First couple weeks at site

Hello everyone,
Well I am now at my site of Kemelewa which is close to Chwele. It is very small and in the middle of nowhere, I guess I wanted this right??? Well to start I have a pretty good size apartment however there is a bit of housing issues such as some broken windows, locks, etc. However hopefully this will get fixed soon. I hope to paint my place but with a peace corps budget it will be a long process but I have two years. I am across from the Primary health care facility and I am in the staff housing. One thing I am going to have to get use to is the 30min bike ride up hill back to my place. Over the last two weeks I have seen myself improve but I am still out of breath once I arrive at the top. Oh I have got caught in the rain 3 times so far because it rains almost everyday! Good thing I brought rain boots from home they have come in handy. Other than the rain the weather has been pretty good, very nice, sunny and the place is very green with a lot of hills and Mt. Elgon in the background. Its pretty:) Thus far I have met with the village and sub location leaders to explain who and what I am doing here. They seem very excited to have me. Also I have done some house-to-house interviews to see the needs of the community and this has really opened my eyes to the difference in lifestyles here in Kenya. Like the US there are homes in poverty and better off families in the same village, however I think this is more dramatic here in Kenya. Also I have seen the disease that we only talk about in the US such as elphantitis, jiggers, and severe malnutrition. It has been very humbling to say the least however I am excited to try to better the lives in the village and community I will be serving. Over the next three months I am going to be doing a needs assessment and then present this to my community as well as Peace Corps. After that I will start to prioritize the problems and get to work. I am excited and I hope I can at least make a small difference in someone's life.

For those of you that has texted, emailed, or facebooked about packages I have a new address.
Joy Storm
PO 188
Kimilili, Kenya 50204
You can send anything you would like but here are some suggestions: Anything for a new apt since I just moved in like utensils, rugs, candles, posters, picture frames etc. Also any food like granola bars, candy(sour), chips etc. I will be very grateful and love to get packages. Its like Christmas when you are a kid.

Well I hope all of you are well and I miss all of you. Oh I am an aunt again too:) YEAH

Love always,
Joy