Meandering Mind ...

Well, I am now a year older. How daft is that? On Wednesday, I was 37 (-ish, as in I w-ish), and yesterday I was 38 (-ish).

I don't feel a year older. In fact, until I actually think about the number that represents the number of years I have been on Earth, I really don't feel much different from when I was 38. Why should we feel so different? It is only one day older when we think about it.

My only regret is that I have only recently started to travel. In the past, I have lived and worked in France and South Africa (when I really was 38!), but that was just work. Once back in the UK, I didn't look for a reason to leave again. I suppose having two kids in school curtailed my wanderlust.

But it was only a couple of years ago that I discovered Kenya, and even then, I didn't go, I just worked for a Kenyan charity.

But last September, I finally took the first step and immediately regretted the time I had wasted thinking about it but doing nothing.

Now I think only of my next trip to Kenya and the only constraint now is financial. Only! HA!

On my last trip, I spent some time in Kisii, Malindi and Nairobi. As our only car had been destroyed during the PEV, I used public transport, shuttle from Nairobi to Kisii and back, overnight coach from Nairobi to Malindi and back, then matatus, Citi Hoppas and anything else I could find a seat on that would get me into the city from the suburbs.

It was an experience, and I suppose, one I would not have wanted to miss. But do it again? I am not so sure.

The problem is, Going to Kisii, we obviously traversed the Rift Valley. If I had been in a car, I would have stopped to look at the scenery, animlals, etc. In a shuttle, it took all my energy and concentration to stay in my seat, and we only stopped once, in Narok.

The coach to Malindi is an overnighter, so although it traverses Tsavo, we see nothing!

So, not only do I need to get my air fare together, I also need to go with enough money to buy a car. Hmm ...

BTW, my real age is 58 - just!

Hospitals

Today, I took a friend to the local main hospital. She had broken her foot a couple of weeks ago and today was decision time, whether to operate of leave well alone.

Sitting around, my mind drifted back to last March when I took one of our little boys (a black little boy) to the hospital in Kisii, a) to treat him for an intestinal parasite and b) to check his HIV status.

People have said that I cannot compare my treatment in Kisii with my treatment here. In Kisii, I am an oddity, a mzungu in an area where there are few wazungu.

OK, maybe the staff helped me to jump the queue, but that is not the issue. I was impressed with the care and concern shown to an under-nourished, small, skinny orphan kid (in fact, he is, as far as we know, not an orphan, but was abandoned at birth).

The over-worked (and probably underpaid) staff were extraordinarily caring for this little mite. And he was one of scores of kids in the hospital that day. Do they treat all the kids like this? There is no reason to believe that they don't. I cannot believe that my little boy got preferential treatment because he was with a mzungu - or did he?

Either way, I think the staff at Kisii hospital are brilliant!

Spanner in the Works

I have finally managed to contact my man in Kisii. He contacted me through Skype, as usual, from the usual cyber café, which should be, by now, mine!

But it wasn't. At the last minute, the seller doubled the price of the business, and the landlord increased the monthly rent by 2,000/- a month.

My man in Kisii refused to pay the extras after having had an agreement from the seller's agent for the original prices.

He went on the offensive and found new premises with an asking rent actually less than the original price. He bought six PCs with a higher specification, and is in the process of acquiring the necessary furniture.

All we need now to open a fully functioning cyber café is:

• a hub
• a modem
• CAT5 cabling

and once open, to be able to offer the full range of services:

• a scanner
• a printer
• a land line and fax machine

Unfortunately, we have run out of money!

So, from last week's fully functioning ready-to-run business, I now have an almost ready, non-functional business, and, until/unless my sales on eBay come to fruition, no way of opening!

As I once saw on another blog, "Shut Happens"

No communication

I had a [well-earned?] day off yesterday and took my grandson and his friend swimming. My grandson, (nearly 12 years) has recently started to swim well and as such, is not too much of a worry for me.

His friend (9 years), on the other hand can just about keep his head above water and needs constant supervision.

Until I had the bright idea to see if he could swim on his back. After a little coaxing, he tried it, and promptly swam four lengths of the pool. Of course, I had to swim next to him just in case he got into difficulties, but he surprised both of us and didn't.

This pass-time took my mind off the business in Kisii. I haven't had any contact with my man in Kisii for a few days. That is not to say that he hasn't tried to contact me (we converse through Skype), but I have been out a lot this week and we kept missing each other.

But today, without theh distraction of a couple of kids, I need to know what is happening.

Now, my man in Kisii always contacts me on Sundays - until today. But then, today is the first day that the business is officially mine. It is, of course, open 7 days a week, so is he doing his cyber café manager bit, and therefore not having the time to contact me?

Has the power failed in Kisii - not uncommon? Or the Internet connection - also not uncommon? Has there been a last-minute hitch? I need to know!

A Rare Moment

I have just entered my blog onto the Kenyan Blog ring, and as I have little to do for a while (a rare moment), I decided to look at what others are writing.

Immersed in the thoughts of other bloggers, the dog dragged me back to reality with incessant barking.

Now, the dog is Mum's pet, companion and confidant. It is a rather overfed Norfolk Terrier, short, ginger, hairy, noisy.

I found him standing at the back door, looking through the glass at something and growling. So I let him out, whereupon he raced up the patio to a leaf, barked at it, sniffed it, and strutted back to the door, tail in air, looking very pleased with himself.

I wonder what he would do if there were a real intruder in the garden?

Twiddling Thumbs

I have made the offer on the cyber café business, which has been accepted. I have sent the money to my man in Kisii. I have sent him an email with lots of instructions. What else can I do?

Now, I just have to sit here and wait for the news that all my instructions have been followed, the money has been paid to the seller of the business, the rent and Internet connection charges have been paid and that everything is on course.

This is not easy, running a Kenyan business from the UK, especially when communications are sporadic. The electricity supply is not very reliable in Kisii. Nor is the Internet connection. The only sure way to communicate is by SMS. UK to Kenya is quite cheap, but the Kenya to UK is not, especially when the sender is earning only a couple of dollars a day.

But I must not let this little venture take over my life. I have other things to do, like planning my "show shamba", that will promote the use of easy-to-use, alternative energy, easy-to-build water purification, etc. While I am at it, I want to try growing some different vegetables on the plot, some to feed the kids, others to see if we can make a bit of money.

Why do I sometimes feel that I am taking on too much? Oh yes, because I am here, not there.

Offer Accepted ...

Soon after my last post, I found an email, sent by my man in Kisii. I almost dared not read it.

After the usual profuse greeting to me and mine, he eventually got around to telling me that my offer had been accepted. As long as I could get the money out to Kisii before the end of the month, the business was mine.

He apologised for the delay in letting me know, but the power had been cut, which got me wondering why I was starting up a reasonably high-tech business in an area where electricity is still a luxury, and therefore not always available.

Oh well, at least the competition has the same problem - yes, there are other cyber cafés in town. In fact the shop next door is a bigger, "better" cyber café. But mine still has its fair share of clients.

And I reckon, at very little cost (and a UK mind-set), we could make ours as attractive as next door. Not that we need to increase our client base by much. We only have 10 PCs and most are occupied for a good part of the day.

All I need to do now is save up my air fare (and some spending money) and get out there!

Another Step Towards Kenya

At 4,500 miles, it would take a while to walk to Kenya. So I have embarked upon another means of getting there and surviving financially when I get there.
My man in Kisii works part-time as the IT engineer for a cyber café in the town. It is not the biggest, or the smartest, or the most used, but it plods along, making a profit.

The owner is having to move to the City due to his work and needed a quick sale. My man heard about this and immediately contacted me.

I started hunting around, collecting pennies from down the back of the sofa, the car centre console, etc. but couldn't quite make the asking price. So I had to go to plan 2 and beg.

The result was that yesterday, I could tell my man in Kisii to make an offer.

I am now sitting here in a very wet UK (the rain is chucking it down with high winds as I type) waiting to be told whether my offer has been accepted.

This is a big step. I would trust my man in Kisii with my life, so having him run a business in my absence isn't an issue.

It is just the act of investing abroad. I have done it before and ended up with a very bloody nose. It is also a step towards setting up my nest in Kenya. I know that once I am settled, there will be no return because of the artificial currrency exchange rate.

The business is small. But it has a lot of potential to grow with a bit of imagination and hard work, and my man in Kisii is not afraid of hard work - he is a Kenyan after all!

Need to lose a few pounds? Go to Kenya!

Inspired by Mzungu Chick's latest blog, I thought I would share my weight loss programme with you.

To start, you need to have the car you use in Kenya to be torched during a riot, ensuring that there is no money in the kitty to replace it (this latter is extremely easy!).

Then visit upcountry - I chose Kisii - and live like a Kenyan on the breadline. This involves eating the staple food, sukuma wiki and ugali, and because you can afford it, fresh fruit by the kilo, every day for a month.

To get to town, about 1 mile away, you walk - uphill, bearing in mind that Kisii is at an elevation of 5,577 ft to start with. Do not take the matatu until you have walked at least ½ mile and have broken out in an uncontrolable sweat - the wheazing whilst breathing is optional.

Do all this with a 35litre back pack containing an old (and heavy) laptop, digital camera and all the other bits and pieces necessary to play the part of a tourist.

Once in town, bob from cyber cafe to cyber cafe until you find a queue that does not comprise half the population of the town. This is usually on the 3rd or 4th floor of a mall with no lift.

Upon leaving the cyber cafe, walk around town with a young person who is used to the thin atmosphere and can walk at 6 mph.

Walk home, stopping at the local supermarket. Buy sweets for 36 kids. Arrive home. Collapse.

Repeat every weekday.

On Saturdays, spend time teaching kids to play volleyball, skipping, skittles, hula hoop, tennis, etc., all this accompanied by a four-year-old who considers that he has been put on this Earth only to sit on your shoulders - permanently (at this point, the rucksack can be dispensed with).

Sundays - rest, comprising amusing previously mentioned four-year-old, making paper aeroplanes, skittles, playing football (you are the only person allowed to even touch the new ball you bought him!)!

I can guarantee that you will lose weight - a lot of weight!

What's It For?

As I sit here, writing my blog entry, I wonder "Why?"

Why am I doing this? Is anyone actually reading this?

Of course, no blogger knows whether their work is being read unless they get comments from the readers. I have had a couple, but they are few and far between.

So, am I wasting my time writing this?

Then another question pops up. Does it really matter? Why did I start writing a blog? Why does anyone?

In my case, it was to put down "on paper" my frustrations and fears over Kenya and my desire to return to the country of my choice. In which case, does it matter whether any one else reads it?

No. I think I am writing this to let off steam, to put my thoughts down wher I can see them and maybe make a decision, or at least see a problem more clearly.

So then, why not a diary, written in Word or similar? Or even, a real diary, you know, pen into exercise book?

OK, the last comment is ridiculous. I am left-handed and get cramp in my poor old hand after writing two lines. Then it becomes unreadable, not tht it would be a problem as no one would read it anyway.

Is there a little vanity in bloggers? Do they hope that someone will read their blog and maybe even award one of those little badges that so many seem to be passing around to one another? Maybe.

Do I really care if no one reads my blog? Probably.

Would I be happy if someone awarded me a "Good Blogger" badge? Definitely, but at the same time, seeing the quality of other bloggers, I would be surprised.

Oh well ...

Contact Lost

It is a few days now since I have had any contact with antone in Kenya. This is unusual. I usually have contact with Vincent in Kisii at least three times a week. I usually get an email from Nairobi, and Mzungu Chick usually posts something in her blog.

But, nothing!

I know it has been raining hard in Nyanza Province, and that may have kept Vincent at home (he has to go to a cyber café to contact me). Then again, I heard a rumour that the cyber café that he works in is closing down - no more free Internet!

So I really don't know what is going on in Kenya, at grass roots level, at the moment. Still, no news is good news - isn't it?

Christian Aid

Our Rector's wife came round this evening, collecting the Christian Aid envelopes. Unfortunately, our dog had eaten ours, and as she rummaged around in her bag for another one, I told her that I was disillusioned with them.

During the PEV (Post Election Violence) in Kenya, my organisation had the partial responsibility for nearly 3,000 displaced people who had fled the violence. I could do little from here (the UK) but contacted the Red Cross, Oxfam, Christain Aid, etc. to notify them of the plight of these people and to ask for help. I got a couple of replies, but no aid for these people.

The reason, we guess, was that our town is off the main Mombasa-Nairobi-Kisumu-Eldoret route, and were therefore a bit more difficult to get to.

But surely this is not the point.

Oh, what the heck, I've already blogged about this and I don't want to go through it again.

In the end, I put my loose change in the envelope. I am Christian, after all. And they are only human.

Fallen off the Radar

On the face of it, it should be a good sign, Kenya not being in the news for a while. Due to the Burmese crisis, the China earthquake, the Zimbabwe (non?) election, there is little if anything relating to Kenya on any of the International news websites.

But thre is a lot going on in Kenya. Food is short and prices are rocketing. Fertiliser and seed prices are also up. The Government is forcing people presently in IDP camps back to their homes, regardless of the risk of violence erupting and dissent bolstering the Mungiki.

The new coalition government is knee-jerking and any measures taken about just about anything seems to be short-sighted.

Is Kenya ever going to get back to the relative stability it enjoyed before the Presidential election debacle?

Grass

As I was mindlessly wandering up and down the lawn, being pulled along by the mower, I was dreaming of kenya - Kisii to be geographically precise.

Here I am, mowing a lawn that stretches to about ¼acre. What a waste of time and space. In Kenya, this land would be put to good use, growing crops to feed the family.

My friend in Kisii could not believe we have so much non-productive land.

He has a strip of grass running along the house, but the rest of his land, as well as a plot he bought, was all freshly tilled ready for planting.

So here I was, mowing this lawn, wondering how much food I could grow if I turned the land over to vegetables.

What makes this worse, is that attached to the property, we have a paddock of about 1 acre. Now that, in Kenya would almost be a self-sufficient farm and my paddock is just brambles, weeds and ragwort!

How Lucky We Are ...

We just don't realise, do we? We take so much for granted.

You are thirsty? Have a drink of water ... from the tap or a beer from the fridge.

Cold? Switch the electric fire or central heating on.

Need to go somewhere? Jump in the car, or at worst, on a bus, running to a regular timetable.

So what is this rant leading to?

Stuck as I am in the UK, with many friends and business associates in Kenya, any communication is usually over the internet, email, Skype, MSN Messenger, etc. This of course relies on the power not being cut and the telphone lines working.

But, from time to time, I have to send things by post. Remeber the post? Writing the address on an envelope, sticking a stamp on it and putting it in a letter box?

Then, if it is going abroad, filling in a Customs label, trying to make the contents as uninteresting as possible, so that it does not atract Import Duty, and more importantly, catch the eye of some postal worker who is looking for something to acquire.

Well, in this last, I seem to be sadly lacking.

I have recently sent a parcel containing some small computer accessories to a friend in Kenya. It didn't arrive.

I have sent some official forms to Nairobi and they haven't arrived either.

It just doesn't happen over here. If we post something, it arrives.

This is assuming that the mail gets lost over there, rather than over here, of course. But I think this is a safe assumption.

Living Conditions

I have been meaning to write this for a long time, but life has grabbed me by the throat and kept me in the real world - that is the world of having to work, rather than writing blogs.

While I was in Kenya in March, I lived with Kenyans, ordinary Kenyans, in their homes.

So, where to start? I suppose, with my living conditions in the South of England.

I live in a large bungalow in a small village. Our property backs onto the lands of an ancestral home, so it is calm.

The bungalow has the usual central heating, lighting, telephone line, fitted kitchen, bathroom, shower room, three bedrooms and two living rooms, two TVs - it is a "normal", middle class abode. I have a car, not new, but reliable. I have two computers and a laptop, all permanently connected to broadband.

-oOo-

My first stop in Kenya was Kisii, where I stayed for 10 days with friends, Vincent and Abigael. They live in a rented two-bedroomed bungalow comprising a sitting room, kitchen, wet room and the two bedrooms.

There is no electricity or running water and the toilet is a deep-pit latrine 20 or 30 yards from the house.

Most of the garden is for growing food and Vincent has also bought a second plot adjacent, to grow more.

I felt rather guilty as, being a guest, I had been given the "good" bedroom. I shared it with one of the kids, Josephat. Everyone else slept in the other bedroom. This suited Jojo, as he never strayed more than about 3 feet from me the whole time I was there. He has decided that I am his Baba Mzungu (white Dad).

Lighting is by kerosene lamp in the main room and by torch or candle anywhere else.
The kitchen is a room with a couple of low work surfaces, no running water and no cooker. Cooking is over kerosene or charcoal.

Water is brought up from the river every day by a water carrier and has to be boiled.

Internet connection is out of the question, so collecting emails, etc., involves a trip into town to visit one of the many cyber cafés.

The wet room is just a room with a small hole in the wall to let out water. Having a wash involves heating water in the kitchen and carrying it into the wet room in a bowl.

Despite being a "soft" European, I survived. No - more than that. I actually enjoyed my stay there. I happily put up with what I saw as deprivation. OK, going to the loo during a downpour was a bit of a pain, but hey! This is Kenya!

-oOo-

The second leg of my stay was far more "civilised". I had arranged to use an apartment in the village on the coast, sharing it with my girlfriend and her two children.

This apartment comprises a massive living room with dining area, a kitchen with a combi cooker (two gas rings, two electric), although the electric part is not connected, and a fridge/freezer, a bathroom with a bath with shower, "real" toilet, basin and running water (only cold). The bedroom has a king-size and large single bed.

There is electricity, although only one power point in each room. There is also a TV in the living room. The whole is finished off with a large, east-facing balcony.

Few of the windows are glazed. It is not necessary, the temperature never falls below 20C. They are all covered with mosquito-proof netting.

This leg of my stay in Kenya was luxury - a real shower, a real toilet, a real kitchen. And then, of course, I was with my girlfriend!

-oOo-

The third leg was in a suburb of Nairobi. My friend there has a four-bedroom terraced house with a front and back yard. It is in a gated estate with security guard.

The house comprises two floors. Upstairs, there are two bedrooms and a bathroom, the ground floor has the living room, kitchen, wet room, a guest bedroom and with access from the front yard there is the fourth bedroom. Normally this might have been the domestic quarters, or workroom.

The kitchen is basic, but does have electricity and running water, although it is not advisable to drink it.

The wet room has an "Asian" toilet which flushes, a basin and a shower head, again giving only cold water.

Cooking is over kerosene or charcoal, but every room has electric light, as long as the supply is working!

This was very comfortable, and I could happily live in this house, but it was not as "comfortable" as the apartment on the coast. Nor would I particularly want to live close to Nairobi.

Given the choice of the three places I know, I would settle in Kisii - the coast is just too hot.

This stay in Kenya, particularly Kisii, reminded me of just how lucky I am, living where I do.

But even the house in Kisii would be considered luxury to many Kenyans, who live in small traditional mud huts under thatch, not through choice, but because they can afford nothing better.

Is No News Good News?

Through the wonderful medium of Skype, I usually have some contact with Vincent in Kisii (he is the director of the children's home), but I haven't heard anything from him for since about Sunday - it now being Thursday. The last time this happened, he had been down with malaria.

I believe the kids are still off school, so of course, there is more to do at home (Jojo and Benta are living with Vincent and Abigael), and also the other kids on the register will be floating around.

But, Vincent is my "link" with Kenya. Without it I go cold turkey. I like to get news of what is happening, especially as Kisii is so different to Nairobi. It is a provincial town with its own economy.

I also get news of the children, and sometime, even some funny stories, or photos.

So, without my almost daily contact, I start to worry. Is everyone OK? What is the food situation? Is one of the kids ill or injured? Or maybe Vincent or Abigael?

I know that even the smallest of our children is far more robust than the average European. They don't have our soft lives. Kids of 9 or 10 can wield a machete to cut wood without cutting both their legs off. But it is worrying to see them using such a dangerous tool.

Oh well, I dare say that everything is fine, Vincent is either tied up with work, or the kids, or both and he will get into town to the cyber-café when he can.

In the meantime, I will sit here and worry.

Where is Zimbabwe going?

It has been announced, albeit unofficially, that Morgan Tsvangirai has beaten Uncle Bob in the Presidential election. The country is gearing up for a run-off election between the two.

In the meantime, the army and "war veterans" are carrying out a campaign of terror against the supporters of the MDC.

So, let's just assume that after the run-off, Morgan wins outright. Then what?

The army seems to be loyal to Uncle Bob; the war veterans certainly are. So what will the new MDC Government do? How will they bring Zimbabwe back into some sense of normality? Will Tsvangirai and his new government be allowed to rule, or will there be a coup?

Winning an election in a country where violence and repression has been the order of the day for so long, may not count for much.

A Lesson in How To ...

... Run the Country's Finances.

From the BBC News Website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7375140.stm)

Kenya cash shortfall over cabinet.

Kenya needs to find another $300m to pay for the expanded coalition cabinet formed after a power-sharing deal.

Finance Minister Amos Kimunya says he may be forced to shift funding from vital programmes like resettling the displaced to pay for new ministries.

Or from the Daily Nation website (http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=122218)

Grand Cabinet to cost Sh33bn in two months

Taxpayers will pay Sh33 billion to fund the grand coalition Cabinet in the next two months alone.

Some of the money will be shifted from programmes with major social implications, including the building of new hospitals and road rehabilitation.

The programmes had been factored into the Budget for the current financial year which ends in June.

The high cost of managing the expanded Cabinet became clear in a mini-budget presented by Finance minister Amos Kimunya in Parliament Tuesday.

Kenyan politicians are among the world's best paid MPs - each taking home about $17,000 in salaries and allowances each month. To re-direct money that is destined to help the poorest in the country is disgusting!

More violence ... ?

It has been reported today on the BBC that Charles Ndungu, the leader of the political wing of the Mungiki, Kenya National Youth Alliance, has been shot dead in his car near to Naivasha.

A couple of weeks ago, the wife of the leader of the sect was murdered and this led to riots, bringing Nairobi to a standstill. These were only brought to a halt when Raila Odinga agreed to talks with the sect.

Can we look forward to more "reprisals" from this outlawed and lawless, mafia-style organisation? Or will it lead to another crack-down on the Mungiki by the police?

Either way, the only people who will benefit will be the undertakers.