Notes on Mfangano – The Island

Last week I returned from a whirlwind month of airplanes, sleeping on a variety of surfaces, and time on three continents. As I mentioned in my last post, at the start of July, I traveled to Kenya to do some work with the Organic Health Response (OHR), a young, community-based organization with which I serve as the grant coordinator. The main purpose of my visit was to do a “rapid ethnography” – to observe, participate, learn and absorb as much as I could in the short time I was there.

I returned to the US with a bug or two (not to worry, not malaria!) so have been slower in sharing my thoughts and stories than I would have liked. Mfangano does not have electricity (more about this in a bit) and barely any internet, so posting while there was impossible. In an attempt to give a full picture of my experience and what I learned, I’m going to split my notes into three installments: the island, the people, and the community’s health.

Mfangano is an island in eastern Lake Victoria, Kenya. The island is accessible only by boat…well, several boats. In somewhere around 12 hours, I flew from Nairobi to Kisumu (3^rd largest city in Kenya), then several hours on a bus (way there) or matatu (way back) from Kisumu around the northern coast of the Gulf of Kavirondo to Luanda. From there, a ferry from Luanda to Mbita and then a wooden boat from Mbita to Mfangano – with stops at smaller islands along the way. I arrived after the sun set, and approached the east side of the island in the dark. The spray off the water, combined with exhaustion and excitement, made the clear night sky overwhelming.

I awoke the first morning to see the island for the first time. It’s green. It’s lush. It’s beautiful! The majority of people on the island are fisherman or subsistence farmers. I lived with the Okeyo family in Kitenyi – a large and diverse family with 2 mothers, 16 children, and even more grandchildren. The family compound, like many on Mfangano east, is comprised of a variety of mud and tin roof homes on a large plot of land sloping up the island. Mt. Kwitutu is dominating, but has not kept people from farming its slopes and plateau.

One road circles the island, and in addition to the village to village boat services, motorbikes, bicycles, and walking are the sole modes of transportation. The Ekialo Kiona Center and the OHR Organic Farm are both in Kitawi which is in the center of the OHR catchment area on Mfangano east – incorporating the villages of Mala Masa, Kitawi, and Kitenyi. A diesel power station has been constructed in the main village of Sena and power lines have been up around the island, ready to go, for nearly two years…yet there is still no power. Even without a regular power source (solar panels are going up at EK this month!) EK had over 300 members join in June, its first full month of operation, with joining simply meaning knowing your HIV status through VCT (voluntary counseling and testing)!

With an adult infection rate of over 30%, knowing your status is the crucial first step to community wellness. In my next notes, I’ll tell you about the Okeyos, EK staff, and other community members who embody Mfangano and the mission of EK/OHR.

This post is going up on the same day Kenyans voted on a constitutional referendum which was part of the political deal aimed at easing tensions which arose after 2007 presidential election. The majority of the violence after that election occurred in and around Kisumu.

Images are author’s own – Mfangano Island, Lake Victoria, Suba District, Kenya.