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Published: October 17th 2013
Toilets at the Office
On most days you have to take a jug and the water from that barrel and pour the water in to flush the toilet. Fun FunAlthough I have now been here an entire week, time moves so slowly it feels like it's been much longer! I am heavily focused on the task I have of working for my father and have established a routine of getting up making (exceptional!) coffee, driving into the office and working steadily with the only break a nice lunch. Even when we drive home we often work into the evening. I work at a hangar belonging to a company that controls insects and birds populations that put food crops at risk. The hangar is dusty and busy at all times with the administration and maintenance of the plane fleets for multiple companies. It is fascinating to have a view of the runway and watch the helicopters and planes passing by and I learn more about aviation every hour. The facilities are basic however, I have a running joke that if the toilets are flushing today it's a sure sign that something else is going to go wrong. Thankfully they don't flush very often! I have already gone through a full bottle of hand sanitizer!
This is the gritty side of Nairobi, the complete mess of infrastructure. No road appears to
The Hangar
The outside view of the hangar I work at, on the other side is the runway have any thought in its construction and layout, they rarely connect in a straight line and are full of pot holes. The water pipes break and flood the streets; electricity is unreliable. I live only minutes from Kibera, the largest slum in Africa my father tells me. It is hidden behind apartment buildings and even has a beautiful "Royal" golf course built next to it. You can see from several entrance points the massive scramble of people and shanty buildings housing over 1.5 million people. Poverty and challenging conditions are a reality for the majority of the inhabitants of this city, however what I cannot fail to notice is the general happiness and friendliness of the people. Everyone seems to have a good humour about the whole situation and there is a great pride and solidarity of the Kenyan people. This is evidenced by the massive surge of donations to help the victims of the Westgate Mall terrorism. At last count the people of Kenya have raised over $1.5million dollars in their support through mpesa donations (using your cellphone to transfer small amounts of money to an account or vendor - a system developed in Kenya and soon to be
Typical Roadworks
zero progress on this since I arrived, in fact they cut more of the road away... adopted in North America).
By contrast, there is also great affluence in some regions like Karen, a neighborhood west of the city. I visited the Karen Country Club to have a business lunch and was blown away by the beauty of the club buildings and the adjacent golf course, tennis and squash courts, swimming pool, and fitness club, library, etc etc. Tonight is club night so perhaps we will head over and indulge a little and schmooze.
Sawa, its 9:30 so I'm back to work again!
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Auntie Sue
non-member comment
You write very well Susan and I\'m thoroughly enjoying reading your blog. You\'ve been added to my bookmarks so that I can easily keep up with your activities.