I'm here!

Today, we arrived in Kenya! When we arrived in the airport, we went through a line to get our visas and then went through to get our bags. Fortunately there were carts because I had 2 checked bags at a whopping 52.2 lbs each--one entirely filled with donations for the girls at Hekima Place. After a confusing wait in line for customs, for which we had no goods to declare, we were greeted by "Uncle" Samuel, a trusted taxi driver with a sign saying "Hekima Place" held in one hand and a friendly wave for us with the other. Another smiling face accompanied him--it was one of the other volunteers, who had just arrived yesterday but has been to Hekima Place before.

Kenyan currency is in shillings, with an exchange rate of about 76 shillings per US dollar. I took out 5000 ksh, which came out in thousands.

We had about a 45 minute drive to Hekima, which is about 15 miles from the airport. We are about a ten-minute drive from the center of Karen, which is essentially the city part of Karen.

Kristin pointed out the shopping center, where you could buy the same kinds of things you might find in a Walmart at home.

Cars zipped by us on the road, which was slightly bumpy at times, but not too bad. (I sat in the far back of the van and managed to not get sick, so it couldn't have been too bad!) The driver's seat is on the right and cars drive on the left side of the road--a prime sign of British influence. I read on the British government's website that British drivers' licenses are valid for use in Kenya. From what I can tell, the British seem to have a fairly close relationship to Kenya. It sounded like there were quite a few Brits on our flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi. Of course, the language is the surest sign of British influence. 95% of the signs I've seen thus far have been in English and all the airport workers I encountered spoke English--with a unique Kenyan accent of course.

When we got to Hekima, about 7 of the older girls--4 in 8th grade, 2 in high school, and one at the University-level (Emma)--as well as Mum Gladys and Mum Kate (the director and founder of Hekima) came to greet us. They each gave us a hug as they introduced themselves and gave us a warm welcome. After Emma hugged me, she held my hand as we all chatted and talked about what the plans are for the morning and didn't let go until the girls were about to leave.

Emma is studying Commerce, which she told me she just loves. She is on break right now but is studying for the CPA exams, which are in the middle of June!

After all the girls left, we were talking to Kate, who started explaining some of the politics of Kenya. (Mum Gladys said politics are a "bad game" in Kenya.) She said there's a lot of poverty and unemployment. Even people who have degrees are driving mtotos (taxis) because there are no jobs. She explained that there are groups of young boys who are recruited in the country to commit acts of terrorism. Particularly back at the time of the presidential elections, boys were paid enough money for dinner--about 200 shillings--for setting fire to a building. It's hard to say who played the worst cards in the election season, but mostly Kikuyu, of the predominant tribal group, were killed. Now, the President, Mwai Kibaki, is Kikuyu and the P.M. is Raila Odinga.

Kate also talked about how many people from the West tend to think the Kenyans (and Africans in general) are either stupid or lazy. But what they don't understand is that Africans are completely at the mercy of the weather. "If it doesn't rain, we don't eat," she explained.

I heard Kate on the phone talking about buying new land. She also expressed the difficulty of having an American board that doesnt understand the cultuer or environment in Kenya. There is a Kenyan board that is supposed to govern.

I'll explore that more, later, hopefully.