Kwa heri, readers. Farewell.

This is my final blog.   If there is one word to sum up my Kenyan encounter, it is "engrossing."    If there is one compelling memory, it is the warm smiles of Kenyans everywhere and always, young and old.  If  there is one significant gesture, it is that Kenyans invariably greet one another with a handshake, a sign of peace.

 

Our stopover in Amsterdam for 3 days before returning home is a deliberate decompression.  It will take that time and more to digest two months of rich experience.

 

 

Before our final time in Nairobi, Michael and I spent three days in Lamu, two of only a handful of tourists because of its proximity to Somalia.    This small coastal town is a visual treat, on a par with Santorini in Greece.   The owner of our hotel, Baytil Ajaib, has become an expert on Swahili architecture and sculpture because of his personal involvement in the restoration of his place.  

Paul gave us an in-depth architectural and cultural tour of the town and of nearby Shela.   Unfortunately, I arrived in Lamu just recovering from a bad tummy, and Michael spent a day sick with one when we were there.  But we spent our final day on the magnificent beach at Shela, truly one of the most spendid beaches  I have ever seen.  I named it the "miracle beach."  I understand perfectly now why people return to exotic Lamu and in particular to Shela time and again.  It would be bliss to walk that beach every morning and late afternoon, and bathe in the warm (28 to 30 degree C.) Indian Ocean. 

As my Kenyan friend Dorothy was in Nairobi while we were there from November 9th to 11th, she became our guide around town.  On Thursday, the 10th,we rode public transit downtown, and she showed me the major landmarks while Michael was at the computer store. 

After lunch in a very popular local restaurant where we were the only mzungos (which means it is not on the tourist radar), we caught another bus to ride out to the suburbs to see a cultural show with traditional Kenyan song and dancing.  After a matatu ride back to the downtown in Nairobi's crazy rush hour traffic, Dorothy and I connected with "Job" whom we had met earlier in the day at an upscale tourist shop at the Hilton to look for fabric from the Congo.  I have become enamoured with this earthy woven cloth.  We ended up walking to a part of town that made me more than a little nervous when I was asked to walk up a very dark staircase at a small hotel.  (Think Hastings Street in Vancouver except Nairobi is not my town.)

Swallowing hard and after Dorothy's reconnoiter, I walked up that stairwell and found myself looking at fabric and other items from West Africa.  When the first connection didn't have what I wanted, we went to a second place.  After some tough negotiations while dusk fell and I as a mzungo tourist had to get off the streets,  I did buy a piece for a third of what I had paid in Lamu, not quite as good quality but definitely a good colour match.  When I asked Job if the vendorsI had met were refugees, he said they were traders.  So there you are, folks.  Another adventure.  I found the wholesalers for the Congo trade who were willing to show me many masks, furniture, and much more if I'd had the time and money.

Yesterday on the 11th, Michael visited the National Museum while I shopped at the stores on site.  We then travelled across town where we  visited a large emporirum of mostly Kenyan products and attempted to do some gift shopping at one of the famous Masai markets held weekly in the city.  It is an amazing experience of high pressure sales and tough bargaining. I was impressed, though, to finally see handicrafts and products produced locally.   Last night, our final evening in Kenya, Dorothy, her daughter Joanne, and Susan, the teacher I met my first day in Nairobi, all came to our hotel for a final visit.  I have so enjoyed the opportunity to become friends with women of about my age, to share our life stories, perspectives and "sisterhood."  I look forward to keeping in contact with them. 

So...I have experienced the tourist side of Kenya as well as "real life" Kenya, particularly in Kakamega.  I have come to know the challenges of Kenyan life and to  experience the joys.  One of those joys is the marvellous people I have met.  Working with the ACCES staff and teachers, and talking to them about education, life, politics, culture, gender and so much more of the "stuff of life" was amazing.  I have had an insight into the young professional class in Kenya, and have seen how talented, bright and capable they are.  Having now been a bit player in the development of the new leadership group in education if not in the country, I am optimistic about the future of Kenya, and gratified that I was able to provide some support and encouragement.   I am proud to be a part of ACCES which for 18 years now has been providing genuine opportunity and training for Kenyans. 

Michael and I also met other professionals in the community, shop keepers, tradespeople, many children, a few university students, our Unitarian family, the drivers on our safaris, the staff at the hotels.  Kenyans are a smart, generous and positive people in spite of the adversities of life.  They are warm and gregarious.  I admire and respect them, and feel validated as a human being to have been so well received by them.  

Another joy was to travel and experience the physical beauties of Kenya.   I have seen lush farmlands, vast grasslands, stunning beaches, dense forests, mountains, valleys and rivers.  I have seen with my own eyes some of the world's most magificent animals and colourful birds.  (Michael was particularly taken with the birdlife.)

I have heard some music and seen some dancing.  When the drums beat, it is the sound of the heart beats of Kenyans. 

I return home enriched, I hope wiser, appreciative, more knowledgeble - and very grateful for this chance to help build bridges of connection, understanding and love from one part of the world to another.