An Open Letter

Dear Mombasa,

You’re hot. No I don’t mean that in a you’re attractive and good looking kinda way, I mean it in a temperature, its always 35 degrees, what the hell is with that? kinda way? I’ve been with you for almost 8 months now that’s a pretty long time. And after that much time you learn a few things about each other no? well, I don’t know if you’ve learned much about me, but I have definitely learned a thing or 2 about you.

First off, you suffer from some of the worst planning I’ve ever seen. Too much power is in the hands of too few people. This includes your archaic public transportation system which is in the hands of matatus that recklessly clog up your streets. Speaking of streets, Ok, and you’re island, I get it, but that’s not an excuse for everything. How is it, that in your entire “city boundary” you only have 4 stoplights, of which only 2 work, and none are actually adhered to. You only have 5 dual lane streets which means you have ridiculous traffic jams that shouldn’t happen in a city of around 1 million people. You’re not the only island city in the world.

Now before this turns into one long rant, because I’ve been prone to do that about you, let me just say –I like you. I think you can be great. But for the love of god, you’ve got work to do. Look at it this way, you can either complain that you’re not as attractive to the tourists as a place like Zanzibar, or as modern/developed as a place like your Nairobi, or you can use the fact that you’re halfway between both to your advantage. Your biggest asset is that big body of water called the Indian Ocean and the miles of sandy beach that make your border. Nairobi doesn’t have that. But you’re also a fairly big city in the middle, Zanzibar doesn’t have that. With a little work, you can be the best of both worlds. But its gonna take some work. You recently decided that you didn’t want street hawkers crowding the streets. Yet, you decided to forcibly remove which resulted in rioting on more than one occasion. Fine, they clog the sidewalks (or the dirt on the side of the road you call a sidewalk), but they have to make a living. Are you giving them any other option? No. you’re just telling them to pack up and leave (or be beaten by the inept and corrupt police that plague this place) and to hell with the fact that they have no other way to make a living.

Now, the problems you have are obviously not only yours. Some of them are obviously just a part of being in Kenya (see Kenya police). And they’re large problems. But there are little steps you can take along the way. For example, Nairobi seems to have a plethora of wastebins everywhere..why don’t you? Instead you see the odd wastebin here n there, none of which have a bottom so even if someone puts trash in there it ends up on the ground anyways! And remember that big body of water I mentioned, ya…that thing, make it more accessible and clean up the sand a bit. Look to Zanzibar for help on making the beach accessible. Spread the crowd that jams the few public beaches you have up and down the coast and who knows, you might have something. You might even go as far as to offer the beach on the island instead of forcing us to go off the island everytime, maybe some of the financial benefits of your tourism industry might rub off to the city instead of just staying on the north and south coasts.

Look these are just a few ideas, they’re not perfect, they’re not easy. But you gotta start somewhere. In the meantime, I’m leaving. I swear I gave it my best and hear me when I say I came to you with an open mind and the possibility that if it turned out well I might even stay here, but no not right now. At this point in my life, you’re not the right fit and I’m probably not the best one to help you. 17 days and I’m out! Toronto is calling and I can’t wait to answer. But I’ll say this, you’ve got potential, you don’t have to look far for help, and I think you can get it together. If you do, who knows…maybe I’ll come back some day.

The Pearl of Africa

A few months ago I saw the movie The Last King of Scotland. After watching it, I thought – ‘I gotta see this place!’ Ok that’s not true. But I did just see that movie and it was amazing and I did just spend the weekend in Uganda. I just attended the AKDN workshop on non-communicable disease which was being hosted in Entebbe which is just outside the capital city of Kampala. While my main reason was to attend this workshop, the idea of being in Uganda was pretty appealing as well!

So Saturday morning off I went and my first impression from the sky was red. The land looks so red. The soil is red, the roads are ‘redder’. Sir Winston Churchill referred to Uganda as “The Pearl of Africa”. Now, I should stop there and confess something. I didn’t really see Uganda, or even Kampala, or even Entebbe for that matter. Unfortunately the conference schedule was so tightly packed that I barely got off the hotel grounds. But from what I did see and the few people I did meet, it is definitely a great place with friendly people and a laid back mentality. Our hotel was right on the shores of lake Victoria (Africa’s largest freshwater lake and the 2nd largest in the world – any guesses where the largest is?...that’s right). Anyways, a combination of bilharzias and a very weird odor kept me from actually swimming in the lake, but I did just dip my feet a bit. A group of us did finally venture out into Entebbe a bit one night and ended up at some sketchy bar (that’s happened quite a bit here…go fig). We didn't last there long. If anyone recommends going out in Entebbe, i would say pass! (but i hear Kampala is legendary!)

The conference itself was really cool, a great opportunity to network and learn about NCD’s in a completely different context. Probably one of the greatest highlights was the opportunity to meet and have dinner with Princess Zahra who is the Aga Khan's daughter. Whether or not you're ismaili, it was a great honour! More and more I’m learning that although ideas/concepts may be the same worldwide, it is so crucial to understand the context/environment in which they operate. We were treated to a sweet cultural show on Sunday night showcasing just how vibrant Ugandan music, fashion and dance is. A funny story by our host, kinda summed up a bit of Ugandan mentality, not sure if its true, but whatever:

The president of the World Bank came to Uganda in the mid 1990’s to evaluate whether financial assistance was required. He came to Lake Victoria and came upon a fisherman who was relaxing and lying under a shady tree on the shore. He asked the fisherman: what are you doing?
Fisherman: lying under a tree
President: why aren’t you fishing?
Fisherman: because I caught three fish yesterday. I had one yesterday, I’ll have one today, and I’ll have one tomorrow. After that I’ll fish again.
President: but why don’t you fish more than just 3? You could sell the extra and make money!
Fisherman: and then?
President: you’d become rich and wealthy and you could open your own business!
Fisherman: and then?
President: you could hire a whole bunch of people and a fleet of boats
Fisherman: and then?
President: you could eventually begin exporting the fish to other countries!
Fisherman: and then?
President: you’d become even richer, eventually you wouldn’t have to work!
Fisherman: and then?
President: you could just relax!
Fisherman: look at me…I already am!

The Pearl of Africa, maybe Churchill was right.