Musungu

What is this strange word? Probably none of you heard it before, I just heard it yesterday, and if it had not been for our friend Jotham’s help, we would still not know what this means.

This is a word well spread threw the population and is said repeatedly on the streets by young kids, as we pass by. The word means ‘white man’. For children of less fortunate areas here it is not usual to see our color of skin. It is incredible how lots of kids stay hypnotized, seeing us with their shining eyes, when we pass by. Several times little kids have walked towards us smiling and saluting us with great tenderness. When we return the smile and great them they even smile more. They also ask us: ‘How are you?’ we have answered back and realized these are the few words they know in English, as we have not obtained response. In the future we will try talk with them in Swahili, the local language, and teach them some more English. In the past two days we have already built a short list of words that we have learnt and will try by the end of these two months to get on with this language.

It is incredible to see how children here always smile and show love, sometimes having nothing to play with, but enjoying themselves with any little thing we may see as useless in our regular life.

We have been little in this country but we have already learnt a lot, and there are still lots to teach and more even to learn from this amazing country with amazing people!

Football 1

When working in slums you see many situations that shock you. The people that suffer the most in those cases are the kids. Kids are usually taken and taught the easy way of life, the gangster way. The way they do not have to work or respect others, as well as the path into constant drugs and alcohol.

East Lands center tries to keep them from entering that life through football, soccer as they call it. They organize every Saturday training sessions, as well as games on Sunday. You may think this is little but kids here spend long hours at school nurturing their minds and then going back home to continue with homework. Education is important in slum areas, as it is the way out of low class life. This is good so kids spend their time better instead of approaching these gangs.

I have been training every Saturday a group of around 50 kids. There are three age groups, the under 10, under 12 and under 15. The practice starts around 2:30 PM with a chat by Moses a university student that explains them concepts about life and education. I can say I barely understand what he says as he talks in Swahili, but he looks quite convincing and captures the attention of the kids.After an instructive talk, we head to the pitch. If you were in Europe you would not call it like that, you would call it a mud field. Here we train the kids for two hours dividing them according to their age. Nick and Morris help me while training, as kids do not understand well English, they help me in translation. I have learnt some words of the language but still have lots to go. Kids like playing games, to compete between them and they love when a muzungu plays with them so they comment with their friends at school. After practices the three coaches, me included, talk tactics and what we expect from them.

When I leave these kids behind I will miss them, as they are part of my family here.

Ni tarrudi

KENYA IN THE EYES OF A UGANDAN

This is an article that our dear friend Martin Karungi wrote:

The entire thought of having to leave my motherland to go and study in a foreign land was no joke. I guess your wondering who I am. My name is Karungi Martin, I am from Uganda (Pearl of Africa) and am pursuing my degree in Business Information Technology at Strathmore University, its one of the best and most recognized business universities in Africa.            From the books and journals it has gained its name, as the most crime filled city in East Africa and that was the notion with which I came with from Uganda.
I had never been to Nairobi in my life and all I was praying for was not to get mugged as I got off the bus to get to my place of residence. But I wish to proudly denounce that this notion of Nairobi is wrong. I have been here one month now in company of
Lucas, Francisco and Daniel, and I can only say that it’s been a wonderful experience. The whole idea of having three different societies Europe, Central America and South America is awesome. The diversity in culture, language, customs, way of life, food, mode of transport, and most of all the people.
            Life in Nairobi is rather faster than where I come from. The pace at which people move early in the morning to work is unbelievable it’s been a complete switch in all aspects and I am enjoying it.           Rather it has been challenging when it comes to spending money because when they realize that you can’t speak there language they use all sort of tricks to make you pay more than the actual fee. It happens in shops, matatus, bars, and kiosks. I have lost quite a lot of money but I was ‘consoled’ when these three lads from I.E university arrived coz I think these lads have lost close to a ‘billion dollars’. But as I have advanced with time I can now tell who wants to rip me off.
All in all I have no regrets being here, it has taught me to appreciate the value of the little we have back in Uganda. I guess I still have a lot to learn coz I am here for a long time (4 yrs), yes fours years and stop rising your eyebrows, its a short time.I guess that’s all for now and if you ever come to visit Nairobi please do make it a point to visit Uganda (Pearl of Africa).

Thank you Martin for your article!
See you around guys.

Hell’s Gate Experience

The second smallest national park in Kenya, but small we can’t call it. It’s

probably bigger than any of the national parks back where you are from and I can assure you it has nothing in common with the ones you are used to.

We got to visit this fantastic park thanks to our friend Jotham, who invited us and took us by car. As always you are charged here as a tourist, so you pay at least 4 or 5 times more than a local to enter, but in the end it is worth what you pay. The best thing is to hire a mountain

bike so you can get closer to the animals. While you pedal you have animals all around you, from the usual giraffe and zebra to the dangerous buffalo. This last animal is the scariest for locals, you may ask yourself why this is, since there are a lot scarier animals than these like lions and cheetahs. But the truth about these last ones is that they rarely attack humans as they are seen as normal by there eyes, buffalos are animals that protect their space and can attack you in any moment.

The most shocking thing about this park is that you have, after a few hundred meters, cliffs on both sides, which make the scenery even more spectacular. On these cliffs you can also see monkeys in their caves or hanging from trees.

After a long time cycling, you reach to what they call the Hodge, that is where you do a two-hour trekking through a dried up river. The trekking is sort of technical having to climb and even jump long distances. You do not know what you can find while doing this; we found two young kids that came out of nowhere and guided us during the trekking. They were two very nice Masai kids, with whom we took various photos without problems. They thought they were guiding us, but we knew exactly where to go.

After cycling back to the park entrance, we drove back to the city in exhaustion due to the long and tiring day.

Keep connected for more stories on this wonderful country.

ASANTI SANA (Thank you very much)

Kawanguare - Video

Check out how was our visit to Kawanguare, one of the slam areas of Nairobi, and know one of our friends Paul. Some parts of the video are hard to understand because of the noise but its hard to avoid noise in this kind of places. Give us feedback!

Muzungu II

Some people, and I do not want to generalize, think you are a billionaire and give out money for free because you are white. Every week we have people asking for something or trying to trick us in paying more in everything we want to buy.

People follow you around and play with your temper or just want to charge you more when you are buying things. For them we are money! You realize after giving sometimes something you are not thanked after. In my opinion there is a type of thought by these certain individuals where they think it’s your obligation to give them something since you are white and an outsider. If I had given what they have asked me to give on my trip until now we would have spent over a billion dollars.

On matatus, in shops, tourist office… we sometimes have to discuss prices because we see that the guy in front, paid three times less then what we are being charged, and we hate when people think you are dumb, or do not care. We dress worse than people here, but that does not help, what matters is the color of your skin.

Even when helping people in the organization where we work, we sometimes are asked for money by them or even wanted to do all the work without them helping, which in the end is for their own benefit. We have even been told that sometimes when organizing events that are free to assist they ask for money for assisting when it is for there own benefit.

To clarify this is not everyone, this is not the nice and loving Kenyans we have mostly met. We like the people that work and earn fairly what they have.

Masai Mara (Photos)

Here are the photos we took while our trip in Kenya. Stay close to read the article about the trip!
Click on them to watch them bigger.

Kawanguare - Preview

Francisco and Daniel went to know one of the biggest slams in Nairobi. This is just a little sample of what happend that day. On sunday we will show the whole story.

David's Video

I promised to preset you guys to David. Here is a video that he maid to win a Samsung competition, in which he got the third place and won a camera. In the video you can also see the handcrafted product that he makes. Let us know what do you think about the ornaments!

See you around guys.

David Mwangangi

David is an ornament maker business man. While our stay here we will try to help him to increase the production of the ornaments. This is his story: 

David is a 21 year old boy from Kawangware, Nairobi. The first born in a family of 13 children.

 David was born in the Eastern province of Kenya (rural area) where he attended primary school. He enrolled for the first year of secondary school in the same province but had to drop out after 6 months for lack of school fees. This unfortunate situation was occasioned by a factory accident that his dad suffered. The family then moved to Nairobi (capital city) in search of other possibilities in life. After sometime, David got admission and restarted his secondary schooling. Unfortunately, the type of school in which he enrolled tended to be more for commercial reasons than for the education of young people. It was not a model school for one who was keen on studying hard and living a straight life. David found the rampant drug abuse and prostitution among some of the students to be unbearable. Midway through his second year, he couldn’t take it anymore and faced his dad on the issue.

“I was harsh with my dad, one of the few times this has happened. Eventually he gave in and arranged for my transfer to my third secondary school in 2006”.

Back at home things moved from bad to worse as his dad lost his employment round about the same time. As a consequence, David was a student in his third secondary school for only three months.

Later on he moved to his fourth secondary school.

This fourth school did not prove to be better than the schools earlier mentioned. In fact, it was not even certified by the government to offer the secondary school certificate. On discovering this, he and his classmates approached the principal and pleaded with him to arrange for them to get registered at least for the final exams in a different school. Eventually, David and his classmates did their final exams in a fifth secondary school in Western Kenya, over 350 km from Nairobi.

This dramatic experience was going on with a background of financial constraints at home. Young David had to juggle between helping at home and studying. He seems to have spent more time out of school than in school between 2003 and 2007.

His experience in school was challenging but it didn’t crush him. Some hope for a brighter future still lingered in his mind.

“After high school I was exhausted and a bit desperate. But life had to continue, so I picked up myself and started looking for a small job somewhere, anywhere.”

The searching efforts bore some fruit when David landed himself a cooking job in one of the local hotels in Kawangware (an informal settlement in Nairobi).

“My job was to make chapatis (a kind of pancake) out of a whole bundle of flour (24kgs) every morning for a Shs. 120 (US$1.5) wage”, David recalls. “What I took home though was Shs. 100 (US$1.2) since I had to pay someone Shs. 20 (US$0.25) everyday for assisting me with the job. Cooking one bundle worth of chapatis is not funny” David reminisces half seriously, half jokingly.

David didn’t last in that job for long. The poor pay and hard work conditions contributed to the decision to quit. Moreover, David had over time developed chest problems which required him to have a lot of fresh air. Unfortunately this was not in plenty in the sooty and smoky Kawangware kitchen.

In December of 2008, David bumped on Benard Matheka, one of his long lost classmates from his third school. Benard had since joined ISBI for some after school courses. “It was he who introduced me to ISBI and encouraged me to enroll in early 2009. I thought that after learning computers I will get a job…I think I was wrong”, David chuckles.

At ISBI, David decided to try another shot in life by taking a specialization in Office Management in the Samsung Real Dreams program.

“I met friendly teachers. They were very patient with us, something that I picked up and am now trying to make my own. I also used to be tense whenever I had to address people, but not any more. Thanks to the discussion forums of the program, I guess I am now over confident. I also learnt how to use computers and did entrepreneurship as well as life skills, tools which I now find to be very useful. But above all, I could say that the course made me a better man, I am not sure I was one before”.

David is aware that although he has had a difficult past, his story is not very unique in the informal settlements of Nairobi. His short but intense experience has opened his eyes and given him the ability of analyzing society’s issues with a critical mind. “Young people don’t know what they are capable of. They only think of accumulating academic qualifications without knowing what will come out of that pile. Unfortunately, our government is encouraging this”, reckons a somber David. He believes that, “to discover oneself takes time and requires some soul searching and attempts at many things in life”.

After the program, David decided to start a business of making and selling ornaments. With some assistance from the ISBI business incubator, David managed to make a simple business plan and gather up the tools for his trade. He now makes necklaces, earrings, bracelets etc, from a secret material. “I met a fellow who was in this business and I took some interest. He demonstrated it to me and I picked up the skill in 30 minutes. I was very happy with myself and I went ahead to finish my first necklace on that same day. I brought this necklace with me to ISBI the day after and I think they liked it a lot. I keep it as a reminder because it marks the beginning of my story in business. Later on I made a necklace and some earrings for my step mother. She liked it very much and wore it on Sunday”.

Through the Samsung Real Dreams program, he was put in touch with a business mentor who is helping him to run his business more professionally. His mentor is a seasoned trader in the artifacts industry in Nairobi.

David’s business has since then, increased in volume and intensity. “I have earned some money from my business and am now able to buy my own things. In future, I want to be able to take care of my family as well. As for the business, I hope to one day dominate the market”, states an animated David.

David is very optimistic about the future. With the skills and confidence gained from his training, he is ready to take on the world.

“Thanks to the program, I am not fearful anymore. Now that I have discovered myself, I must do what my heart tells me”.

 

Stay close if you want to know more about him and his new business.

See you around guys.

On the streets of Nairobi

You are probably asking yourself what are the things you can find in the town dani (town center) in a developed African city, as Nairobi. It is not like any other city I have seen in my life.

The first things you find in the center are tons of matatus. Matatus are a type of public transport, which we will describe in more extense towards the end of our journey, as there are many interesting stories about them. You also find thousands of people on the streets. I can say that the majority is better dressed than us, and they are not all businessmen. People in Kenya like to dress well every day, in a neat and clean way, even with ties. You can also find the counter part, poor people asking for money or selling small things while lying on the floor.

You may not believe me but you can also find various skyscrapers, taller then many European buildings, as well as thousands of shops. The shops are usually dedicated to sell fast food, mobiles, CDs, DVDs and clothes (mostly second handed). You cannot imagine the amount of these tiny shops there are.

What struck me most was the amount of Fast food restaurants, where they all sell the same thing, fried Chicken, and fries. This Chicken, I can tell you from personal experience, is better than KFC Chicken, and is very cheap, a quarter Chicken with fries and a drink costs less than two Euros. Although I must recommend not eating more then once a week because of the amount of calories and fat it has.

I do not understand how there are so many mobile retailers and how they survive. This must be because getting land lines here is really hard, they have even better mobiles then us in Europe. Selling CD copies is supposedly illegal, but why are they all selling them in well-established stores? If you give a little to police they amazingly become blind and do not see them.

As a msungu I can walk “calmly” through the streets, for almost three weeks now I have been walking and using public transportation every day and we haven’t been mugged or threatened in any way. The only thing they have tried is to con us in the matatus, but they have not succeeded. The most dangerous thing to do here is to walk, you can find any obstacle when doing so. You can find a matatu on the sidewalk in front of you or coming from behind, as well you have the danger of crossing the streets as there is no place to cross. Red lights are not followed so when crossing just run and remember to look all around you as you do not know from where a car can arise. The best technique is to cross the street at the same time a local does it. You can even find holes where your whole body fits.

For future tourists I can tell you it is a wonderful city and is one of its kind. Do not worry about what they tell you in books or on the news, it is a secure city. People here are so welcoming and ready to help in any moment.

Kawanguare

Where the streets are used to walk and the sidewalks are used to let the hurried “matatus” pass by. A place, where you can smell food and garbage getting rotten both to your left and right. The goats walk with you eating what they can find on the streets and craping at the same time. If you look to your right, to your left, forward and back, you will see informal businesses everywhere, people are trying to survive. This place is called Kawangure and is one of the poorest slams in Nairobi.

Last Saturday Francisco and I went to pay a visit to the place, while Lucas was training the football team in Salem (short for Jerusalem, in East Lands). Here you can feel people welcoming you as you walk; being a “muzungu” in Kawanguare is even rarer than in other places of the city. Children are extremely happy to see a “muzungu” and they don’t stop saying “how are you?” as you pass. We were told that if we replied to their greetings they would get so excited that tell their friends, parents and teachers. But don’t think everyone is happy to see a white man, some people stare at you with a face in which you can read a: “How are you and what are you doing here?”.    

Aside from the people, you can find so many needs in the place. Being there for some people that haven’t visited a slam before can be a bit shocking. When you reach a point in which you are no longer walking in solid ground but in a mix of mud and garbage and you see boys and girls playing in the place, you feel that something is wrong in the world. The feeling of altruism arose in our heart; Francisco even gave his lunch to a mother with her children.

We were taken to the place by Paul, a fellow that Francisco met in the streets last Thursday. He is an owner of a clinic there and invited us to know the place. The clinic is about 60 m², really small to be called a clinic, but it has the basic necessities to help someone in an emergency. He told us that the main treatments he does are: receive babies, fight malaria and heal wounds.

After visiting the clinic we went to his house where we meet his wife and two of his smallest children. The house was about 30 m² and it had a sitting room, a kitchen and place to sleep for 6 people. The house was well cared and they look comfortable in it. In that moment we didn’t know what to say, because for us this house was really different from what we know. We tried to be as polite as we could. At the moment I remember that while walking on the streets some people called him their leader, so if the leader has this house I can’t imagine the house of the rest.

 

Being in Kawanguare was really good for me, it helped me realize where I am and who are the people that really need help. In this week I will try to show more images of the place for all you guys to know it better, until then you can imagine.

See you around guys.  

Kazi yetu nchini Kenya (Our work in Kenya)

You may ask yourselves what we are doing here in such a distant country, also if we are going to ever talk about the jobs we are going to have while we here. Well this is a start to all this.

This week has been full of meetings with the objective of planning each of the projects we will be doing and develop new ones in the following weeks. We have all been assigned different tasks we will do during the stay.

Our friend Francisco will be in the business incubator. You may ask yourself what this is. It is assessing an already established informal company with new ideas and strategies, as well as looking at the problems they have. One case he has come across is a man that breads rabbits, which are dying in great amounts. Kiko as they call him here (it means a smoking pipe in Swahili) will try to understand the problem and develop alternatives.

Daniel will be giving classes on Spanish to people in Hodari center, in the western part of Nairobi. These classes will be three times a week and will last around one hour each. He will also be giving a course on IT to people who already now the basics, mainly outlining flash and html language.

I will be teaching as well Spanish but on the eastern part of Nairobi, in a place called Salem, which is short for Jerusalem. I will be giving these classes five times a week to a big group of people over 20 years old. As I am a great fan of sports I will also be training a team of youngsters in football for the next two months.

As you see we are starting to work and will try to be as busy as possible during our stay here. We will be incorporating new work tasks to our list in the following hopefully.

Kwaheri (Goodbye in Swahili)

Good or bad luck?

Some of the most interesting images of how we move from Madrid to Nairobi with an interesting and unexpected stop of 24 hours.