Nairobi. I know a pilot for BA that can leave notes for whatever aircraft crew hauls me to Nairobi. British Air and the Nairobi-bound flight crews are connected to Nyumbani Children’s Home and these British crews do volunteers work on their layovers at Nyumbani. Anyway, a note was left for the pilot and I got a great seat, food and some sleep on the way to Nairobi. I got into Nairobi at about 9:30pm, not optimal time to arrive in Kenya. Needless to say, it is dangerous after dark. I had gotten an email from Benjamin, a young friend and nowI arrived safely in Nairobi Wednesday night. After the problems leaving New York’s weather, the visit in the new Heathrow Terminal 5 went smoothly, as did the meet-ups with my sons. I enjoyed seeing the boys in London; if only for a short time. The boys got safely back to JFK and home in good time. I was grateful to be bumped up to Business Class on British Airways to ex-seminarian I had met in the village in days past. He said he was arranging to have me picked up and would escort me to a hotel that he chose. He did indeed meet me at the airport, had a safari van waiting for me and we headed for downtown Nairobi. It was close to eleven and the city was alive, at least near where the hotel was. I got inside the old downtown hotel as quickly as possible. The Diplomat Hotel had seen better days. The place was old, in need of repair, a good cleaning and some rewiring and plumbing. There were screams, screeches, chanting and such all night long from the streets four floors down. The place actually was quieter with the morning rush hour traffic. I could go on describing my fears of the place but what’s the point? It was a little scary but Ben stayed with me. It cost about $20 and included a breakfast in the greasy spoon next door.
My best Kenyan friend George called me at the hotel. He wanted to welcome me back and to warn me not to use public transportation when traveling today and avoid Kitengela, a small town near Athi River. Kitengela is actually where George lives and I have been there many times. Apparently the Mungiki, a well organized, armed, violent, extortionist gang had made threats strong enough to stop all pubic transportation in and out of Kitengela and Athi River. This group was thought to be responsible for many hundreds of murders last year during the post-election violence. If violence erupts again in Kenya, they will have something to do with it. The best comparison to the Mungiki would be the Mafia.
So the next morning, after breakfast, Ben and I hired a cab to take us to Athi River from the Diplomat Hotel. You often see a police presence in Nairobi but, at Athi River, we saw more soldiers and police to deal with the gangs of thugs who threatened to make problems this day. We met Mwololo, the MWEP (Masai Women Empowerment Project) director at a main turn-off and drove to my new home for the next three months. I’ll try to get some pics posted but you should know the place is beautiful. From a distance it looks like a condo complex from the states, glistening among the rough Athi River cement factory warehouses and dump trucks whizzing by in a cloud of white dust. These new buildings are actually attached homes, two story, well landscaped and maintained. Of the 100 or so units, only three have been occupied! I am living in the servant quarters of one of them. Apparently, houses (and even condo-types like these) are sold with a side building for the servant of the house. Half of these condos have (or will have when occupied) a servant. A Kenyan man working in the US owns the “big house” where I stay. His wife is a teacher in Nairobi (I think) and they have two young kids, Victor and Victoria. The kids are great and the mom and her housekeeper are very open and friendly. They are Kamba but speak English.
The pics above are of the complex I am staying. I have one room in the little building in front of the apartment. Click to enlarge pics. My place is a one-room structure with a simple bathroom and running water – although it is undrinkable. It has a shower, although there is no hot water. I am use to that. I am just glad to be free from the bucket shower. The complex is walled, monitored by watchman day and night and very close to 5 of the Masai manyattas. The actual project site where I am involved is a good distance away and would take hours to walk to it. A Masai man stopped by to tell me that he would be bringing me a cup of fresh cow’s milk each morning at no charge – just to be nice to the white guy. I can boil it on my little propane tank and maybe make oatmeal or hot cereal each morning.(Note: My friend Mwololo cautioned me about taking the milk. Boiling takes care of some things but he says the way it is milked, the containers etc. are not sanitary. So, if I complain later of stomach issues – refer to this note!)
