Hakuna Matata

I’ve just arrived back from a 5-day vacation to Mombasa – the second-largest city in Kenya located on the coast of the Indian Ocean. I brought home coconuts, a tan, and a ton of pictures!

Scott spontaneously planned the trip and we packed these 8 people (and one baby) in his minivan!

We departed on Thursday and the drive was absolutely beautiful.

Driving from Nairobi’s elevation of 5500ft to Mombasa’s 150ft provided gorgeous views of mountains.

Not too far from the outskirts of Nairobi, we spotted wild camels!

I could see native tribesmen tending to herds of animals, and was able to snap this pic.

It was quite windy for much of the drive and we witnessed some tiny dust devils developing.

This is a view we often had – stuck behind a truck/bus waiting to pass, since the “highway” is only a 2-lane road.

This picture shows a fence that covered many kilometers, but had no wire! Scott estimated that it was some kind of government project that never got completed. What a waste!

We listened to music along the way and I had many surreal moments listening to songs like “Girls Just Want to Have  Fun” on full blast with the windows down…..in Africa!

Arrival into Mombasa took awhile. As is the case many times in Kenya, selfish driving and bad traffic control led to a standstill, with three lanes of traffic heading out of Mombasa on a two-lane road! Eventually, matatu drivers got out of their minibuses and argued with the left-most lane of traffic to begin merging. We also had a rocky welcome to the city – a sneaky man forcefully grabbed our GPS out of my hands before I could react. No one in our car saw him coming or going! Funny thing is, the guy will have no idea what the device is or how to use it, and it doesn’t have the charger with it. Oh well.

We stayed at a Amani Acres, a Catholic guesthouse right on the beach. We had a whole side of a house with 3 bedrooms, a living room, fully functional kitchen and bathroom w/shower, and a porch. The cost for 8 people to stay one night? $50!!! Have I mentioned the cost of living in Kenya is very manageable?

The view from the backyard -

Here’s a pic at low tide and at high tide -a difference of about 4 meters.

At low tide, you can walk very far out into the ocean. Here is a pic of me standing about a mile from the shore on the coral reef where the waves break. We had to hurry back as the tide started to move in.

The weather was warm and slightly humid – much more humid than Nairobi. High temp was 80-85 degrees during the day and never dipped below 70 at night. The best part was the sun – clear skies the entire 5 days. In Nairobi at this time of the year, it is cloudy all the time, so this was a welcomed difference.

On our first beach day, I stepped on a sea urchin! A search for tweezers in the city was unsuccessful and I still have yet to remove the thorns – they aren’t painful though – “hakuna matata” as the Mombasians say.  Numerous viewings of Lion King as a kid prepared me to understand this “no worries” approach.

Here’s a bigger one with cool orange-red-pink coloring on the inside.

A picture of Scott wading in the ocean with an OWU shirt! “Ohio Wesleyan, sweetly and strong…”

Mombasa is entirely different from Nairobi. I felt like I was in Dubai instead of Kenya. There is a strong Muslim presence in the area – since it is now Ramadan you can hear the call to prayer anywhere you are! Women in veils and men in taqiyahs strolled the city streets.

Mombasa is located on a small island (called……wait for it….Mombasa Island!).

The “Old Town” of Mombasa offers neat architecture and tiny streets -

We visited Fort Jesus – an old Portuguese fort built in 1593 in the shape of Jesus. Scott convinced the ticketer to give us the resident rate instead of the tourist rate – $1 per person instead of $8! Here’s a pic of a cannon facing the northern shoreline.

We traveled to the northern shoreline a couple of nights to have dinner. After dinner, one night we went out dancing in town (so much fun!) and one night we went out on a boat to go diving and snorkeling.

I jumped in the water from the top of the boat and thought of how scared my sister Emily would be of an impending shark attack! Here’s me on top of the boat watching a sunset over Mombasa Island and the eastern coast of Africa.

Leaving Mombasa turned into a nightmare! We were ready to leave at 2pm but the car wouldn’t start. We called AA (much like AAA in the states) and had the battery replaced. We departed at 5pm and encountered THE WORST traffic jam in the history of the world. A traffic diversion re-routed us through a slum, driving over piles and piles of smelly trash. In this pic, a matatu gave up hope and turned around to back track.

What you are looking at is the highway connecting the two largest cities in Kenya. Hard to believe. We stood completely still for over 2hrs and in a jam for another hour. By the time we got on the open road, it was past 9pm! It is not safe to drive at night and we debated staying another night, but we trucked on and arrived home at 3am.

I enjoyed hanging out with Scott and my other friends so much. It’s really fun to learn more and more about the culture here (and there are many different kinds here!) and how they are similar and different to mine! Joking around with the gang shows me that humor can be translated pretty easily.

I’ll end this post with conclusive, indisputable evidence that I got quite the tan on my trip to Mombasa. Hakuna matata.

My New Family

I’m going to try my best to keep this post brief, but bear with me – it’s been over a week since I last blogged!

I’ve been living with my new family for 10 days now.  Here’s a pic of them – from left to right, Gloria (a visiting cousin), Kendi, Kabura, Daisy, and Justus.

Not pictured above is their so-cute-it-should-be-illegal baby boy (and my roommate), Kiama -

They are such a joy to be around! The (my) parents are very easygoing and have fun-loving personalities. The kids provide a constant source of energy and excitement, especially 5-year-old Kendi. And as Daisy explained to me, they sure do watch a lot of the Disney channel. I’ve watched Kadet Kelly twice in the last week. All the kids can quote almost any program on the show – it’s quite impressive. It’s been an adjustment getting used to living in this high-energy atmosphere in which attention is an unlimited want but a scarce resource. I’ve set up boundaries with the kids so I can, for example, eat my breakfast in peace! On the whole, I absolutely love my new family – and I’ve found out something about myself (although I know it has only been 10 days) – I like kids.

Daisy has really been looking out for me. She is taking up the planning of where I will spend the rest of my home stays in Nairobi and is trying hard to find a good fit for me – flexible, not overbearing, and fun!

Here are pictures of the outside of the apartment building and my room -

Over the weekend, I traveled to Embu, a village upcountry (upcountry simply means a village outside of Nairobi) to attend a wedding ceremony. The wedding started at 11am and we left the house at 11:30am (the fam is chronically late, just like me) with a 2-hr drive ahead of us! Due to construction diversions and resulting congested traffic, the drive took 5 hours! We made it in time for the reception. It was a lot of fun – a conservative estimate on the attendance count? Over 500. When there is a wedding in a village, word gets around and it becomes the highlight event of the weekend. Of those 500 people, I was the only white guy – but I happened to wear purple, the color of the wedding, so I fit in! The wedding party was situated in the center of a large circle of people sitting in plastic chairs. Here’s a pic of the cutting of the cake -

After the bride and groom fed each other, they went out into the crowd to feed friends and family -

Similar to a wedding reception in the states, members of the wedding party and family gave speeches, but unlike its Western counterpart, at a Kenyan wedding reception, all gifts other than money are brought out to the center of the crowd -

And then presented individually to the new bride and groom!

After the reception, we ate supper and relaxed at Daisy’s parents’ home, where she lived until moving to Nairobi to attend college after high school. We decided to push back our return to Nairobi until the next day since it was getting late and a 5-hr drive did not sound appealing. We stayed at a guesthouse owned by the church Daisy’s parents attend, so it was free of charge! Here’s a pic of it in the morning -

The drive back was less than 3hrs, due to no traffic jams. Gotta love the unpredictability of Nairobi traffic .

Over the weekend I also attended my first Kenyan birthday party! In short, it was a fun celebration and I ate 4 slices of cake. In that same vein, my belly has been steadily increasing in size since my arrival in Nairobi – it would be a shame to return from Kenya not being able to see my feet! I’ll opt to run more instead of eating less I think.

On the work front, I spent my final two weeks in the slums visiting borrower groups. Here are some highlights -

Last week, my co-workers and I oversaw a yearly election of new officers for a borrowing group in the Mukuru slum. Even though all the members were notified of the elections in advance, many did not attend the meeting. So, that means that they have forfeited their right to vote, yes? No. Each of the absent members (9 of them) were called on their cell phones to vote for President, Treasurer, etc. Elections took over two hours! Afterwards, we were rewarded for our time with a filling meal of beef, ugali, and cabbage.

Here’s a picture of Maisha Poa – a borrowing group meaning “Life is Cool” – some of the women are shy so they don’t like looking directly at a camera!

After a long day of work on Wednesday last week, we decided to take a train back home! The railway line took us from Nairobi to Kibera, and it was quite an experience! The train is not electric and had an old-fashioned feel. At some points in the journey, the train came within 2 feet of shacks in the Kibera slum. Amazing that people live that close to a dangerous railroad! The journey also offered expansive views of Kibera – it is Nairobi’s largest slum and the second-largest in Africa. Here’s a pic of me boarding the train -

On Mondays, little work is done in the office. There is an optional bible study time in the morning and then everyone eats lunch together, followed by hours of socializing! Last week, we went to Ezekiel’s house, where we had good times playing mind games (like Black Magic) – I will forgo the explanation of these games to save a couple of confusing paragraphs – but we had a lovely time passing time playing them.

I had great conversations at work throughout the week. One of Maono’s struggles is the same as many other microfinance institutions – how do we ensure that loan funds are being used for income-generating purposes? This is an important question to address as the goal is to lift the poor out of poverty instead of provide them with some aid money to help with everyday expenses. Since Maono’s number one goal isn’t necessarily profit (interest rate is relatively low and loans are given at 3 times the amount the borrower is willing to save), this question needs an answer. We’re going to take a closer look at the loans we administer.

One of my co-workers, Betty, is taking an intro ECON class at Daystar University in Nairobi – I tagged along to see how different the class would be in Kenya! Turns out, it wasn’t that different. Same material, same fallacious assumptions – rationality, perfect markets, etc. The prof did a nice job of pointing out that there’s a difference between economic theory and what happens in the real world. Here’s a pic of the class -

I’m over 1000 words so I’m going to cut it off there. This weekend, I am traveling to Mombasa with Scott & his assistants! Mombasa is a city on the coast of the Indian Ocean in Kenya. This destination is on my list of places I want to visit during my time here. It’s a 6-7hr trip, and I’m going to help with the driving! This will be a hair-raising experience I’m sure. Wish me luck!

Bellevue, Kenya? You Better Believe It.

I finally met Maono’s manager, Daisy! I met with her on Monday and she is quite the visionary and has an easygoing personality. At our meeting, she reviewed my job description with me. I feel much better about the direction that this position is taking me.

I have spent much of my first two weeks (yes, I’ve been here that long!) in the field meeting with borrowing groups. I’ll continue to mainly do that for the next two weeks to get a better understanding of Maono’s on-the-ground operations. After that, the majority of my time will be spent in the office. I’ll be doing things like managing the accounting system (Quickbooks), working on marketing plans for Maono’s products, writing training manuals for borrowers, producing a newsletter for donors, and managing Maono’s website and Facebook page.  So – part accounting, part marketing, and part communication!

After my meeting with Daisy, she offered a 2-3 month homestay at her house! The day after she offered, here I am! I moved in a couple of hours ago and I love it so far. She and her husband (Justus) are in their mid-thirties and have 3 children (ages eight, five, and one-and-a-half) running around the house! The kids are so energetic and I am told they will force me to watch the Disney channel constantly. They are calling me their “big brother!”

Today, Betty and Philemon had some slum visits to make and I accompanied them. In between visits, they had to pick up some literature at Muvano Church – the church that started and helps fund the Maono Initiative. The church is situated on the grounds of an old drive-in movie theater. The name of the theater and the surrounding area? BELLEVUE! For those who don’t know, Bellevue is the small town in Ohio that I live in! This picture captures it all – the welcome sign for the church that started the organization I work for with Bellevue Cinema in the background. Destiny? Hmmm…

I was so stunned and excited I forced Betty and Philemon to pose for a picture in front of the old cinema.

Right across the street from Mavuno Church, there also happens to be a Bellevue Shopping Complex!

Bellevue means “beautiful view” in French, FYI.

Coincidence or destiny, I’m so excited for the rest of my time here in Kenya. Now that I have a job description, I have a better idea of what I will be doing with Maono. Also, I can’t wait for all the good times I’ll have staying with Daisy’s family.

Thanks for following my adventures!

Kenyans Run Fast

I know what you’re thinking – yes Ben, obviously Kenyans run fast. But I have confirmed this truism with a sample size of one. Yes, it’s true – I went for a run on Saturday with one of my co-workers, Simon!

We departed at 6am to beat traffic, minimizing pollution intake.  The area I live in is beautiful in the morning, and the temperature was perfect for running (55-60 degrees).  It is the coldest time of Nairobi’s year. I ran in shorts and a t-shirt while my running companion wore sweatpants, a jacket, and a winter hat! As an aside, I must mention I’ve been having a lot of fun kidding Nairobians about the weather – wearing winter coats in 60-degree weather isn’t something we do in Ohio!

The run was a humbling experience. When Simon set into his pace, I felt like we were doing a sprint workout! He informed me that this pace was “moderate” to him. I kept with this pace (which, to put things in perspective, is faster than my 5K race pace) for half of the run, but during the second half I fell apart – had to stop 3 times for minute walk breaks. I had pains in my chest (maybe from the polluted air) and a stitch in my side during the last half of the run. I’m going to continue running with Simon in the mornings and hopefully I’ll improve my stamina. On days other than Saturday & Sunday, he runs at 5am to avoid traffic. I won’t wake up every morning for this, but I’ll keep at it. I’ll be on the Kenyan Olympic Marathon Team in due time.

On Thursday and Friday, the Maono manager, Daisy, did not make an appearance – she’ll be in on Monday. I’ve been joking around with my co-workers entertaining the idea that maybe Daisy doesn’t exist, and they are playing a cruel joke on me!

I kept busy throughout the end of the work week. I accompanied Betty (one of my co-workers) on a Maono weekly meeting to a few borrowers in Mukuru, a slum on the edge of Nairobi’s industrial area. To get to one of the meeting places, we had to navigate through narrow, muddy pathways in between shacks. I witnessed a young’un walking with spread legs using the dried-up mud on the sides for traction. I followed suit!

Here’s a picture of me with the Maono borrowers that we met with.

And a picture of a business using a loan from Maono (hairdresser with full service haircuts, styling, manicures, pedicures, etc.).

Usually, children in the slums say “How are you?” to me. Almost every child knows how to say this greeting and the reply, “Fine.” Now that I answer their greeting with the Swahili reply “sawa sawa”, many get excited and follow me chanting “How are YOU?, how are YOU?” Fun stuff. But today something different happened. A kid called me Chinese! I wish I would’ve had the quick reflex to reply “Ni Hao!”

Back at the office, I spent time working on installing Quickbooks accounting software on the office computer and working on converting posterboard presentation materials to Powerpoint files. I spent a long time talking to Quickbooks support people to correct an error that prevented the Loan Manager from loading up. In the end, want to know what the problem was? Maono’s version of Internet Explorer is too new! Only Version 8 works with Quickbooks, not Version 9.

After my run Saturday morning, I tagged along on another visit. We headed out to a church on Mombasa Road to meet with ex-prisoners. Seven in number, they have organized a “village bank” to build up savings and encourage development of their businesses. The group has formed a strong sense of community, which is really important when it comes to ex-prisoners transitioning from prison life back to real life. Only some of the men are actually criminals – a few were falsely accused, and with Kenya’s broken judiciary system, if you don’t have money you are vulnerable to prison time if convicted. Maono approved of the efforts of these ex-prisoners and wanted to help fund loans.

It rained all day but the rain had let up a bit after the meeting reached a conclusion. We looked for a matatu to take into town, but they were all full and traffic was literally stopped. On Mombasa Rd coming into Nairobi, it seems to always be at a standstill, since there are several roundabout intersections up ahead in which traffic directors allow each of the 4 converging directions to go one after one.

So, we decided to walk most of the way home. This was no small task – I mapped it out and it was 6-7 miles. We walked on this winding road -

that offered great views of the city through Railways Golf Course -

The walk allowed time for me to express my feelings of what I liked & disliked about my first week, including Maono’s operations as they relate to religion. I won’t go into details, but we both came out of the discussion feeling refreshed and rejuvenated and now understand each other’s logic better.

A truck on Ngong Road proved that some people can’t handle driving in the rain. The view from the back and front -

Hard to believe I’ve been in Kenya for 12 days already. I can tell that my time here will fly by.

Tomorrow, I am attending a church service at Muvano, the church that started the Maono Initiative. I hope to find a host family!

A Day in the Life of a Carnivore…

Warning to vegetarians – reader discretion is strongly advised! Last night (Tuesday), I had the pleasure of having dinner at the most well-known restaurant in Kenya – Carnivore. The dean of Colorado State University’s business school happened to be in town and Scott and him invited me to come along. I’d read a lot about the place, and it did not disappoint.

Upon entrance, I noticed a huge charcoal pit at the center of the restaurant. On that pit a wide variety of meats were roasting on traditional Masaii (a group of nomadic Kenyans/Tanzanians) cooking swords. Here’s a pic of Scott and I and a pic of just me so you can see the pit better in the background!

We sat in the outdoor seating area, making me feel like I’d just finished a long day safari-ing. After soup and bread, several waiters begin bringing meat to your table. They ask you, “Chicken?” and upon an affirmative reply, they plop a Masaii sword down on your cast-iron plate and dish you a piece!

Here’s a picture of a waiter serving me some crocodile. It looks a bit like he is about to sever my head from my body!

In addition to croc, I consumed beef, chicken, pork, lamb, barbequed ribs, sausage, ostrich meatballs, and camel! Yes, you heard me right. CAMEL! I felt a little bad whilst eating the camel (something just didn’t seem right about it!), but my dinner companions assured me that camels are nasty, ornery creatures that spit at people.

I washed down the meal with one of Kenya’s most popular lagers – Tusker.

There is a tiny flag standing at each table, and when we couldn’t take anymore (and by we, I mean the CSU dean and me, since Scott is a vegetarian), we took the flag down, “surrendering” to any more food!

I don’t think I’ll be hungry for a couple of weeks.

On the subject of food, I thought I’d share a picture of my lunch today (Wednesday) – pasta, ugali (maize porridge), kale, and tilapia!

Work update – work has been a bit slow the past two days, which I think is mostly a function of the manager being on vacation. She is supposed to get back tomorrow – I have yet to meet her. In the meantime, I have begun taking on a couple of projects myself – installing and setting up Quickbooks accounting software to manage finances and converting posterboard presentation materials into a Powerpoint file.

Today, we visited a resource center for HIV+ individuals. Maono donated food including flour, eggs, and beans. Then we visited a vacation bible school in Mathare, another slum in Nairobi. When we entered, the kids were in the middle of a fierce game of some kind – split into two teams, half the room was chanting “Lion” and the other half “Buffalo.” I’ve never heard children scream that loud! This picture fails to capture the energy in the room or the number of children (over 50), but here is several of them coloring -

Maono donated colored pencils to the children and, more importantly, food vouchers (similar to WIC) to the parents of the children.

Looking forward to meeting the Maono manager, Daisy, tomorrow!

Inagural Day at the Office

I’ve completed my first day working in Maono’s office. It is located conveniently close to my guest house – the walk is only 5-10 minutes! Too bad I won’t be staying in the guest house permanently. Here’s a picture of the office building itself and the inside (that’s my desk with the red backpack!)

The CEO, Daisy, is out of town all week, so today was less of a “we-have-things-to-accomplish” business day and more of a day set up to welcome me to the Maono team. And welcome me they did.

Part of the Maono staff, From left to right – Tracey, Betty, Philemon, Me, Simon

First, all of us took turns sharing the highlights of the previous week. This took 30-45min for 5 people to share and it was quite enjoyable. After that, one of the interns was chosen to be the “preacher” for the week. The preaching and praying afterwards took about an hour. I was put off by this and began itching for an introduction to Maono’s microfinancial endeavors – spiritual thinking is essential to life, but starving children don’t get fed through well wishes! Finally, I got it – each of the interns gave their story/explanation of Maono’s vision and mission, complete with posterboards.

Maono’s vision is a world without slums and their mission is to empower the poor in villages close to Nairobi. They want to stop the movement of the poor from these villages into Nairobi in search of money. As the slums grow in population, there are fewer job opportunities available in the city.  According to Maono, a villager is better off staying in their village than making the big move to Nairobi.

Maono views poverty as a tree that must have its roots uprooted for eradication instead of the branches cut off. Among the problems caused by poverty are dependency, joblessness, illiteracy, drug abuse, hunger, laziness, bitterness, prostitution, and helplessness. Maono argues that many NGOs today alleviate the problems through aid, but that the problems will always “grow” back.

Maono, now four years old, provides access to funds through their “village bank” concept.  I have explained this before in my blog – the main difference between a village bank and a commercial bank is that at the end of the year, a village bank distributes profit back to the borrowers through increased loan size. This is something even microfinance banks don’t do. Together, the community can grow through adopting a “village bank” concept.

The work environment so far is very relaxed – maybe because the CEO is out of town. Until tomorrow!

Village visit with Maono

I spent the whole day today with some of my Maono co-workers.

We drove into Kibera (Nairobi’s largest slum) to attend a church service in the morning. I kid you not, the “church” consisted of one room that fit no more than 10-15 people. We arrived 90 minutes late to the service, but it still went on for 2 hours. The service was mostly in Swahili, although there was English translation at points in the service because I, a Muzungu (white person), was present. It was a Christian church – the main differences I noticed were that 1) everything was communicated in a more long-winded fashion and 2) there is no such thing as “silent” prayer – everyone speaks to themselves (some loudly, some softly) during these reflection times.

One of my co-workers, Betty, gave the sermon! She tells a story well and captivated the audience. At the end of the service, the guests (Maono people, including myself) came forward and introduced themselves to the entire congregation – 9 people.

After the service, we traveled to Kiambu, a village north of Nairobi. A church/school in the village had invited Maono to come and introduce its concept of village banking. Here is a picture of the schoolyard.

The meeting was supposed to start at 2pm, but good old “Swahili time” waiting for the church members to mosey on over caused the meeting to begin after 4pm!  Several people got up and spoke, including Betty from Maono, the pastor of the church, and community leaders. The point of the meeting was to convince the community’s poor to take out a loan from Maono. Unlike most MFIs (I’ve mentioned this before), Maono lends at a fixed rate of 10% interest (very low compared to competition from commercial banks, microfinance banks, and informal moneylenders) and at the end of the year, profits go back to the borrowers.

The part of the meeting I found questionable was a man (who doesn’t work directly with Maono) who spoke about teaching his expertise to the potential borrowers. He can teach them how to make cosmetics, cleaning agents, juice, and all other sorts of things. Only problem is, it costs money and these people don’t have any. Maybe the fee charged is reasonable, but this part of the meeting didn’t sit well with me.

The meeting was held in a schoolhouse with no electricity, so it ended at sundown. Here is a picture of the inside of a schoolhouse similar to the one we had the meeting in.

Used the outhouse at the schoolyard and it was literally a hole in the ground! Gotta love simplicity.

I officially start working at Maono’s office in Nairobi tomorrow!

A Weekend in Nairobi!

I’ve experienced my first weekend in Nairobi and my first trip to the heart of the city!

On Friday, I rode in a Matatu – they are privately-owned minibuses that are known for aggressive driving and blaring loud music. Let me tell you, that is exactly what I experienced! While asking for directions to a bus station at my guest house (and getting nowhere), a woman my age offered to escort me into the city as long as I paid her Matatu fare (which is less than 40 cents). What kindness! In the end, the trip took at least 2 hrs out of her day. Most of the trip, I was laughing, wondering how on earth we had not crashed into another car.

A drive that would have taken 5 minutes took 45 minutes, due to dreadful traffic. Nairobi has a big traffic problem, and while Chinese corporations are building roads 24/7, there are too many cars, trucks, buses, and Matatus to avoid gridlock traffic. Oftentimes, roads are closed without warning and directional signs are nonexistent.

This scene is not abnormal – notice the drivers are outside of their vehicles, not expecting movement anytime soon!

There are also very few traffic rules that carry weight on the road. Police officers do not pull you over for speeding, there are no traffic lights, and drivers basically do what they want. Sounds appealing – If the whole microfinance thing doesn’t work out, I’m going to become a Matatu driver!

I hung out in downtown Nairobi both Fri & Sat with these 3 dudes (from left to right, Robert, Charles, Me, John) -

They have been a strong welcoming force for me and have taught me much already – including tips to stay safe on the streets of Nairobi and historical/cultural things. They showed me all the main sights of the city – the Parliament and Judiciary buildings, the burial site of Jomo Kenyatta (1st President of Kenya), the Times Tower (tallest building in Nairobi), two parks, and the City Square.

Here is a picture of me in Uhuru Park with the Nairobi skyline behind me -

Both nights, we relaxed at a bar called “Jazz Restaurant,” which ironically enough plays no jazz – only rap and r&b hits from the 90s and early 2000s. The more I learn about Robert, Charles, and John, the more I like about them. They all have distinct personalities tied to the tribal relations of their families!

John is attending Nairobi University in the fall – here is a lawn in the center of the campus grounds -

We crossed a footbridge over an old railyard that separates downtown Nairobi from the Industrial Area. The city of Nairobi started as a supply depot created by European builders of the East african railway, located at mile 327 from the coast, at high enough altitude to avoid malaria from mosquitos!  Scott’s assistants warned me that crossing to the other side is not safe – they guarded around me as I took this picture of the abandoned railyard -

Found an ATM and now I have big money! (sadly, this is not worth $10,000 – it is roughly $107) The watermark verifying real 1000 Kenyan Schilling bills is a drawing of an elephant and a lion! FYI – Chase overcharges on international ATM withdrawls ($6-7) – my local credit union is a lot cheaper (less than $2) to withdraw funds!

It’s been a joy getting to know more and more Kenyans over the weekend – they are full of life. Tomorrow I visit a village with some of my Maono co-workers.

First meeting with Maono!

Second full day complete! This post will be more readable than the first two – I’m still getting this whole “blogging” thing down.

Today, I met some of my co-workers from the MFI I will be working with, Maono Initiative. We visited a weekly meeting of clients in a slum. The way this organization works is simple – clients (mostly women & single moms) receive a small loan (less than $10) and pay back the loan plus interest at the next weekly meeting. The interest is 10% per anum – 0.83% per month.  The wonderful thing about Maono is that the 10% doesn’t go to company profits at the end of the year – it stays with the group of clients, distributed back to them. Week by week, more and more money is earned and saved by the women!

I am excited about working and learning together with my co-workers. They seem intelligent and truly want to make a difference in the life of Kenya’s poor. Plus, they have great senses of humor.

Here is a picture of some of Maono’s staff, inside the shack where the weekly meeting was held -

The Kenyan people I have met so far are friendly and genuinely interested in getting to know visitors. The Kenyan culture is laid back, relational, and welcoming. There is no sense of urgency as lingering to continue socializing is common place. I fit in with the culture in this particular respect – I love to sit around and chat for undefined amounts of time.

I haven’t been to downtown Nairobi yet, but here is a picture of the outskirts of the city.

Next, we visited the home of one of Scott’s assistants, Robert. He is a Kenyan who looks 16 years old but is 27. I can identify with this (seeing as I look young for my age), but not the he-is-married-and-has-a-child part! He lives in a small shack in a good neighborhood. He and his wife welcomed us into their home quite humbly. Even though they have little money, the wife had prepared us delicious food – a kind of corn tortilla and a potato dish. In Kenyan culture, being hospitable hosts in this way gives great joy to the owners of the home. Robert and his wife are a fun-loving couple that light up the room with their two smiles!

Here is a picture of me holding their cute-as-can-be 3-month-old daughter, Hayley (a name picked by Scott!) -

The final activity of the day was a coffee break with David Kitusa, the Executive Director of the AMPK (Association of Microfinance Professionals of Kenya). This is the organization that I have mentioned to family friends back home because it sounds unreal – by unreal I mean, made up! I am happy to confirm it is very real and David is a smart, well-spoken man who knows a ton about microfinance in Kenya. He calls Kenya the “Silicon Valley of Africa,” due to the M-PESA mobile banking system I have mentioned before.  I will probably earn a microfinance certification through training offered by this organization. Also, I will be working with David on projects if I get a position through USAID for a microfinance think tank that I am in the running for.

The visiting businessmen and Scott leave for a weekend trip to Mombasa (a coastal city) tomorrow. I won’t see the visitors again, so we said our goodbyes. It was a pleasure to cross paths with them and learn about microfinance together over the past two days! I am very thankful to have gotten a lot of tips to stay safe and healthy in Kenya from Martha.

Housing update – I will most likely be living with a family of the church that Maono Initiative works closely with. The guest house will do for a temporary solution, and I will go to the church service next Sunday (this weekend Scott is out of town) to meet potential families. If I was a betting man (which I am if $2 scratch-offs count), I’d say I’ll have a permanent home in 3 weeks, tops.

Jambo Jambo Jambo

Now I can say it – “Jambo Nairobi!”  I touched down in Kenya at 9pm Tuesday night.  Want to guess how many employees there were processing VISA purchases for 100+ people? Two. Speaking of two, it took more than 2 hours of wait time to exit the airport as a result! Scott and his assistants (3 Kenyan twenty-somethings) greeted me and drove me to my staying place for the night –  Savelberg Retreat Centre, a guest house run by Catholic nuns. 40hrs after my departure from home, I had finally made it to my destination. For $13, I enjoyed a night’s rest in a tiny room and breakfast in the morning, which consisted of white bread and peanut butter. The nuns are strict – breakfast is from 8:00-8:30am, no exceptions!

Here is a picture of my room -

As I am writing this post, I have just experienced my first full day in Nairobi. A taxi driver picked me up at the self-proclaimed “Nun Motel” in the morning and we met Scott, one of his assistants Robert, three Caucasian visitors (Mac, a media company CEO who has lived in Kenya, his wife Martha, who grew up Kenya, and Kevin, an American insurance company CEO) and Scott outside the US Ambassador’s residence.  Scott has been showing these CEOs around town and setting up meetings for them. They are helping the Kenyan people in many ways, one of which is a donation of Quickbooks accounting software to the MFI I will be working with, Maono Economic Development!

We visited the MFI I chose not to work with, KADET (Kenya Agency for the Development of Enterprise and Technology). We met with the branch manager, Susan, who talked for 2-3 hours with us. She is confident, well-spoken, and painted us a picture of how microfinance operates in Kenya. KADET lends to individuals who are required to sign up in groups of 5-10 other borrowers in case one borrower defaults. KADET lends to people that are more poor than who the average MFI lends to (and certainly the average commercial bank) – the co-borrowing is a protection against the added risk of these loans, like the lack of collateral.

Kenya is miles (or, I should say, kilometers) ahead of other African nations when it comes to the development of microfinance services. For example, the “M-Pesa” mobile banking system allows loan funds to be transferred electronically to a cell phone! In some ways, Kenya is technologically ahead of the United States.

Next, we met with two clients of KADET. We traveled to a very poor slum to visit them – the sights of children with illnesses and dirty, smelly pathways was hard to take in.  One of the clients owned 6 cows and plenty of other animals (including rabbits!), which make him “rich” relatively to the Kenyan poor – but his place was not much to look at.

Here is a picture of that client (and Mac, one of the visitors) -

As we were leaving the slum, lots of children were begging me for a photograph! They were too cute to turn down…

After the meeting with KADET, Scott’s assistant Robert helped me buy a cell phone! The phone cost $69 (phones ranged from $25-$200) and with no contract or fees of any kind, it costs 4 cents/min to call any number in the United States. All I do is buy a 500 Schilling (under $6) card to add $$$ to my phone balance. Scott & Robert estimated that 75% of Kenyans have a cell phone and it is very inexpensive to buy and use one.

The phone is a Nokia that also includes 3G internet access, deducted at less than one cent a minute! I never would have guessed that Kenya would be the country of my first smartphone ownership!

We met the most popular gospel singer in Kenya tonight for dinner. Scott is good friends with him and one of the visiting CEOs runs a media company dealing with commercial broadcasting – he wants to faith-based television/radio programs available to a broader base. The singer, Kanjii Mbugua is also a preacher at a prominent church in Kenya and makes yearly trips to California to preach there.  When leaving the restaurant, we heard one of his songs playing on the radio! Note from dinner – tomato tree juice is DELICIOUS – tastes like a mix between a tomato, a pomegranate, and Sour Patch Kids. Mmmmmmmm.

Here is a picture from that dinner. From left to right – Njogu (one of Scott’s assistants), Scott, Mac, Martha, Kevin, Kanjii, Me

My first day was much different than what my typical day in Nairobi will be over the coming year.  First off, I wasn’t working! Secondly, I was treated to a couple of meals at nice restaurants at the grace of the visitors. Nevertheless, I am having a great time so far and look forward to what tomorrow has in store!