Week Five

January 31, 2008
So it has finally gotten to the point where we have a schedule and I could not be more content now that things are finally settling in. Monday and Wednesday is USIU. Tuesday and Thursday is interning then Swahili class, and then Friday is more class! It is also so great that we are able to use matatus now. Granted I don’t like when the touts (crazy Kenyan men who collect the money and try to ambush you into the matatu) ambush me in attempt to get me to choose their matatus, but whatever. If anything it’s just a fantastic throw-back to 1990s hip-hop and rap.

So my internship started today and I could not be happier. Jackie will also be interning at Shangilia Mtoto Africa (translates into Rejoice Child of Africa), but we will have different positions. For the first 6 weeks I will be a teacher and Jackie will be a social worker, then we switch. Alright, so we got to Shangilia at around 9 this morning, but we had to be escorted there in a taxi with Victor because the school is located in a relatively dangerous slum (stop freaking out, Mom). We took a tour of the facility which took all of 5 minutes because the organization has less than an acre of land. There are about 80 students who all live at the compound, but with such little room the kids usually sleep two to a twin bed, which are actually just three beds bunked on top of each other. There are also 7 classrooms. One for the baby class (actually aged 3-5) and then classes 1-6. In general the kids at Shangilia are between the ages of 3-13, although some of the older boys have stuck around because they have nowhere else to go. I know I have mentioned before that school is from 8-4 and then the kids spend a couple hours working on performance arts, but I had no idea how legitimate this was. During breaks from class I would sit on the stage talking to the students and running past me would be little boys and girls doing flips and acrobatic moves I have only ever seen in movies. They would grab each other by the shirts and just toss whosever turn it was right into the air so that they could flip over. It was kind of hilarious until they decided to toss up Ken, who is 3 years old and has no acrobatic training whatsoever. Luckily, we all caught him before he snapped his neck. That would NOT have been a good first impression on my part.

So more about Shangilia…Monday through Friday they wake up at 5 am and clean the entire compound. Then they all have breakfast together, do homework and start class at 8. Afterwards trainers come to work with the children in the different performing areas the kids specialize in. The younger kids typically observe or do basic moves. They pick a specialty when they get a little older. On Saturday they do work in the morning and then all afternoon they play games in a field just across the way. Sunday is the kid’s day to just relax.

Each student who attends and lives at Shangilia was rescued from life on the streets or otherwise destitute situations. Some of the children have parents while others are orphans. You can tell that the children are loved and love being at Shangilia, but it is still a difficult environment to work in, from what I can tell so far. Sometimes it is hard to get the kid’s to open up because they close off any information about their families or lives before Shangilia. Also, as great as the concept of Shangilia is, the organization appears to be understaffed and the compound is made entirely of cement and poorly built small buildings. When I say it is built of cement I mean that as opposed to a yard they just have a large cement block of play space. On the bright side, the organization is being funded by a German NGO and they are now in the process of raising $2 million to relocate the school to a bigger nicer area! So there is going to be plenty for me to do in terms of fundraising and grant writing!

February 1, 2008
I came to a very important realization today. If there is one part of the culture here that I will never be able to adjust to, it is the leisurely, African pace at which people walk. I can’t do it. I’m a Type A personality from Connecticut and asking me to slow down is a moot point because I physically cannot do it. Considering that Kenyans are known to be the fastest people on the planet (a Kenyan wins the Boston Marathon almost every year) they walk slower that anything I have ever encountered. I frequently find myself just plowing people over on the sidewalks or wanting to punch particularly slow people in the back of the head. One of the first things Amanda Parker said to me was “You walk like a New Englander.” Yes, I do, and I am proud of it.

The Giraffe Center was awesome. It’s a reserve so I still consider these particular giraffes “wild life,” and yes…I fulfilled my dream of kissing one. It was kind of strange because their tongues are really long and rough and the saliva gets all over your face and even though it is antiseptic it is still pretty foul. But still, I was able to take some great pictures. Apart from taking care of the giraffes, there are also warthogs and a ton of programs related to advocacy and awareness of endangered species.

In other news, we found out where we will be going on our excursions and when. We will be in Lamu from Feb. 20-24 and Massai Mara the following week. Lamu is an archipelago off the coast of Kenya and it is allegedly gorgeous. I’ve been told that the Caribbean has nothing on these islands. Masai Mara should be pretty excellent as well. It is one of the world’s most well known national reserves and is home to Kenya’s most celebrated tribes and thousands of animals. We’ll be going on a few game drives, so I will let you all know if I get charged by a rhino or something. I could see that happening to us.

February 2, 2008
This afternoon I went to the Railway Museum with Alan as part of an assignment that KJ gave us. It was nice to have Alan show me around town, but the museum itself has to have been one of the strangest places I have ever been. However, I did learn quite a bit about man-eating lions, which almost ceased the entire construction of the East African railway.

I stayed in tonight with some of the other girls and I am glad that I made the decision to do so. We just made some high altitude cookies and listened to Amanda sing and play her guitar on the balcony. She is actually incredibly talented and she knows some Beatles songs! Woo hoo!

I’ve loved being here since the day I arrived, but lately Nairobi has really started to feel like home. The group dynamic has been great, I’m close to most of the students on the program, and with each day I just feel more and more happy and satisfied to be here. It is hard to believe that I have been here for a full month. Considering how quickly it went I can only imagine how soon April 28^th will be here.