Kenya Trip Information (warning: long)

We want to thank Gordon Yip who help out at our African Dinner & Silent Auction last night. Gordon went to Kenya on his own last year and sent us the following information that is useful for us as we head there in Sept. Thanks Gordon

Hi guys!

Congrats on having a successful fundraiser. It was quite well organized; silent auction, food, african music. I think people thoroughly enjoyed it. I know I did..or would have if I stayed longer. Anyways, like I was telling Jessica, if for the benefit dinner, if we raise enough money for the power $10,000 and we go over our goal, I'd be happy to help support your trip. However, don't get your hopes up too great because we only have around 70 tickets sold..and probably around 100 (if we're lucky) by the banquet. I'm not sure if 100 people can raise $10,000 in one night. We shall see though and you have my word.

Now uhm...I'm not sure what kind of questions you have so I'm going to just give you a brief description of things. About the malaria pills, you can pick them up in Kenya. Just ask the KASOW members such as Toby, Mike or Andrew for their help because going by yourself to the pharmacy...or what they call chemists, is sketchy if you don't know the right people. They could rip you off in prices and in the pills your getting. So watch out. For other things like suncreen or...shampoo..or toothpaste, anything that runs out within a couple months, you can get that in Nairobi or Kisumu. You don't have to carry over half your house hehe. In Kisumu, though it's a village, there's a town square where you can get mainly all your necessities. There's a shopping centre called the Swan Centre that has most of everything. I'll get into that later. The cost of things you'll probably find cheaper there than in canada unless its imported. The cost of food was extremely cheap, ~$2-3 Canadian a meal. You can't even get a McDonald meal with a toonie here!

About the internet, they don't really have wireless. well they do, but you would have to subscribe to the internet provider as John said and it might be quite expensive or what not. To use internet, there are actually internet cafe's down there. One in Swan Centre. They charge around 1 shilling per minute. The slower their internet speed, the cheaper it is. but yea...it all works out to be the same. Toby, the chairman of Kasow, he was using a 0.5 shilling per minute..and it took him about an hour to check his email and reply..and he only had like 6-7 emails. haha, it was realy really slow but the bill came out to be 30 shillings? like 50 cents canadian? i would suggest using faster internet speed even though their more expensive..because it's not as time consuming. you can choose whichever you want though =). This is still a work in progress but I installed a computer in John's house. Is that where you guys will be staying? I don't know if they're going to leave it in his house, but that computer is internet ready (same with the one in the school). All it needs is a landline and it's all set. However, obtaining a landline will probably be difficult and expensive which is why i say its a work in progress. who knows though, perhaps during the time you're there they might be installing a landline. don't hold me to that though. We have to see what John says.

Tom: for monitors, don't go to the store in Swan Centre. Toby will know what I'm talking about. The store in Swan Centre was actually quite expensive. However, there is another shopping centre around 5 minutes away. It's near the Akamba (charter bus) station. Go there, it's a much better place. Just tell Toby or Boaz, they'll remember.

The computer in John's house is a windows 2000. the username is Kasow and the password is Kasow. it is a compact. The computer at Sabako elementary school is an HP installed with windows 98. unfortunately, i don't think that computers equipped with microsoft office. the one in John's house does though. anyways, i don't think it'd be too much of a problem to install that on. the username was Sabako and the password was Sabako. Uhm...that's about it for the computers.

For cell phones, you'll probably won't need it as much unless your calling to canada. To call to cananda you dial : 123 country code, area code, the number. its around 30 shillings per minute. this is with Celtel. I know i'm giving you alot of information about things like swan centre..and everything, but don't worry..just refer to this email when you need help. i would probably print it out cause accessing internet (going to swan centre) isn't always handy. so yup, uhm...you will have to buy what they call "credit cards" for your cell phone. There are 2 companies. Celtel or Safaricom. Safaricom i think is cheaper however its international connections are terrible. It is almost impossible to dial to canada using safaricom. Maybe it'd be better for you when you get there, you could give it a try..but Celtel worked for me when dialing home. Anyways, you buy these credit cards that give you credit on your phone. i think i used around 600 shillings for 11 days of calling vancouver at a rate of 30 shillings per minute. it wasn't too bad...that equals 10 dollars canadian. pretty good stuff. so yup...there's the cellphone situation. i think calling to each other in kenya is around 11 shillings per minute. 20 cents per minute canadian.

Alright, ..oh! to use your own electric gadgets such as cell phone chargers, ipod chargers, things that have a canadian plug, all you have to do is buy an adapter, either here or there. And make sure the machine your using is able to use their voltage system. You could ask Boaz about these, who is a fine electrician. He's John's brother by the way and wow, he is awesome! Awesome is an understatement.

Anyways, about vaccinations, if your with UBC, your medical plan, they actually cover $150 of your vaccinations. If you haven't already, get your vaccinations now. It takes around a month for your immune system to work up. Travel clinics have all the information you need. Where are you guys travelling? It is just within Kenya like Nairobi and Kisumu..and perhaps Mombasa? If so, you probably won't need a meningococcal meningitis shot which is around $100 canadian. Uhm..you could get a traveller's diarrhea vaccine called dukoral which is around 75 bux..but this only decreases your chances about 30%. you could also get a prescription for a pill called ciprofloxacin. uhm..i actually didnt take it because i was going for only 2 and a half weeks. and uh..i actually didnt get diarrhea. haha..a little on the personal information heh? but sharings caring! uhm..you could take it...or you could get peptol bysmol or immodium advanced haha....those commercials on tv do come in handy hehe. the people who went over the summer..some actually had the case of the runs and pepto or immodium came in handy. so maybe grab some of those hehe.

About the toilet, it's ..not the..."canadian toilet" with the flushes. its the rural type where its a hole. so yea..theres nothing really to sit on..so u gotta squat and stuff. and haha...i'm sharing this with you because i care. like..its not the end of the world or anything and i actually expected this..but if you're new to it..u might be quite shocked. its always good to be prepared. uhm...so ye.a.when your doing..uhm.the number 2's...just watch out for back splashes. what i did was stand up or..move myself away from the hole (which is in an outhouse) after i released so backsplashes wouldnt get me. so yea..if u get the runs...its not going to be fun.

Showering...well i dont think they have running water into the house. so its basically standing or squating in a empty bucket..and having another pail of bucket full of warm water. you rinse and splash yourself with warm water and you call it a shower. again...its not...crazy crazy bad..but its not the luxury we have here are very fortunate to have. you just have to plan out the steps of how you're going to take a shower such as putting your clothes in a plastic bag so they don't get wet and carrying another bag for your towel..toiletries and etc. I was also fortunate because i took a shower everyday..whereas Boaz or Helen (John's sister) or the orphans probably took one every week or something like that. Helen carried a bucket of water every night for me so i was quite lucky. Really grateful for their help.

Malaria. now...i actually got malarone which is a mix of atovaquone and proguanil HCl. this drug was really good becuase it had really little side effect. it just made me sleepy which was good because i took it every night after dinner. hwoever, it is quite expensive and is around $35 bux a week. doxycycline (vibramycin) is an alternative. although it has higher risk of side effects such as nausea nad abdominal pain which can be decreased with taking with food...and increase photosensitivity, it is much cheaper. around $5 per week. its up to you since you're staying there longer...but doxycycline wouldn't be too bad. just take it with food and apply sunscreen more often. its 1/7th the cost! haha. uhm..another couple health tips: always wear shoes or sandals because you might step on something that can pierce the sole of your foot. don't go swimming in the local waters since there are parasites in the water (which the locals are immune to) and they lay eggs in your skin and cause rashes, fever, chills, headaches, muscle aches and infections. (this can be reduced by spraying insect repellent with DEET after exposure can kill some of the larvaue that has been laid under the skin). but yea...just dont go swimming haha. uhm...iron or dry clean your clothes because if you wash it and sundry your clothes..insects will come lay eggs in your clothes and cause rashes. so..yea..heads up on that. hmm..i think i convered all of the vaccines and health tips.

There's a dvd machine that i installed there when i went over. its running perfectly. John bought this as a gift for his household. so yeup. haha, you can sit there and bring some of your dvd's...relax and watch some movies. uhm..oh...yea..buy insect repellent. i bought muskarol. (spelling?). but that is a life saver. it works for 8 hours..so i sprayed myself in the morning and usually 5 pm in the early evening. Because..when your sitting around...u look like a great piece of meat to the insects. but with insect repellent..they were laying off me. uhm..i also wore like long sleeves and long pants at night..to keep the insects from bugging me..because there were the odd few mosquitos that were quite persistent. during the day..i wore shorts nad short sleeves. juss swat your arms and legs around once in a while to keep insects off you haha.

I also brought anti-bacterial alcohol soap..the thing that doesnt need water. those came in handy before everymeal.

About mail, yes you can obtain a mail box..i think that's in town. i know there's a mailbox centre in nairobi for sure, and pretty sure there's ...yes, its right near the swan centre. you'll probably have to pay a monthly fee but i don't think its too much. I guess just check with John on that.

I hope your eyes aren't too sore from reading this. Feel free to ask me any further questions you have. I'd be more than happy to help. Alright, congrats once again and I wish you all a very safe and funfilled trip. Talk to you soon.

Gordon Yip
The Oyiengo School Project *wishes can come true*
UBC Physiology