A Talk with Huruma

Today, I went back to Huruma slum to conduct my remaining Focus Group Discussion with head of households or their wives. The meeting did not start until ten, so Sarah and I spent the morning preparing and making sure everything was in order. There are so many minute details that come into play when planning for such a meeting. We had to make sure we had the recorder, the correct forms to pay the participants, and of course the questions. My heart stopped for a second when we went outside and our driver was nowhere to be found. Luckily, he showed up in a few minutes.

Upon arriving in Huruma, we were greeted by Pastor Sammy, the one who had helped us to arrange everything. We set the chairs in his church in a circle (since our numbers were lower this time we could do this) and talked to him about how the meeting would run. He asked Sarah if she would be translating and she said, “Yes, in Kiswahili.” Pastor Sammy looked at us kind of concerned as he explained most of the residents of the slum preferred to speak in their mother tongue, one which Sarah did not know. Therefore, a double language barrier was present. Sarah would translate from English to Kiswahili and Pastor Sammy would translate from there into their mother tongue. Most of the group ended up speaking Kiswahili, or at least capable of understanding it, but for the remainders, I wonder how much information was lost in all the translations. I felt as if the translations were like a game of telephone. This will have to go in my notes of research when analyzing the information.

Since participants in today’s discussion were being paid to attend, they arrived on time. We paid the participants because they had to take a day out of their work to be at the discussion, which amounted to no money to feed their children that night. If we had made the meeting voluntary, no one would have showed up, as people need every shilling they make each day to feed their children. As the participants walked in I greeted each person with a handshake. One of the ladies asked me a question in her mother tongue, completely catching me off guard. The whole room just started laughing. As Pastor Sammy requested, we began and ended the meeting with a prayer. During the meeting, Sarah spoke Kiswahili and as the participants responded, she took notes in English. I was able to then read her notes and understand what was being said and ask questions on the matters.

A wide array of information was gathered from the slum. I have yet to fully analyze the data collected or compare it to the data I collected in Taita, but from today’s discussion the main thing I learned is climate change, and change in the land altogether, is altering the way people here live their lives on a daily basis. The residents of the slum were once able to gain all the food they needed from subsistence farming, but due to climate change and other issues, this is no longer the case. The participants attributed failure in their crops to the varying rains and weather predictions. Also, a boom in their population has had varying effects on their food security. A coffee plantation which used to employ people and have indigenous vegetables growing was destroyed to make room for building more “homes”. Therefore, people have resorted to planting their crops on road reserves. Floods and other natural disasters have destroyed any attempts at planting near the river running next to the community. People are now forced to buy their food. This would not pose as large of a problem if food prices were not soaring. In the past twenty years, the prices of simple products, such as maize flour, have more than doubled. The community members try to cope with this through collecting firewood from the forest the two days they are allowed to do this and selling that firewood for food. Others are casual laborers, meaning they find a new job each day, praying they will find a job and make enough money to put food on the table. As the community members shared with me, I could not even imagine having to pray for a job to make money to put food on the table. Getting through each day and having a meal is such an accomplishment. Talking to the people reminded me of why I am here and Norman Borlaug’s goals. I have witnessed firsthand the importance of a single meal.

When paying the people, they seemed very grateful to just be getting 200 shillings, a little over $2. This reminded me of a conversation I had with Fabian the other day about how a majority of those living in Nairobi live on less than 10,000 shillings a month, about $100. We discussed how we honestly didn’t know how these people survive. Shows something about their character, I suppose. The participants were required to sign the receipts saying they had received payment. As one lady stood to sign her name, she just laughed. This lady was illiterate and didn’t even know how to write. She drew some squiggly lines in the box. Witnessing events such as this really make me thankful for all the education I have received and continue to receive. Education really is the key to a successful future.

Upon returning to the office, we went out for lunch at the local vendors along the street. I bought fries and avocados. Sarah went to a fruit stand where they made her a fruit salad right on the spot, for less than $1. The inexpensiveness of fruits and vegetables continues to amaze me. Everything bought at street vendors is also always so fresh and ripe! After lunch, I went to return something to Vivian and found her on the phone with the United States Embassy talking about a 4^th of July party. Having spent the last few days trying to figure out if any Americans celebrated the 4^th here, I inquired if I would be able to attend. When I called the Embassy to ask and explain my situation, I was immediately rejected; being told it was an invite only party. I love my country, but I do have to admit being patriotic with them is a challenge when they won’t even let you attend their party. The man that is attending form icipe isn’t even an American citizen! The afternoon was spent typing up and finalizing the transcript from our meeting. Now the fun of analyzing and report writing begins. I also have to figure out how exactly I will provide helpful information to the community members to improve their food security issues in regards to climate change. Finding suggestions and solutions will be hard, as many of the community members don’t have funds or means of accessing ideas I have. Lots of research will be necessary to help the people, but that’s why I’m here.

This evening Karen took me over to her sister’s house to meet their family. I was really excited to meet the niece Karen continually talks about. I thought we would just stop in and meet the family. Being in Kenya, I should have known differently. Whenever one visits someone’s home they are fed a meal and socialize for a long while. Karen’s sister was incredibly welcoming and inquired a lot about the United States, what we thought of Kenya, and differences. Her young daughter, Abigail, was shy and without her afternoon nap very sleepy. I brought Abigail a small gift of a coloring poster, which may have been a mistake considering lines of marker ended up all over her mother’s clothing. The hospitality of Kenyans never fail to amaze me.