Pesa ngapi?

[How much $$?] Answer: Invaluable!

Dear People Who Humor Me and Read My Random Thoughts,

Hi! Apologies for the delay in posting – I’m going to try and make this a decently long post before I get distracted by bright lights / shiny objects elsewhere. I know it’s been an enormously long time since I’ve last updated – there have been so many things to happen, I’m not really sure I remember the chronological order of events!

I’ll start with the Mchanganyiko Kid’s Program (class!) every Saturday, because that’s probably one of the things that has been making me the happiest here. It’s been over 2 months of weekly classes, and the kids just make me so happy. While newcomers have been growing too (I’ve even intrigued the adolescent girls who are just too cool, enough to hover near the doorway) – the number of kids who have been coming back has been consistent and growing, which has been so great. This means that some of the relationships that I’ve been developing with them mean something to them, enough to come back, and they mean so much to me. Last week, Momina (the glamorous girl recently profiled in my facebook picture) was sick, and her cousin, Fatuma told me that she wouldn’t be able to make it to class. Momina who is probably younger than three, usually doesn’t say too much except giggle when I tickle her, or occasionally answer an alphabet question. Halfway through the class though, I see Momina and her mom coming through the gate, with tears streaming down her face. Apparently, though she was sick, she wouldn’t stop crying until her mom agreed to bring her to see me and be a part of the class. I introduced myself to her mom, who said she had heard about me (!) and held Momina, and I have never been so happy to receive a hug.

Why did this mean so much? Well, firstly, I couldn’t believe that Momina wanted to come so desperately just to say hi, and secondly, though she barely spoke – she had gone home and said enough to her mom for her to be like “oh I’ve heard allll about you”. It was just so surprising to know that while I come back home after class, and rant about the kids to anyone who will listen – a few of the kids, or even just one of them might have done the same. Gosh, sometimes the littlest things can just make you feel like you’re doing ONE thing right – even if you don’t have anything else in your life remotely figured out.

Two weeks ago, while at class, this man Cartoon (real name William) was walking by (he was doing the sound system for an event at the center) and asked if he could come in and hang out for a while with us. Cartoon as it turns out, is an amazing addition to our program. Last week he brought his guitar, and we sat in a circle (~30 of us) and sang along to a new tune he came up with – with letters and corresponding words of the alphabet. We’ve been doing educational things all along, but it was so nice to have some music along with it, and he was awesome. Another amazing moment was finally making a connection with Zaki. Zaki has been coming for a few weeks, but really didn’t want to participate or even speak with me when we were doing spelling tests, and other activities. But when we gave the class the assignment of making a ball (made out of garbage bags / twine / rope) – he made the best one I saw, and was so excited to play with it, WITH me. And when I said, “Zaki, I think you did an amazing job making this ball” – he beamed. A few pictures below!The first are my babies coloring! That's Habiba in the pink with the electric smile. :) Second is me, Momina and Fatima. And the last is Shaniz! One of the older girls, who drew me a picture and wanted me to make sure to take a photo of it (I don't know if you can read it - but I'm "Princess Mercer" :)

Sadly, last week’s class meant that I had to miss Benjekins playing in World Water Day, and from the sounds of it and everyone else who went, it was awesome, and he did a really amazing job organizing. Benje, btw, is the another intern here in East Africa, and I love him so. Read about it here: World Water Day - Benje's Post!

I didn't mention this in my last mini update the wedding I attended in Kibera, the same day as the TedX event. My friend Zena, one of the women who started the Mchanganyiko women's group (that rents out the hall), invited me to her nieces wedding, in the village of Makina in Kibera. It was the furthest / deepest within Kibera that I had ever gone, and was an incredibly fascinating wedding. Zena's family is Nubian, originally from Southern Sudan, but have settled in Kibera for many many years. As a result, their customs and traditions are partially Islamic, and partially Swahili. I was the only non-family or close family friend member around, but Zena, and her family welcomed me, and even allowed me to take pictures every so often. Maybe I'll post on this again, but needless to say, Nubian wedding as so interesting, and I was felt like I was a part of a completely different world. Here's a picture of the beautiful bride and Mama Hamsa! (Mama Hamsa would be her great aunt, I believe, Zena's mom, and one of the most respected women leaders in the community) and a couple more of the most strongest most amazing women I've met here, including Zena (in the blue and yellow wrap). 

Onto figuring out life plans – well, that’s just a topic I’m not sure what to do with. I’m approaching the end of my internship here (end of April) – and I’m not sure what’s next. There are a few possibilities in the air, but nothing certain. What do I know? I want to work in development, I’d like to stay in Nairobi for a while longer, and I think working in the health sector has been really interesting so far. What does that actually translate to? What kind of role? What part of development? These are all questions I’m working on. For those of you who know me well, you know how apprehensive this lack of a clear timeline makes me. Add to that not even knowing which part of the world I will be in. I’m working on “faithing”, and following instincts. I would be so disappointed in myself if I succumbed to risk-averse fears of uncertainty. BUT, unfortunately, that doesn’t mean I have the answers, or the secret map to the next step.   

In other news, after a series of flip-flopping decisions, two weekends ago, I went to Amboseli National Park with an amazing group of people. Amboseli is one of the park reserves in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya where you can do game / safari drives throughout the day to see wild giraffe, elephants, gazelles, zebras, buffalo, wildebeest, and if you’re lucky lions and cheetahs. The absolutely stunning part is that Mt. Kilimanjaro is your backdrop. Some of what you see looks just like postcards. We also stayed in a really nice place where we ended up getting a really good deal (Thanks, Faiz). It was a “tented camp” that was really just a luxury resort where you slept in tents with amazing bathrooms. I think I may be doing an average job of describing – but I will upload some pictures so you will get a better idea. Here’s their website too: Tortillis Camp We left Nairobi pretty early on Saturday in our beastly vehicle, and returned Monday afternoon. Yes, our vehicle was old and weathered, but it was still a beast, and the best part? The roof opening lay flat on the top, so other than the driver who was in the car – the rest of us spent most of the time sitting on the roof of the car. Amazing! We tried our hardest to spot some lions and cheetahs (other people at the camp had seen them) and though we were unlucky in those attempts, top safari moments include:

1.        A huge herd of probably more than 70+ elephants together

2.        Hyena trying to attack baby elephants, and the large male elephants of the group defending them  

3.        Hyenas cleaning off the carcass of a buffalo

4.        Eating breakfast on the top of the jeep, right by hungry hungry hippos

5.        Almost getting attacked by an elephant after our jeep interrupted sparring between two dominant males

  
We had a really good group of people too, and overall just a very T.I.A. (this is africa!) moment. Urban life is urban life anywhere (sometimes), and you get so involved in your daily routine you just forget the incredible things you can see. In this case, it was only a 6 hour car ride away (it was meant to be 3!). Pictures above are the girls (me, Karen, Stephanie), a picture of one of the smaller herds of elephants (UM YAH THAT'S MT. KILIMANJARO in the background), and Faiz and Anderson (Anderson is clearly cheating) at our post-dinner card playing.

Amboseli is now my second trip out of Nairobi (not including the day trip to Longonot). The first being the company retreat to Mombasa. I know I never described much about it, but it was pretty packed and almost tiring! We spent most of our time on work related discussions, but there was some beach time, and two partying nights. The absolute highlight of the trip? Benje’s (Benjekins) dancing on the beach. If I get a hold of that video, I will definitely post it. That boy has some moves. Close runner-up would be attempting to party it up on the train ride there. Here's one of a few of us on the train (Me, Amon, Leah, Dorcas).

I must say it’s really nice to enjoy the company of the people you work with on a personal level. The office has also been host to a few members of the New York office over the past few weeks, as well as the current batch of Acumen Fund Fellows, and it’s been nice to get the chance to meet with people in other offices. 

I never got around to posting much about the TEDx event we had here a few weeks ago too, which was so amazing. It was a live streaming of the TED conference happening in California, organized largely by this group of incredibly talented guys from Kibera (some of whom belong to the book club), and Suraj Sudhakar, resident TED allstar, and ex-Acumen Fund fellow, with help from a few others like myself, Robin, and Jonathan. I was really happy to have some role in helping out – and it was just so amazing to see the kinds of connections you can make with technology sometimes. At one point, Suraj and Kevin were speaking with Chris Anderson, into a laptop (with only car headlights to light their faces since we were in a parking lot), on a skype connection back to California, and their images were then broadcasted live at the actual TED conference in California, which was then subsequently streaming back to us on the screen, all in real time. It was so surreal. One of the things Suraj always does make me think about though, is what next? Like okay, great event, great publicity, great exposure – what does that translate to for the boys of Kibera? As far as what that translates for me at least, is finding more ways to be involved, consistently. Pictures below are of everyone watching the speeches on a screen in the parking lot; Robin, Kevin, Dixson, and I; and Suraj and Kevin on the computer streaming live!

Speaking of visitors from other offices, Rob was here from the NY office for a few weeks, and accompanied me as my own personal bodyguard on a field-visit / business trip – the first I had ever taken to Eldoret, Kenya! Though the days were tiring (the first day went from 5:30AM – end of meeting and eating dinner at 10:00PM), it was nice to finally be doing something – finally be going somewhere and engaging in active research. In some of my research in Nairobi too, I’ve often felt like an investigative journalist. But more thrilling then finding out the answers to your questions – is connecting them to try and map SOMETHING out – some solution, plan, or semblance of a sustainable model. Maybe it doesn’t work, but it’s a point from where you can start. Seeing as I started at ground zero of little to no knowledge about this sector and Kenya – I feel like I have gotten somewhere, even if I’m only measuring against myself. There are times though, when I speak to veterans of the sector, and I feel like there are some things that I know a good amount about – in absolute terms, and not just relatively, and that’s a good feeling (learning!). Btw, Rob's blog (link above on his name) has some nice pictures of the Acumen family here, and some of the kids at my class (him and Suraj came to visit for a little while one Saturday).

Hmm, what else? Oh yes, in the past month, I have also been a victim of Nairobbery (Nairobi’s reputation for theft). While out and about, surrounded by friends, and in a well-lit area a few weeks ago, I pulled out my blackberry and started typing a message on it. Out of nowhere, this guy zoomed past me (Kenyan runners!) and grabbed the blackberry right from my hand, and kept running. Amon and Rob actually ran after him, but couldn’t catch up. He’s a pro, and has probably done it a few times before, but it felt so violating and I was mad at allowing myself to let my guard down. Nairobi can fool you sometimes, allow you to feel like you’re anywhere else in the world, and then something like this happens. I sulked for a while, especially because my blackberry – through messenger and email was my primary mode of communication, since I still do not have a reliable source of internet at home. Amon gave me an old instrument of his, and I got a new number, but lost all 700+ contacts in my phone (because I’m smart and hadn’t backed it up). I suppose it could be considered a cleansing of sorts, but still, sad. Also, cannot be replaced anytime soon, so for now, I’m blackberry-less.

On a slightly related note, I really miss nighttime walks, especially in the city (yes, I’m referring to NYC). I used to love going on them – it’s a certain kind of solitude regardless of whether or not you really are alone, nighttime walks just have that peaceful calming effect. In the 2.5 months that I’ve been here, I’ve never walked anywhere at night, and have only left one compounded apartment complex to go to another compounded apartment, restaurant, or club in a taxi. This is definitely one of the less enjoyable aspects of living here. While in Amboseli, we would star gaze at night, and it was incredible how many stars you could see. It made me realize that I never really have the chance to do that here in the city. Yes, that’s common with many cities due to urban pollution and what not, but especially true of Nairobi, where you rarely ever find yourself outdoors at night.

Other points of interest:

1)       When I leave the office for a trip, or a conference, or anything – Dorcas usually checks in on me with an email, and when I return, Leah, Dorcas, Alex, etc, tell me they missed me. So adorable. Smallest but sweetest thing.

2)       Easter and 4 day weekend coming up! Woot! April 2^nd – April 5^th

3)       Potentially visitors!

Okay, I think that’s about all I have for now. I will try to update soon – as much as I love sharing with you guys (and I love that you want to know how things are going) – this is also such an outlet for me to sit and think about what I’m feeling. My next blog will hopefully be a little more analytical and introspective, since in this one, I wanted to update you on the cool things that have been happening first. I will upload more pictures too, since some of my descriptions pale in comparison to what the experience was really like. I only have a few of the pictures here, and will update with a few more - especially of the kids, and Amboseli!

In the meantime, many happy thoughts and lots of love from me.

Missing you,
Manasa