This week, my program moved from Nairobi to the city of Kisumu in Western Kenya. The city is next to Lake Victoria and has a large fish industry. Most of the fish taken from the Lake are tilapia or Nile Perch and the filets are sent to Europe and the United States.
Despite having a large fishing industry, Kisumu is facing a high unemployment rate. As a result of the lack of jobs combined with frequent teacher strikes (thus preventing students from attending primary/secondary school in the Kenyan System) they resort to giving motorcycle rides for transportation.
Here it goes! The last week in the big capital city of Nairobi. The last four weeks have been a mixture of awe, confusion and wonder, I can only imagine what the next month is going to look like.
During our last week, we focused on improving our Swahili. In order to do this, we went to one of the biggest informal markets in Nairobi called Toi Market. Toi is “karibu naa” or near the informal settlement of Kibera and provides self-employed jobs to hundreds of people. The products in Toi range from fruits and vegetables, second-hand clothes from the US and UK to bedding and TVs. For a student though, Toi Market has proven to be really useful because the prices are cheap and the sellers are open to bartering the price.
For ten days, my program went on a educational excursion to the capital of Rwanda, Kigali! In comparison to Kenya, the entire country is completely different. Kenya is mostly flat, consists of high temperatures and is very very dirty due to a lack of waste management. It is also dangerous as a woman to go out at night, so my days have been cut short around 7pm. However, Kigali is the opposite. The country is called the Land of A Thousand Hills, has a community-based garbage collection system and the police is integrated with the army so there is little to no crime.
For my research, I decided to look at the opinions and KAP (knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of the Maasai towards FGM or female circumcision in the town of Narok. The Maasai are among the highest practitioners of FGM in Kenya and in Narok they have rates of about 70%.
I want to understand why the Maasai practice FGM and what their viewpoint is. Often, anti-FGM practitioners look at the survivors but do not understanding the practicing communities. My hope is that my studying the Maasai, my research can improve anti-FGM advocacy by identifying voids in understanding.
This weekend, we stayed in the village of Simenya! Simenya is located an hour away from the the ancestral home of President Obama and his grandma Sarah Obama. I was a little worried because I had the expectations that we would be in a hut, as we had seen passing along the road. We arrived at night during the rain with our mosquito nets and toilet paper in hand. I was placed with the village electrician who lived away from the main town.
During my classes, we were introduced to an on-going development project in the informal settlement of Obunga in Kisumu. The slum is located on the outskirts of the city near the fish factories. My class, along with a group of Kenyan university students from Maseno University went through the site to see the differences between the Nairobi and Kisumu settlements.
Since Obunga is in a swamp, the houses have begun to sink into the ground and many of them flood during the rain. At the end of the walk-through, we went to one of the largest informal enterprises in the settlement—fish remains processing. Since the slum is located next to the fish (samaki) filet factories, the people pay the factories for the remains to be resold.
In the last week and a half, we visited a few of the many slums in Nairobi. Slums are informal settlements and often are comprised of shacks and makeshift homes. These areas are located close to the industrial district as well as the wealthier areas. In Nairobi, there are many slums but the largest are Korogocho, Kawangware, Mathare and Kibera. A few hundred thousand people reside in these areas and work as service workers or house-help, as well as laborers. Most people here also live under 100K shillings which equates to less than $1.00. On top of these issues, there is no waste management so trash and waste are scattered everywhere and the local water sources are highly contaminated.
Despite this, since visiting the slums I have found that most of the people are highly optimistic and are looking for ways to improve their situations. I also learned that many kids in this area attend both public or private school, some people have large TVs (I passed a hut in Mathare that had a flat-screen TV) and many people sell goods ranging from vegetables to refrigerated Coca-Cola. It’s a very weird juxtaposition as well because for most of the slum areas are directly next to the wealthier areas.
This week we went to MYSA which is the Mathare Youth Sports Association which is a youth program that first began as a soccer program for youth but has expanded to an arts program, photography, has three libraries, girls peer educator program and HIV/AIDS counseling program. They also have over 1800 soccer teams each with 10-20 kids. MYSA serves as both an after-school program but also a huge slum-wide community development program and everyone in the area is pretty much involved. They also do garbage clean-up in order to improve their community. We also visited WFAK which is Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya. This organization is Kenyan-run and they provide counseling to HIV + and AIDS patients as well as sexual health training. My group also brought food to two bed-ridden AIDS patients in the slums and we were able to ask them questions in Swahili in order to understand their situation and feelings. It was really moving and went right to my heart.
When we first visited Mathare I was a little nervous because this was my first time in such an environment and it definitely is a shock. Slums are nothing like back in the US and no amount of preparation helped with taking in the reality. That being said though, if you ever go remember that no matter what you should be respectful and to considerate to the people in that community. Visiting the AIDS patients though was difficult for me because I felt very helpless and that I could not doing anything to improve the lady’s situation. Hearing her thoughts though really inspired me to want to do something and gave me strength to get through anything. Finally, at the end of the week I went with another student to Kibera, which is known worldwide as the second largest slum in Africa. We visited two MSF health clinics and were able to talk to kids living in the area. As we walked though, we could hear a chorus of “How are you?” from all the children we passed. Since English is the second language, most of the kids only knew “How are you” and “I’m fine”. They would also follow us until we responded! Many people also referred to us as “mzungu” which means white or open. At orientation we learned that this isn’t an insult but a way to address non-Kenyan people. Most people thought we were aid workers too and were really open as well to talking. I learned a lot about the Kibera residents and the area that I couldn’t learn from watching movies or seeing pictures. I suggest that if you are in an area with slums, that with trusted people and during the day, that you check it out and be open to what you experience. It is also a location I am considering for my research given the lack of resources, difficulties with access to justice and issues with urbanization. Visiting the slums was very moving and definitely will stick with me forever.
After being in Kenya for two weeks, I have learned so much! When you first arrive at your study abroad country you may find things different and confusing all the while searching for things that put you back in your comfort zone. Forget all that. You should jump into the experience with open arms, stomach, eyes, ears, etc.
To describe Nairobi, it is a global mecca in the East, with parts similar to the US with extensive shopping malls (Yaya, Junction, Westgate) and Wal-Martesque stores but also 40-50 years behind the US since there is an huge waste management problem, city-wide slums and water sanitation issues. Although it has its flaws, I have fallen in love with the city, the people and the culture.
Last Friday, I moved into my homestay which is in the neighborhood of Kileleshwa, a middle-upper income area of the city. Most tourists say in Karen and Westlands but that area is known to have higher prices and so far seems pretty isolated from the real parts of the city. My homestay family is made up of my Mama and Baba, my brother Ben who is in college and sister Mariah (Maria) who is almost done with secondary school. Baba yangu (my dad) works for the World Food Programme in South Sudan so I haven't met him yet. The apartment that I am staying in with another SIT student is walled, fenced with an electric fence and has 24 hour guards at the gate. i definitely was not expecting it to be so secure. Despite popular (and ignorant) belief, we have a microwave, a gas stove, a washing machine, a modern LCD TV and wifi. In Nairobi, many people also have "househelps" who do laundry, clean the house and cook. Our househelp or "auntie" speaks mainly Swahili so I have been practicing with her.
This week, we also began preparations for our research project in November. After speaking with professors from the University of Nairobi and the Kenya Medical Board, we have started planning our thesis. I was very conflcted at first as to what to research. Personally, I am interested in human rights, economic development, public health, SGBV, criminal justice and environmental conservation/sanitation. Needless to say, I was all over the place. However, after talking out my ideas to the professors as well as the other students in my program I was able to narrow my topic and begin writing my proposal which will go to the Kenya Research Board.
Currently, I am thinking about researching the extent of SGBV cases reviewed by the Kibera court system. The police in Kenya are widely distrusted due to corruption which has also reduced the amount of sexual assault cases reported in the city. Focusing on the Kibera slum where most people have little access to legal aid or money to pay the police. After reporting, I am curious to see how many are actually given justice in the end. Right now, this is feasible with some safety concerns but will mostly involve qualitative interviews and surveys in Swahili.
But like every student, I am indecisive and have not yet experienced my "Say Yes to the Dress/Thesis Idea" moment. Yesterday, I read statistics on early marriage in the Maasai communities in Western Kenya, so there is a chance that, after a literature review, that I may go live with the Maasai for a month looking at the perceptions of Western views of human rights in the Maasai villages. This is the great thing about research abroad, if you have contacts and a practical idea you can do anything!
"Karibu Kenya!" Within a few minutes of arriving in Nairobi, I was met with friendly smiles and a long visa line. With no wifi, cell phone service and the promise that I would be picked up from the airport, I was pretty nervous. My name is Emily and I am studying abroad this semester throughout Kenya! However after a week of being in Nairobi, it is normal to be surprised and definitely confused!
SIT Orientation was held at the Savelberg Retreat Centre which is a religious hostel/convent. We had our own rooms (with mosquito nets!) where we were able to acclimate to the time change and the food before moving to our homestays. Waking up in the morning, I went down to breakfast where we had tea or chai with milk and sugar, and toast with margarine and jam which we learned was the normal breakfast set-up. Later in the week, we got Safaricom phones, changed our money to Kenyan Shillings and ate a lot of sakuma wiki and ugali. This week was incredibly important as we learned about safety and security, diseases and expectations of the program--basic normal orientation stuff. Clean water is very difficult to acquire as the pipes can sometimes be broken and waste can enter the system so we had to brush our teeth with water bottles.
On the first day, we went on a driving tour of the city. One thing to know about the roads in Nairobi, they are hectic drivers! The roads are set up like the British but many of the roads that are treated like two-way streets are one-way and we were frequently met with cars facing us head-on. Driving throughout the city, it was clear to see the blatant contrast between the impoverished and wealthy sections. Our driver took us to the industrial sector where many of the jobs are selling automobile parts and hand-made items like water jugs, wheelbarrows and leather shoes. With so many cars on the road, traffic also happened often. As we sat in the car, people would pass by and shout "Mzungu" which means "open" or "white European" and try to sell us stuff. Honestly, it was very overwhelming to see even the outskirts of the slums area and being unable to help people in such situations. However, it was a necessary shock to experience.
The most incredible part of orientation though was "The Drop Off". Our program director told us that we should take our backpack, phone, a map and a notebook and that we were being "dropped off". Each of us were dropped by ourselves in the city, suppose to talk to three people and come up with two ideas for our research project. I was dropped at the University of Nairobi which is gated and guarded due to the recent Garissa attack. With my student ID, they let me on campus but immediately I saw the contrast between GWU and UNairobi.
The school is very large and is located in the center of the city. However it does not have any liberal arts programs as most departments were education, engineering and economics. I did meet some students studying communications, business administration as well. Inside though, the resources available were minimal and the classrooms looked slightly run-down. Despite this, after reading some textbooks found that the information integrated more global experiences than at home. At first, most people did not want to talk to me or thought I was a tourist, but after speaking in Swahili, the frowns turned upside down and I was met with more "karibus!". Nearby was the Kenyan Cultural Centre where I watched a Luer (one the ethnic groups in Kenya) tribal dance. I learned it was performed during ceremonies especially FGC ceremonies. It made me wonder about embedded cultural practices and whether they still perpetuated human rights issues in modern times.
Today, I will be going to my homestay family. I am nervous but also looking forward to what it will be like. It will definitely be an experience, and I think will be when I finally go through culture shock but I know that my orientation has prepared me for the worst. Orientation and being introduced to the country has also debunked many misconceptions that Americans have about Africa, with Kenyans being pretty similar to everyone back home. While abroad, question everything and jump into your first week open and be ready for anything!
