everyone joined in. It was fantastic to see everyone doing the traditional African dancing. At the end of the session, we travelled into Busia, and crossed over the borders into Uganda. Luckily I didn't need to pay for a visa (I had to hand in my passport to the immigration officer. He also asked me to buy him some airtime :)) Otherwise, I think you normally have to pay $70 US to cross the borders. It was madness, with so many lorries crossing. The markets were crowded. I took a picture of a boy selling BBQ meat from an oil canister, which kept them sizzling and hot – quite an ingenious idea I thought. In the background of the picture was a Muslim shop owner. He was deeply offended, so I had to delete the picture straight away. Also, the boy seemed upset, and ran off. I'll need to be careful in the future with my photo taking. Dr Mabaya wanted to buy 2 guinea foul, as his dogs had eaten the last. A lady started following us around. Later I asked Evelyn who she was. Apparently she helps people carry goods across the boarder. If you are buying several items, you pay her to carry things across, so immigration officers don't get suspicious. Evelyn had told her that we weren't planning on taking many items over, but she didn't seem to get the message and continued to follow us.

After dinner at the hotel, we stayed up chatting about the traditions and the culture. We talked about certain tribes, where the ladies put rings around their necks. Apparently, the number of rings equates to their status within the village. Kevin was also explaining that the Luhya tribes have a pre-marriage ceremony (I guess like an engagement party). Here the dowry is discussed, and the rings exchanged. The couple are essentially married after this. Kevin mentioned that in the Kikuyu tribe there aren't really such formalities. 

*I have pictures of the African dancing, which I'll add later when I have a better internet connection :)