real deal.

hannah robinson, RD has a nice ring to it.

RD = real deal.

RD = registered dietitian.

source: http://polishmycrown.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/2435986_cjjfmyki_c1.jpg

I'm going to be a registered dietitian when I grow up!

picnics and pantries = so credible.

back to school this year meant back to 3rd year.

reee-wind.  

7 years of undergrad 

+ 1 professional designation 

= okay with me.  

one of my dietetics classes requires me to maintain a blog documenting the next few years of the program.  if you want more dietetics and fewer kooky puns, come visit me in cyber space at: http://blogs.landfood.ubc.ca/hannahro/

blogger's break = blogging break.

upon arriving home from africa, my head was swarming with new blog ideas.

for example:

what it is like to eat this.  [for lunch.  and for dinner.  every day.  for two months.]:

or how, under african apprenticeship, I learned how to make this amazing transformation:

and then I would have enlightened you with the adventures of collecting, cooking and eating fish straight from lake victoria:

or told you about the time we threw a dinner party for 11 on this tiny stove:

and then there were $5 feasts at the local indian restaurant:

and lastly I would have made you feel more at home by posting photos of outdoor markets:

I wanted to come home, with african recipes fresh in my mind and do this:

but instead, I did this:

good bye summer of 

adventurous cooking and exciting blog posts.

helllloo broken scapula!

after nearly a two month stint in sling, my broken shoulder is finally on the mend and I am able to:

- cook

- eat with my right hand

- type

food blogging necessities: check, check, check!

gtl.

first there was the jersey shore.  

then there was the geordie shore. 

now you can follow 5 housemates in their summer share in rural kenya.

we may be on a different continent and mtv may not have been documenting, but the same basic principles held true: GTL.

gym:

kick ass kenyan kardio anyone?

it was as if they knew I was coming when they built the house... the septic tank in the front yard doubled perfectly as a platform for yours truly to lead early morning aerobics classes!  the perfect pump-up playlist? the lion king soundtrack coupled with "it's raining men", of course!

tan:

trying to catch some rays on the coast to even things out? fail.

laundry:

ruth anne assumes the perfect power stance for scrubbing socks in the bathroom sink. 

the cow assumes perfect power stance for protecting our drying laundry from african critters in the front yard.

mrs. kenya.

mom and dad, I have something to tell you...

surpriiiiise!

the apollo family: july 2011.

a day at the office.

so know that you know I've been flying with suspicious pilots, riding rickety bikes, playing with farm animals and laughing at corruption in africa, it's time for me to finally give you some insight on my project. the project that most of you have funded through your generous donations and attendance at my relentless fundraisers.  the project that spurred me to leave behind a summer of bartending in kits to work in kenya. the project that I couldn't adequately describe until I had arrived in africa, was in the schools and working with the community.   

let me give you an overview:

 {#1: girl power.}

our main focus while in kanyawegi is to initiate "girls club".  we intend for girls club to be a district wide after school program for girls in standards [grades] 6-8 where they can talk about issues directly affecting females students, and ultimately reduce the rates of drop out, early pregnancy and hiv infection. a staggering percentage of female students are forced to miss school each month because they cannot afford to buy sanitary napkins.  to compensate for this problem they find themselves staying at home until menstruation is finished, or finding alternate ways to acquire funds to pay for these products.  unfortunately, these girls often see prostitution as the easiest way.  our project is aiming to provide a comfortable environment for girls to openly discuss issues that are relevant to them . our ultimate goal is be to provide a sustainable source of sanitary napkins to these girls.  most of our time has been spent collaborating with locals to build the curriculum, research existing clubs within the area and finding reliable ways to measure the success of our project in the long term.  this is a lengthy process and at times it can be frustrating not to see the fruits of our labor, but I trust that the work we put in now will align with GIVE's goal: to initiate village empowerment so that the girls will continue getting the support and supplies they need even when the muzungos are gone. 

 

{#2: hiv/aids education.} 

hosting a weekly soccer tournament: different schools from across the 17 school district meet once a week to play soccer.  during breaks they are supplied with lunch (which is another controversy in and of itself), and hiv education.  this includes question and answer periods, an hiv+ guest speaker and a condom demonstration (as you can imagine, another controversy).  posters, prizes, playing… it’s a fun way to spend a saturday.  

education is also provided in the schools throughout the week.  hiv/aids is actually part of the school curriculum in kenya, and when time allows, we travel to schools and teach refresher workshops on the subjects taught in each grade. 

{#3: education day.}

education day: GIVE funds a series of exams to students in the ojola school district between grades 6-8 .  we have worked on writing, editing and printing the questions to the hiv/aids portion of the exam (if only the kids knew this when they were dozing off during our workshops!).  each exam costs 100 KSH/student.  GIVE requires each student be responsible for 10 ksh and then funds the remaining 90.  unfortunately, corruption runs rampant and we’ve had to take on the responsibility of counting each student in each grade, and ensuring that we receive the adequate amount of money from each school.  this requires numerous visits and is the reason why I have so many stories to tell about bike rides.  fyi: $1.00 cdn = ~80 ksh.  this means kenyan student = $0.13, GIVE = $1.13.k.  education day will be held when the results from the compiled and the schools and students have been ranked.  more prezzies + prizes.  yipeee!

so there we have it.  I have traded 7 weeks of muddling mojitos and perfect pint pours for being a hiv educating/tax collecting/soccer star/girl power enthusiast.  as anticipated, time has absolutely flown by.  the next members of our team arrive soon, and we will spend our final week tying up loose ends and handing over the GIVE education team baton so that they can continue working on the projects for the rest of the summer.  it will be hard to say goodbye, and leave without seeing concrete results, but I know that I am part of a much bigger story and am thankful that I could play my part.


it has been the perfect combination of 
exhausting + exhilarating and humbling + hilarious.

next stop...?  unganda.  stay tuned if you want to hear about rafting down the nile!

amusing africans.

some things in africa are funny: 

- matatu names like usain bolt

- kids running around in t-shirts saying 

"bob's 50th birthday bash!"

- being offered bride prices including each of the big 5

somethings in africa are really funny:  

{please look carefully.  enough said.}

give me a... K!

{home sweet home.}

as my infrequent blogging, email responses and facebook postings may indicate, my access to internet has been far more limited than anticipated.  with this being said, it has come to my attention that for those of you following my blog, my updates might suggest that my time spent in kenya so far has been, ahem… trivial.

as fun as bowling nights, bake sales, james bond themed parties and amazing race scavenger hunts were, I promise I didn’t pester all of you for money for the last six months so that I could come to africa to fly planes, ride bikes, and come home at the end with a few candid shots of me hugging adorable african children.

let me start by introducing you to where I live.  
I will make it easy for you to remember.   
just remember the letter K.

kenya: the country I am in.

kisumu: the 3^rd largest city in kenya. a 30 minute matatu [bus] ride away from our home. the epicenter of all things luxurious: internet cafes and grocery stores.

kanyawegi: the community of villages outside of kisumu that I am living and working in. the home of the ojola school district. situated on the shores of lake victoria [which any local will proudly declare as the 'SECOND LARGEST fresh water lake in the WORLD.']

kaguya: the name of the compound our house [palace] is in.  also home to: several dozen cows, one rooster with a 7 am wake up call, two gobbling turkeys, some crazy goats and a pack of howling dogs.  also found here: houses much more modest than our own, yet are home to lovely locals who will proudly explain the biblical history of their names with any introduction.  

{tl: neighbor's pets. tr: maize + neighbor's home. bl: kaguya's gates. br: morning carpool.}

oh, and introducing you to my new home wouldn't be complete without introducing you to bridget.  bridget also lives at kaguya and likes to: patiently wait behind rock walls so she can jump out and scare mzungus, sing songs with actions, read books by saying each individual letter of each word and posing for photographs.

 {say cheese!}