I finally arrived in the study area: Kibwesi, in the Eastern province. I came here with Myriam, a girl that is going to also work in the same project, and her boyfriend. The three of us are staying in the same guest house. It is very quiet over here, there is a palm garden with a mango tree in the middle of it and you can hear the birds singing. My room is ok; I also have a hall/living room where I can work on my computer or read, and a shower/toilet room. I’ll post pictures of it so you that you can see it.

The trip from Nairobi to here was about 3 and a half hour. Most of it on the free way, but parts of it were under construction so we rode on bumpy roads for a little while. As I was sitting in the bus I saw different landscapes passing by, arid lands at first, green pastures with zebras and wildebeests, baboons at the sides of the road, sheeperd children looking after famelic cows, markets full of people, etc. In a way it is how I had imagined it, but also it surprises me a little bit. What breaks my heart is that poverty is so common that it seems you cannot really do anything about it. Helping people on the street with money or food would not change much. Their situation is influenced by many factors such as political, created interests, low literacy level, cultural habits, long droughts that reduce the productivity of the crops and lead animals and people to starvation, bad infrastructure, poor access to safe water, and so on. It is often difficult to know where to start, but fortunately there are countless people that for many years have been working hard to bring to these people their knowledge to help them live better lives. But most important this nation needs to get off its knees and start helping itself. I am very happy with the project that I am working with; its aim is to improve the nutrition of the population through micronutrient-enriched crops. In these first stages we are going to assess the deficiency of vitamin A in children and its relation to diseases and other micronutrient deficiencies, that is pretty much my part in the study. The other girl that comes with me is working on a feeding trial that will start in the beginning on the year; in the trial 40 kids of a school will be given cassava (the crop that is going to be enriched in vitamin A) everyday for a period of two weeks, to see how much they’d eat; then they can make calculations of how much the new cassava will improve the vitamin A intake. Starting next week we will go to several schools and talk with the headmasters to get information about the school and the kids enrolled in it.

It don’t know if it sounds a bit complicated for you. Anyway I don´t expect everyone to follow it, but some of you do follow what I´m doing here!

Living in Africa is going to be a good experience I think. I am open to learn, to share, to give and serve. I hope I can make a difference at least for one or at least I hope I can make a difference in my life. Many thoughts come to my mind these days. I wonder why I have been blessed with a life in a country where all my basic needs are covered, where I don’t have to walk kilometres to get water, where I could get education and do pretty much what I wanted. I am very thankful for everything I have, and I have decided to make the best out of everyday, to make my life a masterpiece. Life is not the past, is not the future that we dream of, but the present that we are experiencing right now. It is very important to direct our energies to the moment we are living in. I have to confess that I have mixed feelings: I like it here but I also miss a lot what I left behind, I have to work hard to detangle the not of my stomach everyday. But I trust myself and I know that with time it will be alright.

The adventure starts!!!!!!!!.