Post-colonialsim and life around Nairobi

So I'm not really roughing it in Kenya, especially in Nairobi, because I am living with a Canadian. I enjoy her company here, so I am not feeling the same isolation as before. But at the same time I love going to the Kisumu house and the traveling because then I feel like I am really in Kenya.

But I like I said, I'm not living in the bush. In fact, I am living quite well, in a very nice little apartment in a safe area in Nairobi. It is easy and cheap to live well here which is probably why there is a considerable amount of international workers here. There is a whole other side to Nairobi for many of these people, the ex-patriots who make large salaries and live very very well here and are known for their elaborate parties. It actually really upsets me, because when you wonder why nothing ever changes in Africa, despite millions of dollars in aid, all you have to look to is where the money is actually going. Usually it is to the administrative and scientific staff and rarely to Africans. I heard that the average salary for a scientist here is $140,000 plus maids and all expenses paid a year. As if that weren't a lot in the US, that is a killing over here where you can pay a maid $50/month to live at your house and do everything for you. I would think they would get paid less because things are so much cheaper here. And I think that it is as corrput as the governments that also pay themselves too highly. I don't think it means that these institutions aren't good, but it means that unless something changes in how the money is handed out, I don't see the situation changing any time soon.
Because if that money were actually put towards doing the work, it could move mountains. This is post-colonialism colonialism.

Maybe I am an idealist, but I don't think it is wrong to think that things should be more fair and I know my Kenyan friends more than agree. Should I get paid 200x the wage of a Kenyan just because I am coming from America?

At least the scientist funding me is from Malaysia and is very critical about the whole thing as well. He is also much more action orientated, thus the video. I have talked with my Kenyan friends about how I want to do a documentary here about the corruption of international organizations. Unfortunatly I doubt they'd fund that one.


Life in Kenya is not very egalitarian.




This brain-looking thing is tamarind fruit, which you may know from tamarind candies in Mexico. We bought it at the Indian market and used it to make tamarind sauce by squeezing the brown juice off the stringy stalk and mixing it will red chilies and sugar. It goes really well with sweet potato french fries.



I really liked this cow being transported on the highway in the back of a pickup. And highways are nuts here, so I can only imagine the terror that cow must feel.

Machacos, Kenya (near Masaii land)

This beautiful eucalyptus, while just a simple tree, has caused huge economic and social problems here because it uses so much water. There are 100 year old ones planted all along this river, and now the river looks more like a little stream.

Eucalyptus was brought over by the British and it was also encouraged by foreign businessmen, who maybe didn't know or think about the long term effects.


A very nice guy we met in Machacos while I was filming by the river. Despite his English not being so good, he knows a lot about trees from doing construction, so we asked him to hang out with us all day and tell us what he knows.

Poor guy was totally excited, since his plan had been to look for a job. Jobs are very scarce here and it had been 3 years since he had a stable one. His family eats from the money his wife makes at the little kiosk selling milk, candy, and soda.

Even very educated people have a hard time finding work here. Because the job market is so tight, most jobs go to family members of the people employing them, despite someone's qualifications.



The scenery in Machachos is amazing. This used to be a 'desert', because it was converted into grazing land by the Masaii so the soil changed dramatically. Due to afforestation there has been a huge improvement.

In the background are farms, which build ditches after each terrace of crops to collect the soil sediments as they slide down during the rainy season. Trees are planted a long the ditches and the ditches allow the water to infiltrate. Considering they get very little rainfall here, these traditional methods are very important for keeping this land useable.

The value of $12

A good friend of mine here runs a really cool grassroots organization

It basically takes 1000 shilings from all its members once a month(which is about $12).The money is then given as micro-grants to sustainable projects.

For example, Leah Onyango (my mama in Kisumu) got one of these grants
to help run a social enterprise she started. She manages a resturant where all
the profit goes to a feeding program for orphanes, on the weekend.
She even has a counselor come talk to the kids (which is a major accomplishment
here).

sooo....I was thinking maybe some of my friends from back home might want to donate
once or join. You know, skip dinner one night and feel good knowing that some of that is paying for AIDS orphanes to eat. And I know the people that run it and I
have seen some of the projects to get it, so I can certify its authenticty.

If so, I would be happy to pay up front for you here (since sending checks is hard and I have shilings- you dont). Then you can pay me back...

Let me know. And check out http://elfubob.blogspot.com/

The Onyangos

Alex fitting in at the Kisumu house.



My twin sister, Atieno, preparing lunch. She just spent a year at home learning how to be a "good wife". I think her sassy attitude, not her cooking, might disqualify her.

a few more pictures

More hospitality.

Meru

Me with Dr. Catherine Meduri, interviewing farmers. The best part of the trip was the farmers taking us to all types of trees in the forest and explaining their tradition use. There were plants for making a sticky gum to catch birds with, a poinous tree whose bark heals scars and wounds, many medicinal uses, and even chat which Somalis and Indians love because it keeps you awake for hours.



Some wonderful Meru women, cutting for us fresh papayas, sugarcane, avocados... all picked from the garden. They were such joyous women, so excited we came by their farm and wanted to see what they were planting. Hospitality here means offering your best to guests, even if you don't have much and they do.



Big brown eyes. We joked that this picture could get a lot of money for UNICEF or something, but actually despite the runny nose, he is well taken care of and from a family that is very humble and kind. What I learned from people around here is poverty mostly exists in the mind.