Here I sit in Kibera, Nairobi.
As of tomorrow we will be en route to Ukwala, Kenya, where we will meet our wonderful friend Patrick who will be travelling with the 18 bicycles & parts that were purchased yesterday for the students of Humwend High School, Ukwala (10-12 hours northwest of Nairobi).
Yesterday morning we arrived back to Nairobi from Mombasa 'RAHA' - a tropical paradise on the east coast of Kenya - what an experience! From camel riding, to dancing with an African band, to walking the streets of Old Town and seeing first hand Fort Jesus, the historic site where hundreds of thousands of African slaves were docked at before being sold into slave labour. Really quite unbelivable to say the least.
In Mombasa, we stayed with Everlyn, a soon to be nurse, her brother Eric and his friend Sam. Absolutlely amazing hosts! If not for them, we would likely be still with the group of Rastafarians we met upon arriving to the North Shore of Mombasa - June 21st 2010. Luke if you're reading this, you'd be happy to hear we were definitely doing our part celebrating your day of birth.
In fact, this Rastafarian culture wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Rather it was quite infuriating for me to see the gender inequality dynamic found in this small place they called Mtwapa Village. Not only were the females preparing the dinner hours in advance, but they were responsible (and as a result I became responsible for preparing the meal over a fire). Since I was just thrilled to be in this gorgeous & dreamy location minutes away from the Indian Ocean, I agreed to fill the role of female servant for the time I remained with the rastas. In retrospect, I think I let them off a bit easy. A simple lecture on gender equality just really did not seem to be doing any good as I was a visitor to their home.
Eating the meal was also quite the experience. Sitting in a big circle facing one another, there were about 15 of us to eat. We did not use utensils and many people sneered, pointed and laughed at the way we attempted to conform to this amazingly indigenous lifestyle.
Being back in Kibera, I feel very fortunate to have experienced gorgeous beaches, hot juo (sun), amazing hosts, fantastic accomodation, homemade clotheslines, jogs on the beach, high tides, low tides, yoga, Muslim and Indian cultures, spices, markets, crowded streets and much much more in Mombasa. But I am happy too to be back to reality with Patrick, my host family (Dan, Edwinah, Kyle and Leanuw, an amazing child artist) as well as Meghan and Alison all figuring out the logistics of SEED and what is happening in the days to come.
Speaking of which, I better get back to work here. Thanks for reading, and hope everyone is well and looking forward to the month of July/Canada day! I know I sure am. I am anxiously awaiting an entire day of celebrating the wonderful, unique place that I come from. I love you Canada, family & friends! Na penda!!
Definitely loving everything about this wonderful experience here in Kenya, thanks again to all of you whose continued support I can always count on.
All my love from Kibera,
Jenny
XOXO
