Kenya

19.02.2014

• Wake up at guest house and get ready - not too hot - breakfast with other guests - Ryan told more stories about working in Sudan and getting out - sleeping on dirt runway for two days waiting to hitch a ride on a cargo plane - couple from Dubai
• Sent emails for a bit - chatted with Ian, guy from England who is meeting a friend for a tour in the region before heading back to work in Australia for a while - we walked to the mall down the street, led by a hotel employee, James - got cash and stopped at the grocery - Masai market next to the shopping center - walked home
• Sent a few emails before Eddy arrived to collect me - Eddy is a friend of the organization, Hamomi, where I will be hanging out and helping out for the next few days - Eddy brought me to his home where he lives with his mother, Feddy, and sister, Maureen who has a one year old daughter, Ajith - Maureen just returned from living in South Sudan where she was helping to establish the new country's HIV/AIDS framework - left due to escalating conflict after her entire community was burned to the ground and found herself living in a refugee camp before coming home to Kenya - has an amazing perspective and spiritual philosophy about the situation - good reminder to remember the resiliency of people when considering the hardships they face - whole family is lovely despite the fact that the wee one hasn't warmed up to me at all
• Got settled in Eddy's room and then he took me out to get a SIM card for my phone - the first time I will have my own phone to access on this whole trip - good to be able to stay in touch with people if I have responsibilities to them - ran some errands with Eddy including a run to the mechanic to look at his car - we walked around to take care of some small tasks and had a Coca-Cola while we waited for his ride to get fixed - picked up rice and went home - such fun hanging out with him - wicked smart and witty and welcoming
• Hung out in Eddy's room with his brother-in-law and caught up on emails before dinner - ugali (corn meal mash) and sukuma (kale dish) - talked with mom - watched the news - met Marcy who works at Hamomi school - feel very at home with my lovely hosts

20.02.2014

• Today marks 8 months since I left home - I wake up in someone else's home a solid 9,000 miles from Seattle - Eddy is awake and I get up to start getting ready - after a bit of breakfast Eddy drives me to Hamomi Children's Center in Kangemi, a low-income neighborhood of Nairobi often referred to as a slum - walk through the gate to the sounds of chattering and laughing children of a range of ages - went through office to find Susie in a meeting - history of meeting Susie - meeting with school staff including Danny, Musumba, and the organization's founder, Raphael
• Took me around to show me the new compound - just bought property and moved into new space - 5 year plan to build new structures on the site with improved facilities - introduced to each class - such bright and polite children - Danny was my guide and joked with the students that I was his brother - the children laughed seeing as our height may be the only physical similarity Danny and I share - introduced myself as "Michael Light, like a lightbulb" which I accompanied with a flashing of my hands which the students mimicked when being asked to repeat my name - I am pretty sure the whole school is going to flash their hands at me the rest of the days I am here
• Back to the office for a brief introduction to the staff - meet with Danny, Musumba, Raphael, and Susie about ways I can support the organization for a few days while I am in Nairobi - recent donation of computers - asked me to help create electronic versions of their student records and develop a system to share documents and information - sort of a perfect project for my skill set and experience - took some notes and we all worked on getting the new computers set up - sorted through notes, had a couple of meetings, made lists (which I love making) and got a start on ideas with the help of the staff
• Break for lunch with some of the staff and then finished up a bit of work before leaving for the walk home with Musumba and Danny - Danny split off - Musumba invited me to his home for tea - sat inside and had three refreshing cups - great chat about work and the history of Hamomi - Musumba has been with the organization since 6 months after its founding in 1999 - related a bit being from a family of teachers - chatted about family - raising his two kids alone for 8 years since his wife's passing - really a wonderful man and great to spend time with him
• Musumba walked me to the turn off toward home and we shook hands before I made my way walking - Hamomi to home is about 45 minutes door to door on foot - nice to be out and feel the area a bit and feel my body too after any days sitting on buses, trucks, planes, taxis, etc. Arrived at home and greeted the family - Ajith screamed when I got too close - still working on a friendship there - relaxed in the living room catching up on emails while family watched TV - feel so relaxed in the home - such wonderful hosts - got to say hello to Kevin briefly - had a lovely dinner and talked with Feddy and _____, a cousin originally from South Sudan, about family and travel - Ajith actually gave me a series of high fives before bed - I can die happy now
• Stayed up a bit working on blog - tonight I happened to see a post on my mentor Tracy's Facebook page linking an article about voluntourism - thinking about my role as a tourist and as a short-term volunteer here in Kenya and the broader work of "development" or "aid" work as it relates to my personal ethic and the values of my profession - time for bed - rain

21.02.2014

• Up early - but not early enough to walk with Marcy (Eddy's live-in cousin) to Hamomi - took the walk alone - nearly an hour t0day dodging traffic and stopping to buy a mouse for the computer - people starting their day as they do anywhere - Kangemi is commonly called a slum - conversations with Heather about the language and social narratives of what a slum is - this morning I could think about slums in the context of facts and figures - the percentage of people living on less than USD $2 per day; health outcomes; educational attainment; literacy rates - I could also think about them in the popular images I see in magazines and films from the comfort of my life in the USA which makes it seem exotic and needing of help - but this morning I am thinking about people who share conversation over breakfast while waiting for a matatu (bus), walk their children to school as they cry/smile/play/pout, head off to work to earn money they will spend buying groceries at the street side stands or markets, sit in internet cafes, think about family members back home, listen to music, play music, live. 
• Arrived at school and greeted the staff - found my way to the computer I am using and started a day-long process of creating electronic reports - formulas and formatting - fun for me and quite in my wheelhouse - worked and chatted off and on - Susie arrived and we all caught up on small business - she had met with an architect today about building plans - very exciting - next time I come to Kenya there might be a new Hamomi! - brought a snack of mandazi (fried dough) and sweet milk tea - very refreshing
• Made a lot of progress before another fine lunch of fish, sukuma, and ugali - great cooks at Hamomi - I joked that they should open a social enterprise restaurant and then realized I was only half joking - stood in the sun for a bit after lunch while staff members chatted and read the paper - staff was very helpful in answering my questions and providing context for the materials I am re/creating 
• Back to the office to click away on a laptop - Marcy and pals were bumping tunes from the computer lab and I smiled when Miley Cyrus came bursting from the speakers - I made requests and tapped my food along to my tapping - former Hamomi students stopped by - first group of students to graduate from Form 4 which is the last year of secondary school - waiting for test results which should come next week - talk about their plans for the future and hopes for university - promised to do a brief computer basics session with them tomorrow
• Finally clocked out around 6pm - students had flooded the room in groups to get their exam results back - today had been day two of exams and a lot of happy faces ran out of the room with their scores in hand - said my goodbyes for the night and started the long walk home - occasionally waved to by folks intrigued and/or amused by the little white guy wandering through the neighborhood - had developed a small headache by the time I got home - mostly dehydrated having forgotten to drink enough water during the day
• Rested a bit at home - Eddy around because he did not have class tonight - cousin came over before he left for two weeks of training in Washington DC, USA and then would fly out to Iraq to train Iraqis on procurement practices - relaxing night watching TV - interview with _____,  Kenya's first Oscar Award nominee for her role as _____ in 12 Years A Slave - typing in bed while Eddy played FIFA Cup on the Playstation - time for sleep

jerusa
emmanuel

22.02.2014

• sleep in - call kevin - walk to Hamomi
• work in office - work with _____ on computers - chat with kids about soccer - staff member who wants to write a book
• walk to zebra to meet Masumba - Chelsea v. Ele - white man comment - tusker - can "fit in" - 
• walk to bora bora to see ben play - 
• matatu home - lentil and chapati for dinner - tv - call keving - chat with Andie on FB - 
• self conscious not self awareness

23.02.2014

• talked with Feddy for a while in the morning between reading the paper a bit - she told me about other guests who have stayed - picked up by Susie - she caught up with Feddy - Susie and I off for a quick breakfast - chatted about ethical issues in development work, the realm of ethical travel, and.... 
• visit ACK orphanage and school - Susie had a contact from Seattle who supports the school and assisted with the consturciton project of a new building recently through a contracting organization in Seattle - toured the buildings led by a group of girls - showed us their rooms, the gardens, the school, and the clinic - introduced us to house mothers - Susie got an idea of how some constuction features might work for the forthcoming building project at Hamomi as they create facilities on their newly acquired property - said our goodbyes with many thanks for the welcome to our great guides
• Susie drove me into town - chatted on the way about our lives and relatoinships and such - remembered that I haven't actually spent time with Susie until today - great to connect for a bit and will probably see her another time socially before I go
• Dropped me at the National Museum where I had a spot of lunch before exploring the exhibits - lots of natural history - birds! - Amel the elephant - section on Kenyan traditional culture and practices in context to modern Kenyan society with global influences - section on the history of Kenya from pre-colonial times to today - mau mau movement for independence - interviews with soldiers - learning from this section - art sections: local artists, featured artist, Kenya 50 
• At 5:30 I found a slightly random armchair in the parking lot which I took a seat in until Julie arrived - Julie was a Peace Corps volunteer in Swaziland with my friend Michelle who connected us via email earlier in the week - Julie was kind enough to offer me her time and company - how much do I love someone who shows up with a physical list of possible hang out locations - after considering the potential bars, restaurants, and hotel rooftops, we settled on the finest option: chips and guacamole and wine on her patio - quick run to the store where I also picked up a load of snacks - back to her place to chop veggies and pop open a bag of chips and unscrew a bottle of red and retire to the cool evening air - wonderful conversation - living abroad - showed me art - her work - family from MO
• drove me home and said goodnight - lovely evening after a lovely day - at the apartment complex there were many cars and people milling about - got inside and found out that a child had snuck out of their home and drowned in the swimming pool a couple of hours before - so incredibly sad - could hear the mother wailing throughout the courtyard - somber feeling
• had a bit of dinner with the family and watched some TV - chat with Kevin - chat with Heils! Stayed up too late but happy to hang out with Amel and Eddy 

24.02.2014

• Woke up late - decided to take a matatu (passenger van) most of the way to school - walked the final stretch past the drop off point and arrived to find Raphael and Musumba outside - chatted about our weekends - went inside to work - spent most of the day clicking away with stops for lunch, snacks, and conversations with staff as they came and went
• walk home - bought an avocado along the way to satisfy a craving - stopped into a stand to see about buying a bus ticket - a group of us were almost hit by someone driving a matatu like a jerk which prompted an angry part of me to hit the matatu as it passed - made it home easily - enjoyed the quite of the apartment building - tried to call Kevin from my cell phone but talked to his answering machine instead - he told me later the number came through as a Texas phone
• family was around when I got in - spent some time on the computer - watched corazon indomable with the family, a Mexican soap opera with very deliberate and badly acted English voice-over - Eddy came home and we had dinner - I started some planning for my trip to Turkey, perhaps because planning the next part of my trip in East Africa seems daunting at the moment - oh well, it all has to happen at some point

25.02.2014

• Today was supposed to be a power shedding day in our area of Nairobi so I chose to do my computer work from home so I could be close to the coffee show with a generator and wifi if necessary - spent the whole day at home finishing up files for Hamomi - googling tutorials and watching YouTube videos to figure out special formulas to create self-populating forms from data sets which is a big geeky only because of how much fun I found it - the usual evening of Mexican soaps and then dinner when Eddy got home from University - exam week for his MBA - we chilled in his/our room for a while before bed cracking jokes through conversation - really enjoy hanging out with him - fantastic host-brother :)

26.02.2014

• Worked at Hamomi most of the day – same routiene home for the day – so many things to do and needed to be near internet
• Supposed to see Susie for dinner but didn’t work because of traffic – kept working

27.02.2014

• Matatu to Hamomi
• Worked for a bit and realized I had more work to do at home – Susie took me home to keep working – very productive and finished (so I thought)
• Went to shopping center near home to get some fresh air and get away from a computer screen – got groceires at Valley Vegetable Market – smell of sandalwood and transported right back to India – owners are of Indian descent – talked with them for a long while – father runs store with same name in Honolulu – promised to visit – bought gulten free items and tamarind
• Wandered around and found a travel agency hiding upstairs – booked a bus ticket to Kisumu which saves me the trouble of needing to go downtown tomorrow which would have been quite the hike
• Java café – sat outside with an iced decaf and started Devil on the Cross, by Ngugi, a Kenyan author who wrote the book while imprisioned after his political play, ______, was staged in 19____ - enjoyed the afternoon light and relaxation
• Stopped at art gallery outdoor space – another woman looking and we had the same three favourite pieces – the one I really wanted was only S100,000 (about USD$850) – the agent said the price was negotiable and asked what my budget was – sadly, my art budget right now is non existent
• Walked home and had a bit of time before I was picked up for dinner by Susie with Nicole – lost in the city finding a restaurant – different restaurant  - Ethiopian food – wonderful – cross sections of my culture and talking about sex!
• Came home to do more work – stayed up till 3am – missed seeing Eddy

28.02.2014

• Maureen gone to s. sudan
• Last day at Hamomi – matatu to school – lights on the faces of staff seeing how the work I have done will make their work easier and save them time – more time to work on other things for the school – good to come out of the vacuum of computer land and see the value of tedium
• Power out and lots of updates and redesigns to do realizing that the system could be made even easier for the staff and their needs – went home to play more – said goodbye to children who I barely saw this visit and staff who were wondering why I just didn’t stay for the year – very sweet – amazingly dedicated to the wellbeing of these children and the community
• Went home to work and did so for afternoon until it was time to meet Eddy and his girlfriend for drinks – quick walk to Java – they ended up running very late – walked around a bit – woman singing at a bistro behind the café – Eddy and Latisha arrived – went for drinks and ate Eddy’s fries at Ozone in the same shopping center – bar, club – had a good time
• Home and hung out with family – packed – worked a bit
• Kevin’s reading!

01.03.2014

• Up early – goodbyes with family – photos – Eddy drove me to bus – boarded and fell asleep – so tired – long bus ride – music and games on my phone – too tied to read – slept more – beautiful countryside – street food stop – eggs with salsa, Kevin! Kid sifting through garbage cans – for whatever I might say about how we cannot only see people living in conditions of poverty for or as the poverty, and that poverty is part of a social system, it is still challenging, and should be challenging to all of us, to see a person of any age scavenging for discarded food scraps for daily calories – even when something is an issue larger than one person it is in empathizing with the plight of individuals that we should develop a moral yearning to change the systems which have dire impacts on people’s lives and which we participate in actively or complacently
• Arrived in Kisumu – found my way to the Duke of Breeze guest house on recommendation from a new friend – rested for a bit and took a break with a tonic at the rooftop bar – great sunset with a view of Lake Victoria, terminus of the Nile River – went to my room to unwind and shower
• Walk to Debjeet – contact from Michelle – lives very near – walked to his place – Robin and he prepping dinner – Kristen and her friend Johannas arrived – made coctails with sage and rosemary - Phillipe and then Jess and Jack arrived as well – Debjeet made great Mediterranean food including baba ganuch, hummus, “deconstructed tzetziki,” souvalki, and homemade pita – great food and conversation – sangria – lovely group – great to be with people who come from my cultural background where it is more appropriate to talk about things that are not polite conversation in other places
• Walked back to Duke which has a happening rooftop party – DJ – talked to a few people and had another tonic – guy from Vancouver, BC whose family is in Kisumu, bought me another round – found out that quinine is anti-malarial – home to rest – so tired and now have an invite to brunch tomorrow – new city, new insta-friends – love travel – sent Kevin a text – miss home

02.03.2014

• slept in - power out - went to the store and to get cash 
• walk up to Robin's place - helped make brunch - shaksuka - pancakes - croissant with cheese - amazing - talked for hours and left near 5pm - talked about travel and helthcare - Debjeet - two Rachels - Dylan - people worked in many places 
• went home to rest for a few moments and freshen up - walked back to Robin's - lovely late afternoon walk to a party - rooftop - fire burning in distance - talked a lot with John, a 40 something CDC etymologist about family and kids and schools and life split between road and home - great talk - rooftop lantern - tuk tuk home with blasting music - such soft and lovely warm moments 
• rooftop bar - great music - tonic - call Larry - Happy Birthday! :) Ken Je Mij music - talk with Vic - came out to him

03.03.2014

• breakfast downstairs - worked on the last bits of the project for Hamomi - still stuck on just one aspect but calling out for help - kids running through the streets after their KSSE scores came out - groceries - rooftop bar for work
• walk into town to buy a bus ticket - got a little bit lost so I got a tuk tuk - women at the bus station were very friendly and funny - marriage proposal - ride over to PATH office - place I worked last year in Seattle - saw Robyn - Debjeet was out turning in an IRB application - saw the office and talked shop for a while
• Robyn and I took another tuk tuk out to Kiboko Bay a resort on Lake Victoria, for a lovely dinner - sat down by the water as the sun set - man comes around the corner saying there is a hippo on the lawn - sure enough, grazing around the resort - so close and so beautiful - Robyn said Kiboko actually means hippo in Kiswahili and that this places is known for close encounters but she didn't tell me about it before because she didn't want to get my hopes up, never having seen the hippos herself the half dozen times she has been here before - great dinner conversation - realized we have a mutual friend in Seattle and that we had actually hung out together in Seattle 9 years ago... how small of a world is that?! Called and left that friend a message and giggled - can't wait to see each other in Seattle but may have talked her into visiting me in Rwanda too
• Tuk tuk ride home - sat at the rooftop bar and wrote emails - Debjeet met me for a drink and we talked about travels and work - about ambition as pursuing dreams and not about ladder climbing - about being comfortable with being uncomfortable - about the moments when natural beauty brings you to your knees - what a great group of friends I have made here - nice to have some one-on-one time with Robyn and Debjeet tonight after such full social days - stayed on the rooftop to finish emails and enjoy the quiet breeze
• read George Saunders - shower - bed

04.03.2014

• breakfast - talk with dad - changed money for the border
• tuk tuk to PATH - saw Debjeet and Robyn in the hallway - sat and waited for Catherine - read PATH materials about thier work in Kenya and other countries - JE vaccine - cookies and chocolate from Michelle - adorable - Catherine very sweet too
• goodbye to friends and tuk tuk home - grab bags and get to the bus station - waited a while watching bad movie on the TV - chatted with _____ - just finished Form 4 (high school) and visiting friends in Kisumu - boarded bus and rested for a bit - very hot - Uganda border was very easy - ____ sat next to me the rest of the trip and talked - beautiful scenery - listened to the radio - crescent moon rising - she fell asleep on my shoulder - DJ sounding disgusted talking about a pop star accused of being gay - for anyone who is not aware, Ugandan President, _____, officially made it illegal to be gay in Uganda and, furthermore, illegal not to report a gay person to the authorities - the next set list on the radio included The Village People's hit, YMCA - I giggled
• Arrived in Jinja, Uganda and got a motorbike (boda boda) to take me to get some Ugandan schillings (S2,500 to USD$1) and then to Explorer Backpackers - checked in and was immediately invited by Nash, a Kenyan with a sweet afro who manages the hostel, if I wanted to join him and Dutch guest, Eda, to the campground - guys climbing on the rafters and chairs - had a salad - walked down to the Nile River - first time to see it - so beautiful 
• Home and to bed - met Molly from Tennessee - bike tours all over the world - talked about travel and being "Gay for Uganda" - lovely chat - off to bed - what a great way to start my time in Uganda