Kila Kitu (Everything)

Kwa hivyo (so) things have changed for the better with my home-stay. I’m much more comfortable at home and even Adrian and I have formed a somewhat close bond. By that I mean, when he throws a banana at me, I throw it back and it turns into a game and instead of a fight. I had a long talk with my Mama last week and ever since then things feel and are good. I’m much happier in that regard.
School is still hivi hivi (so-so), but we’ve been getting a lot of time off to “work” on the three papers I have due at the end of the program. We have three, annoying 15 page papers and we’re not allowed to check out books from the library at the University of Nairobi, not to mention internet is scarce most of the time, which makes it a challenge to get work accomplished. Anyway we’ve been getting Fridays off to do work on our papers, but obviously we use that time to hang out or go on trips.
This past weekend my friend, Melinda, and I went to Mombasa- the city everyone and their mom told me I had to go visit. Aside from the beaches, there is nothing that great about Mombasa. It is just like Nairobi, but slower-paced, Muslim influenced and much more humid. The beaches make the long, crazy journey (9 hrs there and 8 hrs back) worth it though. They’re not exactly drop-dead gorgeous, but peaceful and relaxing except for the constant bother of people trying to sell us stuff. We met some really nice students from Kenyatta University who were taking the weekend to celebrate the end of their rough final examinations (very competitive and decide your future type exams). They explained to us how pretty much everyone in the water did not know how to swim, which is why there were so many floatation devices. The Indian Ocean might as well be a bath and is by no means refreshing after sweltering in the humidity and scorching sun. I thought I was being good and careful with sunscreen, but I ended up getting some bad burns on my stomach and back. I showed them to my advisor, Abdul-Aziz and he asked me, “So if I go to America will I get frostbite from the cold if I don’t use lotion like you use for sun?” I have no clue where he got such a fantastic idea, but we all laughed and told him he had nothing to worry about.
Abdul-Aziz is hilarious to talk and discuss Kenyan culture with. He is a perfect example of a Kenyan who wants to grasp how things work in America, with no actual concentration on what we’re saying and will still do as he does here. For instance he asked me and some friends about how you would approach someone you like in America, we explained, but he still aggressively comes on to many female students despite having a wife, three kids and a desire for two more someday. Some of the girls complain about him, but that’s how things are here, plus he’s just great and has the most wonderful and infectious laugh I’ve ever heard.
The other day at my internship, I was asked if I would emcee the final event for the project I wrote about earlier. I asked if I had to and they told me my options were to emcee or videotape, and not being one to stay behind a camera I of course jumped on the opportunity. I’m slightly nervous since all of Kibera will be there to watch, but it will also be amazing, plus I have plenty of time to rehearse. I’m really loving working with this organization. Right now it’s less work and more fun. I’m getting to know my co-workers and my way around Kibera, which is a winding maze of clustered housing and endless amounts of trash, where it is very easy to get lost. Those who live in the slum are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. It is the only place in Nairobi where little kids run up to you and grab your hand wanting to shake it, or they do this endearing little song and dance where they repeatedly ask you,
“How are you? How are you? How are you?” and when I say, “Nzuri sana, na wewe (very good and you)” they just run away, not expecting my Kiswahili response.
Kibera has an infamous reputation and is glorified by our teachers as an unsafe place that the government chooses to ignore to the point they hope it disappears. But the slum, which is more like its own city with a population close to 1 million, is alive and growing. It is my favorite matatu stop to arrive at in Nairobi. The second I get off the matatu there is a competitive cacophony of songs blaring from different vendors selling shoes, meat, live chickens, pirated DVDs and a plethora of other things for insanely cheap prices. The DVDs work well too! But that’s the “wealthy” part of Kibera, the exterior façade luring you into the actual forgotten city, which is distracting and magnifying all at once. From the little boy peeing into the slimy river off his doorstep to the aspiring artists depicting life in the slum and rivaling any contemporary artist hanging in galleries, everywhere you look there is something to see. I resent my teachers who tried to scare us from going there, which did not work because about 15 students volunteer at an elementary school in Kibera, plus two other students and I are doing our internships there. Obama actually came and spoke in Kibera when he was last here about a year or so ago.
One very interesting thing about Kibera is that there are approximately 700 NGOs, CBOs (community based organizations) and non-profits working in Kibera alone. The effects of these organizations are not always visible or tangible, which makes many researchers, analysts and myself question their impact. I do not know the extent to which my organization, HotSun Foundation, makes a difference, but it is at least getting community members involved in something positive. Over 400 people came to try out for our movie, many of whom will be used as extras. Fliers for our story-telling competition have only been up for about a week now and already 4 teams are signed up and daily people stop by inquiring about it. Sadly we have to turn away many because there is an age requirement, we’ve had men close to 50-years-old asking to do it, clearly not having read the requirements that you must be 15-23. It’s fun and I really love my co-workers. They’ve loved me since day one, no questions asked.
Every now and then I get homesick and really miss people back home, but I’m so happy here and growing so much. Sick and corny as that is, it’s so true!
Love and miss you all….