Pictures and Video

I've finally sorted and arranged all the pictures and video's up on Flickr, you can check them out here:

My Flickr Picture Sets

Sadly one of the best video's isn't really working with Flickr video, so I've uploaded it here:

Kigali Memorial Centre

Excuse any poor punctuation or spelling, this is all getting typed on a French keyboard which has a different layout and a bunch of keys for letters like èçéù. Of course that means that I've moved on from Kampala staying with friends (many thanks to Kody and Gab) to Rwanda. The primary reason I came was the Kigali Memorial Center. It was dedicated in 2004, ten years after the genocide in Rwanda which left over a million people dead. The center describes the chain of events that led up to intense violence in the spring of 1994, and documents the stories of the survivors. The museum travels chronologically through events, starting back with the German and Belgian colonial periods, the building tensions during independence, and finally the breakdown of the peace agreements and ensuing violence in 1994. It was an unfathomable experience; the videos of survivors recounting how they watched their family members be killed, many times by friends, was heartbreaking. The center houses displays where family members can hang pictures of the loved ones lost in the terror. Seeing the thousands of individual faces lost to the violence is overwhelmingly difficult. The Rwandans took an thoughtful step (especially for someone coming from a center that hosted reconciliation workshops) of in implementing a community court, with the goal of reconciliation and justice, called a Gacaca court. You can read more about it here, or at the memorial center site.

The center also documents other genocides in history, and tries (as best as anyone can) to explain the common experience that the victims and survivors shared, and the motivation behind each incident. Finally, as you walk outside you can walk around the grounds of the center, where mass graves house over 250,000 victims of the genocide. It was such an intense and powerful experience, and I would recommend anyone who visits East Africa to go see it.

Masai Mara

After we left Nukuru in central kenya, we headed over the edges of the rift valley on torn up Kenyan road to the Masai Mara. The Masai Mara is the northern section of the Serengeti on the Kenyan side, and it is absolutely packed with the big game animals that we so often associate with Africa. We saw lions, elephants, and giraffes; along with the thousands of wilder beasts that make an annual migration in August. It was truly amazing, but I'll let some of the pictures speak for me:

It's amazing how close the wildlife, especially the large predictors let you get to them. The lion pictures come from the last morning we were there. As we were driving out we spotted the male lions head poking up out of the grass. We we drove over it ended up being a whole family, with the cubs running around playing the whole time we were there. I have tons more, and some great videos that I'll put up on Flickr when I get back to the states.

Safari!

Well the workcamp is over, and I've taken a little time to travel afterwards. Right after the end of the camp on Saturday, we (Mary, and her daughters Lilly and Daniel) headed out for a city called Narkuru; about half way between Kakamega (where the workcamp was) and Nairobi the capital. First we headed out to the Menengai Crater, a beautiful crater overlooking the city. The real sites were the next morning though, when we went into the Nukuru National Park, a small but beautiful park outside of the city. The park is absolutely expoding with animals, including some that are very endangered like the Black Rhino. Next we are off the Serengeti to see a bunch more! I'll try and get some more updates later on in the trip.

IDP Camps

During the post-election violence that hit Kenya during the period from December to February, it's estimated that at least 350,000 people were displaced in one way or another from their homes. Fortunately many were able to return quickly, and piece together their lives. Unfortunately many people came home to find that they had no home; it had been looted and burned. One of the largest groups affected by this targeted violence in western Kenya (where we are working) were the Kikuyus, the tribe favored by the president's party. In Kakamega, a ten minute drive from the peace center, people are still sheltered at the local Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp. At the beginning of the year, six thousand called this camp home. Many have made the journey home; but seven months later there are still 286 people living in the camp, with no clear time table or indication from the government of when it will be safe for them to return to their homes. On Friday we had the chance to visit the camp, and talk to those still living there (and to bring some supplies to the refugees that we had bought). It was really hard; they've been living three months without firewood or any means of cooking, and the government hasn't been supplying the camp with the necessary food. These are people from all walks of life, engineers, doctors, and farmers alike. They were in amazing spirits considering their circumstances, but you can see and hear the pain it's forced into their lives as they talk to you. Hopefully the Kenyan government can make true steps to resettling these people into their lives.
The above picture is of us handing over some of the supplies we brought to the management of the camp.

Here's a picture of the general layout of the camp. Each tent has two separate rooms, and now that the numbers in the camp has fallen it seems that one tent is usually only shared by a single family.

A fun picture

Just a quick post, I wanted to put up one of the pictures with a lot of the group in it. This one was when we were walking down to the forest, and we started to pickup all the children who escorted us to the forest. One week of work camp left, then off to a couple of spots in East Africa.

Kenyan Weather

When most of us think Africa (myself included before this trip) we think hot and arid, something along the lines of a safari poster. Kenya also lies on the equator, again something we American associate with dense rain forest and intense heat. The thing about western Kenya is that its high elevation drastically effects the climate. Here in Kakamega, we're about four thousand feet up, which also the case in Nairobi. Days here are usually in the 80's and sunny, building up heat until about 2. By the afternoon the rain clouds start to form, and they usually break right when were finishing work around 4:30. Lately at night it's been really cold, sometimes dropping to the low 50's. This is very cold to most of the Kenyans, and you see a bunch of winter coats come out at night. July and August here are part of the lesser rainy season; everything is green, though the Kenyans start to really worry about maleria when we get this much rain.

Below is picture of a Matatu, the main way of getting around East Africa. Each is supposed to fit 14, but they routinely run with a lot more; our record so far has been 24 people and a couple of chickens. If they see the police, they just bribe them to let them through the check-point. I acutally got to see my first Kenyan bribe the other day: the conductor of a Matatu payed the police 100 shillings to get an overfull bus through.

Kakamega Forest

The peace center is located maybe 15 miles outside of the local city, Kakamega, which besides being famous for it's internet access (in my eyes at least), it's also host to one of the few remaining segments of East African rainforest. Two weekends ago we took a guided tour which was really informative, and we got to see the conservation efforts that are being undertaken to save the remaining pieces. One of the American work-campers missed the first tour: lucky for her the forest extends to right near the Peace Center, about a 15 minute walk down the local paths. The walk takes you over the beautiful rolling hills that are everywhere here, and past each families plot of maze and sugarcane. Every house we passed children came running, and by the time we hit the forest we had quite the following.


This worked out great for us, since one of the braver kids (maybe about 6 years old) led us through the winding trails in the forest on a sort of mini-tour. The forest is everything you'd expect from a rainforest: amazingly dense with plant life, Monkey's overhead in the trees, and unbelieveably humid air. Our guide (the 6 year old) told us that if we bring ripe bananas down with us and hold them into the air, the Monkey's will eventually come over and take them. Something fun to try later, though a Monkey's about the last thing you want to get bitten by.

On a somewhat related note, almost everyone here is tri-lingual. The first thing they learn is their native tonge, which you get from the tribe you grow up in. Then when you're about 4, you start learning Swahilli so you can communicate to all of East Africa. Finally around 5 or 6 you start English in primary school. Pretty amazing, I have trouble with the one I know. They do have a funny saying here they use when their English isn't the best , they say 'it fell off the boat'. When they were bringing English to Kenya all the way from the UK, some of the more important words fell off the boat, and have never returned.

Ugali, and....Ugali

Here in Kenya, and I get the impression that it extends to most of eastern Africa, ugali is king. Ugali is a cornmeal side dish with the consistency of very, very, very thick mashed potatoes. It's cut it with a knife thick, and it soaks up just about anything. Here it's served at every meal, and people absolutely love it.

I'm straying from what was going to be my point though, which is the food here. So far it's been really enjoyable, especially considering that I thought I would have lots of trouble as a vegitarian. Lots of lentals, cabbage, and kale. Afterwards we usually get some fresh avacados, which are longer and softer then what we get in the states, or local mangos. Pretty amazing, though don't get me wrong, I'll be happy to leave the many-times daily ugali behind.

Of course I've failed to mention one other favorite around here...Tea. The daily schedule is usually wake up at 6:30-7, tea at 8, work until tea at 10, tea with lunch around 1:30, and break for the day with tea at 5. Sometimes tea after dinner. The tea is steeped in boiled milk, and you're expected to put at least 2 teaspoons of sugar in, most locals do 3. In every cup. I never thought I'd say it in my life, but I might actually get tea-ed out here (As a side note, although they grow both tea and coffee here, they really don't drink much coffee).

On a less food oriented note, this last Saturday we got to travel to Kisumu, the second largest city in Kenya, and Kenya's main port on Lake Victoria. It's an hour and a half drive from Kakamenga, and it was also the focus of a lot of the violence during the election. The challengers tribe, the Lao's, are based there, and they felt cheated in the process (rightfully so it sounds like). The town is still scarred by burned out buildings, but the work at the peace center is trying to bring some reconciliation to the different groups. On this Saturday though we were there for a more touristy experience, and took a boat out onto the lake to watch hippos and crocodiles. The lake is amazingly beautiful, and although the hippos are really shy, we got to see a couple of herds in the water. The photo above is Patrick, Angela, Sammy, and me right before we got into the dugout canoes for the tour. On Sunday we attended the local Quaker meeting (2+ hours, and it was supposedly a short one) and got to spend some time with the children at the attached orphanage, playing games and singing. Their situations are usually so overwealming and sad to hear from the caretakers, but they seem so unphased and are the most amazing kids. It's been a great time so far, and the weekends are just as packed as the week. Until next time!

Rest for the weary...

Today (Saturday) was the first rest day from the work we've been doing building the peace center, and it was awesome to not lift the sand sifter for a full 24 hours. The workcampers from Kiamosi, who we went though our Alternative To Violence training at the beginning of the trip, came in last night and shared dinner and dancing with us. They're working on improving moral at a Quaker hospital about 40 km away, by improving the staff quarters with roof repairs and fresh paint. With the American and African campers, we had about 20 people staying at the center last night. Today we drove the old land rovers over to the local tropical forest reserve, and saw a bunch of Monkeys and birds, but sadly no snakes. I have yet to see one here, though one of the long term staffers hasn't seen one in the two and a half years he's been here, so I don't feel left out.

Riding on the top of a Land Rover though the forests around here is right out of a movie: except in the movies I don't think the land rover has taken 20 years of abuse from Kenyan roads and might fall apart any minute. Lastly we drove over to an orphanage, where the permanent staffers visit every Saturday to play games and read to the children. Before the afternoon storms moved in we had an intense game of soccer, and I showed them how uncoordinated a Muzungu can be.

The situation at the orphanage was different then I expected. All the children in this orphanage have families, but they're unable to take care of them. So the children live at the orphanage, but their families will sometimes visit from time to time. You can contrast that with the child, at age 11 or 12, who was left at the permanent staffers building last Wednesday. They have no idea who he is yet, and since he hasn't spoken yet they're really in the dark as to what to do with him. He's been living with them in the meantime trying to adjust, but hopefully they can find him a permanent home. The work is really inspiring; people here are really changing the world for the better a small amount ever day.

On a good health note, so far malaria free! Sadly it's not the case for all the work campers, and Eli was admitted to the local hospital with an intense fever and all the other signs of malaria. Hopefully he'll be recovered by the middle of the week.

(The picture of the soccer game at the top was taken at the orphanage)

Angry cows and sifting sand

Well the real work has started at the peace center, we're building a new admistrative building that is definitely needed. Here in Kenya everything is done by hand, which includes mixing cement in a pit with the sand, breaking rocks into smaller rocks with a hammer, and sifting sand. Work started Monday, and the intensity that our African counterparts put into it is astounding. I've tried to keep up, but I can only stay with them for the beginning of the morning at best. Of all the jobs, sifting sand is my least favorite so far, plastering window frames is my favorite. We have about a dump truck worth of sand to sift, so anytime you're idle you pick up one end of the door sized sifter, find a friend to help, and start working. It's worth being busy doing anything else to try and avoid the sifter.

The other day I made the mistake of getting near the cow when it was hungry. It lives at the center, and is constantly mooing for more food. Well, it head butted me and chased me around the place, while all the Fundi's (craftsman) laughed their heads off. Everyone at the site is very friendly, and they love showing a westerner how to do construction the Kenyan way. The weather has definitely cooperated so far, and we've had sun and temperatures in the low 80's all week. I was expecting intense heat, but the weather is absolutely perfect. We'll I'm off to find a Matato to take me back. They're a small minibus, where they put at least 15 people and a variety of small animals in. The roads are horrendous here, so the vans weave back and forth nearly colliding every time they pass. Every day is something new and full of adventure! Again, pictures are worth a thousand words, so I'll try and get them up soon. All the best to everyone.

Formal handshakes and a lot more

We'll we've arrived at our final destination: Labao, Kenya. It was only 250 mile or so trip from Nairobi, but the road here are horrendous and the trip took ten hours. There are no lines on the highway, and the bus goes back and forth over the whole road trying to avoid potholes. We're staying at the peace center in Labao, where we just went though a three day alternative to violence program with 8 westerners and 20 Kenyans. It was a really interesting experience, hearing especially from the Kenyans about the violence here at the beginning of the year. One of our facilitators actually had to be hidden underground for a few days before being flow to Tanzania because of his tribal identity. Passing through the city of Kisumu you could see the burned out building that still haven't been reclaimed by the owners, since most are still in displacement camps. On a happier note the people here are some of the friendliest I've ever met, and the kids are amazingly curious. When they see a 'muzungu' (white person) they will follow you around trying to practice their English. If you have a digital camera, they want nothing more to have their picture taken and shown to them. We walked down to the river last night after the alternative to violence sessions, and we managed to pick up about fifty children under 10. Amazing! Tomorrow we start the actual work at the center, building and plastering a new administrative building that servery need. The work done at the center was acutally highlighted in one of the national papers, so the demand is greater then ever. Once again, I'll promise to try and get pictures up soon. All the best.

Ahh right, the tittle speaks to formal handshakes. Here, if you really want to express respect to someone, you place your left hand right below your right elbow when you shake. Try it out!

Day One..

We’ll we’ve spent the last night and day in Nairobi. We landed last night around 9:30, though it took an hour or two to get threw the visa lines. Customs was a non issue, most of the group just walked past the booth without even interacting with the agents. We’re staying at the Mennonite Group Home, which is in one of the nicest sections of Nairobi. Most places here are compounds, with security at the gate and high fences with electric wire, and our camp is no exception. In their defense, Nairobi is referred to as ‘Nairobbery’ in many of the guide books. We walked into town today, which is about a mile walk down dirt paths on the sides of a really busy road. The disparity of income here is amazing, but seems to be more accepted then in the states. I walked past a brand new BMW whose driver was buying bananas from a woman on the roadside; the vendor lived in a strapped together metal box next to the stand. People definitely dress formally here; most of the men you pass walking on the roadway are wearing at least a collared shirt and slacks, and most have a sport coat on. Women also dress more formally, and one of the girls in the group got lots of sideways looks for wearing a skirt that fell at her knees. Lastly I bought a cell phone. Apparently over 80 percent of adults here have one, and call time is relatively inexpensive. It’s a strange thing; for a country where the average person makes one dollar a day, and forty percent are unemployed, I bought the cheapest phone in the store for nearly sixty dollars.



Hopefully I'll get some pictures up soon, and entries won't be this regular once I'm out of the city.

AGLI in Burundi

Andrew Peterson has a blog about his experiences in Burundi, with some great insight into the country and the general conditions in Eastern Africa:

http://quakerfront.com/

Safety in Kenya

From the reports coming from the AGLI staff members in Keyna, things have setting down tremendously since the beginning of the year. Reports like this one initially made me somewhat nervous about how in-flux the situation was, but things seem to be a lot more stable now. Here's a quick excerpt from David Zarembka the founder of AGLI, who currently lives in Kenya:

"Here in Western and north Rift Valley provinces, upcountry Kenya has returned to the normal pre-election bustle. The roads are full of vehicles, the matatus (mini-buses) are full, and people are scurrying about their business as usual here in Kenya.

"The Government is pushing to have the remaining 150,000 internally displaces persons returned to their farms, which many of the displaced people are reluctant to do. Except for President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga visiting the camps in the Rift Valley (which resulted in a farce about whether the Vice-President or the Prime Minister was "second" in the protocol pecking order), almost no work has been done to bring about any kind of reconciliation between the folks displaced and those who displaced them. Politically of course, if the internally displaced people (IDP) can return, then there will less need to support them, but one of the questions is how are these folks going to get back on their feet? Then, the question is, what will guarantee that this violence will not re-occur again during the next election as it did in 1992, 1997, and 2007? Tough issues."

Where I'm heading

Just some quick information about the program: I'll be working and staying in a town called Labao, Kenya. It's about an hour bus ride north of Kisumu, which is on the shores of lake Victoria in the far west of the country. It's a ten hour bus ride from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya (where we'll fly in and out of the country). The red blob in the picture above is the area I'll be working and staying in.

The programs website is:

African Great Lakes Initiative

The site has a lot more detail about the project sites and the goals of the organization. Check it out.