Pop Culture Activist

California State Parks > stop the cuts

2012-01-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

Just grabbed this from today's Surfrider Foundation e-newsletter:

Over the last several months, Surfrider has written about the plan to close 70 state parks--the proposal has been on the table in order to help close the state's budget gap. As if that weren’t bad enough, there is a new proposal to eliminate all seasonal lifeguards and 20% of ranger positions in California state parks if the Governor’s November ballot initiative for new revenue isn’t successful. Despite the fact that a decision on that initiative is ten months away, the Governor is demanding that these state park reductions be made this spring.

DEFEND WHAT'S YOURS - send an email to California elected officials.

For the latest news sign up for the California State Parks Foundation e-newsletter, or follow them on social media. I just started following the org on Twitter.

When this world's too much it will be only the ocean and me.

Jack played this song live for the first time at the Toronto show on July 19 2010.

Educate! Preparing Uganda’s Next Generation of Leaders

2012-01-22T12:02:00.000-08:00

This Care2.com post I wrote went up yesterday. Re-posting here!

I got to meet social entrepreneur Boris Bulayev while covering SOCAP11 for Care2. I loved hearing this story.

In 2002, Boris and Eric Glustrom co-founded Educate!, a Boulder, CO based nonprofit that is developing the next generation of Ugandan leaders. The organization’s Ugandan Mentors spend two hours per week in each classroom, reaching a total of 1,400 students at 24 partner high schools across Uganda. The mentors are all implementing the organization’s leadership-focused curriculum which involves classroom learning and experiential learning. In addition to the classroom instruction, the students, known as Educate! Scholars, create and implement community projects with the support of their Educate! Mentors.

At the conclusion of the two-year Educate! curriculum, the Educate! Scholars and Educate! Mentors become members of a nationwide alumni program. The network and Educate! continues to serve as a resource to these amazing young people as they scale their ventures and build their careers. Educate! Scholars have already created 100+ businesses and community initiatives, impacting 15,000+ lives in Uganda.

To read the rest of the post click here - you'll be taken to the original post on the Care2.com website.

You're not alone. I'll listen until your tears give out.

2012-01-21T21:43:00.000-08:00

Twenty year-old Louisiana native Hunter Hayes introducing this song:

This next song is kind of about seeing a friend or somebody close to you kinda go through something that you never want to see them going through. Just kinda not knowing what words to say, not knowing what to do to make everything better. You kinda just stand there and say 'Look no matter what happens, you're not alone. I'm with you.' And so this is a song called Cry With You. I hope you guys like.

This video was recorded at the House of Blues in Chicago on October 28, 2011. Thanks to YouTube user dncr05.

Hunter is on tour promoting his debut album, and will be on Good Morning America (ABC, 7am EST) on January 23.

Winner! College Students’ Microloans for Abused Women

2012-01-21T11:53:00.000-08:00

This post I wrote was published on Care2.com yesterday. Sharing here:

Dr. Muhammad Yunus visited the Georgia Institute of Technology last October to speak to the more than 1,200 students who participated in the Georgia Social Business and Microcredit Forum. The Forum was organized by the University System of Georgia in collaboration with Georgia State agencies. Dr. Yunus spoke to the students, telling them that the future of society depended on youth. “This is your age, this is your time,” he said. “You are the most powerful generation in the entire history of mankind.”

Dr. Yunus is the pioneer of microcredit, where very small loans are granted to those in poverty in order to help them start businesses. The Forum included a business plan competition based on another Dr. Yunus concept — social businesses. A social business addresses a social problem, and makes a minimum profit sufficient to sustain the business, but insufficient to generate profit for individuals involved. The students were challenged to create social businesses that addresses local and state issues. The students were asked to identify a social problem in their community, conduct a market analysis and develop a business to address the problem.

“One of my goals as chancellor is to reinforce the value of college to society and individuals,” said University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby. “This competition was an excellent way to showcase the critical thinking and creative talents of students and how they can take their skills and knowledge and apply to real problems here in Georgia.”

To read the rest of the post click here - you'll be taken to the original post on Care2.com.

Update to the post: I emailed the post to Professor Ariail, who coached the winning team. He replied to my email and said that the team is preparing to launch their venture!

My take on the GOP Presidential Candidates: Climate Change & the Youth Vote

2012-01-18T23:33:00.000-08:00

I author HeadCount's Sustainability & Climate Change e-newsletter. Here's my latest issue "The GOP, Sustainability And Climate Change." It was sent to readers' inboxes and was published on the HeadCount blog on January 6.

Primary season is heating up, starting with the Iowa Caucus earlier this week. It was a squeaker, that brought new possible frontrunners into the news cycle and ended some Presidential dreams.

Coming into Iowa, candidates stumped on a range of issues, including sustainability and climate change. Here's where the 2012 hopefuls stand:

Who says your vote doesn't count? In the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney claimed victory by a margin of just eight votes. Wonder where this guy stands on climate change and sustainability issues? In October, Rick Perry released a video accusing Romney of adopting Obama-style policies on carbon emissions. While that's totally true, Perry omitted the fact that Romney later withdrew his support, citing economic concerns. Romney has criticized Obama over the government’s failed investment in the solar energy company Solyndra. But during his last presidential campaign he said he supported the $4 billion the US invested in green energy, and said he would increase it five-fold to about $20 billion a year. Additionally, as Governor of Massachusetts he launched the ($15 million) MA Green Energy Fund. A former Republican Capitol Hill energy aide has said of Romney's position on environmental issues: “It’s like a box of chocolates, you don’t know what you’re going to get. Frankly, there’s a bunch of people who are tired of getting a box of chocolates."

To read the rest click here - you'll be taken to the post on the HeadCount blog.

I also recently published a piece "Ron Paul & the New Hampshire Youth Vote" on Care2.com, featuring friends from HeadCount! Here it is:

Let’s recap the percentage of votes received by the top three finishers in the 2012 New Hampshire Republican primary election: Mitt Romney received 39.4% of the votes cast, Ron Paul 22.8% and Jon Huntsman 16.8%. I have heard that Ron Paul has a lot of support from young voters, but what does that look like? Let’s use New Hampshire as an example.

According to a report issued by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE), approximately 15% of eligible New Hampshire voters under the age of thirty participated in the primary this year. That’s approximately 29,000 voters. To put that in some sort of context, approximately 26,000 young people voted for Barack Obama in the state’s 2008 primary.

Ron Paul definitely did well by the New Hampshire youth vote. Young voters cast their votes for Ron Paul by a margin of 22 percentage points. This is more than double the number of youth votes that the candidate received in the 2008 New Hampshire primary. Interestingly, CIRCLE Director Peter Levine said “Dr. Paul’s 47% support from 18- to 29-year olds was the strongest level of support for any candidate by any age group.”

I like statistics, but what did this really look like? HeadCount, a nonprofit organization whose thousands of volunteers register fans to vote at concerts year-round, sent a small team of volunteers to New Hampshire to look into this for us. In this video you can watch a few insightful conversations that they had with Ron Paul supporters.

To read the rest of my post click here - you'll be taken to the post on Care2.com.

Turning Sh*T Into Gold

2012-01-18T14:51:00.000-08:00

I got to cover one of my favorite startups for the HeadCount blog. Re-posting it here:

Have you ever wondered what happens when you flush your toilet? In Kenya? If you live in one of Kenya’s urban slums then your toilet does not flush. Your toilet could be a plastic bag known as a flying toilet or a bucket whose untreated contents are later emptied directly into your environment. During rainy periods residents - particularly women and children - become susceptible to deadly waterborne illnesses like typhoid and cholera.

So now that you're completely grossed out, I hope you find this idea refreshing... What if each flush meant money for small businesses and fertilizer acceptable for use in agriculture.

A team of recent MIT Sloan School or Business graduate are out to permanently reduce sanitation-related disease by making sanitation profitable. Their company, Sanergy (“sanitation” plus “energy”) has been called “the single most innovative sustainability initiative on the planet”.

To read the rest click here - you'll be taken to my original post on the HeadCount blog.

This Sanergy video didn't fit in the HeadCount post - check it out here!

And when I stand on these tables before you, you will know what all this time was for.

2012-01-17T22:02:00.000-08:00

The John Mayer documentary "This Will All Make Sense Someday" is about the making of his first (2001) album Room for Squares. This film came on a DVD along with the CD. It's broken up into seven parts on YouTube. Parts 1 & 7 resonated with me the most.

Keep on dreaming even if it breaks your heart.

2012-01-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

The Eli Young Band put this music video out today.

I don't want my cell phone to fuel a war.

2012-01-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

I want peace in Congo.

Back story:

Want to get involved? Check out the Enough Project's take action page. Find out how a list of tech companies rate on conflict mineral use. If you're a college student then check out the Conflict-Free Campus Initiative. It's a movement to encourage students to pressure universities to support the conflict-free movement.

Enough is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2007, Enough focuses primarily on crises in Sudan, South Sudan, eastern Congo, and areas of Africa affected by the LRA.

Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy graduates its first class!

2012-01-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

video platform video management video solutions video player

Yeah, apologies for that commercial ...

Read the accompanying ABC story about the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy graduation here.

The school's website reports that:

Six delighted OWLAG students have been accepted to three liberal arts colleges in the US. We are proud to publish the names of the successful students:

Thando Dlomo and Mpumi Nobiva – Johnson C. Smith in Charlotte, North Carolina
Debra Ngcobo, Bongeka Zuma and Livhuwani Rapalani – Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia
Mashadi Kekana – Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts

Our Plastic Lives. Not Just Ours.

2012-01-10T18:15:00.000-08:00

note from the videographer: Thankfully, this guy was able to free himself after he disappeared. I found the bag, floating in the water, 15 minutes later. This could have ended very differently.

@jimmoriarty What was the first plastic item you touched this year? disq.us/4u17nx @surfrider

Summer Jobs+ for Low Income American Youth (ages 16 - 24)

2012-01-09T16:40:00.000-08:00

I grabbed these stats from today's edition of Ronnie Cho's White House e-newsletter for Young Americans:

Last Thursday the White House announced Summer Jobs+ which will bring businesses, nonprofits, and government together in an effort to create summer 2012 jobs and internships for low income American youth (ages 16 - 24). The goal is to have 250,000 employment opportunities ready to be offered to youth by the summer, of which at least 100,000 will be paid. The White House will soon release the Summer Jobs+ Bank, a one-stop online tool that employers can use to access youth where they already are, online. It'll be similar to the one created recently for veterans, and will be supported by Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Internships.com and AfterCollege.

Check out the list of employers who have already joined the Administration in this effort, and the types of opportunities that will be available for youth. Employers who want to join the effort should go to the Summer Jobs+ website.

The White House wants to know about your first job, how it impacted your career, and about the young leaders you've worked with. Share on Twitter using #summerjobs+ or via email by reaching out to Roberts.David @ dol.gov.

Ten-year old boy asks: Do you need that straw?

2012-01-09T13:10:00.000-08:00

I just learned that plastic bag manufacturers use animal fat to make the bags slippery. As a vegan, that is another good reason for me to skip plastic bags. But what about another ubiquitous plastic good - drinking straws.

According to the Ban The Bag! blog plastic drinking straws have been around since the 1960’s. Americans use 500+ million plastic straws each day. McDonald’s alone uses 60+ million plastic straws worldwide each day. Plastic straws are one of the top ten items collected by volunteers at the annual International Coastal Cleanup.

Several years ago I started asking restaurant servers to bring out my ordered drinks without plastic straws. A friend who bartends recently went an entire Friday night without distributing a single straw. My friend decided not to serve a drink with a straw in it unless the customer had specifically requested a straw - and no one asked for a straw! In fact, one woman specifically said that she did not want a straw when she ordered her drink.

Ten-year old Vermonter Milo Cress is having an even bigger impact on the issue. Milo started the campaign Each One Reach One to encourage people to order their drinks without straws, and to help people convince their local restaurants to serve straws only upon request from the customer. In response to a letter from Milo in May 2011 Vermont Mayor Bob Kiss issued an official proclamation declaring Offer-First as a Best Practice in Burlington, Vermont. In effect the proclamation asks restaurants city-wide adopt the practice of offering straws to customers rather than putting one in every drink.

For more check out this short TV news story featuring Milo, his September 2011 CNN video interview, or explore Milo's website Be Straw Free. You can also help promote the campaign by using reusable glass and stainless steel plastic straw alternatives while out enjoying beverages with friends!

Unreasonable Institute: Reasons to Dance

2011-12-24T01:34:00.000-08:00

I write for Care2. This post was originally published on Nov 11, on the Care2 Trailblazers For Good blog. I really enjoyed researching and writing this post, so sharing it here on Pop Culture Activist, too!

Each year Boulder, CO based nonprofit the Unreasonable Institute hosts twenty-five promising entrepreneurs from around the world who are developing solutions to solve some of the world’s greatest problems. The entrepreneurs spend six weeks living together under one roof where they receive training and establish connections with first-class mentors and investment decision makers. At the conclusion of the Institute each fellow gives their pitch to an audience of four hundred people, of which at least one hundred are potential investors. The fellows become a part of a growing network of Unreasonable Institute alumni, mentors, entrepreneurs, consulting organizations and partners.

I caught up with Tyler Hartung, Co Founder and VP Finance and Operationsf to learn more about these relationships and the power of the Unreasonable Institute network. Tyler said “You can only do so much in six weeks. The number one most valuable thing about the Institute is the relationships you build.”

Relationship building begins with the selection process. The top fifty finalists for each fellowship cohort are then challenged to crowdfund the Institution’s participation fee. During this process the entrepreneurs connect to each other extensively via email to help each other succeed in the process. The first twenty-five finalists to meet the goal are admitted to the Institute. Tyler said that as a result the fifty finalists “are not competing against each other, but collectively against failure”. He has seen fellows who have already met the campaign goal to help other finalists cross the finish line. Two applicants, one from Guatemala and one from Mexico, were working on related ventures. Even though the Mexican applicant did not make it into the crowdfunding challenge, the entrepreneur became essential to the success of the Guatemalan entrepreneurs’ fundraising efforts. After attending the Institute, the Gautemalan entrepreneur visited and consulting with the Mexican entrepreneurs team!

The six-week program also facilitates relationship building. One year the Institute had four fellows from Canada, South Africa, India and China who are mothers and entrepreneurs. The women bonded over these commonalities during the Institute and are still in touch. Instead of listening to lectures fellows go on hikes with mentors, and pitches to potential investors are replaced with dinner table conversations. “Business isn’t business”, Tyler says. “Business is people. Capital and connections flow through relationships and people.” As a result of the relationships that fellows develop through Unreasonable Institute they are able to scale faster and can impact more lives. For example 2010 Fellow Daniel Rosen re-launched his venture Solar Mosaic after the conclusion of the Institute, and was able to hire employees – including another fellow from the 2010 cohort, Rafael Smith!

2010 Fellow Cesar Gonzalez now works for the Unreasonable Institute as VP of Systems. I got to talk with Cesar about alumni relations, one of the programs that he manges for the Unreasonable Institute. Cesar reaches out to two to three of the Unreasonable Institute’s fifty fellows each week, for hour-long conversations. Fellows update Cesar on their progress and needs. Cesar can then provide guidance and connections to the fellows, as needed. Upon learning that 2011 Fellow Anne Githuku-Songwe was looking for a developer Cesar introduced Anne to 2010 Fellow Ben Lyon who had recently performed his own search for a developer, and had resources to share with Anne. Fellows from different class years are also given the opportunity to meet and collaborate once a year at the Institute, when former classes are invited back to celebrate the new class of Unreasonable Fellows. When fellows visit regions where other fellows live they get together for “Unreasonable Drinks” – recent meet ups took place in New York City, Palto Alto, CA and Uganda.

- To read the rest of the post click here - you'll be taken to the Care2 blog.

Lend for America: Summer 2012 Microfinance Internship for College Students

2011-12-12T22:19:00.000-08:00

In January I published a blog post about microfinance organizations run by college students. My blog post mentioned the report "Can Student-run Microfinance Organizations Help Address Issues of Scale and Sustainability in the U.S. Domestic Microenterprise Industry?" written by Elaine Edgcomb and Luz Gomez, published by FIELD of the Aspen Institute, and the Campus Microfinance Alliance.

I recently got to speak with Luz, who then introduced me to Vanessa Carter. Vanessa works for the Campus Microfinance Alliance. Luz and Vanessa both let me know about an amazing, brand new summer 2012 opportunity for college students. Check it out!

From the Lend for America website:

You'll spend your summer at Lend for America working with real people, real businesses, and real money. You'll get to meet entrepreneurs, review loans, and see how microenterprise works in the U.S. You'll be working with people who've chosen careers with a conscience.

All of your travel expenses are paid and you'll receive a $2,500 stipend.

After the summer, you'll start a new Campus MFI and join a national movement of social entrepreneurs working to build a better country through microfinance. After a few weeks, you'll serve your first client, make your first loan, and soon you'll be hooked.

Apply for the Lend for America Internship here. Have some questions? Check out the Virtual Information Session on Friday, December 16 from 2-2:45pm EST. Register here.

Chad Nelsen: A Socioeconomic & Recreational Profile of Surfers in the US

2011-12-12T18:29:00.001-08:00

Surfrider Foundation Environmental Director Chad Nelsen gave the below presentation on Surf Economics at the 2011 Global Waves Conference.

I am inspired by Chad's story, and the amazing work he does to help ocean advocates win more victories.

Chad NELSEN, Economic Profile of US Surfers by SurfriderEurope

Here's the report that he mentions in his talk.

Inspiring: Eden Full

2011-12-07T20:07:00.000-08:00

19-year-old Eden Full is a Princeton student, but has taken a 2-year leave to pursue a Thiel fellowship. She is now working with some big corporations to get her product, the SunSaluter out and working in the field.

SunSaluter: $10,000 Winner of the EcoLiving 2011 Student Leadership Award from Scotiabank's EcoLiving on Vimeo.

Free And Equal In Dignity And Rights - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

2011-12-06T23:57:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my friend Greg Palmer for sharing this speech with me today. Remarks given on December 6, 2011 at Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.

Personal highlight:

And finally, to LGBT men and women worldwide, let me say this: Wherever you live and whatever the circumstances of your life, whether you are connected to a network of support or feel isolated and vulnerable, please know that you are not alone. People around the globe are working hard to support you and to bring an end to the injustices and dangers you face. That is certainly true for my country. And you have an ally in the United States of America and you have millions of friends among the American people.

The Obama Administration defends the human rights of LGBT people as part of our comprehensive human rights policy and as a priority of our foreign policy. In our embassies, our diplomats are raising concerns about specific cases and laws, and working with a range of partners to strengthen human rights protections for all. In Washington, we have created a task force at the State Department to support and coordinate this work. And in the coming months, we will provide every embassy with a toolkit to help improve their efforts. And we have created a program that offers emergency support to defenders of human rights for LGBT people.

This morning, back in Washington, President Obama put into place the first U.S. Government strategy dedicated to combating human rights abuses against LGBT persons abroad. Building on efforts already underway at the State Department and across the government, the President has directed all U.S. Government agencies engaged overseas to combat the criminalization of LGBT status and conduct, to enhance efforts to protect vulnerable LGBT refugees and asylum seekers, to ensure that our foreign assistance promotes the protection of LGBT rights, to enlist international organizations in the fight against discrimination, and to respond swiftly to abuses against LGBT persons.

I am also pleased to announce that we are launching a new Global Equality Fund that will support the work of civil society organizations working on these issues around the world. This fund will help them record facts so they can target their advocacy, learn how to use the law as a tool, manage their budgets, train their staffs, and forge partnerships with women’s organizations and other human rights groups. We have committed more than $3 million to start this fund, and we have hope that others will join us in supporting it.

More here.

Nicholas Kristoff's 6th annual Win-a-Trip Contest

2011-12-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

From Nicholas Kristoff today:

And here’s a special holiday message you can pass on to university students: tell them that I’m announcing my annual win-a-trip contest. In 2012, for the sixth time, I will take a student with me on a reporting trip to the developing world to try to shine a light on neglected issues. These trips have been life-changing for past winners. Information about how to apply is on my blog, and thanks in advance to the Center for Global Development for again helping narrow the applicant pool down to finalists.

Some additional info I dug up:

In the summer of 2007, Kristof traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, accompanied by two young Americans, a student and a teacher. Their reflections of the heart-wrenching journey were posted alongside Kristof’s bi-weekly columns and turned into this documentary, REPORTER. It's now available on DVD - here's the trailer:

New: Surfrider San Diego's Personal Ashtrays

2011-12-03T01:38:00.000-08:00

The Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter & Hold On To Your Butt (HOTYB) Committee is excited to introduce ... Surfrider pocket ashtrays! The ashtrays are made out of tin - Rise Above Plastics!

It's important to responsibly dispose of your butts because the filters are made out of plastic. As a result, the cigarette butts are not biodegradable. They also contain chemicals, which are released into the environment when dropped down a storm drain or flicked onto the sidewalk.

Look for these personal ashtrays at San Diego Chapter events or contact the San Diego Chapter at HOTYB(@)surfridersd.org to order ashtrays! You can place a personal order for just one ashtray, or if you are a Surfrider Foundation Chapter then you can order in bulk for your chapter's use.

Not a smoker myself but love the concept and the design!

Echoing Green Fellowship: Opportunities and Challenges for African American Social Entrepreneurs

2011-12-03T00:36:00.000-08:00

Echoing Green is about to start accepting applications for the 2012 Echoing Green Fellowship - Monday, December 5th!

The nonprofit has invested a lot of energy into preparing prospective applicants for the application process. Staff recently ran a webinar that provided participants with detailed information about the fellowship and the application process. I really liked that viewers could submit questions for a Q&A held at the end of the webinar.

Echoing Green followed this up with a series of webinars geared towards specific audiences. I participated in all of these webinars "just for fun" - enjoyed this one the most! It features Fellow Anthony Jewett of Bardoli Global Initiative. Enjoy!

An additional note from Echoing Green: If you are interested in the Black Male Achievement (BMA) Fellowship – a new, parallel fellowship managed by Echoing Green that will invest in 8 individuals (of any ethnic or gender background) with passion and an innovative approach to supporting black men and boys in the United States, check out the full details here.

Here are the links for the recordings of the other Echoing Green webinars. The beginning of each webinar is essentially the same - the real value in watching the additional webinars are the remarks given by Echoing Green Fellows.

Echoing Green Fellowship: Opportunities and Challenges for Latino Social Entrepreneurs spotlighting Fellow Jason Aramburu of re:char - his remarks begin at 28:14.

Echoing Green Fellowship: Opportunities and Challenges for Local Leaders from Developing Countries in Social Entrepreneurship - spotlighting Fellows Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner of Shining Hope for Communities - their remarks begin at 26:12.

Echoing Green Fellowship: Opportunities and Challenges for Female Social Entrepreneurs - spotlighting Fellow Sarah Hemminger of Incentive Mentoring Program - her remarks begin at 23:26.

Echoing Green: Work On Purpose webinar

2011-12-01T16:37:00.001-08:00

Looking forward to this webinar! Thanks to fellow HeadCount volunteer, Melissa Brennan for letting me know about it.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM EST

Join author and Echoing Green senior vice president, Lara Galinsky, for a free and interactive webinar on how you can take practical steps to move your career forward in a way that is both good for you and good for the world.

In case you are not familiar with this fantastic organization, Echoing Green unleashes the next generation of talent to solve the world's biggest problems. Each year, through their world-renowned Fellowship program, they provide more than $1 million in seed funding to a diverse group of 40-50 of the world's most promising social entrepreneurs- dynamic visionaries focused on solving the world's most intractable social problems.

Over 25 years of working with these inspiring Fellows, Echoing Green has gleaned some of the best practices on social impact career creation, which they are now disseminating through their Work on Purpose program. The cornerstone of the program is the Work on Purpose book, co-written by webinar presenter, Lara Galinsky, who is also the author Be Bold: Create a Career with Impact. In this engaging webinar, Galinsky will also lead you in exercises to help you uncover your next career steps.

Register here.

We'll Dance Through It

2011-11-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

Excerpt from Matt Nathanson's 2011 Amazon.com "Living Liner Notes" video interview series. Here he's talking about his song "Love Comes Tumbling Down":

Like a city in ruin, kind of vibe. An end of the world kind of song. But not like remember the end of the ... it's sort of an additional thing to remember the end of the world. There was that scene in The Twilight Zone where Burgess Meredith - that episode where all he wants to do is read books in the library and the library crumbles to the ground, and he's surrounded by books and he breaks his glasses. And it was this idea like that's the curse of The Twilight Zone - like all he wants is be alone to read his books. So he like - this apocalypse occurs. And he's downstairs, and he comes upstairs and everyone's gone - the whole city. And he's just surrounded by books - and time. And he's like super psyched. And then he breaks his glasses - and can't do anything. And he's stuck in this world with no one and nothing, and these books he can't read. And that was kind of this idea for me was like - in this wreckage of a place - like, I'll, you know - we'll dance through it, you know what I mean? That was kinda - it was a love song.

It's so much prettier when Matt says it in the video interview, but I couldn't embed the video in this post. You can watch it here.

you CAN do it.

2011-11-22T12:04:00.001-08:00

Celebrating Acumen Fund's 10 Year Anniversary:

Help Daraja win! Make $10 donation before 11:59pm EST on Nov 15

2011-11-14T19:14:00.000-08:00

I spent a month living, learning and volunteering on the Daraja Academy of Kenya's campus this summer. This amazing school would love your support, too! And you don't even have to travel to Kenya:)

photo by: Pamela Sleightholm

During the month-long the Girl Effect Challenge, Daraja and 24 other girl-focused organizations and projects are working to generate donations from their supporters. The Challenge ends at 11:59pm EST tomorrow (Tues Nov 15).

At that time the six organizations with the highest number of unique donors will win the same prize: they will be featured on the Girl Effect GlobalGiving page and will receive a share of the Girl Effect Fund for one year following the Challenge (December 1, 2011 – November 30, 2012).

Daraja is currently in second place, with 600 unique donors at this very minute. But the competition is fierce - the organizations below Daraja could squeeze us out of the Top 6 within the next 24 hours.

Please consider making a minimum donation of $10 to Daraja, to help keep us in the Top 6! Donate here.

The ladies of Daraja would love your support ...

The fine print from the Challenge FAQ page:
Online donations are considered unique if they are made from separate email addresses. The same credit card may be used for multiple online donations.

GlobalGiving retains a 15% fulfillment fee on donations but works to keep the fees you pay as low as possible while providing you great services and resources. The 15% fee covers all transactional fees such as credit card charges, as well as helps cover the costs GlobalGiving incurs to promote organizations and projects, provide them with fundraising training and tools, and maintain and improve our online technology in order to keep connecting you with new donors. With our add-on option, we also offer the donor the opportunity to make an additional donation to cover GlobalGiving’s fulfillment fees so that projects receive 100% of the donations intended for them.

The students can't blog, so I'm doing it for them:) Irene is amazing!

2011 Google Science Fair Results

2011-11-11T19:54:00.000-08:00

I grabbed this from today's White House Council on Women and Girls e-newsletter.

Excerpt from e-newsletter:

... I was reminded of this a few weeks ago, when the winners of the Google Science Fair were announced. Over 10,000 young people submitted projects, from 90 different countries. In many ways, this competition was a metaphor for the global competition that will define the 21st century. Citizens and countries will compete for the jobs and industries of the future, and as they do, STEM skills will be absolutely critical. So President Obama was thrilled when he heard that this year's winners were three teenage girls from America.

After the announcement, President Obama invited all three girls to the White House, so he could personally congratulate them on their achievement. I had the chance to meet these young women, and they were extraordinary. Not only were they very smart, they were full of passion and enthusiasm about learning so that they could contribute to society.

- Valerie Jarrett, Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls

In The Morning

2011-11-11T11:03:00.001-08:00

This music video just debuted today.

This song is on the new Brushfire Records "This Warm December" holiday album. You can stream it here.

Watch the TechStars TV Series

2011-11-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed watching the archived episodes - originally aired on Bloomberg TV this fall. Especially after having just completed Startup Weekend Portland:)

Here's the first of six episodes.

You can find the rest by going to this site and using the search box. Just search for "TechStars".

Thinking of applying for an Echoing Green Fellowship?

2011-11-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

If so then check out this video. Echoing Green team members give an overview of the organization's programs and delve deep into the application process. The application period opens on December 5 2011. Sign up here to receive updates from Echoing Green about the fellowship application process.

East Africa: Who What Where Why?

2011-10-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

This post is an attempt to summarize what I have begun to refer to as my "self-funded, self-directed fellowship" ... otherwise known as my "East Africa Summer" - May 14 through Aug 22, 2011.

It all started Spring Semester 1998, with my Lehigh Comparative Politics TA, Brian. He had spent a semester abroad in Kenya, and used to meet with a small group of interested students once a week, to show us photographs and tell us stories about Kenya. About ten years later two close friends, Sharon and Eric left at about the same time for Tanzania, to volunteer for extended amounts of time. I got to experience Tanzania vicariously through them. Then in January 2010 I watched the first Invisible Children documentary about the Lord's Resistance Army and Joseph Kony. I was really touched by Jacob's story, one of the Ugandan boys in the film, and started following Invisible Children's work. Over the course of the rest of 2010, things just kept piling on top of each other. I read Jacqueline Novogratz's book The Blue Sweater, and began going to Acumen Fund events. I started meeting people from San Francisco's social entrepreneurship community, while also reading about other young social entrepreneurs. I wanted my own experience, and I wanted to meet the social entrepreneurs in East Africa and hear their stories in person. Fortunately things culminated in my life in such a way that I was able to just jump in with both feet, and I began to plan an East Africa Summer.

The next part wasn't quite as easy. Invisible Children doesn't have a volunteer program in their Gulu, Uganda office. I had missed the Kiva Fellowship Program application deadline. I hadn't been to East Africa before and didn't have any friends there; I needed to plan out where I would be volunteering, and my return date. I remembered that the Daraja Academy of Kenya had invited me to volunteer at their campus in Kenya, after the successful athletic shoe drive that Caitie and I had organized the previous summer. I applied to volunteer at Daraja for a month beginning on May 14, and was accepted. Next, I needed to propose a project to be completed during my month's stay on campus. I am very interested in access to higher education and love mentoring my Level Playing Field Summer Math & Science Honors Academy students, so I proposed serving as a guidance counselor on campus, for the month. Daraja had a better idea - they needed help researching post-graduation opportunities for the students. Daraja is a young school - the oldest students are in Form 3 (high school juniors). So I would get to do some planning work, which sounded exciting! While I was quitting my job and giving up my San Francisco apartment, I figured that I might as well stay in East Africa for the summer. I reached out to one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, who I had met several months prior to see if he had any suggestions. Garang said that he could use my help with a particular project in East Africa, and we decided that I would return to the USA on August 22. So I was all set! I gave notice, gave away a lot of my stuff, packed what was left, drove that stuff and my dog to my mom's in NY, and then I was off to the airport.

I lived on Daraja's campus outside of Nanyuki, near Mount Kenya from May 14 through June 14. I spent most of my time conducting online research, interviewing civil servants (Nanyuki is the Laikipia District seat so there is a government compound in town), helping students prepare for the Music Festival competition, attending Sunday student-run religious services, ran a Blue Sweater Book Club using twenty-five copies of the book that had been donated by the Acumen Fund, participating in the sports program, sitting in on the Women of Integrity Strength and Hope (WISH) classes, and in general trying to get to know the students and the Kenyan education system as well as possible.

I had trouble reaching Garang of New Scholars while I was at Daraja, due to poor telecommunications infrastructure in South Sudan. So at this point it was time to re-invent the summer plans! From Daraja I proceeded to Jinja, Uganda to visit an old friend, Meghan who was volunteering with Light Gives Heat for the summer. I spent about a week in Jinja learning about Meghan's work and meeting her fellow volunteers and the organization's staff, went to Sipi Falls, Bujagali Falls, went white water rafting on the Nile, and spent a lot of time meeting staff and guests at the hostel where I was staying, which is where I learned so much about Ugandan culture, the education system, credit, and development. From there I headed onto Kampala, the capital of Uganda where I was invited to stay with a fellow Pace Law Environmental Program alum, Elaine who was on a Fulbright and was living on the Makarere University Campus. Thanks to Elaine and a Kiva Fellow I met, Michele, got to know the expat community and life in Kampala. I also got to meet the founders of one of my favorite social ventures, AFRIpads! While in Kampala I also explored the city, and learned that Jacqueline Novogratz had tweeted about me! I left Kampala for a few days, to track chimps in Kibale National Park. While there I realized that the water filter that I brought with me from the USA was not working and began to drink bottled water, not realizing that my body was already fighting water-borne illnesses. I'd met two Australian travelers on my first day in Uganda, who had invited me to go up to Gulu, Uganda with them to visit the Invisible Children office. I'd also met Tom, a Ugandan who attends university in Michigan and is active with his campus' Invisible Children Club but was home for summer break, at a coffee shop in Jinja. Tom had introduced me to someone who works in the Invisible Children Gulu office. Visiting Gulu, meeting the Invisible Children staff, staying at one of the Invisible Children staff houses, going to Krochet Kids' compound ... I learned so much! I wrapped up my three and a half weeks in Uganda with one final Nile rafting trip, and goodbye-for-now's to my friends at the hostel, and Meghan. Leaving Uganda ... crossing the border back into Kenya ... that was hard. I loved Uganda.

I headed right back to Nairobi, to begin the third and final part of my East Africa Summer. I stayed at a hostel (Upper Hill Campsite) that had been recommended by my Australian friends, as well as a San Francisco Surfrider friend Jules, who had been through Nairobi recently. I met some people who had been traveling all over Africa, and had interesting stories to tell. Thanks to Michele's roommate in Kampala, I quickly found a room in a Western apartment to sublet, in the heart of Nairobi. I spent most of the next six weeks in Nairobi itself, doing work. Even though I had technically already finished my project for Daraja, I decided to continue my research, independently. I felt as if I was just beginning to scratch the surface of understanding, when I left Daraja. There was (and still is) so much to learn. But it wasn't all work - I took side trips to Maasai Mara National Park "on safari", up to Daraja's campus for a quick weekend to meet Daraja co-founder Jenni who had been out of the country while I was living at Daraja, and to Mombasa and Diani Beach on the Kenyan coast. I met some great fellow travelers white water rafting and on safari, who I later caught up with in Nairobi - Maria, Elien and Jan. I also did a few "day trips" within Nairobi's city limits - to the David Sheldrick Baby Elephant and Rhino Orphanage for the public daily milk feeding and then for the tuck-in, and to Nairobi National Park. I got connected to two Georgetown alums in Nairobi, Angela and Laney, and another American living in Nairobi, Karen. I had so much fun hanging out with them, getting advice about health care when my illnesses started keeping me down, and helping Angela out with the Amanai Art Club that she started for Nairobi street boys. I got to meet two of my friend Sharon's Kenyan friends, two Kiva Fellows in Nairobi, Richard and Nila, and my friend Sowmya's friends from her International Peace Masters Program, Wilson and Edith. I also got to meet Acumen Fund Nairobi office team member Suraj, who invited me to the launch of the Acumen East Africa Fellows Program where I got to meet Jacqueline Novogratz, and to TEDxKibera. Lehigh young alum Freedom warmly welcomed me to Kenya, and helped me plan and run a Lehigh Alumni Happy Hour in Nairobi. I mentioned that one of my plans for my summer was to meet inspiring social entrepreneurs, and to get to hear their stories. I got to meet Jessica Posner, who has been an inspiration to me from the time that I first learned of her work with Shining Hope for Communities. I also got to reconnect with Garang from New Scholars, while he was in Nairobi from South Sudan, and learned how I can help him with his work. I remain so passionate about the work that needs to be done - and opportunities - in South Sudan.

In addition to all of these activities, and learning Nairobi I continued on with the research that I began at Daraja. While touring social ventures in Uganda, I noticed that every venture had social workers on staff. I began to consider that bursaries (college scholarships) were not quite enough - the students need mentors, too. While in Uganda I got to meet with a US Embassy employee who helps Ugandan students access US universities, and then got to meet staff in Kenya who are doing a similar thing. I set up appointments and dropped in on nonprofits and corporate operations that empower Kenyan students via both bursaries and mentoring programs, including Akili Dada, KenSAP, and Equity Bank. (I was invited to attend the two-week long second annual Equity Bank Congress on Kenyatta University's campus, which was an amazing experience - got to meet inspiring students, and was able to collaborate with fantastic bank employees.) While conducting my research at Daraja I learned about some of Kenya's top students, and found that many attended two "national" boarding schools for girls, both located in Nairobi - Precious Blood Riruta and Kenya High School. I was invited to visit both campuses, and learned so much from meeting the Precious Blood students and Principal, and staff at Kenya High School. Meeting John, one of the current Acumen East Africa Fellows, turned some of my thoughts upside down. Wow - one of the best things from my summer was people's willingness to go out of their way to teach me, and help me with my work.

I left Nairobi on August 22, to fly back to the States feeling as if my work was just beginning. I'm still trying to draw conclusions from all that I saw, experienced, and learned this past summer. I remind myself of Jacqueline Novogratz's keynote at the East Africa Fellows launch event, when she reminded us that she has been doing this work for twenty-five years. I can't expect to have figured everything out in three and a half months. And yet ... the best thing is just to begin. Thanks to Sanergy, a eco-sanitation solution social venture in Nairobi, I found out about Kevin Starr's PopTech talk.

It's given me a lot to think about. I also learned a lot from a conversation that I had with Saul Garlick at SOCAP11 (Social Capital Markets Conference) last month. What do I care most about? What is the problem that I want to solve? Forget about the rest of it. Just start with this. I'm working on it, and will update here when I'm ready! But the main theme is empowering young East African women to create change in their communities through mentoring, education, travel and extended service learning.

Thanks to everyone who followed along with my adventures by reading my East Africa blog posts, and checking in with me. It meant a lot!

Here's to ...

2011-10-12T14:51:00.000-07:00

... the crazy social entrepreneurs, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers who see things differently and have no respect for the status quo. You are among the people who are crazy enough to think you can change the world, and are the ones who do.

- Victor d’Allant
@dallant
Executive Director, Social Edge
October 11, 2011 Social Edge e-newsletter "Understanding Social Impact: Think Different"

East Africa: What I Wish I'd Known Before I Left the USA for East Africa - Part 1: What To Pack

2011-10-07T23:31:00.000-07:00

If you spoke with me before I left the USA for East Africa earlier this year, then you'll likely remember that I had a list of questions regarding what to expect and pack. Please don't remind me of the questions I was asking - so embarrassing! Also, I neglected to ask some questions simply because I didn't know enough to ask them!

This is the first in a series of blog posts that I've been meaning to post for the past month. A summary of what I wish I'd known, before I left. Some people may disagree with me - this is just my two cents, based on my own experience.

PART 1: WHAT TO PACK

1. Luggage -
a.) Travel Pack. I brought a 60 liter pack, though I wonder if I could have gotten away with something smaller/less clothes.

b.) Day Pack. I used this for short overnight trips, and left my travel pack in a secure location at my home base.

c.) Some sort of shoulder bag to carry around with you, during the day. Make sure it's big enough to carry a bottle of water, at least. It should have a flap or a zipper on it, to keep it secure. Tote bags are not good > pickpockets. I brought this one - the Timbuk2 Click in solid black. And Sports Basement had the best price.

d.) Some sort of lightweight, packable second bag that you can use to carry souvenirs , or for times when you just don't feel like trying to jam everything back into your pack. I looked all over for the "right" bag, and decided upon the REI Stuff Travel Duffel.

e.) I brought a few of these space bags for my clothes. Stick them inside the bag, squeeze the air out by hand, close the seal, and you can fit more clothes in your travel pack - the Stoic WPF Compression Sack. They aren't supposed to keep your clothes dry if you drop the bag in a river, but they seem like they'd be water repellent. Luckily I never had cause to find out.

f.) I put my travel pack inside of one large bag, for airport transport. I wound up with the Osprey Airporter LZ Pack Duffel, which I also got at REI. I brought my bag up to the bag check in counter and then zipped it into this big bag, before putting it down to be weighed. Yes, this meant that I had to carry it around in my pack when I wasn't on a flight, but it was worth it to protect my bag - so that the straps and/or belt wouldn't get caught in the airport machinery, and get ripped off. I took a quick look at packs in Nairobi, and they were expensive and there wasn't a big selection. You don't want to have to replace it while traveling.

g.) I brought a TSA-approved luggage lock and security chain. I only used the chain once - to secure wardrobe doors closed in a hotel room while my pack was inside the wardrobe. But I used the lock a lot - at hostels to lock up my valuables in a drawer in the dresser in the dorm rooms, or for a locker that I rented in the hostel lobby. I used it to lock up the Osprey Airporter when I checked it in, at the airport. TSA has the key, so the airport staff won't cut your lock off to look inside of your bag. I brought the Eagle Creek 3-Dial TSA Security Lock & Cable.

h.) One of those travel pouches that you can put your passport and yellow vaccination card inside of. I prefer the one that straps around your hips like a belt, as opposed to the one that goes around your neck, and is worn under your shirt.

i.) I brought a handful of Chico bags. I used them all of the time. For grocery shopping, to keep my dirty clothes separate from my clean ones in my pack, to hold my clothes and bathroom supplies when I went into the bathroom in the hostels to shower, etc. Some of the best things I brought with me.

2. Clothing & Shoes -
a.) One pair of trail runners. They do not need to be waterproof. If you are a runner, you do not need to also bring road runners. Even if you are living in Nairobi where there are a lot of paved roads, you will not want to run on the paved roads near the cars because the exhaust fumes are so bad.

b.) One good pair of flip flops to explore in. I brought the Chaco Flip in solid black.

c.) If you bring flip flops with webbing like my Chacos, then they will get smelly if you wear them in the showers every day. So bring a second pair of cheap flip flops, to wear in the hostel showers that will dry between uses. If you forget them or don't want to pack them initially, then you can easily find them at a market or in a store in East Africa for a reasonable price.

d.) If you think you might spend more than a day or two in one of the slums then bring a pair of rain boots. The kind that everyone wears in the USA is fine - plastic, tall, brightly colored. It's just because when it rains, the dirt roads in the slums can get very muddy.

e.) If you are climbing Mt Kenya or Kilimanjaro, then you'll need hiking boots. (Obviously.) If you are not climbing, then you do not need hiking boots. If you are bringing hiking boots, then I think that they should be water proof, because of the altitude and climate - snow at the top - but double check elsewhere.

f.) You do not need an umbrella. You can buy one in East Africa, if you think you need one. But a lightweight, simple, packable rain jacket is sufficient. When it rains, it doesn't fall for very long and it's not that heavy. I brought rain pants, but never wore them.

g.) I brought Patagonia underwear and running socks made out of a blended fabric that didn't take forever to dry. I would bring more pairs next time, because I rarely stayed anywhere long enough to leave my stuff out to dry. In Uganda, there are mango flies that lay eggs in the seams of your clothes when the clothes are laid out wet, to dry. When the eggs hatch, the flies burrow under your skin. So you need to iron all of your seams (at the very least) after washing your clothes, before you put them back on your body. Clearly this is a hassle. The more underwear and socks you have, the less often you have to deal with this. You can pay the hostel staff to wash your clothes. I assume they iron them, too but I don't know - I was lucky enough to have friends I could stay with, who let me wash my clothes in their sinks and use their irons.

h.) The back of the knee is supposedly the sexist part of the woman's body. You cannot wear shorts that expose the backs of your knees. Not even in Nairobi, though of course you'll see tourists doing this. It is difficult to find shorts that don't expose the backs of your knees, but if you can find them then bring them for Uganda. It's hot! If you're staying in Kenya and aren't going to the coast, then I don't think you need shorts. Capri pants would be fine. I wore these shorts - Lole Pursuit 2 Bermuda Shorts. Whether they're long enough or not probably depends on the length of your thighs. Try em on before packing them. They just covered the backs of my knees.

i.) Same rule goes for skirts - you cannot show the backs of your knees. I had trouble finding skirts that were "short" but not "too short." I wound up with this one - Carve Designs High Point Skirt. If you go to Uganda, then you will be traveling around on the back of motorcycles. It is improper for a woman to ride straddled, so you will need to sit sidesaddle. Personally, I felt safer straddling the motorcycle, so I never wore my skirt on days when I knew I'd need to get on a motorcycle (which was most days). So perhaps skip the skirt entirely. A downside to my skirt, too was that it did not have any pockets, though it did dry quickly. I didn't wear it that much. I don't see any reason why you'd need/want a dress.

j.) You cannot show your shoulders or your chest (no deep scoop neck or deep v-neck shirts) in Kenya. This isn't the case in Uganda. If you are going to Uganda then bring at least one tank top. It's hot - you'll want it. Otherwise, for Kenya just bring short-sleeve shirts. You can wear tank tops on the beach in Kenya, which you'd probably want to do because it is hot. Though when at the beach I just walked around in my bikini top and my skirt, which you can also do - but only on the beach - not in town at the beach. Most of my wardrobe was black, so that it would not show dirt. I don't recommend white. The dirt is a red-brown, and if you are in a dusty environment ... well, your shirt won't be white any longer. Black is boring, at least it looks clean even when it's not:)

k.) Ugandan and Kenyan men wear button down shirts a lot. If you're a man then you might want to bring one. Women do not need button down shirts when "dressing up" is called for.

l.) I brought one pair of jeans, even though they take a long time to dry. I was happy that I brought them - I wore them often. Other than that, I wore a pair of black cotton yoga pants a lot, and a pair of very lightweight cotton cargo-style pants with straps and buttons that could be rolled up into capris, and a pair of generic every-day, cotton cargo-style pants with a decent number of pockets which came in handy. I also brought a pair of light brown khaki (dress) pants, and a pair of black cotton dress pants for business meetings. If you don't really need "dress" pants, then obviously don't bother bringing them. I didn't wear them very much. But if you think that you might need a dressy outfit, then bring it with you. You can find dresses and such in Nairobi in the western malls but the selection isn't going to be what you're accustomed to, and prices are high/geared towards westerners. However if you need dress shoes, then those are easy to find. In Nairobi you'll want to visit Bata, which is pretty much the equivalent of Payless for the best selection.

m.) It gets colder at night. Bring a wool sweater.

n.) I brought a black polyester zip up jacket intended for yoga or cycling, without a hood. I wore it a lot, with a t-shirt underneath. Was a must-have.

o.) I had a lightweight jacket that was water resistant. I wore it often enough. Perhaps you can leave the sweater home, if you bring a jacket like this.

p.) I did bring a beanie, because I'd been told that it could get cold at night in the highlands, but I never wore it. No need for a scarf or gloves, either:) But bring a few cotton handkerchiefs - you'll use them. I also brought a baseball hat, which I wore occasionally. And of course sunglasses.

q.) I brought one pair of short running shorts, but never felt comfortable wearing them in public. It's really hot to be running in long pants (which is what I think you are supposed to wear if running where other people can see you). As a result I didn't run that often. You might be able to find a modern gym that you can join, or at least pay by the visit. I assume you can wear short shorts in there ... ? Maybe stick with longer lacrosse style shorts?

r.) I brought a few long-sleeve cotton t-shirts, and one poly long-sleeve shirt that I wore rafting on the Nile. It was good for sun protection while rafting, but I otherwise didn't wear it. I mostly wore the long-sleeve cotton shirts at night - during the day a t-shirt and the zip up poly jacket were sufficient. At sundown and when the sun is down, you'll want to cover up as much of your body as possible, to avoid mosquito bites. So the long-sleeve shirts, pants, and socks are good. If you are planning to enter a mosque and you are a woman, then you will need to wear a skirt, cover your hair (with a scarf), and I think you need to cover your shoulders/wear long sleeves.

s.) Jewelry - don't bring or wear anything that looks valuable, even if it isn't actually valuable.

3.) Electronics -
a.) Perhaps the best thing I brought was a netbook. I bought an ASUS eee netbook on eBay, after much shopping and asking savvy friends for advice. I downloaded my photos onto it, used it to get online for personal reasons and for internet banking purposes. I heard that your digital camera can get a virus, if you connect it with a public computer in order to download photos. Not sure if that's true, but I think you'd get sufficient use out of your netbook to warrant bringing one, anyway. It's definitely worth it to bring a netbook as opposed to a laptop, especially if you are going to be traveling a lot/carting your computer around with you. My Timbuk 2 day bag was big enough to hold my netbook, which made things very convenient. However, people don't really go to movie theaters. There is only one commercial theater in Uganda - it's in a western style mall in Kampala, the country's capital, for example. Instead, people buy DVD's from street sellers, and watch them on their laptops. But my netbook didn't have a CD drive, so I couldn't watch any DVD's. Which really wasn't a big deal, but if you are going to be in East Africa for a long time then you might want a CD drive. Your computer's operating system MUST BE WINDOWS. Mine ran on Linux, and it caused problems because it was not compatible with the internet system. I had to have computer techs change my operating system over to Windows before I could gain access to the internet. Bring a neoprene case for your netbook, and an adapter for the outlet. The adapter you'll need for Uganda and Kenya is the same one that you'd use in Britain.

b.) I brought a digital camera, and looked after it. Never felt like it was in danger of being stolen. I didn't flash it in public, though by taking photos on the street, or in places where I'd draw attention to myself. I heard that I might want to bring an extra battery. This might be the case for you, if you feel that you HAVE TO take a photo of every single animal that you see in one day of a safari. There were a few cameras on my safari trip, and almost all of our camera batteries ran out by the end of the afternoon. But you can get photos from someone else on your safari trip (share photos), or just enjoy the view without needing to take a million photos. I don't have much of a zoom lense on my camera, and as a result my photos aren't that great, anyway - just nice memories. The hostels and the lodge that I stayed in when on safari in Maasai Mara National Park had outlets and power strips. So you can charge your batteries on the power strips. In some cases the building might run on a generator, and if that's the case then you might only be able to charge your battery on the power strips at night when the generator is turned on to power the lights. I personally would not leave my battery charging on the power strip unattended.

c.) If you are bringing a netbook or a laptop, then I don't think you need extra memory cards for your camera. Just be diligent about emptying the memory card when it gets full so that you have space for new photos. I brought a few thumb drives, and used them to back up my photos. I kept these thumb drives in a safe place. That way, if my computer had been stolen, I would still have my photos.

d.) You can bring your cell phone with you to Kenya and Uganda if it's a tri-band that runs on 900 and 1800. To check to see if your phone is compatible with Kenya and Uganda, remove the battery from the back of your phone and look underneath the battery. It should say something like "900/1800". Even if it says that, your phone must accept a SIM card. Even then, your phone must be "unlocked" so that you can put a different company's SIM card in your phone. You can have your phone "jailbreaked" but I looked into it, and it's a pricey endeavor. I have heard that you can sometimes get your iphone to work in East Africa, but you'll need to take care of that before you leave the USA. And even so, I've heard that the phone still doesn't always work. I wanted to have a cell phone on my person, when my plane landed in Nairobi. I bought one on eBay that I thought was unlocked and compatible (900/1800). However it must have been dropped in water, because once I got to Kenya it would not work. So that was not the best plan. People will tell you to just buy a phone when you get to East Africa. This is definitely the way to go!!!! Do not buy a phone at the airport - you will pay significantly more money for it - I looked into it, and it was twice the price of what the same phone cost at the stores in the city. Cell phones in East Africa are pre-paid, like Europe. No contract. There are a few competing cell phone companies. The most popular seems to be Safaricom in Kenya, and MTN in Uganda. So you'll go into a Safaricom store, and buy a cell phone. The cheapest one was about $10. You'll then have to buy a SIM card for your phone, which is only a few dollars. This is essentially your phone number. Each SIM card is a phone number. The cell phone company team member in the store will take the phone and SIM card, and activate it for you. If you remove a SIM card from your phone and it goes unused for 180 days, and it's a Safaricom SIM card, then it'll go bad and your number will be recycled - given to a new customer. Just FYI. Some Kenyans have multiple SIM cards/phone numbers. You can pop your SIM card/phone number out of your phone, and pop it into a new phone, or a friend's phone at any time. Once you have your phone and SIM card, and your phone has been activated, then you will need to buy minutes. You buy a scratch card - they're sold all over the place. The seller gets a commission from Safaricom, so I tried to buy my scratch cards from independent businesses. They can be purchased in a variety of cash values. I tried to keep at least a $5 balance on my phone at all times. The instructions for how to add minutes to your phone are on the scratch card - ask anyone to show you how to add the time to your phone. You buy the scratch cards in dollar amounts, not number of minutes. So you'd buy a card worth $5, for example, as opposed to a card worth 500 minutes. The price per minute varies based on where you are calling, and the time of day. Calling within East Africa from Kenya on Safaricom is something like 20 cents a minute. But calling the USA is something like 4 cents a minute. That's the same price as inter-Kenya calls, amazingly. I think you get a slightly cheaper rate if you make calls between 9pm and 4am. But of course like all cell phone companies, rates and promos are subject to change. If you travel outside of Kenya, then buy a new SIM card in your next country. As I mentioned, MTN is the biggest company in Uganda. If you use your Safaricom SIM card in Uganda, then you will be charged a roaming rate. I don't know what this rate is, but it's so easy to buy an MTN SIM card once in Uganda, that I just went with that. The phone system works the same way in Uganda. I don't recall how much it cost to call the USA, but I think it was relatively inexpensive from Uganda, too. In both Uganda and Kenya, you only pay for outgoing calls that you make from your phone. You are not charged for incoming calls - whether they are local or international. Same with text messaging - you only pay when sending messages, not receiving them. I think it's about 12 cents a text message to the USA, but it's really cheap if you are texting someone in Kenya. Don't buy a fancy phone, by the way - it'll make you a target for theft. Another good reason to leave the iphone in the USA. Even the most basic (cheapest) phone that I purchased had the necessities - text messaging, calculator, alarm clock - and flashlight. Yes, the Safaricom phones come with flashlights. You WILL use the flashlight!! Amazing feature.

e.) Internet in Uganda and Kenya - If your hostel offers free internet, then it's likely going to be wireless. So you don't need any contraption to get online - just the name of the network and password, just like the USA. Same with some coffee shops that cater to westerners, but I found them few and far between. Even when I found them, the connection was sometimes very slow. Easier to find internet cafes with cubicles and desktop computers, where there is a space where you can pay for wireless access for your laptop by the minute. If you do not have access to wireless, then you will need to buy a modem for your computer in order to get online. Again, I suggest buying one from the company Safaricom. (Though some people say that the company "Orange" has better access if you're working out in the bush, but not as good if you are in town. And Orange is more expensive than Safaricom - same with the phones.) The modem is about $22.

Once you have a Safaricom modem, you'll need to buy a SIM card for your use in your modem. Just like with your phone, you'll have to give both the modem and the SIM card to a Safaricom store employee so that the staff person can activate them. Once it's been activated, you will need to insert it into your computer in one of the same jacks that you use for your camera and ipod. You'll then need to download some software onto your computer, in order to use the modem. I think it'll pop up automatically on your screen, the first time you insert the modem into the computer jack. Then, you'll need to buy airtime to use the internet. The airtime you'll buy is the same airtime that you'll buy for your cell phone. You just apply the scratch card to your modem SIM card instead of your cell phone SIM card. I don't remember how to do this, but I'm sure that someone can explain it to you. I only used a Safaricom modem and purchased airtime for the first month that I was in East Africa, while living and working on Daraja's campus. After that, I used wireless at hostels or internet cafes. So there's a good chance you won't need a modem at all. I'd buy a phone, first, and then wait and see if you want/need a modem, instead of buying both when you first arrive in East Africa. If you are using a Safaricom modem, the internet speed varies based on where you are located when you are trying to access the internet. You are not charged by the minute that you are on the computer, but by how much "action" you are doing on the internet, and how fancy the web page is. Each time the page re-loads, you get charged by Safaricom. So steaming music from Spotify, videos on Youtube, or Facebook's home page which is constantly updating itself all cost more money. It is amazing how quickly you can burn through airtime if you are streaming or on Facebook.

f.) I brought my ipod, but only used it on the airplane. I did use the headphones, though - at hostels when watching videos or listening to music. While I'm thinking of sound, I'd bring earplugs and an eye mask if you are staying at hostels and are a light sleeper.

3. Misc to Pack -
a.) A journal and a few pens

b.) camping style clothes line - I brought this Coghlans Pegless Bungee Clothesline.

c.) Headlamp and extra batteries. The name brand batteries sold in Kenya are expensive. The cheaper ones run out really quickly. Even though your cell phone will have a flashlight built in, some places are so dark that you'll really want the headlamp.

d.) The Rough Guide to Kenya (better than Lonely Planet), and The Lonely Planet Guide for Uganda (Rough Guide doesn't make a book for Uganda). I would buy the most current edition, even if you can get an older one for less/free. Things like phone numbers change quickly in East Africa - you need the most current info. A novel to read. There are book stores in Nairobi and Kampala, but don't expect to find what you're looking for in more rural areas. There are book exchanges at some cafes and hostels, but I still say bring what you want. I read them on bus rides, mostly.

e.) You do not need to bring a mosquito net. Every place I stayed - with the exception of one hotel - had mosquito nets over the bunk beds in the hostels and over beds in hotel rooms. They were in perfectly good condition - no gaping holes.

f.) Sleeping bag liner. I won't sleep in a hostel or hotel bed without one - protects you from bugs. I looked into making my own, but it wound up to be cheaper and easier to just buy this one - Sea To Summit 100% Premium Silk Sleeping Bag Liner. It's also easy to hand wash in a sink, and air dries quickly. You don't need any other bedding - including a sleeping bag, unless you are planning to camp instead of staying in hostels, obviously - or if you are planning to climb Mt Kenya or Kilimanjaro. Even still, you can rent sleeping bags etc from expedition companies once you are in East Africa.

g.) Note: next time, I WON'T bring Bug spray - I brought a bottle of Adventure Medical Ben's 100 Max Deet Tick & Insect Repellent. Never used it. I don't like chemicals. Just covered my body with cotton clothing, instead.

h.) Hand sanitizer. I kept a little bottle in my bag, along with toilet paper, every where I went. I never expected a toilet stall to have toilet paper, or a sink nearby. Even if there's a sink, there may not be soap. You can buy little bottles of hand sanitizer at the grocery stores, too. Don't overload your travel bag with these things:)

i.) Nail Clippers & a nail file, hair brush and bands, tweezers (if you can't live without them, like me), a pair of scissors or a Swiss Army knife. This should be obvious, but if you use a hair dryer or any other electrified hair things, get used to living without them. I guess if you're living in Uganda for a while, then you might want to bring a very small travel iron for the mango flies in your clothes? You can probably find razor blades for your razor at the grocery store, or just buy a new razor. I brought extra blades with me, so I never had to look. I know you can find dental floss and other dental health items in the grocery stores:) The big grocery store chain is Nakumatt - in both Uganda and Kenya. But they aren't in every community. If there isn't a Nakumatt in your community (I'd look into it) then you might want to bring extra bathroom stuff if you have particular preferences.

A view of the inside of a Nakumatt - this is what it looks like if you just checked out. Looking back at the cashiers and rows of merchandise for sale, behind them - looks like a US grocery store. PS - if you are vegetarian or vegan, and if you are in Nairobi, then you will find the best selection of fake meat products and assorted other items that you might have a taste for at the Nakumatt located in the Westgate Mall. In my opinion it's the fanciest and nicest mall in Nairobi. You can buy organic bulk items (couscous, etc), the soy milk that you're used to, etc at Healthy U chain stores - but expect to pay much more than you'd pay in the US for the same items.

j.) Bathroom stuff - you will not find chemical-free, organic soaps, shampoos, lotion, lip balm, toothpaste in the grocery and beauty supply stores, no matter how much you are willing to pay for them. In Nairobi, there is a health food store chain called "Healthy U". They sell organic body products, but of course at a premium price. I was told that women's personal hygiene products - name brands - are more expensive in East Africa, so you should bring your own supply with you from the US. Maybe they were a little more expensive in East Africa, but given how much room that could take up in your pack, I don't think it's necessary to bring a huge supply of the items, with you. You can pick up what you need at Nakumatt.

k.) Sunscreen - I was under the impression that it'd be hard to find and/or expensive in East Africa, but as long as you can get to a Nakumatt then you can buy it there. But I'm glad that I brought one bottle of it - you'll need to wear it when you're outside for an extended amount of time.

l.) A nalgene bottle and baking soda to keep it clean. Be VERY CAREFUL with water consumption. You CANNOT use a water filter of any sort (no matter how expensive, how good, no matter WHAT the company says) to purify drinking water in Uganda or Kenya. You MUST drink bottled water, or boil water over the stove before drinking it, or cooking with it. If you boil water over the stove, then it must come to a rolling boil before it's safe to drink. I would not use any water purifier tablets or chemicals, to purify water. I bought large jugs of bottled water at the grocery store, and then poured some of it into a nalgene to make it easier to carry around with me on day trips. Kenya and Uganda DO NOT recycle, by the way.

m.) Towel - I brought a medium sized Sea to Summit microfiber quick-dry camping towel. It still takes some time to dry, but is the best you'll find. You really do not need one any bigger than size medium. It's just more to carry.

n.) Clif bars (never saw them in East Africa), and a set of utensils. I like the bamboo ones from To-Go Ware. They're lightweight and enviro-friendly. When you return to the USA do not put them in the dishwasher - it'll ruin the finish on the utensils. I didn't see plastic, disposable utensils at fast food joints in Kenya. oside from the Clif bars, I don't see a reason to bring any other food with you.

o.) Bring a photocopy of your passport. If you are trying to enter a government building, then you will need to leave your ID with security in the building lobby. They might accept a photocopy of your passport. A hard copy of important phone numbers. I scanned my passport, drivers license, vaccination immunization record yellow card, bank cards, health insurance cards and emailed the PDF documents to myself. That way I could always access them from any computer in East Africa, if I needed them. I also emailed important phone numbers to myself, so that I could also access them from any computer.

4. Medicine Stuff -
OK, I read and heard so much about this - what to pack. In the end, you can probably buy it in East Africa when you need it - assuming you'll have access to a Nakumatt in your community, a doctor, and a pharmacy. But don't rely on me - I'm not a doctor or a health care professional. One of the heaviest parts of my pack was my bag of medical supplies, which I almost never used. But some things I'd pack -
a.) A few bandaids

b.) Anti-itch cream

c.) hand sanitizer, as I already mentioned.

d.) A multi-vitamin and a B-complex vitamin.

e.) your anti-malarial. I took Malarone. Best price turned out to be "order by mail, in bulk" through my health insurance company. After that, Costco has a better price. Something to know is that Malarone only protects you against certain strands of malaria. Not all strands. So you could still get malaria, even if you are religiously taking your Malarone. I assume this is true for all anti-malarials. I don't know about Malarone, but you can buy Doxycycline at pharmacies in East Africa. You might need a prescription from a local doctor - not sure. I don't know if it's cheaper than buying it in the USA or not - I didn't really price it.

f.) DO NOT bring your own supply of cipro (antibiotic) with you, from the USA. My amazing doctor in Nairobi told me that for some reason the cipro from the USA does NOT work on East African diseases. You will need to buy cipro from an East African pharmacy.

5. Documents & Currency -
a.) Passport with a few blank pages (and a photocopy of it)

b.) Drivers License (just for photo ID purposes)

c.) I was told to bring a few passport-sized photos of myself, which I got at Coscto. However no one ever asked me for them.

d.) Yellow card - a record of your vaccinations proof on it that you've had the Yellow Fever vaccine

e.) You really DO NOT need US dollars in East Africa. The only time you will need US dollars is when you enter East Africa, and need to buy your first visa - most likely at the airport. Bring exact change. Check the current price in US dollars before you leave the USA.

f.) You do not need to bring foreign currency with you, purchased from a broker in the USA. You can just pull out some cash in the local currency, from an ATM at the airport. I crossed into Uganda from Kenya in the town of Busia, on the Uganda/Kenya border. There is a Barclay's ATM right there at the border, so you don't even need to bring the other country's currency with you. But I can only confirm that for Busia - I don't know about the other border crossing locations on the Kenya/Uganda border.

g.) Your US-based health insurance card. I don't know how that would work, since I didn't have reason to use it. Proof of Travel Insurance. I looked around a lot, and went with World Nomads. When seeking medical care in East Africa you will not be seen by a doctor, have your lab work done, or get treatment until you have pre-paid. You can pay in cash - just get your receipts. I never presented proof of health insurance - just paid over the counter, out of pocket for care.

h.) ATM card & credit card. Call your bank in advance and tell them your travel plans, so that you will be able to withdraw money and charge things in East Africa. I never used my credit card, nor used my ATM card as a debit card to pay for things. I always paid in cash - withdrew money in local currency from the ATM's. The ATM's you are most likely to see - Barclay's, Equity Bank. I tried to patronize Equity Bank ATM's because the Equity Bank Foundation does a lot of good things, and the bank was established to provide services to low-income East Africans who would not otherwise have access to a bank.

East Africa Day 101 (Mon Aug 22): NBO > LHR > EWR

2011-10-07T21:58:00.001-07:00

By the time I finished updating this blog, packing, and cleaning up after myself I only had about thirty minutes left before my taxi arrived at 5am, to take me to the airport. I managed to close my eyes for a little bit, which I thought would help put a little bit of closure on my last day in East Africa.

When I went out to the compound gates a little before 5am with my things, the taxi I'd arranged for hadn't yet arrived. I spent a few minutes talking with the askari who was on duty at the guard booth, inside of the compound gates. He said that whenever he saw me, I always rushing in and out of the compound gate. He asked me if this was because I was afraid [to be out on the street]. He said that only he sees Americans walking down our street in groups. I was so surprised and entertained by the question. Scared? I explained that I was always running off for meetings and was afraid that I was going to be late, so that's why I was hustling through the compound gate. Nairobi ... it's been my home. Feeling badly that he thought I was scared of our street. I'm also conscious of the fact that I'm leaving the compound without saying goodbye to Donald, one of the other askaris who often asked me about my departure date. Ah well. I will be back!

The taxi driver pulled up at 5am, and helped me put my backpack, second tote bag, and day pack in the trunk. Then it was off to NBO. All summer I knew that I would be going to NBO on August 22, but somehow it still didn't feel quite right. I handed the driver the last of my Kenyan bills, and hauled my stuff out onto the sidewalk. Took a look at this sign hanging above the curb ... wistfully wishing I was heading to another country on the African continent.

Instead I was on my way to Heathrow. No problems clearing security, and then it was up to the gates. I had some extra time before my flight boarded, so I walked through the shops and listened to calls for the flights to Sudan. I went into a little book shop, became overwhelmed by the African-themed titles, and finally let the tears out. The summer was really over - time to go.

When I boarded my Virgin flight and started walking down the aisle, the company was playing a Michael Franti song over the loudspeakers. It made me smile - first time I'd heard his voice all summer - I felt like it was the USA welcoming me back. I didn't sleep much, and wasn't entirely impressed with the movie selection. The sound was skipping on the Jennifer Aniston movie that I wanted to watch. I wound up watching it anyway - twice.

When we landed at Heathrow, I went straight for the nearest water fountain, and marveled at the safe drinking water that came out of the spout. I had a few hours before my next flight. I walked around the airport - the closest I was going to get to London, on this trip. Still missing East Africa.

I sat down beneath a light board with gate announcements on it, to make sure I wouldn't miss my flight. More destinations that sounded pretty good:)

The entertainment system on my second flight was more high-tech than the first flight. Movies on demand. I first watched "Water for Elephants", because it rang a bell. Sad, but good. Next, I watched "Never Say Never". I knew that one of my sorority sisters works with Justin Bieber, but I almost fell out of my seat when I saw her in the beginning of the documentary. But it wasn't just the beginning - she was in the whole thing. It made the film even better, but I would have loved it anyway. If I could have jumped through that tiny screen and into the movie then I absolutely would have. It's a beautiful story - if you get to see it, then see it. I even love this trailer:)

I didn't have time to re-watch the documentary - some other time:) My flight landed at EWR (Newark, NJ) shortly thereafter, at about midnight. I somehow managed to be the very last person in line at immigration. The airport was pretty much empty. The immigration officer, when he saw how long I'd been in East Africa asked me if I was a missionary. Nope. But I guess he sees a lot of missionaries. Picked up my luggage and then that was it - welcome home, Nicole.

East Africa Day 100 (Sun Aug 21): This is It

2011-10-07T17:03:00.001-07:00

... my last full day in Kenya and the end of my East Africa summer. It was full of last minute errands, photos to document every-day memories, and a visit to the University of Nairobi campus near my apartment compound.

The University of Nairobi campus is right down the street from my compound. While I'd intended to walk around campus and meet with University staff members, I didn't get there until today. Unfortunately it was a Sunday, so there were few students on the grounds. My road and this part of town is pretty noisy, so it was amazing how quiet it was on campus, once I passed through the arch and entered the inside of the compound. I wish the bookstore had been open - would have been fun to have seen what the students are reading in class.

Before I left for East Africa, I didn't know what to expect of Nairobi. I had heard that it wasn't that different from London. It is indeed a city! This is the view that I saw every day, when I walked down my block towards the city center.

I posted a photo of University Way, yesterday - as seen from the City Center, heading back to my apartment. This is another view of University Way, from the other direction - crossing over into the City Center. The road that was under construction all summer. I remember my first time crossing it, and how it intimidated me. Now? No sweat:)

I continued on into the City Center, and then down to the Hilton shopping mall near the Kenya National Archives building, to pick up a few things from some of the area shops. Doing my best to leave Kenya without any shillings to exchange into dollars! I then jumped on a bus, and went out to Ngong Road to pick up one last medicine from a pharmacy, that I needed to bring home with me.

There's a big bus terminal (of sorts) between the Hilton complex and the Kenya National Archives building. I used to go here to pick up one particular bus, because that bus was always full by the time it got to the terminal on Kenyatta Ave, which was a shorter walking distance to my compound. I knew that I would miss the buses, so I snapped this photo before jumping on to head out to Ngong Road.

I stopped off at the Yaya Centre for the last time, and happened up on the Maasai Market! Apparently it's there in the parking lot outside of Yaya every Sunday, but I never happened upon it. Fortunately I had very little currency left at this point, so I managed to walk through the Maasai Market without spending anything. Amazing!

I then headed back to the apartment, packed up, cooked my last meal in the kitchen, called local friends on the phone to say goodbye, and caught up on my blog from my mosquito net-enclosed bed.

I used to sit on my bed with my pillow behind me, surrounded by the mosquito net, on my netbook listening to usually Taylor Swift, the Zac Brown Band, or Sara Bareilles. This was my view!

And so ends my last day in Kenya.

East Africa Day 99 (Sat Aug 20): Final Doctor’s Visit

2011-08-21T18:10:00.000-07:00

I did a decent job of sleeping on the overnight bus back to Nairobi. We arrived at 5am, earlier than expected. When the sun rose I headed back to my apartment and took a shower and a nap, before heading back to the Centre for Tropical and Travel Medicine for my last (?) round of tests.

I saw Dr. Chunge’s wife, Dr. Ruth, for the first time. She runs the lab and is a top pathologist. She was surprised that I had not been tested for bilharzia, since I’d been in the Nile River twice this summer. She said that almost everyone she sees who has been in the Nile has bilharzia. Unfortunately my results won’t be ready until Monday after I’ve departed for the USA so I was given a prescription for the med just in case, and picked it up after my appointment. We re-did the stool, urine and blood tests. I waited for the lab results, and learned that I still have one of the diseases, but that it should be gone in five days. Then of course I still have the one that we just started treating about a week ago. Uhh I am SO TIRED of being sick, and even more so of worrying about catching something else. (As much as I love CTTM:)

That was the excitement of the day!

Heading home from the CBD ("town") to my compound, I was inspired to take this photo of the road that I have to cross every time I go anywhere. It's called University Way. The first time I crossed it, on my way to see the apartment for the first time, I thought it was the most dangerous road a pedestrian could ever have to cross without a bridge or any sort of traffic signals. But now, of course ... I'm used to it:) That's not to imply that I'll MISS it:)

photo: looking north from the CBD towards my apartment compound. The white vehicle is a matatu.

East Africa Day 98 (Fri Aug 19): Diani Beach

2011-08-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

I got up early this AM, took what is likely my last cold African shower for the summer, and checked out of the hotel shortly after the sun rose. Headed down to the Ferry, so that I could leave the island that is Mombasa, bound for the southern coast. I decided on Diani Beach because my friend Elissa had volunteered there with a sea turtle organization at the end of last year, and had good things to say about it. A fellow Daraja volunteer spent a week there this summer, before coming to Daraja and had liked it. Plus, it was a short matatu ride from Mombasa, which was key because I was very limited on time.

Even though I was doing the reverse commute – crossing the ferry heading out of the city in the AM, then south – it was still relatively crowded when I got to the ferry gates. There was a Kenyan in front of me carrying one of the bales of used clothing. It was a clear plastic bag (as usual) and had a label (as usual) on it that said “Bed Clothes”. I wondered where he was taking it, for re-sale, and where the clothes had come from. Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of New York Yankees clothing on Kenyans … I think New York is calling me home:) I waited for maybe 10 minutes before the gates opened and we were all let down the ramp to board the ferry. Cars and bicycles joined us. Unfortunately no photos permitted. Interestingly there were only two other wazungu boarding the ferry with me – where are the other tourists? :)

Once we got to the other side (about a 10 minute ride) I followed the Kenyans up the hill, and found the matatu park. Jumped into a matatu that would be stopping off at Diani Beach. Unfortunately that matatu broke down somewhere enroute to Diani, and there was much discussion between the passengers and driver in Swahili. Uhh one of those times I mildly wished I could communicate in Swahili. Anyway, the broken down matatu put us on two other matatus that pulled up behind us minutes later, and paid for all of our fares. I was then on my way to Diani. It was a short trip – maybe 20 minutes.

When I got into town in Diani, I had to board another matatu to take me to the beach. When I got close to the beach I found it was a series of resorts on the left (coast side) and tourist-related business strip malls on the right-hand side of the road.
I exited the matatu in a random spot on the road that looked just as good as any other, and walked into a tourist center to ask for directions and advice. I was told to cross back to the coast side of the road, walk 100 yards down to a restaurant/resort called Two Thieves, and use it’s pathways to access the beach (which is entirely public).

I followed the road down to the coast, and walked through the dining area/ lounge/bar to get to the beach. It was beautiful – white sand, light blue water, all sunshine even though it wasn’t even 10am.

Having read that there are many “beach boys” on the coast, but that the hotel/resort askari’s are good at keeping them at bay, I walked down the beach to the first busy-looking beach-front resort, and laid down in the sand to read my book and relax. But not before encountering my first Beach Boy, who essentially escorted me to the resort and left me there. There were a lot of wazungus at the resort, and some in the warm water. It was very relaxing. A Kenyan walked by with a chain of four or five camels, outfitted I think for camel rides. I can’t remember the last time I saw a camel this close. They are beautiful animals, and so big and peaceful looking! It rained very lightly on and off. But who cares – we were all wearing bathing suits, anyway. First time I’d shown that much skin since … I don’t know when, given that it’s extremely inappropriate to even show your shoulders in East Africa. And here I was wearing a bikini. (Which is appropriate on the beach.) Was soooo nice! Even in the rain!

After maybe an hour of that, I started walking south along the coast to see what else there was to see. Not that much – more beach boys, some vendors, many resorts, some boats, some kite surfers, swimmers – and a lot of beautiful sand and OCEAN! :) I imagined the world map in front of me, and the coastline where I was walking – that kind of put it in perspective – walking along the coast in East Africa! I had so much fun splashing in the warm water, as I walked.

When I got quite a bit further down (maybe after walking 1.5 hours) I came to a sand bar that extended far out into the water. People had walked from the beach to the edge of the sandbar, pretty far out into the ocean. It was amazing!

Of course I had to head out there. I met some nice tourists and we switched out cameras. I got some pretty decent photos, I think:)

photo: on the sandbar, looking towards the shore.

From there I headed south for maybe another 30 minutes towards the Tanzanian border. I then decided that I really had to turn around, so that I could get back to Mombasa in time to catch my overnight bus back to Nairobi. I started walking up north, but first stopped to check out some of the resorts.

They were really beautiful – pools, beachfront bars, lots of lounge chairs, and music. I can see why people like to vacation here, though I think if all you do when you come to Kenya is visit a resort, then you are really missing out on the country.

On the way north I seemed to run into plastic waste along the water’s edge, where I hadn’t seen it on the way down south. (And some beautiful shells – but take only photographs, leave only footprints.)

I picked it all up and dropped it off at resorts along the way. One resort employee thanked me for taking care of the marine life, and another really didn’t want to bother with taking it from me. Most interesting were the two bits of brightly colored flip flop bottoms that I found in two different parts of the beach. They'd both been out there for ages - I could barely tell what they were. It was an interesting informal survey into Rise Above Plastics, I guess:) Speaking of, I was inspired to continue to pick up trash by the Surfrider kids who have campaigns encouraging people to pick up even three pieces of trash. At first, when I was seeing very little trash I thought maybe it's not worth picking it up, but then I thought - "no, the kids say that picking up even three pieces matters":)

After walking even further north (past the point where I’d first entered the beach) I exited through another resort back to the road, where I caught a matatu headed to the ferry.

Crossed the water on the ferry, and then walked back through town to the bus station. Waited in the lounge for my bus to board at almost 10pm, and then it was an overnight bus ride back to Nairobi that was due to arrive in Nairobi at 6am the next day. Just in time to visit the Centre for Tropical and Travel Medicine before they close!

East Africa Day 97 (Thurs Aug 18): All Aboard for the Kenyan Coast!

2011-08-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in one of last week’s posts, I’ve been hoping to visit the Kenyan coast before I leave East Africa on Monday. Today was the day! I got up before the sun came up and power walked over to the area in town where the bus companies have their offices. Fortunately one of my first choice companies still had a spot on one of the buses that was leaving in about 30 minutes for Mombasa, the biggest Kenyan city on the coast. I purchased a ticket and sat down to wait for my bus to load. It was kind of like Greyhound, not that I really ride Greyhound in the USA:) Comfortable enough, though it was a long ride. We reached Mombasa a little after 4pm, with only one bathroom/food break at a gas station/rest stop.

I was not particularly impressed with the level of cleanliness and order that I found in Mombasa. The Rough Guide warned that it is dirtier than Nairobi. The sidewalks aren’t exactly there, and when they are, they were very crowded. I mainly walked in the street. This was one of those afternoons when I looked around, noticed that 99% of the time I was the only muzungu around in a not-so-great area where I had no idea where I was (though in broad daylight), and wondered if I am brave and particularly well-adjusted to East Africa travel, or if I might just be lacking some common sense. Well, it was another adventure that ended perfectly well!

I tried to navigate the busy, very dirty roads in a direction that I hoped led to a view of the ocean. Didn’t find that, but I did wind up in back alleys that were neighborhoods – ones that felt absolutely nothing like East Africa. I could have been on another continent entirely. It was amazing. Best I can say is that it was kind of like Venice, Italy. After a while of aimlessly wandering in what I suspected were circles, I sat down on some “nice” concrete steps in front of a bank, to read the novel I recently started “Love In A Time of Cholera”.

Another one of Sowmya’s friends, Wilson was meeting up with me at 5:30pm. Wilson is Kenyan, and teaches Peace Studies at Mombasa Polytechnic, one of Kenya’s public universities. He offered to meet up with me for dinner, and advise me on my research. This was one of the reasons I came to the coast. He found me on the steps before 5:30pm.

We jumped into a three-wheeled tin toy-looking car, and were taken to Fort Jesus, the main historic site in Mombasa.

It had just closed, but we walked around the outside and I saw my first glimpse of the ocean off of the Kenyan coast. Beautiful! Again, it reminded me of Venice.

We took a walk along the coastline, and then Wilson showed me the old part of the city. Again, it reminded me of Venice. (We also saw some wazungu tourists, which made me feel better:)

We then headed to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. I got eggplant deep-fried with black bean sauce. Well-cooked (hopefully not contaminated) and delicious!

After dinner, Wilson walked me to my hotel and we parted ways. It was a bit of a loud night – with the call to prayer, the overnight buses departing for their long trips, and general street noise. (Muslims pray five times a day. Each prayer seems to be fully conducted over a loudspeaker system, with the loudspeaker set outside of the building so that the entire neighborhood can hear it. There are many Muslims in Mombasa.) My room had a TV that had Al Jazeera. I left it on all night – novelty of having a TV, (somewhat) drowned out the street noise, plus the first time I’ve watched Al Jazeera on a TV set:)

East Africa Day 96 (Wed Aug 17): Kenya High School Tour, Last Day at Equity Congress & Health Update

2011-08-21T17:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I realized that I needed to squeeze a visit to Kenya High School into the schedule! I was so lucky that the Principal, Rosemary, who I had been introduced to back in May, was able to accommodate my request to visit campus this AM. She introduced me to Margaret, who has been teaching History at KHS for the past 25 years! I took a matatu over to the KHS campus this AM – a neighborhood I’d never been to. It was absolutely beautiful to my eyes – in that it reminded me of suburban New York:) I walked up a driveway to the KHS gates and saw an absolutely amazingly beautiful campus that looks more like a private US university campus than anything I’ve yet seen in East Africa.

Margaret later explained that the school recently celebrated its 100 year anniversary. The campus was constructed by the British, and was used to educate British children until Kenyan Independence, when it began accepting African Kenyan children. It’s now a girls secondary school, run by the Kenyan government – yet it’s a top tier “national” school. I wanted to visit because if you look at the list of the Top 10 Girls from last year’s KCSE exam, six of those girls attended KHS. They have to be doing something right – I was very curious to learn more about what the school!

Margaret took me into the Administration Building, and we sat in the lobby outside of the Principal’s office for over an hour, talking. I hadn’t prepared a list of questions before my visit, but I wasn’t short on things to ask her that’s for sure!

Some interesting things I learned – the school has five dorms (called “hostels” in Kenya.) Each dorm is a mix of students from all four grades/forms. The Form 1’s share large dormitory rooms, the Form 2’s share smaller dormitory rooms (all with bunk beds), the Form 3’s share suites, and the Form 4’s each have their own room with a bed and a desk (called a “cubicle”.)

Each newly arrived Form 1 student is given a “school mom” in Form 2. From my understanding, the structure works exactly the same as the Lehigh A Chi O family trees. A Form 1 has a “school mom” in Form 2, a “school grandmother” in Form 3, and a “school great-grandmother” in Form 4. So each KHS student is part of a lineage – I believe that was even the term that Margaret used, which is exactly the same word used in A Chi O. Naturally I found this all very appealing, given how much I love the A Chi O family trees:) When a student reaches Form 4, their “school mom” has graduated, so the Form 4 receives a member of the faculty as a personal coach/mom. I learned a lot of other very interesting things, but that was one of my favorites:)

Form 3 and Form 4 students were on campus, but they were in class so I didn’t meet any of the students. I did get to peer into a classroom and saw the students in class, though!

photo: a classroom. Note the beautiful floor!

Margaret told me that the Kenyan Government requires all secondary schools to administer a mock KCSE exam prior to the actual administration of the exam, so that the Government has a score for each student, just in case something happens and the students cannot take the KCSE. (Margaret said that everyone began to understand the need for this when post-election violence meant that the KCSE did not happen on schedule, that year.) So the Form 4 students were getting ready to take their mock KCSE exam at KHS.

Margaret gave me a great tour of campus – I saw the beautiful computer lab, classrooms, cafeteria, outside of the dorm buildings, the outdoor in-ground pool (swimming lessons are part of the curriculum), the inside and outside of the school library, the outside of the school church, and the faculty offices where each faculty member has a desk and a locker. What an amazing place to be a student! I was so thankful for the time that Margaret spent with me!

photo: library

photo: Church

I then rushed over to Kenyatta University, to catch the second Centres of Excellence presentation, which had been scheduled for 2pm. In arrived at the lunch hour, and got to have lunch in the Equity Staff dining room with the young women who have been running the Pre-University Student sessions. I was so glad that I got to see and say goodbye to them! I mentioned that I had learned that morning that my brother, Justin had been in a bad accident, and they made me feel better.

Unfortunately the Centres of Excellence presentation was pushed back, and I had to leave before it started. Ah well – at least I got to attend the session with the students and Rosemary last week, and got to hear part of yesterday’s presentation!

I had to rush back into town, to get to my follow up appointment with Dr. Chunge at the Centre for Tropical and Travel Medicine. We discussed how I have been feeling since starting the new med last week. He assured me that based on my appearance and report, that I was likely in significantly better health. I won’t be cleared of one of the diseases for another month or so. Since my typhoid vaccine that I received in the US failed, the office gave me another typhoid shot. It’s good for 2.5 – 3 years. Hmmm … where am I going to, next? :) I also had to get two B12 shots, which might be the most painful ones that I’ve gotten this year. But that should address some symptoms I’ve been experiencing. I love going to CTTM – each visit is a learning experience! There’ll be one more of those – Dr. Chunge and I decided that I should come back to the Clinic one more time for more lab tests, before I depart Kenya for the USA. That will have to be Saturday morning, because that’s the last time that they will be open before Monday, when I fly back to NY.

Again, another day that I made it back to the compound just in time for the sunset … or maybe a little bit after that …

East Africa Day 95 (Tues Aug 16): KenSAP Meeting & Equity Centres of Excellence

2011-08-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

I went back to Kenyatta University’s campus this AM, hoping to catch the Pre-University students, who were part of the 2011 Centres of Excellence give one of their two presentations. I learned that the presentation would take place at 2pm. Yes!

In the AM the students were broken up into groups. Each group met with principals from Kenya’s top high schools for discussions about community service. I walked around the Congress grounds and listened in on the discussions.

I also got to meet Kilonzo, one of the Directors of the Education Pillar. He was born in Kenya but was raised in the US, and only recently returned to Kenya with his family. We had such an interesting conversation about the differences between US and Kenyan education systems, and the goals of the Education Pillar. I’m so glad that I happened to meet him – it was a very enlightening conversation! I caught a little bit more of the talks afterwards, including a session where students were invited to raise their hands and speak about how they could address problems. It was really interesting to hear the problems that the students identified and their solutions.

I then met up with one of the KenSAP founders, Mike, for lunch in the nearby Kenyatta University Conference Centre Cafeteria. We were joined by his wife, Lillian, who also teaches at the University. I was so excited to meet them and learn more about KenSAP!

I’d heard about KenSAP from three different persons, while conducting my research – Purity at Akili Dada, Mari Nelson at the American Educational Advising Center, and Daniel an Equity Pre-University Scholar who is about to begin his freshman year at UPenn that I met at the Equity Congress last week. So I finally looked into KenSAP over the weekend, and was so impressed. I found a contact for KenSAP on the website and requested an informational interview.

KenSAP was counded in 2004 by Mike and John. Since then they have helped fifty five Kenyans gain admission and full scholarships to top US universities (including Lehigh!) based on academic merit and athletic ability. Mike is a former member of the Kenyan Olympic Team and a world-class runner. Mike and John met when John was in the Peace Corps in Kenya. When Mike was in the US for the Olympics, John called him up and they eventually co-founded KenSAP, after working to get Mike’s son into a US university, and observing how challenging that was, even though Mike had attended US universities (including Stanford for two masters degrees) and John is a Harvard alum, so they were familiar with the college application process.

I learned that the KenSAP scholars live together for several weeks over the summer, where they are mentored through the US university application process. The students run with a Kenyan running coach each AM, and are tutored during the day by American university students or recent graduates who have successfully navigated the application process themselves and are therefore very familiar with it! The Americans get to live on campus and run with the students, thereby benefitting from Kenyan training conditions, making the Americans more competitive when they return to the USA. I’m sure you can already tell that I immediately started imagining what it would be like, to be a KenSAP summer teacher:)

Mike and Lillian are hands-on here in Kenya, while John helps the students get settled in the USA when they get to the US for university. Mike and Lillian found that they had to turn away such amazing students because they just didn’t have room for them in the KenSAP program. So last year Lillian started her own program for talented boys and girls, to help them through the US university application process. She has also been very successful, and hopes to continue to grow the program (which does not have a running component, that I know of.) It is obvious that Mike and Lillian are very passionate about the work that they do, and that they’ll keep doing it for a very long time. I felt so lucky to get to meet them today! I’m hoping to get to catch up with John when I get back to the USA.

After lunch I headed back to the Equity Congress for the Centres of Excellence 2pm presentation. Unfortunately it was pushed back, and I only got to stay for the first part of the presentation before the sun began to lower in the sky, and I knew that I needed to start home if I was going to make it to the compound before sunset. But the part that I did hear of the presentation was excellent! A handful of the Pre-University mentors sat in the special chairs set up behind the podium, in matching Equity polo shirts.

Rosemary introduced them to the rest of the Equity Congress students, and gave a brief overview of the program.

Then a mentor took the podium one at a time, to present on a different topic. I only saw the first topic, and then the beginning of the second. The first topic was Time Management, and the second was Mentor and Mentee Relationships. It was so interesting to hear the mentors speak. The first speaker – the only one I saw in full – basically took his observations from his time at the secondary school where he was teaching/mentoring and his own personal experiences as a top secondary school student, and turned it into a motivational speech full of practical, specific tips for the students in the audience. Personally, I thought it was extremely well done. Again, my camera didn’t allow me to capture the full speech due to limited memory, but I got the last part.

INSERT VIDEO ... at a later date ... taking too long to upload to YouTube tonight. IN the meantime here's a still photo of the Pre-University mentor speaking ...

I made it home just as the sun was setting … or errr maybe a little after that. I am becoming an expert on this:)

East Africa Day 94 (Mon Aug 15): Coffee with Edith & Orphan Elephant Tuck In

2011-08-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

My friend from San Francisco, Sowmya recently took graduate level courses in Austria and Costa Rica. As a result, she has friends all over the world. She had introduced me to her friend, Edith from Cameroon over email before I left the USA for East Africa, because Edith is in Nairobi for the summer. Edith and I finally met up today!

Edith is staying with her Aunt and Uncle this summer. They live in Nairobi and run A Global Healthcare Public Foundation, which they co-founded a number of years ago. Her aunt and uncle consult for medical labs in East Africa – training the lab technicians, etc - and then use the funds to support healthcare projects in several countries including Kenya. Edith is working for the Foundation in Public Relations. She is also conducting research for her thesis, for her graduate program where she met Sowmya. She is researching the relationship between Indian Kenyans and African Kenyans. I asked many questions and loved hearing about her aunt and uncle’s work, her family, job prospects in Cameroon (fortunately she found a great job in development, and starts in a matter of weeks!), and weddings in Cameroon. (She’s planning her wedding!) It was really, really nice to get to sit with her in the Foundation’s conference room, and to get to know her. I’m so thankful to Sowmya for the introduction!

I then took the bus (and then a matatu) over to Nairobi National Park’s David Sheldrick Trust to “tuck in” the orphan baby elephant that I’d signed up to sponsor for a year, when I visited the orphanage a few weeks ago. What an adventure that was. I first got off the bus at the wrong gate to the park, then jumped into a matatu full of Kenyan teenagers, where the guy collecting the cash tried to overcharge me but I wasn’t going to stand for that, then I got off at the wrong stop and wound up walking down the road, where I finally found the right gate to enter the park for the Trust, but then got lost once I entered the park. Two park employees driving a big Kenya Wildlife Agency truck pulled up, and offered me a ride to the Trust. They dropped me off in the parking lot, which was hilarious since the lot was full of private safari vehicles and a lot of wazungu American tourists. The only time I see American tourists is when I walk by the Fairmont Hotel in the early mornings and see Americans eating breakfast on the porch, or when I am at the Trust to see the orphan elephants.

There weren’t many people there – though I guess that’s because I had to pre-register for the event, and the Trust only allows a certain number of sponsors to come for the Tuck-In each night. I heard one woman talking about NYC, and asked her where she was from – Westchester County, on the opposite side of the Hudson River from my hometown. Last time I was at the Trust, the woman on line in front of me to sign up to sponsor an orphan baby elephant was from NYC. I did say that the Trust has a lot of American supporters:) Maybe I should be specific and say perhaps even many New Yorkers:)
However this evening I also met a really nice woman from Fort Collins, CO and some Europeans.

So we were escorted into the Trust grounds at about 5pm. We were first taken to the paddock where the blind rhino lives.

The Trust tried to re-introduce him to his mom who had rejected him because of his blindness, but she would not accept him. The Trust even tried to operate to restore his sight, but it was impossible to correct and he remains blind. So he lives in the paddock because it is too dangerous to let him out into Nairobi National Park during the day, alone. There is another orphaned rhino at the Trust though that the blind rhino adores, so he lives a happy life! As I mentioned in the last post where I recapped my initial visit to the Trust, the staff are wonderful, too.

As we stood looking at the rhino in the paddock, we turned around to watch the first of two groups of baby orphan elephants returning to the Trust property with their handlers, from their day spent in Nairobi National Park.

They walked in a line right by us, and right to their respective stalls.

photo: Mutara's stall is on the left.

We followed them, and got to watch as the handler in each stall fed his baby elephant mlik from the baby bottle, put a blanket over the elephant, and made sure that it had branches with leaves on them to feed on, and just generally supervised the elephant as it got ready for bed.

photo: Mutara getting her bedtime bottle.

We were welcomed to walk around the Trust property to visit the different stalls, and to talk with the handlers in each stall and observe the elephants.

I learned that each elephant has its own self-determined bed-time, and that it usually goes to bed at the same time each night. The little/youngest ones go to bed first because they are so tired from their days in the park. The handlers are with the elephants 24/7, so the handler sleeps in a bunk in their elephant’s stall.

After maybe 15 minutes, the second group of elephants returned from the park with their handlers and went into their stalls. I didn’t see this group walk up and into their stalls, but I found my sponsored elephant, Mutara soon after she entered her stall. I got to watch her drink her bottle of milk, and then the antics began. Oh, I love this elephant! First, her handler tried to put a blanket on her back. But she decided to pull it off, using her trunk and tried to dump it onto the ground in her stall (the floor is covered in straw, just like horses).

The handler grabbed it from her, and put it in a safe place on the side of the stall. Then she stuck herself underneath the handler’s bunk bed, and crossed both her front and rear legs, while scratching herself against the wall. She stuck her trunk up onto the bed, and it looked like she might be trying to cause some trouble because the handler kept trying to shoo her away from it.

One of the other handlers told me that the baby elephants, when they get hungry, will wake their handlers up at all hours by literally pulling the handlers off of their bunks and onto the floor. So maybe he was trying to discourage Mutara from getting any ideas, here:) She then came over to the stall door (the bottom half of which was closed, but the top half was open so that we could all watch). She opened her mouth and rubbed it against the top of the door, as if she was showing off her teeth.

She let the three of us who were watching her pet her, and scratch what we thought might be itchy. She generally put on a huge show for us. It was hilarious. Totally obvious that she was loving the attention! I couldn’t help but wonder how she’d like being in the wild, without human beings to tell her how pretty she is:) But she’s a wild elephant, and I will be glad the day that she leaves the Trust and is released in Tasvo National Park! I was so thankful that I got to spend this time with her – really, really sweet. I am so thankful for all that the Trust does, and that I decided to sponsor her.

photo: in front of Mutara's stall.

After leaving Mutara (who wasn’t anywhere near close to going to bed, from what I could tell), I walked around to some of the other stalls to observe the other elephants. At least two of the little ones were sound asleep, lying on their sides on the soft bedding on the floor, with their blankets over them. Their handlers and I spoke in whispers, so that we wouldn’t wake the babies up.

The Trust staff member who gave us the tour talked with me about the Trust as they were wrapping things up at 6pm. He said that he’s been working at the Trust for 8 years. The African Kenyans who first come to work for the Trust see it as demanding work because it’s a 24/7 job, but it’s a job. But he said that once they start working there, they get very attached to the elephants and the work that they do. That’s very obvious to anyone who sees the Disney film “Born to be Wild” or visits the Trust. It’s actually one of my favorite parts – if not my favorite part – of the Trust.

The same staff member called a taxi for me, and I got a ride home just as a heavy rain began to fall on Nairobi. What an amazing way to spend an evening. If anyone comes to Kenya then you must sponsor an elephant and visit for the Tuck-In!

East Africa Day 93 (Sun Aug 14): Coffee with Nila

2011-08-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

Elien and Jan were up in the dark this AM and on their way to the airport. I went back to bed and slept for a few more hours. My second to last Sunday in East Africa – I had to leave the house, and make the most of my summer!

I made plans to meet up with Nila, to hang out one more time before I left. We met up near her apartment building, off of Ngong Road. She lives in a really nice residential area, behind/off of the main strip. I wouldn’t have known those quiet, winding roads were there if I hadn’t met up with her in her neighborhood. We walked down some backroads to reach the Yaya Centre. On our way up to the Food Court on the second floor, we ran into two of her friends – both young American women. One woman is flying back to the USA tomorrow, to start her second year of law school at Columbia. She was here for the summer doing a summer placement. The other woman is here on a more permanent basis. It was fun to meet them.

Nila and I found the food court. Nila ordered lunch, but since I’m avoiding eating out (possibly contaminated food that my body just can’t handle) I had hot tea:) Nila helped me plan my upcoming trip to the coast, and we just hung out and chatted. It was great to get to meet up with her again.

photo: Nila and I, taken inside of Yaya. Yep, western-style mall!

The sun was setting as we walked out of Yaya, so we parted ways there and headed for our respective homes. It turned out to be a beautiful day!

East Africa Day 92 (Sat Aug 13): TEDxKibera – Empowerment Through Art

2011-08-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

This AM, thanks to an invitation from Suraj, Elien, Jan (my Belgian friends) and I took the 46 bus to the Yaya Centre, and then the 8 Matatu to Karanja, Kibera. From there it was a short, easy walk through Kibera to Mchanganyiko Hall, where TEDxKibera was being held today.

We were early, and had no problem finding unoccupied plastic chairs in the front of the room. (The very same plastic chairs that I’ve seen all over Uganda and Kenya!) But when I turned around later in the day, the room was full – mostly with African Kenyans.

I recognized a few people – Acumen Fund East Africa Fellow Ramadhan, and Shining Hope for Communities’ new Development Director, Kim. It was great to get to catch up with them, before the event started. Ramadhan had had a concert the previous night, which I hadn’t been able to attend. He said that Suraj had been there, and that it went well. Kim told me about meeting some of the families who benefit from Shining Hope for Communities’ programs, on the afternoon after I’d first met her – on Thursday. She said that one of the second graders at the girls school taught her father to read and write. Love it! :)

This was my very first TED event, so I have little to compare it to, but it was great! The tech set up was very well done, the building was perfect, and the MC did a great job introducing all of the speakers and the pre-recorded TED videos that we watched between speakers.

Suraj, who was the other organizer, handled the laptop and power point presentation slides for the speakers.

As usual, I took notes. Here’s an outline of the event:

1.) We watched a pre-recorded TED video of Emmanuel Jal, recorded in July ’09 – Oxford, England. He said “music can change the way you live your life and you don’t even know it.” I think I get that – see big photo on the top of my blog:)

2.) We heard from Acumen Fund East Africa Fellow Bonafice, about his photography. He said that he likes to take photos because a photo captures a moment in time, and then it can be reflected up on later. He also talked about politics – he said that Kenya’s leaders have lied. They promised the youth that their time would come, but it never came. Bonafice said that their time is today. The government has failed youth. The youth are now the government. The youth should take over and work on their own problems. (This is similar to what I heard at the Equity Congres.) Bonafice reminded everyone that anyone can run for a government position as an Independent!

3.) A young, female African Kenyan poet spoke about her current work. She began her talk with a poem. Unfortunately I was only able to capture part of it, before my camera gave up on me, but it's still worth posting ...

She was studying abroad, and then in 2006 was awarded a scholarship to work with a mentor. She decided to use this opportunity to write a poem about “home”. But then she realized that she didn’t really know where she comes from - Kenya, her country – her lineage, her mother tongue. She returned to Kenya and set out on a path that has been taking her all around the country to learn her place, and share stories through her poetry about “home”. She said that “the work of the poet is to mediate between the dead and the unborn.” She ended by saying that “poetry allows us to see each other’s souls … so go do some art!”

4.) We watched a pre-recorded TED talk by Sarah Kay from March ’11 –Long Beach, CA. Sarah writes poems to figure things out. She encouraged listeners to be bold and to believe in themselves. Sarah said that her mother said that when she was born, she looked around the hospital room as if to say “I’ve seen all of this before.” But even so, she said that her knees still buckled when she performed as a fourteen year old at the Bowery Poetry Club, in front of adults who encouraged her (and her parents who drove her to and from the Club). Check out the organization she founded as a high school student, and then re-invented as a high school student, Project Voice.

5.) Acumen Fund East Africa Fellow Ramadhan, whose project, which empowers youth through music, is called “We are Watching You”. He said that “nothing is more important than a young person who believes in himself, that he can make a difference.” He talked a little bit about the Acumen Fund East Africa Fellows Program and invited a friend on stage, to perform a song. I met his friend after the event ended, and he had just launched a new band at Ramadhan's event the previous night. Ramadhan is on the left, his friend on the right ...

6.) We then heard from a Kibera artist who teaches Kibera kids art, and also creates art himself. He showed us photos of the kids doing art, and some of his own paintings. He said that the neighborhood kids used to refer to themselves as “gangsters” because they were the ones who had nice clothes. Now, the kids call themselves artists. He said that what art has done for him, he will do for art.

7.) Sara Mitaru spoke (and sang) about her focus for the year, using a Nigerian friend’s song. The chorus is “we (the youth) are the future, we are part of this”. I was excited to hear her presentation because I’d really enjoyed her performances at the Acumen Fund Launch event in Nairobi, last month. So when she began to speak, I started to film … and then unfortunately ran out of space on my memory card. But I captured most of it …

8.) We next watched a film about the street artist JR, who received the 2011 TED Prize. I remember checking out his work when he was in the running for the prize.

His work reminds me of Vik Muniz, an artist that I’d gotten to see a documentary about, earlier this year when I was still living in San Francisco. I believe the screening of Waste Land was part of a Human Rights Film Festival at the University of San Francisco. I encourage everyone to see Waste Land ... bring tissues.

9.) We watched another TED video – Richard St. John, recorded in February ’05 at a TED conference.

10.) The final speaker was Kennedy of Shining Hope for Communities. He grew up in Kibera but currently attends Wesleyan. He said that he wanted an education so that he could share his message, his experiences as a Kiberan, with the world. He said that the rest of the world, who has the stats but not the Kibera experience – understand him because of his education. He said his role models are MLK, Jr, Bill Clinton (who he got to meet on his first trip to the USA for the World Social Forum), and Ghandi. When Kennedy was younger he used to tell his friends that action was more important than money, and so they used to act to improve his community. He said that no one can make things better for you, from the outside. It’s on you to make it better – you have the power. Just like he used to tell his friends – “let’s do what we can be.”

The speakers finished at about 2pm. Then everyone cleared out of the hall, and gathered in the courtyard for drinks, snacks, and conversation. I got to meet some Kiberans doing interesting things in the nonprofit space. I also got to talk with Suraj, Elien, Jan, Kimerly and Jessica Posner some more, which was a lot of fun!

photo: Elien and I.

photo: Jan, deep in conversation.

Elien, Jan and I stopped at the Yaya Centre on our way back to eat at Java House, and to buy groceries for the night’s dinner which Jan insisted on cooking! Once we were in the CBD on our way back to my apartment, we stopped off so that the Belgians could do some gift shopping before heading to the airport in the AM. Unfortunately by the time we got back to my apartment, none of us were feeling particularly well. It was an early night!

East Africa Day 91 (Fri Aug 12): Coffee with John, East Africa Acumen Fellow & Precious Blood Secondary School Visit

2011-08-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

After the Acumen event on July 28, I reached out to John, the Executive Director of Junior Achievement Kenya, to see if he would meet me for coffee. I was really looking forward to hearing more about the East Africa Fellows Program from a fellow's point of view, and love the work that John is doing, so I was looking forward to hearing more about what he is up to. We were able to coordinate our schedules and met up this AM at Java House, for coffee and tea.

We sat and talked for a long time. It was one of those conversations that makes you think and question yourself, even as you are talking. Wow - our meeting had a big influence on me, and the way that I have been thinking about some things. I really appreciated that John allowed me to share my observations with him, and the feedback that he gave me. Really, really significant stuff. I was also so inspired by him, and the work that he is doing. Too bad that I won't get to have conversations with all of the East Africa Fellows, but two of them ARE speaking at TEDxKibera tomorrow, so at least I'll get to hear more from them!

After coffee, I was able to make last-minute plans for the afternoon. I called Jacinta, the Principal of Precious Blood Secondary School-Riruta, and asked if I could come visit campus. She welcomed me to visit this afternoon. I was so excited!!!! I headed right over on the bus.

The school is located in Kawangare, another one of Kenya's slums. Precious Blood is affiliated with Amani, the school for street children where Angela holds her Art Club on Saturday mornings. In fact, Amani's campus is right next to Precious Blood's campus. So once the bus entered Kawangare, I actually knew exactly where I was and felt very comfortable finding my way to the Precious Blood compound gates. Though to be fair, Kawangare is a lot less intimidating than Kibera so finding my way to Precious Blood was really no different than finding my way to the Center for Tropical and Travel Medicine's building from the Nakumatt Mall, across the street from CTTM:)

I had wanted to visit Precious Blood in part because the national (public), secondary boarding school for girls was founded in 1964 and is one of the country's top secondary schools for girls. As soon as I arrived on campus, I was impressed by its beauty. It reminded me of a Victorian garden.

I met Jacinta in the principal's office, and saw the many trophies that the students had won this year alone! (As I mentioned in a previous post, Precious Blood's choir is attending the Equity Congress because they placed in the top (if not 1st place) in the national music competition this year. The Precious Blood choir has been performing at the Equity Congress - and wow, they are GOOD!) Jacinta was so nice and welcoming. I learned so much about the school, and how the faculty and administration work very hard to foster self-confidence, and how the students are encouraged to try new things and give back to the community. It seemed like a very entrepreneurial approach, which is very exciting to me. I learned that since Precious Blood was founded in 1964, that they have many alumni. I was also very interested to learn more about alumni programming. I think it's in my blood:)

After a really wonderful talk in her office, Jacinta gave me a tour of campus. The Form 3 and Form 4 students were on campus and in class, even though it is a holiday month. There is just so much material to teach - Precious Blood has students spend part of their vacation in the classroom. I got to sit in on a Government Form 4 class, which was led by two of the students. I was immediately extremely impressed by the students' self-confidence, public speaking skills, the collaboration, the fact that they were not afraid to ask questions or to appear like they did not fully understand something in front of their peers, and the close attention that they paid to the lesson. It was a very engaging conversation, and there was so much great energy in the room. The teacher sat in the back of the classroom and closely facilitated the lesson, and supplied information and guidance when necessary. The class was running like clockwork - it was amazing:)

At one point a student put me on the spot, and asked me to essentially explain the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, without realizing that was what she was asking me about. I enjoyed the challenge of pulling something up that I had not really had to explain to someone since law school:) Fortunately I got it right:) I later raised my hand and asked if I could give an example of why federal legislation is important in the context of commerce. (We were studying Kenya's relatively new Constitution.) I talked about the need for federal climate change legislation in the context of state tailpipe emissions standards. I am always happy to talk about semi-wonky environmental law and policy, especially to a room of students who seemed interested in the topic and eager to hear an example (from the US).

After class ended, a handful of the Form 4 students led me on an enthusiastic tour of campus. We visited the library, which has beautiful tables and chairs for studying, and books carefully arranged by subject matter.

I noticed that one wall was decorated with US university admissions posters.

When the students learned that I am a Lehigh alum, they brought out the (old) Lehigh course catalogs from the bookshelf! I had them pose for this photo:)

They told me that they used to have a Lehigh poster hanging on the wall. They specifically requested the new course catalog, and another poster. We then had a great conversation in the middle of the library about their university aspirations, and plans for the future. I really, really enjoyed hearing about it.

I learned that one of the Precious Blood students wants to go to Lehigh. I got to meet her, and she asked me a bunch of questions about the school. A few of the other students listened in, and I seized the opportunity to encourage them to take advantage of every opportunity that they can in university, no matter where they go - academically, leadership, extra-curricular, extra help resources, etc. Kind of building on some of the things that I really started to think about after talking with Suraj yesterday afternoon. I then had to leave campus, because the sun was starting to set, but not before saying goodbye to Jacinta, giving the some of the students my email address, meeting the Vice Principal, and being escorted to the compound gate by a lovely student who aspires to study politics, law and economics at Yale, I think she said. What a beautiful and inspiring way to spend an afternoon! I feel so fortunate that I got to visit Precious Blood - I learned so much. I was also reminded of exactly how much I love that particular age demographic. High school women are high school women no matter where you go - absolutely awesome:)

I had such an inspiring day! Felt so lucky to have this one follow the previous day - Shining Hope for Communities visit, and coffee with Suraj.

I was trying to get home by 6pm because two Belgian friends from my Maasi Mara safari are staying at the apartment tonight, and tomorrow night. They flew in from Zanzibar today, and fly back to Europe on Sunday AM. They're staying with me for the weekend, which is a lot of fun. Trying to pay back Elaine for hosting me in Kampala, or perhaps rather "pay it forward". Fortunately I arrived at my compound before my friends did, so I was there to welcome and let them in. They aren't feeling well - think it was the fish they ate in a market in Stonestown, Zanzibar ... so it was a low key night of catching up, and planning for tomorrow. Suraj extended the TEDxKibera invite to them, and they are going to join me tomorrow. Fun!

East Africa Day 90 (Thurs Aug 11): Shining Hope for Communities

2011-08-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

I don't recall when or how I first heard about Jessica Posner, Co-Founder and CEO of Shining Hope for Communities, and a 2009 Wesleyan grad. Possibly through Echoing Green or Do Something - she has been recognized by both organizations, to put it mildly:) She inspired me to want to come to East Africa this summer, to hear directly from amazing young social entrepreneurs about what inspired them to begin their work.

She's pretty awesome, no? :)

A mutual friend, Rebecca from Echoing Green put me in touch with Jessica, who invited me to visit the organization's sites in Kibera this AM. I took a matatu from Yaya Centre down to Kibera. It was my first time visiting Kibera, Africa's largest slum - really located just minutes away from the Yaya Centre indoor, western-style shopping mall. I found my way to Olympic Primary, which sits on the edge of Kibera, at the end of a paved road that runs through Kibera from the street, where I exited the matatu. I waited outside of the school's gates, where I was met by Shining Hope for Community's Operations Director, Peter. Peter walked me through winding, muddy, uneven back roads, some as wide as a two-way road, and some as narrow as back alleys, until we reached the Shining Hope for Communities location. Along the way we passed many dogs, kids, shops selling the usual assortment of goods, and what were likely homes - I say that because they did not have business signs on them, but the structures were otherwise undistinguishable from each other to my very untrained eye:)

Peter and I first visited one of two community centers owned and built by Shining Hope for Communities. This building has two floors. The bottom floor is a multi-purpose room, which was empty while we were there. But HIV positive women and youth come here to sew Kanga-fabric over-the-shoulder style bags, and to make jewellery, which is exported to the USA for sale. The artisans are paid by the piece. We also visited the upstairs floor, which is divided into two rooms - a community library, and a community cyber (internet center). Both are open to everyone in the community. Many students (I believe I was told 20+) come to the library each night to study, and older community members particularly enjoy reading the newspapers. Books can be read in the library, but cannot be removed from the library. It was so neat and organized just like the libraries I grew up with. Several staff members were sitting around a table when Peter and I stopped by, working on a play that the youth would be performing in the community to educate Kibera residents about different social issues.

The cyber is one of the few internet access points in Kibera. Residents can browse the internet for 1 ksh/minute, print documents, and purchase basic office supplies like pens and notebook paper. No one was using the computers when Peter and I stopped in, which gave me an unobstructed view for a photo:)

We then kept walking through Kibera, passing by the site of the second community center building, which we didn't visit, and then onto Shining Hope for Community's third building. This building houses the girls day school and the community health clinic. Wow - as soon as we got here, I really felt like I was so fortunate to get to see it myself, in person.

Peter and I met up with Jessica in the hallway to the school, and she showed me around the rest of the space.

I got to peek in on three of the classes, all of which were in progress. Each classroom is brightly painted and decorated with a blackboard, and long, low wood tables and benches for the students. I didn't want to disturb the classes by taking photos, but snapped this one of the art room from the outside of the window that opens up to the hallway.

I got to meet Kim, Shining Hope for Community's new Development Director, who happens to be in town from the USA. Jessica then took me to the Community Clinic, where every single seat in the waiting room seemed to be occupied - mostly by women.

We walked upstairs and I got to see the pristine and fully equipped lab, where doctors dressed in long white coats were in a deep discussion. I waited until they had finished, and then snapped this photo of a very beautiful lab!

Jessica said that the community clinic is well-utilized because it provides Kibera residents with a primary care doctor visit, lab work, and prescriptions for 150 ksh. (Compare that to my consultation with my doc at CTTM, which costs 3,000 for the consultation alone. Although the consulation at Nairobi Women's Hospital was 700 ksh.) I love that I also got to take a photo with Jessica, in the hallway outside of the lab.

I got to talk with Jessica and Peter about the organization's future plans. Peter and I passed by a construction site, which you can see from the Lab doorway.

Shining Hope for Communities is building a new classroom building, which will eventually enable the school to educate girls up until 8th grade, at which point they'd take the KCPE and graduate from primary school. I did not mention that the school is completely free, but that in exchange, each girl's parent must work at the school for five weeks each year - helping in the kitchen, cleaning, etc. I love this because it involves the parents in the education of their children. You might also be able to see the water tower, which is under construction directly behind the new classroom building. I assumed that was just for Shining Hope for Communities' needs, but Jessica said that the water will be made available to all Kibera residents for a reasonable fee.

Wow - it is amazing to see the impact that Jessica, her partner and the other team members have had in just the past two years since Shining Hope for Communities was founded. I am so thankful that I got to visit!!

PS - while thoroughly reading through the Shining Hope for Communities' website before visiting today, I found the Summer Institute blog. (Summer volunteers - this was the Institute's first summer.) I particularly loved this post about the volunteers' introduction to the summer! Enjoy:)

After leaving Kibera, I went around the Ngong shopping area, trying to plan a short trip to the Kenyan coast, before I return to the USA. In the end, I decided not to visit the David Sheldrick Trust's location in Tsavo National Park East, where the older rescued elephants are rehabilitated before being released back into the wild. I had wanted to visit since seeing the Disney film "Born To Be Wild" which features the Trust, but it's just too complicated to get there, and I don't have enough time. Instead I'll just go back to the Trust's location inside of Nairobi National Park to "tuck in" my sponsored elephant baby, Mutara, before I leave for the USA:)

I stayed around the general Ngong area, exploring because I was meeting Suraj from Acumen Fund there for coffee at 3pm. We met up at Java House. I tried the vegetarian soup of the day, which was very good - my favorite thing on the menu, thus far. It was great to get to catch up with him. We talked about a lot of things, and I got some really good feedback on my new big idea:) Which I will write about when I'm ready ... in the meantime, Suraj simply told me to go ahead and do it. He's right. I always sit back and work on new big ideas, trying to find the perfect one before beginning. It might be time to (finally) execute. He told me that he is co-hosting a TEDxKibera on Saturday, and invited me to come. I remember reading about the last TEDxKibera event that he organized, back in 2009 when he was an Acumen Fellow - I couldn't miss this one, not while I was in Kenya! So that was it - I can't go to the Kenyan coast on "vacation" this week, anyway - TEDxKibera definitely takes precedence:) It'll be my first TED event, too!

What a great, inspiring day! I feel like I'm just beginning to get somewhere, and now it's almost time to go.

East Africa Day 89 (Wed Aug 10): Centres of Academic Excellence

2011-08-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

I had learned about the Equity Centres of Academic Excellence from Isaac and Rosemary. A select group of Pre-University Scholars spent some time living at two secondary schools, to mentor the secondary school students and to help them prepare for the KCSE, which will be administered next month, nation-wide. A group of female Pre-University Scholars went to a girls secondary school, and a group of male Pre-University Scholars went to a boys secondary school. I absolutely LOVE this program!!!! One of the things I was most looking forward to, in attending the Equity Congress, was the opportunity to meet these mentors, who just recently arrived in Nairobi from their respective secondary school placements, for the purpose of attending the Congress. The Scholars are about to head off to university. What a great time to get to meet and learn from them!

When I arrived at the Congress this AM, I tried to find Rosemary who had said that she was planning to meet with these mentors, this AM. In trying to find her, I again passed by an office in one of the KU buildings that said "Mentoring Programme." I couldn't resist - I had to go in and find out what this was all about. Fortunately the program's administrator, Mercy was in the office and had time to talk with me. All KU students can request a mentor from the Mentorship Office. The mentors are members of the KU Administration. That program began in 2006 and has thus far served 10,000 students. The office is also experimenting with a newer program that matches upper classmen mentors with underclassmen mentees. In order to be a mentor the student must have their own mentor. This program began in 2009, and has had 151 student mentors. Mercy gave me a copy of the program's brochure. It says that one of the objectives of the program is to decrease the likelihood of dropping out of University. Excellent!! Mercy also told me about a newer program, which began just last year - a week-long Transformational Leadership Skills Training course for recent graduates. Deans List students are invited to attend the week-long training, following their graduation (either in December or April, depending on which the semester is their last one at KU). KU brings outside speakers onto campus for the training, to teach the recent graduates. Love it! I told Mercy about the American Educational Advising Center - she wasn't familiar with it.

I then found Rosemary, who was in a nearby conference room with the mentors, informally discussing their experiences on the secondary school campuses. Wow - it was SO AMAZING to get to sit in, and listen to the scholars' remarks. I was also just really, really impressed with the scholars themselves - WOW. They inspired me, and gave me some new ideas. It was such a privilege to get to sit there with them for about an hour. They will be giving two presentations next week - one to the Equity Secondary School students, and another presentation to the Pre-University Scholars. I cannot wait to hear their presentations - I suspect it'll be one of the highlights of my summer:)

Rosemary and I then had a great conversation about next steps. She is amazing! I ate lunch with her and the Equity Bank staff, and then had to run off to the Centre for Tropical and Travel Medicine for my follow up appointment.

The very kind nurse who helped me last week was there again today, and again checked in with me. She is amazing - reminds me a lot of Jacinta from Daraja, and that is a big compliment!! Jacinta is amazing. I waited in the reception area for a little bit, before being called in to see the doctor. He told me that I will be healthy by the time I leave Kenya on Aug 22. Now that's what I wanted to hear!

However I happened to mention to the doctor, in passing, that I have been taking the cipro that I brought with me from the USA, for the past week instead of the cipro that the pharmacy had pulled for me, when I went to pick up my meds at the pharmacy last week. I figured I'd keep meds out of our waste stream (water supply) by using the cipro that I already had. Uhhhh the doc told me that for some reason, cipro purchased in the USA does not work against diseases caught in Kenya. So the cipro that I have been taking for the past week hasn't done its job, and that's why I am still exhibiting symptoms that should be gone by now. Needless to say, I picked up Kenyan cipro at the pharmacy directly following my appointment. All American travelers coming to Kenya ... might as well leave that cipro at home.

The doc also told me that now that I've finished the first round of meds, that I can start the second. WHAT? Oh turns out that my body couldn't handle all of the meds for all of the diseases at once, so we are just starting to treat one of the diseases for the first time, today.

Also, another med I was given last week did not work. Symptoms are still there. The doc said that the drug I was taking last week could have been counterfeit. (According to a 2009 study by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, 50 percent to 60 percent of anti-infection drugs tested in Asia and Africa contained incorrect dosages.) Or, the doc said, sometimes the drug just doesn't work. So I was given a prescription for another drug.

I go back for a follow up appointment next Wednesday! Looking forward to it, oddly enough. I just want to get rid of these things!

Then it was off to the pharmacy at Yaya again, to pick up the new meds and the cipro. Unfortunately the pharmacy was out of stock of the med that I most wanted, for the most troublesome symptom. Ah well. They said that they'll call me tomorrow to let me know if/when the med comes in.

I barely made it back to my compound gates before the sun set, today. I was power walking through downtown Nairobi, between the bus stop and my compound, when I met a Kenyan university professor who joined me for my power walking through the middle of the road (safer, I thought, at this hour, than the sidewalks.) He was very interested in my education research, partly because he had worked with a UT Austin professor and some students. He wanted to talk about Somalia, on an increasingly darkening street corner. I had to as politely as possible interrupt him, gesture to the sky, and remind him that it was not safe for me to be out at this hour and that I needed to go home. He sent me on my way. I wish I had had more time to chat!

East Africa Day 88 (Tues Aug 9): SAT Exam ... I don't miss this!

2011-08-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

I went back to Kenyatta University's campus this AM for another day of the Equity Bank Congress. I found the Pre-University Scholars in a nearby classroom building with Anjeli. Anjeli was sitting at a desk at the front of the room with another young woman, and the Pre-University students were all bent over papers, working silently at desks. Anjeli said that they were taking a practice SAT exam. She introduced me to the young woman sitting next to her, whose name I will have to come back and fill in later. She is going into her sophomore year at Harvard, and is a Precious Blood Secondary School alum.

I continued reading "On The Road" at a chair at "the teachers' desk", and watched as the students finished up the exam.

Once they'd finished we spent the remainder of the afternoon grading each exam. The students had been asked to list their top three USA universities on the back of their exam, along with the SAT II subject tests that they want to take (mock) during the Congress. It was really interesting to see what schools the students had listed. Someone listed Lafayette, Lehigh's biggest rival, but no one listed Lehigh:)

Daniel, a KenSAP and Equity Bank Pre-University Scholar, who is leaving for the USA on Thursday, stopped by and helped us grade the mock SAT's. He is entering his freshman year at UPenn. He told me that he has friends at Lehigh. I am so excited for him! He told me great things about KenSAP and encouraged me to go check it out.

The Kenya Scholar-Athlete Project helps bright students from an underserved region of Kenya gain admission to elite colleges in the United States. Begun in 2004 as an informal effort on the part of its two founders, Mike Boit and John Manners, the Project has thus far helped place 55 students at the following institutions: Harvard (seven), Yale (four), Amherst (four), Princeton (three), Williams (three), Middlebury (three), Hamilton (three), MIT (two), Penn (two), Wesleyan (two), Mount Holyo ke (two), Lehigh (two), Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Wellesley, Bates, Colby, Connecticut College, Tufts, Brandeis, Swarthmore, Oberlin, Carleton, St. Lawrence, Gettysburg and Manhattanville. All have been granted full financial aid.

It was interesting to see how the Pre-University students scored, overall on each section of the mock SAT exam. This was the first time that I'd seen the SAT exam in many years - thankful that I don't have to take it again!! Equity Bank has given each Scholar a copy of a SAT prep book (the kind you'd find at a US bookstore, I think), and have been encouraging them to study on their own. They will be taking the test in October, I think.

I had to leave after we finished marking up the SAT exams, to make sure that I was home before the sun set. I stopped by the Equity Bank Team office and saw Isaac. We talked about how we can best prepare future Pre-University students for the SAT exam. I'm soliciting suggestions for good American novels that the students can read to prepare for the vocabulary, reading comprehension, etc sections. If you have any thoughts then please leave a comment on this post!

Back to Equity Bank Congress tomorrow!

East Africa Day 87 (Mon Aug 8): Equity Bank Conference Day 1

2011-08-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to head over to the 2nd Equity Bank Annual Education & Leadership Congress today! What an adventure, just getting to the site of the Congress - Kenyatta University, on Thika Road, about a 40 minute drive outside of downtown Nairobi. This AM I took a bus from a part of town that I was unfamiliar with, and then had to switch to a matatu, quite some distance out from the city. Once we arrived at KU's campus gates, I wandered in and checked out a campus map. Wound my way through the grounds, eventually finding the Congress.

Earlier this summer I learned not expect anything in particular, because I've been surprised every time. Things are never exactly the way you think they will be:) But I definitely wasn't expecting a crowd of this size. I walked into an auditorium-like setting with three levels of seating, occupied by probably 1,000 students and some adults. Some students were performing songs on the stage in the middle of the rotunda, when I walked in.

Then Dr. James Mwangi, the CEO of Equity Bank took the podium and talked to the students about why they are here, and how he knows that they are the future leaders of Kenya. He told them that "the greatest reward of leadership is legacy". He used the example of the Kennedy family. Even though JFK passed away many years ago, he still hears about the Kennedy legacy all of the time. He asked how the students to think about how they, as leaders, could leave legacies. He said that "leadership isn't futuristic - it's present." He also discussed Kenya's foundations, and why Kenya has so much potential to be a great nation. He said that great institutions are the foundation of a great nation. Great individuals are needed to run these great institutions. He said that he knows that future leaders of Kenya in 2030 were sitting in this room, and that's why Equity has a program like this. He reminded the students that theory alone will not help - that the students must practice the leadership that can transform the nation. It was a very inspiring and heartfelt speech. I felt privileged to be there.

I spoke with two of the students sitting next to me, and the student sitting directly behind me. Each student attending the Congress was given a gift bag containing a notebook for which they could use to take notes during the speeches, and two inspirational books. The students let me peek at the books. One is "Journey to Academic Success and Beyond" by Paul Bundi Karau, and the other is "Unstoppable: Achieving Excellence in High School and Beyond" by Rosemary Kibui and Timothy Kipchumba. The student sitting behind me, Kumar is a sophomore at KU and was one of Equity's Pre-University Scholars. It was so great to meet her!

The students are staying in the KU dorms and are eating in the cafeteria. During lunch today I sat with a Form 2 secondary student from Turkana, in Northern Kenya - a community suffering from the drought. I asked this student what can be done to improve conditions in Turkana, and she said "education". She told me that she has two sisters, but she is the only one still in school. She and her sisters break rocks down into smaller bits (I've seen East Africans doing this, along the roadsides all over) for use in construction in order to get money for food, and for this student's school fees. She said that very few students receive a secondary school education in Turkana. She was invited to the Congress, even though she is not officially in one of Equity's sponsorship programs, likely partly because, as she told me, she was top girl in her primary school, based on her KCPE score. (KCPE is the exam taken at the end of primary school/8th grade.) I am still mentally encouraging her, even as I write this post.

After lunch I asked around and learned that there are a few different groups of students at the Congress. The secondary school students who are officially sponsored by Equity Bank, UKAid or the MasterCard Foundation, who are in a program called "Wings to Fly", the Pre-University students, top students who are from regions of Kenya where Equity does not have branches and therefore does not have Wings to Fly students, and a few secondary schools who have won music awards this year, and are performing at the Congress, such as the students who were performing when I first walked into the Congress this AM. This week all of the students are sitting together listening to the same presentations, but next week the Pre-University Scholars will hear a different set of lectures from the current Secondary School students.

I also got to meet Anjeli today, who is helping the Pre-University students work on their college applications during the Congress. She's Kenyan, going into her second year at London School of Economics. Looking forward to learning more from her during the Congress!

I left the Congress at about 4pm, to head back to town before the sun sets. Really excited about my first day at the Congress!

East Africa Day 86 (Sun Aug 7): Yearning to Fly

2011-08-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

I allowed myself to sleep in today, and spent the day catching up on "online stuff". Just really, really tired. As a result, not really very much to say about today!

I listened to a lot of Brett Dennen and his band on Grooveshark, today. It reminded me that I still haven't picked up the first album. Here's my favorite from that self-titled album, "When I Go".

I picked this particular video of "When I Go" because I was in the audience, pretty close to the front of the stage. Also, Randy is on drums in this video, and he and Brett aren't playing together these days. Randy is fantastic.

Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, August 2009. Good memories:) Missing California today.

Some people are learning to die and some people are yearning to fly, but I know they'd all be yearning to fly.

I was also inspired by this article "Social Capital Markets Manifesto 2.0", which I found in the SOCAP11 e-newsletter today. SOCAP is the Social Capital Markets Conference, taking place in San Francisco this September. Kevin Jones, the author of this article, is the founder of SOCAP.

East Africa Day 85 (Sat Aug 6): Daraja

2011-08-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

I woke up this AM, checked out of my banda, and stopped by the Dougherty's house to check on Tusker. He spent the night on a mattress in the hallway of the house, on the main floor. I found Jenni sitting with him. He looked much better. It was nice to get to catch up with Jenni some more, and hear about what she is working on. She thanked me for the work product that I'd produced for them, back when I was on campus earlier this summer. It was so nice to hear that it has been helpful! I am so proud to have been able to be even a small part of this community.

I then headed to the dining hall, where I had a breakfast of pancakes and a banana. yay for a weekend breakfast at Daraja:) Pamela was in the the dining hall also eating breakfast. I checked out the new Daraja students bulletin board, and photographed the posters made by the students who took the AIDS/HIV class. They were hanging on the wall in the dining hall, next to the fireplace. Very nice!!!

On my way out to the gate, to meet up with the volunteers who had called a taxi to take them into town, I ran into Teacher Charles. He was on his way into town, and we made plans to meet up in Nanyuki. I was so happy to see him! I had fun in the taxi, on the way into town. Four volunteers in the back of a small sedan, and Pamela up front. It was cozy!

When we got into town I went to the Boloungerie for old time's sake, and saw John and Steve. I had my veggie burger for a late AM breakfast/early lunch, and hung out with Pamela and the other volunteers for a while. Unfortunately I couldn't reach Maria and Bennett, who are now living in town, but I got to hang out with Teacher Charles for a little bit. He walked me over to the matatu stage, and helped me get a very comfortable matatu bound for Nairobi. I think I waited maybe 20 minutes for it to depart, which gave me some more time to catch up with Charles.

The ride back felt very long. We got stuck in some bad Nairobi traffic, beginning on the outskirts of the city. The matatu driver let me jump out early, once we were back in the city, before we got to our final destination. I was happy to be back on my feet. Once I got back to the apartment, I fell into bed. Long day of travelling!t

East Africa Day 84 (Fri Aug 5): Departure for Daraja Campus

2011-08-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

Hearing Jason and Jenni Dougherty's story from Caitie inspired to want to volunteer at Daraja Academy of Kenya this summer. (The Dougherty's founded Daraja.) I was really looking forward to meeting them this summer, and hearing their stories. Unfortunately we crossed paths - they were in the USA while I was on Daraja's campus. Jason returned to campus a few days before I left Daraja, so I got to meet him in person before I left Daraja bound for Uganda. But Jenni didn't return to Kenya until just last week. So I decided to head up to campus this weekend, to meet up with her. I couldn't leave Kenya without meeting her! :)

Andy, Daraja's Volunteer Coordinator, helped me plan my weekend visit. I went to the matatu park off of River Road in Nairobi's CBD this AM, and was very proud that I found a matatu bound for Nanyuki only ten minutes after I arrived. (All of the passengers have to sit on the matatu until all of the seats are filled up. Luckily I only had to wait for one more seat to fill, before we left.) We listened to some good music on the 3-4 hour drive up to Nanyuki, the town closest to Daraja's campus. I hadn't fully appreciated the beauty of the Nanyuki area until I'd seen more of Kenya, but it is really a unique and beautiful environment. Drastically different from Uganda, to be sure! Looks much more like a desert, though that's really not a great way to describe it because there is so much plant life. I didn't see any animals on the way up, though aside from the domesticated animals that are all over the roadsides in East Africa - cows, sheep, dogs, chickens. I wish I'd remembered to ask the matatu driver the name of the band we were listening to - was kind of bluegrass, but I couldn't understand a word of it.

I was so happy to get back to familiar Nanyuki! I stopped in Nakumatt for cookies, and then found the matatu stage where I could find a matatu headed out towards Dol Dol, which would pass the Daraja driveway. I wasn't so lucky this time. We waited probably about two hours in the matatu, before we departed Nanyuki. A woman and her two kids got into the matatu at about the same time that I did - we were the first passengers, and had to wait for the matatu to fill up, before we could leave. Her son was in Form 2 in a secondary school in Nairobi. I asked him about his aspirations, and he told me that he wants to be a pilot like his uncle. I've met a few aspiring pilots this summer! I asked this student what kind of training he'd need to get, after secondary school, and how long it would be, before he could fly a plane. He did not know. I wish that he had that information. It would make me more confident that he would achieve these dreams. However he was very enthusiastic and it was great to get to talk with a secondary school student, as always!

While we were waiting for our matatu to fill up, I stopped at a curio shop to purchase more air time for my cell phone. I finally got a chance to ask the curio shop owner if he gets to keep any of the proceeds from the sale of the top up car/air time. I asked this because the scratch off card is valued at 200 ksh, and that's exactly what you pay for the card. So it doesn't appear that the seller is profiting from the sale of the scratch off cards. But the curio shop owner confirmed that yes, he gets a profit from selling the scratch off cards. I think he was not sure why I was asking this question - he seemed a little hesitant to answer me. I smiled at his response and said "good" and he smiled back:) So from now on I will definitely be purchasing my scratch off air time cards from independent sellers like this curio shop owner, and not from the chain stores.

The matatu driver dropped me off at the Daraja rock, at the end of the Daraja driveway in the mid-afternoon. I then started walking up the semi-long driveway towards the campus gates. It felt like so long ago, since I'd last run down this driveway! Like maybe a year had passed, instead of just two months.

All was quiet, when I got to the campus gates. Christopher, head of the Daraja Askaris (guards) was at the gate, when I arrived. He is so awesome! He warmly welcomed me back to campus and told me that the students had departed for home that very AM for break. The first group left at 6am, the second at 8am. So I had missed them long ago. I headed to the office, thinking I might find some people there.

I was greeted at the door by a very sick looking Tusker, one of the Dougherty's dogs. Pamela, Daraja's Social Media intern, was at Andy's desk, doing work. She filled me in on how things have been on campus, and let me know that Jenni and two of the volunteers were in town. I got to meet Andrew, who is on campus volunteering for six months, from San Francisco. He's helping with Maintenance, coaching football (soccer), and at the moment was doing some maintenance on the computer lab laptops. Always fun to meet another Californian:) Pamela filled me on on Tusker's health, too.

I then sat outside of the office in the grass, watching the setting sun, reading a book with Tusker lying next to me, and Ajax and Rasta Jane playing near by. I called Sabrina's San Francisco vet practice, the very wondeful San Francisco Veterinary Specialists, and spoke with a woman at the front desk about Tusker's symptoms. She said it sounded like an infection, and that he needed antibiotics. It felt good to talk with her, and to have a sympathetic ear, even though there wasn't anything either of us could really do for Tusker.

Jenni, her mother-in-law (visiting from Marin County) and the two other volunteers returned to campus a little while later. Jenni invited me to dinner up at the Dougherty's house, which was really nice. I stopped by the kitchen and got to see Ruth before dinner, but campus was otherwise very quiet. Andy was out of town for the weekend, on a school errand. Jenni invited me to stay in a banda, and helped me get set up. The banda I stayed in is on the hill overlooking campus, below the Dougherty's house. It was a beautiful location - especially when the sun set! Too bad I didn't get a photo.

It was really nice to get to talk with Jenni, while she helped me get re-settled on campus. At dinner I got to meet her in-laws, and learned that they are flying back to the USA on the very same flight as me!!! What a coincidence!!! I also got to meet one of the other volunteers, who is a medical student. She has been teaching the students about HIV/AIDS, and will soon start shadowing the medical care practitioners at one of the hospitals in Nanyuki. I am very excited for her. She also just so happens to be one of Jason's cousins:) Unfortunately Jason wasn't feeling well, and didn't make it to dinner.

Fortunately I had brought my headlamp - I definitely needed it, to find my banda in the dark night, after dinner! I saw a dik dik (a very, very tiny deer-like animal) in the vegetation outside of my banda, which was very cool! I've seen very few of them this summer. Read a little bit in the banda, and then easily drifted off into a deep sleep. Daraja is a special place!

East Africa Day 83 (Thurs Aug 4): Lehigh in Nairobi Happy Hour

2011-08-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

This AM I went back to the Equity Bank HQ for a follow up meeting with Isaac from the Education Pillar Team. He sat with me for quite some time and we went over the details of the programs. It was so interesting, and I felt so lucky to be there! They are doing such amazing work. I decided that I am most interested in the Pre-University Advising Program and the Centers for Excellence. Isaac introduced me to Rosemary, another member of the Education Pillar Team, who manages the Centers for Excellence. I asked if I could help out at the upcoming 2nd Annual Equity Group Foundation Congress, and was welcomed to attend. So exciting!!

I then headed over to the Kilimani area, to meet up with Nila for lunch. We met up in a Nakumatt Plaza, and had very good Thai food for lunch in the food court. Nila is a former Kiva Fellow - first in Kampala, Uganda with BRAC Uganda, then in Nairobi, and is now in Nairobi working as a fellow for Samasource. So funny! I didn't know that she was working with Samasource! I attended two events in San Francisco that featured speakers who work for Samasource, and really like what they do.

Samasource - Leila from Peery Foundation on Vimeo.

It was awesome to get to hear more about how the organization works in Kenya, and how Nila got involved with their work. I also learned that there are a good number of Stanford alums in Nairobi. Makes me wonder if Stanford does alumni programming in Kenya, especially given that I was heading off to a Lehigh in Nairobi Happy Hour:)

I then had to run off to my follow-up appointment at the Centre for Tropical and Travel Medicine. I didn't see the doctor that I saw yesterday. Instead I met with the senior doctor in the practice, Dr. Charles Chunge.

I was relaxing in the waiting room chair with my eyes closed, prior to my appointment. A nurse came by and asked if I would like to lie down. She was so nice! When I was moved up to the chair outside of the doctor's office, she came by again to talk with me to see how I was feeling. I really appreciated her sincere concern! It made me feel better.

Before walking into the doctor's room, I thought that maybe he would tell me that my lab results showed that I had one, maybe two problems. Instead, when I sat down across the desk from him, he smiled and asked me how long I've been here. I told him less than three months. He smiled as if to say "well, it is quite remarkable how many diseases you have picked up in that limited amount of time." He then began with the good news - I do not have malaria. However, he then provided me with what seemed like a never-ending list of problems that my body is carrying - a total of seven! Fortunately none are contagious. He told me that once I've lived here for a year, then my body will not catch these things any more. But at the moment, I'm obviously still very susceptible to picking "things" up:) I walked away from the office with a list of prescriptions that I needed to go get filled at a pharmacy, and a follow up appointment scheduled for next week.

I went over to the Yaya Centre Pharmacy, which Dr. Chunge had recommended. Unfortunately at this point I was running quite late for the Lehigh in Nairobi Happy Hour that I'd helped organize with Uhuru, Lehigh '10. The venue that Uhuru had selected for the Happy Hour was Sierra Brasserie, a restaurant/bar located on the second floor of Yaya Centre.

From the website: Sierra is the first boutique brewery and restaurant in East and Central Africa and is inspired by the experiences of the founder in Thailand, California and Bavaria. After his first experience of drinking a microbrew in Bangkok, he embarked on a journey to build Kenya’s first boutique brewery which took him to California. Here he trained under Bavarian trained brewer masters at the Gordon Biersch brewing company in San Francisco after completing the master brewers program at the University of California. It is this experience that inspired the name Sierra. His journey then took him to Bavaria where he designed the brewery with the help of brewery engineering consultants, Nerb GMBH. Sierra reflects the influences of this journey through San Francisco style, Thai food and Bavarian beer.

I found this hilarious, because the Lehigh San Francisco Alumni Club holds regular Happy Hours at Gordon Biersch. So in some ways even in Nairobi, I am still back in San Francisco!

When I finally got to our meeting point at Sierra, Uhuru was the only Lehigh alum there. He and I hung out for a while near the bar, which was really nice. The beer is also really good - definitely the best I've had in East Africa. A little while later we were joined by another Lehigh alum, Karim, Lehigh '90 and his wife. We had such a nice time talking! It was really great to get to meet them. Lehigh is Lehigh, no matter where you go:)

Uhuru and I hung out for a while longer after Karim and his wife had to go, and then Uhuru helped me get a fair rate on a taxi ride home, where I immediately began taking my new medications!

East Africa Day 82 (Wed Aug 3): The Centre for Tropical & Travel Medicine

2011-08-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't been feeling well. I wasn't confident that the doctor that I saw at the Nairobi Women's Hospital last week had properly diagnosed me, so I got a referral to another medical facility in Nairobi, the Centre for Tropical and Travel Medicine. The Centre is not open on Sunday, so I had to wait until Monday to call to schedule an appointment. I decided to go today, because I finished up the medicine that the Nairobi Women's Hospital prescribed me, yesterday. I figured if that medicine worked, then I should be better by now. And if not, then it was time for a second medication.

I took the bus to CTTM today, and felt better as soon as I walked into the Centre's waiting room. It looked very professional. I was given the option of seeing the most well-known doctor in the practice, a man, or the other doctor in the practice, who is a woman. I chose to see the female doctor.

She sat me down in her office and asked me if I'd been "in the bush". When I told her where I'd been this summer, she nodded as if to say "yeah, you've been in the bush." She carefully listened to me list all of my symptoms, which I had fortunately been documenting. I felt much better after speaking with her.

She sent me next door to the CTTM Lab, where I pre-paid for my lab work, and then gave my samples. I made an appointment for the following day, to get my results. I left already feeling much better.

I headed back into "town" to meet up with a former Kiva Fellow, Nila. Hung out in the lobby of the Hilton hotel, reading "The Road" while Nila was in a meeting in an office nearby. Our schedules didn't wind up matching up, so we rescheduled for tomorrow.

In the evening Angela, Laney and I met up in the CBD ("town") for dinner and a movie. We found a traditional Kenyan restaurant not too far from my apartment or the movie venue, and caught up over dinner. I had "chips" which I'd been craving earlier in the day. (Very fried french fries.)

We then walked around the corner to the Alliance Francais building. It has a really nice feel to it - kind of reminds me of the San Francisco Public Library in Civic Center, including the movie theater inside the venue:) The Indonesian film we went to see, Naga Bonar Becomes 2 (Naga Bonar Jadi 2) was screening for free as part of Nairobi's ASEAN (The Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Film Festival 2011. Fortunately it had English subtitles:) It was funny, and just nice to sit in a movie theatre, laughing with friends. Unfortunately I couldn't find a trailer with English subtitles ... so here's the synopsis, grabbed from a website:

Nagabonar Jadi 2 (Nagabonar Becomes 2) is a comedy movie starring Deddy Mizwar and Tora Sudiro as father an son. This movie is a sequel to 1986 hits movie Nagabonar. The story is still about Nagabonar (Deddy Mizwar), a pickpocket who becomes a general during independence war. But now Nagabonar lives in the big city with his son Bonaga (Tora Sudiro). Bonaga is a businessman. Along with his three friends, Pomo (Darius Sinathrya), Ronnie (Uli Herdinansyah) and Jaki (Michael Muliadro) they run a big business. Conflict comes when Bonaga wants to sell his father palm plantation. Monita (Wulan Guritno) a consultant to Bonaga’s business tries to settle down the conflict between Bonaga and Nagabonar.

and the trailer ...

Back tomorrow to CTTM for my test results!

East Africa Day 81 (Tues Aug 2): Equity Group Foundation

2011-08-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

When I was up at Daraja earlier this summer, one of the members of the Daraja staff mentioned that Equity Bank has a good education program. I stopped by the Nanyuki Equity Bank Branch and had a really great conversation with the Branch Manager. He was nice enough to provide me with a copy of the Equity Group Foundation's 2010 Annual Report, which provided me with a lot more information about the Education Pillar. I read it cover to cover while treading water in my compound's inground pool, recently:) I wasn't able to reach the Foundation by email or phone, so I decided to head over to the Foundation's offices today in person, to see about scheduling an appointment.

I'm still not feeling well, so it took me a little longer to get out of the house than I'd planned. I took a bus over to the Equity Bank HQ building, located on the outskirts of Nairobi's Central Business District. I was amazingly fortunate. I was able to enter the building and made my way up to the Foundation suite, where I then got to meet with the head of the Education Pillar, Chris Khaemba! When I read his bio online recently, I decided that I HAD to meet him while I was here! He is the former Headmaster of one of Kenya's best high schools (Alliance Boys), was the Dean of the African Leadership Academy (which I've never visited but absolutely love), and is doing amazing, ground-breaking work at the Equity Group Foundation. Chris introduced me to Issac, another member of the Education Pillar Team, who spent some time talking with me about my interests and reasons for visiting their offices, and the work that he is doing. I was invited to check out the 2nd annual Education Pillar Conference, which begins on Sunday. WOW - I feel so fortunate, and so appreciative!

There was an approximately three hour gap between when I first stopped by the Foundation suite, and the hour when Chris and Issac had time to meet with me. I spent that time walking dirt trails directly next to the roadside, exploring the neighborhood.

I found Kenyatta Hospital down the street from Equity Bank's HQ. I walked onto the property and then through the maze of hallways. I wish I could have snapped some photos, but really didn't think that was appropriate. The interior of the hospital was like a courtyard, with open hallways that had a roof over them, but no inner walls. On the side of the hallway with walls, were doorway after doorway, with a sign on each door identifying the doctor's name and specialty who used that particular office. There was every kind of specialty you'd imagine that you'd find, and benches in the hallways outside of each office, where many Kenyans were waiting for service.

photo: one of the hallways inside of Kenyatta Hospital, taken from this blog.

I have no idea how the system works, but it seemed that you first needed to get in line to schedule an appointment, based on the rather disorganized crowd that I found gathered in front of a sign and bank-teller style windows with wire fencing separating the customers from the hospital employees. I would also assume, based on my experience at Nairobi Women's Hospital, that patients have to pre-pay for services before they are performed. I saw several signs pointing to spots where one could make a payment.

I couldn't find the ER, though I did see a sign outside of the hospital directing persons to its entrance. There were so many Kenyans there (no other wazungu) - some lying in the grass outside of the hospital, some walking around, and many sitting on the benches inside. Honestly - I walked away from the hospital thinking that I need to be more careful, so that I don't have to be rushed there for a visit.

Many buses passed me while I walked along the roadside, enroute to the hospital. The black smoke (which maybe could even be called "soot") that comes out from the tailpipes of these buses is overwhelming. As I walked along, trying to cover my air passages to avoid breathing in the fumes, I gave silent but profuse thanks for the Clean Air Act and my former colleagues on the US Senate EPW Committee:)

photo: this is Guatemala, but it might as well be Nairobi ...

I soon had a very bad headache, which persisted all night. Still not sure if that was from the air pollution or from my sickness. I was also physically very tired by the time I made it back to Equity's HQ for my meeting. I was happy to get home and into bed.

That being said, it was a good day! I found my very first organic restaurant, Bonds Garden Restaurant located around the corner from the Equity Bank HQ, and had a great soup and chapatti lunch! Definitely the best food that I've had in Nairobi, yet!

East Africa Day 80 (Mon Aug 1): Sick Continued

2011-08-09T11:40:00.000-07:00

Still feeling weak and tired, so I stayed inside the apartment all day today.

I used the time to transcribe my handwritten notes from the small, spiral blue notebook that I carry everywhere with me, into my digital research archives on my netbook. At some point I am going to have to go through all of these notes and summarize them ...

I also did internet research on model programs that I've been hearing about, and sent out some requests for meetings. Time is quickly moving along ... I leave East Africa next month.

The details for the upcoming Lehigh in Nairobi Happy Hour have been finalized. The gathering is this coming Thursday! I didn't pick the venue, which makes this even funnier: the owner of the bar studied at Gordon Biersch in San Francisco, which is the very bar where the Lehigh San Francisco Club holds its regular Happy Hours. So at least in my head I'm calling this Thursday's Happy Hour "from San Francisco to Nairobi" :)

East Africa Day 79 (Sun July 31): S-I-C-K sick.

2011-08-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

I won't chronicle my symptoms here on my blog, but the first one probably appeared on June 29, when I was down near Kibale National Forest in Uganda. At that point I was still drinking water from the tap, filtered by the Steri Pen Adventurer, which cleans water via a purple UV ray.

I stopped using that filter on June 29, when I found what I later learned were most likely tadpoles, swimming in the water in my nalgene bottle. I recorded this video, to send to the manufacturers of that Steri Pen ...

After that, I started drinking tap water that had been boiled on a stove top. That, too came to an end today. The only time that I left the compound today was to head to the nearest grocery store to purchase a very large container of bottled water. This was in response to recent health developments.

I felt sick this past Wednesday, on the way back from the Mara. I got into bed as soon as I got home. That night I had a high fever and some other symptoms. It was the worst I've felt in a long time. The next morning (Thursday) I went to the Nairobi Women's Clinic in Hurlingham, for a malaria test. A friend had recommended it. I didn't see a doctor - just went directly to the laboratory, had my finger pricked, and the lab reviewed the sample. I had to pre-pay for the test (200 ksh) at the payments desk, and then take the receipt back to the lab tech, before I could have the blood work done. They don't fool around in Kenya. I guess this ensures that you don't leave the hospital without paying. No one asked me if I have health insurance. You just pay out of pocket (in advance of receiving services) and then there's no question about the bill. I waited forty minutes for my test results. No malaria, but I knew that something with my body was not quite right.

I couldn't go back to the hospital the following day, because Maria, Laney and I had made plans to go to Nairobi National Forest. But yesterday, after Art Club and the meeting at Angela's apartment, I went back to the Clinic. I sat there for four hours, saw a doctor, had another test done, and left with a diagnosis of likely amoeba dysentery, and a medication to treat it.

I was the only muzungu in the hospital. Wish I could have taken a photo, but it really wasn't that noteworthy anyway. As for the setting, there was a TV hanging from a corner of the room in the waiting room, and I finally got to see one of the Spanish dubbed soap operas that Kenyans love so much. (I don't know why - it was rather amusing and I couldn't take it seriously:)

The doc that I saw told me that I should come back if it didn't clear up. The pharmacy told me that I should be drinking bottled water while I had the amoebas. I had to call a taxi to take me home, since it was already after 8pm by the time I finally got out of the clinic and it's not safe to go anywhere after dark, by myself. Ah, at the mercy of East Africa.

I started taking the med immediately, last night but I had this feeling that I had been misdiagnosed, or at least not completely correctly diagnosed. Just feeling very tired. Staying in today and relaxing wasn't so much a conscious decision, as much as a demand from my body.

East Africa Day 78 (Sat July 30): Art Club

2011-08-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

This morning I took the bus over to Angela's neighborhood, where I met up with Angela and Laney. The three of us took a matatu (my first in Kenya) into Kawangare to the school where Angela holds her Saturday morning Art Club for the former street boys.

Angela started off the lesson with a review of US geography, using the home states of some of the Art Club volunteers that the kids know.

Angela also had each boy stand up at his place behind the desk, to introduce himself. Each student stated their name, and their favorite art activity. It was really cute to hear their self-introductions.

This week Laney taught the students perspective and how to draw faces. First the students were broken up into pairs. Since there were an odd number of students, I was given a partner - a quiet younger boy.

Each team was then given a box of colored pencils to share, each student got a piece of paper, a ruler, and a pencil. We all shared one eraser. Laney taught us how to box off an outline of a face, using the ruler. Then we learned where to put the eyes, nose, ears, mouth, eyebrows. Each student then practiced, drawing their partner's face.

The students really focused on it and worked quietly. You can tell by the quality of the finished products. One of the best parts was hearing one of the boys tell Laney that now he knows how to draw faces, and he is going to practice. I love it!

My partner did a great job drawing me, and so did one of the older students. A teacher wanted the drawings so that she can hang them up in a classroom. But I told the older boy who drew me, who really wanted me to take it home, that I would get it back from the teacher before I leave for the USA. I told him my mom, who is a retired art teacher, would be very impressed with his drawing!

After the students finished their portraits I had them hold their drawings up, so that I could photograph them. The boys had a lot of fun with the photography. In some cases I think the drawings are being held up by friends - not necessarily the artist who did the drawing. They all wanted to see their photo on the little screen on the back of my camera, after I'd taken each photo. (I've learned to always offer to show the subject their photo on the back of the camera, as soon as I've taken the photo.)

Two of Angela's friends stopped by today, to see what we were up to. One of her friends is one of the lead volunteers, who teaches Art Club, too. He came back to Angela's place in a matatu with Laney, Angela, and I. Angela made a delicious lunch for the other Art Club Leaders, Laney and I, who came over for a meeting about the future of Art Club. It was fun to get to at least be a part of the planning for a volunteer program like this in Nairobi, even though I can't make a long-term commitment to being a part of Art Club.

Another fun Saturday!

East Africa Day 77 (Fri July 29): Nairobi National Park

2011-08-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

When I was in Jinja, Uganda I met two great young women who were volunteering in a rural village in Western Kenya. We were on the same boat together when went rafting down the Nile. Maria is a McGill student who was here for the summer. She had to come to Nairobi in order to catch her flight back to North America, which departs tonight. She arrived in Nairobi by bus last night, and stayed at my apartment. I arranged with a taxi driver, Leonard, to visit the Nairobi National Park today. Another friend, Laney joined us for the trip. Nairobi National Park is right outside of the city - crazy that you can actually see the skyline from the park, which contains many of the big game animals including lions, but excluding elephants.

Maria and I took her stuff in a cab to the Junction mall, where we had lunch at Java House. Laney and Leonard met us there, and we headed to the park. Fortunately Leonard had taken visitors to the park twice before, so he knew that we needed to buy a map of the park in the gift shop, before we started driving around the park. He was so right!

Even so, we still wound up getting lost on unmarked dirt roads, and were fortunate to get back to the Main Gate when the park closed at 6:30pm!

We saw so many animals - it was amazing!

We were hanging out of the car windows to get good views, and of course photos.

photo: Laney and I

photo: Leonard and Maria

Maria took an average of one photo a minute:) We saw two lions playing (albeit at a distance), a group of giraffe so close to the road it was AMAZING, buffalo, hippo, zebra, antelope, hardebeest, ostrich ... and a beautiful sunset!

We snapped a group photo outside of the gates before we left the park for the airport. We dropped Maria off to catch her flight, and then Leonard dropped Laney off, and then dropped me off. I didn't get home until after 9pm. It was a much longer afternoon and evening than I'd anticipated, but I think everyone had a good time!

East Africa Day 76 (Thurs July 28): Acumen Fund Nairobi Event!

2011-08-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

I don't recall how I first learned about Acumen Fund, but I first got involved with the community by attending the San Francisco Book Club for "The Blue Sweater" in early 2010. Since then, I've met people through Acumen who have really inspired me, and have encouraged me to follow my dreams.

I particularly feel like I owe a lot to Jacqueline Novogratz, the founder of Acumen and author of "The Blue Sweater". About a year ago, I stumbled upon a video of Jacqueline talking about how some people are entrepreneurs, and some are builders, and that there's nothing wrong with being a builder. I then admitted to myself that I am a builder, and embraced it right there and then, watching that video on my laptop in the kitchen, likely while making vegan pancakes:) I've referenced this video so many times in conversation, since then. If you want to fast-forward to the part where she talks about builders, then you'll want to speed ahead to 19:30 minutes into this video.

Even though she's one of my biggest heroes, and inspired me to come to East Africa this summer, I had never seen her in person - until tonight!

Through the Acumen Community, I got to know Suraj Sudhakar, a 2009 Acumen Fellow and the East Africa Fellows Manager, who works out of the Nairobi Acumen office. Suraj invited me to the Launch Event for the Acumen Fund East Africa Fellows Program, and the release of the East Africa Edition of "The Blue Sweater". The event, which took place tonight at a hotel in Nairobi, marked an important milestone for Acumen Fund – the inauguration of a new program that will build new leadership in the fight against global poverty. More info about the milestone here.

Tonight's event was held at the very same hotel in Nairobi where Jacqueline began her Africa journey twenty-five years ago. She mentioned that during her keynote address, but said that the decor has changed so many times over the past twenty-five years - she wasn't sure if her first Kenya meeting was in that room, or a different one in the hotel. It was so amazing, to be sitting in that room listening to her talk about that day twenty-five years ago, which is definitely a memorable scene in the book, "The Blue Sweater". Wow - what an amazing night:)

The event began with a casual reception, during which I got to meet one of the East Africa Fellows, a friend of the Fellow, and some other guests. I also got to meet Suraj for the first time, in person.

We then took our seats in the nearby ballroom for the start of the program. Anne Mitaru welcomed everyone, and introduced Sara Mitaru. Sara and her band performed a song that Sara said had been performed by a friend of hers in Nigeria. The chorus went "We are the future, we are part of this." It was beautiful and very moving. Here's Ty Bello singing the song - "The Future." I prefer Sara's version, but couldn't find a video of Sara performing the song:)

This was followed by remarks by Biju Mohandas, Acumen's East Africa Director. He quoted Emerson - "Vision without execution is hallucination" - and said that Acumen hopes to build the execution with the new East Africa Fellows Program. Acumen is teaching hard and soft skills, including empathy and an understanding of the world that we live in, and is encouraging Fellows to connect with that. This, he said puts Acumen on the path towards a higher level of execution. Biju was followed by Suraj. The whole evening was well documented by a professional-looking crew. I hope that a video of Suraj's speech surfaces eventually, because it was so good! Suraj talked about his days as an Acumen Fellow, when he was working with Iko Toilets in Kenya. He spent days sitting inside of the public toilets, counting the number of customers who paid to use the Iko Toilets. While there, he finished reading "The Blue Sweater" and began sharing the book with other people. He has found that the book is a conversation starter - across racial lines and sectors, and that it inspires people to act. He started Blue Sweater Book Clubs in Kenya, which then led to TEDxKibera, and then another TEDx. This somehow led to recruitment for African Leadership Academy in Kibera. Suraj included a video from an astronaut, recorded from space. The astronaut brought "The Blue Sweater" into space with him, and talked about how if we could all see the planet from his perspective, then we would all cross barriers and do more to get along.

Suraj's speech was followed by Janet Njoroge, who officially launched the East Africa edition of the book. She said that "if you read the book and it does not change you, then it's not the book - it's you." We learned that the book would be priced at 500 ksh, could be purchased that night, autographed by Jacqueline, and that proceeds would go to the East Africa Fellows Program. (You know right there that I decided I had to buy a copy of the EAST AFRICA book:) For the launch of the book, gift-wrapped copies of the book were handed out on stage to several Acumen friends, who opened the books in front of us, with Jacqueline also on stage. This was the official moment when the book was launched. Another musical performance by Sara Mitaru followed this celebration. She and her band sang another beautiful, powerful song with the chorus "I shall not waiver, I shall not faint, I shall stand until the justice is done." (You can probably tell by this point that I was taking copious notes all evening:)

After the performance, the CEO of KCB Bank Group spoke - Martin Odour-Otieno. KCB is a big bank in Kenya, and has partnered with Acumen for the East Africa Fellows Program. A summary of his remarks appears here in this news story. He mentioned that KCB helped select the nineteen current East Africa Fellows, all under the age of thirty-five, out of a pool of 538 applications. The KCB presentation was followed by the presentation of the East Africa Fellows. The Fellows stood in a row, towards the back of the stage, and one by one took the podium to introduce themselves. It was fun to hear their stories in less than two minutes each! I was really impressed with their programs but also their stories. One Fellow said that she was a successful attorney in London, but left to return to Kenya to be a leader in her community. At least two of the Fellows come from Kampala, Uganda. (If you have been reading my blog all summer then you'll know that I LOVE Uganda, so you can imagine that I loved this:)

After the intro of the Fellows came Jacqueline's keynote address!! Again, I hope that this shows up on video sometime ... can't find it online, yet.

She gave three reasons for the founding of the East Africa Fellows Program. Innovative, moral leaders need to be brought to the table in Africa and around the globe. Acumen has committed partners in East Africa. Now is the time - there is so much growth in the region. Patient capital must be combined with leadership training that includes moral imagination. Jacqueline went on to give advice to the Fellows, who she said she had spent the previous days with, discussing the readings that Acumen also assigns to its Global Fellows as part of their training in NYC. She said that adjustments will always need to be made - sometimes the model will need to be tweaked, sometimes it won't work because you didn't listen closely enough. She advised the fellows to brush themselves off, and work with the other East Africa Fellows. To live with the questions instead of needing to find the answers. She advised them to "try to be the questions themselves". The part of her speech that resonated with me the most was when she said that you should "live the questions now" and that eventually you might "life yourself into the answers." As my East Africa comes to a close, I am feeling self-directed pressure to come up with a solution, something I can do to address the inequities I've learned about this summer. Then I remember that Jacqueline reminded us that she first came to Africa twenty-five years ago. I have been here for three months. There is no rush. She also quoted Rumi - "Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free" and reminded the Fellows to dance. She also advised the Fellows to pay attention because everyone has something to teach you.

There was another reception following the event. I met members of The Blue Sweater Book Club in Kibera, one of the winners of The Blue Sweater Challenge who has a home furnishings business, and Dorcas who works in the Acumen Nairobi office. I then purchased my copy of "The Blue Sweater" and approached Jacqueline, who was standing in the front of the ballroom, greeting guests. During her speech she'd said that she knew almost everyone in the room, and wished she could acknowledge everyone. So I imagine that there were a lot of people there, who wanted to say hello to her! I felt really lucky to catch Jacqueline and Suraj when they had a few minutes. Suraj thanked me for the work that I've done with the San Francisco Chapter (not really that much!) and reminded Jacqueline that she'd Tweeted about me. It was a great introduction:) Someone who works with her had previously mentioned that she can relate to anyone. It felt that way, meeting her - she is really easy to talk with. I felt so lucky that I got a few minutes to speak with her. She autographed my book for me - I didn't read the inscription until I got home - wow!

And I got to take a photo with her. What a great night!

I also got a photo with Suraj, who made all of this possible - the Fellows Program, and my invitation! This will definitely go down as one of the highlights of my summer:)

East Africa Day 75 (July 27): Maasai Mara Day 3

2011-08-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

I had a bit of a stomach ache last night and woke up a little sore, but ready for our early AM game drive! We met in the dining hall before breakfast and were on our way into the park at 7:34am, just as the sun was rising behind the village next to our campsite. I tried to get a photo of the plastic debris scattered alongside the dirt road, woven into the Mara grasses, and some of the sun rising behind the village. It was so silent and quiet, given the early hour.

The park was so beautiful. This AM game drive was my favorite of all of our game drives. We didn't see as many animals, but it was so peaceful in the park as we drove through, watching the sun rise.

We saw antelope, wildebeest, ostrich, elephants, lions, buffalo with birds riding on their noses and backs ...

... giraffe, more of my likely favorite - zebra. But one of my favorite things - if not my most favorite - was watching the antelope swish their tails! Got some video!!

Jacque took off for the local airport while we were on the game drive, because he had an afternoon flight out of the main Nairobi airport, heading to Madagascar to see family before returning to the USA. The Italians weren't with us, either - they had headed onto another park. So there were less of us in the van, which made it easier to move around and maybe a little quieter, but it also made it feel like the whole safari was really coming to a close. That being said, I thought three days in the Mara might not be enough, but I think it turned out to be a good amount of time to spend in the park.

We drove around until maybe 10am, and then had to head back to the campsite where we picked up our bags, and then headed out on the road back to Nairobi. We stopped at a roadside curio shop (tourist trap central!!!) on our way back, to use the bathroom, and passed Maasi villages. I got some photos of the corrals that I loved so much, made out of branches, and perhaps one of my favorite photos of the summer - a combo hotel and butchery - still can't believe these exist.

We stopped for lunch at the same roadside hotel/restaurant, where we'd stopped on our way to the Mara. We then stopped at another hotel further up the road on the way to Nairobi, where we dropped the Belgians off with another van who would be taking them to Lake Nakuru (their next adventure) and we picked up some other travelers from another tourist van, who were heading to Nairobi. It was just the Nepalese couple and myself left, with our driver, John. By this point I really wasn't feeling great, and was happy to get back to Nairobi and to sleep in my bed. John dropped everyone off at their hotels in the CBD. I was last. The traffic was so terrible that I just got out and walked, and I'm sure that I made it home faster than if John had driven me. He was headed back to the Mara with another tourist group the very next day. This is the high season!

So glad that I went on safari to the Mara!

East Africa Day 74 (Tues July 26): Maasai Mara Day 2

2011-08-07T08:24:00.001-07:00

We all woke up this AM, had a full breakfast in the dining area, and then took off for a full day in the park!! Snapped this one from inside of our van, about to enter through the main gate to the park.

I recorded this video inside the park ...

We drove around all morning, looking for animals. Each time our driver, John would pass by another vehicle he would converse with the other vehicle's driver. I presume they were exchanging info about where the animals had been spotted so that the guests could see as much as possible. Who knows - my Swahili hasn't really improved in weeks, unfortunately. John looked for animals, the Italians' guide looked for animals, and everyone else on our vehicle looked for animals. Anytime someone thought that they saw something, they'd call it out and point, and we'd stop the van to get a better look. Sometimes it was a rock, sometimes a tree, but most of the time the eagle eyes on my van found a lot of animals! I spotted our first crocodile:) Surveying the land and looking for animals was actually just as much fun as actually seeing the animals themselves:)

Another indicator that there were animals in the vicinity was a gathering of tour vans all in one spot, with tourists pointing their cameras in the same direction. In this way we found a group of lions in the AM, lazily sleeping not that far from the road. When we passed by the spot later in the day, the lions were not only still there, but they were even closer to the road. I watched one lioness sneeze three times, within five feet of me.

She was with a male lion, who walked right next to me and in front of the van. I experienced a fleeting feeling of fear, and was thankful that I was higher up, inside the van. (You cannot get out of the van, inside the park, for this very reason.)

We saw so many lions that day - including very young cubs, the youngest maybe two months old. Most of the wildlife were sleeping, the rest were eating. We otherwise saw no action - including no wildebeest crossing the Mara River, though we spotted a few dead bodies halfway submerged in the river. I was happy that we didn't see the crossing - I'd heard that many are injured and die in the crossing, and are washed downstream. I didn't really feel the need to witness that tragedy. In fact, I was going to skip the Mara entirely, because of it - glad that I didn't! The crossing, while advertised as this big thing, was actually a very small part of the whole three-day safari experience - the rest of it in itself was amazing! We also saw hippos, cheetah, more kinds of antelope, more buffalo, elephant, zebra, birds ... giraffe ...

Stopped in the AM at a view point, where we took a photo of the group in front of our van. Elien took the photo, so unfortunately she's not in it.

She tried to get a photo of me jumping, but that didn't work out so well, even though the attempts were quite fun!

The next time we stopped and were able to get out of the van was for our lunch break, which we took on the top of a hill without anyone else in sight - OK, we saw a van or two driving on a distant road. Our cook had packed us each a lunch. I had a hard boiled egg in my packed lunch, which seems to be a standard snack here. Everyone else had a meat sandwich, and no egg. I guess the egg was supposed to be my protein. Jacques was happy to take it off of my hands. I was very conscious of the amount of food that we were fed during our entire trip, and the western flush toilets, and hot water in our showers. Flush toilets even in the middle of the park, on the airstrip, where we stopped to use the bathrooms in the AM, and where I bought a pair of earrings from a Maasi man who had laid out some (tourist) wares. Where does this waste water go? I wonder even here in Nairobi. I have never seen a western storm drain, but there are either dirt or paved canals on the roadsides. I've seen so many people washing in the waterways this summer - clothes, mainly - I don't even know what the water supply must be like, here, aside from the parasites in the water.

But! I digress. I was sitting in the very back row of seats today, in a corner. I found the most fun and comfortable spot was if I stuck my upper torso out of the top of the van, with my butt resting on the headrest of the seat in front of me, feet resting on a rim on the inside of the van along the side (feet not allowed on the seat), and my head sort of leaning out beyond the edge reach of the roof. (Though when it rained for a few minutes in the afternoon, we closed the top, so I had to be satisfied with looking out of the windows on the side of the van, which actually was perhaps a better view but not nearly as fun as having the wind blowing around you, and a 180 degree view of the Mara:) I am lucky I am small - otherwise I wouldn't have fit in the place that I'd wedged my body, for the day. (I woke up the next morning with a bit of a sore rib cage, but it was worth it.) Anyway - was just a fun day!

One of the fun things about staying at the campsite and doing the whole safari was meeting so many people from all over, who had all come for the Mara. About 1/3 of our trip had just come to Kenya for our safari. Over dinner we met an Israeli woman who told us why Israel needs to exist. I know it by heart, but the Belgians in my group had never heard it, and thanked the woman for sharing her perspective. It so easy to take things for granted. Towards the end of the night a bunch of us were sitting outside in the grass, in a circle, where we were joined by more people from other groups. Two young American women from Mass who work with autistic students in Abu Dhabi, two Australian brothers - one is a professional modern dancer and ballerina in a company in Munich, and his brother does hotel marketing in Dubai but has previously worked in London and another place that I forget ... he said maybe Thailand next. I can't explain how much I enjoyed meeting a professional ballerina:)

I didn't sleep too well at night, which meant I was up to hear the animals. They were LOUD! I couldn't tell if some of them were dogs, or what but it was fun knowing that we were that close to the park and the wildlife! Maybe a five minute drive from the entrance to the park. (There are about 5 gates to the park, by the way - we used the gate closest to our camp site.)

Another adventure in Kenya!

East Africa Day 73 (Mon July 25): Maasi Mara Day 1

2011-08-07T06:57:00.000-07:00

When I booked my three-day Maasi Mara safari yesterday with my tour booking agent, he said that he'd pick me up at 8am outside of my compound gates. For some reason drivers say that they know where my compound is, yet always get lost and wind up down the street outside of the Fairmont Hotel. So this AM I found the tour operator and driver, John outside of the Fairmont. We were travelling in a mini van with a pop up roof. I was the first person to be picked up. We then swung by a few other hotels in the Central Business District, to pick up the rest of the guests who'd be on safari with me: Elien and Jan from Belgium, who work in schools advocating on behalf of students, Rojeena and Sanjay, a young Nepalese couple who live in Dubai, Jaques who was born in Madagascar but has lived in the USA since the age of eighteen, and Marianna and Marco, a young couple from Milan. Marianna's English isn't as good as Marco's. They are traveling Kenya with a private Kenyan guide who speaks fluent Italian, amongst other languages. He used to work on the Kenyan coast, where there are many Italian-owned businesses and tourists. It was so much fun to get to travel with the Italians!

We settled into our van with the Italian-speaking guide and our driver/guide John, and started the long drive to the Mara in Southwest Kenya. The first 3/4 of our trip had us on a nicely paved, two lane highway that had been built by the Italians. We stopped at one point for a rest and to take a photo of the Rift Valley.

Sometime after that, we turned into a badly kept dirt road with many pot holes (perhaps MOSTLY pot holes) that passes through the Maasai Villages on the way to the Mara. It was a rough trip. We stopped along the way, at the last major town before reaching the Mara, for a buffet lunch at a roadside hotel. It was a bunch of other wazungu bound for the Mara, and us. Welcome to a genuine tourist outing!! :) I had rice, beans, vegetables and of course mango juice!

When we got to the Mara (about six hours later), it was mid-afternoon. We stopped off at our lodgings, to check in and drop off our things. I was sharing a platform tent with a full bathroom in it with a shower, western toilet, sink with Jacques, the other solo traveller on our trip. After dropping off our things in our tents we headed back to the van, and entered the park for the first time, for an Evening Game Drive.

We pulled up to the main entrance gate, John handed the rangers our day passes, and we entered the park!! John stopped for each and every animal that we saw - wildebeest, and some anetelope to start. Just about everyone in my group made an effort to take a photo of every animal that we saw - it was kind of contagious:) But the minute that we got into that park and started driving, with the roof popped up and me hanging my head out of the top, gazing around at the landscape - all of the effort and expense to get there was 110% worth it. I felt so fortunate to be able to be standing there, in that space. Wild animals in their natural environment - it was hard to realize that I was really there. Wow.

We drove around for about two hours, until the park closed at 6:30pm. There were other pop up vans just like ours, also driving around the packed dirt roads that criss cross through the park.

It was amazing. We saw wildebeest, antelope, many bird species, elephants, lions, buffalo, and many zebra!

When we returned to the campgrounds we had a big buffet dinner in a dining hall setting with many other tourist groups. It was really fun to hear all of the different accents - the USA was not well-represented that first evening, from what I could tell. Just like at Daraja, there were generators running at night, so that guests could charge their camera batteries. And there were camera batteries charging at every electrical outlet:)

I was so tired - had no problem falling asleep in my double bed in the tent, slightly after the lights went out at 10pm. Why did I leave my headlamp back in Nairobi? Ah well - that's why Kenyan cell phones have built-in flashlights:) I didn't hear any of the wild animals that night, but the next morning other guests said that they could hear them making noise not far from our camp. I'm pretty sure that the askari (guards) were watching over us:)