Ramadan

Ramadan officially began on Sunday. Ramadan is the Muslim month of fasting and peaceful activity (no eating, drinking, unpeaceful behavior from dawn to dusk). In addition you are encouraged to pray more intensely and the month is supposed to be a time of self-reflection that brings you closer to god. My housemate has been dating a Muslim guy for several years now and has been celebrating Ramadan together with him for years. Since she was doing it and I think that the practice of fasting (which Islam actually says is a continuation of Jewish and Christian tradition like Lent) and increased prayer would do me good, I am practicing Ramadan too.

It is interesting that fasting is supposed to make you more patient and humble. I wonder if this is why Americans (who are generally more than well feed) are known for being so the opposite of these traits? Not completely true, but an interesting thought....

Anyway not eating all day is pretty hard, especially the not drinking water thing, because I drink a lot. But already I feel commraderie with my housemate and her boyfriend and 1/6 of the world that is fasting and praying at the same time as me. No, I’m not converting to Islam. But Rachels tells me that people are very happy to find a Westerner that even knows something about their practices and culture, even more so practicing them. And that is sad, because not all Muslims are fundamentalists or terrorists.. just like not all Christians are Nazis, Crusaders, or abortion-doctor killers. Like most conflicts, the conflict in the Middle East is a political issue not a religious one, although religion is used as propaganda by both sides. There are millions of Muslims here in Africa and Asia that live is relative peace alongside each other and other religions. In fact according to the Quran, Muslims, Jews, and Christians are all “people of the book”. Basically the Quran says for Muslims not to persecute Jews or Christians because they all believe in the God of Abraham. However it does say that when you or your people are being oppressed, then jihad (basically fighting back against oppression) is noble. This is where things get messy and political. But it is important to note that Islamic fundamentalist groups use images of Western oppression as propaganda for jihad, to help move their political agendas. I am not an authority on these topics, these are just my observations. Since I don't see the conflicts between our cultures letting up any day soon, I figure learning more about it all is the very least I can do.

here's a funny article about the topic
http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2005/09/27/idiots_guide_to_ramadhan_faith_feature.shtml

Hell's Gate

Went to Hell’s Gate National Park this last weekend. Hell’s Gate is one of the few parks where it is safe to camp out in a tent because the only dangerous predator there is the cheetah, which are shy of humans. It was great to be outside, especially hiking alongside zebras and giraffes.



You have to zoom in the pictures to see the animals.



Even though its been a while since I climbed, my feeble arms kept me climbing all day. I've never climbed so much and such hard stuff, but it felt soo good to get to the top!






Check out the view we had from our camp!

Another interesting aspect of the trip was the group I came with. I recently found out about the Moutain Club of Kenya, which is mainly a group of internationals, ex-patriots, and very few locals, which organize trips all over. The trips are cheap, so I think the main reason less locals are part of it, is that climbing rocks to the top isn't part of the general fun for most Kenyans I know. But in general the group was very interesting to talk to and was from all over: S. Africa, Japan, Sweden, France, Indonesia... Most everyone worked for international aid organizations, the UN, or as businessmen. Anyway I was driven to the Hell’s Gate by this Spanish guy, who is a development economist for the world bank. We had an interesting conversation on the way, especially when I asked him if he thought the work he did actually made a difference or if he thinks he sold out to “the man”. Most the time he thinks he sold out. For example, he told me he is working on a $16 million project right now for water and sanitation in N.E. Kenya which he said 95% of the money will go to international administrators, analysts, researchs, blah, blah, blah and only a tiny fraction will go to the actual project. Grrrr.

Aileen says that the UN staff and other big orgs pay the staffers so much because international donors want to pay these people more because they think they are suffering by working in Africa. I dont know if its true, but like I said before they make entirely too much money to know what to do with here.

Too much conversation, a little more action….





On the lighter side of things check out the baboon that raided our campsite in the early morning. Later when we were leaving, someone left the van unattended, and he came back, jumped inside, and ran off with a bag of sugar. I hope he's ok now...

Dont be jealous...

To get to Kericho and Busia, where my housemate (my "producer") and I were talking to MPs, we had to go by taxi.

On the back window is a swahili phrase

"Don't be jealous
Get your own"



So...Dont be jealous of our ride. Our driver Walter was a sweet heart and the car, managed ok although there was something definitely wrong with it by the time we left (it was making very loud noises). Together we shared a fun experience in Kericho- police corruption. The police stopped us and tried to arrest us (more like intimidate us, to get a small bribe). The supposed reason was that we weren't wearing seatbelts (but that's because the ones in the car were broken). If it weren't for Walter and Rachel's aggressive behavior back to them then I don't know that I could have gotten away so easily. You really have to fight for your rights.

Lesson learned: 1. Pretend you have a seatbelt 2. Dont be intimidated by men welding large machine guns 3. If that fails fight so strongly when accused of anything that you intimidate the intimidators into thinking that they better let you go or they will get in big trouble. Which is actually probably true.

Hopefully its my last run in with the law...



Rachel, Me, my buddy Seth, and one of the few women Members of Parliment Christine Mango and our driver Walter.

corruption and campaigning

This is a picture (if you zoom really close to the right side of the picture) of a herd of zebra we passed on my latest bus ride. Damn digital camera's have a 10 sec delay, but I swear they are there somewhere...

But the roads are baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. Actually I dont mind them, but lots of people do. The Ministry of Public Works are who control the road money and for one reason or another those funds are the easiest to take and allocate according to politics. For example the whole of Kisumu got 30 million Kenyan shillings for roads (and its the 3rd largest city here), while Lamu (a tiny island with one road and only one car) got the second highest award of money for roads, something like 600 million. That's because Kisumu is the Luo tribe base, and that is the tribe/party that is in opposition to the current party system so that is why they are purposely marginalized and neglected. This of course leads to regionalism and tribalism, which hinders the development of the whole country. If the Luos get in power you can be sure they will seek political revenge on the current party and its associated tribe (Kikuyu).

Some of these roads haven't been rebuilt since before independence, which is why avoiding potholes is a serious art here, which if done improperly can result is serious car damage.

Just check out my bouncy picture.



I went for another trip to Kisumu this week, this time for work although I stayed at the Kisumu house some of the time. I went to interview two different MPs (Members of Parliment), which ended up being very interesting since this is nearing campaign time. One of the reasons they were so helpful is that having a video camera following you makes you look like you are doing important things... but I guess it was Win-Win in the end since I got a lot from it too.

Kupenda Bamboo!

So my next video is going to be on "neglected resources". Namely bamboo. When you think bamboo you think Asia, but bamboo actually grows in Africa and Central and S. America too.

The reason its important is that bamboo is an amazing plant. First of all, its a grass not a tree so its is more efficient than trees for growing because its stem not just its leaves take in energy. With half the water of eucalytpus it grows 2xs the height. It's also fibrous and is being used in the Kibera slums (the largest slum in Africa- in Nairobi) to remove heavy metals out of polluted water. I get to go check out that project later this week. It also has medicinal uses, can make cloth, and even wine and BEER. If I go to tanzania, I'll see if I can bring home some of that. They tried to outlaw planting bamboo there because they said it promoted drunkeness... who'd have thought.

So point being is that I am looking at why a resource like bamboo which is environmentally sustainable and also has lots of economic uses is being wiped out. People hardly use it and instead burn it here, because they don't know of its benefits. And of course them destroying bamboo in Rwanda is leading to less and less habitat for the gorillas. Currently there is only 700 Mt gorillas left in the world.

Which is why I might get to go to the Rwandan jungle. Keep your fingers crossed...

Nimebaki (i'm left behind)

So this was Alex is Kisumu with some of the Onyango family. Now Alex has officially crossed over to "the other side", back in SC and not in Kenya. Before he left we went to the Masaii market in Nairobi, which is the biggest street bazaar in East Africa. He spent all his cash before even getting 10 vendors in. The trick is not to look too long at anything or people will do anything to get you to buy it. I got sold a soapstone dish I didn't want, but the lady offered 150 Kenyan shillings which is about $2. And it was hand carved and painted. The same thing would sell for no less then $20 at World Market, because it is very attractive. I just didnt want it because it's heavy and I have only a big backpack to carry all my stuff in. But there is so many vendors and not enough clients so she justed wanted to sell something. "Please mama, i haven't sold anything today yet and I'm hungry". It could have been a lie but it worked.

You get sucked into the bargaining atmosphere here. I always feel really good after bargaining someone down to nearly nothing for something worth a ton back home. I mean I think I should pay what its worth but then I couldn't afford any of it. And the money wouldn't actually necessarily even get to the artist. Even the women who got $2 for the bowl was probably at least the 3rd person to get money for it. The actual artist got maybe 40 shillings for it (50 cents), the owner of the soapstone mine got maybe 50 cents from the trader, and then the trader gave it to that women to sell at the Masaii market, so that overall she might have gotten 100 shillings or just over a dollar for this bowl. Crazy.

Kisii, Kenya is the only place in the world with soapstone and I don't think it will have it for long because it is rapidly mined, carved, and sold at rock-bottom prices.

Food and fun in Kisumu

Loice cooking mandazis, sweet deep fried african "doughnuts". The stove called a jico, is used all over Kenya, with coals. Not the best stuff to breathe in as you can imagine. The neighbors had a funeral a while back and were cooking so much that the coal smoke was even making me cough, and I was next door!

Slowly though, fuel is taking the place of charcoal which burns cleaner. It's too bad people doesn't invest in making castrol oil for fuel, because that tree grows wild all over here and is said to be a great biofuel.

I see an investment opportunity...

Alex and I in Kisumu

The equator runs through my town.

Lakeside Retreat

My favorite way of getting around in Kisumu, bicycle taxi, called BodaBoda. I wish we had them in the US.... fresh air, good conversation, and gasoline-free.



With 6 kids, there are always children from all over town in the house. Its a mad house, but it is so lived in, you can't deny that it is a home.