I Eat Meat!!!

Just get out there.....

I was curiously and surprisingly indecisive about my weekend trip to Tafaria Castle 5 hours north of Nairobi. The hours in a van seemed daunting - $50 of my hard earned money seemed a lot - the rain has been crazy lately and the castle was not a 15th Century historical UNESCO site preserved for future generations. It's a private individual who came up with the idea of building a house in 2012 that would be a bit different than the Jones'. C'est la vie.

I decided to go because of a discovery that has come to me late in life. I've always been a "busy" person - but have really come to understand that life happens "out there" ... and "not in here". Not in my head and not in my home. It happens in crowded cafes and on busy street corners -  in grocery store line ups and - well - everywhere really. But it happens less in the relative comfort of my living room. I often find that I have to push myself to get "out there" and am always pleased with how it turns out.


In my mind it's the difference between eating salad and steak! For me - I could live on salad...and not go hungry. But I eat meat!!! I want salad and a big fucking steak with all the trimmings!!! ..... and as my friend Frank often says...."suck the very marrow from life".

So off I went to the Castle with a group of 8 who were mostly strangers and then became friends.
Over the next 16 hours as we dealt together with a tire puncture, a break down in the middle of no where that could not be repaired..... some crazy bump and go driving in a rescue bus and heavy heavy rain. That was the adventurous part.

In between the "moments of the universe briefly conspiring against us" are memorable  moments  punctuated with the belly laughs we shared. Mary the tour director was just fantastic - never upset or "freaked out" just dealing with each situation as it came up. Quick to smile - slow to judge - never critical or anxious - simply a stand up person who gets shit done.  I'm envious of her ability and demeanor. While I think i am becoming a more patient person - it's never been my nature to just let stuff go and relax. As I get older - well  - like a very very good wine - I get better with each passing year. :) Like most folks I think?  Below is the rain swept road through the countryside with small farms along either side. A couple goats - a cow - chickens.... a bunch of vegetables growing all surrounding a little one room home where a family live their lives authentic and simplistic. As far as the castle goes...not so much!!

A nature walk in the pouring rain - down a country road somewhere in Africa.

My close friends and family are well acquainted with my love of sculpture that borders on obsessive. This piece really made me catch my breath. It was commissioned to signify the inner workings of the council of elders... the government that exists at the African community level and has such a powerful impact of the lives of those they touch. Here - one member of the council is in opposition signified by the slight tilting of his body backward. The 4 together still hold onto a ring of unanimity and take their democratic decision in unity. Not an unusual notion for a social democracy - but beautifully symbolized with this excellent piece.

A note on "The Kids"

 

Well my gosh they are hardly  kids anymore. Just look at Jake with his James Dean good looks and fancy car below. And Stevie with her "newest"tattoo (which is really cool by the way) Both are becoming the people they will become. In part from the influence of myself and their mom. And in part due to the choices they have made and will make. Both very cool and thoughtful people!!


I'm immensely proud of them both and grateful that they have allowed me the opportunity to Eat Meat while they work through school and life while I'm somewhere Ambling in Africa. It hasn't been easy for either of them...and I will never forget their generosity and unwavering support. I'll go home in the next while and take on my next adventure knowing that my adventure and any good work done here was due to their unselfish thoughtful and rock solid support of my crazy choices. I love you guys!!.









 Seriously  - thanks for reading -Layno!!

A little Kisii please ... right on the lips!

Homa  Bay: a place for Fresh Fish and HIV

Sub-Saharan Africa has a distinctive landscape. Like a ham & pineapple pizza you know it immediately. It's sparsely arranged scrub brush and orangy colored sand dotted with rocks and dry gray branches. Mostly flat, it's colored only slightly by the passage of the sun as it travels unrelenting on its daily path. Kisii county is surprisingly different.

Roadside fun.....really fun!!!... for the record - I did help a little. Thanks Tom

Tom and I ventured out to Homa Bay to visit the MSF team there and get a sense of their work and needs. It's west from Nairobi and tucked neatly against the coast of the famous Lake Victoria. I had never been this way before.. well at least not to where the landscape changes so dramatically. As we traveled along in our 78km/h speed governed 3 ton truck we enjoyed the zebra, giraffes, baboons and other wild  bits along the road side.

A note on my fondness for speed governors ..... the "control box" is located beside the drivers head and emits a brain popping piercing beep when you hit 78kmh.. then shuts off the accelerator when you hit 80kmh. Like waiting at the dentist for a root canal  - you know it's coming any minute  - and are prepared - but still can't fathom how painful it is. Like a knitting needle in one ear and out the other  - truck driving professionals in Kenya have my sympathy. A flat tire was icing man..icing!

Surprisingly and suddenly the landscape changes and as you approach Kisii county. A village, a tribe and a county, the land is lush green and beautiful. I have been fortunate to meet and become close friends with a number of Kisii folks since my arrival here  - and while I have heard a lot about this magical place - was unprepared for just how beautiful it was. I want to live here I thought!!!!!

Tom in the tea garden looking very cool!

Part of the family.....

 My driving partner Tom is also Kisii and was kind enough to show me his family farm. What a treat....I live for this kind of adventure!!! His family has lived on the land since about 1900 amongst the many flowers, green grass, goats frolicking and cows looking around bored and wondering. The farm grows mostly tea but also sugar cane, gooseberry, tomatoes, coffee, pineapple. Heck - anything grows here. I met the entire family and have never been more warmly welcomed anywhere in my life. As we sat all together and drank a hot mixture of cassava root and some kind of sweet crushed grain in their lovely sitting room, there was a beautiful comfortable feeling that can only come with a simple authentic appreciation for life and the relationships we share. Tom is indeed a fortunate man.

I started working with Tom about 4 months ago. He was a part-time worker when we met and became a full time member of the Mighty KSU/MSF team after a short time. As we traveled - he told me all about the country he loves and his time in it. Tom is infinitely kind, patient and thoughtful. He's a great guy who makes a positive impact on the world every day.

I am the greatest......and could care less what others think!!!! Love this guy!!!

 I added the picture above because it's just so great. :) This fellow works in a roadside stop in a place called Narok. Behind you can see Ugali being made (It's like mashed potatoes made from corn flour) and then this man in front. What? Happy  - proud - delighted to be on the planet... regardless - glad to be amongst the living on this fine day and more than happy to pose for the photo! Love it!



In contrast, and to your left, is the moment where I learned about the unspeakable. You can see the TV screen in the background where I learned that Hillary Clinton would be calling to gloat about the election....ahhhh nope, rather to concede. What the fuck!!!!!!! Nothing funny to say about it. It's a tragedy of epic proportions and confirms for me that the Americans  (many though thankfully not all) have lost touch with the important realities in life. Their moral compass is so badly broken that timely repair is unlikely. This is manifest destiny from the history books of my youth? And am I so "enlightened"?... or am I being annoyingly and unreasonably condescending?

 I don't think this so. This is a reflection of the erosion of a peoples values conspicuously manipulated by commercial marketing institutions. A philosophy for life based on having at all cost. The need to have even though you don't know why you want. A society driven by conspicuous consumption and thoughtlessness.  Tragedy! My son set me straight a number of years ago when he was 15. "I need an XYZ" I said. To which he replied... "you don't need anything Dad... you just want it. "Hmmmmm?

 

 

Lake Victoria and Homa Bay

So this is Lake Victoria, the water hyacinth are so thick it seems you could walk across them. And they stretch for kilometers in all directions. Surreal......it's a scourge that will take monolithic resources to deal with. At the same time - it's both an impressive and beautiful place. Tom and I were sure to visit at both dusk and day break to take it in. It smelled wonderful, fresh and is eerily quite and peaceful as we stood silently in the morning light.

On the right  - fresh Talapia for dinner. "Do you want the head or body" the server asked? Hmmmm well let me ponder that for a just a moment....." Well, as tempting as the head is - I'll go with the body" I said. " Sorry, said the server  - we are out of bodies - we only have heads" .....  Tom stepped in and after some persuasive conversation from Tom - a body was found.... and very very good it was!  Who eats heads? No wonder that's all they have left. I since have it on good authority that the head is sweeter.......and more delicious I'll take their word for it.......

As they say in this part of the world - Maji ni Maisha - Water is Life!!. Water as far as you can see!!! So why is it in a place where there is so much water would we have so many dying from HIV?
Here you see the  Mighty MSF truck parked and ready for another day working in the community to bring life saving treatment to those in need. Because here - in Homa Bay exist some of the highest levels of HIV in the world. I have heard conflicting numbers but it's probably reasonable to assume around a quarter of the people have this awful disease. And worse - it has changed little in 20 years. One of the driving forces is a cultural norm where men "inherit" a family member's wife when they depart. So - If Joe has HIV and his brother Jim dies...Joe get's Jim's wife and passes along HIV to her and any children they may have. There's an obvious solution.... but it's not one that has been widely embraced by the people of the region. President Obama was in Kenya not so long ago delivering the message (this message among others) that some customs are just bad customs and shouldn't be followed if their good intensions are more than offset by a bad outcome. But in a country that has so little - customs are comfort and predictability is necessary when so little is certain.

Thanks for reading -Layno!!

Babies are forever

Changing Times and Diapers

 

Surprisingly close to my home and inconspicuously sequestered in  tangles of pink and orange bougainvillea is the New Life Home Trust.  It's a busy  street corner I've driven by a hundred times and never once noticed the sign or thought about unwanted babies in Kenya. Hmmm - another slice of life made even more interesting with the backdrop of a developing society. Innately curious about way too many thing - I joined a group volunteering for the day at the orphanage doing what needs to be done to help look after the 34 babies. My friend Ele was there and another friend Shiku who I have know since arriving in Kenya. It was terrific to see these two thoughtful and wonderful Kenyan woman volunteering their free time to make a difference in their communities.


Looking very pleased with herself, Ele greeted me with a baby snuggled in her arms. While certainly a volunteer "work" activity, snuggling babies is by no means hard work - particularly when you don't have to take them home and deal with the less pleasant aspects. We fed them twice, changed a few diapers but mostly just played with them. I fell in love with a little girl named Anakylie...big smile and cute space between her teeth but mostly...that big smile at me!! I'll be back!!

The facility is extremely well appointed due to the tireless work of the founders Mary and Clive Beckenham. And this is not the only facility they have. There are 4 such homes trusts across the country all founded and managed by this couple. They are clean, well staffed, and well managed. By well managed I mean - great volunteer programs and a clear focus on babies first and foremost.

And as mentioned earlier  - being innately curious - why are there so many unwanted babies I wondered.........

Most often (roughly 75% of the time) it's young women who come to the city from their villages looking for work. They fall in with a fella - get pregnant  - deliver the baby at the hospital - then slip back to their village without their little bundle of joy with no one ever knowing that they left a little something behind. Can you blame them really? Low levels of education in terms of family planning and sexual behavior are likely co-conspirators. A baby means a return to the village and very few opportunities to change their situation in life. I get it.

So the babies now become the responsibility of orphanages around the country. Some good - others not as good. Well - how about adoption? International adoption was stopped a couple years ago as was  domestic adoption (though apparently restarting soon). The trouble - fraud and corruption..... again!  Apparently babies were flying out of the country faster than avocados. The paperwork on the adoptions was questionable at best!!! The government realizing the long term implications of illegal Kenyans scattered across the world, and unable to address the root causes of F&C simply shut down the process. This is probably best in my view though my perspective is no doubt naive.

I asked a few questions locally and found that babies are readily "available" for about $25,000 dollars. It's a potential goldmine for a well-organized "team" of health care workers. This s a bit grizzly - but still born babies are used to show the just delivered mother the fraudulent and unfortunate outcome of the delivery. The mother in a state of extreme anxiety and grief doesn't challenge or look too closely. Meanwhile her healthy babies are whisked away and sold to waiting parents-to-be. So one has to wonder if the government program of stopping adoption has had a positive outcome. Babies are forever.....

A couple other things about life in Kenya 

 

My mornings would no longer be complete without this daily morning concoction. Our cook Kevin cuts up the lemons and boils them for about 10 min then adds ginger chopped up or sometimes grated. After straining into cups - honey is added to take the edge off and it's served hot healthy and delicious. I remember when I first tried coffee and found it bitter and couldn't quite understand why someone would drink it. I felt the same way about this concoction but have come to love the soothing slightly bitter taste each morning. Thank you MSF team and Kevin!


And also - I just completed my ritual of de-worming. It's about $2 for a de-worming pill and one is well advised to take one every three months when living in Africa. It's not a question of if you have worms...it's how many. When you notice you're eating lots and still getting thin... it's a clear though disgusting sign. Hey! how about making this the newest  Hollywood diet fad..... hey Kim Kardashian....where are you?

Thanks for reading - Layno!!

Lessons from the coast

Kilifi: The haves and the have nothings.....

 

Last week I spent a couple days on the coast in a place called Kilifi. Kilifi is both a village and region - like a municipality encompassing an area of about 2,000 sq meters and a population of close to 1.5 million people with about 200,000 households. Many pastoral and fishers making up most economic activity but a bit of oil and titanium also help getting folks jobs.


I was here with Jake and Stevie (my kids) almost a year ago and we had the good fortune to swim in the beautiful Indian ocean, ride motorcycles on the beach, enjoy the night life, eat fresh fruit, devour fresh seafood grilled on shish kabobs with pineapple.... mmmmm - well you get the picture. Clearly from the picture above and beside  - it's not a shabby vacation area either. Coconut trees, warm breeze - all the stuff of an easy-peasy tropical living. So when Al Shabab is not terrorizing the region - folks come to spend their tourist dollars like  mad....but not right now.

So back to the coast now but rather than vacation, I came with a group of volunteers to help out around one of the schools for the weekend. This is a non - MSF related activity and the idea was to have a look at the school life of an Kilifian  grade 8er and see what that life would be well off the beaten track. Well there was a little beach time and fresh fish... but hey life needs balance - yes? Indeed!




 
 Somewhat tragically it was an 18 hours bus ride to the coast from Nairobi. It's really a 10 hour trip but with this and that... flotsam and jetsam, fits and starts it took a bit longer than expected. In a moment of utter and complete boredom some 12 hours in - my friend and seat mate Ksenia felt that trying lipstick on me might be a good idea. Doing a sexy runway pouty face is clearly within my wheelhouse though twerking and high heels are definitely off limits!

And a note on my Russian friend Ksenia. She is working for a major corporation in the HR department on a leadership development program that will no doubt serve her well. It will also - I'm sure,  serve the organization well. By moving staff around and exposing them to unique work environments you build the kind of capacity necessary for a successful global organization. And about Ksenia generally - she is a ball of fun in Russian package. Like those dolls one within another  - as I get to know her  - each new thing is refreshing and joyful. She is not only fun, smart and thoughtful but I can't think of many people I'd rather sit next to for 18 hours. This girl can talk al lot and about anything!!!!

My last blog focused on the living conditions in the slum at Majengo in Nairobi. I listed a number of "don't have's"  not really thinking about the impact it might have on my readers. I did receive a couple notes of appreciation for describing the realities of this kind  of life. It surprised me a bit as I realized that as an 18 month resident of Kenya - these scenes are all too common and no longer shocking to me. So my attempt today is not necessarily to "up the ante" but to continue to record my impressions...... and this school situation is a doozy! Even for a environment hardened 18 month veteran like myself !

We camped in the school compound and got to know the surroundings on the day after we arrived. The deal was to plant some trees - do some mentoring with the kids  - and donate a bunch of food to the village. A couple notes on Kilifi ...

• under 5 mortality is 100/1000
• school attendance 13%
• HIV 12% of the population
• Those on ARV's (anti retro viral) of the 225,000 infected - 11,000. so 10% under treatment.

The school itself looks pretty good. It's a dirt courtyard - clean -  with a block of cement buildings scattered about. The buildings looks to be financed by Rotary club...nice to see.

A couple "have nots" though; no running water - sewer (outhouses with squat toilets only)  -  no electricity (a little solar light) very few books - no real school supplies - 1 teacher in the room below for 93 students - 3 to a desk though built for 2 - and breakfast ... a boiled egg and piece of sweet bread. i suspect that held them to dinner of rice and beans.

So what about the kids? Unbelievably respectful and attentive. I sat in on the mentoring session and really enjoyed the experience. The kids on many occasions rose and spoke to different questions.. in a confident and very well organized manner. I was blown away by their confidence and presentation of their ideas.

So here's where I got a little unglued - if you look at the mural carefully you'll see a couple of common sense "do nots" ..... but the one that really concerned me was - avoid hidden places. This sign here - and elsewhere on the school grounds is to warn the kids from sexual predators on the site. Parents, teachers, older students?????? .... who are these predators? I have learned that the levels of rape and related sexual violence is off the charts here. So common as to not be even be remarkable. How did we get here?

In part it's due to corruption and fraud. My sense is that very few public officials are able to maintain and altruistic disposition in the midst of so many kleptocrats intent upon enriching themselves at any expense. Headlines like the one below are common....
All told it was a real eye opener and I'll take some time to think about how these kids can be helped. for almost all of those smiling faces above - this is the end of their education ... many of the girls becoming child brides within the polygamist community...and the boys...well they just go to work no longer boys..

The United Nations

 I was fortunate to be invited to attend the humanitarian Aid summit in Kenya hosted by the United Nations. The discussion centered on the localization of humanitarian aid in the region. Discussion was lively, intense and informative. I'm proud to be serving within this community .... which is responding to the needs of the environment in which we operate. Smart people - good ideas - but of course never enough.

Below - is a guy shot and killed in front of the UN as we walked to our cab. He foolishly attacked a soldier wielding a machete. He was dead before he got his arm up - undercover and uniformed protectors emerging from every shadow and crease. I heard he took 12 bullets in seconds. sheesh!!!

Thanks for reading -Layno!!!!