The Veterinary Students at Work
Submitted by Lawana Adepoju
January 30, 2006
Well today the veterinary students were let loose. After a week of watching and learning, the three veterinary students presented their first agriculture seminars today (Monday, January 30, 2006). After returning from Meru and our visit with the Muchui Women’s Group on the weekend, it was back to work today.
At our first destination, there was no group present. The local people rise with the sun and try to get as much work done as possible, such as gathering Napier grass and food, before the Kenyan sun becomes too hot. Also people travel great distances to come for our information sessions, so an early morning meeting doesn’t always work out. So sawa sawa (which means basically "no problem" in Swahili) we moved onto the next farm visit. Here twenty-four eager listeners were waiting to here what we had to tell them. Although these people have limited resources they are very willing to improve their shambas (farms) as much as possible.
The questions were as expected and don’t change that drastically from farm to farm. We always try to incorporate information regarding mastitis prevention and nutrition in our talks as this is very important in this area. Other major areas of concern include how to get their cows pregnant quicker after calving, and how to prevent abortion and tick-borne diseases.
Matthew led the first session which prompted many interesting questions, and we left the farm after the farmer presented Matthew with a papaya in thanks. We then returned to the first farm that had been a no show and about twenty people were waiting for us. I presented this seminar which was an interesting experience. The listeners are so eager to hear what you have to say and they hang on your every word. We didn’t have a lot of time, so I answered just a few questions and went over the basics. At the end, the farm owner stood up and talked about how grateful he was for our visit and our information. It is really moving to see how much the people enjoy our visits. At this point the farmers are just trying to survive until the rainy season begins in March. We are all praying for rain, but they always tell us that they are praying for our safe travel and our return. Krista led the last session of the day in the afternoon.
When we are talking the sun is hot and there are long pauses for translation, but the effort is well worth it. We are now coming to understand the local language (Kikuyu) much better and can discern what people are saying. The people are so nice, and laugh when they hear us speak in Kikuyu. We are so glad that we can entertain them, and we laugh too. All in all the day was wonderful.
Lawana giving her first seminar at a Kenyan shamba
January 30, 2006
Well today the veterinary students were let loose. After a week of watching and learning, the three veterinary students presented their first agriculture seminars today (Monday, January 30, 2006). After returning from Meru and our visit with the Muchui Women’s Group on the weekend, it was back to work today.
At our first destination, there was no group present. The local people rise with the sun and try to get as much work done as possible, such as gathering Napier grass and food, before the Kenyan sun becomes too hot. Also people travel great distances to come for our information sessions, so an early morning meeting doesn’t always work out. So sawa sawa (which means basically "no problem" in Swahili) we moved onto the next farm visit. Here twenty-four eager listeners were waiting to here what we had to tell them. Although these people have limited resources they are very willing to improve their shambas (farms) as much as possible.
The questions were as expected and don’t change that drastically from farm to farm. We always try to incorporate information regarding mastitis prevention and nutrition in our talks as this is very important in this area. Other major areas of concern include how to get their cows pregnant quicker after calving, and how to prevent abortion and tick-borne diseases.
Matthew led the first session which prompted many interesting questions, and we left the farm after the farmer presented Matthew with a papaya in thanks. We then returned to the first farm that had been a no show and about twenty people were waiting for us. I presented this seminar which was an interesting experience. The listeners are so eager to hear what you have to say and they hang on your every word. We didn’t have a lot of time, so I answered just a few questions and went over the basics. At the end, the farm owner stood up and talked about how grateful he was for our visit and our information. It is really moving to see how much the people enjoy our visits. At this point the farmers are just trying to survive until the rainy season begins in March. We are all praying for rain, but they always tell us that they are praying for our safe travel and our return. Krista led the last session of the day in the afternoon.
When we are talking the sun is hot and there are long pauses for translation, but the effort is well worth it. We are now coming to understand the local language (Kikuyu) much better and can discern what people are saying. The people are so nice, and laugh when they hear us speak in Kikuyu. We are so glad that we can entertain them, and we laugh too. All in all the day was wonderful.
Lawana giving her first seminar at a Kenyan shamba
posted by Admin at 9:02 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home