Where to Begin?

Sitting in the luxury of the BA lounge in Heathrow, more than just a continent away from where I spent time during the last two days. The place in question is Mathare, the site of one of the Nairobi slums. As Mohammed, the director of Mama Fatuma’s, led me toward Mathare our path was half blocked by the neighborhood garbage dump complete with various animal carcasses. At least it wasn’t outside anyone’s house. We crossed the street and walked by the one piece of flat cleared land, where a serious game of football (soccer) was being played. From there it was all downhill, in more ways than one.

The Mathare slum is “home” to around 350, 000 “informal dwellers”. Having listened to the description of a “flying toilet” (trust me you don’t want to know) brought special meaning to the endless indescribable piles of garbage everywhere. As for “regular” toilets, it appears there are just four community toilets – really! There were eight or so more, but they were destroyed during the troubles. On this site, there is now a small billboard depicting the planned replacements – complete with landscaping!

The slum is located alongside the steep banks of a “river”. Given the state of the liquid oozing down it, ‘sewer” would be a more appropriate term. Mohammed had specifically suggested I bring my camera, but as we approached the bottom he was adamant it remain inside my bag. The reason soon became apparent. Alongside the river were dozens of illicit stills producing the highly potent and sometimes highly toxic spirit – changa. The stills are comprised of two oil drums, one containing a super hot charcoal fire, the other laid at an angle over the fire with a garden hose coming out of the high point. The hose leads to a copper coil set in the river and then into some form of plastic bottle. The stills represent the community’s major income-generator. The prospect of slipping and falling into the river didn’t bare thinking about as we crossed it via the random none-too-stable rocks passing for stepping-stones.

By this point we had been joined by Daniel, the administrator of a (the) “private” primary school. Private - because it is not funded by the government. Enrollment exceeds 550 kids. A classroom one would consider crowded with 15 students had a class roster of 61 kids. Children from the police houses nearby pay school fees. All the others are taught and fed from donations and proceeds from raising chickens. The teachers are paid, if there is money left over. Which, at least for one teacher, means he lives and works here. Click on the photo link to see teacher housing, Mathare style. And, yes I couldn’t resist, the chickens are there also.

It's not all corrupt politicians in Kenya

Want to see the raw side of Nairobi? You have a few choices, but one of them would be the Eastleigh estate, 5-6km from the city center. Bordering Eastleigh to the north is the Mathare slum. As the crow flies Eastleigh is less than a kilometer from Muthaiga Golf Club, the preferred country club of the diplomats and Kenyan elite. And, we are talking an elite level 18-hole championship golf course here, the site of one of the few professional golf tournaments each year. Even at the busiest of times, this remains a genteel, decorous place.

Eastleigh, as you might imagine, is a different story. People everywhere; vendor after vendor with goods laid out alongside the roads, piles of charcoal for sale, workshops of all kinds in rickety wood and corrugated iron structures, decrepit buses and trucks belching diesel fumes over everything. And, during the rainy season following heavy rains, the carters do a booming trade ferrying people past the ponds that form in the roads. So what on earth was I doing experiencing Africa in the raw? Visiting Mama Fatuma’s.

Mama Fatuma was apparently something of a legend, particularly in the Muslim community of Nairobi. Her legacy is an orphanage in Eastleigh next to Mathare. Anne and I visited when we were here two years ago. Information about the orphanage, like most everything else these days, “is on the web” at
http://www.mamafatumas.org/Welcome.html.

Mohammed Hiribae, a young local university student volunteering part-time at the orphanage was persuaded to take on the position of manager as the institution was struggling to stay afloat. Meeting such a bright, well-spoken and dedicated young (although not quite as young as I thought as he has a 10 year old son) Kenyan, one can believe that even Eastleigh and Mathare can be transformed. He is certainly doing his part.

He got the UK government to support construction of a new facility from which they could provide services to the community and generate some revenue for the orphanage. The sewing classes have already begun - we are talking treadle sewing machines here. The computer classroom is operational and in use by the kids. Formal classes will start as soon as the broadband connection comes to Nairobi in the next few weeks. The adult education, focused on the displaced Somalis in the neighborhood, will open in a month or so. The big draw will be the “internet café”, not much café but an impressive Internet set up. All of this while managing to keep their head above water with a full compliment of kids. The older boys and girls don’t leave until they are either employed full time and able to support themselves or attending college. One of those just starting college is on a full scholarship to study medicine in Ankara.

Troubles in Kenya part 2 or Freedom of the Press

If there is one bright spot to the political situation in Kenya it is the freedom of the press. In the mid-70s, during my first time in Kenya, to criticize Mzee Kenyatta, the highly revered leader and symbol of the fight for independence, was tantamount to treason. Criticism of minor government officials and quasi-governmental organizations was tolerated provided it didn’t get too close to Kenyatta and his family clan. It was left to “Joe”, a satirical comic strip magazine, to provide any real criticism, and then one had to be able to read between the lines and make inferences as to object of the barb. Not so now.

The two major dailies frequently publish scathing critics of Kibaki, the President, and Odinga, the Prime Minister (a position not officially provided for in the country’s constitution). Regardless of their frequent speeches condemning corruption and tribalism, both remain rampant (Transparency International just rated Kenya third worst in sub-Saharan Africa *); cronyism from the top down is all too evident. Following establishment of the coalition government the number of ministerial positions virtually doubled to find places for Odinga’s associates. Corruption today is far more pervasive - a situation most Kenyans attribute to the Moi years following Kenyatta’s death. The farmer cooperatives, beacons of Kenyatta’s “Harrambee” (help one another) movement are now mismanaged with funds frequently siphoned off into the managers’ pockets rather than returned to the farmers. The other legacy of the Moi, and to some extent Kenyatta, presidencies is the indiscriminate land redistribution to political supporters. As a consequence, in spite of the vast amounts of aid poured into the country, poverty is endemic and naturally a major source of discontent. Which brings me full circle to freedom of expression.

The Nairobi Museum just closed an exhibit titled Kenya Burning. An exhibit not for the faint hearted! An extensive collection of photographs and video footage by local and foreign photojournalists of last year’s riots. A large notice outside made it clear the content was not suitable for children. An understatement, it contained some truly gruesome scenes. Every Kenyan I have spoken with was horrified by the events, and by the fact that the current political situation is doing nothing toward reducing the likelihood of a repeat when the next elections roll around in 2012.

As one of the local reporters featured on the video said “we (the local news media) will take some responsibility if we allow a repeat of the violence”. They are trying! Unlike the poor state of political reporting in the US, here reporting is an equal opportunity affair here – every politician is fair game, no Fox-like one-sided reporting here.

* The TI ranking is somewhat misleading as there are no “failed states” high in the list. Obviously a country has to have some level of prosperity for bribery and corruption to be even possible.

What am I doing here?

On the way out to Kenya Anne and I were on separate flights. I arrived about 12 hours earlier. I opted to wait for her in the airport and through the good graces of British Airways and my frequent flier membership I was able to spend the time in the relative comfort of the BA lounge in Nairobi. Prior to the flight’s approach into Nairobi the trip had in many ways felt like any other business trip, packing, security, the same flight out of SeaTac, the same flight out of Heathrow. What most decidedly was not the same was the view as we came in to land across the African savannah with the distinctive flat-topped yellow acacia trees - the airport abuts one of the large game parks. So, there I was sitting alone in the lounge with a gin and tonic looking out across savannah with the Nairobi skyline in the distance pondering – what am I doing here.

Sure, Anne and I had spent many hours going over the same question, and to their credit, VSO had posed the same question on multiple occasions during the selection and training sessions. Talk was now meeting hard reality. We inevitably arrived at the coast during the hottest part of the year, quickly disabusing me of my recollections of Kenya as having a pleasant temperate climate. Nairobi does (it has been a consistent ten degrees cooler than Seattle this week). Kenya, not necessarily.

Like any new position, the initial days were taken up becoming familiar with the organization and the different personalities. Before going any further let me explain that the office in downtown Kilifi, where the staff spends most of its time, is 40km (24 miles) from the region that houses the farmer communities being served. Of the 12 people in the office, 8 are young degreed expat volunteers and just three are local staff. Yes, the ratio of expats to locals is very unusual for a NGO here. One recent addition (she arrived two weeks ahead of us) has significant forestry experience; the others have liberal arts or undergraduate science background with limited or no prior professional experience. As I understood the assignment, I was to develop the process and operational infrastructure to support an organization, which aims to grow from 150 farmers and field staff to 10,000 over the next 4-5 years. So, though questioning the need for such a large expat staff, I was ready to get started. Fast-forward 8-9 weeks.

It became increasingly clear (to her credit Anne analyzed the pitfalls before I was ready to accept them) that the organizational structure and mode of operation were going to make implementation of change challenging. Not wishing to generalize and recognizing my limited exposure, I would not be surprised to see many of the following characteristics exhibited at other NGOs: a forceful, charismatic, controlling head, rather than leader; substituting fundraising rhetoric and documentation (at last count an 80 pages brochure) for operational strategic and business plans; minimizing input from the customer (farmers); collecting data with a view to publishing academic papers and satisfying perceived needs of donors, rather than the continuous quality improvement of the product delivery and operating environment. All of this I was observing exhibited in spades, prompting me to question afresh – what am I doing here?

Without going into further gory details, they and I parted company just over a week ago.

Meanwhile I have been in Nairobi exploring alternative opportunities in the hope of once more attempting to facilitate some minor change for good. The plus side I have had the opportunity of talking with individuals engaged in fascinating endeavors and learning about some truly inspiring positive activities that never make the news. But more of that for a later date.