Almost three full days of sleepless travel made our arrival in Kitale seem that much more surreal. We landed at an airstrip which was nothing more than a paved road and a one room building. The eighteen passengers deboarded, the station attendant unloaded the few items of checked baggage, three new passengers boarded, and the plane was airborne all within 10 minutes. The drive to the hotel was all two lane road, and only a small portion of it was actually paved. We got to our “lodge” (the Karibuni Inn) at around 6 PM. Getting settled and used to our surroundings is when it finally hit that we are actually in Africa. The Karibuni Inn (karibu means “welcome” in Swahili, karibuni is plural) is essentially a compound that has a home (where the owners live) with several surrounding buildings that act as the lodging for the inn. Despite being at an elevation of about 6000 feet, the plants and birds fell very tropical. After such a long journey, though, we didn’t do much other than settle in. I managed to squeeze in a sound 12 hours of sleep our first night here.
Our first full day was filled with more wandering and acclimation. We started the day with a short walk into downtown Kitale (about 30 minutes). The landscape is lush and green and almost none of the roads are paved, but the dirt is a beautiful deep red (just like that found at Vinehill in the Sierras). By the time we made it into the heart of Kitale it was obvious that we all stand out like sore thumbs. Most people we passed would just stare, but a few would wave and smirk at us. If someone wanted our attention from afar they would shout Mizunga (Swahili for “white person”) and wave dramatically. It almost makes one feel like a cross between a zoo exhibit and a celebrity. Aside from a few tough acting males, though, everyone I’ve met so far is an instant friend.
The two major things we did outside of wandering were to tour a school and make our first visit to our construction site. The school is called St. John Bosco Children Centre and is geared towards getting kids off the street and tailored for a proper education (preparing them to enter primary and secondary school). We were instant hits among the kids with magic tricks and nifty digital cameras. Our time at the school was cut short, though, when the sky began to show signs of the afternoon storms so we made a quick exit and drove over to our construction site. The term construction site is, of course, used in the loosest sense possible. The site consists of a large plot of land, with a small portion (maybe 50x90 feet) plowed and leveled for where the Water Filter Manufacturing Facility is to be built. We had expected the foundations to at least be laid, but because our shipping containers with all of the supplies have not even made port in Mombasa (at least a full day’s journey from Kitale) everything has been put on hold. In the mean time it seems as though the plan is for us to be glorified tourists. Maybe we’ll get to find a bar on Wednesday night and watch the Brazil/Manchester match for a good time, who knows!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Nairobi
We landed in Nairobi just as the sky was starting to show signs of day. A quick stroll through the passport check led us out into the baggage hall. Keeping my fingers crossed seemed to pay off as my hardly used REI camping backpack made it all the way from Spokane to Nairobi without a torn strap or crushed buckle. After finding our bags and “declaring” our items, we wandered around the pickup area waiting for Gilbert (our good friend and advisor who was raised in Kenya) and Paul (the director of SWEF and coordinator of the Maji Filter Company). While waiting, we got a brief glimpse of what Kenya would be like, everyone is very friendly but most want something from you. A few generous people offered us a phone to use and we finally tracked down our missing friends.
We hired a Matatu (van taxi) to drive us around Nairobi for the day, as our flight to Kitale wasn’t for another 8 hours. We ended up paying 7500 Kenya Shillings total (or less than 100 US Dollars) for the entire day, just a small example of how cheap labor is in Kenya. Nairobi seemed like a ghost town so early on a Sunday morning, it was almost unnerving. Our first stop was a small café on the first floor of a large bank building. Paul seemed a little tumultuous in trying to explain things to us (tentative plans, layout of Kitale, how to use the cell phones we would have while in Kenya, how to count in a foreign currency, how to split a bill fairly). Newly graduated Engineers didn’t seem to rank too highly on his list of able bodied travelers.
After a relaxing breakfast and seminar on technology use, we embarked on our city tour. For the first hour or so, we drove all around the city, stopping or slowing down at important waypoints and impressive city scapes. By now the city was starting to come to life. The most impressive thing seen from the car was the slums in Nairobi. We only even drove a little ways in, as Paul was starting to become noticeably tense from the obvious stares and the quickly declining semblance of safety.
After a brief glimpse of life in the slums, we hastily reverted to the tourist ways and headed for the Giraffe Park. The park was a reserve that was home to 9 Rothschild Giraffes. After a little bartering, we were able to get admittance to the park as students (I guess my worn out ID wasn’t convincing enough, all that’s left is a magnetic strip after 5 heavy years of use). Feeding the giraffes was pretty entertaining. It was a lot like feeding a horse, but with more slobber and a longer tongue. Our next destination was the house from the movie “Out of Africa” with Meryl Streep. If you’ve seen the movie, it looked exactly like that (interestingly enough). Next we went for lunch at the Walking Safari National Park. We didn’t tour the park, but the lunch was delicious. The menu was pretty touristy so most of us ended up getting burgers and fries.
Our drive back through town was a little more frenzied than our first morning pass. While the driver still said it was nothing compared to a Friday afternoon, the streets were packed with cars on top of bikes on top of pedestrians. The rules of the road seemed to be drive defensively and let everything else sort its self out. We even witnessed a truck tire blow out right next to us (which sounded like a small bomb at first). Luckily for the cargo of the truck, it didn’t seem to phase the driver in the least as he drove on right next to us as though nothing had happened. We made it to the airport with time to spare. Africa time kept our flight from leaving as scheduled, but we finally made it out of Nairobi for our destination of Kitale.
We hired a Matatu (van taxi) to drive us around Nairobi for the day, as our flight to Kitale wasn’t for another 8 hours. We ended up paying 7500 Kenya Shillings total (or less than 100 US Dollars) for the entire day, just a small example of how cheap labor is in Kenya. Nairobi seemed like a ghost town so early on a Sunday morning, it was almost unnerving. Our first stop was a small café on the first floor of a large bank building. Paul seemed a little tumultuous in trying to explain things to us (tentative plans, layout of Kitale, how to use the cell phones we would have while in Kenya, how to count in a foreign currency, how to split a bill fairly). Newly graduated Engineers didn’t seem to rank too highly on his list of able bodied travelers.
After a relaxing breakfast and seminar on technology use, we embarked on our city tour. For the first hour or so, we drove all around the city, stopping or slowing down at important waypoints and impressive city scapes. By now the city was starting to come to life. The most impressive thing seen from the car was the slums in Nairobi. We only even drove a little ways in, as Paul was starting to become noticeably tense from the obvious stares and the quickly declining semblance of safety.
After a brief glimpse of life in the slums, we hastily reverted to the tourist ways and headed for the Giraffe Park. The park was a reserve that was home to 9 Rothschild Giraffes. After a little bartering, we were able to get admittance to the park as students (I guess my worn out ID wasn’t convincing enough, all that’s left is a magnetic strip after 5 heavy years of use). Feeding the giraffes was pretty entertaining. It was a lot like feeding a horse, but with more slobber and a longer tongue. Our next destination was the house from the movie “Out of Africa” with Meryl Streep. If you’ve seen the movie, it looked exactly like that (interestingly enough). Next we went for lunch at the Walking Safari National Park. We didn’t tour the park, but the lunch was delicious. The menu was pretty touristy so most of us ended up getting burgers and fries.
Our drive back through town was a little more frenzied than our first morning pass. While the driver still said it was nothing compared to a Friday afternoon, the streets were packed with cars on top of bikes on top of pedestrians. The rules of the road seemed to be drive defensively and let everything else sort its self out. We even witnessed a truck tire blow out right next to us (which sounded like a small bomb at first). Luckily for the cargo of the truck, it didn’t seem to phase the driver in the least as he drove on right next to us as though nothing had happened. We made it to the airport with time to spare. Africa time kept our flight from leaving as scheduled, but we finally made it out of Nairobi for our destination of Kitale.
Amsterdam
My final day in the states started out with a mad-dash to the Salt lake Airport. It continued with a last minute scramble around Spokane to obtain a video camera for the Documentary we intend to produce of our time in Kenya. Next were the last minute shopping runs (biodegradable soap, camera case, first aid supplies, etc.). Finally came the most important part of the day, going out with friends to a local bar to catch one final night of live music in Spokane.
After much deliberation and personal introspection, I decided it best to not go to sleep; instead I stayed out with friends until the wee hours, only to return just as Pat was waking up to prepare for the airport run. By some miracle, we made it to the airport and checked our bags a hair ahead of the deadline for international travel. Another 30 seconds later, and we wouldn’t have been allowed to board. A brief nap/flight later, we found ourselves in Portland. Pat’s Aunt, living just across the river, was nice enough to pick us up and give us a hearty breakfast that we so desperately needed. After yet another frantic sprint through the airport, we managed to make our next flight barely in time (our other team-mate Isaac wasn’t so lucky, we had to part ways with him and hope to meet up later in Amsterdam, which we did!) The endless selection of free movies on the plane, coupled with an internal clock telling me not to sleep, led to a restless nine hour flight across half the globe.
Pat and I landed in Amsterdam at around 7:30 AM local time. No reason to sleep yet! After a tiring 2 and half hours of passing through checkpoints and re-checking our luggage, we were finally ready to explore downtown. Our timing couldn’t have been more perfect. A Saturday spent wandering Amsterdam was filled with all sorts of surprises. The people here are very friendly and most speak at least a little English. We made some new friends, stumbled on a museum or two, tracked down recommended sites and stores from old friends, we discovered a local fresh market filled with fruits and vegetables, and we even spent some time in an antique shop (their specialty was LP’s, mostly American music). To answer the questions most would ask: no, we did not go to the red light district, but yes, we did manage some harmless mischief. I’d have to say that my favorite part of the city, though, was the fact that bikes easily out number cars. You can’t walk 100 meters without both almost getting hit by a biker and almost tripping over a stack of parked bikes.
Despite the fact that Amsterdam quickly became my favorite city (with newly formed reveries of actually living there one day), the time had to be cut short with our approaching departure for Nairobi. After a few essential duty free purchases (a bottle of cognac for the Bishop of Kenya and a travel alarm clock) we find ourselves waiting patiently at the gate to make the next continental leap. If the movie selection is the same maybe I can squeeze in a few winks, but landing in Nairobi at 6:35 AM leaves us very little hope that we can be well rested for our arrival. Sleep can wait, though; we’ve got too much stuff to see!
After much deliberation and personal introspection, I decided it best to not go to sleep; instead I stayed out with friends until the wee hours, only to return just as Pat was waking up to prepare for the airport run. By some miracle, we made it to the airport and checked our bags a hair ahead of the deadline for international travel. Another 30 seconds later, and we wouldn’t have been allowed to board. A brief nap/flight later, we found ourselves in Portland. Pat’s Aunt, living just across the river, was nice enough to pick us up and give us a hearty breakfast that we so desperately needed. After yet another frantic sprint through the airport, we managed to make our next flight barely in time (our other team-mate Isaac wasn’t so lucky, we had to part ways with him and hope to meet up later in Amsterdam, which we did!) The endless selection of free movies on the plane, coupled with an internal clock telling me not to sleep, led to a restless nine hour flight across half the globe.
Pat and I landed in Amsterdam at around 7:30 AM local time. No reason to sleep yet! After a tiring 2 and half hours of passing through checkpoints and re-checking our luggage, we were finally ready to explore downtown. Our timing couldn’t have been more perfect. A Saturday spent wandering Amsterdam was filled with all sorts of surprises. The people here are very friendly and most speak at least a little English. We made some new friends, stumbled on a museum or two, tracked down recommended sites and stores from old friends, we discovered a local fresh market filled with fruits and vegetables, and we even spent some time in an antique shop (their specialty was LP’s, mostly American music). To answer the questions most would ask: no, we did not go to the red light district, but yes, we did manage some harmless mischief. I’d have to say that my favorite part of the city, though, was the fact that bikes easily out number cars. You can’t walk 100 meters without both almost getting hit by a biker and almost tripping over a stack of parked bikes.
Despite the fact that Amsterdam quickly became my favorite city (with newly formed reveries of actually living there one day), the time had to be cut short with our approaching departure for Nairobi. After a few essential duty free purchases (a bottle of cognac for the Bishop of Kenya and a travel alarm clock) we find ourselves waiting patiently at the gate to make the next continental leap. If the movie selection is the same maybe I can squeeze in a few winks, but landing in Nairobi at 6:35 AM leaves us very little hope that we can be well rested for our arrival. Sleep can wait, though; we’ve got too much stuff to see!
Kenya Project Background
I thought it may be helpful to provide a brief background on what the ultimate goal is and why we’re lucky enough to be in
A humanitarian project in
The next step to be taken by Gonzaga (and the next Senior Engineering Design Team) is to design the educational facility and dormitory in such a way that they can be entirely self-sustained using these technologies as well as utilizing the Water Filter Manufacturing Facility as added income and education for common shop technologies. The construction site we have is large enough for all of these buildings, but is still empty as of today. The main goal for this summer is to construct a simple steel building to act as the temporary Filter Manufacturing plant. Our team has been sent along in order to provide some feedback on the construction, as well as to the future design team, on how everything might mesh best. We’re also hoping to piece together a short promotional documentary to help the Gonzaga find some deep, humanitarian oriented pockets to help fund the construction of the other buildings.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Tomorrow!
These past few weeks seem to have been filled with my looking forward to tomorrow. Today is no exception. After taking a nice relaxing day to detox and recover from the life that is Friday Harbor (by spending all day packing my life into a U-Haul Trailer) I can go to sleep looking forward to tomorrow. After a few last minute chores, I'll be setting out on the open road for Logan, Utah. The drive isn't too bad (about 9 hours, probably 10-11 with a trailer), and a few friends are waiting for me to get there which will help give me a reason to drive faster! All that's left in my room now is a borrowed dresser, some shelves destined for a dumpster, and my backpack that contains everything I'll need for the next three months.
Kesho basi...
(Tomorrow then)
Kesho basi...
(Tomorrow then)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Baby Steps
Graduation weekend has finally come and gone and its time for the next step. While some friends are sitting around, waiting for real life to hit, I find myself busier than ever. It's much more daunting than I first expected to put life on hold for a summer. But the preparations have been, and are being, made. My first malaria pill was taken this weekend, my shots are in order and my packing list is being fine-tuned. After dropping my belongings in a storage unit in Logan, Utah, I will be heading for Kenya on May 22nd. From there I'm sure it will be a whirlwind that will seem to end almost as soon as it starts. I'll be doing my best to keep up to date on sharing stories and pictures, but internet may prove to be unreliable in places (I'm not sure). I will have a lap top with me all summer as part of my responsibilities, so at the very least I'll be able to write them first and then post them when I find internet. It is still my responsibility to be an appropriately behaved post-graduate by attending a bon-fire with friends and reminisce of how things were "back in our day".
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