All about my life haha

October 11,2012

Heller USA!

So out of 28volunteers in my group there are 10 Deaf Ed. volunteers. The 18 that aren't Deaf Ed. are Math and Science teachers in Secondary School (HS) and teaching in regular schools. The 18 are in a place called Loituktuk (pronounced lo-tuke tuke) which is much much more rural then Machakos. I have yet to go to Loituktuk but from what I have herd there are giraffes and elephants in Loituktuk and it's a Masaii vilage. A prominent tribe in Kenya, at least to tourists because they are the only tribe that is still following their traditional customs. I was told that they are the only people that can carry machetes in town because the machetes are used to eat and not to hurt others. They don't use modern tools like other Kenyas, such as a jeeko, which is a small stove where you use coal to keep the fire. A form of cooking I will have to use once I'm onsite (onsite is the place that my school is located and where I will live for 2 years, I will find out my onsite in 3 weeks) They still hunt and gather. I will be traveling to Loituktuk soon to have our HIV/AIDS awareness training with the rest of our group aka: my peace corps family :0) I miss everyone in Loituktuk. I'm also very excited to see a new type of environment in Kenya so extremely different to the one I have seen in Machakos and possibly very similar to where our onsite location's environment. Although, the Peace Corps favorite line is: You won't find out until you get to your site. So most questions can't be answered until you get to your site. Which is what you sign up for when you join the Peace Corps. Nothing is certain.

Our trainers are all Kenyan except for one of the medical staff and  they are AMAZING trainers. They are so knowledgably, understanding, and can answer as many questions as possible, if it doesn't have anything to do with our site lol They are great teachers and majority of them know KSL. Next week we start our KSL classes and all voices are off! So NO TALKING during the day!

(Machakos is a small city. Here is a link to facts about Machakos: http://kenya.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/profiles/Machakos%20County%2023%20Jan%202012.pdf)

 

My address is:

Jocelyn Young-Hyman

C/o Peace Corps Kenya

698-00621 Village Market

Nairobi, Kenya

If anyone would like to exchange letters!