Friday, June 4 – Sunday, June 6.
I arrived at the airport in Kenya and was greeted at Jomo Kenyatta Airport by my Aunty Foluke and her friend Francesca. (Okay, so Aunty Foluke is an “African aunty” – which, in this case, means that she’s actually a mentee of my mom’s uncle but she’s family all the same). I was so happy that someone came to the airport to get me because up until the Wednesday before leaving, I was afraid that I would wind up homeless on the streets of Nairobi! (That’s a long story for another day…). We took a 1 ½ taxi ride to the greater Nairobi community of Karen, known for housing white Kenyans and a number of expats. It also housed N.E.G.S.T. – the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology – which was my home for the first week! The large and peaceful campus is tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the city and was a calm, green way to start my stay here. I stayed in a “dormitory,” I guess you could say, where I had my own room and shared a bathroom and kitchen with the other women on the floor. My wing consisted of myself and two other young women, while the other side housed my Aunty Foluke and another lady. The accommodation was nothing fancy; in fact, I kept thinking how my friend Khalidah would have reacted based on her disapproval of one of the rooms we stayed in while in India together over winter break. But I was SO happy and thankful not to be alone or in unsafe location that I couldn’t complain. I spent my time sleeping, eating Nigerian food with my Aunty, and watching whatever TV show as on the one channel she had: KTN. I also had the chance to take a matatu, a large van that has been converted into one of the most accessible forms of public transportation, on my way to attend a Kenyan church , called Eagles Christian Church, which is a large Baptist church that believes it resembles the style of Rev. T.D. Jakes…the verdict is still out on that one…
Monday, June 7 – Tuesday, June 8.
Before I had the chance to get over my jetlag or the nasty cough I contracted en route, I already had to start work…at 5 am! I hastily packed an overnight bag with only the light of candle (yes, NAPA-for those of you familiar-exists in Nairobi as well) and headed to the domestic airport, where I met Professor Patricia Kaberi-Mbote for the first time. She is a professor at Swarthmore University here in Nairobi but is also one of the lead investigators on the project that I’m working (as well as a Fulbright Scholar and a graduate of Stanford). I also met Sophie and Richard, the other two members of the research team, and we took a short flight to get to the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, which is supposed to be the 4th largest town in Kenya. The first thing I noticed about Eldoret was how calm and green, similar to my impression of Karen except not isolated from the surrounding world. I later found out that Eldoret was actually one of the areas hit the hardest by the 2007 post-election violence, which Kenyans believe was instigated by different political figures. We spent the day collecting data from the Legal Aid Center of Eldoret (LACE)– a non-profit legal services organization located within the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and designed to serve people living with HIV/AIDS. More specifically, LACE is a department located within the USAID/PEPFAR-funded AMPATH branch of the hospital, which stands for Academic Model for Providing Access to Health Care (and formally known as the “Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV”). I learned so much about cultural beliefs and practices that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS as well as the injustices that PLWHAs face here as a result of their HIV-status. The interviews and focus groups we conducted among clients, health care providers, and the ever-so-sweet Milkah, the only lawyer on staff, also illustrated the impact that human rights training can have on PLWHAs and revealed the importance of the work that I’m assisting during my time here. The day was full of trying different Kenyan foods, including mandazi (delicious fried donuts similar to the Nigerian buns and served at tea time), milk tea (prepared like Indian chai complete with milk and sugar unless you specify otherwise), beef samosa, matoke (unripened plantains), and ugali (a maize-based dish that resembles fufu or mashed potatoes and is eaten by hand with steamed cabbage). In addition to the mandazi, which I ate far too many of, I especially liked the fresh passion fruit juice. My trip to Eldoret also involved staying at a lovely hotel (three rooms all to myself!), and missing my flight back to Nairobi, which gave me a chance to visit Kerio Valley and take in some breathtaking views of the Rift Valley community.
Wednesday, June 9 – Friday, June 11.
Upon returning to Nairobi, I immediately went back to work, finally visiting OSIEA, the Open Society Initiative of East Africa, where I’ll be based for the remainder of my time here. I met Anne, who is in charge of the oversight of this project on behalf of the Open Society Institute, an organization based in New York, and was introduced around the office. We spent most of Wednesday cruising around the neighborhood to try and find affordable housing, and can you imagine that the most affordable rent around was about US$600/month! I almost accepted an ancient-looking room at a nearby YMCA, much to my chagrin, but then I was offered a room in the apartment of one of my co-workers! The place where I’m working is really a great environment, where lunch is provided for everyone to enjoy together daily and yoga class is provided 3x a week! Everyone seems to be friends with everyone else, and there are some younger people who I hope will be willing to help show me around the town. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so shy (and yes, I am somewhat shy around people that I don’t know), but I’m sure I’ll make some contacts. The staff is predominantly made up of lawyers and everyone is so worldly (a few attended Harvard Law School), coming from not only Kenya but all over Africa and the world.
Saturday, June 12.
I got so caught up in the activities of this day that I forgot to journal, so I’m relying purely on my short-term memory here. (I know it was only a few days ago, but time flies here!). I moved into my new room with Achieng, a legal associate at OSIEA who provides administrative and programmatic oversight for several rights programs all over Africa. She stays in a nice apartment complex in Lavington Estate, which is about a 45 minute (strenuous!) walk to the office or about a 20 minute rocky bus ride away. The complex is gated in, as many of the housing units here are, and has a pool (although it’s winter here and legitimately too cold to use), a playground for children, and a small club house for having parties and gatherings; in other words, its legit! Achieng stays in a small two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment by herself, and was so generous in offering her place to me! I quickly unpacked and headed over to visit Elma Moore – a friend of my friend Khalidah – and her husband and 6 month old baby for the second time. Even though they live just down the road from my office, I spent 1-hour wandering before they came to pick me up from the obscure location that I found myself in. I had a yummy lunch at their apartment with two German interns, Lena, who stays with the Moore’s, and Yasmine, an 18-year old who stays with a friend of theirs, as well as Yasmin’s “host sister” Helen. While Lena, Yasmine, and Helen went shopping, I stayed behind and watched the triumphant effort of Nigerian goalie Enyeama keep the team from extreme defeat by the all-star Argentinian team. (A for effort for Nigeria…except for Uche, who I’ve decided shouldn’t be allowed to play for the remainder of the World Cup). I took a taxi home, but not before getting lost again, and then had a good night’s sleep.
Sunday, June 13.
I finally got to be a tourist!!! My day started with a delicious omelet and sausage breakfast, prepared by Achieng, before I headed to the nearby Nakomatt, a major supermarket/everything-you-need-in-one-place store, to meet up with Lena. (Interesting Fact: Most land in Kenya is owned by white Kenyans who came with the British before/during colonization or by the family of the former President Kenyatta, who received instruction from the World Bank to buy back land from settlers but not to distribute it evenly across the different ethnic and class groups found in Kenya. Many of the businesses, including the major Nakomatt chain that resembles Wal-Mart and Meijer stores down to its 24-hour service, are owned by Indian and other Asian families). We waited about 1 ½ hours for Yasmine and Helen to arrive before taking a taxi to the Giraffe Center, an attraction not far from Karen. The Giraffe Center (also known as tourist central) is a non-profit conservation effort established to save giraffes and to educate the community. I got to feed giraffes (they eat right from your hands), and take tons of pictures! My favorite picture was one of me being “kissed” by giraffe after feeding it from my mouth…(picture coming really soon). What an experience! We walked for 30 minutes on a guided trail and then went to the Bomas of Kenya, Ltd., a true cultural gem. Here, we got to see what the villages of the different ethnic groups would look like before watching a spectacular dance show featuring different traditional dances. They even performed a Zulu dance from South Africa, which I’m guessing was in honor of the World Cup. The show ended with a crazy all-male acrobatic show, where they played with fire (and somehow didn’t get burned; I’m convinced they have special skin) and did all sorts of stunts. I ended my day back at home, in bed, where I quickly fell asleep!
Monday, June 14 - Tuesday, June 15.
Monday was work as “usual.” Achieng showed me the bus route to get to work and I spent the day doing tedious secretary-like odd jobs: printing, binding, whiting out identifying information on important documents. As I was going through the documents – all of which we collected from LACE – I was horrified by the many experiences of discrimination, stigma, and maltreatment that HIV-positive people were experiencing just because of their status! Then, Tuesday, I got to hear more stories while collecting data from the Coalition against Violence on Women-Kenya (COVAW). Most of the interviews were in Swahili so I only understood very small segments, but I was told that many of the clients there were victims of post-election violence from the 2007 elections. Now, with the upcoming constitutional referendum, and with the preparation for the 2012 elections , women fear the worst again. My understanding of the situation is that Kenya is in need of a new constitution that further supports democracy and gives more power to the people of Kenya. Certain provisions within the proposed draft – including recognition of Islamic courts for the Muslim minority (this is currently being practiced), redistribution of land, and the mentioning of abortion (this would be the 3rd constitution to mention this contentious issue) – have been highly contested by the Church and ethnic groups that have leaders who will lose land and/or power if the constitution is adopted. The campaigning for and against has been so heated, that in certain parts of town such as Kibera (one of Africa’s largest slums), someone where red (against) or green (in favor of) could be perceived to support one side and consequently attacked. This past Sunday, someone exploded a homemade device killing 5 at a constitutional campaign. Needless to say, although I have formed my own opinion, I’ll be staying out of politics here.
Wednesday, June 16.
Habari a subuyi (I’m sure the spelling is really off, but this is Swahili for “good morning” to which you respond Maazuri, “It is well”). It’s only 9:17 AM right now, and after my 1 hour “stroll” to the office, I’ve settled in to start this blog and to do my work! Despite trying to push for something more exciting, like coding the different interviews and focus groups, I’m still forced to white out names and sort documents. Lol, it’s all part of being an intern. The information that I have access to is actually pretty unbelievable and I’m eager to share the things that I’m learning with all of you! I’ve also been feeling a little lonely since I haven’t made many friends yet, so everyone please keep in touch!
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