The Westlands: A Slice of Western Life

Today Daisy picked me up for an afternoon in the Westlands. This is an area of Nairobi that this highly westernized with lots of shopping centers and places to eat. Our driver dropped us off at a local mall and after buying movie tickets for a show later that afternoon we headed back outside to take a look at the street vendors. The vendors were not as obnoxious as they were at Maasai Market, but they still nagged at me, trying to convince me to buy their products or just take a look inside their shop. I ended up not buying anything, as their prices were outrageous compared to those at the Massai Market. Scarfs I bought for 300 shillings were sold for over 800.

We headed back to the mall for lunch. Outside the mall there were some guys dressed up. Daisy insisted I take a picture with them. I was leery about the whole idea but allowed her to go ahead. Since the Javahouse I had wanted to go to was full of people, we settled for the food court. The food court was set up similar to one in the United States, but the service was far different. As soon as we sat down about five guys came up to our table shoving menus in our faces. It was quite overwhelming. Being in a “western” area I decided to take another stab at pizza. Remarkably, this time the pizza tasted pretty normal and was actually fairly good. With the movie starting soon, we headed to the top floor where the theatres were. The theatres were once again similar to those in the United States, but they only offered maybe two movies playing for a few weeks straight. I had no idea what we were watching, and I’m pretty sure Daisy didn’t have a clue either. The movie was supposed to start at two, African time. I don’t think we were actually seated until at least half past. When we sat down, Daisy explained to me how we would have to stand for the national anthem. For some reason the anthem didn’t play, but I found the concept of the national anthem playing before a movie unique. We went to watch “Mirror Mirror”. The movie was a mixed up fairytale, one I probably would have enjoyed when I was in grade school. It was still cute and for a while, I didn’t feel like I was in a third-world developing country.

After the movie I stopped to get an ice cream cone on my way out of the mall. The ice cream was incredibly expensive for how much I received. This seems to be a major difference between Kenya and the United States. Healthy foods are fairly cheap and unhealthy foods are not—the way it should be in America. My afternoon in the Westlands reminded me of shopping centers and restaurants in America. I was clearly in a tourist location, as for once, I wasn’t the only Caucasian person around. There’s something to be said about westernization. I don’t want to say it’s corrupting the culture or the way people act, but in a sense it is. I felt as if the African culture was lost, or suddenly diminished in that area. Culture is such a big part of a country; could westernization be attributing to the problems holding back solutions?

A Look Through the Lens

Never did I envision myself putting macro-invertebrates collected from water into their order then family groupings. However, today this is just how I spent my time. Lindar was incredibly patient with me as we went through different ways and methods of putting each macro-invertebrate we collected into their family groupings. We did not get far, only one sampling from over eight we collected, but I learned so much.

The first challenge came from the beginning as we sat down at the microscope and my eyes took a while to adjust. We soon figured out that our eyes needed the microscope adjusted differently as when it was in focus for Lindar, the view was blurry for me. I don’t know how to pronounce very many of the scientific names, let alone remember them, but what I saw through the microscope was a whole new world. I never thought insects could be interesting to look at until today. I even venture to make the statement that insects are beautiful. As we looked for identifying characteristics, such as caudal appendages (fins near their end) and gills lining their sides, I realized how intricately put together each one of the macro-invertebrates I inspected was. All the insects identified were in their larval state. Some surprised me with their unique adaptations to survive and thrive in aquatic environments, when one day they would transform into creatures roaming the air. There was one macro-invertebrate that used leaves from nature to make a protective covering to develop. There was another that would feed on tree bark and encase itself in the think protectant. I saw dragonfly larvae and damselfly larvae (common names). You name the insect, I probably identified it. The work was a lot harder than I make it sound. Sometimes we would be examining a single specimen for over thirty minutes. Nothing compares to the rewarding feeling I received when we were finally able to put a name on it, mark it in the database, and transfer it to a vile for permanent record keeping.

This afternoon Lindar and I also went to a seminar with a guest speaker from India. He discussed the intricate relationship between man and insects. How we fear but would have no means of survival without them. All throughout the day, I kept wondering how anyone could dedicate their life to insects as the people do at icipe. I have come to the conclusion that this must be how people think of me wanting to study marine life. As much as I love to identify and look at fish, the people here love to work with insects. After today, I realize there is a remarkable world of insects as well. 

Being a Friday, “tea time” was sponsored again. After looking through the microscope for hours on end it was nice to see the world in its real size.

Equator Passing

We began our journey back to Nairobi this morning. Waiting for our driver to arrive we received a phone call that there was a puncture in one of the tires and would have to wait a while longer as he changed the flat. We had another hold up along the way when we stopped to get the punctured tire repaired. I think we sat in the auto shop parking lot for at least an hour. Back on the road, everyone wanted to stop and buy fresh produce along the way. We slowed down in an area and were swarmed by a crowd of about twenty women, each trying to sell their produce first. It was intimidating as most of the women were pressed up against the car all shouting different things in Swahili. When Joseph got out, I immediately locked my door. Lindar soon followed, and one of the women was pounding on my window and shouting at me. I had no idea what she was saying but I kept shaking my head no, hoping she would leave. The scenery of the valley below was quite picturesque. Therefore, I crawled over Lindar’s seat to snap a quick photograph. As I was buckling back up, Fabian was returning to the car. Realizing the woman was selling to a mzungu, she insisted on him paying for the bag everything came in. Being a mzungu always seems to have an extra price.

Our next stop was at the equator for me to take a picture. I can now say I have flown, driven, and walked over the equator! A vendor there tried to sell me an equator egg. The things these people come up with…

The rest of our trip consisted of my failed attempts at taking a nap mixed with some reading. Sleeping is so challenging when driving on the roads in Kenya. Potholes every few feet throw me out of my seat. Resting my head on the window never seems to be an option because with one bump my head collides with the solid glass. It’s the little things Americans take for granted, like paved roads, one isn’t grateful for until they experience life without.

I returned to icipe just in time to be welcomed back by all my new friends here. It was a great feeling to return. Being a Thursday, I knew Rafiell and his friends met up to run. After spending seven hours in the car a run was just what I needed. While sitting in the lobby waiting for the group, one of the security guards asked me if I was going running. I responded and she said, “Wow! You’re actually escaping the gates this time!” Funny how even the security guards have realized I never leave the gated area. I had no idea how far we were running or where to but I was eager to go. We began on a long road and when we passed by the Moi Stadium on our way back and I thought we were almost finished. I was wrong. We turned down a long road with a huge hill and ended up running around the big stadium. I think our run was about seven miles. It felt great! Kenyans are fast runners, however. I hope I didn’t slow them down too much. The air pollution never fails to get me and mixed with the dust, my lungs could definitely feel the effects when I returned. I came back to my room to find the power out; no different from Kakamega I suppose. As I go to sleep my only hope is that the bed bugs are gone for good.

Kakamega Forest

Our first stop this morning was a bird watch in Kakamega Forest. I was surprised to find out that fifteen indigenous species of birds are only found in this particular forest. After picking up a bird watcher Fabian knew on the side of the rode, we headed towards the forest. Before the hike Lindar made a comment about climate change, referring to it as the Northern Hemisphere effect. I inquired what she meant. She explained to me how the Northern Hemisphere had caused all the climate change. I find this very interesting. I do think the Northern Hemisphere has a lot to do with climate change, but I also think other parts of the world are just as guilty to contributing.

The hike was long and I didn’t see very many birds. The birds that were spotted were always near the tops of the trees. The guides shocked me with their ability to identify the birds at such a distance. To me, the birds looked like little dots bouncing at the tops. My bird watch turned into more of a monkey watch as the monkeys were all over. This also meant I had to listen for sounds of rain, which actually turned out to be the monkeys urinating. There is a peacefulness and harmonizing effect that occurs in forests—one that cannot be described in words or recorded for others to hear. It’s really something I can’t describe but it’s beautiful. Mixed with the lush, green vegetation and the sight of the sun illuminating the fog of water evaporating from plants makes the forest magical in a sense. We hiked for about two hours and emerged from the forest full of mud due to the nightly rains. No time was wasted, however, and we jumped in the car to begin our specimen collection. We picked up another local to serve as our field assistant for the day.

Today, we preformed our sample collection backwards compared to yesterday, attempting to see if the time of the day we collect our samples has any effect on the water quality. At our first stop, some cattle were drinking from the stream—a sure contributor to water pollution. At this location, we had a hard time gathering any insects. All of our scoops seemed to be empty. After collecting just a few, we moved on. While driving to our second location, we saw bull fighting in a field. The whole town seemed to be spectating. Our second collection sight didn’t have as many spectators as yesterday; the children must have been in school. At this sight we captured some large insects. The third and fourth sights were routine. Nothing fascinating, unless you enjoy finding macro-invertebrates with an astonishing ability to camouflage. I had to laugh during some of the collections as I felt as if I were doing a “Where’s Waldo?” puzzle. During our collection days we ate lunch on the go with the food we had purchased from Nakumatt on the first day in Kakamega. Not really sure what to buy in a supermarket offering different foods I bought some buns with a tub of vegetable fat (butter). The vegetable fat didn’t have to be refrigerated so it was easy to stick in my backpack with the bag of buns. So in the car, as we traveled down unpaved roads throwing us every which way, I dipped my bread straight into the vegetable fat container. I wonder what those I was working with thought; I know I would have found it strange to witness someone doing a similar thing.

Wanting to see the city of Kakamega at night, I went out to dinner with Lindar and her family. After walking through the busy streets in the nightly downpour, we made it to a small local restaurant in a shopping center, Korde 56. Her sisters and their children were very nice and welcoming. One continually joked about getting the United States government to send people to trade lives with them for a while. She also offered for me to take her daughter back with me. As cute as the little girl, I don’t think that would be allowed. I ordered a Margherita Pizza, which was a mistake. I should just stick with local cuisine because their attempts at any other food usually result in a failure. The family asked me how America is. I never really know how to respond to this question, of course it’s a great country and I now see how fortunate I am to live there, but how am I supposed to respond?

When I returned to the Guest House the power was out once again. With dwindling battery power in most of my electronics I lit up a candle. I felt primitive getting ready for bed and reading under candlelight. I was surprised at how much light a single candle can provide. The little smoke also kept the mosquitos away for a good night’s sleep.

Biosystematic Water Monitoring

No bed bugs here, thankfully! The power also returned this morning. Other than my shower being a little cooler than normal and almost flooding my room, it was a good morning. Lindar and our driver, Joseph, met us right on time. On our way to our first collecting site we picked up a man somehow connected with Fabian and helping with this project. We arrived at our first collecting site, located near the Kakamega Conservancy. Having some extra time we toured the up and coming conservancy. We looked at their newest edition, the snakes taken from Kakamega Forest. Their enclosures looked highly dangerous. The enclosure consisted of a deep cement square with some barbed wire around the top. When the guide told us the most deadly snake in Africa was housed there, I really questioned my safety. I think any one of those snakes could escape if they wanted to. This, along with the crocodiles and turtles we saw. We learned about the animals, their habitats, and what they feed on. We then waited for Fabian to return from some planning for a pollination garden he is creating with some locals farmers. Fabian even hired one of the locals to be a field assistant for the day. I would have talked to this girl more and learned about Kakamega from her, but she didn’t speak English very well, and my Swahili isn’t coming along very quickly.

We hiked through the forest for quite some time to get to our first collection area. We walked through some farms, which I thought was strange considering it was another person’s property. We also walked right by some cows tied to trees. Next to our first collection site was a chloride dispenser. An organization had instituted these at water collection sites for people to cleanse their water before drinking with an attempt to kill some bacteria and prevent sickness. The local who was with us told us no one really collected water where we were due to the hill that became slippery with rain. The chloride dispensers had been poorly placed.

Biosystematic Water Monitoring begins by taking a panoramic photo of the area surrounding the collection site. This is to gather information about the surrounding vegetation and physical properties. We then filled a pan with clear water. Another person took a sifter and scooped up a handful of sand and sifted all of the loose dirt out. The remnants were then poured into the pan with water where we used forceps to gather any macro-invertebrates and put them into small vials with alcohol. The alcohol killed the macro-invertebrates almost immediately. We continued doing this until Fabian thought we had collected enough specimens. The camouflage the macro-invertebrates possess is neat. Often times we would have to wait a few minutes for the sediment to settle and see the macro-invertebrates move through the water. Others were large enough to be spotted immediately. These samples will now be taken to the lab for our analysis. Lindar and Fabian have obviously had experience on identification as they were naming and identifying each specimen as it was collected.

Our second collection site took us past a tea farm. I don’t think I have ever seen one before. While near the collection sites, I looked around and took in my surroundings. The vegetation is so lush and untouched. The sounds of nature are simply peaceful. By this point in our sampling my pants were destroyed from the dirt. Good thing my hiking boots were able to keep the water out. Fabian passed the GPS unit to me to do some marking. I fumbled through marking where we were. I think it was pretty obvious I didn’t really know what I was doing, but Fabian didn’t seem to mind. Near our second collection site, a local bee keeper was harvesting honey. We went to check out his small business. He harvests honey from both stingless and stinging bees. Their nests are housed in wooden boxes. Fabian explained to me how honey producing is still an available and easy market to enter because it has not yet become to convoluted with outsiders. As Lindar and Fabian bought some honey I tasted the difference between the two kinds. The stinging bees’ honey was sweeter and didn’t have a sour taste. Lindar and Fabian bought a lot of honey. I’m still confused at what they plan on using all of the honey for.

Our third collection site was near a school. This being said, we had a large number of spectators. The kids flocked to our site, watching us pick out the macro-invertebrates and sifting through the dirt. Speaking minimal, if any, English, the kids kept quiet with an occasional finger point to a moving specimen.

At our forth collection site, a man was washing his motorcycle in the water—a water polluting activity. There was also a swarm of butterflies. I felt as if I was in a butterfly house. This location served as a water source to local cattle farmers as cattle manure littered the banks. With this came biting flies. Luckily, none bit me. Maybe they thought I had suffered enough already with my bed bugs. Water sampling today proved to be a success. Tomorrow we will repeat the process at the same locations as sometimes new or different macro-invertebrates can be found on day two.

Welcome to Kakamega!

I hate self-diagnosing any illness or situation I am in, but I’m pretty sure bed bugs it is. If you have never had them before, consider yourself lucky. The bites itch like crazy! Therefore, this morning I told the Guest House about my situation. I found it kind of funny how the receptionist had no clue what I was talking about. Finally I told the head of the Guest House and the maids. They seemed shocked. They said they would fumigate the rooms to get rid of them. Hopefully by the time I return the bugs will be gone. Bugs don’t really bother me as much as they do most people. Thankfully bed bugs don’t carry any diseases.

After visiting Sarah and Karen in their offices, I said my goodbyes for the week. Now that I am switching to Fabian’s project, I have a new project team to work with. We loaded the car and headed out for our seven hour drive. With the amount of time it takes to get anywhere in Kenya, I do have to admit seven hours no longer feels as long as it used to. I slept part of the way. The other part I was either sweating from the sun beating on me (they don’t like to use air conditioning in the cars here) or admiring the scenery. Going west brings different types of environments than my trip east to Taita. The vegetation is dense and bright green. There are no signs of the arid, dried out land as there was in Taita. The scenery looked pristine and untouched, besides the sporadic farms on hillsides. During our journey we passed through the equator. I don’t think I’ve ever been on ground when passing through it. Maybe on the way back I will be able to get a picture. The shacks lining the roads and the random animals inches from the car no longer surprise me. It’s almost expected now that I’m used to it.

Kakamega is similar to Nairobi in the way the streets are lined with vendors and packed with people walking and biking. The small children never fail to amaze me with their hundreds of, “How are you?” I smile and wave feeling almost as if they expect something from me or expect me to be famous. We stopped at the local Nakumatt for some groceries for our lunch. I didn’t attempt to find fruit snacks or granola bars; I think it’s time to accept that the food here will be different than what I am used to.

Right down the street from the Nakumatt is the Guest House I will be staying in for the next few nights. Lindar, will be staying with her sisters in the area. I asked the driver if he would stay with us. He said he was staying somewhere else. Fabian later explained to me that he never knows where the drivers end up. They bring their receipts but he can never seem to track them. Fabian thinks it has something to do with hierarchal order and how people below their supervisors feel the need to stay away. It took a while for us to get all the paper work filled out to be able to get our rooms. I was astonished at how cheap mine was for three nights, 4,500 shillings (about $55). I should have expected what I came to when entering the room then. This place is probably in the worst condition of anything I’ve ever slept in besides camping. I had to ask the lady who works here how to use the shower. There is literally a shower head in the middle of my bathroom. The ceiling is molding through. The wallpaper is pealing. I just hope there aren’t any bed bugs. As much as the sight of the room bothered me at first, I realized how thankful I should be to have a roof over my head, especially when right outside my door children roam the streets, homeless.

After settling in, I met with Fabian to discuss the project and just what I am going to be doing. The project I am working on is called Biosystematic Water Monitoring. This project is funded by Biovision. The project uses Rapid Water Sampling methods to collect macro-invertebrates (bugs) and based on what macro-invertebrates are collected, the water quality is apparent. We will use a system founded in South Africa where each insect is given a point value and the average of the values is determined which determines the water quality. The higher the number, the better the quality. The biological component of water is accessed because the biological component most accurately captures past and present issues with the water. Different insects take up different niches and some can withstand pollution better than others. The project has been going on for the past few years with routine trips to Kakamega. I asked Fabian what he was planning on doing with these results to help the community. I was surprised to know he would give the community his report but beyond that he is “not a social worker.” I find it kind of silly to be doing all this research if nothing is going to happen to help the people understand it is unsanitary to wash their vehicles and cattle in the same water they drink and wash themselves in. As of now though, I don’t have any other solutions for the people so maybe the response to the findings is understandable. Fabian also inquired on why I was working with his project and how I ended up in Kenya. He was quite confused why a student interested in marine sciences would want to work at an insect center. I told him any research experience would be helpful and make me well-rounded for my future.

Before going to dinner the power went out. Supposedly in Kakamega the power is greatly affected by storms. It storms nightly here. You would think someone would realize that this isn’t good and change the powering system. They had a generator in the dining hall, so we didn’t eat in darkness, until that went out as well. I saw pizza on the menu and was excited for some cheese. About ten minutes after ordering the pizza someone must have realized they didn’t have cheese and came back out to tell me. The menu looked nice with a wide variety but what was actually available was another story. Our food took about an hour to prepare. I was beginning to think they had gone to catch the fish themselves. Without power, I went immediately to sleep upon returning to my room.

African Church Round Two

This morning I woke up to find my legs covered in bug bites; I look as if I have chicken pox or some strange rash. I will have to do some investigating to find the cause of these bites. I really hope there are not bugs in my bed.

Same as last Sunday, Karen picked me up for church. This week we had to arrive extra early since Karen was singing in the choir. I found a seat near the back by myself. I found it interesting how the spaces next to me were the last ones filled. I feel as if I am scaring people away or something. I hope I don’t look that intimidating. However, once the service began we were squeezed in shoulder to shoulder. I wonder what people thought about the splotches on my legs. Maybe that was scaring them away?

The service began the same as last week. These church services I am attending are filled with so much passion. This is the main difference between the services here and those in the States. I have found that the services in the States are more conservative and praise is given through silence, whereas in Kenya the praise is given aloud with lots of singing, dancing, and even some crying. For instance, once the opening songs were done, a girl leading the service went to say a prayer. Someone in the front row was so passionately in prayer, the girl gave this woman the microphone and she continued leading the prayer for the entire congregation.

This Sunday was “Youth Sunday”; a special week where the youth lead the service. Their definition of youth must be different from my own interpretation because all of the children left for Sunday School and a man maybe a few years older than me led the sermon. This wasn’t what I was expecting, but I suppose it was fine, other than the fact the service lasted for three hours again. Honestly, I do not know how people can sit through services that long every week. About two hours into it, I get an urge to move around, which there is no room for. Also, Africans like to talk. The church lets pretty much whoever would like to share their testimonies to the entire congregation do so. This would be great except half of the service ends up being in Swahili. The Swahili speaking makes the service seem even longer.

Since Karen was singing, I had to stay for the beginning of the second service. After an hour of hearing the same thing again (but all in Swahili), I left to wait outside. Karen came out as soon as she saw me leave. I told her I was going to go and buy some fresh fruit from the local stands for lunch. While she went back in to finish her singing, one of the guys that goes to the church took me. The guy that took me didn’t know what a tangerine was. Tangerines are sold at almost all fruit stands; maybe this is a westernized thing as well? The produce in Kenya is substantially less expensive than in the United States. I bought an avocado, three tomatoes, and six tangerines for about 75 cents. Eliminating all of the packaging and transportation really cuts down on costs. While we were walking, some boys ran out of a house with some furniture. The guy made a comment about how they were stealing from their neighbors. No one tried to stop these boys or said anything. Eventually Karen finished and we left. My afternoon was spent preparing for my upcoming trip to Kakamega which I leave for tomorrow. I also switch projects—this coming week has so much learning and exploring in store.

This morning while waiting for my ride to church I took some pictures of the beautiful flowers here. Enjoy!

Peace in Chaos

It’s the little things that surprise me here. Like this morning, I was picked up on time for my day trip around Nairobi. Weird how I didn’t have to wait for anyone, it’s almost like I expect to wait now. Sarah and Karen had plans for today so some other colleagues from the office, Rafiell, David, and Sam, joined me on my tourist adventure. As always, the traffic into Nairobi was crazy. I am continually amazed at how long we just sit in the car at one place. Just to get from one side of the city to the other it took us over an hour. In the car I talked with David about the government system in Kenya. He explained to me how there were so many different political parties and people didn’t even vote for platforms, they basically voted on personality. David told me how they vote once every five (?) years for everything. Not like in the States where different votes are held for different people all of the time. I explained to him how our government works in America and what the major differences between the democrats and republicans are. People are in Kenya are fascinated with United States politics; I think it has something to do with their obsession with Obama. 

Our first stop of the day was the Karen Blixen Museum. It’s funny how the guys I was with had never even heard of the museum. As soon as we saw a Karen Blixen sign, we turned into the parking lot. It was only the coffee shop. After piling back in the car and driving further down the road, we arrived at the museum. The parking lot looked deserted. The guys were really confused at why I would want to go to such a place. Even though I haven’t read any of her books, since it’s a tourist site I thought I might as well check it out. On our guided tour we saw the house she lived in while in Kenya and learned about her life, as well. Original artifacts were present in eat room, the most intriguing being a real lion and cheetah rug. The campus the house was located on was beautiful. The tour was short, but we spent a majority of the morning walking around and admiring the landscaping. I was amazed how such a serene location could be located in a city as crazy and chaotic as Nairobi. The dense vegetation led up to a picturesque view of mountains in the distance. David and I had another interesting conversation about Kenya. We talked about the outside organizations that come in to help Kenyans and just give them the supplies they need or set something up without the resources to maintain the new addition. David explained to me how frustrated he was with the money flowing in, when in reality what Kenyans need is the knowledge to be able to sustain themselves. Outside organizations need to teach, instead of do. This made me think about the research I am doing here. Sure, I’m finding how climate change is affecting the people, but what am I going to do to prevent more climate change from happening? How am I going to teach with my results? The results I receive mean nothing if I can’t apply them to create change for the better. Something to think about…

Not originally planned, the guys knew of a cool place with crocodiles and an ostrich farm. Having only seen a crocodile at a distance, they thought it would be cooler for me to see one up close. In the enclosure we saw, there were quite a few. Men who worked there, poked and prodded the crocodiles. The crocodiles would snap. I jumped in shock every single time. When the men working there went inside the enclosures, I thought for sure they would serve as the crocodile’s meal. As David said, “Dude, you realize this is in 1,000 ways to die.” Haha, very true. One of the men working there even let us hold a small one. Crocodiles are born out of eggs and are very small. The one we held was about two years old. Even so, there was not a doubt in my mind that the baby crocodile could take a bite out of my arm. Thankfully, nothing happened. I also held a tortoise. The tortoise was quite heavy.

Moving on we walked around a lake shaped like Africa to see the ostriches. We were sidetracked by some camels on our way. Multiple groups of small school children were playing in this park area, and the camels were available for riding. I couldn’t pass up the thrilling opportunity. The camel, such a large animal, plopped down on the group next to me for me to climb on. I climbed up and almost immediately, the camel bolted up. The man in charge had the camel sit back down for David to join. The ride took us around the park and was bumpy. All of the school children looked at us most likely wondering why anyone above their age would find riding a camel so much fun. When we returned to the tree the camel sat down again. When the animal goes to sit, it leans about as far forward as it can without tipping vertically. I held on tight, not wanting to go over the front. In less than an hour I had ridden a camel and held a crocodile—so cool! We finally made it to the ostriches. A giraffe was mixed it with them as well. I went to touch the giraffe and when it moved quickly I decided I didn’t want to lose my fingers or anything so I let the guys do the touching. Once we were done we walked out to the parking lot. Our driver was nowhere to be found. Eventually he showed up and we headed to a new mall in the area.

This was another Westernized district with a KFC included. I also was super excited to see they had a Planet Yogurt. We went into the grocery store to buy some snacks. Craving fruit snacks, I asked if they had such a thing. David, Rafiell, and Sam looked at me as if I were crazy. When I asked the lady who worked there, she gave me the same look as the rest of them. I walked down every aisle and came across a package with contents that semi-resembled fruit snacks. I still have yet to try them. We gave into the Westernized culture and ate at KFC for lunch. The KFC was similar to those in the States with only slight variations. The options weren’t as varied. I settled with fries and a mini loaf of bread. I was expecting the mini loaf to be fresh, similar to their biscuits. It turned out to be a package of bread, how disappointing. Rafiell commented on how little food we received compared to how much we paid. I suppose this is what westernizing places does. I couldn’t resist the frozen yogurt and made a huge bowl for myself. The guys I was with probably thought I was crazy, but the yogurt tasted so good.

Our next stop for the day was the Nairobi National Park. Like Tsavo, we stayed in our own car for the game ride and our driver for the day drove us through. I really wanted to see a lion. Rafiell said he saw some there before, so my hopes were set high. Originally we saw some ostriches and monkeys had greeted us at the gate. We couldn’t find any game cars to follow and our chances at seeing much of anything else were looking grim. David made comments like, “Well, I guess ostriches are pretty cool, right?” or “If there aren’t any animals in this land we should ask for our money back and they should use this land for something productive.” He kept us laughing and away from any approaching frustrations. Soon we came across some giraffe, standing square in the middle of the road. As we wound our way through the paths, we came across a few gazelles as well. Still no lions. We also came across a bridge. As we got out of the car, David said, “I think getting eaten by a lion is in 1,000 ways to die as well.” No lions came, and we all survived. The park closed at six and we didn’t start our way back to the gates until a quarter til. In the rush we were in to get out, of course we got lost. We would approach signs, but none of them seemed to have any direction to the main gate on them. Our path became a guessing game and soon we found ourselves following the dust a car must have left. We found our way out, not the same gate we entered through, but I guess we escaped. Nairobi National Park is the only national park in a capital city in the world. What surprised me most about it was the way in which such a peaceful and beautiful place could be located in a city sprawling with crazy drivers and crowded sidewalks. From the inside of the park we could see tall buildings in the distance, but there was a calmness to the place. Nairobi National Park truly proved to be a peace in chaos.

There was a huge traffic jam on our way back to icipe so I think we opted to take the long route, going through small towns I had never seen before. The roads would be long areas of openness until we would hit a city and have to slow down again. Even with this other way it took us more than an hour to get back.

A Night in Nairobi

My attempt at learning GIS failed again today. Not only did my GIS program not properly download, but when I tried to learn the software from Sarah’s computer, we realized she didn’t have half of the maps we needed either. After she went to talk with another person in the office, we agreed on learning GIS sometime during my last week at icipe. Learning GIS isn’t essential to the research I will be preforming but will serve as a handy tool in my future. A colleague who has all of the information will have to be the teacher then.

Since Sarah had to represent the CHIESA project at a meeting in the morning, she sent me to Fabian’s office to get briefed on my upcoming trip to Kakamega. I asked Fabian where we were staying. Being a researcher, he gave me the GPS coordinates. I guess that’s about as exact as we will get. He also gave me the coordinates from the run; I just need to find someone to run with in the afternoon now. I still don’t really know what I’m doing in Kakamega. I know it has to do with water quality and taking samples out of the forest. I will learn when I get there.

Sarah spent the afternoon helping me to figure out my research paper and other logistical aspects of writing it. She provided me with some great resources for more background information, as well as tools to help me analyze the data I collect. Being a focus group discussion, the data is more challenging to analyze because people can say whatever they want. I won’t be able to have percentages of people who responded in a certain way. There are quite a few benefits to conducting my research this way, such as the variety of information I will receive, but analyzing will be a challenge. I look to start writing the paper in the coming weeks; some background research is still needed before I officially begin.

Each Friday, one of the researchers sponsor a “tea time” where employees can get a soda and sweets. This was the first time I went to one and wasn’t surprised to find all the seats taken and the majority of the staff present. When talking about who the sponsor was, I was amused at how kindly and admirably the speaker spoke of the sponsor. Of course it was this way to encourage others to sponsor the Friday “tea time” or even for the same researcher to continue his contributions.

Mercy, a grade school friend of Sarah’s and a colleague at icipe, invited me to attend her friend’s birthday party dinner. Taking up every opportunity to experience more of Kenya, I agreed to go. We drove to town and met her friend, Jillian, at a local hair salon. Just in the time waiting for Jillian, I learned quite a bit about African hair and how expensive it is to maintain. I also didn’t realize how most Africans have weaves in their hair. The process looked really time consuming. I’m so thankful to be able to comb my hair and leave it.

Walking through the streets of Nairobi on a Friday night is quite interesting, especially when you’re the only mzungu around. Mzungu is the Swahili word for white person. When writing this post and looking it up, I learned it is literally translates as “a person who walks around aimlessly”. I’m glad to know that’s what people think of me. Anyways, the streets are packed as tightly as possible, and when I stick out people will often say things to me. I always ignore them and know whomever I am with will take care of me, but people I am with can always tell I am terrified, and I’m not going to lie, it’s scary.

We arrived at the restaurant around seven. This, apparently, was early as most people did not come for quite a while. I sat, observing the atmosphere and occasionally adding to the conversation when others were speaking in English. When one of the guys showed up and Mercy had gone to the bathroom he asked if I was part of their group. I laughed and said yes. I think I really confused him. The topic of age came up among us. I never realized it in the past, thinking the people I worked with were only a few years older than me, but the people I was around were over ten years older than me. What? No wonder the topics of conversation such as politics and children are not what I am used to. I’ve been told that talking with older people will broaden my intellectual capabilities, though. Before dinner was served, warm and wet cloths were passed around to wipe our hands. We ate with our fingers, the Kenyan way, all sharing the same platter. Since goat meat was served, I opted for some fries. Once again, it was great to get out and see Nairobi at night.

Another Day in the Office

This morning Sarah and I finally finished transcribing our five hours of tapes. It is a great feeling to have them done. Once finished with that, Tino had asked me to write a reflection on the focus group discussions for the use of our sponsors and his own records. My overall review and feelings about the discussions were positive with only a few suggestions for next time. After all, I would not be using the focus group discussions for my own project if I did not think they did a good job of capturing the necessary information. The rest of the morning was spent doing random tasks and helping Sarah put together our timeline from the activity we did with the farmers on day two. I was impressed with how professional we were able to make everything look. Hopefully Tino will be pleased.

We went to lunch at Naivis again today. To my disappointment the store was not serving spaghetti and I settled for potato wedges. They were decent, but not nearly as good as the spaghetti I had a few days back. Craving fruit snacks, I asked Sarah if Kenyan grocery stores carried such a thing. She said they should and we went on a hunt to find them but came up empty handed. I settled for a piece of chocolate cake instead, however, the taste did not even compare to any delicious cake in America.

Our afternoon was spent trying to start my GIS training. For some reason the sample data did not download so I had to uninstall everything and try reinstalling the software. Computers can cause such time consuming problems sometimes, but I guess I also have to remember how much time they are capable of saving. I just hope everything works tomorrow so Sarah and I can actually get started.

Huruma Slum

This morning I woke up to the sound of children shouting and having a good time. Obviously, Daisy lives near a school. As we left her house, a young girl hand washed clothes in her front room. I had seen the girl the night before and smiled when I walked in, but the girl had not done anything in response. This morning as we walked out the door in front of this girl and Daisy hadn’t said anything, I inquired who the girl was. Daisy told me she was like a house maid. The girl’s mother had sent her to work for Daisy’s family since the girl refused to go to school. The money the girl made would go back to the girl’s family or, if the girl decided to, would help finance her education. I find it remarkable that even when people, who live around and witness poverty daily, and have an opportunity for an education still don’t take it up. This makes me think, if Americans did see the poverty in Africa, would they not value their education any more than they do now? I know I do.

Sarah and I met up with Dr. Fabian Haas this morning to head to Huruma. My frustrations with the language barrier and understanding people with accents different from my own came visible when trying to contact and talk to my contact for the slums. Lucy, a researcher in the slums, was trying to organize everything for me. Her help was very much appreciated, but I don’t think the questions she asked me and the plans I made with her were understood by either of us very well. I thought we were supposed to meet her at Huruma at ten. After we arrived and she still wasn’t there, I called her. I had absolutely no idea what she had said. Sarah ended up calling her back and getting things straightened out. She didn’t come until an hour later with a group of international students. African time never fails to amaze me.

When we first arrived in the slum we were greeted by some very young children playing in the dirt. They ran to the fence yelling, “How are you? How are you?” After responding fine they would continue asking the question. Those three words seem to be the only words they know in English. I would later here this repeated over one hundred times throughout the day as we continued walking by and smiling at children.

Some local park rangers took us around the slum to give us a tour. Sarah explained to me the unavoidable cycle of poverty that occurred from living in the slum. People pay more per square meter living in a slum than they would in a house. The reason they can’t afford the house instead is that homes or apartments come much bigger than slums. The slum gets their electricity illegally, something these people would have to pay for when living somewhere else. People who had tried to leave the slum usually ended up coming back when they couldn’t afford food and other necessities. Each shack was made out of tin siding and dirt floors. Trash littered the entire area. I cannot even imagine living in such a place. Erosion had cut deep holes in the soil, a trap for anyone to fall into or trip on. Dirty water ran through these cuts, flowing into a river that flowed at the bottom of a hill. The shacks were positioned so close together we had to balance on slim pieces of dirt to prevent ourselves from falling into the shacks or the water as we walked down the hill. While walking through the area, it hit me that these were people’s homes. I felt as if I was encroaching on their personal space. For instance, random people would not just walk through my lawn at home. Walking in between their shacks was like walking through their lawns. However, no one seemed to care.

At the bottom of a hill rested a river. In the river, inhabitants of the slum washed their clothing and utensils. The water looked as if it was crawling with bacteria. However, this was the only option many of the people had. A park ranger explained to me there were pipes from the river to a water purification plant, but since a recent flood, their water had not been purified for the past two months. The park ranger had no idea when the water would begin being purified again. A makeshift bridge lay across the river. We all crossed it, praying it would hold our weight and we would not fall into the contaminated water below. On the other side, a fish pond was used for cultivating fish for the families of the slum to eat. Fabian explained how this system didn’t work the best either. Governments and other organizations come in and set up programs for the people. When the government is there and the funds are coming in the programs seem to work great. Soon the governments and organizations leave and the people have no money to pay for the maintenance of these programs. The fish pond is currently deteriorating.

We walked back up the hill, the same way we came down. When walking up, we ran into goats and other livestock feeding off of the trash littering the area. The goats’ fur had turned a deep red shade from the soil and grime the goats lived around; these animals were almost unrecognizable. We also visited a school within the slum. The school was one-room with three students sitting in the classroom when we entered. The three boys were copying words off of the chalk board. I gave them each a high five. The principal or person who had started the school then approached me. He explained to me the needs of the school. The children did not have lockers for their belongings, boots for their feet, and more importantly food for their lunch. The principal asked me if there was anything I could do to help. I told him I would see what I could do. He was so insistent on wanting the funds and asked for my e-mail address. I hesitantly gave it to him, wanting to help the children. The sad news is this is not my area. Sure I can help the children learn but when it comes to gathering money and really helping the school, non-governmental organizations are working in the area to do this. There are so many schools that need help. I later learned that this was a private school. The man had started the school on his own, and the students paid a subsidized fee to attend. I know the public schools in Kenya are not always well kept, but why was this man asking, no begging, me for money when his students could go to a school less than a block away? His insistence angered me. Yes, I want to help the children, but so many need help. I can’t help them all. Where and how do I start?

Our final stop was at the local church to meet with the community pastor. The chief was not in today so meeting with him would have to suffice for setting up my focus group discussion. He told the group some background on the slum. Huruma was founded in 1979 when the government displaced the people from another location. Most of the people working in the slum had a temporary job, usually collecting firewood in the local, protected forest across the river. This forest looked beautiful and served as a sanctuary to such an impoverished area. A fence had recently been put around this forest, the only one left in Nairobi and fought for by a Nobel Prize winner. The forest caused problems in the past for the people but now serves its purpose in the community. The community members are only allowed to collect the branches on certain days and at certain times to prevent deforestation from occurring. The pastor was passionate about what he talked about. His frustration with the government was obvious. He told us that in order to do anything the community would have to do it themselves. What I found really interesting was many members of government lived in gated communities right next to the slum. Some government members didn’t even know the slum existed, or if they did, cared to do nothing to help it. The government didn’t want people moving out of that area because those votes were essential to their elections. As another student joked about the corruption in their government, everything he said was true. The government in Kenya is so corrupt many seem to have forgotten about the people who live there.

I talked to the pastor, Sam, about my meeting. He told me that sodas would not be enough. I would have to compensate each person by at least 200 shillings. With my current budget, I will only be able to have ten people participate in the talk then. As frustrating as it is, I guess it will just have to do. Maybe this is just a nice welcome to the real world of research, where every dollar has to be spent wisely.

A Different View

Once again my day in the office was spent transcribing tapes. All the information seems to be running together and is getting more and more repetitive by the day, but will become useful during analysis and writing of my research report. Today I also finalized my personal research project. I will be using the data gathered from the focus group discussions with farmers in Taita and compare that with a focus group discussion I plan on conducting with head of households in a local slum (Huruma) to see how climate change is impacting the two differently with a focus on their food security. My questions are written for the focus group discussion in Huruma, now it is time to get everything solidified, chiefs informed, and people to come. Tomorrow, I will go to Huruma with Sarah and Fabian to, hopefully, talk with the chief of the area and get a day set up for the meeting. There is so much planning that has to go into a simple two hour meeting with a village. Not only do I have to organize everything through the chief, but I was informed today there is a cost factor in holding such a meeting. I need to pay for a security guard, and in order to get people to attend, I need to be prepared to provide them with sodas. I just hope the chief agrees to let me proceed and notifies his people, or else it’s back to square one.

Sarah, Karen, and I went out for lunch today. The Guest House food seems to get pretty repetitive, so we went to Navais, the local grocery store, and bought lunch there. The set up was similar to any grocery store café found in the States. I purchased some spaghetti and ice cream. Sarah and Karen laughed at me for ordering ice cream in their winter. Little do they know, the current temperatures are far from cold. (It is in the upper 50’s in Kenya right now.) We also grabbed some local produce of tangerines and avocados to add to our feast. The food was quite tasty.

The support from my family and friends while I am here really makes a difference. When I said I was leaving for Kenya, people started telling me of people they knew in the area—these connections could be quite convoluted but anyone willing to take me in was appreciated. One of my cousin’s friends, Becky, is in Kenya for the summer. Since the nights here can be pretty lonely, Becky and her roommate, Mandi, invited me for dinner and movies at their place. The transportation put a small bump in the road. Becky and Mandi live about forty minutes from icipe in Kilimani. Daisy, a fellow colleague, lives near there too so could drop me off on her way home; however, I would have no ride back. Hearing this, Daisy offered for me to just spend the night at her house, a gesture usually not found in the United States to someone you had just met a few weeks ago. I took up the offer and met Becky and Mandi at a Javahouse in Kilimani.

Daisy warned me the traffic to get there would take us at least an hour. Sure enough, when we got to the city center we were at a standstill. While sitting, waiting for the cars in front of us to move, young boys came to the windows of the car and begged for money. I find it so hard to shake my head at such sad and depressed eyes. Daisy told me most of the kids were homeless because they were orphaned or had run away from home. She said at one point in the past if people didn’t give them money they would throw things at your car. The government soon put a stop to the practice, but the kids are back. We also drove by the house of the President of Kenya. Unlike the White House, the fence seemed easy to climb over and the security seemed weak for such an important figure. This side of Nairobi was also very different from where I am staying. I am not going to classify the area as wealthy, because it was far from the luxuries one would see in the United States, but the people living in this area were clearly better off.

Becky and Mandi are college students spending their summer in Nairobi on a water/community health project. Their work sounded pretty interesting. They seem to be tacking onto a bunch of other projects occurring to be able to collect their data. The Javahouse food was very good as well. I ate garlic bread and cheese; the much missed cheese tasted wonderful again. Once we had finished eating we starting walking back to their place. The time was only about seven, but with it being winter in Nairobi, darkness had fallen. We walked briskly back, making no eye contact and refusing any offered Matatu rides. At their apartment I watched an episode of “Downton Abbey”. The night was really nice. It felt nice being around people my own age and just having fun. Hopefully I will be able to hang out with them again soon.

Daisy picked me up from there and we headed to her residence. Due to the overcrowding of Nairobi, the smallest sizes of land of are of high value and cost. Therefore, a well-off family who would probably live in a four bedroom house in the states lives in an apartment in Nairobi. Daisy’s family’s residence was very nice. Her family welcomed me into their house as if I was a long lost friend. Everyone here seems to be so welcoming to me. I know this is partly cultural, but it has made settling in a lot easier. When headed to sleep I asked where I on the floor I should sleep. She looked at me as if I was crazy. Kenyans never let their guests sleep on the floor. Daisy said, “If you don’t take my bed, my dad will kill me.” I took the bed and after a long day of activities, fell immediately asleep.

A Run Around

This week there seems to be a conference occurring at icipe. For the first time since I’ve been here I think there may be more than five people staying in the Guest House. This results in more people from around the world for me to meet each night at dinner, that is, if they end up eating dinner here. Regardless, the food seems to be improving with the increase in visitors. Hopefully they will stay around for a while.

Today in the office Sarah and I transcribed more tapes. I find it remarkable how long this is taking us. Tino estimated the transcribing would take 15 hours total. We have spent almost a full work day on them and we have barely reached 40% complete. I find with each question answered, the answers start to get repetitive. As in, the farmers had similar answers to a lot of our questions. I also am seeing a trend in the connections or chain reactions due to the climate change. For instance, climatic change is causing food to become scarce. As a result, children are looking for other means of income besides farming and are getting into more accidents due to their adventurous new trades. I will look deeper into these connections when writing my research paper and trying to draw some conclusions. For now, the transcribing continues.

During the lunch hour today, Fabian invited me for a run outside of the compound with him. Since I have been running in circles inside the fence, I was anxious to get out and run with some different scenery and be able to see the area surrounding me better. The path Fabian runs is about seven kilometers and was expected to take us 45 minutes. This seemed like a decent pace for me. The first stretch of the run was running along a busy street traversing through town. We stayed as far as we could off of the road, but since the roads in Kenya are so bad, drivers also like to go off road. There were no close calls or anything, but I felt the pollution from the cars the entire run. The air quality beyond the fence of icipe changes substantially. The whole run I felt like I was inhaling fumes from a factory. The smell and density of the air was not pleasant. The roads were also muddy and bumpy. I’m not sure the last time it rained here, but I came across huge puddles every minute. Off of the busy street we turned onto a side road. The road looked deserted with foliage and weeds overgrowing the path I’m guessing once served as a side walk. In the distance, houses were visible. From a distance the houses didn’t look as bad as the slums but they didn’t represent luxury either. We ran around Moi Stadium, a sports center that houses a wide array of sporting events. Hopefully during my stay here I will be able to attend one of those sporting events. The path around the stadium wrapped back up to a highway. In Kenya, it is not uncommon for people to walk on the side of the highway; there is even a sidewalk there. We ran on the sidewalk, but as I’ve been told before, there are no rules in Kenya and I heard a honk behind me. I jumped out of the way as a motorcycle passed. By the end of the run, I wasn’t exhausted as Fabian guessed I would have been due to the high altitude. As great as the run was, running in the middle of the day is inconvenient and I think I will stick with my circles inside the fence each morning; there my lungs don’t feel the effects either.

An African Church Service

This morning Karen picked me up to go to church with her. Honestly, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I think everyone has this idea of boisterous African church services and I thought it may be similar but nothing ever seems to be how I think it will be here so I didn’t know. Her church was tucked back away from the road in a maze of muddy, unpaved streets. The sanctuary seemed like the focus of the community surrounding it. We arrived a few minutes after the service had started and squeezed into a few empty spots in the back. Every notion of a boisterous African church service held true. The pews were more like wooden benches. People squeezed in, literally, shoulder to shoulder. At the beginning of the service there was a lot of singing, call and response style with Swahili mixed in. When people weren’t singing or even while they were, they were dancing and clapping to the beat. The joy and praise of the building pounded throughout the community surrounding.

Near the beginning of the service they had all the visitors raise their hand. Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I hesitantly raised my arm. The pastor was quick to spot me though, the only Caucasian in the building. He even made a comment in front of the entire congregation, probably over 200 people, how, I must be visiting because I’m not Kenyan. The church had a nice gesture of giving all of the visitors a rose. The sermon was just like the African sermons we see in movies. The man speaking screamed his praise and guidance into the microphone. I’m not sure if he wasn’t aware that the microphone projected his voice or what, but it was loud. The passion in his voice was prominent. I’m guessing the community surrounding could hear his voice for miles. My ears were practically ringing. Before we were dismissed, they had all the visitors file out and go to a meeting room. I didn’t really want to leave Karen, but she pushed me out anyways. I had no idea where I was going or what exactly I was doing. They brought us to a small room and preached to us some more. I felt as if I was getting recruited to join their church. The women served us all tea and a sweet. I took both, to not appear rude and did my best at finishing the sweet. With the tea, however, I had no luck. In Kenya, tea is made with a milk base instead of a water base. Not being a tea fan to begin with doesn’t seem to help my cause. After introducing ourselves and making a fool out of myself with having just about no idea what was going on, Karen rescued me. Next week is Youth Sunday. I may return and experience that service as well, as long as I’m not labeled as a visitor again.

Beyond the traditional African service the worship had, there was one other main difference—their service lasted for three hours. In a crowded little space with extremely loud speakers, that is a long time to be sitting, especially when I am used to hour long services back home. Regardless, it was a good experience. The rest of my day was spent at icipe figuring out college classes for next year. As expected, registering for classes is substantially harder from overseas. Spaghetti was served for lunch, though. Having something other than rice made my day.