I seem to be catching up and acclimatising ...

Day 3:  Saturday 4th March 2017

Another 'taking it easy' day - and why not.    I seem to have spent the time since about December never catching up with what I have to do, or want to do (which isn't the same at all !) so having a few days here just doing nothing much is very pleasant; I've been having afternoon siesta's too, and am beginning to feel I've caught up on missed sleep.

So today, I walked to town again straight after breakfast, to find the shoe repair man - my Safari boots needed some gluing and stitching.   I found his 'pitch' under a tree near the university bookshop, but he hadn't arrived, so I wandered around in the town.  I tried to find the fabric market I had been to two years back, but the same stalls are now all secondhand clothes.  

I did find a park with about 20 boys playing football, and there was shade and benches, so I sat for a while and watched the world go by again .... this seems to be quite an OAP thing I do a lot of lately !   But several people stopped to chat, and I managed to make a baby scream (a white face = baby tears) and found a lovely but very emaciated ginger kitten cowering under a bush.   Doting on cats and kittens is a very British thing; Africa and much of Europe treat them almost as disposable vermin catchers, so if a kitten is obviously abandoned, its just left to take its chances.  

I sat for an hour, then went back to the shoe repair man, and he had arrived.  'Fundi George' - he repaired another pair of boots for me a couple of years back and remembered me !!   He can't get many, if any, white customers.   Another half hour of watching the world pass by .... sitting under a tree on a rock, in my sock feet, as he glued and stitched ... and then he charged me 150 shillings !   Which is approx £1.15p. !     Such repairs in the UK would have been as much as the boots cost me originally.   

A bit more essential shopping .... 

... followed by a gentle walk back for lunch.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

After lunch, 90 minutes sleep with the breeze blowing in my open door, and then some time watching the balcony ants.   I got some tea and fed the ants with some biscuit crumbs.   They don't like them dry, I observed, so I chewed up a little corner of biscuit and offered them that ... MUCH nicer !    Probably only twenty or so ants were interested in the dry crumbs, but the pre-chewed and spat out biscuit attracted a few hundred ants.    (I know, I'm peculiar watching ants, but they are most interesting little creatures, and stay in their place,i.e. along the balcony and not in my room).

Tea for one relaxing lady on her balcony !

A gentle (gentile ?) walk in the sun.

Day 2: 3rd March, 2017

Apparently a friend spotted my typo in a Skype message when I said I'd been for a gentile walk !    I like to cause amusement !

I overslept this morning, so completely missed joining the fathers in the chapel, and very nearly overshot breakfast too, but Rachel had saved me some.   

Walking into town was pleasant; I'm determined to take life easy whilst here this time.   I was interested to see the new development in/over the intown Nakumatt supermarket; this is where last year they had removed the garden (and big elephant) from the centre of the complex, and turned it into a building site; by this year its now this ...

... the big building swathed in green netting.     I went inside on the ground floor and was very aware of the signs saying 'NO PHOTO'S' so when I spotted the elephant outside the supermarket main entrance, I chatted up a security man and asked if I could take its photo !

I got talking to two of the sales assistants inside and asked them what they thought of Mr Trump ... they seemed to think he was a Good Thing .... I suspect the newspapers and radio and TV here are biased.   They wanted to know about England and I told them that many people were disappointed at the referendum result, because now its obvious the people had been lied to about what would happen after we had 'Brexited'.   They couldn't believe the UK government, bankers, etc could ever be involved in corruption .... they know now !

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

After lunch I sat on my balcony and once again watched the world go by; somehow I fell asleep, and woke up to find I had wet feet ... it had rained briefly while I slept !    Later this evening we had a thunderstorm and heavy rain.   

I've arrived after a more eventful journey than previously

Day 1:- 2nd March 2017

Friends kindly drove me to Chepstow to get the bus to London yesterday, which was fine .... until it broke down just short of Heathrow !   Fortunately, the driver was able to contact another bus and they rescued us, so only about 15 minutes delay.

Once into the airport, I checked in my two suitcases as soon as possible, and then went to security ....  everything out of my rucksack and pockets and purse.  That lot passed muster, and I walked through the body checker, where my watch made it bleep .... at that point, all hell broke out; I was given a full body pat down, including parts of me I prefer not to mention.  (When I went to Jordan this was done in a private cubicle, by a ??woman in a full burqa, watched by another woman with a kalashnikov).

The lady 'patter-downer' discovered my body belt purse where I keep my dollars and Kenya shillings, with the belt tucked inside my knicks ... I had to stand there and take it off so the security lady could check it was what I said.   She did offer to take me to a private room ... but I had nothing to hide; besides, all my other possessions were still in trays after being x-rayed.   Then in a state of semi-undress, I had a full body scan inside a machine rather like a sort of reverse revolving door; I stood still, it whizzed around me.   Enough ?   Oh no, I then had to put one foot (in my best Safari boots !) at a time on a box and they were rubbed over with a cloth which the lady put into a machine - presumably to test for noxious chemicals in my boots ?    And finally, me and my possessions (now in the trays on the floor) were sniffed over by a beautiful spaniel ... the dog was the nicest bit of the whole procedure.

I ask myself, do wrinkley old dears like me, wearing a Ty Mawr cross, (which patter-downer had discovered hanging inside my jumper, and she made me take it off)  really pose a threat to planes ?    Maybe they have new rules now, that every 25th person has to get the full works.

The flight to Nairobi was as hot and uncomfortable as always; the selection of films was ancient ... but I managed to find a delightful, extremely well made film about elephants, which I watched with the sound off, just to enjoy the elephants with no silly comments or music sound-track.

We arrived in Nairobi at 04.15 local time ....well before the dawn.  Immigration was fine ... most passengers who needed a visa (like me) had eye scanner and finger prints done, but not me --- the immigration officer said I was 'on their files' (bit worrying !)  I needed to get a new SIM card for my phone, and put 'pay-as-I-go' money on it, but the Safaricom shop was closed, so I parked myself in an open cafe at the airport, and watched the bats flying around the airport lights, while I drank tea.   

Come 06.30, with the dawn, Safaricom opened, I got my SIM card and 300/- put on the phone, and pushed my trolley over to the other terminus for the Kisumu flight (baggage has to be collected at the main terminus, and re-deposited .... but only on the way OUT of Nairobi; on the incoming flights from Kisumu, luggage is automatically transferred).   

The area around Nairobi and down into the Rift Valley is dry, dry, dry .... no rain for 12 months.   

This is the extinct volcano Longonot; I don't remember it being so visible from the plane before.   We had flown between Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro, but at such a distance that I couldn't get decent photos .... and the plane windows were pretty filthy on the outside.

Coming into land, the pilot informed people that the runway at Kisumu had recently been dug up for repairs, and was now a bit short for landings, so we must be prepared for the brakes to screech a bit and for the landing to be rather fiercer than he would like !   All the passengers I could see slammed their foots onto the floor as we touched down, car driving emergency stop style !

But we arrived .... 

Father Alois met me, and I was greeted with massive smiles and bone crushing hugs by all the African staff.   Its a real home-coming'.    I'll write more about Father Hans later.

After shower, unpacking and lunch I had a sleep in the afternoon, and then spent time trying to get the laptop/Skype/internet/this blog, to work, but it all seems OK now.

Finally, I've got to add a Lake Victoria sunset !

Tomorrow is the day !

Flight KQ101 to Nairobi; then another plane to Kisumu.

I'm all packed, and starting to get a little bit excited.   I've arranged not to have any meetings or visits until after the weekend; I think I'll need to just sit and 'chill' for a couple of days to get over the travelling and to get acclimatised to the change of temperature and humidity.

I see that gold has been discovered in Western Kenya, but from the skimpy report I read (below) it seems to be somewhere in the Kakamega area .... which I mentioned last year, when I quoted this:-    http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/58694419

Report from this week:-   https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001230925/uk-firm-discovers-gold-worth-sh171-billion-in-kakamega  

I also checked the weather that I might expect; it looks like Kisumu is getting some rain at last !   And not too hot.

Packing

I've started packing 'stuff' to take with me for the mother and baby centre at Pandipieri .... I spend the year collecting baby and toddler clothes, and bra's for the mothers.   I've got some of those vacuum packing bags, which you fill, seal up and then suck out the air with a vacuum cleaner !   They have revolutionised my packing; loose soft stuff gets hugely compressed, yet of course, the weight stays the same, so I can get more in my cases. 

The packets of compressed clothing feels hard, like cardboard, but when packed around with my own clothes, don't take too much space.   

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

I hear that there is a severe drought in Kenya, particularly in the drier northern areas.   Turkana, Samburu and other cattle owning nomadic tribal groups, who normally roam the semi-desert areas, are having to move their cattle into game reserves, and onto privately owned farms, where there is often violence.    More information here ....    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/video/kenya-animals-killed-ranches-razed-in-herders-invasion/vi-AAn7KrD     (Sorry, you'll have to cut and paste .... clicking the link doesn't seem to work).

I heard from one of the Mill Hill fathers that in Kisumu there hasn't been any rain this spring, and there is no grass, and leaves have gone from the trees.   What a contrast from last year, when I wrote:     The night before I left Mill Hill House there was a TREMENDOUS thunder storm which lasted for about three hours, and (according to Fr. Gerry who has a rain gauge) there was almost 4 inches of rain.  Unbelieveable .... but true !   And I later heard once I was home that the rains were good last spring.   

Things change ..... Fr. Gerry has now 'retired' to live in a Mill Hill community in Holland, and only Fr. Alois and Fr. Hans are still at Mill Hill House.   It'll be good to catch up with them, and the African staff who work there - Patrick, Geraldine, Rachel and others.

I also see that last year on my blog I decided I ought to buy a small electric fan to use in my room, to aid sleep.   I'm using Malarone again, as it works well against malaria, but last year using it when combined with the high humidity, meant I couldn't sleep.   The only other possible anti-malarial was doxycycline, which I used one year, but it caused nausea and itching !   Maybe this year, with a fan, I hope to sleep better.   

There I go again ..........

I'm returning to Kisumu on St Davids Day, for three weeks.   It was a bit of a hassle to book flights that didn't leave me sitting tired and bored out of my mind in Nairobi airport, waiting twelve hours for the connecting flight to Kisumu.   Kenya Airways seem to have less flights up country nowadays - maybe business men in Kisumu fly up to the capital early in the morning, and then back at night, or vice versa.  But I managed by jiggling my dates, to find flights where I only have four hours to wait in Nairobi on the way there.   Returning home was trickier .... but again, by flying KLM instead of KA, I have to do a three-flight journey, but with reasonably short waits in between flights.  Its the sitting around in airports that is so very tiring.   And I get to spend a whole 50 minutes in Amsterdam Schiphol !    Never been there, but I might see some of the city from the air.

Two more 'Old Africa' magazines have come since I last blogged.    I'm hoping to be able to buy a few back numbers when I'm in Kisumu; get them sent from Nairobi to my Kenya address.   

I heard from an 'old Africa' friend this morning; he sent me the link to these articles which I'm finding very interesting.     http://abeingo.com/HTML_files/news_culture.html    The first article (and indeed most of them) are about an area just north of Kisumu, and an area I know quite well.    Have a look at the article(s); there are some wonderful photos.   

ADDED IN 2023:_        DON'T click the above link .... its got a virus in it !

Books !

I've been sorting out my books, dusting shelves, and generally spring cleaning a little !   Its interesting to read snippets of many of them as I dust and sort.   Many of my Africa collection I have picked up for next to nothing in charity shops and from the 'books for sale' shelf in the library.    I'm intrigued by several of them, and list here some of the curious things I have found while dusting ....

There's a book called 'A Tear for Somalia' by Douglas Collins; inside is a stamp with previous owners name ... "M.D.Barker, Grinlinton Farm, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly".    I must have bought this book at an island jumble sale when camping on St Agnes with my children more than 25 years ago.   But why was someone on an isolated island reading about Somalia ?   So I googled to try and find out more .... and up came an obituary for Maurice Barker, who was a Derbyshire man, who went to Scilly in his 20's, married a local girl, and farmed there until he died aged 83 in 2009.    You can read about him here .... http://www.cornwalllive.com/proud-family-man-maurice-dies-aged-83/story-11425651-detail/story.html      And here is a picture of his farmhouse, which I now realise is where we used to stop for a cream tea or an ice cream !   http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/822089  
What a small world !

Another book I have is 'East African Explorers' which is a selection of the writings of Burton, Speke, Livingstone, etc. etc.   I expect it was a Monmouth charity shop purchase .... but inside is the stamp of the original book-shop where it was sold:-  'The London Book Co., Rawalpindi'.    Once more I googled .... Rawalpindi I see is in the Pakistani part of the Punjab.   How on earth did a book about Africa come from Pakistan to Monmouth ??    Who in Rawalpindi was reading about African explorers ?   If only books could speak .... 

Finally, I am curious about 'My African Journey' by W.S. Churchill .... I found this in a local charity shop where I paid 20 pence for it; but on the fly-leaf I see it once belonged to my dear departed friend, Kim.   There is his signature, the date he bought it - August 1983 - and he has written  "Monmouth Market - at last !! "   What did he mean by that ?   Had he been looking for a copy of this for a long time?   It's too late to ask him .... and now I realise that one day (I hope in the far distant future) people will be curious about the things I jot down in books, and the odd newspaper cuttings, obituaries, receipts and so on I tuck into the pages.   

Where would I be without books !!

Congratulations, well deserved !

Dr. David Steiner, the charity's founder and executive officer of Hands Around the World, has been awarded an OBE in the 2017 New Year's Honours List for humanitarian services to disadvantaged children abroad.

David continues to lead the charity in its relentless pursuit of helping children much in need.

Nativity in a gourd !

This is a Kenyan nativity scene, with wire and banana fibre figures all enclosed in a gourd.  Very ingenious.    We have put it in our HATW office as part of our Christmas display, where it has attracted a lot of interest.       

"Consider Africa"

I recently found in the Oxfam book shop, a volume called "Consider Africa" by Basil Mathews, published 1935.    Some paragraphs have made me raise my eye-brows a little !!

Sometime ago I wrote about the Kakamega gold-field ... and in this book, read this:-

"A sensational turn has been given to the situation in Kenya by the discovery of a rich goldfield.  Some six thousand square miles are now thrown open to prospectors.  The land is that of the Kavirondo people, a fine, vigorous, agricultural Bantu folk [BANTU ??   No ! .... they are Nilotic !] ... with an advanced social organisation and a large population.  Now, right inside the native reserve [!!] at a place called Kakamega, a European mining camp and then a planned town have sprung up, with hotels, stores, garages."

Later, it goes on to predict "a struggle for political power which would precipitate catastrophe upon the white settler and the African alike".

I love these old books which often show a lack of understanding of local people, and assert the 'superior' power of the white man .... which 30 years after the publication of this book was no more.   


(Did I previously post this link from Old Africa magazine :-      http://oldafricamagazine.com/the-kakamega-goldfields/   )

Melchizedek and Paul

David S. who is the originator and head of Hands Around the World has been to Kenya to visit the school for disabled children near Meru, and then the Paluoc carpentry workshop.  

While he was in Kisumu, he met up with Melchizedek, and Paul (on the right) who runs the workshop.

 

Melchi was working at the disability centre near Meru as administrator, but is now helping Paul occasionally with the workshop finances and report writing.    I met him when I visited Maua in 2013; he himself is disabled, possibly as a result of childhood polio. 

 

I look forward to meeting him again one day, perhaps next year !!

 

 

(For those who don't know, Melchizedek was a king of Salem = Jerusalem, mentioned in the book of Genesis.)

Mandera attacked again

I heard on the BBC World Service last night that there has been another al-Shabab attack on Mandera, which was attacked before in November, 2014.

See  http://luolaughter.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/kenyan-security.html 

Todays BBC Africa news has a brief report (any other news being eclipsed by the expansion of Heathrow Airport news):-

"At least 12 people have been killed in an attack in Kenya claimed by Somalia-based militant Islamist group al-Shabab.

The target was a guesthouse hosting members of a theatre group who were performing plays in schools in the north-eastern town of Mandera. 

There has been a spate of deadly attacks targeting Christians in the mainly Muslim region around Mandera.

Reports say that the 10-member theatre group was composed of university students who had travelled to the town to perform plays in local schools.

Two members of the little known theatre travelling group, Pearls Quality Edutainment, were killed."


 There is really nothing to say about senseless killings like this .....  

~  ~  ~

Update on 6th November:    "The Kenyan government has introduced a curfew in Mandera county from 6:30pm to 6:30am until 27 December, 2016"

The latest 'Old Africa' magazine

 

 

I'm always amused by some of the letters to the editor !    This issue includes one which starts "Issue 66 fetched up at our manyatta this morning ..."   interesting, I thought .... a Maasai subscribes !   Then I saw the address of the writer .... J. Smith, Sutton, Surrey, UK !!

 

There's an article on coffee farming in Koru; another on elephants swimming in the sea; and more articles on WW1 in East Africa.   A friend of mine who also subscribes commented on the latest issue:  "Gives the feeling that our time in Kenya was very recent, but I suppose most of the articles are written by children, or perhaps even grandchildren, of the old-timers described in them."

We were both there in the 1960's and 70's, so yes, I guess that was quite recent !  But as for 'old timers' I have occasionally met some of them on my regular visits to Kenya.   A few years ago I met the nursing sister who delivered my daughter in 1971, and have on my last three visits by sheer coincidence met a fellow traveller at the airport either in London or Nairobi who knew people I knew when I lived there.   Small world.

Us old Africa hands !!

I was in the HATW office this morning; we had a lady from Hereford come in who was interested in volunteering sometime.   She had worked out in Uganda; was born in Ghana; had lived near Nairobi for a while.

She had a chat to us for nearly an hour .... lots of reminiscences and comments on how things were and how they are now in Africa.  She said how nice it was to be able to talk 'Africa' to people who knew what it was like, and who could listen and comment with interest. 

That's just how I feel and it's what I get mostly from working in the office with 'old Africa hands' !   Most people where I live, even my family, have absolutely no interest in where I go, what I do.  I remember telling someone in the village that I'd been out to Kenya for a month, working with orphans, street kids, people with HIV, and the only comment I got in reply was 'Oh yes;  we went to Majorca for a holiday this year'.   End of conversation.    

Harry Hook's talk and film

I went to see this in Monmouth with some of the others from HATW.   They were selling Harry's beautiful, beautiful book in the foyer of the cinema, but at £65 a copy (!) it was a case of look only.    His talk was most interesting; lots of wonderful slides and short films, some of which I'd seen before on the BBC.   Poor man, his Apple kept stalling and that meant his flow of pictures and short films got snarled up, but someone from the audience was able to sort it out.

I quote from the blurb about his book on the 'net:- 

"Across much of sub-Saharan Africa millions upon millions of Africans are heading for towns and cities. This permanent movement of people leaving their land and villages has gathered pace during our lifetime.  It’s a migration that’s caused massive cultural and social change across Africa.  African cities loom large and now dominate people’s frame of reference.  Many of the distinct rural societies and tribal groupings have become homogenized and lost within urban populations.  Africans do still hold an allegiance to their tribe and ethnicity but with a newly found urban-psyche many miss the close bond and support of their group.  Crucially most modern city-dwellers have lost their personal link to a place on the land that until recently was 'home'."              http://www.aboutafricabook.com/book.html

This is so true in my experience; when I first went to Africa 48 years ago, and saw what the students were being taught .... I knew it was wrong.   We were teaching boys to become white collar workers, aiming at jobs in the cities, whereas at independence when the British government set up schools, we should have concentrated on technical schools leading on to apprenticeships.   African countries need engineers, agricultural experts, foresters, electricians, mechanics .... not so many unemployed academically trained people.   I have visited government offices recently and seen for myself how most of the staff sit around reading the paper most of the day or take the day off ... "he is not on seat"  is what you get told if you need to see a specific person.

I managed to have a chat with Harry in the interval, and mentioned I'd met his father; Harry sighed and said everywhere he gave these presentations someone says they knew his father ! 

A busy market scene, from Harry's book.  

And for a flavour of his talk, see this:-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBODpBlaySw

Harry Hook

 

 

Look what's on one evening in our town; a talk/film by Harry Hook about his photographs/films from Kenya .... his father was Hilary Hook; an old colonial type who featured in a BBC film about 25 years ago.   Hillary was shown trying to cope (with not much success !) as he adjusted back to life in Britain.   I think it was called 'Home from the Hill'.   We met Hillary once, I seem to remember, in one of the game parks where we were camping.   A great character; it will be interesting to see his sons film and photographs and hear his lecture.

Catching up ...

Two and a half months since I last wrote anything, and Africa and particularly Kenya are always in my thoughts.

Another 'Old Africa' magazine has come ....

Interesting article about the E. A Safari Rally which we used to watch roaring through the muddy roads and major towns.   Joginder Singh was my hero in the 1970's !


Then I've been reading this:-

This is about nine youngsters from Dadaab, the refugee camp which is the largest in the world.  Situated in north eastern Kenya, it houses up to three-quarters of a million people, mostly from neighbouring Somalia and some from Eritrea and Ethiopia.   Here in Europe, we just know about refugees who are fleeing Syria to try to get to Europe, and some who attempt to cross the Mediterranean from Libya and north Africa .... but we hear very little about refugees who don't have the means to escape war and turmoil and end up in places like Dadaab.

Post Referendum.

I knew I'd have to say something about it sometime.

Everyone I've discussed the result with is looking at it from the point of view of their own interests, whether they are in big business, or run their own family business, or are farmers, builders, and so on.    I'm looking at things from the point of view of HATW, and Kenya.

One of our volunteers who is in Zambia at the moment also writes a blog which I have mentioned a few entries ago as being worth reading.   I'm sure he won't mind if I quote from it, with his first reaction to the UK decision to leave the EU.:-

I really didn't believe that the British people would make this choice. It seems to me that in a world which is becoming more connected, to choose to isolate ourselves in this way is an odd choice. What saddens me is that it appears to be a move made primarily out of selfish motives. We are keen to keep the benefits of a decent life to ourselves and not be prepared to welcome others, particularly the less fortunate, to share in our good fortune. I suspect that in fact the result will in fact be that we will be much poorer financially as well as being much poorer as human beings.

One immediate impact is that unless we increase the amount we send, our projects in Zambia will receive less today than yesterday. With fluctuations in the kwacha to some extent the differences cancel themselves out, because prices here go up or down as a result, but the drop in the pound it will have a direct impact."

All this of course, also applies to Kenya.   We'll have to send out a bit more each month for it to be worth the same in K. Shillingi as previously, and this in turn means we'll have somehow to raise a little more.

Another thing that occurred to me is that Kenya's Rift Valley farmers and growers of things such as snap peas, beans, roses that we buy in our supermarkets will be affected.

"If a UK recession triggers a fall in consumer demand in Britain, African exporters could be affected as well. For example, exports of Kenyan roses could fall, as UK consumers demand fewer of them.
The UK's trade deals with Africa are essentially the EU's trade deals with Africa. As the UK exits the European Union, all of those deals will have to be renegotiated.
That could take years, leaving trade relations between the UK and Africa in limbo."    (BBC world news)

 

I think the 'Brexiteers' were fed so many lies and opinions that they just didn't know what they were voting for, and what the results could be.

Probably best not to mention the referendum :-(

I was turning out a load of old newspapers and spotted this in a Daily Telegraph from April, which I must have missed. 

 

This could so easily apply to most African countries, and it certainly does to Kenya, where the poor get poorer, and the rich keep their money off-shore.

 

Its hard to find the actual amounts given by the UK to Kenya, but a 2013 figure suggests £98 million per year.   Is that all government aid ?    It doesn't seem very much.     Or is most of it via charities such as Oxfam, Water-Aid .... and even HATW ?    Its almost impossible to find a break-down of actual amounts given by the UK government on the internet.   But the above newspaper cutting suggests we need to rethink aid, and in what form we give it.   

Worth reading .... the blog of one of our volunteers in Zambia.

http://ourmaninmonze.blogspot.co.uk/

Chris goes to Zambia every year for six weeks or more, to Monze and PIZZ school.    Read all about it !

Corruption

Still reading about Kenya in all its aspects; I came across this article on a BBC site the other day ....


"In our series of letters from African journalists, Joseph Warungu considers what the collapse of a building in Nairobi reveals about Kenyan society.

13 May 2016

"Huruma" is a Swahili word meaning mercy.   It is also the name of the district of the city that has attracted world attention following the building collapse that killed 51 people.    Judging by the sad events of Huruma, and many other previous tragedies, it is safe to say that the majority of Kenyans live by the mercy of God.   The collapse of the building is a reflection of a society that is collapsing bit by bit, day by day.

Impunity means you can put up an unsafe building in an unsafe area and stuff it with desperate families.  And then sleep soundly, knowing that although something really nasty could happen to your tenants, there is nothing bad that can happen to you.

More than 30 buildings have collapsed in the last 10 years in different parts of Kenya, killing and injuring people.  An audit of the safety of buildings in Nairobi, conducted last year by the National Construction Authority, showed that only 42% of the buildings were found to be safe to live in.

The rule of law in Kenya has all but collapsed under the weight of impunity.  Furthermore, many do not trust the very people whose job it is to enforce the law - the police.  The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, a watchdog body established by the constitution, has said the police have been responsible for torture, killings and summary executions.  While action has been taken against some individual officers accused of taking the law into their own hands, not all have faced justice.

The one institution in Kenya that has stood the test of time and is unlikely to collapse any day soon is corruption.

The education system too has been teetering on the edge of collapse.   In March, the national examinations board was dissolved, following widespread cheating in national exams, which resulted in the cancellation of 5,000 results.    Some of this cheating is inspired and funded by the parents themselves, a sign of another institution - morality - in danger of collapse.  Morality stands little chance once discipline in Kenya buckles.  It is the indiscipline and impunity that gives people the confidence to drive dangerously in the wrong lane as police watch helplessly.

We have also witnessed examples of the collapse of clear leadership in key public institutions with negative consequences.

During the 2013 terror attack on the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi, in which 67 people were killed and 200 others injured, the rescue operation was hampered by rivalry between the police, who initially responded to the attack, and the military, who eventually took over the operation.  It was a case of inflated egos, lack of co-ordination and confusion over who really was in charge.

Sometimes it is never quite clear who is in charge in Kenya.  The president himself has in the past found himself in an embarrassing position after pronouncing on one thing, or issuing a particular directive, only to be contradicted or overruled by another institution.

And this month we witnessed the collapse of yet another Kenyan virtue - hospitality.    The authorities have lost patience with the hundreds of thousands of refugees, mainly from Somalia who have been sheltering in Kenya. If the government has its way on the matter, the refugees will need to find a new home either back in Somalia or in a different country.

But the one institution in Kenya that has stood the test of time and is unlikely to collapse any day soon is corruption.

In almost every tragedy in Kenya, money will have changed hands.  In Kenya money speaks loudly, and it can silence anyone or anything. 

A study conducted in 2014 said some buildings collapse because contractors steal cement and use less steel.  Architects and engineers are also blamed for failing to verify the quality of the work or properly supervise construction.    And then you have the Nairobi City building inspectors who are overstretched.

As a result, the institution of corruption is always hanging about in the shadows and it never takes a day off.

The police were quick to take action following the collapse of the building in Huruma and arrested the owners, but they did not target the whole chain of people involved in the construction industry.

This though, is Kenya where we love painkillers to deal with the symptoms instead of treating the causes of the illness.  And because of this, our lives will continue to be at the mercy of God.  Until we reinforce our social, political, economic and governance structures to prevent the collapse of the Kenyan soul, the Huruma building collapse will repeat itself.

And our response will be to reach out for the predictable pill to kill the pain.

Hopefully one day those entrusted with public positions will move the nation from huruma (mercy) to another Swahili word, huduma (service)."


Having recently read the book by Errol Trzebinski  "The life and Death of Lord Erroll" all I can say is, that even after independence for so many African countries in the 1960's .... plus ca change .... nothing changes.

 

Time I wrote something !

I see the last entry was about five or six weeks back, tut, tut !   But I haven't forgotten Africa, and particularly Kenya.   I've been doing so much reading about Kenyan ancient history, and in the last few weeks, have been 'exploring' Happy Valley in books and articles .... the Wanjohi Valley north of Lake Naivasha, made famous by the permissive 'goings on' in the 1930's and 1940's.  

 

 

I remember an elderly lady who lived near us in Nakuru in the late 1970's who regaled me with tales of wild parties in the Happy Valley; I didn't realise what she meant then, but I do now !



Me; the HATW office; and more about rubbish !!

 

 

The arrival of a photo from an acquaintance in Canada I met at Mill Hill House, has prompted me to do a bit more blogging.   These are the baskets I bought to bring back to Monmouth to sell in aid of Hands Around the World.  (Gosh, I was HOT walking around Kibuye market carrying that lot !)   We have an open morning every Friday, with some African items for sale that volunteers have brought back.    Some of my baskets are just visible. 

 

 

 

 

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

 

A couple of weeks ago, we had a village clean up; a team of about 25 villagers went along all the lanes and ditches, picking up rubbish.   This was the result ....

 

 

 

.... quite incredible; there was even the proverbial kitchen sink !!

 

So it got me thinking again about all the rubbish, especially plastic bags, that I see increasing on every visit to Kenya.  Kenya used to be a beautiful and clean country; not any more.  Can you imagine all those safari adverts saying "Come to visit the tropical coast, the game parks, the deserts .... and see the rubbish" ??    

 

I've previously posted photos of the enormous rubbish dump of smouldering, rotting food, plastic, human waste, etc. which is behind the largest super-store in town.    This is not specific to Kisumu; rubbish and disgusting dumps are all over the country, and friends who visit other African countries, and India say its the same there.   Rubbish, particularly plastic rubbish, seems to be a curse of the modern age.   Plastic rubbish is found in every ocean, and inside fish, whales, penguins ....

 

In Wales, and other parts of the UK, we now have to pay for plastic bags in the supermarkets and shops; a small sum, but it has drastically cut by around 90% the number of plastic bags used and dumped.   Africa has wonderful hand-made shopping bags and baskets ... yet people expect a plastic bag every time they go to a store.  I spoke to the manager of the big store about it; he says if people take their own bags into the shop, they steal goods !   It cannot be beyond the intelligence of man to find some way of stopping that problem.   

 

And I frequently see cattle and goats scavenging for scraps on rubbish heaps and in ditches - UK vets report the danger of cattle and other animals eating plastic bags.   But African owners don't seem to care ....  

 

  

'Old Africa' magazine

This bi-monthly publication has finally tempted me to subscribe.   I usually pick up one or two copies on every visit to Kenya, and my first subscription copy arrived yesterday !   I am also very tempted to buy some back numbers; the web-site for the magazine hints at interesting articles of East Africa's past.  

 

 

The publisher requests articles and old photos and information, of which I have plenty !   David W. has said I can submit his photo of the sign to Piccadilly Circus (gold mine near Kakamega) which I will do.    

Now to make a cuppa and sit and read !!

An email from Father Hans

 

 

I emailed Hans to ask for some more information about the Stations of the Cross painting in Nyalenda Centre Church.   This was his reply ....

 

"Since the 1980s we have been running a small Art Academy in the Nyalenda slums: a 3 years course, day school, for young people with artistic talent. Up to now we have trained about 150 artists.

 

Ten years ago I had formed a small group of three former students, for the purpose of producing catechetial material. Then came a request from one of our homes in England for  Stations of the Cross. We designed that one with the group, and the three executed it. It was in full colour. Then, we decided to try an adapted design by colouring only the important people, and keep the rest in grey tones. We did nothing with this new edition and kept it on our files.

 

Now there was this church in Nyalenda Centre. It had the Stations of the Cross, just framed cheap prints. At Christmas time two years ago a fire broke out. It destroyed the roof and part of the walls, including the Stations. Somebody donated some money for new Stations, and I asked the three original artists to paint their second edition on the walls. Through the limited colour scheme it is very effective: clearly visible from a distance."