Kenya

I came to Kenya because the wilderness called- and i wasn't disappointed. In addition to the great wilderness, i also encountered some Kenyans as courageous as their lions are and as inspiring as their great plains are.

I was picked up at the Nairobi airport by a family friend (actually he was gone so the friend's friend took care of me) who had started a clinic and school in a Masai village close to Tanzania border thirteen years ago, and it was great to hear about all the work he had done from scratch to build up the community. The fact that his official profession is a Christian missionary had made me slightly uneasy as i did not know how respectful of the local customs he had been, but he had done so much development work for the community including starting a primary school, a medical clinic and building a long water pipe that stretched over 10 km from one side of the mountain to the other. And I was told that to save money, he did not hire outside contractors and did everything himself- It seemed like one man was doing a NGO's work. He was also working on teaching the Masai people how to live as an agricultural community, and this was interesting as the Masai have traditionally been cattle nomads but he said it was no longer economically feasible for them to live as cattle breeders and they needed to learn agriculture to survive in today’s market economy.

I had time to wander around the Masai village and even the way their houses are built represents the significance of cattle for them. They build their houses with cow dung and their fences with sticks, and as the Masai practice polygamy, they have cattle pen in the middle surrounded by each wife's house. At the physical level, having more cattle allows men to have more wives (my eighteen year old Masai friend told me the richest guy in town owns 1000 cows and has 20 wives- my friend had 12 and once the number of his cows reached 15, he would get married! :) At the spiritual level, some Masai think that having more cattle will lead to better afterlife, so my guide told me he converts all the money he earns to cows, and i could often see a huge line of cows led by the Masai people.

Masai people, with their colorful decorative beads, are probably one of the most famous out of Kenya's 42 tribes, and they certainly do have some interesting customs. At the age of 14, boys are circumcised and embark on a three months stay in the forest to learn the skills to become a warrior man, and they can only come back to the community if they catch a lion- which they do in a group of 15 or so. My guide showed me the tooth of the lion that supposedly he caught, and also a little hammer-like weapon he caught the lion with. And the boys put on red for the first time when they go hunting to scare the lion, and wear the red for the rest of their lives in adulthood.

Girls also get circumcised, but as i found out from talking to NGO workers, this is not as easy as the male circumcision. Often girls get their entire genital parts removed and whereas for men it hurts once, for women it hurts for the rest of their lives. I've even heard that some people stitch close female's private parts to ensure that she does not have sex before marriage. Another sad thing i encountered was meeting several Masai boys and girls my age who could not afford to go to college- they realize the importance of education but unfortunately have to take time off school to make money.

After leaving my family friend's Elim Christian community i came into Nairobi planning to do a Safari- but it was too expensive and I ended up in a hostel not having anything to do for the next couple of days. I've been so fortunate with the people i meet on the road, and after my German boy Martin came into my room looking for toothpaste, i gave him some delicious toothpaste and we started chatting. It turns out he was visiting Sub-Saharan Africa's biggest slum area called Kibera and learning more about a microfinance organization there, and i asked if i could tag along and he gladly accepted.

We bought a soccer ball each (mine was just $4) and took a bus to go to Kibera and meet a tall guy named Andrew, and he showed Martin & i around Kibera. The living conditions were quite poor and there were trash and sewage everywhere- most people were living under $1 a day and we visited a widow's house who lived in a shack around 5m by 10m with her ten kids. Nevertheless, she was a strong woman who had took a loan from the microfinance organization called 'Jami Bora' and started her life anew selling coal in the community. Jami Bora, which roughly translates to 'Good Family,' started out several years ago as a small microfinance organization that lent money to 50 families, and now there were over 220,000 members who were using micro-credit to climb out of poverty and make a healthy contribution to the community. Unfortunately, the 2-week business training session led by a UNC MBA grad had ended a day before i got there, and i would have loved to have learned more about their entrepreneurship training.

And perhaps the most amazing experience there was meeting John, a former rebel-commander of 230 people who was leading a fight against the government and was now living a changed life building locker boxes for Kibera community. Last year when the former president of Kenya refused to step down despite losing in an official democratic election, members of the N*** tribe whose new president had been elected democratically started a genocide against the Kikuru tribe of the president and the whole country fell into chaos. (it was amazing to me how strong the tribal affiliations are for these Kenyans that they massacre innocent fellow citizens just because of a stupid greedy president). John was a member of the N*** tribe, and he confessed he had killed and maimed countless people in Kibera and also lost a lot of his own men.

Then John met Andrew, who told John that John is going to be killed soon if he keeps living the way he does and urged him to join the Kibera community as a member of the Jami Bora. As Andrew was generous towards John's gang, who initially tried to kill Andrew, many of them joined the community and were now making healthy contributions to the community. And John, a former gang leader who caused so much destruction, was now channeling his energy into soccer as he started a soccer club with his club members that was to 'win Kenya premier league in two years.' As of now the team didn't have a uniform and had only four balls and were not too good, but John is optimistic about the future of his team and it was great to see his enthusiasm.

Although the living conditions were harsh, people certainly more than made up for the place. We also visited a community radio station that was playing some chill African reggae and hip-hop that was not gangsta but was putting positive energy into the community, John and Andrew invited us to a local bar/ club to dance with the Kenyans, and on Sunday we went to a church service with them. Oh, and i also should not forget to mention a great African dish (a huge steak with some vegetables and ugali (corn-based nan like thing) we had.

After visiting countless tour companies, i finally found an affordable low budget safari and embarked on a great African adventure. i had expected to be bored riding in a van all day, but it was wonderful seeing lions, elephants, giraffes, zebras, gazelles, cheetahs, hippos and so on...Some of the things i wish i had not seen- such as maggots and flies swarming on a rotting buffalo that the lion and the hyenas were also eating- but it was so wonderful to see a family of elephants crossing the road (the baby elephants are so adorable) and zebras and gazelles hanging out together and hippos enjoying their bath. It's also wild to think that these steppes are probably where the humans originated and our ancestors probably roamed these vast African plains with these animals.

I also met a Canadian girl at the hostel who took me to a huge Masai market on Saturday and i bought some cool cheap African art to sell at festivals in Europe this summer. (i've obviously mastered the art of bargaining by now... :) Luckily, the Korean guy i was hanging out with (Suny) turned out to be an artist, and he was a big help in giving tips on buying & selling art. And I also met another Korean girl (nuna) randomly at the National museum, and we had great dinner with another Kenyan professor. Although my first impression of Nairobi really was its nickname Nairobery full of crime and danger, once I unveiled the surface and met the locals, I realized there’s so much light and hope here.