from Kibera to Karen----the range of human existence

On Wednesday, Phyllis drove me into Nairobi again---as usual, the trip was hair-raising at times, but I pretty much just hold my breath when things look dicey, and somehow we always survive!!---We were driving down to meet with Wellington, a native Kenyan who has been working in Kibera, a massive slum on the outskirts of Nairobi, for the last several years. A secondary school teacher who felt called to minister to the children of Kibera, Wellington started a primary school in a railroad container right in the slum itself. Today, there are 11 classrooms, now serving over 400 students. Here I am, looking out over Kibera, talking to Clare, who is spending some time here with her mom, volunteering at the school. Wellington is up ahead of us---

-The students are beautiful, as are all Kenyan children!--in their school uniforms they appear happy and well fed---but 2008 has not been kind to Kibera--when national violence broke out in January, the alleys and byways of Kibera erupted into chaos--the powers that be were so afraid of the violence spreading beyond the borders of the slum that they blocked all passage in and/or out of Kibera---leaving the people for months without dependable food and water---in addition to the neighbor upon neighbor violence, people literally starved to death waiting for supplies to be allowed in---Wellington lost 4 of his schoolchildren, and had to stand by and watch as the families he has come to know suffered... Wellington becomes visibly upset when he recounts the situation---
However, I'm here for a reason, and that is to entertain the children today with some storytelling---it turns out that this is a parent-visiting day, so lo and behold, I'll be telling my stories to them, too!---in a dark, nearly airless room the size of a double-wide trailer, we stuff approx. 120 students and 30 or 40 parents---and me!---as I warm up, I'm not sure if ANY of this is getting thru---altho' the students speak English fairly well, I'm pretty sure that their parents speak only Kiswahili (and their native language, probably)---but I forge on, get through the 3 little pigs, and on to a silly story about 3 chickens and their eggs---at that, I get some recognition from everyone, and by the end, children and parents alike are chuckling and enjoying themselves---I do the same thing again for two more groups of children, so that each one of them has had a turn to listen---the parents sit through the whole thing, so each group gets a different couple of stories--I haven't managed anything profound, but maybe no matter what you've been through, it still feels good to sit together and laugh at a silly story---I was asked to repeat the name "Tikki tikki tembo, no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo" many many times!!
After the storytelling, we present the librarian with the books I brought with me to donate to the library, which is located in a small box container---among other things, I brought them a 2005 World Book Encyclopedia that was weeded from the collection at the Dover Public Library this spring---their last encyclopedia was dated 1976---
Then a couple of students climbed into Phyllis' truck with us, to take us on a tour of Kibera---this is a place of nearly unimaginable poverty to us Westerners---the homes are crowded together like so many crazily piled building blocks along the few roads that are big enough to navigate with a vehicle--footpath alleyways lead off of these "roads", usually carrying a stream of open sewage. Houses are constructed of mud bricks, for the most part, with bits of metal used for roofing and doorways. Chickens, pigs, dogs, children, adults, people with handcarts and bicycles are all on the move, and seem to scurry out of the way in the nick of time as we pass through---although I know that I am witnessing life under truly appaling conditions, more than anything else, I'm struck with a feeling of respect for the people who live here, somehow managing to eke out a living, and actually cultivate a community---these are not people who have anything given to them, and they seem to be working really hard to provide as much as they can for their families--even if it isn't ever really enough....

From Kibera, Phyllis and I set out for the Rothchild Giraffe Center--located in Karen, a very well-to-do part of (suburb of? I'm never quite sure!) Nairobi---the Karen comes from the name Karen Blixen, of Out of Africa fame, whose manor is a museum we pass by on our way--we stop at the Kazuri Bead Factory---a small business that developed as a way of providing employment to a couple of single mothers--it has grown to where it markets its necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and a line of pottery items worldwide--and the work force has grown to over 100---we toured the factory, and saw the women forming, glazing, and stringing the beads while they chatted....
the things for sale are not very inexpensive, but they ARE beautiful, and it's all for such a good cause....so I splurged on a few purchases.....
the Giraffe Center turns out to be located on the grounds of the manor that is the setting for the children's book about Daisy the giraffe, who was taken in and raised by the white Kenyans that owned this enormous tract of land outside Nairobi!--so the house (mansion) looked familiar, and everything---it really is pretty cool to stand on this raised platform, and look a giraffe in the eye, and let it eat grain out of your hand---but the contrast between this manor and Kibera was just too great---I wasn't really able to appreciate the beauty of the surroundings or of the animals, having just come from such an intensely disturbing place.....

Well, here I go, to try to make this thing work at last---I’ve been having a terrible time trying to get this blogging thing up and running---computer access can be hard to come by, and when I do get something going, chances are I’m going to lose access in the middle of it, and have it all disappear into cyberspace….arghhhh!

So, anyway—my trip to Nairobi was really pretty uneventful---and it didn’t even seem to take nearly as long as I feared!---Rick and Phyllis picked me up at the airport—and whisked me off to Kijabe---navigating the roads of Kenya is a pretty terrifying experience---the lanes seem impossibly narrow, and just as I’m flinching, because I’m sure the oncoming vehicle is going to scrape the paint off of our car, it whizzes on by, and we survive to drive another day!---the roads are filled with bicycles, mutatus (small vans that serve as public transport) and people walking---cars rarely slow down at all, usually choosing to accelerate instead to zip around all obstacles----I’m so so so glad I’m not driving here!!!

I woke up to 60 degree weather in Kijabe—it really is the cool season here!!—thank goodness I have Nora’s sweatshirt and one pair of long pants!!! But it really is beautiful here, too---here is the view from Rick and Phyllis’ back yard---that’s Mt. Longonut that you see in the background—at some point, Rick will take me on a hike up to the top of it…..


But for now, it’s off to the coast---
---I’ve never really given the coast of Kenya any thought, and I probably wouldn’t have put it on my own intinerary, but Phyllis loves the ocean, and was really looking forward to one more visit before she leaves Africa---and it turned out to be a surprisingly wonderful experience
We flew into the town of Malindi, where our host, Henry, picked us up and drove us to his guesthouse in Watamu. The coastal area of Kenya has a heavy Arab influence---you see it in the buildings, the traditional crafts, and the people—

The beaches are practically deserted, and absolutely lovely---miles of white sand with the occasional coral formation---lots of holes in the sand, which I discovered are homes for ghost crabs---they pop out, skitter across the sand, and then pop back in---it’s very cute!—

At the guesthouse, we were welcomed by Henry’s wife Belinda and his 5 month old daughter, Ivy (such a cutie-pie---we all passed her around, and got our baby-cuddle fixes!), and a variety of volunteers---it turns out that this guesthouse is an outpost of A Roche, a Portuguese environmental organization. We spent a couple of hours with Carol, a staff member, while she described the programs they provide and support there in Watamu---it was really impressive, interesting, and inspiring----they have worked hard to come up with a program that actually works—and that is based on encouraging the people who live here to protect their own forest---Phyllis and I were really impressed—and also, the staff and volunteers were all so nice!!---we met a couple of college-aged kids, one of whom, Sam, has had a lifelong interest in reptiles—he’s here volunteering at the local sea turtle rescue operation---he allowed us to tag along while he checked on a nest that was nearing hatch-time-----on our last night, we went to check it again, by the light of the full moon, and it was TIME!!!----we watched the nest erupt into a bubbling mass of little turtles, and then escorted them to their new home in the moonlit Indian Ocean----I even helped to rescue one from a ghost crab, and then watch it set out on its journey-----it was SUCH an amazing experience, and nothing we had anticipated at all-----

If you look really closely, you'll see those really are little turtles crawling out of that depression in the sand!!! They were SO CUTE!!!

And here we are, in the truck riding back to the guesthouse, me on the left, Andrew---spending the summer after highschool graduation knocking around Africa, in the center, and, on the right, Sam--the resident reptile expert, and all-around extremely good kid....in all the times he's monitored nests, this was the first time he'd actually been on hand to witness the hatch, and subsequent trip to the water---he was thrilled! and so were we!

Time for an Update???

Hmm...--well, you can see that it's been awhile since I've thought about this blog!--at first, when I had to cancel my trip in January, I was just so heartbroken I couldn't even think about continuing with it, although it would probably make a better narrative if I had a few of my incredibly-disappointed-whining sessions from that time on here!---oh well, suffice it to say that I was VERY VERY VERY sad about having to put off my visit--I was just so excited about going somewhere WARM for one thing!---
But now it's June, and once again, I'm preparing to embark to Kenya---this time around, the political situation seems to have calmed down significantly---Phyllis feels sure that we will do our trips to Kibera and to the coast.--I'll also be doing a few days of safari in Amboseli National Park (giraffes! elephants! Zebra! I can hardly wait!) I really don't even have too much of a picture in my mind as to what I'll be seeing on this trip (other than the giraffes, elephants and zebra, that is!!!)---I guess I just figure that whatever my expectations, things will turn out very differently, so I'm trying not to form a lot of them before I go---I just expect to be amazed, I guess---this is something I've wanted to do for so long--I must confess, it was Edgar Rice Burroughs' TARZAN books that first ignited my fascination for Africa--can you believe it??( and no, I am not expecting any musclebound men in scanty loincloths to come swinging down to meet me at the airport!! well, maybe just one......) that, and all of those National Geographic Magazines we used to peruse as kids--I really was reading them, and looking at ALL the pictures (not just searching for the scantily clad) and reading about, and being inspired by, my childhood hero, Albert Schweitzer---and dreaming of Africa... I am SO EXCITED TO BE DOING THIS!!!
so---now I should get back to the myriad tasks I have to accomplish before I go---back in January I really was pretty well organized--food prepared in the freezer, etc. etc.---but now I'm just a little overwhelmed by all of the events in my life, and I think I'll just kindof slip out of town, and let the domestic chips fall where they may!!! Maybe that's really the way to do this--to just give up on trying to anticipate every problem that might arise and plan for it, to just step aside for a few weeks, and let the current of life here in New Hampshire do without me for a moment! I've just begged the children to PLEASE clean up the mess before I get home.....