Guest Blog Post: Lions and Eagles: stories of courage and commitment

.......The most common animal was the eagle. “The eagle feeds and raises it chicks until the baby is ready to fly. The mother pushes the eagle out of the nest to thrive on its own when it’s ready.” This served as a powerful metaphor for the work of these amazing childcare practitioners. They all desired to nurture these children in need, and then empower them to survive and thrive as strong individuals......

Please read more about the great things happening in Kenya through my guest blog post for Each Inc at....http://www.eachinc.org/2011/10/lions-and-eagles-stories-of-courage-and.html

Kenya = Convergence

Dimly lit, tobacco yellowed walls, corridors meander their way to the visa counter.  Oblivious mzungus (that was me last year) queue behind meaningless signs 'Visas ONLY'.  Having done this before I selected the shortest line behind the sign that read 'East African Citizens ONLY'.  Awaiting on the other side of customs a rotund smiley chap named Justin.

Immediately met with the electricity of the Kenya hustle.  Cabs queue, individuals pace, the night is alive.  My nose detects a familiar smell, association to memories etched a year ago.  Sulfides from robust diesels sting the nostrils.  The night masks most of Kenya's features.  Jet-lagged interrupted sleep unveils a cloud draped Kenyan morning.  Muted earth tones so vibrant against the enveloped gray morning.  Smell and texture of the chalky earth supplement the experience of the landscape.  How did I end up back in Kenya a year after leaving?

Serendipity.  From a pub called the Weary Traveler in Madison, WI over a pint of one the numerous Wisconsin made micro-brews, a serendipitous friendship.  Two weary travelers exchanging career, family and life experiences.  The common ground, the Mitten state, and as visitors to Madison.  Our conversation turns to another commonality, social enterprise, by way of Ethiopia.  Having just traveled there my weary traveler friend's sister was currently in Addis.  The scarred mahogany bar, our connection and social tribune.  Contact information would be exchanged and so too the convergence.

My new friend's sister was starting a non-profit called Each Inc.  Each Inc's mission; "provide 
capacity 
building and
 technology 
support 
for 
individuals 
and organizations 
that 
identify 
and 
provide 
care 
and 
protection
 to vulnerable 
children 
globally."  A powerful and grand mission.  The equation; I was looking to utilize 6 weeks of vacation I had accrued over the last year and Each Inc. needed someone to conduct their first field demo of a mobile technology platform for child care practitioners.

My intention and objective for these 6 weeks was to 'live' in one location to truly absorb a new culture; the people, the food, the language and the pace of life.  My plan was to volunteer with a non-profit so that I was living, working and doing something productive during these 6 weeks.  Operationalizing this plan would turn out to be more difficult than I had anticipated.  Through all my research the only thing I could find was 'voluntourism' where not only would I have to pay for my flight and accommodations I also had to pay to volunteer.  Believe it or not.

Each Inc. would be the opportunity that I was looking for and I would only have to pay for my flight and accommodations and still accomplish my objective.  The course was set now we needed to decide on a location.  Originally the Latin America culture and improving my limited grasp on Spanish was the draw.  Each Inc. had some potential partners in Honduras, Belize and Guatemala and in Africa (Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia).  Having already lived in Kenya there were positives and negatives to being back in Kenya.  I became enchanted with Kenya, a country with endless beauty, unimaginable wildlife, a culture brimming with hope, a people with beaming smiles that seem hereditary and a place with more momentum than a tidal wave.  The only negative...I had already lived in Kenya.

The target was moving and a new location was proposed almost weekly.  My only condition to Jean was that she send me wherever she felt the best opportunities for Each Inc. existed. So +20 hours of travel crossing through Europe then arriving in the dark of a Nairobi night.  Kenya will be my home for the next 4 weeks.  Back to a country and people I had grown so fond of.  A K'naan melody echos among the lobes of the cerebral cortex.  Karibu Kenya!      

The convergence has just begun.....

Potentially Kenya

Running in Nairobi is much like life for the average Kenyan. There are obstacles and risks with every step. Not having sidewalks presents the continuous task of avoiding gaping holes in the black top or feeling the brush of a exhaust spewing vehicle as it passes dangerously close. At roughly a mile above sea level the air contains depleted oxygen levels causing the pulmonary system to labor more intensely. With each exchange the blood is less oxygen enriched then running at lower altitudes.

A night out in Nairobi

My first night out in Nairobi since my arrival week. The occasion, celebrating the end of a arduous week filled with obstacles. Monday morning's commute was ominous of the week to come. Much like the body's circulatory system we travel the main artery out of the heart of Nairobi as vehicle queues build on the vein into the city. Monday morning our car flowed freely out Upper Kibete as the inbound lanes posed deeper queues than normal. Our conversation, comes to an abrupt halt....there is a large bus screaming the wrong way down the middle of the expressway coming straight for us. Our driver, old Charles, (there are three Charles who work for our car service and he is uncharacteristically abrasive for a Kenyan)calmly veers and shakes his head with only slight disappointment as though he had anticipated the ongoing bus. Our heads whip around to make sense of what just happened as we watch the bus barreling down the expressway weaving through oncoming traffic....this wouldn't be the worst of our week.

Analogies of Africa

There is an African proverb that goes like this:

Every morning in Africa a gazelle awakens knowing it must today run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning a lion awakens knowing it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It matters not whether you are a gazelle or a lion, when the sun rises you had better be running.

Sitting in an over-sized plush armed chair in the posh and tightly secured lobby of the InterContinental Hotel Nairobi I am eagerly anticipating a meeting with a delegate from the African Union. The lobby is a buzz with foreign guests seeking meetings with the African and Kenyan elite. The slick marble floor reflects an annoying and eye squinting glare. I am uncertain what to expect.

BOMF- 16k race up Mt. Kenya while straddling 2 hemispheres

6k (3 and 3/4 miles) to go, about 10,000ft above sea level, I took a glance behind me and there he was just 100 meters away....a heart wrenching feeling having ascended so far all alone. I quickly commenced a mentally taxing, tactical triage as I calculated a way to create enough distance between us. The tactic, an acceleration at each of these acute gradient switchbacks in the oxygen depleted air that might establish just enough distance causing the chase to abort....

From 16K up to Mt. Kenya to 11800ft

Physical activity has not been my strength while being in Nairobi. The roads lacking sidewalks, the reckless Kenyan drivers nor the client's demands are conducive to a regular exercise routine. So when an email populated my outlook requesting someone to fill a spot in a 16k (~10 miles)race up Mt. Kenya (from 7800ft to 11800ft)I apprehensively accepted. Influenced by the fact that I would at least get to see Mt. Kenya even if I knew it was going to be a struggle to traverse the 16K up the mountain.

Power Outages, Power Driving, Power Boats and Powerful vistas

Accustomed to power outages I've become (that sentence seems Yotaesque). Reclined, typing away, tucked into the large and worn off-white leather sofa, the lights sputter. A regular occurance sitting at dinner or working from behind a computer screen the energy infrastructure is not very reliable but power is secondary when you are nestled in the grasps of the wild and the vastness of the Great Rift Valley (GRV- they don't use this acronym but I will rock it). An hour's drive from Nairobi the GRV (see saved you a few milliseconds that you just wasted reading this) and the great lakes region of Kenya lies wide open like the mouth of a child awaiting the spoon aircraft to deposit tasty morsels. The dwarfing backdrops of cloud piercing volcanic mountains, sheer cliff like gashes torn into the bedrock, inflict awe inspiring reflection. God's power and glory, painted on the landscape and molded in the beasts that traverse this land. Getting their is the first challenge, by car, by driving, by ourselves(without our reliant driver)....

A Nation Reborn....Kenya's New Constitution

Optimism, painted on the face of every Kenyan, saturating the oxygen depleted air of Nairobi. Reminiscent of Obama's inauguration Kenyans captivated by the illumination of televisions at their local Nakumutt (Kenya's Walmart) as the President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, endorsed the document amidst cheers from the capacity crowd (Kenyans took advantage of every vantages including atop trees). Supported by numerous, in the flesh, international dignitaries and punctuated by a 21 gun salute.

Police shakedown and a series of unfortunate events

Seamless...would not be the way I describe Kenya. Undiscovered intrinsic potential yes. From observation Kenyans work hard performing the most routine of tasks. This includes basic transportation. Like attempting to catch a ride by running alongside a matatu (Nairobi's version of a shuttle bus each characteristically displaying their unique flair)as it navigates traffic to jump in and fill a slight gap in an already tightly packed vehicle. Machines (mostly cars and Matatus) are pushed to their limit as drivers weave through traffic to minimize any gap between them and the nearest vehicle in their horizon.

My worst nightmare....I am on my way to the Doctor..... in Kenya

I am on my way to the doctor in Kenya....every traveler's worst nightmare, it is uncomfortable enough going to the doctor in the States let alone the developing world. Flashbacks of ostentatiously hung photos in the waiting room of Passport Health where I received all $1000 worth of shots in two arms prior to leaving the Baltimore. The photos depict crude medical facilities in the developing world....all a scare tactic....right?

Are we in Jurassic Park? Friday morning coffee and bbq

The lions devoured the calves that we were breeding and we've been eagerly waiting 9 months to see the outcome, Agaba, a scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), tells my colleague Nick and I. A few months ago they also got in and killed 40 sheep. They killed all 40? Agaba chuckles no the sheep freaked out and stampeded each other. It must have been a relatively bountiful and easy smorgasbord. This usually only occurs during 'the migration'.

Life in Nairobi

Everything seems familiar, like everyone knows my name. Nairobians always greet you with a smile and an inquisitive look, their warmth exudes their handshake and greeting. Have been here before because the surroundings seem oddly familiar. The landscape bares the markings of a equatorial climate (which I assume Nairobians enjoy during a majority of the year since Nairobi sits nearly on the equator) although currently the southern hemisphere is coming out of the winter season and entering into spring. Nairobi is a mile above sea level (nestled 5,450 ft above to be exact) and is especially cool right now, to some degree bone chillingly cool. I wear a sweater around the apartment and about town. If you have ever spent a misty 58 degree autumn day outdoors, away from a source of heat you know what I a talking about. The chill is tough to shake. My colleagues are reassuring me that it has been getting noticeably warmer. Although Nairobi is chilly they say any trip to the Kenyan lowlands will immediately send the mercury back atop the thermometer achieving confirming my preconceived notion of this arid and toasty continent that I had anticipated.

The Rift Valley and Beyond

The smell of a new(old) world tickled my nostrils as I exited the door of the boeing 777. The ceilings were low and wood paneled. Everything seemed a bit muted. I felt as thought I was watching an episode of "Welcome Back, Kotter" on Nick at Night. Making my way through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport(Jomo Kenyatta was the founding father of Kenya's independence from the British in 1963) to immigration. I had received an inside tip just days prior...."when approaching the immigration lines pick the shortest line even if the sign reads 'Pilots and Cabin crew only'... signs don't matter". It turned out to be absolutely spot on. I received my 90day visa and I had officially arrived in Nairobi, Kenya. How did I make it this far....