A day at Kisumu and a vist to Lake Victoria

At Hotel Palmars I met Kjartan over breakfast, an NGO volunteer worker from Iceland. He told me he was going to shoot a video at a village by Lake Victoria tomorrow and asked me if I would like to john him. I happily accepted his invite. I decided to stay at Kisumu for an extra day. Kisumu and Nakuru rank no.4 and no.3 cities in Kenya. Cities except Nairobi look pretty much the same. There's a city center where the market and bus station are and a couple of supermarket chain stores ("Tusker"). Nairobi is the only city where some real business buildings, shopping malls, movie theaters and international cuisines can be found. Others are second tier cities in a much smaller scale and more humble fashion.Midst the hustle and bustle of the city market, the local vendors were selling everything from fresh produce to used cassette stereos. It is a great way to have a close look at the local life. The challenge of strolling through a local market as an obvious solo female tourist is the attention from the pushy vendors and curious locals who don't always see a solo Asian girl walking around by herself. The curiosity can easily escalate to aggravation.
After a stroll at the city market I met a local accountant named George for dinner at Hotel Palmars. I met George in the bus on the way to Kisumu. We chatted a lot about the civil war among tribes. The tribal conflict is horrendous in Kenya, causing many were killed and displaced and houses were burned. Kenya is a very divided country afflicted with tribal wars for decades.
I went to the village called "Kurando" by the Lake Victoria with Kjarten the next morning. That was my first trip to villages in East Africa. I was overwhelmed by sight of drought and poverty . The local people make a living by fishing in the lake and farming corns. Kenya had been suffering drought for a few consecutive years. The corn crop had been destroyed by the drought. This region is plagued by AIDS. Many men die of AIDS at a young age leaving women and kids behind.
We first visited a local home where a sick woman was lying on the floor. I was told this woman had AIDS and was sent back by her husband family to her relative home. Kjarten asked her about the medicine and flour that was distributed to her on his last trip. She mumbled and held Kjarken's hand. When we walked out the house, a group of local women started to sing African songs and dance along to greet us. They apparently had rehearsed the performance before.They lined up in a row singing and dancing on the typical African beat. We were guided to a classroom. The classroom is a hut made of mud and grass. Kids were excited to greet us. These kids are orphans sponsored by people back in Iceland. Kjarten's job is to partner with a local NGO organization and  visit these kids periodically and provide the kids' updates to their sponsors back home. Kjarten recorded a video of the kids and talked to some of them. While I was awaiting, I accompanied a girl to fetch water at a nearby well  and noticed no man do this type of labor chores. Fetching water is a woman's job in Africa. I attempted to put the barrel on my shoulder. I collapsed and couldn't move a step.  After the filming, we were then guided to a kitchen where the local food was served for the guests. I couldn't eat. I know this is probably the best food they have for guests only. I felt the food is too precious to swallow. The women sell their hand made crafts for a very modest price. I bought a couple of beautiful  baskets and offered a much higher price. Despite the good quality and low price, the sales is very small as only tourists would buy their crafts and they don't have a sales channel to reach to more tourists. The hand crafts can only supplement their income a bit and local women. The women who are left behind by their husband would do whatever they can to feed their kids that sometimes includes trading sex for fish with the local fisherman. The sex and fish exchange further spread the AIDS which leads to more men leaving starving kids and wife behind. In this poverty and AIDS vicious cycle, people live a short and suffering life with no food or dignity. No human really deserve such a life. I felt overwhelmingly sorry for these people.
Over the 3 hour visit, I saw two men in the village including the tour guide. Kjarten told me the previous tour guide died last year of AIDS in his 30th.