The background story

ilene — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:01:00 GMT

I'm going to be participating in a volunteer project in Southwest rural Kenya (Kuria West district) from 11/6-11/27. Afterward I'll spend an additional week in Kenya. The project focus is on "harmful cultural practices" affecting women, i.e. female genital mutilation and early marriage. Projected activities include "brick making, tree nursery planting, awareness on HIV/AIDS, home visits and cultural night, teaching and interacting with children in nearby schools." I signed up through Volunteers for Peace, which has linked up with Kenya Voluntary Development Association, which in turn is working with the Mowankwe Women Group. This group, founded in 2002, has about 30 members, and "was formed with the aim of empowering the women folk to take responsibility and address pressing developmental issues that have led to marginalization of the women in society." Internet access will of course be sporadic, but to the extent that I can, I plan to post photos & stories from my trip here. There are supposed to be 20 volunteers in my group, from 6 different countries (Kenya + 5). I just got my information sheet today, about 2 weeks before my departure. First surprise: pants are really not ok. I had thought they would be acceptable on the project site, and that I'd only have to wear skirts when I went into town. Apparently not. So I'm looking at wearing skirts (and hiding my tattoo) for a month. In this and many other matters, please wish me luck.

Ilene's Travel Blog

The background story