Internship Update

I haven’t had much time to keep up on blogging, or more accurately, I haven’t actively put much effort into blogging. I have written a few emails outlining parts of my stay here, and have posted them above, but this is my first official public blog. We have been in Nairobi for five weeks now and are ending the classroom phase of the program. The weekend of the 23rd, we will all depart for our internships, in various part of the country. Some of us will be off to the white coasts of Mombasa, others on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kisumu, and the rest of us will be headed north to the Mount Kenya area, with a few people staying right in Nairobi. We are all headed to new families, with new hopes, fears, and expectations,

For me, my biggest hope going into the internship phase is the internship itself. I hope that it is everything I have imagined it will be and more, I hope it challenges me to be vulnerable to a different culture with different practices, I hope it teaches me how to effectively implement community programs, I hope it allows me to work hands on with the community and most of all I hope to make connections here that have the potential to benefit me as I face graduation just a few precious months away.

My fear is that I will have a hard time adjusting to a new family, this time with a father in the house. I fear I will miss my Nairobi family. I fear I will not enjoy the luxury of privacy I have appreciated so greatly at my current homestay. I fear I won’t connect with my host family the way I would like to, and I fear most of all that I will miss the other people in the program I will be separated from.

I expect to appreciate a more rural setting, I expect the lush town of Embu to be an inviting sight every morning after the business of Nairobi, I expect to be extremely challenged with adjusting to a new way of life after just getting comfortable with Nairobi. I expect to love my internship and to spend way more than the required time there. But mostly, I expect to look at it as I have this whole trip, and welcome it, come what may, as new exciting step in this incredible experience in Kenya.

Now to give some details on the next phase. I am going to Embu, as mentioned, which is about a two hour bus ride northeast towards the base of Mount Kenya, the highest peak in Kenya and second biggest in Africa (one of which I plan on summiting before my departure).Embu is not highlighted in any of the travel books, to put it lightly, in fact it written about quite poorly, merely to say it’s nothing worth visiting, which may be true from a tourist’s point of view, but I am no longer a tourist, but a Kenyan resident (I even have the documentation to prove it) so I am very optimistic about it. I am told it is green and one of the most lush and beautiful parts of Kenya. I will be living with a host father and mother and possibly brother. My father is a police chief and my mother is an office worker of some kind. I hear I have running water and electricity, but I am open for having something more rural if that is what it turns out to be. I am working with a NGO, Hope Worldwide Kenya, which works with a consortium of organizations all working in the HIV/AIDS arena. The details are still fuzzy, and will be until I get there and meet the directors, but I believe I am doing community program outreach, meaning I will help bring the different programs into the community, programs such as HIV testing, counseling sessions for the HIV positive, maternal and child health services, etc. I am really hoping I am able to work very hands on with these programs, rumor has it I may even be able to help do some of the screenings (which means my fear for needles must be conquered soon). The great thing about this program and the internships it offers is that it allows students to participate in activities that they normally would need extra training for. (they have let students interested in medicine assist in surgeries!). I’m so excited about my internship and everything I will learn while I am there.

Until then, we are taking advantage of our short time left in Nairobi. I will miss my family dearly, but am excited for the next step. We are getting very comfortable here, and of course, once you get comfortable, it’s time for a change.

Classes-- Because, Yes, that's what I'm here For

Classes

As hard as it is for me to believe, yes, we are here to take classes. And, although most of us here are itching to get to our internships, which is the main selling point of this program, having seven weeks of classes before hand will prepare us with background knowledge about the country, some basic Swahili (if all goes well), and some take away questions to evaluate as we go through our internships with our respective organizations.

We take classes at Nazarene University, on Ngong Road in Kilimani. Kilimani is right next to Jamhuri, where I live, although as mentioned before, it is a 45 minute walk each way. The buildings are modest, but equipped with classrooms, desks, and whiteboards, along with some of the best professors we will ever have the pleasure of learning from. There are other classes that take place at Nazarene, but they are sporadic and it is not a four-year university. Think of a few buildings in a gated compound with teachers and students scattered in an out throughout the day and you will have a good concept of what it is like. I will send pictures soon, I promise. (How many times will I type that this semester?)

We normally start our mornings with Kiswahili, much to my dismay. The first couple days were fun, but when I realized I was going to have to tap into my memorization skills and rely on repetition as the main form of learning, the novelty quickly wore off. We have four Swahili teachers that rotate from class to class. There are two beginning classes, one intermediate and one advanced. Our beginners class has eleven students (mwanafunzi) in it. The saving grace about Kiswahili is that it is absolutely phonetic and the way things are spelled is the way they are said. However, the letters they put together to make words, the words they consider multi-syllabic is quite the challenge. As Americans, we are thrown off by the Nyinyi, Ng, Mb, Kaa(two syllables), etc. I enjoy learning languages, but we are in total immersion mode and we go through material very fast. There are those students that have piles of flashcards and who are very diligent about going home and committing the days lesson to memory. I am no such student. The invitation to cyber cafes, soccer pitches, coffee houses, and basically anywhere else we wander often detracts from my studies. And when I say often, I mean always. Also, we were not required to buy the books, as they have a surplus at the MSID office, which I might add is out of the way of our extracurricular excursions and takes a devoted afternoon’s walk to go to. So guess who has yet to go get a book. I am the only one to blame for my stumbling fumbling Swahili phrases. They are finally slowing down the lessons and we are scheduled to have a test next week. God help me.

We stop Swahili at 1030, if not earlier, for tea break. Our teachers will lament about how many lessons we have to cover, but as the time slowly approaches 1015ish, they are itching for their chai fix. Kenyans and their tea. It’s wonderful. After a 15 (read 45) minute tea break, we either have Country Analysis or International Development class.

I must devote a new paragraph to speak about the wonder of our professors. Dr. Jama, the head of the International Development Studies Department at the University of Nairobi is our Development teacher and wow are we lucky to have him. Jama is a biiig deal around Nairobi. He is well traveled, very well studied, and one of the most eloquent men I’ve ever listened to. He has just the right amount of accent to keep us entertained and his demeanor is so inviting, we all wish we were his host students. What makes Jama so amazing is not only his very straightforward attitude, but also his integrity when speaking about international development in Kenya. He is very good about speaking to both sides, putting responsibility where it should be, and integrating personal anecdotes, statistics, and other accounts that could only be told by a person who has lived to see what has happened in Kenya over the last few decades. Jama has lived through Kenya’s struggle for independence and has witnessed the development of Kenya during pre and post colonization. He is in short the most qualified, entertaining, and captivating lecturer I have encountered thus far in my academic career.

Fred, the Country Analysis professor closely follows in amazement. Fred’s accent is slighter thicker than Jama’s which makes is that much more interesting to listen to. In addition to being well-versed and a PHD candidate (he just submitted his doctoral thesis), he integrates ridiculous drawings and animations into his lecture. Fred will often draw a blob on the whiteboard, call it a lion or an elephant, and then demonstrate how a massai would go about capturing it (with sounds and multiple roles included). It is the most amusing thing ever, which he then follows up with in his thick British/Kenyan accent “Now, look at that?” His class focuses on the history of the structure of Kenya pre and now post colonization and the way things have progressed to the point where they are now. He and Jama both have given us so much information and insight into the journey Kenya has had through independence and have provided insight into the road and struggles that lie ahead for the government and the people of Kenya. I can honestly say I have never been taught by more qualified and invested individuals. These two men are so committed to their country, even though they could be much more successful and wealthy if they had packed up and left Kenya for good. Both of them have lived in various places in the world and chose to return to their homeland and dedicate their careers to educating the next generation. They are in short absolutely amazing.

After the second session of class, we have a lunch break for 45 minutes (read hour or so) and finish the day with whatever class we didn’t have during the second session. It is weird for us to be in class from 8:30- 3:30 everyday, except that there are so many holes and free afternoons, the time flies by. We will randomly have an afternoon or two off to work on “assignments” aka wander around Nairobi. We have three 10-15 page papers due at the end of the semester that I absolutely must start working on. Once I leave for my internship, research and references will be hard to come by.

Weekdays here are fairly regimented, everyone is on the same schedule, but it works for most of us. It’s definitely an adjustment, but I think we appreciate getting into a routine that has helped us settle into our lives here. The coursework is rigid, but it is at least a semster’s worth of information and assignments compact into seven weeks, so that is to be expected. As I sit here now, my Swahili workbook is staring at me, with crosswords and translations waiting to be completed.

Back to work.

Life in Nairobi

Life in Nairobi

I have realized that in the midst of trying to articulate specific experiences I’ve had here, I have neglected to write about the everyday life here. That was partly due to the limited time I’ve had here and the feeling that I hadn’t really experienced life in Nairobi, but after a week at my new home, I feel confident I have enough under my belt to share a little snapshot of my life in Nairobi.

Jamhuri

Nairobi is similar to many big cities in that it is separated into estates (neighborhoods), with the City Center (downtown) as the reference point. The city center is at first daunting, our first experience there involved spending three hours at the immigration office and a trip to a subpar restaurant and an internet café that experienced a blackout while we were there. This was also our first day in Nairobi and we are still shaky on being in an African city that we had even heard the locals refer to as “nai-ROB-ori”. I am glad to report that it is not as dangerous as it had first been made out to be. There are skyscrapers, lots of independent shops, hotels, etc. there are a number of bus terminals and matatu stops, and the traffic is constantly at a standstill. That is, until you attempt to cross the street, at which point, it seems as though the road has opened up giving cars a clear shot, judging by the way cars charge at you at full speed (reference previous email about transportation). We don’t have any need to go downtown unless we want to explore, go to the post office, or for any other number of reasons. We went to the maasai market on Saturday downtown, more on that later, that deserves an entirely separate email to do it justice.

I live in Jamhuri, down Gnong Road, west of the City Center. There are two “phases” of Jamhuri, Jamhuri 1 and Jamhuri Two. There are about 7 other people that live in jamhuri, although they all live in Phase Two. I walk down about 5 minutes to meet up with any one of them in Phase Two. It is a red dirt road, with rocks and dips and bumps everywhere, you would be sure any person trying to walk down it was intoxicated, fumbling around for a steady foothold. Every cluster of houses has a security gate, which is staffed twenty four hours a day. In addition to these entrance gates, every house, including mine, has a metal gate, made up of two solid pieces of metal and a tiny hole to stick your hand through and unlock one of the many padlocks to then enter a courtyard before unlocking your front door. Obviously, security is a big problem here. In the week we’ve been here, there were two car-jackings at a MSID student’s house, in Jamhuri. During the day, it feels very safe. I walk alone to meet up with the rest of the Jamhuri crew to walk to school and back and have never had an issue. There are quite a few muzungus that live in our estate, so I don’t think we throw the locals off too much. And if we do, we simply say “habari” (How are you?), and I think they take amusement at us attempting to blend in.

It is about a 40 minute walk to class, we all meet at the Coke kiosk (more on the phenomenon that is Coke in another email) around 7:45 and start our trek. The girls and one boy I live near are amazing and we have a blast walking home and finding things to do between 3:00 when we get out of class and 6:58 when it’s officially to dark to be walking outside. Speaking of extracurricular activities, we find it a little difficult to do a lot after school, as we are on a race against time once we are dismissed. Mostly we’ll go to internet cafes, the supermarket, or to the pitch to play soccer( I obviously assume my role as the spectator). We can find just about everything in Jamhuri, and since such a large group of us live there, we often are never too far from home. Once I get home, I have evening tea, play with Abby (or more accurately, I sit on the couch while she climbs all over me, going through my bag and asking me for chewing gum). I normally eat dinner with Abby, as I never know when my mum will get home and my brother eats with her (some families don’t eat until 8:30 or 9 at night). We don’t have a kitchen table, so we eat on the couches in front of the tv. Note: In Kenya, the TV is always on in the home. Honestly, from sun up until sundown. It is the strangest cultural norm. With the water and electricity rationing, homes will be without power from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, and I really wonder how families are handling the absent of their tvs during those hours.

Back to talking about the food here, every meal consists of a starch paired with a stew. Beef stew, minced meat stew, mutton stew, sausage stew, vegetable stew, lentil stew, stew stew stew. Which is fine with me, and everyone else I’ve talked to, because it is delicious!! The starches range from noodles, rice, ugali, chapate or often times many of the above. It is very common to be served ugali, noodles, and rice at one meal. I can’t quite get used to having noodles and rice in the same meal, let alone, with the same stew, but I’m adjusting. Ugali is the most traditional food here, which is basically corn starch and water mixed together to make a block of white… stuff. It looks like hard mashed potatoes. It is completely tasteless. I repeat, zero taste. They use it as a spoon, taking a chunk of it, rolling it in a ball and pushing their thumbs in it to make a reservoir for the stew. It takes awhile to get used to, but it’s pretty fun to eat, and I’m sure, very entertaining to the locals to watch us try and eat with it. Kenyans eat mostly with their hands, even the stew, rice, everything. EXCEPT FRIES! They will literally eat their entire meal with their hands, then when a plate of fries comes, they will each take a fork and eat them that way. The best way to describe chapate is like a tortilla, but a thousand times better. It is delicious by itself or dipped in stew, or rolled with vegetables. I am learning how to make it next weekend and will be begging to make it for people when I get back to the states.

Hopefully this has given you a little taste of what life is like here. I’m looking forward to taking pictures of things and posting them to give you a visual of things I’ve referenced. I will try to do that this week. I’ve adjusted here really well, my host mum has even commented to me and others how quickly I’ve become comfortable here and how quickly I am picking up where we live in relation to other places. It’ just really comfortable here, which feels good to say after feeling like a complete outsider last week. While I do understand that I will always be given a second or third look wherever I go and I am acutely aware that I am a Caucasian American, I think we have all come to accept this and take it in stride. It is weird to constantly here “Muzungu!!” when we walk down the street (because they are literally yelling white person white person, which if you think about it, is absurd to be running down the street yelling).that's all for now. This mzungu must get home.

Getting around Nairobi

First of all, drivers here are crazy. They create lanes out of a mere inches of pavement or gravel, they enjoy scaring pedestrians by brushing them with their side mirrors as they zoom by, oh, and they drive on the wrong side of the road. Nairobi is split up into estates, or neighborhoods, all surrounding the City Center (downtown). The City Center is pretty big and I can almost guarantee I will never know my way around it. I live in Jamhuri, which I think is West of the City Center. Our school is in another estate, Kilimani I believe, so we don’t go downtown unless we have to. To get to downtown we can either take a matatau or a bus. A matatu is essentially a van filled with seats. They generally have very loud music playing and I guess they are cheaper than the buses. They are also a little more risky, as pick pocketers have stealing down to a science in those crowded vans. The one we took with our guide on our way downtown for a tour seemed fine, a little overwhelming to say the least, but we managed. The matatu ride was 20 shillings, or approx. a quarter. Matatus have a conductor who rides with door swung open hanging out of it with a sign indicating the bus route and screaming at all passing pedestrians to get in. walking down just about any road, you never know when a matatu will come out of nowhere and the conductor will be in your face, rattling off in Swahili.

The buses are said to be (and seem to be) safer. There’s no such thing as a bus schedule as anything reliant on time in Kenya in unheard of and would be disregarded anyway. Except for tea. Kenyans can be hours late for meetings, classes, you name it, but when it’s tea time, they are right on schedule. There’s a saying here that “every time is tea time”. Our fist bus ride was done without the help of a native, just 6 muzungus, one of whom luckily can communicate in swahili. We have to take either the 4 or 111 to get back to Jamhuri. The buses are fine, except when it comes to figuring out how to alight. First, let me stop to say that I personally had never heard the word alight before. It is very British and everytime someone had said it or I read it on a sign I wondered what it meant. Apparently it means to get off, or to depart from (so we want to alight at the China Centre to get to school). However, you cannot alight someone (don’t ask how we alight the driver that we want to get off, doesn’t translate and you look like an idiot). That was me. There are these red buttons on the roof of the bus that I guess you push when you want to alight however, there are only about two rows of seats where you can actually reach them so if you’re not in those seats, you’re SOL. Luckily for us, there were other people that wanted to get off on our stop, so we followed their lead.

The final mode of transportation, and the one that we will use most often is walking. We use Gnong Road the most, it is where our school is, the supermarkets, and several other cafes, etc. It is very busy and once again, let me reiterate that crossing it is quite the challenge, drivers have zero regard for the fact that there are people in the middle of the road, it is their right of way and if you don’t move, they would very well leave you for dead without a second thought. And this is not an exaggeration. Our walk from school to home is about 30-40 minutes. We figured it’s close to 2.5 if not 3 miles one way. Which we are pumped for, because we are all in desperate need of exercise to counteract all the starch in our new diet. The walk in the morning isn’t bad, but in the afternoon it’s hot and sunny, and I get home dripping sweat. The first day I took a shower immediately, but we’re in a drought and all of Kenya is on a water rationing program, so I will have to think of something else. To make matters worse, the roads we walk on to get to school are rough, not paved, and cause your feet to get stained with red dirt. I could wear sneakers, but then those would get filthy and they’re still fairly white, so I sport the

Flip flops.

Getting around is fairly easy, there are always a number of walkers as it is free, but public transportation is fine too, up until dark, which, let me remind you is 6:30pm. After that, we are only allowed to take certain taxis, as there is a problem with dangerous people posing as taxi companies. I have yet to take a taxi here, but they are crazy expensive, so hopefully I won’t have to that often. This weekend will probably be the first, as we are excited to go out to the clubs our mums keep telling us about.

My Host Mum

My host mum is amazing. After a quick lunch with her filled with constant conversation, I can tell she is going to be quite an inspiration during my stay here. She already has been during the two hours I’ve known her. From the little I had been told about her, I was expecting something totally different than what greeted me at the university.

First, I must say, the way they arranged the pick-ups brought us all back to the last day of summer camp, bags in tow, waiting anxiously for our parents to pull up and greet us with a big hug and take us home. This is what it was like. 32 college students ranging from 19 to 23 standing in a huddle watching eagerly for the next car to pull up, the African mom to get out, embrace their new child, and whisk them off for the weekend, while the rest of us waited jealously for our turn to be claimed. It was quite the scene. Everyone would cheer as the cars pulled up and would chant the chosen participants name as they walked to the car of their new parents. As I was used to being the last kid waiting on the curb, watching cars to go by, waiting to see my mom finally pull up long overdue, I was fearful those childhood days would come back as more parents came and went without me.

Finally, a car pulled up and Jane yelled out that it was for me, to which I responded with a quite unnecessary, YYYEEEESSSSSS. Relieved that I would not be the last one for today. I literally ran into her arms. She helped me load my bags, and off we went. Loise, aka Mum, has had six other host students and is very familiar with our kind. She informed me that she had new kittens, three of them, that were just born last week. Her female cat has had several litters, and after a few months or so, she gives them away to whoever wants them. We stopped for lunch at the cutest plaza in Jamhuri, my estate(neighborhood). They had the best coffee. I have needed little time adjusting to the wonderful spicy tea, the huge portions of food, and out of this world coffee. It was basically an American café, so I indulged myself in some of the best chicken I have ever had.

But enough about the food. My mum is a single mother due to a car crash that took her husband four years ago, while she was expecting her youngest daughter, Abigail. She comes from a good family, but has worked hard for what she has today. One of the first things she asked me was if I went to church to which I eagerly replied that I did. This made her very happy as she is a very faithful woman who has experienced incredible hardships, yet has made it through with the most positive and uplifting attitude I have ever seen. She believes she has been so blessed with what she has and believes no matter what happens in life, life must go on. She is so refreshing to talk with. She works with insurance claims, but wants to start an NGO (non-governmental organization) by the time she’s 40. she’s 36 now. Her vision is to have an NGO for widowed women, especially young ones, who don’t know their rights and who are too often taken advantage of after their husbands have died. Her mother is currently starting an NGO for women to teach them to be self-sufficient. Absolutely incredible. I told her about my passion for working with non-profits and how I have a big spot in my heart for at-risk, low-income youth. She says because we were only born 4 days apart, that birds of a feather stick together. She asked a lot about my family, and it felt nice to be able to talk about them as I hadn’t had much of a chance as of yet. I showed her pictures and she immediately told me I must ask my sister in the Congo to come visit. After I told her about Elise’s job switch, she didn’t miss a beat and said she must visit before she leaves Africa.

Her oldest son is at boarding school, which has allowed me to have my own room, for which I am very thankful. The house is nice, she rents out the servants quarters to help with rent. Some of the people in my program have ridiculously nice houses, but I am happy I have an average working class home to learn in. I am currently sitting on my bed, staring at my filthy feet, and looking forward to my hot shower to come.

I feel very fortunate to have the host family I do. I know I have been put in a home where I will learn and grow and have the support of my host mum to do so. She ensures me this will be the best experience of my life and I will enjoy myself. I suspect she’s right.

Ok, time to shower.

Safely in Kenya

Greetings from Nakuru!

I originally tried to send an email ensuring I arrived in Kenya safely on Tuesday from an internet café in Nairobi, unfortunately, just as I was about to hit send, the power went out. TIA

We have been at a week long orientation at Nakuri Regional Park, a two hour drive west of Nairobi. We are on a forest preserve and have been on game drives every evening. Some highlights of the park are not only the claustrophobic mosquito nets that I will never get used to, but we also have discovered the baboons not only enjoy roaming around freely in our compound, but also enjoy scaring the be-jeesus out of us by trying to get into the dining hall during breakfast. One jumped up and stared at us from the door, leaving me no option but to scream and jump on top of my chair. Baboons are the squirrels of Kenya. Only more dangerous. Rhinos, zebras, buffalos, impala, and flamingo are all part of the wildlife we have enjoyed on our game drives. Pictures are coming soon I promise.

Kenya is in a horrible drought and the animals are starving. This is the main reason for the baboons aggressively trying to get into anywhere they can in search of food. We also must be careful about leopards, who are also starving and could come to the compound at night on the prowl for a dreary eyed student on the way to the bathroom. But, so far so good.

The first couple days here were rough. Upon arrival, I met another girl, Julia, who flew in early and we were whisked away to a hostel outside of Nairobi, where we were left to fend for ourselves from 7 am to 11 pm that night. It was almost as if we were quarantined. Julia and I enjoyed a nap, then met another girl who arrived by taxi. The day flew by quickly and we were soon joined by the rest of the group. The next day, we went to Nairobi to the immigration office to receive a multiple entry and resident papers. Then, we went to lunch, where I was ignored and wasn’t able to order. Close to tears as I hadn’t had a meal since I left on Saturday except for meager plane meals, I almost had a breakdown at the restaurant. I was finally able to order a chicken sandwich, which only invited more tears when they brought it and it was bony and barely a fourth of a serving of chicken as the other chicken sandwiches. Then, the stint with the internet, and I was ready to call it quits. I took some deep breaths and enjoyed the two hour ride to Nakuri, enjoying a wonderful cup of coffee on the way there.

The orientation has been good, a lot of information, a lot of caution, and a lot of warnings. The people here are great. I am one of the few inexperienced world travelers, don’t speak Swahili, and am not a global studies major. Everyone here is one of the three. So, although I feel a little out of place, I am enjoying having a new experience.

We haven’t had much interaction here with the local people, but everyone we’ve met and the staff are amazing!!!

I meet my host family tomorrow. I have running water and electricity. I am living in a neighborhood with several other students, so we are able to walk to and from classes together which is great because we will need the exercise.

They feed us a ridiculous amount of food here!!! Three kinds of starches, two types of meat, vegetables, and something to soak up the sauces with are the norm for every meal. All of our hopes of coming back lean and mean are rapidly dwindling.

I am happy to be here, I love the scenery, although a lot of the vegetation is dying due to the lack of rain. African people are beautiful, just beautiful. I think about home a lot, but not in a sad way, but in a fond way. Everything is still surreal as we are still removed from the reality of what our everyday life will be like in Nairobi.