Work??? no way!

Up until now it probably seems like I am just on one excellent vacation. That is true, but not exclusively. I have actually been working too. My employer is NOPE, national organization of peer educators. They are one of the only organizations in the world specializing in peer education for HIV/AIDS. NOPE typically enters a workplace to implement a strategy to combat HIV/AIDS and facilitate a cultural change. One of the biggest problems with HIV/AIDS in Kenya is that no one really wants to talk about the disease or sexual matters so there are no available resources for people with questions or concerns to go to. The peers trained by NOPE are employees in the organization who are approachable to other employees. Once they are trained in HIV/AIDS issues, such as symptoms, testing, good sexual practices etc, fellow employees will have a resource that they can access to talk comfortably about these issues. The peers also will initiate discussions and workshops within the organization for sustaining the cultural change and condom use.Since 1 in 10 employees are potentially infected, investment in such programs is not only ethical, it is also economical. As such, NOPE's services are in high demand in Kenya, or at least there is a huge market for their services. The problem, i think, is being able to tap this market and handle the growth efficiently. So far they have been relatively successful in that they are always busy.
In come Matt. I am here to help them with their IT needs and overall efficiency. As of now, they don't have internet, or email, they print by saving documents to a disk and walking over to the printer, the design of their website is the actual textbook definition of what not to do (http://www.nope.or.ke/), and they are constantly loosing or forgeting their data as it is not backed up or accessible externally. Every computer is littered with viruses and everything they painfully send out or save to disk infects clients and partners machines. Hopefully I can change some of this. I am very hopefull that I will be able to make a difference at NOPE, I have definately bought into their program, I just need them to buy into mine. The problem is justifying an expense to them that could alternatively afford them another 2 employees (labour is super cheap here)On the non-technical side of work, this place is amazing. I never thought that working in an office could be so enjoyable. Their are monkeys playing in the trees outside of my window and everyone here is great to work with, always having a good time and very welcoming. They do really serious work at NOPE as they are potentially saving lives, but you wouldn't know it by hanging out in their office. It hardly feels like work because I love it. I am just on one cool vacation.

14 falls pics

14 falls and Tala

I spent this past weekend in Tala, visiting a fellow VSO, Mark. We went on a little trip from Tala to fourteen falls which was spectacular. We took a mutatu from Tala, which unlike the Nairobi mutatus, was a tiny pickup truck with benches down the sides of the bed and a roof. Maximum, this thing should hold 12 people, and that is really pushing it. They crammed over 18 souls inside the thing with another hanging out the back. Offically, the road from Tala to Thika has been paved, but I did not see any ashphault. Since it “has been paved” they will not scrape it to make it smoother, and of course they will not re-pave it, because the money has already been spent to pave it. Needless to say, this is the worst road in the world. When squished in the back of an overcrouded pickup with too many smelly Kenyans for over an hour, the ride turned out to be an un-pleasurable experience. Just as the name implies, fourteen falls is fourteen waterfalls and is a very nice site to see. As soon as we arrived we were being harrassed by a local who wanted to take us on a tour of the falls we were already looking at. It felt quite like Nairobi. Initially we were skeptical, probalby from the constant harrassment we recieve all day, every day. Finally we agreed to let the guy show us around for 100 bob (about $1.50). I was absolutly amazed, I ended up paying him 500 because he showed us such a good time. We waded across the river hopping from stone to stone and I fell in and got wet and almost broke my camera. Finally on the other side of the river, we walked up to the top of the falls. For our entertainment, our guide did a backwards dive off the top of the falls into the river below. I could not pass up the opportunity like this, it seemed like a scene from a movie. I stripped down to my knickers and jumped off the falls at about a 30 foot drop into the river. It was amazing (see the picture, but mind the tightie wighties). Then I climbed back up the rock through the waterfall, it was completely nuts. This place was my favorite spot in Kenya so far, I had such an excellent time. One more for my mom; the mutatu ride back to Nairobi had about 20 chickens in the van under the seats. I thought they were dead, but then they started clucking and biting peoples ankeles. Just another day in Kenya. Oh, and orange won the election so we avoided violence for now.

zebras!!

I got up so close to the zebras that I could touch them. The best part was chasing after all the wildebeast. They are so stupid and I started a mini stampede.

sailing and safari

This weekend was my first trip with the Mountain Club of Kenya, sailing in Naivasha. I never thought that during my time in Kenya I would ever be hanging out in a sailing club, but expect the unexpected in Kenya. We drove to Naivasha Saturday morning and I was immidiatly shocked by the amount of wildlife around the sailing club. There was a huge field with hundreds of water bucks, zebras, hippoes and wildebeast. I went for a walk through the field where the animals were grazing and walked right up to a giraffe. I could have touched it I was so close. Then I went sailing, what a rush! I was standing completely horizontal off the side of the sail boat to counterbalance the wind in the sail and we were moving fast. Sunday I was supposed to go hiking at hells gate national park, but it was canceled so I went with some others to Lake Nakuru National Park, home of the pink flamingos and rinos. This place was amazing, I walked right up to a rino, he saw me and turned and looked right at me. I quickly took this picture and ran back to the car because I did not want to see what he was going to do. The German ladies I was with thought I was nuts but it was real fun. I can't get over the amount of wildlife everywhere. In Canada it is a big deal to see wild animals, but here they are everywhere. Everyone at work is telling me that I am turning into a tourist.
A couple of weeks ago I went to a Kenyan wedding. I was the only muzungu (white guy) there and it was hilarious. Some of the kids had never seen a white person and their reactions were priceless. Some were so happy and others ran away from me. I think I was a guest of honour, they wanted me to give a speech. Fortunatley my collegue told them that I would not. But the camera filming the ceremony seemed to spend a lot of time on me. Anyway, the couple getting married had recently found out that they would be able to immigrate to America. This was seen as a blessing to the entire village and they were so grateful for the opportunity. It really helped me appreciate the priveledged lifestyle I enjoy.
Thats it for now.... busy busy busy.

Kenyan politics

A bit on Kenyan politics for those who are interested.There is an upcoming refferendum on Nov 21 which asks the people to vote for the new constitution that has been several years in the making. So the question is simply yes or no with a Kenyan twist.If you say yes to the new constitution you vote for a bananna. If you vote no for the new constitution, you vote for an oarnge. Since Kenyans are so incredibly passionate about their politics this fruit thing has gotten way out of hand. It has become a serious political statement to eat a bananna.It has become apparant to me that the issues surrounding the actual constitution are being lost in the debate over banannas and oarnges. The oarnge side is telling the people to not even read the new constitution, just vote no. The whole thing is slightly ridiculous but very important here in Kenya. I rareley sit down with any Kenyans without hearing a bit about some fruit.I will probably leave town during the vote as Nairobi may not be the safest place to be. There have already been riots in other towns and I don't want to stick around to see what happens here. Not to worry though, VSO is right on top of the situation and will advise me what I should do.
(picture is a snap of a market on my way to Nanyuki last weekend)

MMMM!

Nemachoma! yummy!

Nemuchoma at Rift Valley

Tom and Heidi, fellow VSO volunteers from Holland, invited me to join them for some nemachoma and drinks at spot overlooking the Rift Valley. The Rift Valley is a huge valley that stretches from Tanzania all the way through Kenya and up to Ethiopia. It is surrounded by mountains on either side and harbours many different wildlife as well as the Massai people. I had no idea how far we would be driving, but the country club was about a 45 minute drive from Nairobi. We drove through several slums and towns which gave me a little more insight into the Kenyan lifestyle. We arrived at the Openosho (or something like that) country club. Don't be fooled by the name, it is in no way comparable to a country club back in Canada. But it was a fantastic place, a very modest bar that looked a bit like a ranch. The scenery was surreal. The table we sat at looked down the hill into the rift valley. At this poit I had not realized we were having Nemachoma, nor did I know what it was, I was quite content with just drinking my Tusker Lager. Tom ordered some for us, and at this place, you order the body part of the goat that you would like to eat. The waitress suggested the leg and we asked for a kilo. She returned and appologetically informed us that the piece of meat she promised us was no longer available as someone else had ordered it and that they were out of meat for the day. Tom disagreed and went to speak with the cook as we had arrived first and it was unfair to give our goat meat away. After briefly speaking with the cook, he agreed to slaughter another goat just for us. That is what I call fresh! Finally our roasted chunk of goat was ready and the cook delivered it to us whole, on a wooden chopping board (see the above pic). He then chopped it up into little bits for us right at the table. What a sight. Despite the unappetizing look, it really did taste nice and I really enjoyed my first taste of true Kenyan cuisine and culture. Nemachoma, I think, is the Kenyan equvalent to us in Canada going out to a pub for wings. What an experience!