I know I can. Believe it or not, I am now half way through my 6 months in Tanzania. That could only mean one thing: time to leave the country to renew my visa. And as long as you’re making a 15 hour bus trip, you might as well stay a few days! My destination of choice was Nairobi (the capitol of Kenya). I had heard it was a great place to visit and had some friends in the Nairobi area thanks to the Take A Lead Conference. In all of the places I have gone, I think Nairobi is my favorite. This trip was the perfect combination of relaxation and activity, spending time with friends and exploring by myself, and Africa and the “Western” world. But let me start from the beginning…
I boarded my bus on Thursday morning. From all the information that I had gathered, I estimated the trip to be a MAXIMUM of 12 hours (which is about 2 hours more than people told me it would take). My route would take me from Tanga to Moshi, then Arusha where I would find another bus to take me to Nairobi. At the very latest I would reach Arusha around 4pm. At 6:30 pm, we pulled into the bus stand in Arusha. I told the “conductor” of my bus that I needed to get a bus to Nairobi. I hate that feeling when people are talking in Swahili and you have no idea what they are saying, but you know it can’t be good. The last bus to Nairobi had already left. I thought I was going to have to spend the night in Arusha, but the ticket seller came up with an alternate plan. I could take an “express” to the Kenyan border and catch up to the bus there. An express is basically a private mini-van that doesn’t make stops along the way and drives as fast as they can. I asked if he was sure I would be able to catch the bus at the border (as I would much rather find a hotel in Arusha in the daylight than find a hotel at the border in the dark). I was hoping for mathematical proof (If a bus leaves the station at 6 pm, traveling northbound at 80 km per hour…).
“Yes, I’m sure you can. There were lots of Muslims on the bus, so they will be there for a while.”
Eventually I put the pieces together: It is Ramadan, Muslims are fasting until sundown, the border is their first opportunity to eat all day.
hungry Muslims + opportunity to eat = sure, why not.
And we were off. When we reached the border, I made it through customs in a flash and discovered the bus was already on the Kenya side and I would have to hurry to make it. I’m beginning to see why Kenyans are so good at running. I caught the bus just in time and sat in the last seat, at the very back. Then nice young man next to me said “Hello! You look tired.” I said yes, and we had a lovely conversation for the rest of the trip. He works for customs at the border all week and attends university classes at the University of Nairobi on the weekends. And I thought I was tired. We finally pulled into the Nairobi bus stand at 11:30 and I got a taxi to my hotel, where I arrived too exhausted to think, eat, or watch TV (but not too tired to literally jump up and down when the nice security guard showed me how to turn on the hot water for my shower).
The next morning I woke up, took my first hot shower in two months, and headed to the rooftop of my hotel for my breakfast. Breakfast quickly became my favorite part of the day. My hotel had an awesome view of downtown Nairobi. My breakfast consisted of fried eggs, sausage, wheat toast, fresh fruit, coffee, and passion fruit juice. I ate every last bit of it while I stared at the city wondering what to do first. I decided to go on a walk around my hotel and see a little of the city, saving the city center for later. Crossing the street in Nairobi is a little like playing the eighth level of Frogger (“Holes, I need holes!”). That afternoon I was met at my hotel by my dear friend and acting tour guide for the day, Raphael. Raphael is the founder and director of the Youth for Life—Kenya organization, based just outside Nairobi. I am constantly being impressed by the work of this organization, but I’ll go into more detail later.
According to Raphael, the best way to see Nairobi is by matatu, so that’s what we did. The matatu is the Kenyan version of a daladala, with one key difference: there is a law that you can’t put more people inside than you have seats for. Someone pinch me. We took the matatu into city center and then started walking. We walked through the University of Nairobi campus, past parks, hotels, restaurants, shops, and towers, all the while I bombarded him with questions—about Nairobi, Kenya, himself, and mostly, his organization. In the midst of the inquisition, he casually mentioned that there are a lot of coffee shops in Nairobi. Guess where we went next…
We sat down in Dorman’s, ordered our coffee (real coffee, made from coffee beans!) and resumed the interview I had been conducting earlier, except with every answer, I became more inept at talking and mostly just stared at him with my mouth hanging open. Raphael Gakinya started Youth for Life (Y4L) in 2004 working in schools conducting sexual and reproductive health education by creating a drama group to present in schools. When they began to be identified as only a drama group, they switched gears and conducted more educational programs with drama sprinkled in. Since 2004 their programs and activities have diversified and grown to include the collection and distribution of female sanitary towels, a place in the office for entrepreneurs to make handicrafts to sell (I bought baskets made from plastic bags collected off the street), sports teams and classes (soccer—err…football, basketball, and Tae-Kwon-Do), and a host of many other projects I am sure I am forgetting. Last year, through the work of one of their interns (they like to have 4 international interns and 4 native interns working at a time), they were connected with a Japanese organization called Smile Africa where they received shoes to distribute to local youth. Since it was the first year, they only distributed a few. Well, 950 pairs. The main office is in Athi River, about 45 minutes south of Nairobi. When I went to visit, I saw a building plan hanging on the wall. Raphael said that that was their hope and dream, to have a new building built. Everyone should have those 10 year goals, I thought to myself. Then he told me they are hoping to break ground in the next couple of months. The building will include a basement activity center for entrepreneurs to work on their projects, an upstairs activities center, an office, and rooms for youth to stay in. These rooms will be used like a boarding school for youth who don’t have the resources at home to do well in school. With no library or study area, and no electricity or resources at home, youth who stay in school have trouble succeeding. Y4L will provide a place for youth to come on Monday after school and stay until Friday, when they return to their families for the weekend. The kids continue attending the school they are in, Y4L just provides the space for them to study, eat, and get a good night sleep. Youth for Life has a philosophy that unfortunately seems to be unique amongst organizations. They see a need in their community and they find a simple solution to offer. If they don’t have funding for the project, they find a way to do it anyway, knowing that if they are fulfilling a need, the funding will come later. They don’t chase after big grants to fund programs that aren’t needed. They see a need, they find a solution. And if you think that that is a silly way to run an organization, think about this: they have been operating for 7 years and are getting ready to open their 4th office in Kenya. I guess they are doing something right.
One of the best parts of Youth for Life is that it is more than just Raphael. While he is obviously an integral part of the organization, talk to any of the staff, interns, and volunteers and you will see as much vision, passion, and commitment in them as well. They all truly love their work and take pride in their projects. When Chad and Victor (brothers who must have been an absolute handful growing up) talk about the basket making project, you can see the excitement in their faces. When Ann (one of the delegates to Take a Lead) plans for her female empowerment programs, you know she is dedicated to the cause. And when Giuseppe, the intern who arrived only 2 weeks ago from Italy, talks about improving Y4L’s social media, you can see he has already been bitten by the Y4L bug. Being around them is exciting and motivating and you get the feeling that if you were to return in a month, there will be new projects and programs already!
So that sums up my first day in Nairobi! Yes, I am just to day one. I’ll try to be brief. Saturday morning I was on my own. Having gotten the feel of Nairobi with Raphael, I decided I would see what I could do to keep myself busy. After a long rooftop breakfast conversation with a German woman who is about 2 weeks into her 8 month long around-the-world journey (awesome, I know!), I set off on foot hoping to find the Nairobi National Museum. Just when I was thinking I must have taken a wrong turn, there it was! The museum is beautiful and I had a great time learning about the history of Kenya and seeing the Snake Park—though I probably could have skipped that last part. After the museum, I decided to see if I could find my way back to Dorman’s for lunch and coffee. After about 45 minutes of walking in vaguely the right direction, I was ecstatic to see I had guessed right and found my target. There was a bookstore down the street, so I stopped there first to buy some reading material to keep me busy on the long bus ride home. I selected “Banking to the Poor” by Muhammed Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank. Though I have hardly started it, I love it already and would recommend it to anyone interested in international development or micro-financing. I had a wonderful sandwich and coffee for lunch…then I decided to go for some chocolate cake for dessert, accompanied by more coffee, of course. Delicious. When I got back to my hotel, I flipped on the TV to find that almost every channel was covering a live concert in Uhuru Park to support the Kenyans for Kenya famine relief project. I knew that Uhuru Park was basically on the other side of Nairobi from me, so I wasn’t going to try to make it there (especially since I had no idea when the music would end). Then I realized that this kind of opportunity doesn’t happen every day, so I set off in the direction of Uhuru Park (to the best of my knowledge). About half way there I was offered a taxi ride, and I took it! I reached the park and was met with a large crowd of Kenyans. It was a great environment and I just sat on the grass and listened to the music. While I was there I got a call to meet Raphael, Giuseppe, and Ann at the Hilton Hotel. We met up and then went out to enjoy the Nairobi nightlife of music and dancing. If you have never seen Congolese dancing, it is amazing! I would love to replicate it, but I’m pretty sure I would hurt myself (and probably some innocent bystanders as well). Another awesome and full day in Nairobi!
Sunday came with the same rooftop breakfast…my last for a while. I was planning on leaving Nairobi on Sunday, but somehow that didn’t happen. With a little persuasion, I decided to stick around, but transfer myself to Kitengela, where Raphael and Giuseppe live, near the Y4L office. They have an apartment there for the international interns, but with only one intern right now, there was an open space for me and I could hang around and see all the happenings or Youth for Life! I took a matatu to Kitengela. I would call Raphael once I reached Kitengela so he could come and get me (since I had no idea where he lived). Unfortunately, when I reached Kitengela (about 45 minutes outside Nairobi) my phone didn’t work. Wondering what I would do, I hopped out of the matatu and was greeted by a guy who said “hey! Where’s Raphael?” “Umm…I don’t know.” I responded…wondering how small of a town this could be. It turns out I had briefly met the stranger before when I was visiting Y4L on Friday. I was fortunate that I ran into him, since I could then use his phone to send an SOS to Raphael, who promptly found me and took me to the apartment. Sunday afternoon Giuseppe and I went with Victor to a Youth for Life football (soccer) game! Y4L won 3-0!
Monday morning began as all Mondays should—coffee. As I was staying at the intern apartment, Giuseppe made some wonderful Italian espresso, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I went with Raphael to the office, pelting him with questions all the way. He patiently answered them all. I spent the morning learning more about Y4L and then went to Ann’s house for a delicious lunch she had prepared for us. Victor, Raphael, Giuseppe, Ann, and I enjoyed catching up over some homemade ugali na nyama (ugali and meat). Thanks for lunch Ann! After lunch Victor took Giuseppe and I to see a primary school they work with. Though schools are out of session, we got to see the results of a tree planting project. We continued on our walk for an hour and a half. That night Raphael showed Giuseppe and I how to make chapati (flat bread) and cabbage for dinner. So delicious! If you don’t know already, napenda sana chapati! (I love chapati!)
Tuesday morning brought an end to my visit as Raphael took me back to Nairobi to buy my bus ticket. Since I arrived here I have heard rumors of buses with air conditioning, comfortable seats, snacks on board, and even TVs to watch. Until Tuesday morning, I thought it was a myth. I climbed aboard my Airbus to Mombasa settled in my seat at the back, and watched the music videos playing. When the “hostess” started handing out cookies and juice, I started tearing up. A little while later, a movie started playing (though I would like to have words with whoever voted for watching the “Green Mile”). Unfortunately, as delightful as the ride was, we rolled into Mombasa around 7:30 pm, too late to catch a bus to Tanga (this seems to be a chronic problem that I have). I found a small hotel right outside the bus and decided to just enjoy one more night on “vacation”. The next morning I got up at 6 and checked out. I was delighted to learn that a but heading for Tanga was parked right outside the door. When I bought my ticket the man said, “okay, bus leaves at 7.” I left to grab a quick breakfast and was on the bus right at 7. There were about 6-7 young men spread across the seats of the bus when I boarded. I assumed they were passengers who were just claiming their territory early, but slowly, one by one, they woke up, got dressed (yes, in the back of the bus), and left. By 7:45 the bus driver had woken up and peeled his head from the steering wheel. By 8:30, we were on our way to get petrol (gas) and by 9:00, we were leaving Mombasa. So much for 7:00am, but at least we made great time and crossed the border quickly. Unfortunately, about 1 hour from Tanga, the bus started making funny noises…so we stopped in a small village to wait for another bus that was coming up behind us. When they arrived after about 30 minutes, they only let a couple people on. I don’t know why they wouldn’t let everyone else on, as I have never seen a bus in Tanzania turn down a fare, but for whatever reason, there were still about 8 of us standing on the side of the road. “Okay! Everyone back on the bus!” said the driver, “we’ll just drive really slowly.” After a discussion on the merits of driving slowly to Tanga verses driving quickly to get there before we broke down completely, we left. I don’t know much about cars, but I do know they aren’t generally supposed to sounds like trains. And sure enough, about 30 minutes down the road, trying desperately to climb a hill, old Bessie decided it was time to stop. Fortunately, we were close enough to Tanga by then that there was a daladala for us to cram into and arrive in Tanga safely (if not a little late).
End of Act 1
I’m sorry this one is such a long one! (Do I end all of my posts with that?) I really had a fantastic time in Nairobi and I can’t wait to return (except for that whole “bus ride” thing). I have to give a special thanks to my dear friends at Youth for Life for showing me an amazing time and enduring all of my questions and picture taking! When you are on Facebook looking at the pictures from my trip, go ahead and “like” the Youth for Life—Kenya page! Giuseppe is currently working on the Y4L website, but the link to that is below. And coincidentally enough, my newest project here at 4H Tanzania is to update our website. Hopefully I will be done in a couple of days, but go ahead and check out the old one as well (link below). Thanks for reading!
