Thursday, February 24, 2011
US Embassy Tour - A Brief Visit to the Homeland
About a month ago I put in an inquiry to USAID (United States Agency for International Development) about getting a tour for our group. Since our program is all about international development, I thought it would be cool to see where our tax money goes to help develop other countries. USAID is the largest foreign donor to Kenya. To give you an idea of what USAID does for Kenya, 99% of HIV/AIDS patients on ARV’s (Anti-Retro Virals) receive their medicine from USAID. While the sustainability of the program is in question, there is no question that USAID saves countless lives in Kenya. Anyways, a few weeks ago I got an email back from someone with an @usaid.gov email address with the greeting “Greetings Fellow MSIDer”. Come to find out, a grad student who did MSID-Kenya a few years ago never left Kenya and has been working at USAID since then. After chatting back and forth for a while, we decided that we would have her come and talk to us during class. She came on Monday to talk to us for about an hour and a half. Very interesting stuff and it’s a topic that I have become interested in. She was also able to get us in for a tour of the US Embassy in Nairobi today. After a lengthy process of clearing security, we were able to get into the compound and get a tour of the building. We didn’t get to go into any of the “this is where the good stuff goes down” places because they all require a certain security clearance but it was still really cool to see the building. We could definitely tell that we were back on US territory because everything was spotless and clean. The smell of Pine sol was very welcoming. While we were on the tour we saw a blind man navigating his way through one of the hallways. The lady giving us the tour guide stopped and said hello to him but quickly moved us down the hall to show us a picture. The US Embassy in Kenya was bombed in 1998. Hundreds of people died including around 14 Americans and about 30 or so Kenyans working at the Embassy. That’s not including the vast amount of people outside the building. The picture we were standing in front of was a large group of Kenyans who were the Kenyan survivors of the attack. In the front row was a man with the same walking stick. This man had survived the blast but had been so close to the source of the explosion that he became blind. All these years later, he still works at the Embassy. Things have changed considerable at the Embassy since then. It’s a few miles away from downtown now and it is a “blast proof” building which makes it look like a jail. The experience of being at the Embassy was great. Not only was it nice to be back on US soil but it was nice to see the life of a Foreign Service Officer. This is a career that I have recently been kicking around in my head. If there is one knock on the MSID program it’s that it will make you question everything that you thought you wanted to do with your life. I kind of figured this would happen but as I’ve told my Mom and Dad, I didn’t think it would hit this quick or hard. A lot of us in this program are in the same boat. While it may be frustrating it’s like starting a new journey. Who knows where it will take me. In other news, Carrey is leaving in a few hours to go to school near Kisumu. He’ll be a Freshman!!! They are actually called Form 1’s. Since he delayed for a few weeks going to school so that he could get into a better school (I’ll explain the education system here in another post) he will be coming back for midterm breaks in a week so it won’t be too bad. Time in Nairobi is winding down. I leave two weeks from Sunday for Kisumu. It’s gonna be a hot one.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Mom, I went to Church
Let’s talk about the Sunday’s. I left them out of the previous entry for a specific reason. Mom: with the exception of last weekend because I was traveling, I have been to church every Sunday. The first church I went to is called Winners Chapel. The rest of the fam had gone to their respective churches early which left me and Carrey to go by ourselves. What an experience. This church has a main sanctuary of around a thousand seats, possibly more, and then overflow seating that can take in 2000 outside in these huge tents. The service was a little over two hours long and a lot of it had to do with witchcraft. About 75 percent of Kenyans believe in witchcraft. They are the agents of the devil. People gave testimonies during the service in which they praised God for killing a witch in their village back home. Everyone erupts in applause. The sermon was very passionate. I’m not a hundred percent sure what it was about, but he was yelling a lot. Inside the tent was a flat screen TV with speakers. Kenyans love loud music and loud sermons apparently. It was so loud that I couldn’t make sense of what he was saying because the speakers were distorting so badly. Very interesting service though. I was definitely the only white person there so I got a lot of looks. That always adds to the experience.
The next church I went to was Carrey’s Dad’s church. It is a Nigerian Church in the Hilton hotel downtown Nairobi. What made this experience so interesting was that the pastor had come over the night before with his wife for a private prayer sessions. I went downstairs to sit in for about 45 minutes and I was happy I did. The way they pray is unlike anything I’ve seen. Everyone is standing, even if it was just five of us. Everyone sways back and forth, and everyone is very passionate about what they are praying for. The final prayer took about ten minutes. The rest was just question and answer time about things that were going on in their lives and what God meant by each thing that had happened. So the next day I went to the church. There was a small half hour bible study before the service and since the pastors wife knew me, she made me, Carrey and his Dad sit in the front row. As if I didn’t already stick out enough in a crowd of a few hundred Kenyans, the one white guy (me) was in the front row. Throughout the whole service, 4 hours in total… yes 4 hours, people would randomly come up and take pictures of me. Very awkward. This service was a special one because they had a guest preacher. This lady had some fire. She preached on and on about how men weren’t living up to their roles and how women need to find stronger men. She stepped down from the pulpit after about five minutes and spent the last hour and a half pacing back and forth about two feet in front of me. I was the only white guy there, in the front row and arms length away from a prominent female evangelist preaching about how men are the cause of the problems in Kenyan families, all the while people are coming up to take pictures of me. For 4 hours!!! After a short reception for visitors, I was happy to go home.
Going to Laura’s church two weeks ago was quite a treat. This church is called Mavuno and it would definitely be the church that I would go to if I lived here permanently. They are known for being very contemporary and for being focused on today’s issues. This service was all about what you need to do to accomplish God’s work. If you don’t have any money, there are serious limits to what you can accomplish. This was all about saving money and how to be responsible. The underlying point was the money is not evil but the love of money is what’s evil. If you say you want to do God’s work, be serious and build some wealth so that you can do great things. One of the men in the congregation was a CFO of a Nairobi based consulting agency. He came up and talked for about twenty minutes about how to save and the downfalls that Kenyans have fallen into. The pastor actually said, “Let’s be serious… Kenyans are awful at saving money as are African Americans in the United States. Let’s change that right here, right now.” The music was great, as was the music at all of the other churches I went to, and so was the message. People actually walked away uplifted and had a plan for how they were going to do the best work they could. I’m going back there this Sunday with the rest of the fam.
The next church I went to was Carrey’s Dad’s church. It is a Nigerian Church in the Hilton hotel downtown Nairobi. What made this experience so interesting was that the pastor had come over the night before with his wife for a private prayer sessions. I went downstairs to sit in for about 45 minutes and I was happy I did. The way they pray is unlike anything I’ve seen. Everyone is standing, even if it was just five of us. Everyone sways back and forth, and everyone is very passionate about what they are praying for. The final prayer took about ten minutes. The rest was just question and answer time about things that were going on in their lives and what God meant by each thing that had happened. So the next day I went to the church. There was a small half hour bible study before the service and since the pastors wife knew me, she made me, Carrey and his Dad sit in the front row. As if I didn’t already stick out enough in a crowd of a few hundred Kenyans, the one white guy (me) was in the front row. Throughout the whole service, 4 hours in total… yes 4 hours, people would randomly come up and take pictures of me. Very awkward. This service was a special one because they had a guest preacher. This lady had some fire. She preached on and on about how men weren’t living up to their roles and how women need to find stronger men. She stepped down from the pulpit after about five minutes and spent the last hour and a half pacing back and forth about two feet in front of me. I was the only white guy there, in the front row and arms length away from a prominent female evangelist preaching about how men are the cause of the problems in Kenyan families, all the while people are coming up to take pictures of me. For 4 hours!!! After a short reception for visitors, I was happy to go home.
Going to Laura’s church two weeks ago was quite a treat. This church is called Mavuno and it would definitely be the church that I would go to if I lived here permanently. They are known for being very contemporary and for being focused on today’s issues. This service was all about what you need to do to accomplish God’s work. If you don’t have any money, there are serious limits to what you can accomplish. This was all about saving money and how to be responsible. The underlying point was the money is not evil but the love of money is what’s evil. If you say you want to do God’s work, be serious and build some wealth so that you can do great things. One of the men in the congregation was a CFO of a Nairobi based consulting agency. He came up and talked for about twenty minutes about how to save and the downfalls that Kenyans have fallen into. The pastor actually said, “Let’s be serious… Kenyans are awful at saving money as are African Americans in the United States. Let’s change that right here, right now.” The music was great, as was the music at all of the other churches I went to, and so was the message. People actually walked away uplifted and had a plan for how they were going to do the best work they could. I’m going back there this Sunday with the rest of the fam.
I'm Back/The Weekends So Far
I’m back. It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Not only have I been busy with school work but I also have to keep journals for two of my classes which entail a lot of writing. Actual pen to paper so I can’t just copy and paste it into my blog. I’ve also been lazy. At the end of the night if there is a choice between writing stuff down or playing FIFA with my bros, FIFA always wins. My friend Dad and I talked about this exact subject just the other day. We were talking about taking pictures while out and about. In an amazing place like Kenya, it is easy to view a majority of the landscapes through your camera viewfinder if you are not careful. Some of the scenery is so amazing that you feel the need to take pictures of everything all the time. Sometimes you just need to take it in. This is how I’ve felt with writing things down. School has been crazy so I’ve just let the blogging go until now. With that said, I have a lot to say. The weekdays have been just like any other weekdays at school. Lots of work to do. We have school till around 3:30 then I usually go to this Egyptian restaurant around the corner for a cold soda and free wifi or to a Starbucks like café called Java. If I don’t go to either of those places, I go home for a much needed nap or to get some work done. The weeks fly by quickly. The weekends have been quite entertaining and exciting. So far we have had 4 weekends.
The first weekend we were very eager to get out and see Nairobi. Friday night was our first night out on the town. I went out with a bunch of the other kids from MSID and with my host sister Laura. We went to a nice place called Sailors. We had a few beers, hit the dance floor and lost about 20 pounds through sweat. Kenya does not believe in air conditioning or windows. Even in night clubs. It was a very successful night; no incidents whatsoever. Saturday morning we got up early to go to the Nairobi Giraffe Center which is not in Nairobi. The Giraffe Center is about a half hour outside of Nairobi and is a breeding ground for Giraffes. Giraffes are sent around the world from this place and it was really neat to get face to face, literally, with the giraffes.
The next weekend was quite different. Being that Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday and half of the MSID kids are huge Packers fans, we were able to talk Dr. Jama into giving us Monday off of school as the game was starting around 2:30 AM. Friday, myself and a few of my friends went to Carrey’s friends moms pool at her office complex. It was a hot day and it was nice to cool off in a freezing pool. Saturday we woke up pretty early to head downtown Nairobi to do the touristy activities. We went to the Nairobi Library, the Nairobi National Archives and the Kenyatta International Conference Center to see the Nairobi skyline. The Library and Archives were pretty cool but the Conference Center was the best by far. For a small fee of Ksh 300 (about Ksh 80 to 1 USD) we were able to get on top of the building, a skyscraper, to view the city from the helicopter landing deck. Very cool. Sunday night/Monday morning, we went to our favorite Egyptian restaurant to watch the Super Bowl. The owner, Isaac, was kind enough to host a private party for us in the early morning hours. I was fairly disinterested because I have a strong distaste for the packers and I’m not a huge fan of Big Ben. It was a fun environment and it was very TIA.
Two weekends ago we went to Simon’s family’s resort. It’s in a town called Ngong about an hour outside of Nairobi. Quickly google rift valley Kenya so that my description makes sense. The Rift Valley is basically a giant chuck of land that fell a few hundred feed leaving what looks like a tear in the earth from Northern Kenya all the way down to Southern Kenya. This resort is not what you would think of as a resort but it’s more like a permanent camp side along the edge of rift valley. Good hiking, great views and even better food courtesy of Simon’s wife. At night we had a raging TIA party around a campfire next to a huge rock wall. Very cool. It was nice to relax with some friends and enjoy the scenery. Saturday we went home and I stuck around with the fam to play some games and have some quality bro time. I’m getting very good at FIFA.
Last weekend was the most eventful weekend by far. Many of us MSIDer’s decided that we wanted to go to Hell’s Gate National Park. While it sounds intimidating, it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It actually gets its name because the Brits were so scared of entering that territory because of the feared Maasai warriors in the early twentieth century. A small group left on Friday after class but most stayed home Friday night to get up early Saturday morning. We left for downtown Nairobi to catch a matatu to Naivasha town at around 7am. We had a delightfully uneventful journey to Naivasha (a little over an hour) and then we caught another matatu to Hells Gate from there. We arrived at the park just before 10AM and the day went from there. We were able to leave our gear at the front gate which was very helpful, and then we left on our rented bikes to explore the wonders of Hells Gate. We biked around for a little bit, stopping occasionally to do some climbing and then finally made our way to the end of the park where the gorge is. FYI the movie The Lion King was based off of Hells Gate national park. We took a 3 hour tour of the gorge to find Pride Rock and to see where the stampede was that killed Mufasa. We found about 10 pride rocks and exactly where the stampede was but that’s neither here nor there. The gorge was amazing. Very sketchy at some points but a lot of fun. Check out the pictures I have up on facebook because trying to explain it would be very hard. What the pictures don’t show is the “tragedy” that occurred as a result of a man named Dan and his obsession with a Spider. Over halfway through the tour, Dan found a funny looking spider on our way back. He kept trying to take pictures of it but the spider would dance away at the last second. After over five minutes of trying to take a picture, Hannah and I were yelling at Dan to give up because the three other people in our group and the tour guide named George (yes George is a Gorge tour guide). Dan finally succeeded but by the time we ran ahead, they were nowhere to be found and there was a fork in the road. Long story short, we guessed wrong. About fifteen minutes later, at the exact moment we realized we were lost, a thunderstorm rolled through. Let me remind you that we were in a gorge, which is essentially a temporary dry river. When it rains, the gorge floods. And because we were in a gorge, I did not have cell phone reception. We decided that we needed to get to high ground so Dan, who was wearing my beloved Titleist Safari at the time, climbed a 60 degree slope to find a way out. After an unsuccessful bid, he slid down the hill. About a minute later, I realized my hat was gone. He went back to look for it but I told him it wasn’t worth it so he came back. It was getting to be a serious situation. We stood around for a minute or so thinking of what to do and which direction to head. We took the closest path that went up and a few minutes later we found the rest of the group, with the exception of George. Apparently when they realized we were lost, George went to go find us. Dan and I went back down this path to find him. About five minutes later we were all reunited. Great story but my hat is gone. Very sad. We made our way back to the gate about a half hour later in the pouring rain for most of it. Getting to camp never felt so good. As soon as we got back, we set up camp and made some hot dogs over the fire. Again, check out facebook for pictures of the camp. It was right on the edge of a cliff. We saw a b-e-a-utiful sunset followed by an impressive moon rise. I had a bad headache by the night time so I did not partake in the alcoholic festivities but everyone enjoyed themselves fully. The next morning we hung around the campsite for a few hours while the rest went rock climbing. We were lucky enough to get a ride back to the front gate from a Swedish family and a couple of Canadian guys. It was a much longer matatu ride home but we didn’t complain because it was nice to finally sit down. A great weekend indeed.
The first weekend we were very eager to get out and see Nairobi. Friday night was our first night out on the town. I went out with a bunch of the other kids from MSID and with my host sister Laura. We went to a nice place called Sailors. We had a few beers, hit the dance floor and lost about 20 pounds through sweat. Kenya does not believe in air conditioning or windows. Even in night clubs. It was a very successful night; no incidents whatsoever. Saturday morning we got up early to go to the Nairobi Giraffe Center which is not in Nairobi. The Giraffe Center is about a half hour outside of Nairobi and is a breeding ground for Giraffes. Giraffes are sent around the world from this place and it was really neat to get face to face, literally, with the giraffes.
The next weekend was quite different. Being that Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday and half of the MSID kids are huge Packers fans, we were able to talk Dr. Jama into giving us Monday off of school as the game was starting around 2:30 AM. Friday, myself and a few of my friends went to Carrey’s friends moms pool at her office complex. It was a hot day and it was nice to cool off in a freezing pool. Saturday we woke up pretty early to head downtown Nairobi to do the touristy activities. We went to the Nairobi Library, the Nairobi National Archives and the Kenyatta International Conference Center to see the Nairobi skyline. The Library and Archives were pretty cool but the Conference Center was the best by far. For a small fee of Ksh 300 (about Ksh 80 to 1 USD) we were able to get on top of the building, a skyscraper, to view the city from the helicopter landing deck. Very cool. Sunday night/Monday morning, we went to our favorite Egyptian restaurant to watch the Super Bowl. The owner, Isaac, was kind enough to host a private party for us in the early morning hours. I was fairly disinterested because I have a strong distaste for the packers and I’m not a huge fan of Big Ben. It was a fun environment and it was very TIA.
Two weekends ago we went to Simon’s family’s resort. It’s in a town called Ngong about an hour outside of Nairobi. Quickly google rift valley Kenya so that my description makes sense. The Rift Valley is basically a giant chuck of land that fell a few hundred feed leaving what looks like a tear in the earth from Northern Kenya all the way down to Southern Kenya. This resort is not what you would think of as a resort but it’s more like a permanent camp side along the edge of rift valley. Good hiking, great views and even better food courtesy of Simon’s wife. At night we had a raging TIA party around a campfire next to a huge rock wall. Very cool. It was nice to relax with some friends and enjoy the scenery. Saturday we went home and I stuck around with the fam to play some games and have some quality bro time. I’m getting very good at FIFA.
Last weekend was the most eventful weekend by far. Many of us MSIDer’s decided that we wanted to go to Hell’s Gate National Park. While it sounds intimidating, it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It actually gets its name because the Brits were so scared of entering that territory because of the feared Maasai warriors in the early twentieth century. A small group left on Friday after class but most stayed home Friday night to get up early Saturday morning. We left for downtown Nairobi to catch a matatu to Naivasha town at around 7am. We had a delightfully uneventful journey to Naivasha (a little over an hour) and then we caught another matatu to Hells Gate from there. We arrived at the park just before 10AM and the day went from there. We were able to leave our gear at the front gate which was very helpful, and then we left on our rented bikes to explore the wonders of Hells Gate. We biked around for a little bit, stopping occasionally to do some climbing and then finally made our way to the end of the park where the gorge is. FYI the movie The Lion King was based off of Hells Gate national park. We took a 3 hour tour of the gorge to find Pride Rock and to see where the stampede was that killed Mufasa. We found about 10 pride rocks and exactly where the stampede was but that’s neither here nor there. The gorge was amazing. Very sketchy at some points but a lot of fun. Check out the pictures I have up on facebook because trying to explain it would be very hard. What the pictures don’t show is the “tragedy” that occurred as a result of a man named Dan and his obsession with a Spider. Over halfway through the tour, Dan found a funny looking spider on our way back. He kept trying to take pictures of it but the spider would dance away at the last second. After over five minutes of trying to take a picture, Hannah and I were yelling at Dan to give up because the three other people in our group and the tour guide named George (yes George is a Gorge tour guide). Dan finally succeeded but by the time we ran ahead, they were nowhere to be found and there was a fork in the road. Long story short, we guessed wrong. About fifteen minutes later, at the exact moment we realized we were lost, a thunderstorm rolled through. Let me remind you that we were in a gorge, which is essentially a temporary dry river. When it rains, the gorge floods. And because we were in a gorge, I did not have cell phone reception. We decided that we needed to get to high ground so Dan, who was wearing my beloved Titleist Safari at the time, climbed a 60 degree slope to find a way out. After an unsuccessful bid, he slid down the hill. About a minute later, I realized my hat was gone. He went back to look for it but I told him it wasn’t worth it so he came back. It was getting to be a serious situation. We stood around for a minute or so thinking of what to do and which direction to head. We took the closest path that went up and a few minutes later we found the rest of the group, with the exception of George. Apparently when they realized we were lost, George went to go find us. Dan and I went back down this path to find him. About five minutes later we were all reunited. Great story but my hat is gone. Very sad. We made our way back to the gate about a half hour later in the pouring rain for most of it. Getting to camp never felt so good. As soon as we got back, we set up camp and made some hot dogs over the fire. Again, check out facebook for pictures of the camp. It was right on the edge of a cliff. We saw a b-e-a-utiful sunset followed by an impressive moon rise. I had a bad headache by the night time so I did not partake in the alcoholic festivities but everyone enjoyed themselves fully. The next morning we hung around the campsite for a few hours while the rest went rock climbing. We were lucky enough to get a ride back to the front gate from a Swedish family and a couple of Canadian guys. It was a much longer matatu ride home but we didn’t complain because it was nice to finally sit down. A great weekend indeed.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
From iPod to Kiva
TIA. This is Africa. I picked studying abroad in Africa; Kenya in particular, over more popular European and Australian destinations because I simply could not find a better place to carry out God’s work. I also really wanted to see the look on my Mom’s face when I told her that I was going to be living in Kenya for four months, but that’s beside the point. In all seriousness, what better place is there to do God’s work than on a continent that some believe He has abandoned all together? And after being here for three weeks, I have news for all the doubters out there: He has not left and Africa is alive. This beautiful and wondrous continent is alive with a passion for freedom, a desire for change and a hope to be finally released from their binding shackles. I also came to Kenya with my hopes of leaving my mark, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. And if there is one thing I have learned so far, it is that what I may see as insignificant can be life changing to a child on the streets of Nairobi or to a starving man in Kibera. Knowing this, all I needed was an idea to get my work done. I did not know that this idea would come in the form of an iPod tragedy. My iPod was stolen from my bed early the first morning we arrived in Nairobi. It was entirely my fault because I did not lock it away when I left the room. I was sad for a whole two days but then I was over it. As my Aunt told me, “Your iPod is replaceable; your experiences are not.” About two weeks later, I was contacted by my Dad who said that one of his friends had been reading my blog, learned of what happened to my iPod, and wanted to buy me a new iPod, fill it with music and send it to me in Kenya. What an incredible offer. I was so surprised and overjoyed when I read this email but I knew right away that I could not accept. Overall, it just wouldn’t feel right. Nairobi is home to the second largest slum in all of Africa: Kibera. Anywhere from 600,000 to 1,200,000 people reside on this government property. It is hell on earth. No running water, electricity or sewage system but filled with HIV/AIDS, crime and the most extreme poverty. When you have seen the true face of poverty, getting a new iPod just because I had my stolen just doesn’t feel right. I responded to my Dad’s friend with a counteroffer. I told him that I could not accept his offer but that I believed I had a suitable alternative: Kiva. If you have not heard of Kiva or do not know much about it, it is an organization that pools money from people like you and me all around the globe to loan it to business owners in need of new equipment, supplies or workspace. Loans start at just $25 and because it is a loan, you get your money back. Kiva works with lending partners on site to physically give out the loans. One of them is the Kenya Agency for Development of Enterprise and Technology (KADET), which is a partner of World Vision International. I will actually be interning for KADET during my last six weeks here in Kisumu, Kenya. I told my Dad’s friend that if he was still interested in supporting my “cause”, he could make a loan to a small business owner in Kenya through Kiva and KADET. I also told him that if he decided to make a loan through Kiva and KADET, I would make every effort to personally find this business owner. I can imagine that making a loan to someone halfway across the world can feel rather distant and out of touch so my promise was to track down the money and get a firsthand look at how generosity from the US is changing the face of poverty in Kenya. If I was going to make this offer to one person, I might as well pass it on to my community at home. The offer stands for all. To find a Kiva loan through Kadet visit http://www.kiva.org/lend. In the search box type in “kadet” and browse away. You can also find location specific loans by typing “Nairobi” or “Kisumu” into the search box. I will be in Nairobi through the middle of March and in Kisumu through around April 22nd, so if you choose to make a loan in either of those areas, please contact me at drew.a.collins@gmail.com to send all of the info. Thank you all and God Bless!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Back to School
Life has begun here in Nairobi. Orientation was a blast and a semi vacation, but now that school has started, it’s back to the grind. A much easier grind than in Champaign that is, but a grind nevertheless. The weather here makes it much more bearable. The first Monday that we were back here in Nairobi (1/24/11), we were able to go downtown as a group and purchase cell phones, sim cards and internet modems. Being away from almost all forms of technology for a week was a really nice feeling. There was no urge to check my pocket to see if I had a text message or email on my phone. There was no checking facebook, CNN or twitter on my computer. It was a liberating feeling. But getting a Kenyan sim card and internet modem felt great. I was instantly reconnected to the world.
Classes started on Tuesday and I felt like I was in high school all over again. Six hours of class every day. Four hours of class a day in college is a lot so six is quite an adjustment. Our day is split up into three blocks of two hour classes. We have a morning block from 8:30–10:30, a tea break from 10:30-10:45, the mid morning block is from 10:45-12:45, lunch from 12:45-1:30 and then the afternoon block from 1:30-3:30. We are all taking the same four classes here taught by our faculty and faculty from the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University. One of the classes we are taking is called Country Analysis. This class is taught by the most animated professor I’ve ever had. His name is Fred. He is a professor at the University of Nairobi and he is very passionate about his teaching. This class is designed to teach us about the history of Kenya, going back to pre colonial times all the way up to how Kenya fits into the global scene right now. It has been a very interesting class because we have been able to learn why things are the way they are today. Virtually everything is traced back to British Colonialism. Everything from political parties, economic conditions and corruption can be traced back to the way Kenya was colonized. Another class we are taking is International Development. This is the reason we are here. ID is taught by MSID-Kenya Program Director Dr. Jama. Dr. Jama is a native Kenyan who earned his Ph. D. at Washington State University. In addition to running MSID-Kenya and teaching one of our courses and teaching at the University of Nairobi, he also heads an Institute on International Development here in Nairobi. This class is about what development is, how it is achieved and how can development be improved. A lot of Kenya’s development comes from foreign investors and it’s quite interesting learning about the differences between US aid money and aid money from other countries like China. US aid money comes with strings attached. This concept is called conditionality. The US will say that they will give X amount of money to Kenya if they vow to fight and reduce corruption. Other European countries will give money on the condition that human rights violations are reduced. There are an endless amount of conditions that you can attach to your aid. China on the other hand, could not care less. They give money on no conditions which has allowed them to flourish in Africa. As you can imagine African leaders love free money with no strings attached. In this sense, there is a free lunch. China is just hoping that your free lunch will actually end up benefiting them in the future. I am very excited for the rest of this class. Our third and last major class is Swahili. We are split up into three levels; beginner, intermediate and advance. There are 18 of us in beginner and we are split up into three smaller classes of six people and a teacher. Having not taken a language since junior year in high school, it’s been a challenge getting that part of my brain working again. That’s all I have to say about Swahili. Our last class is only about once a week. This is our Track course which relates to our internships. There is an environmental track, a public health track, a social services track and a micro business track. I am in the micro business track and the class consists of me, our teacher George, and another one of my classmates. I’ve only had this class once and all we did is talk about political and domestic issues. Later on we will be going out into Nairobi and interviewing micro business owners about their experiences. I am really looking forward to this class as well.
How do I get to class you ask? It’s a good 30 minute walk alleys, gardens and sidewalks. No, I am not kidding about the gardens. All 24 of us are located in clusters of four or five so they all get to walk together to class. In Kilimani, the estate/city ward I live in, it is just me and my friend Paige. Her house is about ten minutes from mine so she picks me up every morning on the way to class. The first day was pretty funny because Carrey, a 15 year old, walked me to class. It’s really not a bad walk at all. It takes some people almost an hour so I feel pretty lucky. The morning is also one of the best times to be outside because the weather is absolutely perfect. We have the afternoon off tomorrow and it will be our first time going out on the town. Should be a good time!
Classes started on Tuesday and I felt like I was in high school all over again. Six hours of class every day. Four hours of class a day in college is a lot so six is quite an adjustment. Our day is split up into three blocks of two hour classes. We have a morning block from 8:30–10:30, a tea break from 10:30-10:45, the mid morning block is from 10:45-12:45, lunch from 12:45-1:30 and then the afternoon block from 1:30-3:30. We are all taking the same four classes here taught by our faculty and faculty from the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University. One of the classes we are taking is called Country Analysis. This class is taught by the most animated professor I’ve ever had. His name is Fred. He is a professor at the University of Nairobi and he is very passionate about his teaching. This class is designed to teach us about the history of Kenya, going back to pre colonial times all the way up to how Kenya fits into the global scene right now. It has been a very interesting class because we have been able to learn why things are the way they are today. Virtually everything is traced back to British Colonialism. Everything from political parties, economic conditions and corruption can be traced back to the way Kenya was colonized. Another class we are taking is International Development. This is the reason we are here. ID is taught by MSID-Kenya Program Director Dr. Jama. Dr. Jama is a native Kenyan who earned his Ph. D. at Washington State University. In addition to running MSID-Kenya and teaching one of our courses and teaching at the University of Nairobi, he also heads an Institute on International Development here in Nairobi. This class is about what development is, how it is achieved and how can development be improved. A lot of Kenya’s development comes from foreign investors and it’s quite interesting learning about the differences between US aid money and aid money from other countries like China. US aid money comes with strings attached. This concept is called conditionality. The US will say that they will give X amount of money to Kenya if they vow to fight and reduce corruption. Other European countries will give money on the condition that human rights violations are reduced. There are an endless amount of conditions that you can attach to your aid. China on the other hand, could not care less. They give money on no conditions which has allowed them to flourish in Africa. As you can imagine African leaders love free money with no strings attached. In this sense, there is a free lunch. China is just hoping that your free lunch will actually end up benefiting them in the future. I am very excited for the rest of this class. Our third and last major class is Swahili. We are split up into three levels; beginner, intermediate and advance. There are 18 of us in beginner and we are split up into three smaller classes of six people and a teacher. Having not taken a language since junior year in high school, it’s been a challenge getting that part of my brain working again. That’s all I have to say about Swahili. Our last class is only about once a week. This is our Track course which relates to our internships. There is an environmental track, a public health track, a social services track and a micro business track. I am in the micro business track and the class consists of me, our teacher George, and another one of my classmates. I’ve only had this class once and all we did is talk about political and domestic issues. Later on we will be going out into Nairobi and interviewing micro business owners about their experiences. I am really looking forward to this class as well.
How do I get to class you ask? It’s a good 30 minute walk alleys, gardens and sidewalks. No, I am not kidding about the gardens. All 24 of us are located in clusters of four or five so they all get to walk together to class. In Kilimani, the estate/city ward I live in, it is just me and my friend Paige. Her house is about ten minutes from mine so she picks me up every morning on the way to class. The first day was pretty funny because Carrey, a 15 year old, walked me to class. It’s really not a bad walk at all. It takes some people almost an hour so I feel pretty lucky. The morning is also one of the best times to be outside because the weather is absolutely perfect. We have the afternoon off tomorrow and it will be our first time going out on the town. Should be a good time!
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