Just An FYI...Because I Don't Know If You Get This Sort Of Detailed News About Kenya (East Africa) In The U.S.A.

The other day a Kenyan was caught in Tanzania attempting to sell his fellow ALBINO (pronounced: Al-bean-o) Kenyan!

In Tanzania, and i believe in other parts of East Africa, witch doctors use Albino body parts in certain aspects of their practices. It is believed Albinos, their body parts, possess special powers. This drives a blackmarket in which millions of shillings are paid for albinos and their body parts.

There is an effort to put these practices and beliefs behind. To educate people about the flaws of this practice and these beliefs, but obviously there is still a long ways to go.

Just thought some of you may find this interesting and i figured you would not have heard about it back home.

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Some More Pictures Of My Home (Room)....

I dont know if this will look much different to you all but trust me, it is! I have a shelf, table, chair, and stool now! I am going to get another shelf though because i still have crap on the floor and it makes my daily sweeping a pain in the a**!

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Down In The Dirt... Stuck In A Hole.

Today when i went to dump my food scraps/veggie and fruit skins into the pit behind my house i found something alive, though barely, in the bottom of the pit...

In this picture is a starving dog who fell or voluntarily jumped into the pit. I am sure, by the looks of him, he was looking for something, anything, to eat.

We spent about 30min trying to figure out how to get him out without anyone getting bitten. We ended up using a leather strap that we fashioned into a laso. We looped it around him and then quickly lifted him out; lucky, but sadly, he was light due to his starvation.

Just thought some of you may find this interesting.

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Starting A Fire Old School Style!

Today i went and visited a Emanyatta (traditional Maasai homestead) about 30min walk outside the town center. While i was there socializing with some of the Olmeshuki (the most recent warrior group and my peers) they taught me which sticks to use and how to make hot ash, by spinning the one stick into the other, which is then capable of lighting dry grass on fire, thus allowing one to make fire!

This is a picture from today: in the background is the fire and in the foreground are the two sticks i used. They say one stick (the light colored, longer one) is from the sandpaper tree. The other they say (the shorter, thicker, darker one) is from the cedar tree.

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

A Reminder Of Caution....And Reality.

These pictures are of a memorial that is located on the road near my home leading to the game lodges and campsites. In case you cannot read what it says in the picture here is a brief summary: A memorial to a man, a tourist on a game viewing vacation, went out in the morning around 6-7 to view and take pictures of the sunrise. While walking on the road he encountered a herd of elephants...they proceeded to kill him.

This is a reminder to never be to comfortable in your surroundings or take safety for granted i suppose. Where i live this is a common occurance, a short while back at a gate ~30 min drive from me another man, a local this time, was killed by elephants.

Just thought this would be a way to demonstrate the kind of area in which i live. Im out in the bush...its beautiful but boring and full of unexpected obstacles/threats for us westerners, i suppose for those locals too who let their guard down and get too comfortable and confident.


F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Women of the..."Womens, Mothers, Celebration."

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Women of the..."Womens, Mothers, Blessing Ceremony"

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Another picture of the celebration...

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

These are pictures of the bull slaughter...i dont think you can see much. Sorry to those of you who are disappointed...if you come visit ill arrange a slaughter and party for you...even drinking blood if you'd like!

Also, the stick stand thing is what the meat was roasted on. Oh, and the dirt wasnt really dirt, mostly just cow dung....and if you come visit and want to dress like the Maasai, well that can be arranged...im dressing like that starting monday (will post pics).

P.s. The picture below is the hide tanning/drying.




F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

"Women, Mother's, Blessing Ceremony"....

This picture and those above are from a celebration i went to 2 weeks ago. The celebration was for womens, mothers, blessing...in other words, from what i gathered, it was a ceremony to bless women
who were not yet mothers, not by choice but due to whatever other reasons they could think up, but wanted to be. If that makes...?Sometimes i think my english is deteriorating, though my college roomate would say i never had a legitimate grasp on english anyways, haha. Anyways, this ceremony lasted for three days, beginning in the morning and ending sometime late at nite (or not at all, i was told by some that they stayed up all night...i didnt hang around long enough to find out for sure). On the 2nd day the men, though they werent involved in the ceremony, slaughtered a big bull! Though they were not really involved in the ceremony they had to be for this part as only men can slaughter animals in the maasai culture. There are two pick of the slaughter, not graphic at all (so no worries for those with weak constitutions) they are probably more of a challenge, that is to actullaly determine which are the slaughtering pics. There is one picture of an odd, sand-colored shape on the ground....that is the bulls hide! They are drying and tanning it....eventually it will be used as a bed! They will get some "native soft bushes" and put the cow hide on top of them and THERE YA GO! YA GOT YOURSELF A BED! The other pics are of the women, doing there dances, there may be some with women lying on the ground...? If so, that is after they through a fit, it was rather odd....many times the women would start screaming and then some would run around with others chasing them and eventually the runner would collapse! And then go into some sort of fit, similar to something you might see on a TV episode of some intense religious saving ceremony.

Enjoy the pics! They will not be all up now due to internet limitations, some are but not all. Check back tomorrow and the next day.

Also, i will write the story of my first days here at site soon....if you really cant wait send me an email....it may help to motivate me, maybe! Haha.

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

What a Day!

So i know i said i was going to tell you the story of my first week at site, and i will, but first i just want to give you a recap of my first day back at site.

So i started washing my clothes at 10:15am about 2hrs in (i had to literally wash every piece of clothing i have here, except for what i am wearing) and group of sheep showed up. They proceeded to drink the water from my buckets and when i started shooing them away one grabed my shirt as he ran away, he was munching on it by the time i reached him. After that escapade i continued washing. About a 2hrs later i had everything on the line except for 2 pairs of pants; so im ~4hrs in at this point. As im finishing the pants a herd of cattle comes through, i pay little attention. 5min later i look up and they are all gathered around my clothes, munching on them between bites of grass! So i yell at them and the boys who are herding them to go away! The boys get them moving and i approach the scene....some shirts and underwear are on the ground, dirty of course! Also, i notice one of my long sleeve shirts and a white T-shirt have COW SHIT all over them! Needless to say, i had to wash all of that again, bringing my grand total to 5hrs of hand washing my clothes!

So there you go! Just another day in the life of Porter the Peace Corps Volunteer....feel free to come and visit anytime! Haha.

P.s. All my knuckles are bleeding...oww!

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

The Catch-up Plan!

I have more pictures to post and i also have stories to tell. I actually had all the stories written up yesterday and when i went to post it the connection dropped and i lost the whole thing. So, my plan is to break up the story of my first days at site into 4 or 5 posts, which will occur over the next week or week and a half. I wasn't going to tell the stories at all after the frustration of losing the post yesterday but my fellow PCV's who have listened to and laughed at the stories on multiple occasions said i have to! They think you all will enjoy them A LOT so check back soon!


F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Took this at 5:30am on the matatu to Narok in order to get to Nairobi last Sun. As we slowed for a herd of Zebra i took advantage and snapped this quickly. The break was very brief and it was back to the roughest ride ever in which aquired a bit of "SBS!"

"SBS" - "Shaken Baby Syndrome"

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

This is a scenery photo of the area in which i live. Near to where i was standing the Maasai Mara park begins. The valley and hills in the distance turn completely black when the Wildabeast migrate to our area every year...which should happen soon!?

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

This is a picture of a Maasai child carrying water back home...home is at least a mile away! There is acommunity H2O project near the dispensary where people can get clean H2O, only problem is many live far away. This is a job for women/kids (1-2 x's/day)

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

These are photos of my room, from before i got all my furniture, it is about 14ft X 14ft. Sidenote: that bed frame is 2 ft too small for my matress, no worries after about a week i got a proper one. Will post pics of furnished room soon!

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

This is a picture from the porch (located on the opposite side from which the following picture was taken). As long as its not raining i sit out here and cook my food. I also have spent a fair amount of time relaxing, reading, and practicing Maasai here.

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

This is the building that i live in. My room is the one on the left end. The building is the Oloolaimutia Enkitoria Dispensary.

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care