A Good Thing Has Been Done Today...Kenya Week 23: March 7-13

By the time we arrived with the roofing poles and metal sheets, the walls were up and the men were ready to start building the roof. A smiling group of Community Health Workers arrived carrying shovels and pushing a wheel barrel full of soil to reinforce the wooden beams for the walls. The women sat under the shade trees stirring huge pots of noyo and rabolo, the traditional foods prepared for large groups. Wilson worked tirelessly with the other men despite his age and HIV+ status. The smile on his face and energy in his work revealed his pure joy at finally completing his new home. Wilson’s wife Jackline sat shyly in the shade, talking quietly with the neighbor women.

I met Wilson and Jackline back in November when the Otati Community Health Workers asked me help the couple severely infected with jiggers. We removed the parasites and sprayed their home, but within one month, the jiggers had returned. We removed the jiggers a second time, re-sprayed the home, and gave them closed shoes to protect their feet. But when I visited the couple last week, the jiggers had returned for the third time. Obviously, something more needed to be done. Their poor health status combined with Wilson’s age and Jackline’s slight mental handicap made it nearly impossible for them to get back on their feet without extra help.
The community recognized the need of this struggling couple, but it seemed useless to make any improvements to their home. The thatched roof desperately needed repairs and the mud walls slowly crumbled around them. Structurally the home was beyond repair and the only real option to improve their quality of life and prevent the jiggers from returning was to build a new home.

Wilson had planted the Bluegum trees needed for the poles and was slowly collecting the wood for the walls. He had dug the holes for the beams and leveled the ground where he hoped to build the home. But it would be months before he had enough wood beams for the ceiling and probably never before he’d save enough to actually finish the house. Without a new home, the jiggers would continue to return, causing him and his wife constant physical and psychological pain.

Wilson’s efforts stirred something in me. He was obviously working hard to improve his life and needed just a little help to really become self-sufficient. So we came up with a plan: If the community comes to help Wilson build his home, I’ll buy the metal sheets for the roof and the cement for the floor. All in all, Wilson and Jackline could get a new home for around $500 of building materials, a few days hard work from their neighbors, and a small contribution from Wilson’s extended family.

While the men labored in the hot sun, I sat under the trees with the women learning to sosa- pull the corn off the husks. As they prepared lunch, they taught me practical Dholuo words for the day...kornindo: bedroom. korbudho: sitting room. musmal: nail. dirisha: window. dhot: door. Once I’d mastered the essential words for building a home, the women taught me the seven planting seasons: 1. beto: clearing the bushes. 2. puro: preparing the soil. 3. yoro: re-digging 4. komo: planting 5. doyo: weeding 6. dumbo: preharvesting 7. keyo: harvesting.

Hearing the women discuss their work as farmers, I realized that after almost 6 months in Kenya, I still have almost no idea of the reality of life for a typical Luo in Karungu. They eat what they grow in their fields, they build their own homes, and they pray that the right amount of rain comes at the right time. At times they become so focused on their own survival that they don’t have the energy or resources to help their struggling neighbors. But today reminded me and everyone there of the beauty of coming together to help those in need. Some people can donate money, others time, others corn, and others water. All equally precious, all equally necessary. I couldn’t help but think that this is exactly the type of development work the world needs.

By 4 pm, the roof was complete. The women agreed to return next Thursday to place the mud in the walls. Wilson’s extended family will prepare the ground for cementing. By the following week, we’ll be ready to cement the floor and move Wilson and Jackline into their new home. As we stood in front of the nearly finished home for the group photo, the smiles emanating from each face gave away their inherent joy. Everyone knew that a good thing has been done today.