Carol Kinney, 69, of Edmonds recently returned from a trip to the village of Rabuor, Kenya, where she helped teach nutrition to health workers through an organization that helps families that have been ravaged by HIV and AIDS.
Kinney learned about the group, the Rabuor Village Project, at a Rotary Club meeting in Seattle in 2003.
The organization is led by Loyce Mbewa-On’gudi, a Seattle woman who is from Rabuor. The group serves nearly 10,000 people in 15 villages.
Q: Why did you go to Rabuor?
A: “I needed to go see what the project was like on the ground, and to see the people involved with the project. Second, I needed to do an assessment on the nursery school children who are associated with our project.”
Q: Could you describe the village?
A: “It is basically a subsistence farming village with a strong emphasis on education. The homes were usually made out of sticks and mud, some had plaster, and roofs were usually tin roofs with gutters, to collect rain, which is one of their main sources of water.”
Q: What kind of challenges do Rabuor’s people face?
A: “The reason we started this whole thing was the HIV and AIDS epidemic, which was killing parents. Number two was water. During the dry season, the water is a big challenge. They end up having to go to rivers which are also used by animals, so the water is not clean.”
Q: How did you become interested in nutrition?
A: “My father was a food scientist, and my mother was a dietitian back in the time of the second World War.”
Q: Why is nutrition critical in Rabuor?
A: “Malnourishment leads to all types of problems, including learning disabilities and physical disabilities. People who are malnourished have abnormal brain development.”
Q: How was your experience in Africa?
A: “It was an incredible experience. It was a very extended-family community where people helped each other, had time for each other.”
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