Reaching the summit

Mt Longonot summit

Sitting in a matatu at 8 o clock at night, waiting in traffic to get home, I get a text. I read: "usi sahau kuhusu kesho asabuhi" Translation: don't forget about tomorrow morning! Right, I promised one of my neighborhood youth, Shuba, that we would go hiking up Mt. Longonot tomorrow morning. Though in the moment I felt tired and my first reaction was to look for an excuse of why I couldn't go, upon failing to come up with one, I awoke early the next morning and had a fantastic day.

Shuba at the summit

Mt Longonot is a dormant volcano located in the Rift Valley. You can take public transportation from Nairobi to the village of Longonot, and then walk to the base of the Longonot National Park. It takes about one hour to reach the rim of the volcano (a very steep and gruelling hour). Add another hour to make it to the highest point of the volcanic ridge. Though we collapsed at the top, it was victory all the way. We continued along the 2 mile volcanic rim surrounded by butterflies. It was surprisingly cool, and though my muscles ached the next day, it was a much needed day away from the city.

Butterflies were everywhere

Me at the summit

My shoes have travelled the world with me, and though I know they are almost done, I can't bear to throw them away. I couldn't help but take a picture of the wear and tear. Sadly, they will not make the trip back to Canada.

Kenya has an abundance of beautiful women from the young children dancing in the streets, to the older mamas selling vegetables along every residential street. The vegetables taste so sweet, much more flavour than the ones back in Canada (sorry, but true). This is my favourite mama to buy vegetables from. My favourite meals to cook involve buying greens such as pumpkin leaves or sakumawiki (kale), etc... and cooking them up with tomatoes, carrots, garlic, ginger and any other locally available vegetables. Mix the following together, possibly add some beans or soy for protein, and walaa: the most delicious vegetable creations you can imagine.


There is a local dance class that I attend. Though the class targets children, anyone can attend and get involved in the enthusiasm that is African dance. This class takes place in Kibera and was organized by a phenomenol young woman named Anna. She is an 18 year old young mother of two raising her children alone (not uncommon in Nairobi). She is skilled with the drum, with dance and with song. Here is a video of the class that I shot last Saturday. Their vision involves buying uniforms and marketing themselves to perfrom at local events and shows. What they lack in resources, they make up for in enthusiasm, joy and talent!

I continue to work with the youth and am helping them start their own businesses. This last week I had the opportunity of spending considerable time with Costanzia, my beautiful young friend from Tanzania. Again, Costanzia is a young mother with a 2 year old daughter. She is raising her daughter by herself and ever since I have known her, has been engaged in work involving long hours (10 hours a day), hard work (cleaning, cooking, washing) and very low pay (ranging from 75 cents to $1.50 per day). After speaking with Costanzia at length, it was revealed that she would like to open up a cafe of her own. She has worked for other women at kiosks for years, and has the skills, abilities, customer relations and know how to start up her own business. This week we decided it was time to get this started. Costanzia found a kibanda to rent, we made a list, a budget, and bought all the necessary supplies.

Buying supplies for her restaurant

Costanzia's kibanda

 There is another young women I have become involved with. Her name is Francisca. Another single mother raising a 5 year old son on her own, and pregant with her second child. She has had many complications with this pregnancy, and fortunately, I have been able to help her with some of the necessary procedures. She is a skilled salonist, and though she is unable to work at the moment due to her troubled pregnancy, she is planning on getting back to work as soon as her baby has been born. She lives in the Kawangware slums.

Fransisca with her son and nephew

I have now shared a small glimpse into the lives three young women. All mothers, all raising their children on their own. This begs the question of why?  The young women that I know are intelligent, focused, hard-working and constantly planning for the future for themselves and their children. Yet, why is there this overwhelming pattern of young pregnancies, father abandonment, and single mothers living in poverty? The emergence of single mothers has become a social norm in Nairobi. One reason involves the under-use of contraceptives and the pressure placed on young women to prove their love to their boyfriends. Despite Kenya's extremely conservative outlook on pre-marital sex, the irony is that young pregnancies are prevalent everywhere. Further, while abortion is illegal in Kenya, this doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Instead, women undertake this dangerous procedure themselves removing their pregnancies and abandoning the fetus in one of Nairobi's garbage dump sites. The result of increased urbanization, and the subsequent weakening of traditions and customs combined with poverty has resulted in this occurrence.

Johnstone, the principle of Soweto Academy once said to me "There is one thing that African men are very good at: getting women pregnant and dissapearing." In addition, the young women always seem to speak about their children's estranged fathers as their husbands. Apparently there is this idea that they are "married". Though no documentation exists, nor is the father present, there is an overhwleming desire to be married, especially among the urban poor. I assume some discussion took place that the couple is married, the pregancy commences, the child is born, the man dissapears (presumably acquiring another "wife" elsewhere).

Nonetheless, the women remain responsible, positive and incredibly hard working to provide for their families. In fact, there are numerous microfinance organizations that primarily target women and women's groups. I have had several lengthy discussions with one microfinance organizations in particular called TUDEP (Tujikuze Development Program). This group provides loans to women who are part of a women's group. The loans are incredibly low interest, and works on a system of group accountability. In addition, they only provide loans to women. I talked with a credit officer who told me that the men, in general, are much less likely to pay back the loan then women. Interesting ... Microfinance is big business in Kenya, though one challenge remains. As small microfinance institutions grow, they are struggling to find the capital necessary for company expansion.

Soweto Academy continues to push onwards and upwards. I am anxiously awaiting response from the Safaricom Foundation to hear whether or not the computer project will be funded. I was told three weeks ago that I would receive a response. How wonderful would it be to begin teaching ICT to these young women. I would love to be able to volunteer my skills and expertise in the computer classes as well. Alas, it is in God's hands. As for the water bottling company, the focus has changed from obtaining external funding to marketing the water. Great, I spend too much time at my computer already, let's get out there and sell some water! I have offered my assistance for this endeavor and have added two new clients to Soweto's roster. Hopefully by my next post we will have added many more.

Shiriki organization is also doing great. Through hard work, know-how, and community help, they have begun the construction of a well on-site. In addition, the harvest continues in Maragua and fresh maize, cowpeas, beans and soya have been ripe for the picking. There is nothing as good as nourishing on your home-grown fruits, vegetables and grains. In addition, we have been sending out a funding proposal to obtain machinery, materials and a workshop for the shoe industry. While resources continues to be a challenge, and the shutting down of the music studio was hard felt, everyone continues working together to uplift the urban and rural communities.

While I commonly write about my experiences from a very positive standpoint, there are harsh realities that Kenya's communities face on a daily basis that I struggle with. Substance abuse is an enormous problem among Nairobi's youth. One of my favourite Dagoretti youth is a regular drug addict. He used to be a Dj and constantly talks in Dj mode "Sista Joelle, mzuri SANA, Blessed Love, Blessed Love, Mzuri SANA". My first impression of him was judgemental and somewhat annoyed. Yet, I have seen this young man perform incredible acts of kindness that made me think of the good samaritan. Another youth-man was badly beaten up and left on the side of the road a couple weeks back. While everyone simply walked over, around or beside him, this guy picked him up, brought him to shelter, nursed his wounds, and brought him food and water. 

I have heard stories about friends shot down by police or local gangs, yet I have only seen a glimpse of this brutality. I listen to their stories, but have no idea what life must be like for them. I can see how real the trauma is, and how difficult it is to talk about. During the post-election violence of 2007, these youth have witnessed and experienced atrocities. Here is a story I was told:

During the post-election violence I never went out at at night, and had to be extremely careful during the day. It would be better to stay underground all the time, but we needed to find food, so didn't have a choice but to emerge and hustle on the streets. I was walking with my friend when members of the Mungiki called out to us. "What's your name?" "Who are you?" I knew they would recognize our tribe from our names, so I took off running. My friend froze in his tracks, and when I looked back to locate him, I saw him kneeling down in front of them. Using machetes they cut off both his hands. I stood in horror and couldn't watch them finish him off. I froze in shock until I realized they were now running after me. Sprinting hard through the streets of the slums I blindly ran into a dead end. I was cornered against tin shack buildings and the river of sewage 20 feet below. With no where else to turn, I jumped, straight into the sewage. Thanks be to Jah my life was spared that day, though I had to immerse myself in the rivers of human waste, none of the Mungiki jumped after me and I managed to get home to see another day.

I walk through the slums each day, and tolerate the sewage trenches, human waste, sick children, and young prositutes. I see the young mothers struggling to feed their families and turning to prostitution as a means of survival. I empathize, but at the end of the day, I get to go home to my safe, clean, secure apartment. I have a warm bed, food, and a comparitively large bank account. They don't have these luxuries. While I believe I have bridged some sort of a divide by forging meaningful relationships with individuals and organizations from a very different walk of life than mine, I know that we are not the same. Their challenges are not my challenges, their trials are far harsher than my trials, and when they fall, they often fall hard with no one to pick them up. As horrible as it sounds, I can see survival of the fittest taking place before my eyes. Truly, these young men and women are warriors, yet I have seen some of the brightest lights emerge through their lives. It reminds me of a quote I was told yesterday by another street warrior: In every person's soul is the image of God waiting to be seen.