First Days in Kenya

Arriving to Nairobi from New York via London at night, there wasn’t too much of Kenya to see under the cover of darkness. I was greeted by a VICDA driver who took me to meet the host family where I would be staying. The house was in a gated apartment block secured with barbed wire fences and security guards, security is a major concern as the disparity between rich and poor is so great. I was staying with Pamela and her family, she has two bright boys 9 & 10 who were both very curious about absolutely everything. The younger one, wants to grow up and be a pilot. I also met another Aussie girl Katherine who was staying there, she’s will also be doing the HIV/AIDS program, so it was good to have someone to share stuff with. During the day. the boys’ cousin took us to the local shopping center where we checked out the movies, and had a coffee at the Nairobi Java House, which I was happy to discover make a great Latte. The shopping center was much like that of a suburban western city, supermarkets, cafes boutiques, banks etc. Walking around the neighborhood, there are little make shift cafe’s selling street food for lunch, cooked corn, grilled meats. I haven’t been game enough to try them yet. It’s clear that there are many poor people here, but it’s also good to see industrious people, working and creating businesses however small and basic, rather than just asking for handouts.

Over a dinner of beef stew, rice, cooked spinach and chapatti, Pamela’s husband Peter and I discussed how the global financial crisis has effected Africa, also how the public services such as electricity have not been able to cope with growth in the Kenyan economy. The people of Nairobi have experienced a doubling of power costs and electricity rationing, where power is cut during daylight hours every second day. The lack of rain has had a major effect on the countries hydro-electric dams which provide most of the power.