Jambo from Nairobi

Ah!  To be in Africa again makes my soul sing!  I had an uneventful flight, which is always good and all of my bags arrived in one piece!  At the airport, I met my partners from the TB ACTION Group Kenya, Betty and Lynn.  They have truly taken care of me and arranged a wonderful furnished apartment for the night. Although, all I really needed was a bed after the 20 hour flight!  I awoke to familiar doves making their calls and to the sound of cars and people going off to work.  I have not been in Nairobi for 18 years and I am amazing at the concentration of people!

Yesterday, I took public transportation in a "matatu" to visit different locations around the city.  Now, Will knows that I am on edge whenever he drives but for some reason, being in the front seat of a matautu when we are nearly running someone over or hitting another vehicle every few seconds, I  found myself incredibly calm and actually quite meditative!  I guess I was just going with the rhythm of the city like everyone else! 

One of the places I visited was the Nyumbani Orphanage for children.  Nyumbani means "home" and what they have done is created a truly nurturing home for these children who otherwise would never know that that word meant.  You can see that the children are being well cared for and that many generous donors have invested in the infrastructure of the home.  The children literally scooted around me on their scooters as we walked down the side walk.  The older children will be starting school in one week and their school fees have been paid and they are ready to learn after a few months break.  Nyumbani is like a little village with kind and respectful aunties, uncles, mama and papas guiding these children.  The need is so great and not all children are fortunate enough to be placed in this home but it certainly is encouraging to see a highly efficient and loving place for these children.

The ride back from the orphanage should have taken about 20 minutes.  Instead, at rush hour it took me nearly 3 hours!  The downtown city center was filled with workers trying to catch matatus to leave the city for the night.

I am now staying with the executive director of TB ACTION Group, Lucy Chesire and I couldn't ask for a more gracious hostess.We will start our training next Tuesday and today will go over all of the logistics to make the training a success.  They are very motivated and are pleased with the materials we have compiled for next week.   

Compared to my memories of Cameroon, Nairobi is clean and there is new construction and cranes visible everywhere.  Even the pace on the street is much faster than I remember.  No slow African walking!  Everyone is hustling to go from place to place.  I saw an enormous bird yesterday in a downtown tree that was bigger than an eagle and a blue heron.  It looked like a prehistoric vulture!  Still don't know what it is!  Also, I am hearing medical emergency sirens which I never heard when I was here before. I have eated ugali for the past two meals with many different sauces and it has been delicious!  I also had like a doughnut this morning called mandazi!

Photovoice is about being in community and hearing from the community, but as a trainer I am fortunate to be able to learn about their community through friendships, food, transportation and conversations! Romel and others have reminded me not to eat anything from alleyways like I did in South Africa, but I must say, although the aftermath of eating something that my body totally rejected, the experience I had meeting the art traders and getting to see their backrooms where they assemble bracelets and accessories, and discussing TB to a group of 25 people (hearing their myths of the disease and hopefully imparting some new knowledge, was an experience I will always treasure.  The aftermath will always be remembered with humility!

Ansante sawa!