A Lesson in Bargaining

Today I got a lesson in bargaining.  I went to the Masai Market, which moves around from place to place each day of the week.  Today it was in the parking lot of a mall called City Centre.  Fortunately,  I had the company of an African, Elizabeth, who is the mother of Anne, my friend from Beverly.  Without her I'm sure I would not have fared very well.  I am naturally drawn to textiles, and I spent a lot of time looking at different types of African cloth.  There are handwoven pieces, both tie dye and wax print designs. There are traditional Masai colors and patterns,  baskets woven of all kinds of fiber, soapstone and ebony sculpture, paintings and batik images.  In short, there is some of everything.  The tricky thing is the price.  Most of the time I pointed out what I liked, and Elizabeth negotiated a price.  On two occasions, we decided that the price was too high.  Both times we walked away, and were followed with offers far below the price from which we walked. The bargaining involved a lot of talking, laughter, jokes.  I think it would be really fun if I learned how to do it.  But I was clearly only a novice today.  

Nevertheless, I was pleased with what I found.  

The ride home was in such bad traffic that my taxi driver turned off the motor on several occasions and we just waited for things to move.  You can understand why many people just walk.

Early Man in Kenya

The Rift Valley, which runs through Kenya is the site of many of the world's oldest hominid remains.  Teams of paleoanthropologists working with Louis and Mary Leakey and their son Richard have uncovered many of these ancient bones in the area around Lake Turkana.  The Kenya National Museum houses some of the most outstanding specimins. A statue of Louis Leakey greets the visitor.  The museum is modern and well kept.

There are specimens of African animals and many birds.  The elephant skeleton is huge.  The story is that Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, assigned guards to this elephant so that it would not be taken by poachers.  The length of the tusks is extraordinary.  Elephants live to about the age of 70. Every ten years they get a new set of teeth until they get their last set at 60.  Since elephant dentists are scarce, when this last set of teeth wear out, they can no longer eat.

The exhibit on early man includes replicas of Lucy found by Donald Johansen and Australopithecus Afrcanus discovered by Robert Broom.  The jewels of the exhibit are several actual skulls found in Kenya near Lake Turkana in the northwest.  Australopithecus boisei, and several variations of Homo Sapiens lie under glass on special foam.  The nearly complete skeleton of Turkana Boy, dated at 1.5 million years old, occupies the middle of the room,.  This is no ordinary exhibit. A visit to Nairobi is not complete without a visit here.

 

Kwa Watoto School

I wish all of you had been with me today as I entered the Mathere slum here in Nairobi.  My visit was extraordinary, and I will try to give you a feel for the experience.  I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to meet such wonderful people.

The slum where Kwa Watoto is located is a concentration of over a million people who live in very difficult conditions.  The dust rises as we drive through the dirt pathways.  Most people are on foot.  

The houses are simple, often made of corrugated metal which is sometimes bare and rusted, some houses are several stories high and laundry hangs from every balcony.  Makeshift antennae bristle on the roofs

 There are dusty stalls where food is for sale.  Chickens pick at the ground beside potatoes, tomatoes and bunches of bananas.  

Some of the small shacks have names painted on them. As improbable as it sounds there is a hotel, a chemist, a hairdresser.  Children wander the streets.  

In contrast, Kwa Watoto  is a clean and happy place where students want to learn.  Children here are loved and cared for.  My contact, Ajema welcomed me warmly and introduced me to Michael, the extraordinary young director of the school.  He took me on a tour to visit each of the classes.  

First we visited the sewing room and hairdresser shop.  Because many families have no skills with which to earn income, the school has a program to teach the parents marketable skills.  The sewing classes for parents also make school uniforms.

The kitchen staff was busy preparing meals.  They serve the students porridge (see below) at 11a.m. and a noon meal at 1p.m.  This may be all some children eat in a day.  The food is healthy and substantial.

The classrooms are tiny.  There is barely room for the students to sit at tables or desks, but they are focused and attentive.  Each class had prepared a song and a Bible verse to recite.  They did this with gusto.  The school follows the National curriculum which includes:  English, Kiswahili, Social Studies, Christian Religion, Math and Science.  The schoolbooks and a small library were in a tightly packed reading room where students could sit on benches to read. This is where they have access to computers which they use once a day.

The teachers are strict about homework and students have to complete it as soon as they get home.  They have no electricity in many homes.

After visiting classes from preschool through 6th grade and getting some lessons I Kiswahili, I met all the teachers in the Library where I gave them the flash drives sent by the Waring students.  We got out the computers and the teachers were immediately immersed in looking at the flash drives and the photos of Waring students.  I encouraged them to be creative with how they responded, and assured them that many of the Waring students would answer if they wrote back.

We finished the visit with physical education for the whole school.  The Salvation Army has a building and dusty field, which they allow Kwa Watoto to use.  The teachers are in charge of activities for their classes.  Soon the kids were doing jumping jacks, stretching, running and skipping rope.  The slum has no other place where they can run, and they loved it.  They ran like they were training for the Boston Marathon!

Finally it was story time.  One class gathered around me as I told the stories of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Little Red Riding Hood.  Two of the kids told stories:  The Boy Who Liked Animals and Three Girls and the Giant.  We had a lot of fun together.

As I talked with Michael at the end I was struck by how much the culture of learning is like that at Waring.  He said he encouraged the teachers to take ownership of their classes and develop relationships with their students.  The teachers love their classes and work very hard.  It was amazing to see a similar culture of learning in spite of the huge difference in living situations. It was beautiful to see how learning can transcend both poverty and wealth.  

On Friday I go to the Gentle Bells school in Longonot, an hour outside of Nairobi.  Stay tuned.

A holiday in Nairobi

Today was a holiday in Nairobi.  Everyone was out on the streets. The stores were closed, except the shoe stores for some unaccountable reason.  The National Archives were free, and as I walked I noticed families and children with balloon headpieces and tribal face paint.  Where were they coming from?  I should have known.  As I walked toward the family groups I realized that they were coming from Uhuru Park.  The festivities were winding down, but the cute kids were everywhere 

 The Kenyan flag was everywhere too. The colors are:  black for the people; red for the blood shed to gain independence; green for the beautiful land; white for peace. The tribal shield and crossed lances stand for the courage and determination of the people.

 On top of one of the buildings was an enormous cell phone tower. 75% of Kenayns carry a cell phone. They skipped the era of land lines and went straight to the cell. 

  I spent a couple hours inside the National Archives.  There was wide variety in the collection. The tribal shields and weapons were surprisingly beautiful and graceful.  The jewelry was impressive. Many different materials were put to use to create stunning pieces.  The beads were sometimes made from malachite and amber but also from stringing together finely sliced reeds or porcupine quills.  There was an amazing stamp collection which I was too ignorant to fully appreciate. And some contemporary paintings and sculpture. Finally there were displays of photos of Kenyan political heros.  My education is deepening as I understand better the role of British colonialism and the work to create the independent nation I see today on its 50th anniversary.

  I was impressed by how stylish and well dressed the Kenyans on the streets seemed to be.  It made me rethink my wardrobe choices. Tomorrow I visit the Kwa Watoto School.

Short Safari

Today we experienced a short safari, and it was magical. We took a game drive in the Nairobi National Park.  Who could believe that you could see African game just outside the city?  Apparently the National Park was founded before the city was really a city.  The National Park was created in 1946 to help protect African wildlife from hunters.  They have everything except elephants.  We spent a magical three hours in a Land Rover being driven by our guide Keriuki.  He opened the top of the vehicle so we could stand and see out the roof.  At first we felt blind.  He could see the animals and point them out, and we struggled to see where he was pointing.  But we soon got the hang of it.  With a camera in one hand and  binoculars in the other we felt like we were returning to the Garden of Eden.  At first we saw giraffes.

Then we saw buffalo, antelope, eland, impala and zebra.

The going got rough. The road had incredible ruts and we bounced around so much we had to hold on.  Keriuki called it a "safari massage."

After seeing so many animals, we drove a long way without seeing much.  The shadows lengthened and we accepted the reality that lions are elusive and stealthy and we probably would not see one. We spied a hippo at a distance, and to get a better look Keriuki backed up a bit. After getting a look at the hippo we prepared to continue when Peter turned around and said, "I think that's a lion"

We turned, and there, in front of a car that had followed us was a female lion in the road.  We watched in awe as a hungry mother and her two adolescent cubs paced up to our car, stared at us through the window and proceeded to lie down in the road in front of us.  Keriuki said they were very hungry and on the hunt. Such lions are dangerous.  He told us to close the windows and not stand to look out the roof.  Finally they bounded through the brush looking to catch one of the other animals.  

We headed home to our own meal of Tilapia and rice.

The Archbishop of Canterbury

Today we attended All Saints Anglican Cathedral in Nairobi. There were a number of people from other countries who have come to this conference that Peter is attending.  The Archbishop of Canterbury was the preacher, although he is not staying.  He said he was going back to England where he would baptize Prince George on Wednesday.  The Kenyan choir sang beautifully both in English and Swahil, clapping and swaying to the music.  Their harmonies were rich and deep, filling the stone church with song. The church was packed with Africans.  Many of the women were dressed in colorful, traditional dresses, that caught the eye.  I couldn't take my eyes off them.  What joyful, welcoming people were there!  It was a great way to start the day.

Kenyan Time

Yesterday we walked around downtown Nairobi with our guide, Keriuki. As we crossed streets we noticed that they have countdown timers for the pedestrians like we have at home. Except that these timers start at 60 seconds.  Time stretches out here.  Pedestrians talk and wander; no one seems to be on a mission.  And many times they meet friends on the street.  Impossible to pass without chatting. Kenyans are friendly, social people and it is delightful to be among them.

Keriuki gave us a brief history lesson.  Kenya is celebrating their independence from Britain this weekend with a three day holiday.  Although official independence happened in December 1963, October was when Kenya began self government.  There have been four presidents in 50 years.  The current president,  Uhuru Kenyatta, is the son of the first president, Jomo Kenyatta.  Uhuru's name means "freedom" in Swahili.  We heard part of his speech on the radio this morning.  And we drove past his official residence where people were arriving in fine clothes to celebrat with him.

We also saw the statue honoring Dedan Kimathi who was a leader of the Mau Mau Uprising, which was a guerrilla movement for independence that attacked the British directly.  It is only recently that this man is honored as a freedom fighter and not a terrorist.