Nairobi Tourists

Since we are in Nairobi for only three months, we are taking advantage of the fact. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, weekdays are spent studying, studying, and then even more studying. However, the weekends are for exploring (and studying). We’d like to share a few photos from the last two weekends with you.

In Central Park there is a large monument called Harambee or the Nyayo Monument. It was built to promote and recognize the importance of unity among the people of Kenya. The story goes that the president was on his way to an important meeting. His car became stuck. Many people were watching as his driver was trying to get unstuck. He encouraged the people to all work together and push to get the car out of the mud. He said, "Harambee",(which really means heave, ho) and they replied as they pushed, "Nyayo". Now the word harambee is used to mean "Let's pull together for a common good."

Right across the street is an even larger public park called Uhuru Park. It’s a nice park with lots of trees and green space. Every time we have been there, it has been filled with lots of people enjoying the outdoors. There is even a lake where you can rent paddle boats. There are great paths for walking and one is a shortcut to get us back home. One day when we were there, Richard Roberts, son of Oral Roberts, was having a healing crusade. We heard music and decided to go over and investigate.

We met Sister Elizabeth during our first days here. She lives across town in Mathare. It is one of the oldest slums in Nairobi. She is a nurse in Italy, but they don’t recognize her credentials here. So she is currently taking a course to become licensed in Kenya. At that time there was a matatu strike here. A matatu is basically a van that transports people. They stop at specified places, the conductor slides open the door and encourages people to ride. When everyone is aboard, he slaps the side of the vehicle. That is the signal for the driver to take off. (The driver can’t see that since the steering wheel is on the right side of cars.) Sister Elizabeth takes two different matatus to get from her place to the hospital where she is working. It was too far for her to walk so she stayed here during the strike. Mary and she are about the same age, so they struck up a friendship.

Sister Elizabeth invited us to come and visit her at her home. She is a member of the Contemplative Missionary Movement of P. De Foucauld. She lives with five (I think) other Sisters in Mathare. We had to leave here at 6:30 in order to arrive at Mass at 7:00 am. Afterwards, she took us to her home. It was amazing. Her order has been in Mathare since the 1970s. Because they had been established in that area for so long, the government leased them land for 99 years as long as they would build a stone structure on the grounds. It is a paradise inside those gates. They have housing for nine families, their beautiful stone home, a stone structure for meetings and a large building for large meetings. We visited three different Sunday School classes that were going on. A priest had come to offer Mass for handicapped people who were unable to get to church.

We spent a lovely Sunday afternoon at the Karen Blixen Coffee Garden. While you were all suffering with another round of snow, we were sitting outside enjoying beautiful summer weather and outstanding food. It was fun to see the actual setting for Out of Africa. Just a block or two away was the Kazuri Bead Factory.

Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi. It was begun after WWI as a place for soldiers to live since they couldn’t own land. Today there are over one million people living in less than a square mile. The government owns the land but provides no basic services, schools, clinics, running water or bathrooms. During the post election violence in 2007, Kiberia experienced the most violence in Nairobi.

We spent Saturday morning a 10 K Peace Run held in Kibera. Young men with nothing to do, no jobs or work were out burning and killing during the riots. The purpose of the race was to promote unity among the people of Kibera, to work together toward a common purpose, to reach out to the young people and help install pride in themselves. This race was a joint project between several organizations. Father Dick Quinn (MK priest) was one of the sponsors. He is such a quiet, gentle soul, a dear man.

They had over 900 runners registered. Due to rain the day before you can imagine what the start and finish lines were like. It is a dirt soccer field. A sticky, mucky mess! Vikki, also a MK lay missioner, is a superintendent of 8 parish schools in that area. They closed schools (yes, on Saturday morning) today so they could participate. She was so excited. Over 50 students took part, and many of the classified staff were there as well as several teachers. One of her primary students won his division. It was an interesting morning.

We still have several more "must sees" on our list. Hopefully we'll get a chance to enjoy them all.