It's a perfect Sunday in Nairobi, warm but not too hot, a nice breeze blowing, the quality of light and constant woodsmoke smell making it seem almost autumnal here, but with the purple jacquaranda trees in bloom all over the city marking the closest thing Nairobi has to spring and the coming rainy season. It's possible that's my perception of what it should be like at the end of September at home is clouding my impressions, but it's still lovely.
I'm finding work on the Somalia program interesting, and complex. My organization, along with several other major NGOs, was summarily kicked out of Somalia several years ago by Al Shabaab, leaving programs suspended in midair. When Al Shabaab recently "welcomed" NGOs back, mine was decidedly NOT among those they welcomed back. However, there is too much need in Somalia and too many donors interested in helping us fund health and nutrition programs for us to avoid going back. Thus, locations are being chosen very strategically for program start-up, and wherever possible starting back up programs we were forced to shut down several years ago. For now, we'll be working in areas where Al Shabaab is not and will be poised to expand further if/when Al Shabaab falls.
But even for areas where Al Shabaab isn't present or active, there are still immense logistical and security challenges in setting up programs, and we will be working extensively through local partners with a relatively limited on-the-ground staff. Since this doesn't change the quality of program we need to offer, one of the things I am working on a lot with the Somalia program is setting up remote monitoring systems. This will allow my organization to ensure that we are implementing programs effectively and achieving results through these partners despite relatively little direct witness of them. Some of this is straightforward--photographs, standard information that will be transmitted daily by cell phone, weekly and monthly tally sheets and so on. But it needs to be a system that is as foolproof as possible as well as simple enough for people without any kind of monitoring background to use. This in addition to working on many, many proposals for donors to fund the programs, and so I'm very busy.
Obviously, given that I'm sitting at a desk in Nairobi doing most of this work, however interesting the work is it still doesn't really lend itself to photographs. In Dadaab, all of my pictures were related to work, and in Nairobi they are all related to my social life. So here's the fun in Nairobi this week.
Last Sunday, we headed down a long and extremely bumpy dirt road to Kitengela Glass Factory. Even though you could see the skyline of downtown Nairobi across Nairobi National Park, it felt a world away from the hustle and bustle and traffic of Nairobi. The glass factory is in a little valley, with wild gardens scattered with peacocks and chickens and dogs and sculptures and mosaic pathways leading to workshops and multiple display rooms. I have heard it described as a hobbit-fairy land with art, which isn't too far off.
Every thing is made locally, mostly by people from the small village there, Kitengela.
In the interest of full disclosure, I spent more than half my time there petting dogs.
Also, there was a tortoise.
Then we ate fondue. Did you know you could eat fondue in Nairobi? It's hidden in deepest darkest Karen (a suburb on Nairobi named after Karen Blixen who wrote Out of Africa). The gate isn't even marked.
That's Carrie. Carrie and I worked together in Baghdad for my organization for a year, and now, after a year astray, aka working for another organization, she's back working on Somalia for us again! That's one reason I love Nairobi--it's a hub for people and you meet up with a lot of people! My friend Lorea is here, too, right now, also, surprise, working on a Somalia program for another organization. Can you tell Somalia is "hot" (in aidworker, speak, at least) right now?
In other news, I ate corn from the "Hot n' Corny" stand sitting on a curb.
Ate a "real" banana. Subsequently became concerned about all the fake bananas I have apparently been eating.
While we are on the topic of eating, discovered that Nairobi has a Korean-style (tart) frozen yogurt place, with yogurt and toppings by the ounce. Officially have no reasons left not to live in Nairobi forever.
Saw a giant beetle on the lawn of the office. iPod for scale.
Had an unexpected late afternoon hour to read at my favorite cafe in Nairobi while I waited for my meeting with the ICDDR,B. If you would like to know what that stands for, click the link, it's vastly useful but not pretty at all. Let's just say, our meeting was about cholera in Dadaab. The meeting was worth the wait--the ICDDR,B has close ties with Hopkins School of Public Health and so I've heard a lot about them and their impressive work. It was a little bit like having a meeting with a celebrity you admire. Don't worry guys, I played it cool.
The end!
I'm finding work on the Somalia program interesting, and complex. My organization, along with several other major NGOs, was summarily kicked out of Somalia several years ago by Al Shabaab, leaving programs suspended in midair. When Al Shabaab recently "welcomed" NGOs back, mine was decidedly NOT among those they welcomed back. However, there is too much need in Somalia and too many donors interested in helping us fund health and nutrition programs for us to avoid going back. Thus, locations are being chosen very strategically for program start-up, and wherever possible starting back up programs we were forced to shut down several years ago. For now, we'll be working in areas where Al Shabaab is not and will be poised to expand further if/when Al Shabaab falls.
But even for areas where Al Shabaab isn't present or active, there are still immense logistical and security challenges in setting up programs, and we will be working extensively through local partners with a relatively limited on-the-ground staff. Since this doesn't change the quality of program we need to offer, one of the things I am working on a lot with the Somalia program is setting up remote monitoring systems. This will allow my organization to ensure that we are implementing programs effectively and achieving results through these partners despite relatively little direct witness of them. Some of this is straightforward--photographs, standard information that will be transmitted daily by cell phone, weekly and monthly tally sheets and so on. But it needs to be a system that is as foolproof as possible as well as simple enough for people without any kind of monitoring background to use. This in addition to working on many, many proposals for donors to fund the programs, and so I'm very busy.
Obviously, given that I'm sitting at a desk in Nairobi doing most of this work, however interesting the work is it still doesn't really lend itself to photographs. In Dadaab, all of my pictures were related to work, and in Nairobi they are all related to my social life. So here's the fun in Nairobi this week.
Last Sunday, we headed down a long and extremely bumpy dirt road to Kitengela Glass Factory. Even though you could see the skyline of downtown Nairobi across Nairobi National Park, it felt a world away from the hustle and bustle and traffic of Nairobi. The glass factory is in a little valley, with wild gardens scattered with peacocks and chickens and dogs and sculptures and mosaic pathways leading to workshops and multiple display rooms. I have heard it described as a hobbit-fairy land with art, which isn't too far off.
Every thing is made locally, mostly by people from the small village there, Kitengela.
In the interest of full disclosure, I spent more than half my time there petting dogs.
Also, there was a tortoise.
Then we ate fondue. Did you know you could eat fondue in Nairobi? It's hidden in deepest darkest Karen (a suburb on Nairobi named after Karen Blixen who wrote Out of Africa). The gate isn't even marked.
That's Carrie. Carrie and I worked together in Baghdad for my organization for a year, and now, after a year astray, aka working for another organization, she's back working on Somalia for us again! That's one reason I love Nairobi--it's a hub for people and you meet up with a lot of people! My friend Lorea is here, too, right now, also, surprise, working on a Somalia program for another organization. Can you tell Somalia is "hot" (in aidworker, speak, at least) right now?
In other news, I ate corn from the "Hot n' Corny" stand sitting on a curb.
Ate a "real" banana. Subsequently became concerned about all the fake bananas I have apparently been eating.
While we are on the topic of eating, discovered that Nairobi has a Korean-style (tart) frozen yogurt place, with yogurt and toppings by the ounce. Officially have no reasons left not to live in Nairobi forever.
Saw a giant beetle on the lawn of the office. iPod for scale.
Had an unexpected late afternoon hour to read at my favorite cafe in Nairobi while I waited for my meeting with the ICDDR,B. If you would like to know what that stands for, click the link, it's vastly useful but not pretty at all. Let's just say, our meeting was about cholera in Dadaab. The meeting was worth the wait--the ICDDR,B has close ties with Hopkins School of Public Health and so I've heard a lot about them and their impressive work. It was a little bit like having a meeting with a celebrity you admire. Don't worry guys, I played it cool.
The end!
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