 |
|
The latest Newsletter is available for downloadSee details by clicking the Home link. |
Nairobi, Kenya - July 2 - 22, 1990
We turned into a opening between eight foot high stockade fences of upright boards plus closely planted fir trees and entered a small concrete-covered courtyard. The house was a two story structure of brick and concrete. We entered the house and our room that was eight foot square with a single bed, a wardrobe and two arm chairs. We looked at the three foot wide bed and wondered. A hall alcove contained a sink with a soap dispenser and an air dryer for your hands. Below the sink was a complete car motor sitting on the floor. We never learned why it was there. Above the sink was a mirror that looked as if it had been broken in half; later we noted that the other half was in the upstairs bathroom. The kitchen had a microwave, a sink, a small burner for the stove and no oven. The living room was about eight by twelve. It contained a chest of drawers, a refrigerator, a small chest that contained a large color TV and a VCR. From there to the ceiling were pictures that completely covered the wall. There was a buffet and 7 chairs plus a coffee table. The floor was polished concrete. The dining room was about the same size with a glass-fronted cabinet filled with china, glass, and mementos. Pictures and posters covered the walls. The remaining space was filled with a large dining table with ten chairs around it. The ceiling for both the dining and living rooms were covered with cord holding up growing vines. Outside clotheslines were full of drying items. Sara explained that she hadn't tried to grow a garden because the crops would only be stolen. Upstairs we were shown where we would shower. The rest of the house contained a master bedroom and three more small rooms with bunk beds. We then had tea. We took the bus to see their business. We walked 5 blocks with our hostess, Sara, and took the bus to the city market and toured the shops for a couple of hours. We then headed for their business headquarters. We were introduced and warmly greeted and then toured the soap factory that employed 15 people. We left by cab that ad a double bed and mattress tied to the roof. The driver was having a hard time with the cab; the motor died every block right in the midst of heavy traffic. We later realized that he had no low gear. We managed to get home - bed & mattress although there were times we wondered. We were introduced to the family. Jacob, Sara's husband, was to attend the funeral of an acquaintance the next day. This man had 5 wives and when we inquired what would happen to them, Sara said that the man's brother would get all the property and marry the wives. It was a tribal custom. We didn't ask what the man died from but, after all, with 5 wives... ? Jaco 's father was 84 years old and had just married his ninth wife, a 14-year-old girl. He claimed to have 25 sons and had lost track of the number of daughters! Sara was really the one who ran the family and the household. She had come from a family of six girls, no sons, hence it was up to her to care for her mother, which would normally be the oldest son's responsibility according to tribal custom. Grandma was 70 & took the first chair at the table and was always served first. Sara told us that she was only visiting but later admitted she couldn't list her as a permanent resident because of the rental agreement. Grandma spent the night at a place down the street but returned during the day. She went with us most of the time. Two of the daughters, age 26 and 22 each appeared to be unmarried and each had one child. The oldest son, age 18 was very inquisitive. He would corner you and ask questions about America for an hour. Questions like: "Do students in America wear uniforms?" "Do they have telephone booths along streets in America?" "Who handles the money in your home in America?" "Do you eat corn for dinner in America?" He wanted to be a chemist while a 16-year-old son wanted to be a doctor and a 14-year-old daughter wanted to be a lawyer. There were 4 other children between the ages of 4 and 12. A 32-year-old niece, Lucy, had 7 children and was brought in to help in the kitchen while we were there. When you would shake hands with her she would lean down and kiss your hand. Joshua was the handy man and was around most of the time, but didn't live with the family. We were called to dinner about 9:00 P.M. Our food consisted of three huge bowls - one with rice, the second with a mixture of peas, beans and corn, and the third was chicken wings and legs covered with a broth. There was also a platter of thin fried bread and a loaf of gummy bread. The kitchen help dished up the food for our "first round." The rest of the family ate in the living room; there were 19 of us. Our breakfast was waiting for us on the table - coffee with hot milk and fried egg sandwiches. Alice, one of the office workers at the soap factory, arrived to escort us to the bus. Alice and Eleanor sat together and I sat just behind them. The space between the seats was only about eight inches so I had to sit sideways with my leg partially over the second seat. A lady with a small baby came up behind me and sat down. She was about 50% on my lap and 50% on the seat. Busses take the chuckholes even more roughly than cars, so it wasn't very comfortable. Thinking that nothing worse could happen, it did. She started nursing her baby. I was sitting on my camera, but she probably wouldn't let me take a picture anyway. Fortunately, her bus stop came before ours. Alice joined our group for a tour of the city. Our first stop was the museum that featured a series of wild animals. Then we gathered together at the hotel for a buffet lunch. We took a cab home; when we arrived the family's van was being worked on by Joshua and a couple of other men; it had a broken valve stem and this was the evening of the Welcoming Party. Sara got a cab and we headed out with two of the children to the Tin-Tin Restaurant where the party was to be held. We got there and they knew of no party. The restaurant people told us that there was another Tin-Tin Restaurant and Conference Room several miles further on. Sara got us another cab and we got to the party and had a good time. The next day, Saturday, we awoke to roosters crowing, dogs barking, Joshua and his men working on the car, and the lady next door preaching in a loud voice. After breakfast, it was suggested that we go for a walk around the neighborhood. We visited with a lady in her garden who had been employed by a coffee exporting company and knew the U.S. quite well. We took some pictures and continued on to a private school once attended by one of the children. We had a nice visit with the head master and were invited to take pictures. We moved on to the public market referred to as the Jericho Market and Dispensary. The first thing we noticed at one side of the market place was a pile of garbage at least four feet high and almost a block long. We wandered through the market and then to the Dispensary. One door had a doctor's name one it and "Surgery." Next to it was a grocery store and then a beer parlor. I was intrigued with the surgery among such surroundings and asked one of the sons accompanying us if I could take a picture. He said sure, but when I started, a man rushed across the street and said, "No pictures." We continued to wander and found a backyard furniture factory. Several beds and desks were sitting on display. We walked in and they seemed happy to see us. They gave us permission to take pictures if we wanted to. We left the park and entered another one. Here the kids saw a candy stand and they all wanted a treat. They finally chose a box of hard candy, each of them taking two pieces. Sara and Grandma also took two pieces. In Nairobi, Kenya total it cost me the equivalent of 73 cents. After supper we prepared to relax but Sara wanted to take us to the saloon. We left in the van and picked up Alice, one of two girls from the soap factory office. We thought that we were going to her daughter's hair salon, which Sara always called a "saloon." But no, this time she really did mean "saloon," the Sambi Saloon. It was a 45-minute, punishing ride because the roads and streets were terrible. It was a typical roadhouse with a full parking lot and rock music that was deafening. It was an interesting evening. We had told Sara that we would like to go to church with her on Sunday. Since it was Sunday, everyone was home but all were busy. Washing was being hung out, the boys were sweeping and scrubbing the courtyard, the bathroom had been scrubbed and one of the maids was scrubbing the living room floor. We attended the Mennonite Church where we went to Sunday school classes and then to church. The black minister preached the sermon in English and the white missionary translated it into Swahili. After the service we all gathered in a little courtyard and I asked if I could take a picture. The minister said no. We went back home for lunch and then loaded grandma and the kids in the van and headed out for Bomas of Kenya. This was a series of exhibits of housing units of the various tribes that was very interesting. We then went to an auditorium to watch a pageant of native dance and gymnastic performance. But we weren't through for the day. We left the park to visit with Sara's sister and one of her friends. Sara told her oldest son to keep the kids in the car with the windows rolled up and doors locked. She said, "They steal little boys in this neighborhood." We followed a dirt path down through the road ditch and up over the road bank. The path lead across a playground into a housing addition, a group of fifty or so huts with concrete, corrugated metal roof. Finally, we came to a doorway, Sara's sister's home. We stepped into almost darkness. It was an eight by eight room and her sister was lying on a cot resting. She got up, lit a candle and placed it on the table and then she showed us some family pictures. We visited a while and then moved on to Sara's friend. We were invited in and sat around a card table. There was a shelf with a small charcoal burner and some cooking pans. Again, the only light in the room was from the doorway. When we left, we began to realize the significance of Sara's remark the first day when we met her on the drive to her home. "One door, one room, home for one family, no electricity, no water, no heat, no sanitary facilities." We looked at the hundreds and hundreds of children, all ages, running everywhere in the dusk of the evening and wondered. During the evening at the house, Sara was visibly nervous. She hadn't heard from her husband and he was to have been home from the funeral by this time, even though it was 400 miles away. Later in the evening she received a phone call telling her that Jacob had been in an accident and was in the hospital 400 miles away. She would get no further information. The oldest son had gone to pick up some of his brothers and sisters and was late getting home. The car had broken down again, this time in a very bad area. They had pushed it several blocks to a more secure place and had hired four security guards to watch over it until morning when they could pick it up. They then had to get a cab to bring them home. Trouble seemed to be piling up on Sara. Next day we went down to the Federal Parliament Building for a tour. One of the ladies from the soap factory office came to escort us by bus . We met Sara and her sister at noon for lunch. Sara had finally received news about her husband. He had eye injuries from the accident and they had put him in the hospital. Ho ever, due to the fact that the hospital was in the area of a different tribe, they had not given him any medical service. She was trying to arrange to get him to a hospital in Nairobi. She still arranged to pick us up at t e hotel in the afternoon. We went to a toy store and found three little cars for the children plus some jigsaw puzzles and coloring books. We headed home with Sara's sister by cab stopping at a public market and picked up two live chickens and put them in the trunk of the taxi. I asked the cab drive if I could take a picture of this unique market. He said don't get out but you can take it through the window. Within seconds, a man rushed up and yelled, "Who gave you permission to take a picture?" I quickly put my camera away and left the window rolled up and the doors locked. That evening we gave the children the toys we had purchased. We had brought fifty one dollar bills from home, so we gave all the rest of them one dollar bills including the Grandma, the niece and the house maids. Sara had told Eleanor on several occasions how well she liked her perfume. Eleanor happened to have just purchased a new bottle, so she wrapped it up and gave it to Sara. it was a very touching time. The children were ectatic with their gifts and the dollar bills were really appreciated. As to the perfume, Sara, for the first time almost broke down and cried. She then gave me a walking cane carved with an elephant and Eleanor a carved mask. On our last day we went to the city market to pick up some things that Eleanor had ordered to take home as gifts. We caught a taxi home and the little ones were out on the concrete courtyard playing with their cars. We took a number of Pictures. Eleanor went in to pack, but the house maids and the niece were in chatting with her the entire time. I don't think they had ever had an American one dollar bill before. We got a call from Our Camera Safari in KenyaOur first stop was lunch at the Aberdare Country Club. The trip was uneventful except for the terrible roads. The country club grounds were beautifully landscaped. After lunch, we headed out for our evening S at the Ark. This building was built on a high elevation overlooking a watering hole and salt lick, both floodlighted at night. Some 200 people watched behind glassed-in rooms. Our directions were no noise and flash cameras. All night long we saw elephants, cape buffalo, rhinos, gazelles and harte-beasts, fight for positions at the water hole and salt licks. Every time a new animal would join the group they would ring a in your room, just in case you had retired. It was a tremendous experience in the study of wild animals in their natural habitat. Next day we drove to the Samburu Game Reserve where we spent two nights. We left on game drives morning and afternoon. We drove out in vans and the animals paid no attention to us. We saw elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, rhinoceros, ostrich, buzzards, cape buffaloes, flamingoes, crocodiles, hippos, wildebeasts hyenas, cheetahs, to name only a few; actually, we saw 38 different kinds of animals. On Saturday we drove to Lake Nakuru National Park and stayed at the Lion Hill Lodge.. On Sunday we left the Masai Mara Game Reserve and spent two nights at the Mara Sarova Camp. Here we stayed in tents with stove and bathroom facilities at the end of the shelters. One day we stopped on the exact spot where we crossed the equator. They showed us how, when you drain a pan of water, the water would swirl clockwise fifty feet north of the equator and counter clockwise fifty fe( south of the equator. If it drained right on the equator, the water didn't swirl at all. On Tuesday we drove to Kiambethu Farm where the movie "Out of Africa" was filmed. We had lunch there, It was a great place, beautifully landscaped and with wonderful hospitality; really the last of the old plantatic from the British rule. We left here and headed for the New Stanley hotel for dinner. Sara called us right after we arrived, although our Farewell Party wasn't scheduled until the following evening, she wanted to come down and see uE She spent about an hour or so with us that evening. Jacob was still in the hospital but otherwise things see ME allright. Their car was running again. We felt that she needed someone to talk to. Our last day we repacked and spent a leisurely day with final shopping and attending the Farewell Party before departing for Rome. Sara was back with three of her children on Wednesday evening to bid us farewell She said Grandma wanted to come but she told her no. We left Nairobi about ten o'clock. Sara was out by the side of the bus and stuck her hand through the window for one last handshake as we pulled away. What a gal! |
©2008 Friendship Force of Lincoln. All Rights Reserved. |
|
e sit in the lobby of the Panafric Hotel in Nairobi surrounded by our luggage waiting for our hostess to pick us up. While waiting in the New York airport, Corwin Moore, our Exchange Director, gave us the first information on who our hosts would be. Our hosts would be Jacob and Sara Aoro who had nine children, a 70-year-old grandmother and a 30-year-old niece plus 3 grandchildren. There were also two housemaids and a handy man. We pictured that we would be living in a huge house. Our hostess, Sara, arrived and with an outstretched hand and a big smile said, "How are you, welcome to Nairobi." We picked up our luggage and were on our way. We got in her can and headed toward the business section, dodging the chuck holes, the traffic and the people. These were not Nebraska chuck holes. They were Kenya chuck holes - numerous and some two feet across and 6 inches deep, others were twenty feet across and deep enough to bury your dog in. At times they reached entirely across the street leaving a half block long rubble of broken concrete stones and dirt. Some we hit with a bone-rattling jolt; sometimes we slowed to a stop dropping into the holes more gently and pulling out in low gear. We left the business section of the city but street conditions were the same. Sidewalks had disappeared and now there were mere dirt paths ten to fifteen feet wide. Cross walks were non-existent or totally ignored by droves of people who crossed in front of traffic. We saw many two wheeled carts pulled by one man and pushed by another. They were loaded with cabbage, corn, sugar cane, furniture and lumber. We asked about the hundreds of people along the street - children in school uniforms, older people, some walking, some standing, some sitting on the ground. What did they do, where were they going? Sara said, "Many unemployed, no work, no money." When we asked where they lived, she said, "I will show you." We came to several miles of concrete, shed-like structures. They were about a hundred feet long, the rear of them facing the street with two windows about eight feet apart. Sara said, "Behind each window an eight foot square room, a home for a family." Then she added, "No water, no electricity, no heat, no sewer facilities. We both wondered why she was showing us the seamy side of life in Nairobi so early in our visit. We were later to find it was the only way to her home.