First Days in Kenya

As many of you know, I'm traveling during this holiday season in Africa.  Last Friday I left Landry and the boys in Gabon and headed to Nairobi, Kenya for work for two weeks.  I'm working on setting up a short-term field placement opportunity for our social work students here, along with one of my colleagues and one of my students.

For anyone who's read through my travels before, you know that nothing ever goes smoothly in transit, so when we arrived in Gabon, on time, with all of the appropriate travel documents and our luggage, I figured it must be a Christmas miracle.  Ooorrrrrrrrr, the universe was just waiting for me to take the second leg of my trip. 

Initially, when all of this planning began, I thought that I'd be taking a non-stop flight from Libreville to Nairobi on Kenya Airways and I'd be done with my flight in less than five hours.  Instead, Kenya Airways discontinued that flight and I ended up having to purchase a flight on Ethiopian Airlines that, when all was said and done, would be a total of eleven hours of travel. 

Despite the longer travel time, things were still going well.  I checked my bag, got through customs, and boarded my first flight which would take me from Libreville to Yaounde, Cameroon.  When we landed I didn't need to get off of the plane.  We just waited for people to get off and then for new passengers to board and we were off again to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Again, we arrived on time with no major hiccups.  I found my gate and decided to use the restroom. 

I put my backpack on the back hook of the door, turned around to put my phone down, and my backpack dropped off of the door with an insanely loud thud.  I immediately pulled my computer out of my bag to discover that the entire upper left hand corner of the screen was shattered.  Travel strike #1.

The third and final leg of my trip was from Addis to Nairobi.  We landed at 1am and my wonderful friend Sakwa was at the airport waiting to pick me up.  I'd been trying to get my evisa online for about a month, but the system kept rejecting my payment.  Our bank said there was nothing wrong on their end and that it must be the system.  It didn't really matter as you can get a visa at the point of entry.  However, I didn't realize that you could only pay for it with cash, which I didn't have enough of.  So, I went over to the ATM to withdraw money and received an error message that the transaction couldn't be completed and I needed to contact my bank.  Travel strike #2

I called the bank, but there was a 30 minute wait and at .25 per minute I wasn't waiting on hold.  I had to call Sakwa who had to withdraw the money for me.  I then went back over to the customs window and explained that my bank card wasn't working, but someone outside had the money.  The customs officer told me I'd have to wait until everyone else had passed through and then he could escort me down. 

At this point, I was pretty sure my suitcase was going to be lost as well because it was not turning out to be a smooth trip.  However, I lucked out and the universe delivered my bag to me.  Finally, absolutely exhausted, Sakwa and I arrived at his home around 3am.  He graciously made me some Kenyan tea and after catching up for a bit we finally got some rest at 4am.

Saturday started off with a 9:30 departure time from Sakwa's to pick up my colleague, Keisha, at the airport.  She was coming directly from JFK, having departed on Friday as well.  Though tired, she was happy to arrive in Kenya, her first time in Africa, and we headed straight to the De LaSalle Centre, where we'll be staying for the duration of our time here.  On Saturday night, we met up with Sakwa, his wife Oliviah, their son and their nephew for dinner.  We ate lots of traditional Kenyan food including nyama choma, githeri, and chapati.

Front entrance to the De LaSalle Centre

Welcome dinner on Saturday night at Nyama Mama

Goat ribs

Githeri with chapati

Tusker, the official beer of Kenya

Sunday we visited the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Center.  Sakwa also took us for a brief driving tour through down town before stopping at K-1 Klubhouse for brunch and a flea market.  K-1 is a really cool venue with indoor/outdoor dining space, bars, clubs at night, and on Sundays a vibrant flea market that had so many things I wanted to buy!  We ate goat nyama choma and goat stew.  The stew was sooooo flavorful and tender.  It might be the best goat I've ever had.  Kenya has "happy hours" that last from 12pm-9pm and involve bogo cocktails.  It's a great deal and can be dangerous if you don't plan for it...lol!

Keisha and I at the elephant orphanage

Feeding the giraffes at the Giraffe Centre

Design of K-1 Klubhouse

Brunch spread

Just posing...ya'll know I don't do beer

Monday we began our professional program by attending the Cultural Immersion Course offered through the African Studies Institute at Tangaza College.  Our class on Monday focused on the theoretical underpinnings of the program and how understanding culture is a necessity to breaking down stereotypes and opening up channels for cross cultural communication.  Our field assistant and our professor were both super smart women and it was very empowering to be in this intellectual discussion with all women. 

Main entrance to Tangaza College

Our field assistant, Grace, myself, Prof Mary Gutrui, and my colleague Keisha

After class and lunch at the school, our field assistant took us to Kibera, which is the 2nd largest urban slum in the world, to meet with a Luhya elder and discuss cultural traditions and norms.  The walk was very long under a hot sun and not expected.  At the end of the day, I had amassed 23,000 steps, many of them climbing up or down hills and rocks on the winding, informal pathways of the slum.  Despite the exhaustion from our walk, the meeting with the elder went well and it added context to what we'd learned about in class. 

Overview of Kibera slum

One of the many rocky footpaths to get into Kibera

A woman frying fish by the side of the road

Tuesday we returned to Tangaza for the second day of our course where we focused largely on African spirituality, the infiltration of Christianity into traditional African life, and common practices across a variety of groups.  The afternoon featured a visit to a Franciscan order to speak with a priest from Angola who further expanded upon similarities and differences between African religion and Christianity and how the two have melded in the region over time.

A camel walking down the street on our way to class!

Myself, Prof Douglas Waturi, and my colleague Keisha

Tuesday was also Keisha's birthday, so after dinner at the De LaSalle Centre we headed over to Sakwa and Oliviah's for a fun night of music, laughs, and birthday cake.

Today was our first day out visiting potential field sites for our students.  We met with three very promising organizations.  First was Commonwealth Housing, an NGO working to co-create sustainable, affordable housing with families in the slums so that they can move out and improve their socioeconomic status.  Then we met with MYSA, an organization that's been in Kenya for 32 years using soccer as a means to improve child well-being as well as promote community development.  Finally, we met with Fortress of Hope Africa, a women's rights organization with a human rights lens that focuses on protecting and promoting the girl child in Kenya. 

Myself, Keisha, and our student Kunle with staff from MYSA

MYSA free counseling clinic

One of four libraries put together by MYSA to support the surrounding slum community

AstroTurf field funded by a grant from FIFA

Workout gym at MYSA.  Free to members, but also serves as a way to raise funds for the organization by charging usage to the general public.

Myself, Keisha, and our student with the staff and mentors of Fortress for Hope Africa

Clearly, it's been a busy several days here with some fun and some business.  I'm looking forward to a day trip to Nanyuki tomorrow and then safari weekend in the Maasai Mara.  Next Monday-Wednesday it's back to business with multiple field site visits before I head back to Gabon.