Final post

                                   

Basically, the last month and a half, I have been working at this office, looking through  binders for each IFRI at KEFRI, checking data. It is not an easy task. I did not finish.

Kimani(yes, in central, there are many)

 

Benja

These two guys are the backbone of the whole thing. They get the keys. They are trouble. Mbaya sana.

However, it is good to help/confuse each other.

Matilda mischieviously cutting cake.

The back part of tilapia, near the tail, and right under the head has the tastiest meat. My boss's daughter yelled at me for not eating the head and eyes. She said it is an insult to the cook. Whatever, Rox.

Ocassionally, we ate lunch, or as Benja calls it, Mtumbo time! I don't like mtumbo(intestines) as much as tilapia.or cake. We sometimes contracted Victoria, a baker at KEFRI to make cakes.

 Security guards. The guy on the left is Isaac. He was a school teacher then ran a shop. It was destroyed in the post election violence, so he had to work security to feed his family. Cool dude. Wants to go back to teaching.

Avocado tree in the yard.

baby bird

                                                          
                                                        The compound I lived in. I'll miss it.

Nderi. Yup... I miss it. 

George and his son James. some of the kindest folks you'll meet.

Weird Christian TV show... should have a shot of soul-eating Joey Grecco in here.

But these are not cheetahs... they practice temperance and virtue.

Lake Victoria

Evans

This is just random stuff I will miss. Lake Victoria, cuddling cheetahs, little kids, weird Kenyan TV, and even Evans.

beef at namelezz.

Robert (left) head of kefri house and Michael, development econ student, cousin of James. Good dudes.

James (aka Jamoo or GMO) Don't underestimate GMO powers, especially when mtumbo is involved.

Nyom Chom

 Most of all, hanging out at Namelezz with general Wau and the boys... The club is the club, no matter what continent. In this case you just have to run across a four lane highway to get there.

A send off salute from George, general Wau at bubbles. "Wau Wau! Pati we are going to miss you!" Ditto.

When I got on the plane to Kenya, I thought, "[expletive], going to Kenya, what am I doing?" Now, when I was leaving I thought: "[expletive], going to America, what am I doing?" 

As I got on my plane, flying away, I felt really choked up. The last three months, Kenya has become more like home than the US. I don't fully know how to explain it... at the very least I appreciated that no one there cared about what my G.P.A. was, if I had a linkedin profile, or an internship for the summer(that paid less than the person asking). Kenya is Good People. I will be back, but I miss it now. Call the goddamn wahmbulance.

The airport in Brussels was culture shock, everything was easy, computerized,clean, efficient, and mzungu... In NY, my luggage got flagged for a bottle of sand, and, my lucky day, was treated to a full search of my carryons, including dusting every credit card, body scan, and pat down. I got the TSA lady to lose her cool at the end by offering her KEFRI literature after she earlier asked to see it, pretending we were having a conversation instead of an interrogation. A small victory.  

Now, America seems like an overly easy country to live in again. There are cheeseburgers, sidewalks, customer service, officials that don't need to be bribed, running water, and electricity. What the hell am I doing here? 

I really appreciated that I got to know my town intimately, and the people in it. Multiple locals told me,      " you are not like the other wazungu, you are friendly, and you listen... you are African!"

I could have wasted a lot of time doing tourist junk,  instead I hung out with the locals and we complained about our jobs, girls, and everything else. The club is the the club anywhere, no matter which continent. It felt like home. My boss even offered to pay a bride price for me. Typically it is in cattle, but he has sheep. There's a conversion factor. I am debating whether or not to take him up on his offer. I'd like to at least get to know who I'd marry before I show up, sheep in hand.I wouldn't want to feel... sheepish.

I think my favorite two memories of my trip were giving my two friends money for college tuition, and a computer respectively, for GIS work. I don't know where the copy of ArcGIS 10 came from.

I felt like a baller laying a bag of 11 dollar bills(1000 shilling notes) on their desk and watching their eyes get really wide with disbelief... followed by "Pat, that is a lot of money in Kenya! I cannot take that" 

I say " you will, because I believe in you, and you need these things for us to continue working together. I cannot do my job without you. It is an investment".  Conveniently, but unsaid, is the fact that we are close friends. It ain't a humiliating handout. It's an investment, both in my work and those guy's futures.If there's anything worse than a condescending liberal, it's a tightwad conservative, but I think I am learning how to walk the tightrope between. It'd be nice if our political system could figure that out.

"You are looking like a skinny somalian who snuck into turkana for food. I just wanted to make sure you had some ugali (corn meal staple). It will take a long time for Jill Biden to bring you corn meal " Laughter in response. 

If you consider this comment insensitive, take some time and actually live in one of these areas and get to know the people. I did. That is why I can say it.

 

In Africa, because of corruption, there is something called "big man" syndrome, where one person runs  an operation, taking a cut of everything. Little man syndrome, by comparison, is being the connections and allowing people to work freely, or at least think they are making all the decisions in an organization, but empowering people by providing capital and resources, without influencing decision making actively.It is the process of creating stakeholdership. A little man is everywhere, both the atman and the brahman, but a big man is no where. A big man results to thuggery to eat, but a little man is offered food everywhere he goes without asking, on virtue of his reputation.

I am proud of Kenya, my team, and, after being away, ultimately, this experience made me appreciate the things that make America great, as well as the differences between Kenya and America.
Benja, Kimani, and I had a lot of discussions about due process, taxes,culture, politics, girls, and a bunch of other stuff. I really had to think on why these things were important to me as I defended my answers, but I think I learned a little myself and modified my positions, and maybe even shared a little from these dialogues.I cannot wait to  work with these guys again.

Jambo America!