Hi Everyone!
Sorry for the delay in posting, it’s been a crazy week.
It’s so good to be back, and hard to see some of the changes. But let me begin with the good.
Kennedy and I (along with many frequent guests such as: Liz, Emily, Otieno, Omondi and Victoria) are living in an apartment in Olympic. Olympic is within the area called Kibera, but it is not a part of the slum. It is a middle-class neighborhood that borders the one paved road that connects Kibera to the rest of Nairobi, and is right above the path leading into the slum itself. Our apartment is luxurious in compare with slum conditions. There is power. Running water. A gate. A bedroom, sitting room, kitchen and bathroom, complete with a shower. Never mind that all of the windows are all broken (a result of the post-election violence), the toilet doesn’t work well, and the water is often off. It is simple, but comfortable; especially in comparison to life a little further down the road.
When I first arrived I was met by a whole crew at the airport and taken to our house. We put my stuff down, and as soon as we stepped back out on the road I heard someone yell “POSNER!” I thought I was hearing things, but up walks my friend Edwin, one of the leaders of the Taliban. After greeting him I went to a dinner that the SHOFCO youths were making for me as a welcome party. Kennedy had told me that it would be really simple, and I was just touched by the gesture, but I almost cried when they served chapatti (the very expensive flat bread) with meat. Kennedy later told me that each contributed 50 shillings, and that when he had urged them to do less, told him off. I felt so loved; my gratitude was beyond what I could say.
Otieno, Omondi and Victoria (the three little children from Kibera whom I just love) were also in attendance. Otieno and Omondi were wearing their matching suits for the occasion. After the party the three came back to our house to sleep. I brought legos to keep at the house for them to play with (a gift from Patty Figel), which were a huge hit. I also gave each a beanie baby and a book. It was heart wrenching to see these kids so happy to have something their own. Otieno named his dog Junior and told me “Jessica, this dog, this dog is very good for me! No one is going to take it away?” The next morning Kennedy, Emily and I took the kids out to a little hoteli for chai and mandazi he asked if they could come every day. At breakfast, we were talking about what the kids want to be when they grow up. Otieno said that he wants to be a Doctor. Omondi said he wants to be a matatu driver. Victoria said a mother. While Kennedy, Emily and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the latter two, I also felt a pang of sadness; these kids have never been told that they could be anything other than a driver, even this job is quite competitive here to get. We tried to encourage them to actually dream, to think of what they’d want to be—but I left breakfast jarred by the harsh reality of these dreams.
Now I guess this brings me to the part about how things have changed. Although much of Kibera has been rebuilt (houses made of metal sheet and wood burn fast, but also go back up fast), much of Olympic is still in ruins. All of the shops were burnt out, and it is eerie to walk through the burnt out frame of the butcher shop I used to frequent—littered with ashes and glass. Furthermore—food prices have more than doubled as a result of the violence. Before the violence, many struggled to eat, now it is almost unbearable. A pound of meat used to cost 35 shillings, and was unaffordable for most, now it costs 85. Flour to make ugali, the staple food, used to cost 45 shillings, now it is 95. Imagine, this increase is on top of poverty which is much worse than it was even before. Many in Kibera lost everything in the fighting; their homes, businesses etc. The strain of living right now is incredible. People are very tired, thin, and although Gatwakera (my section of Kibera) has been rebuilt, it is much more sparse. Also, Kieran is now almost entirely segregated by tribe. No Kikuyu now live in Gatwakera, as they were beaten or chased away. I am beginning to collect stories of the violence, and have many that focus on Gatwakera, but these will come soon. For now, let’s leave it at this. Things are pretty desperate.
As for the transitional government, let’s say that now there is peace. I talked at length with the head of the Taliban (for anyone new to my blog, the Taliban are the unofficial government of Kibera), a guy nicknamed Sericali, which actually means government, about the violence, as he was heavily involved both on the ground and as Raila’s chief of security. More on this to come. But he says for now, peace. But for how long… it’s unsure. Definitely for some months, as he said everyone is hungry, and you can’t fight without food. Plus, he said they want to see and wait if this government will work, but he is skeptical. And maybe with good reason. The headline of today’s paper was about some recent arguments between Kibaki and Raila on many issues. It seems that the power sharing is perhaps not that shared, and the possibility of such seems improbable, as at the end of the day, there is not much that either Raila or Kibaki actually agree on. The word on the ground is to give it until December, when a new Constitution is promised. If this does not happen, and the power is not really shared, well there might be problems. But everyone seems hopeful, or is trying to be. One thing I have picked up on is that people really feel that the only way to make one’s voice heard is through fighting. And I can assure you all, I feel very, very safe and am certain that there is no immediate threat and that my accommodations and protections are quite extensive.
Yesterday Kennedy, Donna, Odoch and I went to a photography exhibit called “Kenya Burning” at the Ra MoMa Museum. The exhibit was chilling, absolutely horrific. Donna introduced us to the curators at the museum, where there is a small theatre, and they invited us to perform our play there free! So we will have a two-performance benefit for SHOFCO. The pictures were un-real. Seeing the acts that lead to the devastation that I am now seeing really got to me. But hearing about it from the people who went through it, who were both victims and perpetrators (often both), is far more sobering. The loss this country is experiencing is hard to communicate. But at the end of the day, it seems like the people are just pawns in the hands of politicians, none of whom really have their interests at heart.
It was so good to see Donna and Odoch, who are doing very well, and who became very close friends with Kennedy while I was gone. For anyone new, Odoch is the Academic Director of my SIT Program, and Donna is his wife, and my former project advisor. They are both wonderful, generous, kind hearted people and seeing them was like being taken back into a family. In fact, they took us to lunch at the University of Nairobi’s senior faculty club. Another Professor came over to greet us, and Odoch said, “This is Jessica, and this is Kennedy---please, meet them, they are practically our children.” This is perhaps one of the highest compliments I have received in a while.
So overall, a very good and busy week. Now I need to begin to focus on my research and writing.
Also, Kennedy got his visa! So it’s for real, he will be a frosh at Wesleyan!
