I’m sitting on the roof top terrace enjoying the view over Lamu town out towards Manda Island. There is a cool breeze coming off the ocean. Swallows are dipping and diving through the sky and the white moon shows against the soft but bright blue sky. The afternoon sun casts dusky shadows and golden light on everything.
Jambo House
We (two friends and I) are currently staying at Jambo House which is a beautiful bed and breakfast run by a very sweet German man who has been wonderful. The hallways in the building are covered with pictures of his travels and the marathons he has run. The rooms are clean, simple and beautifully kept. Breakfast has been wonderful. It consists of fruit (papaya, mango, bananas, passion fruit, or pineapple), tea, coffee, juice, toast and our choice of eggs (omelet, scrambled, soft or hard boiled, or fried) or French toast! Breakfast is served on the roof top terrace which is partially covered and partially open. The man who runs the place, Arnold, has told us every place to go for good grilled fish, or smoothies, or the best tomato soup, or the seafood platter etc. Its been great to try his recommendations and enjoy every bite. The sea food has really been incredible.
Sunset sail
We took a dhow (the traditional sailboat) on a sunset sail with dinner on the beach. We went with another young couple who were peace corps volunteers. It was a great boat ride, the sunset was incredible, we had a walk on the beach and the best meal I have had in four months. It was amazing!!!! Grilled fish, coconut curry vegetables, chipati, and spicy vegetable sauce. We laid on the beach and talked after dinner and saw the biggest and brightest shooting star I have even seen. There was enough time for my friend to gasp and say oh wow, for me to look up and still see it for a good two seconds!
The whole time has been pretty amazing and now I’m off to find my family and go on Safari!
Love Sara
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
done with it all (Dec 12)
Well for a long time there was nothing to write because all I was doing was write write write write. After we finished our data collection we spent a bit over a week doing data analysis and writing enormous papers. It was the most concentrated amount of work I have ever done. Around 4:30 every day we would reach a breaking point and go out side and to run around a bit play some games and remember that we were in Kenya. It was a bit of a strange way to spend our last two weeks. working so hard and not being in the community much, but in the end it was worth it.
The reason I chose to come to the SFS Tanzania Kenya program was because they have a huge emphasis on communicating about research with the community that the research affects. After we did our research and finished our papers we gave a presentation to any and all community members who could come. We sent out invitations to officials and the community counsel. We told our neighbors and on the day of the presentation we sent cars all over this area starting around 7 am to pick up people who live to far to walk all the way to our camp. Our community presentation was on the 9th at 10 am and I remembered that morning standing in front of all of those people why I had just spent the last week and a half in a room writing and analyzing and taking notes and pulling my hair out of my head in frustration with formatting and excel. I remembered why it was important to me to come to this place and do this research. We gave our presentation to over 100 people who were engaged and ready to ask questions and challenge our findings and really deeply wanted to understand what we were telling them. The presentation lasted around four and a half hours and was full of life and engaging interactions.
There were three directed research projects that all of the students participated in. One was focused on rangeland degradation, one was focused on the viability of pastoralism as a supportive livelihood, and the project I participated in was focused on the ecological viability of wildlife sanctuaries which are community managed dispersal areas for wildlife outside of the national parks. Each group (8-10 students) presented for half an hour because the presentations were translated into Kimaasai as we went sentence by sentence. At the end we took questions from the community which was overwhelming in the least.
My groups presentation as well as the pastoralism presentation were the hot topics. When you talk to people who have historically lost land, money, and resources to the protection of wildlife about protecting wildlife it can be a stick subject, but it was also fruitful and enlightening. I felt so alive standing up there waiting with baited breath for Daniel to translate questions into English and for us to fumble around for a while before we found the best answer we had which sometimes was wow that’s a great question. I think one reason that scientists don’t communicate with the community more is because its scary. The scientist is supposed to be the expert the one who knows the most about what ever subject they are giving a talk on, but in this case the scientists (us) are the ones who know a piece, a small sliver of the whole picture. This came across very clearly when we were asked questions about the intricate overlap between pastoralism and wildlife, and how these two go hand in hand or are at odds with one another. by the people who are living this reality. Even our professors who have been working in this area for years and years learn something at every community presentation. It was so humbling to be in that position.
Since the community presentation we have spent two days not quite knowing what to do with our selves and finally packing up our home and heading out. Currently I am sitting in the airport waiting to board a flight to Lamu (an island off the coast of Kenya with beautiful Indian ocean beaches and a strong Muslim influence). I just left my family for these past three and a half months. My heart is a bit sore and my eyes are a bit puffy, but its also been an interesting reflection of my life right now. It just interesting how people flow in and out of my life. When I get off the plane in Lamu a friend of mine from the Outdoor Academy (a semester boarding school I attended sophomore year of high school) will be there to meet me. The plan is to hang out with two friends and breathe salty air for five days on Lamu and then take a bus back to Nairobi where I will meet up with my Mom, Dad, and sister Abbie! Wow if that’s not nuts I don’t know what is. I am very aware of this present moment partially because I have no idea what the future holds and there is a lot of heart sickness as well as joy in the past, so the best place for me in the now. Its kind of a relief to just feel my fingers on this keyboard and eat my apple (I bought two apples at the grocery store yesterday! It was pretty incredible!) and listen to the going ons in many different languages and accents and nationalities within the airport.
Love Sara
The reason I chose to come to the SFS Tanzania Kenya program was because they have a huge emphasis on communicating about research with the community that the research affects. After we did our research and finished our papers we gave a presentation to any and all community members who could come. We sent out invitations to officials and the community counsel. We told our neighbors and on the day of the presentation we sent cars all over this area starting around 7 am to pick up people who live to far to walk all the way to our camp. Our community presentation was on the 9th at 10 am and I remembered that morning standing in front of all of those people why I had just spent the last week and a half in a room writing and analyzing and taking notes and pulling my hair out of my head in frustration with formatting and excel. I remembered why it was important to me to come to this place and do this research. We gave our presentation to over 100 people who were engaged and ready to ask questions and challenge our findings and really deeply wanted to understand what we were telling them. The presentation lasted around four and a half hours and was full of life and engaging interactions.
There were three directed research projects that all of the students participated in. One was focused on rangeland degradation, one was focused on the viability of pastoralism as a supportive livelihood, and the project I participated in was focused on the ecological viability of wildlife sanctuaries which are community managed dispersal areas for wildlife outside of the national parks. Each group (8-10 students) presented for half an hour because the presentations were translated into Kimaasai as we went sentence by sentence. At the end we took questions from the community which was overwhelming in the least.
My groups presentation as well as the pastoralism presentation were the hot topics. When you talk to people who have historically lost land, money, and resources to the protection of wildlife about protecting wildlife it can be a stick subject, but it was also fruitful and enlightening. I felt so alive standing up there waiting with baited breath for Daniel to translate questions into English and for us to fumble around for a while before we found the best answer we had which sometimes was wow that’s a great question. I think one reason that scientists don’t communicate with the community more is because its scary. The scientist is supposed to be the expert the one who knows the most about what ever subject they are giving a talk on, but in this case the scientists (us) are the ones who know a piece, a small sliver of the whole picture. This came across very clearly when we were asked questions about the intricate overlap between pastoralism and wildlife, and how these two go hand in hand or are at odds with one another. by the people who are living this reality. Even our professors who have been working in this area for years and years learn something at every community presentation. It was so humbling to be in that position.
Since the community presentation we have spent two days not quite knowing what to do with our selves and finally packing up our home and heading out. Currently I am sitting in the airport waiting to board a flight to Lamu (an island off the coast of Kenya with beautiful Indian ocean beaches and a strong Muslim influence). I just left my family for these past three and a half months. My heart is a bit sore and my eyes are a bit puffy, but its also been an interesting reflection of my life right now. It just interesting how people flow in and out of my life. When I get off the plane in Lamu a friend of mine from the Outdoor Academy (a semester boarding school I attended sophomore year of high school) will be there to meet me. The plan is to hang out with two friends and breathe salty air for five days on Lamu and then take a bus back to Nairobi where I will meet up with my Mom, Dad, and sister Abbie! Wow if that’s not nuts I don’t know what is. I am very aware of this present moment partially because I have no idea what the future holds and there is a lot of heart sickness as well as joy in the past, so the best place for me in the now. Its kind of a relief to just feel my fingers on this keyboard and eat my apple (I bought two apples at the grocery store yesterday! It was pretty incredible!) and listen to the going ons in many different languages and accents and nationalities within the airport.
Love Sara
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