Hindsight - 2008

With 2 weeks still to go in 2008 maybe i'm jumping the gun, but whatever, its been a slow week. Going back to Jan 1, 2008, if I compare where I thought I would be on Dec 31, 2008 with where I actually will be, you’d wonder how I even manage to put pants on in the morning. But it just goes to show you how much can change in just one year’s time. It was soon after the new year that a friend told me about the IDM fellowship which started the chain of events that led to me sitting in an office on the coast of Africa n 35 degree weather as we get ready to welcome 2009.

The 2 halves of the year provided such stark contrasts and differences that its hard to believe it all happened in a span of 12 months. I remember last winter – the snow! (who doesn’t?). I remember shovelling A LOT of snow! And somewhere in between shoveling I remember the frantic week in which I put together my last minute application for this fellowship with the help of 3 people specifically (you know who you are) and the euphoria of finally sending it off. I remember taking off Vegas/LA/San Fran in February right after I had found out that I had been selected for an interview. What a blast that trip was. 3 days on the strip where I managed to at least come away with my shirt (probably lost more at the bar than I did at the casino) and then flying through the desert in a red convertible to LA to find that my head was completely sunburned from the desert sun and then the 10 hour journey up the pacific coast highway to san fran hugging the pacific ocean the entire way (when it wasn’t covered in fog). Some San Fran goodness and then the harsh return to Toronto where I was met with 40cm. of snow to shovel. I finally learned the meaning of a winter getaway!

The anticipation of waiting to hear back took over March and finally in the first few days of April, I remember picking my parents up from the airport after they returned from India and bringing them home and just casually checking my email after we got home only to find an offer for the fellowship (to which I reacted with a HOLY CRAP!). I’m not sure if I should admit this, but even after I received my offer, it took me about a week before I finally decided to accept it given my environment in Toronto. But my challenge was also my good fortune and it was only through the support of my family and friends that I decided to do this.

Sad goodbyes in May to friends and colleagues but also excitement as I arrived in Ottawa to meet my fellow interns. I remember arriving at the residence in Ottawa, only to find that my room was not ready and I had 3 hours to kill. Not knowing who was who in the building I did what any brown guy would do – search out other brown people. Enter Nadim and Khalfan who were also stuck waiting. Spending the next 3 hours waiting with them, I realized, these guys are even crazier than me (which is little more than I can say for the entire group – love you guys), but it definitely sold me to the fact that yea this is gonna be pretty cool. The next month in Ottawa meeting new people, learning new things, just like being in school again (which I totally miss, so everyone who told me I would, you’re right). Sleeping…I mean sitting through classes, and enjoying summer in Ottawa. Spending a month in Ottawa made me realize why I really do love that city (despite the winter horror). Farewell’s near the end of June to the group as we prepared to spread out across the world and as we were told “be the Canada the world needs more of”.

A relaxing month off in june/july where I spent a large amount of time sitting outside in my backyard patio/hammock/grass to enjoy the last few bits of Canadian summer and just building up in anticipation. An amazing send off at the start july where I was surrounded by my closest family and friends (and a large quantity of alcohol, which thanks to 3am pancakes didn’t result in a bad hangover) and then finally! my departure date on july 14th. The story from there on is laid out in the last 30 some odd posts.

But, the year is not over, Friday is my last day of work before 2 weeks of holidays where a bunch of friends are coming to Mombasa, followed by a safari in the Ngorongoro crater in Tanzania, and then to Zanzibar for new years. 2008 seems like such a random sequence. Do you ever stop and think about how you got to the point where you are right now? One of my roommates commented last week that it seems like we’re living a surreal life here, at first I didn’t understand what she meant but I think now it seems as if I didn’t really live it, as if someone else was actually living it and I was somehow in watching it from an out of body experience. Sound crazy? maybe...but I think I get it now. I can try and think or predict where I’ll be at the end of 2009, but..whats the point? i'm here for the ride.

Heat, Holidays, and Headlines

So its been a while since I wrote. I blame the heat. I’ve been blaming the heat for a lot of things these days, and, given the title above, the heat is one of 3 H’s on my mind. Its hot. Really hot. And its December. I feel tired, sluggish, and slow. My mind is not as sharp, I feel lazy and complacent. Hey! I fit right in with the rest of the people here. Ohh..ok..maybe that’s a little harsh. But, as if we didn’t operate slowly enough, with the seasons somewhere between hottest and scorched earth, as impossible as it is for me to believe, we’ve slowed down even more. But that’s ok, its hot to even bother. I don’t even bother doing cardio workouts at the gym anymore because its just too hot. Unless your sitting directly under a fan, or an a/c, (or you’re outside in a breeze) its hot, which is funny considering the time of year. Which brings me to the next H – Holidays.

It doesn’t feel like the holidays. Probably because it’s a balmy 35 degrees outside and xmas is about 10-12 days away. But I’m not just talking about the holiday season here, I’m talking about public holidays. We have A LOT of them! Today happens to be uhuru day or something, whatever its called, its Kenya’s independence day. Which I thought we celebrated on Kenyatta day, but I guess that’s more of a president’s day, which is what I thought we celebrated on Moi day, but… anyways, thats another story. So in October we had, Eid, Moi day, and Kenyatta day, in November we had Obama day, in December we’ve had an Eid (although it was not technically a public holiday but a lot of people took the day off) and today’s independence day, and starting dec 22nd, most businesses (including my 'little engine that could' of an NGO) will close for 2 weeks for the holidays. So that’s 6 holidays, and 2 weeks off in a span of 3 months. A little much I think, and kind of disrupts the flow of work. A lot of staff here have just taken the whole month of December off and starting next week I think there will be a total of 5 staff in our office (of 15). Oh, and an irony that I have to point out, somehow, I have had to come into work (yes, by choice, but also b/c of deadlines) on everyone of those holidays. Given that my job is not the busiest one in the world, it’s a little ironic. When I left home this morning my roommate remarked that she was going to spend the day decorating our house with some xmas stuff to at least try and make it seem a little more holiday-ish. We have a little Charlie brown xmas tree and some other stuff, but I’m not entirely sure what to expect when I get home. Gotta love her for trying…

The 3rd H is unrelated but whatever. Headlines. I read the nation newspaper here pretty much everyday so that I can keep up to date with the latest Kenyan news. A sample of the headlines will give you a taste of whats going on. The Waki commission looking at last year’s post election violence, random politics (which is huge here) food shortages and the rise in food prices making basic staples unaffordable for most kenyans, and an ad for a oxygen therapy clinic that promises to cure you of a multitude of diseases including arthritis, cancer, stroke, HIV/AIDS, heart disease……wait a sec….you can cure HIV/AIDS??? Cancer??? Does the rest of the world know about this??? The miracle of oxygen therapy!! Ok..its a lie..a big lie…and I was shocked/annoyed to read it! Shocked that this place is so unscrupulous that it would sucker people into thinking that HIV/AIDS or cancer can be cured, and annoyed that the newspaper did not feel it was responsible for editing the content of the ad to ensure that it wasn’t blatantly lying! But its just a sign of the place, time, and society. You can get all worked up about it, you can scream and shout from the rooftops, you can fight and argue and make all sorts of noise…but its too hot.

Happy Holidays to you all, wishing you a safe and enjoyable holiday season!

World AIDS Day

The AIDS virus was born somewhere deep inside the forests of the western side of Africa near the Congo. While no one can pinpoint at exactly what point the virus jumped from animals to humans, the reality is that it did sometime in the 1960’s, and the virus quickly spread as it traveled down the Kinshasa highway and from there spread across the rest of the continent and to the rest of the world. Today AIDS is a plague on the world and continues to kill millions with no cure. Every year, one day is set aside to raise awareness of this plague, Dec 1st was that day.

Kenya is no stranger to the AIDS virus. Currently, Kenya has an AIDS prevalence rate of ~5% which, with a total population of just over 30 million means that ~1.5 million people are infected with the disease. In the spirit of the day, I decided to get involved with a few other staff from CHD in the World AIDS day activities in Mombasa. CHD, as part of the Aga Khan Health Services which is a larger part of the Aga Khan Development Network joined forces with some other AKDN agencies (both development and for-profit) to create one AKDN team. Other agencies included Serena hotels, Jubilee insurance, and Aga Khan schools (its crazy just how big the AKDN really is and how many different industries it covers). The day began with a march through the streets of Mombasa from the provincial commissioners house to the Mombasa Municipal Stadium. It was a good turnout of a few hundred people, with AKDN, USAID, Afri-Aphya, VCT, and other agencies devoted to AIDS awareness. It was a scorching hot walk though with temperatures reaching 30 and above in the sun. Oh, and although we were marching through the narrow congested streets of downtown Mombasa, the streets themselves were not closed off to traffic so we marched in between and around cars, trucks, matatus and tuk-tuk’s. Is there any other way to parade?

Arriving at the stadium, we sat (in the shade thankfully) to hear speeches (in Swahili that I did not understand) and see skits/plays (which I also did not understand, but I don’t think anyone was really paying attention). Now, whats an event without some technical difficulties? See the stadium in Mombasa, is more of a field with some old concrete seats built into the grass surrounding the field. There’s actually no power in the stadium, so everything’s battery operated and of course, batteries ran out of juice. Meaning, microphones and speakers did not work. Ah well, c’est la Kenya. I couldn’t but notice and comment to my colleagues the absolute lack of attention that was being given to the speeches/performances. Makes me wonder what, if any, message got through.
Our next stop was to the streets. We had gathered boxes of bread, juice and clothing to distribute to street kids while we talked about AIDS awareness. We interacted with a group of about 50 street kids (most of whom had glue bottles stuck to their face). The unfortunate part is that the group was all male, which means that we didn’t get to interact with any females which to me is missing such a key group. After discussions the chaos ensued as we began distributing the goods we had brought. I was a little confused by the end of the day as to what exact impact we had made and whether we had really gotten the message across about HIV and AIDS. But then, after discussing with a friend, I realized that its not fair to judge the success of the day based on whatever standards (obviously developed in Canada) I may have. And to remember that, being in a society where AIDS is still highly stigmatized, perhaps the fact that the we marched through the streets, and just talked about it openly, basically the fact that event was actually held was a success in itself.