Survey Gathering

02.24.2011 – My friend let me sleep in this morning, maybe he has come to the realization that they serve a lot of chicken here.  However, I did wake up a couple times during the night to different sounds, none of which I could explain…I know it is not a dog or chicken.  After a couple morning meetings, we head to lunch in town, and then conduct surveys of citizens in the town on their postal use and views.  People were very open and friendly about their postal experience and additional services which can be provided.  Francesco (Italy) and I decide to head over to the government building which we saw the long lines of people for additional people to survey.  We were interested in what services they are standing in line for, and if possible, could the postal service provide these.  Our initial questions start with a nice lady who has been coming back and standing in line for the last 5 days with little progress.  She is looking to obtain a birth certificate for her child so he could attend school as required by Kenyan law.  Although the conversation starts out between her and me, more and more curious people gather around us and provide input.  Some are immediately ready get out of line and to walk over to the post office for the service we are suggesting, however, I have to tell them nothing has been implemented yet and we are just trying to make recommendations for additional services to provide.  I guess time will tell if our efforts will help provide more efficient and value-added services to the citizens of Kenya.