Nairobi

We arrived in Nairobi this afternoon feeling very well taken care of after traveling with two Rotarians from Kakamega -- Minah and Holland (his dad was in Holland when he was born... the name stuck).  We left at 7ish this morning and stopped for an early lunch of nyma choma (roasted meat, more like barbeque, only with no spices and done indoors, smoke and all in the restaurant) and ugali.  I ordered my usual skuma wiki and chapati, but the boys shared a leg of goat about the size of my left arm complemented with ugali, chips, and a tomato, onion, and herb salad.  I took a picture of Terry with the goat leg, but he won't let me post it.  Minah and Holland told us this is a Kenyan delicacy, and the goat meat is very nutritious.  Terry peeked at some goat intestines on the grill, but passed on that one.  Nothing is wasted here, Kenyans even enjoy Goats Head Soup (made me think of the beloved Rolling Stones) which they say is quite delicious and an excellent remedy for hang overs. 

After lunch, we continued the drive (soooooo much better to be in a private car with friends than crammed into a matatu with blaring music and springs in your seat) into Nairobi.  After a quick (one hour, nothing is really quick here) stop for Minah to do some business in Westlands, they dropped us off at the Parkside Hotel.  This is where Holland stays when he comes to town.  It's cheap (3000Ksh), safe, and clean enough.  Holland asked that they give us a room on the quiet side of the hotel to avoid the noise from the night club across the street.  It didn't work.  One night we can manage.  Will make the dogs barking at home in Kakamega seem peaceful.

We are hear for the PETS (President Elect Training Seminar) for Rotary.  I was coming along to go to the Vagina Monologues, but the date has changed, so I will meet the organizer for lunch instead.  I am hoping she can point me to a good bookstore that sells something other than The Greatest Secret (African knock-off of The Secret) and other white, be-all-you-can-be books...  There are so many notable African authors... I can't believe how hard it is to find them on the shelves here!

We are really noticing the time slipping by.  It will be a busy couple of weeks trying to wrap everything up.  We've hit some snags with our Fish Farm project... mostly fear, disputes from family members over land (god damned Kenyan men... sorry, there are lots of good ones, but jeesh they cause so many problems)... so it will take some juggling to spend our Rotary Community Grant and still follow the rules -- I DO NOT want to bring Rotary money home.  

KASFOOC Widows Group meeting under a tree at the Chairlady's home

Next weekend the girls I've been meeting with from MMUST are putting on the International Women's Day Celebration (I'm so proud of them), and that weekend is also Train the Trainer for a select few with Alex to lay the road to keep the Asset Based Community Development work alive and growing in Western Province.  Oh, and we are trying to arrange a field trip to Bondo for KASFOOC too.

Some of the V-girls in my front yard.  Trees make the perfect meeting places!

And, of course, there is Fredrick.  I've had the difficult, I'm cutting you off talk, but my no may not have been strong enough.  He is pitching a business plan for a loan.

Feeling grateful for all of it.  Even the noise, the grime, the helplessness, all of it.

.....................................

Side note:

At the last Health and Sanitation Training for the springs project on Thursday, Grace was killing time until the teachers arrived (the session was scheduled to start at 9am, the teachers rolled in at 10:45am and participants continued to trickle in until 12:30pm -- it was over at 1pm).  Blue chlorine dispensers have been installed by another group at some of the springs we have protected.  They are afraid to use them because they think they are somehow for family planning. 

Another glitch in the springs...  There was an announcement on the radio thanking Rotary for buying springs.  We have asked each community to gather stones and sand to contribute to the project.  It is important that they have a sense of ownership so that they take care of the project -- otherwise, as has happened so many times in the past, when a well or a spring breaks down, they figure it belongs to someone else (i.e. Rotary) and they will just leave it broken.  Anyway, after hearing the ad, this one community didn't want to bother gathering stones; they wanted Rotary to buy the stones from them.  Grrrr.  And in another case they were mad that Rotary didn't hire and pay them to build their own springs.  Grrrr again.

Just some of the goofy things we are up against.