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Nutritional Wednesday

It has been more than a month since we moved to Naari and on this particular Wednesday I decided to join the nutrition team in the field. The morning was chilly and cold with mist covering most of our neighboring forests. This was not helping with my wardrobe malfunction that happened when I tried to sport a long free flowing dress that looked horrifying on me. I came to a conclusion that it was in my best interest to stick to my casual jeans and shirt.

We left home at half past nine and got to Kiirua secondary school early enough and with lots of time to spare. We met with the deputy Head teacher Mr.0 Muriithi and proceeded to the kitchen to meet with the cooking staff. Here the girls explained what they would do and got to it, they took weights of the ingredients used to make the lunch meal which was Githeri. We walked to the nearby Kiirua primary school to do the same and take the measurements of the ingredients they use. In this primary school our visit coincided with the 10 o’clock tea break and it necessitated us to help in the kitchen with serving porridge, working on the ingredients and taking the measurements.

Sarah weighing the kales. Assessment of the weighing scale used at the secondary school

As we waited for the lunch bells to be rang we visited the respective gardens in both schools, these were very well maintained with  combinations of vegetables that ranged from kales, collards, spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots and orange sweet potato . In addition to this I looked at their three cows (couldn’t help it) and indulged the farm manager and gave commendations and recommendations where needed. We also assisted in the secondary kitchen with peeling potatoes, carrots, onions and preparation of green peas for the staff. The cook mama Ann had never seen that many people in her kitchen at the same time and her work done in such a short time. She definitely will have a tale to tell.

The team admiring the vegetables. Having a discussion with the farm manager on cow management

 

At around 12.45pm, the lunch bells were heard and the team headed to the primary school to take further measurements and returned to the secondary school where we measured the pot size and food portions per student. When all this was done we headed to the Head teacher’s office where we had a sumptuous hot meal for lunch complemented by various discussions and lots of laughter.

In general, it was a great, quiet and relaxing day with many differences from a standard day with the vet team. I got to learn and understand what the nutrition team does and the activities they carry out and the impact it is expected to bring in the society in the short and long term. In addition to this I got to have a hot meal for lunch and book an early spot in one of the cook house events with the champs that they will be involved in later in the summer. Till then, goodbye and Kenya Hakuna matata!!!!

Sarah and Salome serving porridge.  Kira and Catherine engaging the adorable students

Hi its Kira and Catherine the nutrition students from the university of Prince Edward Island. 🙂

The past couple of days in Kenya have been so wonderful. We have been so busy and have done so much already! It is very exciting to have met the women and men we will be working with this summer. Everyone has already been so kind and generous-three days and I already feel at home.

On our first day, the nutrition team spent time exploring the Kenyan culture. Our wonderful guide, Susan, took us to our first Nakumat (similar to a Walmart) for shopping, out for Kenyan coffee, to the David Sheldwick Wildlife Elephant Orphanage, then to more shopping at Kazuri beads where we met the hard working women in the Kazuri beads factory, to the Giraffe centre, and finally to meet Henry our travel agent.

Our second day was just as busy as the first! Both the nutrition team and vet team went for a visit to Kenyatta University. We met the dean and faculty of Applied Human Sciences and then later the Vice-Chancellor of Kenyatta University. Our meeting was very nice and was my first ever video recorded meeting! After, we finally got to meet the new Kenyan graduate students, Emily, Sarah, Grace and Ann that will be joining our project. We were all so excited to meet one another! We quickly finished our meetings up and got ready for the long 5 hour drive to Naari. On our way we stopped at the huge dairy in Wakulima! We were given a nice tour of the dairy and the opportunity to see how milk is produced. We continued on with our journey and made it up some very rough hills up to our new home. Our wonderful cook Vincent made us a big meal as we were all pretty hungry and exhausted. I don’t know about the rest, but Catherine and I fell asleep pretty fast!

On our third day, yesterday, we met with the Naari Dairy board and Upendo women’s group leaders. It was wonderful meeting everyone that we will be working so closely with. I would like to note how grateful and appreciative they were of the work that has already been done and will be done. The farmers have noticed improvement in milk production since the projects began. On average, there has been an increase from 3.5kg of milk per day per farmer up to 7kg of milk.

I think that so far, one of my favourite memories from Kenya is every time we drive by a group of children. We wave and say hello and the reaction the children give us is incredible! They start screaming with smiles on their face, jumping up and down, and even chase after our car! It is just so adorable.

I am looking forward to getting into the Naari community and working with the Naari women’s groups to improve nutrition within their families. Thank-you Kenya for being so wonderful so far.

Kira and Catherine.

Pictured: Ann, Sarah, Grace, Kira, Catherine.