Bamba Water

Hunter's work has been going great. The boss requested that Hunter put some of his other business ideas on hold so he could help with the marketing of Bamba Water. The success of Bamba Water is very important to the company, so Hunter's been working very hard on the marketing. He designed the logo,

the packaging,

he did all kinds of market research including what images and headlines resonate with people within this culture (Kenyans have very different values and respond to very different messages compared to Americans. The t-shirt below, btw, has a headline that the American team members wanted on a billboard, but because it didn't resonate as well with the Kenyans, he promised the Americans he'd have some t-shirts made instead). He designed the sales kits, the billboards, the wall murals,

the t-shirts,

the tuktuk wraps, he set up radio spots--everything!

So this past week, they launched the business. The depots are now selling Bamba Water around Mombasa. The sales team is selling the product to little shops all over the place, and the billboard is up. The product is being distributed all over the place. It is quite exciting!!!

A little about the product: Bamba Water is a less expensive way of selling clean water to people. Right now, people buy bottled water for 20 shillings, or they just use water guard or something to treat and clean their water that they fetch from their nearest taps. Clean water is important to everyone, but when they're away from home, the bottle is all they can buy.

So Bamba has a bore hole and opened a factory with machinery that cleans the water and packages it into little single serving bags. (Everything is sold as single servings here, even laundry detergent. People really live from day to day; that's all they can afford. There is no buying in bulk. Costco is the complete opposite of the life I'm talking about.) The bags sell for 10 shillings. Much more affordable.

Here's a video of when the billboard went up at a prime location by the ferry.

Here's Hunter with the tuktuk. We get to use it on weekends. It's pretty fun. Hunter learned how to drive it. We barely fit all crammed up front, or the boys sometimes ride in the back.

Man, I'm so proud of my husband! Exciting stuff!

Reyna First Year Photo Shoot

Everyone, prepare yourselves. I suggest you sit down before looking at these great photos of Reyna that we had done over the weekend. It's possible you might faint from the overabundant cuteness.

Thanks Camfoto!

Sugar Cane

I finally ventured out and bought some sugar cane. I've seen people chomping on it around town, but I never really knew how to eat it.

Sugar cane looks like this:

The people who sell it around here usually have a little cart like the guy in this picture I found online:

They slice off the outside husk with a big knife, and then if you ask them to, they'll cut it into small bite-size pieces like this and bag it up for you. It costs basically 25 cents for a bag like this.

When you bite into it, it's like biting into super crisp, crunchy apple or a juicy piece of celery. Except unlike celery, you can't break down the fibers with your teeth. You just chew, and when the sweet juice has all come out, you spit out the fiber stuff.

The kids like it. It doesn't look like it in this photo, but they do.

This is such a yummy treat! When I first tried it, I thought, "Where has this been all my life!?" Well, after a huge amount of processing, sugar cane is converted to table sugar. That's where it's been all my life. This video about How Sugar is Made is super long, but I thought it was interesting.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Good morning everyone! And Happy Valentine's Day!

To celebrate, I want to share with you a very special book that my Auntie Julie gave me recently.

It's called Huggy Kissy by Leslie Patricelli

See?

Only problem is, I can't read! He he he!

But I like to look at the pictures!

Let me show you my favorite page.

Ah! Here it is! Every time I see this page...

I give the baby a kiss.

I wish I could give a kiss to you, too!

Wanna try it? Ready??? Mmmmmwwah!

I LOVE YOU!!!!

Reyna in the Window

How much is that baby in the window? The one with the fuzzy hair?

This is one of Reyna's favorite spots in her room. Whenever I set her on the bed, she immediately crawls over to the break in the curtains, opens them, stands up and peeks out.