The Lokey Sisters Do Kenya
So as most of you know, my sister Anne was able to visit me a few weeks ago. This was so fun to fall into our sister shenanigans. We got to do our stupid waiting games and movie quotes. Seeing her actually made me miss her and the rest of my family and friends more once she left. But having her here also meant a lot to me, beyond just missing her. I love being abroad and no one from my life back home has ever come to visit me and see this part of my life. So part of her time here, Anne was just seeing my life; where I live, my crazy “commute” to work on a motorcycle where kids yell “mzungu, how are YOU” constantly, and meet a few of the Kenyans I work with. While in Naivasha we also saw some sites: Mt Longonot, Hell’s Gate, and Sanctuary, where we had a minor standoff with a zebra.
Then we were off to Masai Mara. Due to a complex set of circumstances, we had much nicer accommodations that I am used to or anticipated. It was amazing. We constantly remarked that our tent was nicer than my cabin in Naivasha, which is only half a joke. And the game drives were insane. I think the first day we saw everything I wanted to see except the elusive leopard. At one point a baby elephant charged us; at another, a lion meandered within 5 feet of our open car. It was just exactly what you dream a safari should be. At some point, Anne and I were sitting on top of the Land Rover, driving through a herd of wildebeest at sunset, singing “Africa” by 80s legend Toto (we were singing, not the wildebeest). And then I dragged Anne along to visit to a Masai village.
Next on our tour of Kenya was Lamu, a tiny old island of the north coast. It’s been called a “found paradise”. The island itself is beautiful but it is the mix of old Swahili, Arab, and Indian cultures in the towns that gives Lamu such a unique and exotic feel. Here we wandered aimlessly through old Lamu Town, without a recommended guide- mostly so I didn’t feel rushed when I inevitably took a million pictures of doors. We also lost ourselves in the little village of Shela. Shela is so cool and very safe, with its maze of shops and homes. We bought some gifts and took our chances with some local restaurants, which were usually a bit disappointing, but no food poisoning! We also saw a hatching of baby sea turtles (something like 200) but sadly forgot the camera. One evening we took a sunset ride on a dhow, an old traditional African wooden boat, which was so beautiful and actually the first time I’ve ever technically “sailed”. The last day we spent relaxing some at the pool and beach.
Reflecting on life in Kenya
Sometime in Lamu I started reading “Kisses from Katie,” which I highly recommend. I do not, however, recommend reading this book while on a luxury vacation. It messes with you, as it should. This beautiful story of a girl and her life in Uganda was eerily familiar and yet seemed like a completely different world. Reading it made me think about a lot of things and assess my life and my future- my favorite activities.
First, it made me miss Uganda, which I thought strange since I live in Kenya which is geographically and culturally very close to Uganda. But I realized I missed working with kids, being in the most broken places I’ve ever seen, and doing it in a loving, moving community. I realized I have fallen back, believing that being in Kenya is enough, patting myself on the back for fulfilling my dream of living in Africa. But being present in Kenya isn’t enough. Don’t get me wrong. A big part of me loves that I can work in the villages here and then lay by the pool, or go wake boarding, or clubbing with friends from Nairobi on the weekend. I do like that after a long day of people being late and taking poop samples, I can watch Suits with Emily. But I realized by doing this I have yet to actually dig into this community. I did not come to Kenya because I’m passionate about poop. I chose to come because I’m passionate about people, and seeing transformation in broken/dirty places. As Come Let’s Dance taught me so long ago, it should be “people over projects” but I’ve given little thought to people beyond those working with me. I’ve been working in the village but I live a different life, and have remarkably few Kenyan friends. Part of this, I think stems from the fact that I haven’t seen that same urgency, and brokenness in Naivasha that I saw in Uganda. This is good for the most part. It makes working here practically easier, and messing up means people are not going to die. But I have not broken for this community; I have not seen need that makes me pour myself out and invest everything into it.
I don’t know exactly what this means for me. Maybe I really need to live in a completely poverty stricken rural or slum community that will just rip me up inside. Or maybe I need to just learn how to have compassion for the people around me, regardless of their state of being. And there IS poverty here; there is hunger and abuse and everything else. In fact, one of our friends here, a 60 year old user of in-home toilet we have been testing, is in a long land dispute with her brother which recently resulted in him breaking her arm. Women fail to inherit or can be intimidated off of their land pretty frequently here. But I haven’t been seeing, or caring.
So as I said I don’t know what all of this means for my future or career trajectory, but while I am here I am going to be an actual part of this community. I’m going to actually, intentionally get to know the people here. To start, I’m going to visit and maybe volunteer at an office that fights gender-based violence and I’m going to play soccer with the kids regularly.
Today I finally played football (soccer) with the village kids. It was so joyful, that’s really the best word for it. There were tons of kids (ages 2-12 probably) running around mostly without shoes, with huge smiles on their faces. A group of small boys would yell my name until I ran over to them, then they would run away. If one let me catch him, I would put him on my shoulders in a burst of laughter. A tiny little girl in a dirty white dress came up to me while I was in the middle of playing the game and gripped my legs so hard. I picked her up and she wrapped her arms around my neck with the same intensity and longing, acting as my shadow for the rest of the afternoon. When the ball got a hole in it and began to deflate, I started getting frustrated. “I haven’t even got to use this for 1 full day and it’s broken” I thought to myself, but it didn’t seem to upset anyone else or slow the games down, so I continued just trying to keep up with the boys. It was such a wonderful afternoon, I don’t know why it’s taken me so long. I have traveled and seen so many places in Kenya, the parks and coast, but I’ve been missing out on my own neighborhood
Nairobi attack
On a totally different note and a different side of Kenya, I suppose I should acknowledge the terrorist attack at Westgate Mall that started a week ago today. (If you have not been following the news you should look it up.) I was in Nairobi last weekend to watch an international rugby tournament. I actually caught a cab maybe a block from that mall about an hour or two before the attack started, but I was completely safe. I could have easily have been there, and it’s a place my friends frequent. I had no a few friends there in hiding but they made it out ,shaken but safe. It is unbelievable to me to think of families, having a nice Saturday outing that turned into a 4-day hostage situation. It was a terrible, unthinkable act. But I am safe, I am fine. It really puts those little complaints and annoyances in perspective. There is evil and good in every country. Kenya has its problems for sure, but it is not a violent country overall and I don’t want anyone to worry unnecessarily.
PS. If you want to hear more about what I am doing for work, you can find it on Sanivation’s blog which is a link above to your left.
