PsychSense: Sensible Psychological Solutions

Forgive me for being so lax, but it is very hard to write from Kenya , especially when not in the city. So slow or no electricity or no credit or busy or lazy or bummed………………..

Had a rough trip, was pickpocketed and lost everything, passport, credit cards, phone, drivers liscense money etc. What a hassle getting it straightened out. Try getting money with no ID.  The Kenyan police were a pain and American Embassy as bad on the day I got robbed. They were “closed” I had to demand service and then got very little!!

What you say, no one recycles in Kenya, there is garbage in many streets and especially rural villages.

Well yes that is true there is no unified effort to recycle by government, and plastic bags and bottles are everywhere. Well this made me very discouraged until I saw with different eyes.

Nothing is wasted in Kenya, if it can be used again it is. Today I saw empty detergent bottles used as flotation devices by some kids, wow. Empty containers are also used as water carriers, scoops, baskets, and any number of useful items.

If you are interested in sustainable energy or  Bio- Gas in general take a look at my video on a Bio-Gas system.  I interview Zack from an orphanage in Kenya about their Bio-Gas system which turns cow dung into gas for cooking and manure for gardens.

By the way to clarify what I say in the video 30,000 Kenya Shillings  is about $ 390.00

The Children of Chazon Children Center in Molo Kenya and Virginia

More about Kenya Outreach Projects

Mission of  Virginia J. Duffy and Asbury First United Methodist Church Rochester, NY

I recently returned from a month in Kenya. I visited Watoto Wa Baraka (WWB)  the orphanage where our Sunday school children’s penpals live. This is where we used your donations from Easter to build a water tank tower to store precious water.  It was so good to see the kids, they are terrific. (see pictures)

Nursery Kids working with clay for the first time at CCC

Kids Eating Lunch (probably Ugali and Kale)

Breakfast with Kids before school at Watato Wa Baraka

Hi All,

I am glad to be home but missing the kids so much. I spent 3 weeks at a school in Molo Kenya (about 3 hrs north of Nairobi) and a week at Watoto Wa Baraka  an orphange about one hour north of Nairobi in a town called Mukuyu.

Greetings From Molo, Kenya

Sorry I have been so long in posting. I have been in Africa for almost 2 weeks and the internet connections are painfully slow.

Let me tell you a little about my experiences so far.  I did some organizational consulting at Watoto Wa Baraka Orphanage in Makuyu about 1.5 hours north of Nairobi. This orphanage www.WatotoWaBaraka.org has about 37 children and is working hard to improve its physical facilities and volunteer program. They have many volunteers from all over the world! I made a number of suggestions about orientation, policies, health care, facilities etc. The thing I liked most as usual was playing with the children. The director of WWB Geoffrey Ngunda (check him out on face book) is a generous man, so he asked me to come about 3hrs north to a town Called Molo. Here some friends of his are struggling to help the many local orphans.

Ambivalence is said to be a common experience of the human condition. I have always believed this but have never felt it as clearly as I do about Kenya.  Talk about a love –hate relationship!

  So much to love: people who always smile and are extremely welcoming and friendly, children that are so engaging and loving, take care of each other, and are resourceful, strong and independent, gorgeous scenery, animals and natural resources.  These are the thing I remember most that will draw me back to Kenya.

In reflecting on my trip to Kenya I have been thinking of the meaning of  a crisis. As a so called expert, I have written so much about crises during my career, how to prevent them, how to deal with them and what causes them and more.

I am sorry to report that my experiences at my second placement in Kericho Kenya did not go well. There was lots of corruption in the newly formed program for HIV  education.  I decided to end my association with them.

Also, the people from this area were less exposed to those from different cultures and there was a lot of tension between tribes. This was a major issue in this part of Africa (Kericho in the Rift Valley) and a cause of much of the much post-election violence. 

Report from Africa.

Me and Alice from Rising Sun Orphanage

I apologize again for the scarcity of blogs. Not only is it a hassle getting to an internet café, but the connection is very slow and sometimes the computer goes down in the middle of a session. The electricity is often off here, so with all these issues I am usually able to blog once for every few times I try. Of course there is no air conditioning in the cafes and they are stifling.