Another busy week in Kiirua!

It has been another busy few weeks for the nutrition students in Kiirua! The week started out by going to Kinyinjere School where we did a follow-up interview of the school meal assessment done in 2010 and some teacher training. For the follow-up interview we asked them if they had tried the recommendations from 2010 and whether or not they are still using them for their ugi and githeri. They really do listen to everything you tell them and try to improve in any way they possibly can. This year we are doing something new which is teacher training. The purpose of this is to try and get an idea of what the teachers are currently teaching about health and nutrition to see if there is any way we can help out. As we looked through their textbooks, we were quite shocked at the information the students were being taught. They were learning about all the sources of vitamins and minerals and what happens if you have a deficiency in standard 6.

This week we did the first two family nutrition sessions with the Muchui champs. It went extremely well both days. The women were very receptive to the messages we shared which were adding orange sweet potatoes and including vitamin C at meals. The food was phenomenal both days and it was nice to be able to help make it. It’s nice that the women get to have a taste of the food and the champs tell them how the food was prepared that day so they are able to make it at home.

We also completed quite a few home visits this week. It still amazed me how generous these women are when some of them have next to nothing. They are so grateful we are visiting them and will give us anything from eggs to bananas to papaya or tea. We all feel so bad taking the food from them but it is an insult not to take it home with us. The food security part of the interview is always the hardest part and it does not get any easier the more you do it.

On Saturday, we decided that we would help the nursing students with their women’s clinic in Ruuju. Since they were going to be measuring height, weight and waist circumference we were able to do that. There was a great turn out, about 50 women showed up.

On Sunday we went to church for the first time in Kenya. It was really interesting to see how different it is from back home. All seven of us Canadians sang Oh Canada at the church. The Kenyans really enjoyed it even though it wasn’t as upbeat as their music. Yesterday was a fundraising day, which meant there was a ‘live auction’ after the service in the church. The members of the church bring whatever they have at home and donate it to be auctioned off. Some of the items were: chickens, bananas, oranges and milk. It was sure different to see chickens inside a church.