Beehives and Bumpy Roads

Yesterday I had my last excursion in Kenya for a while before we leave for Uganda tomorrow. We were beginning the process of dispersing beehives to business owners around the Kisere forest.  

Prepping beehives for disbursement

It started out with a matatu ride to the first site. Fortunately, this bus was far roomier and nicer than your typical matatu since we hired it for just our staff for the day.  The road was pretty muddy since it had rained the night before.  There was one point when we got stuck, and I didn’t know if we were going to make it, but we eventually got there.

In the matatu with my coworkers

Outside view of the matatu and a cow

When we arrived at the first site we were warmly greeted by singing and dancing.  The landscape in that area is just beautiful!  We then watched a series of speeches, including one from a local politician and some organizations we partnered with to disperse the beehives.  

Beehives in the truck

Unloading the hives

A warm reception

Afterwards, there was a ceremonial installation of a beehive (most of the hives will be installed next week).

Ceremonial installation 

I even made a new friend. 

We then went down some far more challenging roads to the second site, where were again warmly greeted by another group of business owners.  They had been waiting for us since 11:30 that morning, and I think we got there around 3:30 p.m.  We then had to wait for another hour or so for the rest of the entourage to arrive.  I believe this kind of thing happens often in Africa, given transportation can be unreliable, roads are tough to navigate, and people tend to run on Kenyan time, which can be anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours (or more) after the committed to time.  For someone like me who likes to be really punctual, it can take some adjusting to run on Kenyan time. :) 

Sign posted for the event and business owners waiting

My roommates/coworkers and a business owner

Local schoolchildren watching the excitement

Generously offered snacks

The second disbursement went a bit more quickly.  Thankfully, the business owners were kind and generously provided snacks to hold us over.  The event was then interrupted by a torrential downpour.  Fortunately, we were inside, but the rain was so loud, it became difficult to hear anything.  

Business owners receiving their hive

Rain outside the church window

We then we had quite the adventure trying to get home.  Some of us squeezed into the cab of the truck, and the matatu we hired got stuck at least 2 or 3 times in the mud, and required LOTS of help to get moving again. 

In the truck with coworkers

We finally got home around 5:30 p.m., or about 2 hours after our planned return time, and had a very late (but delicious) lunch!  

Muddy roads after the rain

Chick Warmers

Ok, so I’ve got to admit, this is kind of embarrassing... and a confirmation that I have NO business rearing livestock. So as I mentioned in a previous blog post, we are preparing to pilot a chicken (kuku) business. This entails preparing to receive the baby chicks, among other things. 

So I guess when you get baby chicks, you have to keep them warm.  Definitely makes sense.  So we ordered a number of “chick warmers” (see below)  

Chick warmer

When they were delivered, I was a little perplexed.  I thought, really?  We put the chicks in there?  Seems a little inhumane, but at least they have air holes. And I guess if it keeps them warm...  Far be it from me to judge, given I have no experience in this area.

Turns out these warmers go in the chicken house with warm coals placed on the inside of the warmers. The chicks stay on the outside. Duh.  

People definitely got a kick out of my misunderstanding of this concept.  

Counting Sheep…

So one thing I will not miss when I leave Kakamega is the variety of night sounds that can tend to make sleeping through the night here a challenge.

The two most common are barking dogs--and if it’s between the hours of 5 or 5:30 a.m.--the call to prayer from the local mosques.  Now those of you who know me know that I used to always wake up between 5 and 5:30 on weekdays, so you may think, what’s the big deal? But part of the beauty of having no commute to the office and a workday that starts at 9 a.m. is supposed to be the ability to sleep in…  

I actually like hearing the sounds of the call to prayer, but just not that early. In fact, one morning it was so loud I literally thought it was taking place right outside the compound gate. I even texted our night security guard to see if he knew what the deal was. Although that also took place during the first few days of the news about the Muslim movie protests, so I think I was just a bit on edge…

I’ve also about decided I’m not a big fan of African dogs.  And that’s saying a lot since I really love dogs. I rarely see them here, but I hear them barking every single night. I think they’re nocturnal. You are way more likely to see goats wandering around during the day than dogs. I think I can count on one hand the number of dogs I’ve ever seen during the day here. Usually it’s just a flash of one running through our back yard.  And there are also dog fights that you hear at least once or twice a week in the wee hours. Last night in particular, the local dog pack was not happy about something and it sounded like at least 6 to 8 were having a serious smack down at 2 a.m.

Finally, there is also the almost nightly honking horn or person talking outside, which I suppose you will experience in any city.  

But, what’s truly impressive about the nightly cacophony is how well I can hear it through the earplugs I wear every night. 

It’s Swahili to me

It used to be that when I was confused by something, I might say something like “He may as well have been speaking Swahili because I have NO idea what that guy was talking about.”  Or something to that effect.  It’s still pretty much the case that when people speak Swahili here in Kenya, I still don’t know what they’re saying, but I have been learning some key phrases. These are my favorites that I have used the most so far: 

Asante sana (pronounced uh-son-tee sau-na) which means "thank you very much"

Karibu (pronounced ka-ree-boo) which can be used to say "you’re welcome" after someone says thank you or also means "welcome," like welcome to my home.

Pole (pronounced pole-ay) which means "Sorry!"  This is often said when you drop something or trip, or something like that. It seems like I hear this one a lot, as I can tend to be a bit clumsy.

Hakuna stima (pronounced ha-kuhn-uh stee-muh), which is used all too often, and means "no power." It also makes me think of Hakuna Matata from the Lion King.

Mzuri sana (pronounced: Missouri sau-na ),which means "very good" (mzuri=good).  I like this one because you say it like Missouri, and it makes me think of my friends in the show me state. 

Kuku House

The house is going to have chickens!  Or kukus, in Swahili.  Or chicks rather, sometime in the next month or so.  We are piloting a new chicken business, and we had to make sure the cost of materials and all logistics fit the necessary parameters. Therefore, over the course of a weekend, a chicken coop was erected in our back yard.  Singlehandedly, by one man.  Pretty impressive. The coop was constructed using tools and materials that are most likely to be available to our business owners, who are low income farmers in rural villages. The structure was put up in advance of a training session so that our business mentors would be able to accurately instruct and advise the business owners on how to build the Kuku house. I was so thrilled by the excitement of it all that I decided to capture the construction on  camera.  

Digging holes with a panga (machete)

Framing it up (I think)

Prepping the roof with some supervision

Prepping the walls for mud

Creating mud walls, as many homes are made of here

The completed Kuku coop

I was really excited for the chicks to get here, but it looks like I'll now be heading to Uganda soon for the rest of the year. But I'm glad I got to see how it all came together. 

Making Ugali

So I made my first Kenyan dish all on my own last night!! I have served as sous chef for my Ugandan roommate as she showed me how to make local dishes, but this was the first time for me to make one all on my own (or almost)… 

It was our roommate’s birthday, and we were convinced that she would not do any of the cooking on her special day. So the rest of the roommates and I each made a dish. I took on making the Ugali (see Kenyan Culinary Delights blog post for more info).

I did alright for the most part, but had to be corrected when I started out by boiling enough water to make a serving size for 10, rather than 4.  So after that, I was supervised to make sure I didn’t botch it. :)  This was especially funny since there are only 2 ingredients – corn flour and water.  It’s made by boiling water, then stirring in the maize flour, and then working it into a dough-like substance until it stiffens up and becomes more solid -- which can be quite a work out.

 

The verdict: My dish was “Nice” as compared to one of the other dishes which was “Really Good” but I’m still proud. And most important, the birthday girl had a good time!  And so did the rest of us!  

Beekeeping

I had the unexpected pleasure of attending training on beekeeping today.  It was quite interesting.  Some fun facts I learned included:

1. We have a beehive here on our compound (I didn’t realize that).
2. Bees may attack you if they don’t like your perfume (or actually, they just don’t like perfume in general).
3. The queen bee is a bit of a floozy. On her maiden voyage, at the tender age of 7 days, the queen bee leaves the hive and mates with 8-10 drones (male bees), leaves them behind and heads back to her hive. All male bees who have mated with her, or attempted to, will die. Not a good deal for the drones.
4. Whiskey can be used to treat a bee sting. Apparently it’s supposed to be used topically, but I’m guessing drinking it would also help to dull the pain.
5. There are honey badgers here, and they are one of the predators (or honey robbers) we discussed, along with humans, wasps (aka bee pirates), and ants, to name a few.
6. If bees don’t like their hive they will abscond.  (I just liked hearing the repeated use of the word abscond.)
7. If bees come toward you and swarm around your head, you should put your hands up on either side of your head to try to break their communication and calmly walk away.

As the lesson concluded, I thought I had done pretty well taking notes and soaking in all the knowledge.  Then something buzzed by my ear, and I flew out of my chair and ran across the room.  It was actually a wasp.  But the incident was quite embarrassing for me and entertaining for the instructor and my fellow students. I think I definitely failed that one. 

Bee hive at our house