Mathare

I was super late because I stayed up all night and morning ensuring that my clothes were washed as we would be on the road for the next ten days.  Today was our last classes at UoN. We had three lectures. The first one was a presenter from USAID who explained their purpose in Kenya like working on the PETFAR initiative of Bush.  Followed by that lecture was two women who are from the Kenyan Women Finance Trust. This lecture was on Microfinance.  It was not a topic I knew much about but I was eager because it's a new popular social initiative.  I was really disappointed with the lecture though.  They were reading off the slides which is PRESENTATION DO NOT 101.  It was kind of funny but one the girls had to go with a sign to show the girl to slow down...it was embarrassing.  The last lecture was on Changes in the Rangelands by a Mr. Davi Nkedianje.  He discussed land allocation and the issue with fragmentation of the land that restricts the lives of pastoralist and nomads as well as the animals who move based on the seasons.

We had lunch and proceeded to our next stop which was to Mathare; another slum in Kenya. First we stopped at an orphanage by the name of Mogra Resue Center which is located near the Mathare slum.  The story behind the school and orphanage was inspiring and sweet.  The founder Hannah never learned English and her husband bought land and donated it to her.  The orphanage houses 140 children of all ages.  A British lady who volunteered there did the introductions and answered our questions.  Some points that she brought up was that Kibera is celebrity slum...as many of the residents pay an expensive rent compared to other slums.  Also, many of the residents in Kibera actually have jobs in Nairobi, they live in Kibera because of its perks.  For example, in Kibera there is 1 NGO for every 30 people in Kibera.  She made other critical speculations but I think some of it was bias.  Ben who graduated from Mogra Star to pursue Social Work now works as the community director gave us a tour of the facility.  He then took us to a nursery area and there were 3 cute babies there.  They explained that they feed the children all year round because sometimes it's the only meal they get per day.

We then drove to slum which was ten minutes away and similar to Kibera there were beautiful big homes nearby.  The school was deep with the slum in dilapidated facility that had a leaky roof, crooked stairwell, and narrow hallway. Simon, another graduate, gave us a tour of all the classes.  Once again most of the younger children sang and danced for us.  984 students attend school in this five story building 700 in primary school and 284 in secondary.  We went in and introduced ourselves, very few of them had questions for us. One thing i noticed was that all the students were well-behaved even when their teachers were not in class.  We went back home so we could have a review session since we would be leaving for Nyeri to Kisii to Kissumu.

AMREF and Flying Doctors

Monday, May 23rd
Location: Nairobi

Today we were back to the routine of Swahili, lectures, and an afternoon trip. I am super sore from our hike the day before. Today was awful...I was really late to class and I left my notebook behind.  The Swahili class was packed with information.  It was by far one of the best. We learnt more conversation basics like "where are you from?" and "where do you study?" We learnt the tense forms and how to say love you in different persons.  Following that, we had a lecture on the elector process.  One of the biggest things that lecturer was discussing was how to prevent the corruption that occurred in the 2007 election.
Later we visited Flying doctors and AMREF. I really like the mission and vision of AMREF. I would even consider interning there someday.  We learnt some really cool facts about Flying Doctors. They remind me of Lifestar here in the US.  They typically fly to remote areas to pick up people who are seriously in need of hospitalization.  They fly them to anywhere in the world that the UN approves.  What I thought was strange was they only land in places where there is an airstrip.  But, nonetheless, Flying Doctors is a great program.  They have doctors, nurses, and pilots on call to be prepared to leave. Vikki gave us a lecture for AMREF, you may remember Vikki she was the reason we were able to experience nightlife in Kenya. AMREF is African Medical and Research Foundation.  It is the only international NGO headquartered in Kenya.  They are based on donor funding like USAID, CIDA, Global Fund and more. She opened the lecture with a Community Health Worker on the ground.  It was great beacuse this is what I would be doing my paper on. To learn more about AMREF click here. I love Victoria and her lecture was great though we did not have enough time as we were going to Kenyatta market.
The market closed at 6pm so we had only 20 minutes.  Most of the girls wanted Kangas but I wanted traditional wear.  So while they looked for Kangas I found a guy who had some beautiful dresses so of course I bought one for my sister and I told him I would return for one me and my other sister in two weeks.

Mount Longonot and Naivasha

Today we were able to get up a little later as we would be climbing Mt. Longonot.  Mt. Longonot is a dormant volcano and was featured in Safaricom Niko Na commercial. We drove about an hour  then we stopped  as there was Great Rift Valley Viewpoint.  We took tons of pictures.  the scenery was gorgeous.  We even saw some famous singer named Jimmie. We drove for another half hour or so and then the mountain came into view. The mountain was huge and alot steeper than Ngong Hills.  We had two guides a friend of Wamai and actual guide.  We started the climb a little ways form the base.  I turned on my kindle and started jamming to music as I walked. It was exhausting but I was inspired when I saw a really old lady coming back down.  I stopped often just so I could take in the beautiful natural land that Kenya had to offer.  It became more gorgeous the higher we climbed.  Because, we were escalating and fast pace sometimes my breathing would get bad and I had to use my asthma pump.  We climbed all the way to the top where we could stare into the crater. It took us about an hour and a half  to two hours to get up.  I took tons and tons of pictures. this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.   I ate my nuttella sandwich and a yogurt. There was smoke coming out of the side of the inside of the volcano, just a small smoke. 

Soon it was time to proceed downhill.  That was the hardest because of how steep it was.  I ran most of it because it was easier than walking sideways.  I felt like tarzan!  Johnothan, Asha, and I got to a part where we were kind of confused but we made it past there to come to a part that was even harder to go down so Asha and I decided to slide down we were already dirty anyways.  I tried to stand but feel which Sam caught on video..smh.  

We finished the climb to Wamai filming us as we emerged at the bottom.  It was a fun trip.  We then went to eat at a pricey restaurant in Naivasha. 

MaasaiLand Visit

Saturday May 21
Magadi


We would be driving to a Maasai village today. The drive according to Dr. Wamai would be 3 hours on the road and then an hour off road. We stopped to pick up his friend, Nyamchuk (spelt wrong) who is Maasai though she is not from that village.  She had a beautiful baby girl who I had the opportunity to hold.  We drove and then we passed the Great Rift Valley where most of the Maasai tribes are dispersed. On the way passed various animals, children, and tons of donkeys with a huge grass or bush. We ate the mandazi that Hellen prepared for us. After about 3 hours of driving we stopped at picked up two Maasai, Nicholas and his friend,  who were waiting by the road to direct us.  Nicholas had on a belt that had his cellphone next to his knife which had me enthralled.  They use cellphones!??!?! Later, I discovered that they had solar powered chargers for them because there was no chargers in their homestead.  While driving the land looked so dry...bye bye friendly bush.  There were really tall anthills though.  I needed to pee so I found a friendly anthill to use.  We drove for over an hour. In between we had to get out of the bus a couple of times the bus couldn't move because of all the big booties...lol.  
Upon our arrival they started moving in a circle dancing and singing then they came to greet us in a single file line which Wamai instructed us to do and follow them back to the middle.  Once there, they started in a circle making hum hum noises and shrieks.  The men started to jump which is a traditional way of getting women's attention.  They did some warm-ups then got down to the real thing.  The man with the best jump was most desired.   They would jump against a partner and bump each other when they were ready to stop.  The women do a bobbing kind of dance with their necks adorned with tons of colorful circular jewelry.  Then everyone did this 3 tiered bob which I love doing.  All the women heads were shaved while all the men had long hair with red goop in it.  Slowly, we all started to  join in and start dancing with them.  The women snickered at me which made me self-conscious as to whether I am doing it right.  
We followed the Morans who are the younger warriors between the age of about 12-25.  Maasai have a social structure of age-sets.  This is like our adolescents equivalent unlike us Morans have to kill a lion and endure a painful circumcision before given that title.  Today a Moran would kill a goat for us.  He kneed the goat in its neck while suffocating it.  This took about 3 minutes then he cut a flap in the skin at the neck so people could drink the blood.  Many of the people in my group drank goat blood some even went back for seconds.  I, however did not. The little kids then went and they were slurping it up and enjoying it which kind of grossed me out. While a group was separating the goat to cook it for us a group was trying to start fire which they did by rubbing wood between a circular piece of wood in cow dung.  It took them awhile trading of the stick and spinning but soon a spark started.  
We met up with the women who would be taking us to the watering hole that they fetch and put in jerry cans.  But, first we had a session where we asked them a ton of questions on various topics based on our research. It was a 10-15 minute walk and they gave me one of the heavy cans.  While walking we asked about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and they told us that it did not occur. Yet, our guide Nyamchuk said it did; all the girls in black were recently circumcised. For more information on FGM Click Here.  The basic principle behind it is to prevent women from cheating they cut off their clitoris so they would not gain any pleasure. It is a painful procedure that can cause complicating when urinating and giving birth. FGM is illegal in Kenya.  As a westerner I did not want to feel like I am imposing but I just could not understand why this was practiced no matter how much I tried to put myself in their shoes.  At the waterhole the water was covered by moss.  The girls swished away the moss and started drinking.. the fetched the water and attached to a band that we put around our head carried on our back.  I got halfway with mine.  It wasn't that bad but the other girls who were with me had a hard time doing it.   Once we got back we ate the goat they killed (which was not very tasty), said our farewells, and bought some trinkets.  Nicholas went with us a bit of the way to help us navigate our way and then walk back.  
Ben and Charles spot a Cheetah.  We finally got into Nairobi and we dropped Nyamchuk and her baby off.  No sooner than that did we get a flat tire in the night and we were all tired and restless.  The tomboy in me wanted to help out so I grabbed my light and shone it so they could see what they were doing.  We had a jack but it was not working well so we Johnothan and Alizar asked some guys parked nearby of we could borrow the jack which luckily they had.  Soon, the tire was fixed and we were on the road again.  I was happy to be of  assistance.  Overall it was a great day. 
 Hum Hum hum hum hum!!! 

Flying Kites

Friday May 20th
Nairobi then Njabini

Today instead of going to the university we went to the  Education-USA Kenya Advising Center.  We got there a bit early.  While we waited I met a student who aspired to study in the U.S and he was describing the long process ahead of him.  He was at the center to get more information on the tests that he needed to take.  He also asked me about the process for myself and the school I attended.  Finally, we were able to enter.  Other visitors were there as well, students entering their last year of secondary school from an all girls school.  True to the title of our program Dialogue of Civilization our professor had us introduce ourselves, the program, and our school.  The girls then asked some really great questions.
We were there for an hour or so before we head out to our next destination Njabini to visit the staff of Flying Kites and the school.  We drove for about an hour and a half to two hours.  Per the suggestion of our host Mike Behan who would be meeting us we stopped at Lebanon Hotel which is actually a restaurant.  The food was ok, I didn't eat much.  Mike, who is a Northeastern student on co-op at Flying Kites is doing awesome things there.  He arrived in style on a Boda Boda or Bike Taxi so of course we asked of we could ride one. We got on a Boda Boda for a tn minute ride through the hills.  It was awesome ride...many of the drivers had on protective gears.
As we got off the bikes a group of students were gathered in their blue uniforms and some had on these precious winterhats.  The school was beautiful all white building.  The students opened in song for us and once they were done like an assembly line they shook each and everyone of our hands and introduced themselves. they introduced us to the group and then we broke up into smaller groups 4-5 children per NU student.  They were so respectful.  They called us Aunty and Uncle never calling us by our first names. It shows the respect for people older than them.  We read together, they showed me their classes on a tour of the school, we played games like red light green light, tag, football, and something like dodgeball with their rolled up socks. Aww I love kids.
We had to head back.  On our way we made  a few stops in the market because we were having a cook-in.  Despite the exhaustion everyone chipped in and prepared an excellent meal.  Johnothan, Sam, the IS guy from Northeastern and I made the fried chicken and beef stew.  We had tons and tons of food. I had chapati, salad, rice, and so much other food.  The mandazi were not frying so Hellen decided to take them home. After eating everyone scattered as it was really late and we had an awesome day ahead plus it was basically midnight by then.

Bomas Bomas Bomas!!!

Thursday May 19th
Nairobi

I will probably say this for the next couple blogs so be prepared.  We started out the day the same as usual: breakfast, walk to school, and then Swahili class. Today in Swahili class I learnt more conversation basics like saying goodbye which is "kwaheri". We also learnt two ways to ask people their names which is "Jina lako ni nani" and  "wewe unaitwa nani" to which you respond either "Jina langu yourname" or mimi ninaitwa yourname." Then we had a lecture on Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) by Peter Kithuka.  his lecture was interactive as he reviewed as he went along and it was very organized. We defined Health Management Information Systems through a process of breaking down the words and defining them which I liked.  HMIS is the implementation of the components of working together to collect, analyze, and disseminate information for planning, monitoring, and evaluating health care.  I thought this was a cool job as it reminds me alot about what I learnt in my Nonprofit Management course like identifying the key players and using a logic model.  I later met with a professor in the School of Public Health to discuss my paper more and he gave me some interesting perspective on the topic.
After lunch we travelled to Bomas of Kenya which is cultural exhibition of the different dance forms of the 42 tribes in Kenya.  We saw about 15-20 different dance performances.  My two favorites were the acrobats and the Samia Marriage Ceremony.  They then assigned us a tour guide who showed us the different villages and the different homes or Boma (the Swahili word that means homestead).  I enjoyed seeing the homes.  Mos of them were organized the same though the materials that made each houses in the villages varied.  They had about 3 wives hut, the first wives being the largest.  Then, there was a husband hut, a son's hut, and a mother's hut.  Each wives hut based on some of the tribes had a granary or food storage place.  We then passed through a mini market and bought some stuff.
We then proceeded to go home for a class review and the plans for the weekend debrief.

Kibera, Africa's largest slum

Wednesday May 18th
Location: Nairobi

As usual we started of the day the same...lol. In Swahili, we went over our numbers.  the only one I can remember of the top pf my head is Ishirini which means 20.  Dr. Wamai reviewed his lesson yesterday and spoke additionally about a 10/20 policy introduced the 2003 Minister of Health Charity Ngilu.  Later we had a lecture by an health economist Joseph Wang'ombe, who also happened to be our host at UoN.  He utilized numerous graphs and data tables to illustrate how poor the health economy is compared to others.  Did you know that 46.6% of the country live below the poverty line on 107 Ksh or $1.25 a day?  One of the major issues with the health care system in Kenya is that it relies alot on Foreign Aid instead of government who spends less than donors and Kenyans.  I then went to the Ministry of Health also known as the Afya House for an interview with someone on my appear.  She was wealth of knowledge and she even emailed me tons of pertinent resources. We talked so much that I missed lunch and would be late for the next afternoon trip.
In the afternoon we would go o a transect walk to Kibera which is currently the largest slum in Africa.   The amount of people living there is unknown; the speculated population is about 400,000.  Kibera is a Nubian Sudanese word mean "jungle".  The first settlers were Sudanese soldiers from the first World War.  Within Kibera there is eight different villages.  It is known to be multi-ethnic which results in alot of tribal conflicts at times.  Kibera has seen such an increase in population because it lies on the outskirts of the city center and many people migrated there for opportunities that they could not get anymore as pastoralist or farmers in upcountry.
While driving there, many thoughts began to run through my mind.  Should I take pictures or would that be intrusive and exploitative? How would people receive us since we were just coming to observe them and their community.  Someone on the us brought up this term Poverty tourism which I looked up.  One of the articles I found was written by a Kenyan on the first slum tour that she saw (Click Here). When did this idea of poverty tourism start?  Is it humane to walk through and see such things  and then go back to our privileged lives filled with luxury?  I did not know what to expect.
Driving into Kibear, we were greeted y all sorts of businesses.  The first stop on our walk was Stawi Youth and Adult Center whih is ran by a remarkable women, Agneta Oluoch.  The center is a 10X10 one room facility decorated with educational and health posters hosts 4 major activities.  These activities are: A Post Test Club (PTC) which consists of 12 men and 8 women who support each other through group therapy, a youth group that educates on HIV/AIDS and the stigma through street theater, singing, and poetry, an informal pre-school, and a Saturday meal program for orphans and vulnerable children.  She told us about herself and what inspired her to start this center.  Agneta who is HIV positive  started the center when her his and passed away in 1995 of AIDS leaving her with 4 children and the stigma of HIV.  We followed her outside after the introductions where we saw these messages in person; they performed a skit for us and then they sang for us.  It was excellent!
Our tour started right after. I was walking with two women Benta and Lilian.  While walking we were greeted by children singing "How are you? How are you?" as if on queue.   On the streets there were tons and tons of children of all ages in their uniforms walking home.  I saw a little girl around the age of 4 and i held her hand because it pained me to see children so young walking unchaperoned but they had no choice as their parents were out trying to make money to maintain their well-being.  I heard that due to this many young girls were molested in Kibera which broke my heart.   The walkways were paved with trash and excretion.  Kibera is known for something called a Flying Toilet.  Since many of the homes do not have a toilet. People will use the bathroom in newspapers or plastic bags and then toss it out the window.   There were many open ditches and the drainage was filled with all sorts of garbage and backed up water which created a foul odor.  Like I stated above, despite all this Kibera is like it's own country packed with tons of businesses from food stands with mandazis to hotels (which seemed to be 10x10 facility as well)  to signs on port-a-potties that people had to pay to use.  The homes were one rooms made of wither mud or tin and covered with zinc.  Typically a family of 4-6 occupied this small home.  It contains no water or electricity, just a bed, clothes and a section divided off for the kitchen utensils.  We did see many schools so children  whose parents could afford it went to school outside Kibera but many went to informal school hosted by churches or ex-teachers.
Many of the people did not seem sad, they were happy.  I couldn't help but praise their resilience because as rugged as I am I don't know if I could live under these circumstances.  While walking we saw some high rises which reminded of the same thing that occurred in Chicago during the 40s.  In response to the amount of African-Americans who migrated to Chicago and started ghettos that contained violence they created high rises like the  Robert Taylor homes which made them more impoverished and worsened the violence.  The high rises just displace the slum because in many of them people are sharing apartments.  The last stop on the tour was Agneta home where we said our sad farewells.  The people all made an impact on my life that day.  The only thing I could think about is how to do something for Kibera.


"Originally designed for just 200,000 inhabitants, Nairobi now holds 4–4.5 million. It has more than
doubled in size in the past five years, giving it one of the highest growth rates of any African city.
That growth consists almost entirely of the poor, whose shacks have filled what were the green spaces in
a network of loosely connected satellite settlements. Nearly two out of three of the capital’s inhabitants occupy the two hundred resulting slums, a steady source of  income for City Council officials, too busy levelling fantasy ‘taxes’ on the unauthorized dwellings to want to alter the status quo. Among the most squalid the continent has to offer, these settlements nuzzle against well-heeled residential areas in provocative intimacy. ‘What’s striking about Nairobi is that each wealthy neighborhood lies cheek by jowl with a slum,’ remarks former MP Paul Muite. ‘It’s almost like a twinning arrangement. Poverty and wealth stare each other in the face. And that’s simply untenable. Those slum-dwellers know what they’re missing, they’re educated now. I tell my wife: “There’s no way, long term, those guys are going to accept to die of hunger when the smell of your chapattis is wafting over the wall.”’ " -from the book It's Our Turn To Eat pg. 148

Hujambo!

Second day of classes followed the same routine: we ate breakfast and then walked to school.  We went over zoezi la nyumbani aka homework. We then learnt another staple to my vocab which is another way of greeting, "hujambo!".  The response is "sijambo."  We did conversational drills and then we learnt about personal pronoun forms.  We had a short break so you know I had to have my chai while completing my homework for the next day. Dr. Wamai then gave a lecture on Health care in Kenya.  He wanted to introduce us to some of the policies before our guest lectures that day.  He discussed how Kenya has flipped between a fee-for-service model to no fees a couple of times and the impact it had on the economy.  He also discussed The Kenya public Health Policy Framework which all other policies branch from. He briefly touched on the five levels of health care system. Dr. Wamai's lecture was then followed by Ruth Ngechu from the Ministry of Health. She discussed the Community Health Strategy policy in Kenya.  This policy sounded like a great intervention on paper but it made me question the process of implementation.  The policy created a system similar to Social workers but instead they are Community Health Workers who have 10 homes assigned to them or 50 people who they would check in with every month.  They would educate and provide basic medicine to clients based on the visit.  The major issue, however, is that these CHWs are not paid.  This inspired me to do my research on the implementation of health policies in Kenya specifically this awesome one.
Lunch was next but today instead of grabing food from the cafeteria I decided to make a bread and nutella sandwich.  A couple of us sat on the quad and ate.  While I ate I could not help but admire the attire of the students.  I don't recall seeing anyone in jeans (and if they were wearing it they and on a nice top or heels).  Everyone was dressed in a very casual business attire.  They looked professional compared to students back home.
Our next lecture was closer to downtown so we walked there.  On our way there we stopped and admired the city from a viewpoint in Uhuru park.  The view was beautiful.  We walked to National Health Insurance Fund.   The lecturer was the general manager, Mr. Githmu.  The fund was established in 1966 and currently governed by the NHIF Act No.9.  It outlines a structure.  the minimal payment is 30 Ksh a month to 320 Ksh. There are some people who are automatically covered like mental health patients and children under 18.  I was really tired so it was hard for me to focus in this lecture.

Classes: First Day

Monday, May 16th
Nairobi

Today is our first day of classes. We needed to leave at 7:30 so that we could arrive at the University of Nairobi Health Sciences campus. We ate breakfast at the hotel.  The walk to the school was not too bad, about 25 minutes. As I walked I was able to observe the hustle and bustles of the city as a pedestrian. The mutatoes speeding with the bus doors open.  I was also able to observe the local attire as we were told to be conscious of how we dress. Many people were covered up and wore long sleeves compared to what we would wear for summer in America.  The weather was nice not too hot or cold.
Swahili was the first class of the day.  We learnt the three ways to say "hello" which are "habari gani?", "jambo", and, "u hali gani".  The response is then "Nzuri sana." We then did some Swahili conversations for the remainder of class from our books. After Swahili, we would have three lectures.  The first lecture was on the government structure of Kenya by John Kaminyori and Rachel Koigi.  This lecture was a great overview.  He explained the Nationsal Assembky and the allotted members, the Judiciary and Executive branches.  He also discussed the coalition government briefly ( a shared power with the opposition party, Raila Odinga, and the ruling party Mwai Kibaki) which is the new structure in place. Kenya is also transitioning to a decentralized government so he explained that the counties would have more power similar to the autonomy that most states have. We had a short break before our next lecture.  Our next lecturer, Cyprian Nyanwamu is the most brilliant man. He absolutely blew me away!  The lecture sought to identify the problem of governance in Kenya and outline the initiatives taken to rectify it.  It was organized in the form of a 21 page paper.  His lecture contained so much pertinent information I could not help but to soak up his words.  A section that fascinated me was on the crisis in Africa.  He linked it to process of being colonized which began to set barriers for people. This led me to wonder what exactly about colonization that cause many countries to not recover after they become independent and the role it possibly plays in weak governance, poverty, and disparity.  Most developing countries were colonized at some point usually.   The problem he said was the four "I's": Institutional capture, Impunity, Inequality, and Intolerance.  The cycle off power struggle between the elites and the poor has began to perpetuate itself since then.
We then ordered lunch from the cafeteria that is outside from our class. I ordered chicken rice, vegetable, and chapati.  The food only cost $3.00.  I sat on the grass in the quad and ate my food.
The third lecturer, Mr. Njeru, from the Institute of Development Studies spoke with us.  in this lecture he discussed Kenya's development in a broad perspective.  He discussed development in the education system, exports, and touched on the moi era. Following this lecture we proceeded to Nairobi National Museum for a short trip.  I was excited to see the many artifacts of the museum.  One of the first exhibits that one would see is a giant collection of gourds connected to a huge calabash by eight strings to represent the eight provinces.  I enjoyed and had fun while walking though the exhibit.  While we were at the museum we met at the on-site restaurant, Savanna, to discuss our group papers.  This was kind of tough because many of the groups had the same idea but our group will be researching women in politics.

Picnic Day?????

Sunday May 15th
Location: Ngong HIlls

So today we would be hiking and having a picnic at the top of a hill.  On our way there I discovered that Ngong Hills consist of four peaks. So I thought the climb would not be so bad then. We stopped to pick up two guards and proceeded to the security entrance for the hill.  The guards both carried two huge heavy guns and they explained that it was because there is alot of violence that occur on the mountain.  We drove for 15 minutes to the conservation office which is near the base of the office. After a while we started our hike at 1:15 pm.  That is when I also heard that it would take about four and half to five hours.  AHHHHH!!!!
Starting the walk I was in the back of the pack and I decided to carry my heavy bag along for the trek (smh at myself).  My professor noticed that I was struggling and offered to carry my bag for me.  As went up the first hill we passed a windmill farm which I thought was cool because they looked so huge up close.  Ngong Hills is alongside the Great Rifts Valley and is home to a tribe of Masaiis. After getting up the first hill I was so exhausted.  Many of my peers were ahead of me but I wanted to hike at my own pace.  As we climed the second hill, I couldn't help but to stop and absorb all the beauty around me.  I took many pictures of the hills, the lake and the other mountains in the Great Rift Valley.  We were even able to see the next Mountain we would climb.  The next hill we were able to sit and have our mini picnic.  The view was unbelievable on the other side you could see the city and downtown Nairobi.  The second half of the walk I really had to push myself.  The only way that I was able to get through was to keep saying a powerful scripture to myself, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Each step I took I recited these words. Sometimes I felt like giving up and crying but having some of the girls stay behind and encourage me gave the push I needed to continue,  The last two hills were filled with trees and barely had a walk way.  It was alot steeper.  I was elated once I got to the top and could see the main road.  It brought a pep to my step; I was almost done!!  The rest of the way was a slow decline.  I also learnt that the mountain on that side was known as kono baridi because it was alot colder there.  Ben and I walked and talked.  At the finish line of course was Wamai recording every one's arrival as last years group did make it to the first hull.
Anyways, so much for a picnic on a hill.

Fun-Filled Day

Saturday May 14th
Location: Nairobi

I woke up excited looking forward to the awesome day ahead! We had so many interests plans.  First, we would be visiting an elephant orphanage.  We visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.  The elephants entrance was the cutest, they seemed so excited to put on a show for us. They began to feed the elephants milk from this big bottle.  The trainer then began to tell us some interesting facts about the elephants and how they rescued them from the wild.  Some older elephants came out after they left.  They were my favorite.  They rolled in the mud and one was a football superstar.  It was one of the best experiences ever.  I then, had the idea to adopt an elephant as group when the guy told us we could do so.
Next stop was the giraffe center.  How do I describe the emotions that flood me?  The giraffes were so tall and they were gentle creatures.  They ate alot ; our group of 23 fed them over and over.  One of the staff showed us how to kiss them by putting the food in our mouth so of course we tried it out.  You only live once right? It's an understatement to say that it was the best kiss/lick as it was lol.  Okay it wasn't the best but it was an experience that I will never forget.  We sat for a 15 minute briefing on giraffes which was so fascinating I had to take notes.  They are definitely one of my new favorite animals.   They have an 18 inch tongue and they come to term after 15 months but can still carry their child for 3 months after.  I grabbed a couple souvenirs.
Next, we went to a rugby match.  I have never seen rugby before and I knew nothing about the sport.  The Cheetahs and Sugar Buffaloes. I asked someone in the stand who he was cheering for and he said the Cheetah so I decided to cheer for them. You all know me I was literally cheering and screaming (typical tourist! lol)  Just when I was beginning to understand and enjoy the game we had to leave. The Cheetahs were winning by a lot of points.
We had to rush home because we had dinner reservation at 7 at a place called Carnivore, famous for meat (the name says it all).  The restaurant was gorgeous and very upscale.  The staff was friendly and welcoming.  First we were served an alcoholic beverage called DAWA which means "medicine".   The drink is served with a stick of honey that you mix around with the rest of the ingredients of lime,vodka, and more.  I think the ingredients is the reason why it is called medicine because in Jamaica when you are sick you drink lime with honey and maybe white rum.  The brought a hot napkin so we could wipe our hands and then they placed a huge plate of sauces that should be used based on the meat one was eating.  The first meat I was served was Ox balls which was quite tasty.  We had camel meat, crocodile, ostrich meat balls, pork ribs, turkey, chicken, and other meats.   Wamai, a real carnivore, ate meat for two hours while the group had  given up after an hour.  I, then, asked them to sing Happy Birthday to Johnathan since his birthday will be in a week and half.
We headed to the club in the restaurant but they were having an Indian celebration so Vicky one of Dr. Wamai's friend suggested that we go to Rafiki.  The place was packed and as soon as we hit the dance floor we started singing and dancing,   The music was mostly American.  Everyone was in a jovial mood; Professor was shaking a leg, Hellen was getting down, and Vicky was having a great time.  We left after 45mins but it was all worth it.  We had to head home for the adventure ahead of us we would be climbing Ngong hills and having a picnic at the top.

Githunguri/ UoN Family Assessments

Friday, May 13th
Location: Githunguri

Today, we would be meeting up with fourth year University of Nairobi Med students.  We left early around 7:30 so we could meet them in a location where we would follow their bus afterwards.  We drove for about an half hour then we met up with their bus and drove for another hour or so.  We passed with horses, women carrying grass on their backs in bundles, and school children in their uniforms.  Soon the big blue bus halted and Professor Wang'ombe stopped and informed our professor that he needed three students.  Everyone was nervous.  Apparently we would be paired up two UoN students to one of us.  Then, tghe bus just drove off and proceeded up the hills.  I wonder how the first three felt.  Once again we repeated the routine a couple more students hopped out and were assigned students to observe. I got off after the fourth stop.  The students I was assigned to were Ibrahim and Faith.   Once we walked into the village which is a rural area we met with their guide who is from the area.  The area is a Kikuyu populated so if they were not able to translate the guide would in the native tongue.
While we walked they explained the that they were doing an health assessment as they would come back to the community for health intervention.  The intervention would be in form of a health clinic that would target the needs that the survey found.  The survey was created by all the students.  They gave me a copy and I realized that it was a holistic approach to the well-being of the village.   They asked questions about anything and everything.  We walked and knocked on the houses.   However, most of the people were not home which Faith explained that they went to work and typically returned between 12 and two.  After visiting a couple of homes and being unsuccessful we finally found a mom of two.  The homes were made of like wood and the ground was just the ground.  The house had two rooms, we sat in the living room.  The students introduced themselves and me in Swahili and explained their purpose for being there.  As they began to start the survey I sat back and took notes.
The survey asked questions on the demographics like all the members in household names, their religion, education level, and more.  They ask questions specific to mothers with children under 5 because by the time they are 5 they should have the basic immunizations, they also looked at the actual immunization record, they asked questions about morbidity and mortality,  and whether family members had relocated.  It later asked about many prevalent infectious disease.  If  they stated that they did not know, the student explained it to them in a clear and concise manner which I liked alot.  I commended him later to which he responded that this is only opportunity that he had to educate and he never when they would hear that again.  The questions also asked about recent health issues and last time anyone went to a clinic.  They also had a private session where they asked about the reproductive history of the women especially when it cam to birth control.  Most of the women we spoke with were on the pills which were readily available to women.  They examined the water supply and explained to them that instead of using a cup to dip in a bucket they should pour it out of bottles because germs was on the cup which would then contaminate the water supply.  Later they asked on the finances of the house, weighed the child , and observed the outside toilet.  We interviewed three more people one of which the professor sat in on.
This was a great experience because as a Human Services Major I learnt alot about Community Needs Assessment.  The best way to assist a community is to talk to them and discover what services they are in need of instead of assuming and trying provide an intervention.  These students wanted to do a health clinic the following Saturday so they wanted to know what supplies necessary.  Later on I learnt that this was called Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR).  However, I had some criticism about this survey: first of all it was 22 pages long and the students since they were translating sometimes had miscommunication.  The fact that it was 22 pages made it exhaustive and a bit much.  Was all that information pertinent.
At the end of the day we stopped to see a physician to get more malaria medications for some people and then we went to the hotel where we had another nightly meeting.  Later, I snuggled up in my bed while watching a Nigerian movie.  I am beginning to get addicted to Citizen Live.

Karibu Kenya

May 12
Location: Nairobi

The excitement of being in Kenya kept me up all night.  I skyped, facebook, and tweeted till 6 am knowing that I had to wake up at 9am.  In tghe morning we had breakfast in the Sokoni Restaurant of the hotel. We had a lot of introductions, first to our two assistants Carlo and Hellen then to the managerial staff of the hotel Chef Andrew, Illi, Mr. Godfrey and Mr. O.  After the professor briefed us on his expectations as well as what today's daily activity would include.  The next stop was downtown Nairobi.  Soon, we were stuck in the infamous Nairobi traffic.  Our driver Charles navigates the roads like a beast...he gets through the most narrowest situations.  The city had many tall buildings.  The funniest thing is that there is traffic lights at the intersection but for what purpose; No one follows the light., it's like decoration.  I saw a street called Simba street which made me excited but I was not able to capture a picture of it.  We passed a huge park which our professor told us is called Uhuru Park.
The city was congested with cars and people.  The roads seem to have their own laws and only Kenyans knew the rule.  We went to lunch at a restaurant.  I had Chapati, rice and beef stew.  After lunch we went to University of Nairobi where we met Professor Wang'ombe, our host, and another professor.  Listening to them answer our every question illustrated that they would be a wealth of knowledge for us. From the University we went to Uchimi a local grocery chain to buy groceries.  Of course, I had to find the aisle with all the seasonings.  I bought bread for nutella(that I packed), rice, chicken, peppers, tomatoes, onions, etc. Once I got home I was so exhausted but I decided to cook some stew chicken anyways.  Let's just say I put my foot in it despite the fact that I did not have any Maggi cubes lol.  After I turned on the television to one of the best stations Citizen Live and watched a Nigerian movie which was followed by the news.  On the news they talked about some of the border issues especially with Ethiopia in Turkana and Musweini's swearing in as the fourth Ugandan President.

I love the calm demeanor that many Kenyans possess.

Kenya Bound- The Journey

Date: May 10-11
Location: Up in the Air

Today was the day...I would be getting on a plane to spend a month in Kenya to study public health.  I left Connecticut around 4:30 on a PeterPan bus with my two suitcases in tow and my infamous pink bag. The group was mostly there when I arrived at 7.  I had met many of these people prior to the trip through the information sessions that our professor had but I was still nervous. After checking my bags I hung around waiting for that person that always seemed to brighten my day not wanting to say goodbye but needing to see them before I departed.   As usual the line for TSA was huge but I actually got through really fast.  Boarding the British Airways, words could not describe the look of shock on my face; it was as if I had never traveled before.  The plane had little cubicles for all the first and business class passengers.  The second surprise was seeing that the plane had an upstairs...WOW!!! It reminded me of the movie flight plan.  Each seat had their own TV.  I slept the whole flight while attempting to watch movies.
We landed in Heathrow and had to take a shuttle bus and a mini train to where our connecting flight was.  Unfortunately we had little over an hour to connect and the group had somehow split when connecting to the shuttle.  We reached another security where we had to show our passports and they had to scan all our hand luggage again.   By the time we got through we were informed that the gate for our flight would be closing.  On our way to the gate we stopped to let the Airline know that some of us was still behind.  We arrived at the gate at 110:16 for a 10:20 flight; it was really hectic!  Some people were panicking about where the professor was since he was behind to later find out he flew first class because the lady at the desk bumped his ticket when she discovered he was from Northeastern as she had graduated from there.  I was mostly awake on this flight since I slept all pf the other one.  My stomach began to feel sick which I think was due to all the food they provided that my stomach was not use to and the timing I ate.  We landed in Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 8:56 pm.  It was surreal! I am in Kenya...on the continent of Africa.  While walking through the airport we saw a mosque/prayer which I thought was cool.   Both my bags were there, I grabbed them and waited.  We were lead to a coaster where two guys started hoisting our bags on top of the bus and securing them.
Once we go to the hotel we selected roommates.  I was odd man out but I ended up rooming with Carlo one of the assistants on the trip (who never actually stayed there).   The hotel staff helped to lug our suitcases to our rooms.  The hotel had a pool and a 24 hour restaurant.  I was in room 310.  The rooms were unlike anywhere I had stayed before; it was like an apartment.  It had: a fully furnished kitchenette, a huge bathroom, a huge room with two beds and a closet, the living room had two couches with a television and a dining area. So far so good! Karibu Kenya!

Silence is the best response to a fool...

So, you know how I wrote the blog drama free (if not Click Here!. I was practicing the exact title of this blog.  Silence. As much as I was seething on the inside or crying.  I never showed a tear, an anger word, nothing.  I was dishing exactly what she didn't want.

But, I wish I could respond like Obama did to Donald Trump and respond to their nonsensical statements in sarcastic and satirical way.

Yes, this post is dedicated to the first black president of the US Barack Hussein Obama.  I absolutely love the way he gets on every one at the correspondents dinner and lastly the way he trumps Trump.  He does it in a very slick, sophisticated, and insulting manner.  Who doesn't like a slick talker? lol

"He who laughs last, laughs best."  Go el presidente!

Betrayed by MY Emotions

Day 2 of waking up without you....

I feel kind of pathetic...paralyzed by emotions. tears running down my eyes. literally!

Why?

Why am I stuck in this feeling?

I feel psychotic...the only person that can take the pain away is far away living their life while mine

mine is at a standstill

missing them

needing them

aching for them

I am so emotional it annoys me, frustrates me. 

The worst part is not expressing them to you

You think my tears are childish

so my "I love yous" go unspoken

My "I miss yous" are masked

I've closed off my heart to you 

in hopes of masking all the emotions

I wish I could be like you

SECURE

but instead I'm betrayed

Betrayed by my own self

I'm yearning and its hurting 

especially because I'm not 

vocalizing