I Love Lusi

Here I am at my new home. I live and work in a very rural town called Lusi. To find it on a map, go to the north side of Lake Victoria and follow it to the left until you find a small peninsula dipping down into the lake (below a town called Bondo). There is a town called Owimbi which is off of the highway leading towards the lake and another town called Mbita (though I don’t think Owimbi would be on a map). It is a 15 minute walk from Owimbi to my home and work. I think I am really going to like living here. It is green and peaceful and there are fireflies at night. Fireflies!! I have a small house to myself which I am working on making into a home. It has a bedroom, a guest room, a small room in between the two which will be my kitchen and workspace, and an area to bathe. The house (which was previously the first office of Rafiki Wa Maendeleo Trust) sits on a compound with the house of a couple who hosted me very generously on my first night here, Monica and Solomon, and Solomon’s mother’s house. Solomon’s brother (whose name is Jack) lives in a house right behind mine which is separated by a line of bright green trees and is technically on a different compound. There is grass here! Chickens, cows, and the nicest dog called Cablo also live on the compound. Monica and Solomon immediately made me feel like family and since I still have no way to cook (until I find my way to Kisumu to do some supplies shopping this weekend) I eat dinner with them and take chai in the morning. There is a woman who comes to the offices around 10 if you want to buy some chai or chapati from her and she comes again at lunch with beans and chapati so I take my lunch at the office for 20 Shillings. It has been really wonderful talking with Monica and Solomon and hearing about their families and the history of the organization. They are two of the founder members and have put a lot of work into making Rafiki the successful organization it is today. I am looking forward to getting to know them better and am excited to meet Solomon’s mother. She has been living with Solomon’s brother at his other house in Bondo, but should be back soon. They say she will teach me Dhluo (the language of the Luo people which is spoken exclusively by many people here) and that I am supposed to greet her “Dani” which means grandmother.

I can’t believe how comfortable I already feel here. But there are some things that will take a little time to get used to. For one, there is no market in this town. Actually, there are not even any dukas at all. I have heard there are some things (at least bread) that you can get at the dukas near the highway and I’m headed there soon to check out the options. The market town is about a half hour walk, from what I hear, away from Lusi, but they said I can get most of what I need there. For any exciting fruit though, I have to head to the nearest large town called Bondo or to Kisumu. I will really have to start strategically planning my fruit purchases so that I make it through the week. No more leaving work at lunch time and finding a mango or a fruit salad. Sad day. The other major difference in this area is that there is no electricity. For now I have a paraffin lantern that I use in the evening, but I have heard that my supervisor, Michele, will be adding solar to my house. This could mean a couple hours of electricity in the evening, but not enough to charge a computer. Luckily, there is better solar power at work and I can charge my computer in the office while I’m working. So far, I haven’t minded using the lantern. There is something really nice and relaxing about making a journal entry by the light of the lantern.