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Nairobi, Kenya

Tried to post some pictures too, but the connection is too slow.

Day 5- The Roller Coaster Continues

So when last I left you, I was a bit down on things, but once again my mood has picked up. It actually started at dinner last night when I was once again one of the last arrivals, and thus forced to sit with the head sister and the only other male guest. The meal was much more to my liking- a beef stew, white rice, and oranges, so already it was an improvement.

The conversation also picked up a bit, with Francis, a Kenyan from the western part of the country, talking with the sister about his work in community development and in particular working on empowering young people through communication. These are typical buzz words in US educational circles, but they don’t seem to be very prevalent ideas in Kenya. We exchanged stories about our work and he was extremely interested in keeping in touch and networking for our common purposes. I told him this is not my full time job, but it is an interest and I would be happy to put him in touch with others who might be helpful to him.

The sister was also drawn into our conversation, and it was Francis who asked her what congregation she belonged to, a question I had been meaning to ask myself (at the suggestion of my Godmother, a Sister of Mercy herself). It turns out she is a Mary Magdalene sister, but the others in the house are of various congregations. She definitely seemed to warm up to me, and for once I actually stayed at the table for longer than it took me to shovel down my food.

At the end of the meal, the younger woman I met two nights before, she of the mischievous smile and the incisive questions, asked if we would like to watch a DVD after dinner. I was willing, but a bit hesitant when I found it was Hotel Rwanda, a powerful film but not necessarily something I needed to see twice. It turned out I was the only one who had seen it, so I agreed to watch and helped explain what was going on when the others got a bit lost. It was tough to watch again, but worthwhile to see, especially as it seemed like the Kenyans were largely unaware of the events.

This morning I reported to school, walking all the way on my own for the first time, and with no wrong turns. Jill told me that Ben would be coming by to take me to meet with the graduates who were meeting for their weekly reflection after their week of community service, and Ben showed up shortly after 9.

We walked out of Kibera and up a hill on the south side, and almost immediately it felt like we were out in the country, except perhaps for the ubiquitous barbed wire fences (although those may be present in the country too, for all I know). We walked to the Nairobi headquarters for the Kenya Scouts, a huge campground with hundreds of teenagers running around and playing various camp games. There were dogs, and deer, and huge birds, and monkeys in the trees. I could not believe we were maybe a mile from Kibera.

There was some mix-up on the meeting time, so we ended up waiting maybe 45 minutes before anyone else showed up, which seemed to make Ben nervous, like he was disappointing me, but I didn’t mind just sitting down, reading the paper, and taking in the surroundings. It was surprisingly cold, but I didn’t mind the fact I could see my breath (unlike Ben, who had not brought a jacket). Eventually Dennis, who is the leader of the post-graduate program, and Humphrey showed up, and we sat down to have a conversation while the kids arrived.

Our conversation was quite productive, as I explained to Dennis my background and tried to downplay my experience, which is consistently being exaggerated, as a counselor. Even if I had spent the last 7 years as a guidance counselor rather than an admissions officer, I doubt I would have enough knowledge of the Kenyan system and the lives of these students to serve effectively as a career/college counselor in the next two weeks. But I also want to be useful in some way.

So we discussed having me help to build a database of all 240 students at St. Al’s to be used in counseling them. Dennis said he has already begun to put together some aspects of a database, and I offered to take a look at what they have and also to solicit advice from my friends and colleagues in the states as to what they use and to see what we may be able to get pro bono. So if you are reading this and have any advice, don’t hesitate to email me. In any case, I appears I will be spending a few days over the next few weeks in their office to work on this project.

After our meeting, Humphrey left and we met with the remaining post-graduates. I say remaining, because of the orginal group of 20 graduates, one dropped out and around 10 have already started some kind of college program, leaving 8 to come to the meeting. Of those 8, still 5 more will be starting college within the next few weeks, including one girl heading to a branch campus of the University of Wisconsin.

The group gets together every Friday for reflection and to share their issues with Dennis and Ben. During the week they are each assigned to various organizations in Nairobi to perform service. The original plan had been to have students perform internships one day a week throughout their 4 years at St. Al’s, and in turn to have the corporations they intern for contribute to their educational expenses, but that culture of corporate responsibility is hard to come by in Kenya at this point.

The service projects are typically working with younger children, and the group seemed to enjoy their work. They also receive a small stipend to pay for their lunch. However, at this point their focus was squarely on college, and perhaps even moreso for the three students who still have not secured a place. Like almost every Kenyan I have met thus far, the group spoke very softly and was quite shy, but I did manage to have good conversations with a few of them during our tea break. I fear the girl headed for America’s Dairyland does not really know what she is getting herself into, but she may yet prove me wrong.

I now have the weekend off and I am hoping to see some of Nairobi now that I have 2 full days of daylight. It seems odd that I have been in the country for 5 days now without sampling the local brew, but the situation has made it difficult for me to do so, and a bit of time off after Ireland was probably in order anyway. I am also hoping to make arrangements for a trip to one of the parks, hopefully Masai Mara, to conclude my trip.

I will try for some first week reflections soon.

Kesho. (Until tomorrow, or whenever).