Miscellany

I left Canada one month ago today. The weather is getting hotter and people are beginning to anticipate the coming rainy season (in a few weeks). I spent the morning at the Maasai Market looking at the beautiful handmade goods for tourists. We can be weird about it, but the crafts, even though made for tourists are really beautiful.

I thought I'd include this photo. Isn't it weird. It is a sculpture in a parking lot of a hotel. I got a terrible fright as I initially thought it was a man hiding behind the lamp-post! Can you imagine seeing this as you pull up to park in the dusk? It would be so scary!

Here is a alleyway in Kibera. I think it is so lovely that this person has taken the time to paint the shutters and whitewash the exterior of  their home. Although this is the largest slum in the sub-sahara with very little sanitation people take pride in where they live.

The rooms are only about 8 feet by 8 feet if that but they really make good use of the space!

Everywhere I go prayer is offered: sometimes in song, sometimes spoken. Whether getting onto the matatu to wish passengers well on a journey or at the start or end of a workshop. I cannot seem to get the recording I made on the post, but I will continue to try. Just know that we began with a prayer sung and broke into dance!

Kibera Women

Yesterday I ran my first workshop with seven women who had suffered during the 2007 post-election violence. They are doing a lot to build peace in their homes and in their communities in the hopes of avoiding a repeat in the coming weeks. We spent the day together, talking about their experiences, the concept of peace and what is means to them individually and what they are doing in their homes and communities to promote peace. We worked on a group project that reflected their perceptions of their community before 2007, during the violence of 2007/08, what things had changed from 2008 - 2012 (perhaps the calm before the election of 2013 when they feel tribal tensions are rising again) and their hopes and dreams for the future after the election.  These women are all from different tribes, had never met before and are courageous! They worked as a group and individually.
It was  great day  . . here are a couple of images

Today I will go to visit a group of women who are sex trade workers!

Kibera, Nairobi

I am back in Nairobi and this time hope to actually connect with people with whom I have been speaking. There are several people who are running community healing programmes in Kibera (reputed to be the largest slum in Sub-Sahara). From what I have experienced, it seems that most people who live there have come to Nairobi to work and indeed they work very hard in jobs that in Canada would provide a reasonable income such as waiters, hotel porters and taxi drivers who work 7 days a week. However, the wages are so low over 1million people cannot afford accommodation outside of Kibera. There is no infrastructure - meaning no roads, no electricity, and little sanitation.

What is of most concern right now, is that this is an area where many tribes live side by side, and with the upcoming elections, there is fear of a repeat of the post-election violence of 2007. In fact, many here were displaced during that election and came to Nairobi seeking a new life. As they live in an area where there is no infrastructure, they are not informed about the issues or about the new Kenyan Constitution of 2010 that promises a democratic electoral process that demands equity for all tribes and gender.

How can information be brought to 2 km of poverty?




It appears that I will be working in Nakuru after the 18th of February with several programmes so I want to make the most of my time here in Nairobi.