i had to say it...

things i miss.

now i know what you might be thinking...why think about things that i miss? well...there's a few reasons...the first one being i'm sitting in an office in a small village outside of mombasa with nothing to do (but thats another story), and the 2nd is that now's the normal time to be missing stuff...not 4 months from now...or even a month from now...and its true...when you go from a place like Canada to a place like Kenya...its impossible not to think about Canada...(and maybe today i'm feeling a little homesick)....so here goes...

1) People - this goes without saying...first and foremost my family and friends...but all of your faces are engrained in my mind
2) clean air - i think this experience is gonna take about 3-4 years of life away from my lungs...there are wierd smells everywhere...some of which i don't want to know the source
3) going out after dark - its like that movie "I am legend". you have to be indoors after dark (which comes at like 7pm)...whaddya mean i can't walk down the street at 8:30pm??
4) sense of security - all around i see fences, and barbed wire and electrical wire and gates and guards and big dogs...i can't help but ponder the quality of life when you have to put up all these barriers...
5) not having to be suspicious of people - its not my nature to be wary of people, but i was told i have to be. so whenever i walk around town, even in the middle of the day, i walk fast and with my impression of a mean look...like i said so far the only casualty is my sunglasses...
6) not being ripped off - take your pick - it seems like everyone on the street is out to rip you off....especially a taxi/tuk tuk
7) cleanliness - keep looking straight, don't look to the side, don't look down and watch your step...
8) healthy food - everything is deep fried here. i ordered a tillapia and got a deep fried fish on my plate...like the whole fish..with the head and tail and fins and everything. one side of the head even had the eye in it....
9) my bed - obviously...but i'm praising my sister-in-law who vacuum sealed my favourite pillow so that at least i would have that here...bhabs you rock!

all of these things got me thinking. In Canada, we tend to say that canadians complain a lot (at least i thought so). but is it complaining that we're doing? i think one of the biggest tragedies that i've seen in kenya so far is complacency. the notion that this is the way it is...and things will never change - corruption, crime, pollution, poverty, etc. etc. etc. this is such an unfortunate mindset and i don't know if this mindset will ever change. i hope it does though...no one should have to live the way some of these people do. kenyans have that famous saying "hakuna matata"...but at what cost?

this has made me realize the importance of speaking up. Canadians don't complain...we refuse to be complacent! We refuse to accept that things can't change. Isn't it ok to demand that things continue to improve?...i realize we have one of the highest living standards in the world, but does that mean we should just settle at where we are?

just make sure you appreciate what you have to begin with....

n

Talking Sh*t...my first day in the field

If you've ever seen a matatu drive, you'd wonder how they actually stay out of accidents. they drive on the sidewalk, on the grass, on the opposite side of the road and basically anywhere they can fit. well today i finally figured it out...not long! on my way to work, i saw one matatu completely rear end another in the middle of morning rush hour...somehow i doubt any insurance information was exchanged.

Enough about matatu's. Yesterday morning i woke up knowing that i would be taking my first trip to the field (my official title here is Assistant Project Field Officer) so i was pretty pumped. The visit was to a village (mburibana or something like that) about 60-90 min. outside Mombasa near Marikani. We were going to visit a village where CHD was working on water sanitation and hygiene in conjunction with AK's Coast Rural support program.

Bright eyed and excited we arrived in marikani around 8:30am...and....waited...then sat..and waited...for 2 hours. apparently we had not recieved the proper permission from the village elders to enter so we were obtaining that. 10:30am, we leave marikani and get to the village by 11:15am...ready to observe, learn and teach! we waited...and sat..and waited...until 2pm. ahh...african time. We had requested parents from the village gather by noon so that we could teach them about waste disposal (yes..human waste) and hygiene.

CAUTION: the following goes into great detail about human waste.

see..this village does not have any bathrooms...at all...anywhere. they go in the bush. the idea was to educate the village members into not only how disguisting it is..but how dangerous it is due to the nature of communicable disease and illness. we spent an hour or so talking in a classroom and asking them questions about their current hygiene practices. we then went to the their households and actually found a sample of someone's waste lying in the bush. one of the staff (i stayed far away from it) placed a slice of bread next to the pile and we saw the flies go from the bread to the waste. then started offering the bread to the village members as an illustration of "this is whats happening in your community...you're eating someone elses crap". thats where the shame comes it. Then they took a water bottle and mixed it with some samples and offered it around "this is whats happening, you are drinking someone elses crap".

Our goal was to get the village people to decide for themselves that they needed to build bathrooms. we can not decide this for them...they have to decide for themselves. but we can discuss and teach them about what kinds of dangers there are with their current practices. So, back in the classroom we go and we debrief. a quick calculation using number of people and weight determines that every year approx. 40 tonnes of waste is produced and its just lying around attracting flies and infecting the homes and people arround. The question is posed to the community: How many people want to continue this?...none. How many people want a solution?...everyone. Grassroots change at its best!

The village decided for themselves that within 2 months, every household would have a bathroom for proper waste disposal. A committee made up of local people is formed and CHD and CRSP would facilitate this and help fund the creation of latrines and proper areas to wash your hands after using the latrines. It was a very inspiring day to see people empowered to change their own destiny. Where disease and water borne illness is rampant, small changes like these make a world of difference. what i've described here is a simplistic version of the day, that is actually 10-12 hrs long and takes weeks of preparation....but its worth it in the end...

decided to skip dinner last night though...for some reason...i just wasn't hungry...

My First Day

Sunday evening, i did something for the first time in Kenya....i rode a matatu.  never heard of them or seen them in Asia or Europe, but in Africa (and Latin America) its the only way to get around.  picture a small minivan crammed with as many seats as possible (about 14) and then it operates like a citybus, except that each one is individual and the drivers usually pimp them out with flashy lights and loud music.  oh and they drive like maniacs racing each other to get the next passenger fare.  

anyways, today i went to work....bright eyed and bushy tailed..yeah..maybe more like blurry eyed (left at 7am) and uhh...well...don't have a tail, but after 8 months in africa who knows what i'll come back with...wait...that didn't come out right...

so i arrived at the Community Health Department on the campus of the Aga Khan Hospital.  unfortunately, the coordinator who i was chatting with while i was home is no longer with  CHD, but thats ok...we'll figure it out.

i know first day's usually consist of nothing, but today i did less than nothing.  the first chair i sat down on was broken.  when i started to look around for another chair, i was told to take the chair beside me.  after mentionning that i thought it belonged to someone else (namely the person who's desk it was) i was told to "look after myself first, and let others figure themselves out".  lesson learned.  

ok..bad first impression, but the people are actually nice.  there's 2 main proposals being worked on right now, one is from the rockefeller foundation looking at communicable disease in rural villages, and the other is looking at water sanitation.  the rockefeller project is CHD's focus right now, however that will be wrapping up in sept. the water sanitation only funded 2 staff people, so i'm not sure if succession planning has taken place.  i was asking people what happens after the rockefeller project ends..there were a lot of shoulder shrugs.  when i asked how people would be paid after this grant ended...again shoulder shrugs.....soooo...side note: i found out, that some people at CHD make about 12,000 shillings/month.  thats about $200/month, or about $2400/year.  compare that to some of our highly admired professional athletes who would probably make $2400 in the time it takes to readjust their jock strap...how can there be such a discrepancy?!?!?!?  

pace is slow.  definetely a far cry from UHN pace...but that was expected.  i went from an organization with 12000 staff and a $1.5 billion budget to an org. with 20 staff and $1.5 million in grants...  i'm meeting with the director tmrw morning and hopefully will get some type of marching order.  during lunch, i took a trek to a local cafe where i tried to order a chicken philly cheese sandwich, but ended up with something much different...still chicken though...i think...

while at this (busy) cafe, i stepped outside to make a quick phone call on my cell phone.  i was standing in the middle of the street with my phone in my hand searching for the phone number and felt like there were eyes watching me.  when i looked up, i realized they weren't watching me...they were watching my phone!...cell phone back in pocket...lesson learned.

after work, while walking to the matatu stand to go home, i was told to keep a close eye on my backpack as people would try to open up the zipper and steal stuff...being the smart big-city torontonian i thought "ha! just try it...i'm so aware of my surroundings!"....when i hopped in the matatu i realized that my bag had indeed been open, and my sunglasses were gone....(no bigge...they were a cheap pair i bought in thailand for like $3)..., ok..i'm in africa..not toronto...lesson learned. (but the wierd thing is that i have yet to see a kenyan wearing sunglasses)

so...tomorrow's another day...hoping it will be better than today...it really wasnt' a bad day...it was actually pretty neat when i think about it, i came to a different side of the world, so it would only make sense to expect a world of difference...i'll be better prepared tomorrow...

just a lot of stuff to get used to.  in time........

Kibera to Serena

i wanted to write this last night (sunday night) but fell asleep at 9:30pm...yes..thats right 9:30 thats definetely a first for me...

its been a whirlwind of a past few days bouncing around kenya from nairobi to mariakani to mombasa in between nyali and so on. the sights are already engrained in my head. one of the most stark sights was our trip to Kiberia (outside of Nairobi) which is one of Africa's biggest (if not the biggest) slums. It was an eye opening tour and millions of questions were running through my head, first and foremost being - why does this exist? what conditions are making this occur? I was also trying to imagne what was happening here during the election violence back in December as i read that Kiberia was one of the hardest hit places. All over the place you could see pleas for peace spray painted on walls. In a perfect world....

We went from one polar opposite to the next, as when we arrived in Mombasa, we were treated with a stay at the Serena Beach Hotel which is just metres from a white sandy beach and the indian ocean. If you'd like, google it, and see what its like. The first night there, there was a full moon shining over the ocean that just illuminated the whole thing. definetely a postcard, hopefully my camera captured it. Funny to think though, that such beauty could hide such danger as i was very careful not to wander off the hotel property (at night) and onto the actual white sandy beach due to the presence of "Beach Boys" who - if you're lucky, will only try to aggresively sell you stuff.

Friday was spent visiting local schools run by the madrasa (where one of our interns will be) as well as my own home Community Health with the Aga Khan Health Services. It was great to see such dedicated people working at the grass roots level, and hopefully i will also be able to make a contribution.

saturday we decided to just lounge around the hotel and try and get our body clocks back on schedule. I wanted to go to the beach but as soon as i took 3 steps onto the beach, i saw about 10-12 beach boys walking towards me...i turned back. Also, I was a bit under the weather on Friday and Saturday with an upset stomach and some sweats - probably just the african bug working its way through. Times like that i am (and i know i will be in the future) very grateful to be with such a great group of people who were full of laughs and enthusiasm. I probably couldn't keep up with it, but it definetely helped me recover quickly so if any of you are reading this...thanks!

Sunday, we sadly said goodbye to both the Nairobi crew, and the Serena Beach and moved to our homestay or as we call it "the zoo". Basically, there's a family who takes in expats and they live in a posh area in nyali, north of mombasa. not a bad setup, just like living in the burbs so far from the actual city, we are currently looking for a place closer to mombasa. Can't complain though, i think i got the long straw here as i got the guest house to myself (or as my friend called it "the penthouse), so its like my own little (emphasize little) bach pad.

sunday afternoon we went with the kids of the family (one of who is a university student) to a local beach bar again right on the coast of the ocean (becoming attached to the indian ocean) where i tried my first tusker beer and learned some of local views on women, drinking, and other social issues.....this is definetely not Canada.

on the way home...we weren't more than a 10 min. drive from home and started to make our way home. i asked one of the them "how long will it take to get home?" his response "man..this is africa...probably about 90 min" - wish i went to the bathroom at the bar...

Next Post: My first day of work (which is where i currently am)

my cell

forgot to mention, i do have a cell here, the number is (as you would dial from Canada) 011 254 734287827.  feel free to drop a line (no clue what it costs to call Kenya though)...just keep in mind that Kenya is 8 hours ahead.

n

I have arrived!

Africa. I have arrived.

Jambo from Mombasa, Kenya! We arrived in Kenya tuesday night safe and sound and with our baggage in tow, so already we were off to a good start.

When i was reading about Kenya, it was often referred to as the "cradle of humanity", therefore, i took on that and named this blog Journey to the Cradle of Humanity.  There's something about this place that makes you feel it.  The land is raw, it really looks as if it has been treaded on by human beings since the earliest time.  The air has a distinct scent to it that to be smells like time (mixed in with a lot of pollution) I was mentionning to the others today that even the sky looked a different shade of blue, but they claimed it was because of my sunglasses (i took them off and i still say its a different shade - again this may be due to pollution)!

Our schedule so far has been hectic to say the least.  We landed in Nairobi tuesday evening (via Amsterdam) and by the time we got to our hotel it was about 10pm.  THe following morning we were picked up at 7am for a full day of stuff that was mostly logistics (i.e. cell phones, registering with the high commission).  Nairobi is a busy place, traffic is a nightmare, and to make it worse, you can't roll down your window (so we're told because of the crime).  we then spent the afternoon touring Nairobi and some of the sights.  It was a short trip there as this morning we were on the first flight out to Mombasa (so again an early morning).  We went straight Mariakani which is just outside Mombasa and where one of the interns will be.  We spent the day touring different projects being coordinated by AKF and their Coastal Rural Support Program.  It was amazing to see that amount of innovation and resilience some of these people have when faced with challenges we don't even think about at home.  They bring true meaning to the quote "Be the change you wish to see in the world".  Their innovation is only surpassed by their enthusiasm for what they do.  Its very inspiring.  

So tonight we are in Mombasa at a hotel, and then tomorrow it will be my turn to visit my placement and meet the team i will be working with.  I am very excited about it.  We will be moving into our permanent home on sunday so keeping my fingers crossed.   The weather is so far been pretty good, but keeping in mind its winter here and kenyans are complaining that its been cold.  My mind has been a little cloudy so far which i attribute mostly to jet lag,  just a flurry of thoughts and observations and questions, many of which i hope will be answered over the next 8 months. 

The journey begins...

cheers

n

Welcome!

hi all,

this is where i'll be posting notes/pics (once i figure out how) from around Mombasa, Kenya, and hopefully some more of Africa!

Thanks all for your well wishes, if you find yourself down this way, my door is always open!

cheers

n