Getting Focused.... and a little exhausted (collin)

Today we met with Terry again. She had arranged a meeting with several young, single, Digo mothers. We spent a few hours getting to know these women and talking to them about the issues that they face. Essentially, this was a focus group for our project.

We heard all of the stories behind each situation. It was incredible to hear about some of the things that these girls have faced in their lives. Some have been thrown out of their families and forced to find another place to live. Some have been kicked out of school. Some have been abused in ways that are difficult to comprehend. All of them have been left by the father of their child(ren) and forced into a marginalized existence here.

We met with the group all together, and we met with each woman individually. We wanted to hear about each of their specific struggles and hopes in an individual setting so that they would not be influenced by other girls' answers.

We learned a lot about this demographic in Digo villages. We have a much better picture now of the group that we will be trying to serve. Of course, this was just the beginning of our interviews and research. We will spend this entire week meeting with young mothers, school teachers, village elders, and community members. We are hoping that at the end of this week, we will have more of a clear direction about the specifics of the project, what needs to happen still, and who, specifically will participate in it.

On an personal note:
Linds and I are starting to feel rather worn. We know that our time here is extremely limited and once it is over, we won't be able to do what we came here to accomplish. Because of that we have been keeping a breakneck pace. The difficulties of daily life here are feeling more frustrating and tiring than when we first got here. The owner of our cottage killed himself a few nights ago (a few doors down from us). That has cast a strange pall over the place where we are staying. Also, as funny as it was to ride the Matatus when we first arrived, that has become an exercise in patience. (WARNING, this next part is ethnocentric, but I'm just being honest) Spending a couple of hours per day crammed into a van next to, on top of, and underneath of countless unbathed strangers is... trying... for an American. Today the guy next to me got in a fight with the guy behind him. The yelling and screaming escalated to pushing and hitting and ended with one man being pushed out of the van and left on the side of the road with everyone in the van shouting at him as we sped off. Lack of sleep, long days, and stomach sickness from unfamiliar food doesn't help in dealing with this sort of thing. If you are the praying type, your prayers would be very appreciated.