Our first day of research

Today was our first full day of research. It was a great day and we accomplished a lot.

We started out the day by driving for miles back the winding red dirt roads that typify the Kwale district. We passed through the lush jungle and the green farmland. We were so far out into the villages, I was imagining a little one room school house with about 30 kids in it, but came to a clearing and pulled up to a school with 476 students!

The students greeted us warmly and we got the impression that it isn't every day that this school receives visitors from another country. The range of shouted greetings, shy smiles, stolen glances, and even the curious hand reaching out to touch senya's soft white skin all hinted at the unique nature of our visit.

Although Terry has spoken with the headmasters of each school to arrange for our study, we are still expected to meet in person upon our arrival. We spent a couple of hours explaining the purpose of the research, going over the consent forms and questionnaires, and discussing our hopes for the outcomes of this study. Our vision was strongly supported by the headmaster and the teachers and we were granted full access to the facilities and any assistance we may require.

The teachers gathered the older students who will be participants and we spent a couple of hours sitting under a thatched pavilion explaining the study and passing out forms. The students must now take the forms home to their parents/guardians and return with signatures that grant permission for their participation. We are scheduled to go back on Thursday to do the questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups. After our reception today, we are looking forward to our return.

We had a short break in the afternoon before going to a second school to repeat the process.

In non-research-related-but-still-exciting-news, I (Collin) used the afternoon break to visit my friends, Idi and Sayidi, the grounds keepers at Pamoja. It was a scorchingly hot day and Lindsay had developed a craving for Madafu, coconut milk found inside of green coconuts. I knew that Idi and Sayidi posses a coveted skill that could help us acquire such a treasure. I wanted to get Madafu for Lindsay and I wanted to learn how to scale the tall, swaying coconut trees.

Idi went first. He kicked off his flip flops and virtually sprinted to the top of the tree. It looked so natural and easy. He used his feet to walk up the tree while using his hands to pull himself toward it so that his feet would stick. When he came down, I asked for a few pointers, took off my boots, and went for it. I thought I might get about 10 feet or so before deciding that I was good enough at my new talent, but the feeling of climbing the tall, swaying, trunk was so invigorating, I just couldn't call it quits until I reached the top. The view of the green countryside rolling down to the turquoise ocean seemed to magnetically pull me upwards.

When I reached the top I realized 3 things that were all slightly embarrassing.

1. In my eagerness to start my climb, I had forgotten to bring a knife with me, so I couldn't cut any coconuts down.
2. I was exhausted! Idi had made it look so easy, but apparently, I am not in shape like he is.
3. When you look 40+ feet down from the top of a leaning coconut tree and see absolutely nothing between you and the hard ground, you tend to question the untested grip of your bare feet on the bark of the swaying tree.

I climbed back down in partial victory. Idi and Sayidi were both very encouraging and told me that it was an excellent first climb. Idi was then kind enough to scamper back up and chop down a few choice coconuts.

After the whole ordeal, I was resolved to hone my skills later this month. Lindsay was grateful that I wasn't dead. Senya was happy to try Madafu.