MCC retreat, Kenyan coast

MCC Kenya retreat

American Thanksgiving Day some 50 of us, MCC service workers, national staff and families, headed out early for Diani Beach, near Mombasa, for several days of retreat.  The pope was in Nairobi that day and it was declared a public holiday, so we left early before all the town's streets were closed.

It is the short rains in Kenya right now, so we had rainy parts of the trip.

After some 5 hours on the bus, we stopped at the bathroom - the bushes (the tree was too far to walk).  Since it happened to be in the middle of Tsavo Natl Park, which was on Evan's bucket list, we had to take a picture there!

Getting to our destination in Diani Beach, to the south of Mombasa, meant driving through the middle of town and then taking one of the ferries across Likoni channel.  The ferries are quite...old.

It was nice to take advantage of the ferry to finally get out of the bus and stretch our legs.  Here the boys are with James, Daniel and Joy (MCC national staff), and Kara (SALTer), along with a bunch of MCC kids.

At 6 a.m. the first morning I got a call from Evan ready to go running on the beach, so we enjoyed the sunrise together.

High tide in the morning, with hermit crab tracks around the palm.

We had a good run on the beach, and a short bit later Alex was also up and ready so I had a second run.  We were joined by Kenyan "runners" (actually, locals trying to get to know us to sell us day snorkeling trips etc)

At low tide the water exposed large flat sandy areas and coral reefs.

Locals were plying various opportunities for tourists, here to have camel rides.

The weather was much hotter than Nairobi, but in the shade and sea breeze it was great for reading, relaxing, and conversing.

With the tide down, there were nice pools to hang out in.  The boys (accompanied by a local guide) went trekking out on the reef and found sea cucumbers, brittle stars, a stonefish, sea snake, and other interesting reef animals.

Back on the road coming home to Nairobi, a typical scene through the bus front window as the driver calculates when to try to pass trucks.  The road is the major (only, really) way to get goods in and out of most of East Africa, so as a 2 lane highway is clogged with long lines of trucks.  The 300 mile trip took 13 hours each way, so it's slow going!

And lots of minkeys!!  Here a Syke's monkey who was in a troop raiding our pack on the beach.

The area is known for its colobus monkeys.  These are Angolan colobus monkeys, a different species than is found up in the highlands.  The had amazingly long white shoulder hairs.  Here a mother has her baby.

Nov 8 update

Public transport in Nairobi is by matatu.  Tatu is the word for "three" - originally these vans/buses cost 3 shillings (now they're 20-50 shillings).  The matatus are privately owned and run.  They can be a bit exhausting to ride, with loud music blaring and negotiating price, etc.  But they're also more regulated than most public transport we've been on in developing countries.  Nobody can stand in the aisles, the matatus can only stop at certain stages (stops), everybody must where a seatbelt (that one seems to be entirely theoretical; the others are mostly followed...sort of).

I suppose it is the British influence, but Kenya is a mix of chaos and orderliness.  In fact, the matatu system has garnered attention for being just as structured and efficient (in some ways) as centrally planned systems, despite what appears to be chaos.

Matatu drivers fearlessly find the quickest way through traffic, they take any opening, drive on shoulders and sidewalks, and (as I found this week driving out of town) apt to drive on the wrong side of the highway if there is a traffic jam, even on a 6 lane divided highway.  I've learned the lesson of selecting roads in towns with fewer matatus.

Riding a matatu to the CBD (central business district, downtown)

Our field trip this Saturday was a journey downtown.  Among other things, the mission was to find the one yarn shop we (read: Cristina) know of in Nairobi!  It was found, and yarn was bought.

Selecting yarn for Alex's afghan, Cristina's current project.

Cristina spreads the gospel of knitting; Kara (an MCC SALTer this year) bought needles and yarn to learn knitting.  Apparently knitting was quite common by women on matatus in the past.  But now with cell phones, there is no knitting on matatus...everybody stares at their phones.

 Traffic in Nairobi is notorious, one source cited it as the 4th most congested in the world.  The roads are basically still designed for a town of 350,000, now the population is at least 10x that.  Virtually all activities are scheduled around traffic issues - it governs all of daily life.

A usual traffic scene, driving back from one of the schools. The school is 14 km away; it took me 2 1/2 hours to get home.  unfortunately that is usual.

Looking west from the highway south of Machakos town.  In that direction are big plains that stretch way down to Kilimanjaro.

The hills of Machakos, down by Kola.  Rains have started spottily, so things have started greening.

On our trip downtown we picked up some souvenirs.  Here Evan is wrapped in traditional Maasai shuka (blanket that they commonly wear wrapped around themselves).  He's playing an African bow harp (we think!) - tourist version but still is interesting.  A recording of Evan playing the instrument.

We rented bikes in Karura forest after church Sunday, and had a ride through the forest.  Nice to be on bikes again!  Mine (Doug) broke at the farthest point out, so I had a nice walk with it back to the parking lot...

And Karura is always good for finding animals!

Raiding Minkeys (from Evan)

Vervet monkeys enjoyed our splendiferous monkey feeder and garden. Our dog chased the monkeys into the trees.

Working with MCC partners

Cristina works with Evans, the school director at Mukuru

SODIS bottles at Mukuru school.  SODIS is a disinfection technology ("SOlar DISinfection).  Water is placed in clear plastic bottles in the sun.  The combination of heat and UV radiation effectively kills bacteria, viruses, protozoa - all the bad bugs that cause so many problems for people's health.  Here the kids each have their own labeled bottles, and are responsible for setting them out in the morning.

The WASH program at Mukuru was started a number of years ago with the encouragement and support of an MCC constituent who had a vision for providing clean water in some schools that MCC works with.  MCC partnered (and partners) with The Water School to implement an integrated program to provide clean water, functional toilets, facilities, hygiene education, and sanitary pads for adolescent girls, and training in sanitation such as hand washing (kids here are lined up for washing).   

Each school (in Mukuru and Mathare North) has 3 WASH promoters/staff (one shown here directing students) who direct the projects, and who interact with the families of the students and the surrounding community.  The ultimate goal is to fully integrate activities into the life of the community, not just at the schools.

The kids all know that handwashing is an important activity, and help each other out with it.

Happy to see some gardening going on in very difficult conditions here!  Kale is grown here, a staple of Kenyan diets.  "Sukumu wiki" is the local variety, literally meaning "to push the week" because its cheap and can get families through the week.  Interesting that it was only introduced to Kenya in the 1980s, but has become such a fundamental part of Kenyan diet.

Lots of great kids at the school wanting to shake the hand of the mzungu (white person) that comes to visit

Water is received from city supply to a tank periodically, which is used to fill bottles and for washing.  City water is treated, but there is a good deal of pipe breakage, often near sewage lines, so by the time it arrives at its destination, it usually is not clean.

WASH is promoted on the walls of schools.

Kids receive a hearty Kenyan lunch - here Githeri, a traditional dish of beans and corn.

New restrooms were constructed at the back of the school.  The piles of dirt are to try and build up the land, which suffers from serious flooding during the rainy season.

River immediately behind the school, choked with trash.  This floods up into the school.  With warnings of El Nino this year, the school is nervous about flooding.

"Where's Waldo" - Cristina amidst the throng of kids at class break 

Back out in Kitui, the rural area 3 hours east of Nairobi, we visit some farmers.  SASOL director Mutinda (left), SASOL community organizer Elijah (with his back to camera) and Dan Wiens from MCC in Winnipeg talk with a farmer (woman to the left) about her conservation agriculture farming practices.  She has been trying new techniques such as crop rotations, manure applications, and coverage which have raised her production.

Here leftover stalks from a previous crop are left on the soil to provide nutrients, organic matter, and to prevent erosion.Typically such residues are fed to livestock, so it requires commitment by the farmer to leave it on the field (and to keep out livestock)

Members of the food security group all collaborate to implement conservation agriculture techniques.  MCC is partnering with World Renew and Canadian Food Grains Bank to implement a large conservation agriculture project over 5 years in Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania.  

Kitui countryside

And a few other pictures from life here in Nairobi.  While I was in Kitui, Cristina fended off a troop of monkeys that were about to enter our open porch door!  Here a mother and her baby scramble away.

Although we don't have autumn here, there are some seasonal changes.  Here the large tree is covered with yellow flowers as the dry season comes to a close.  Yellow flowers carpet our backyard beautifully from the tree!

Aberdares Nat Park

Posted by Evan [with added notes from Doug]

[On Mashujaa Day, a Kenyan holiday, we headed up into the high Aberdares with some friends to camp.  We enjoyed the wonderful company of the Carpenter and Hostetter/Siegrist families, friends of ours that live in Nairobi also, going up into the subalpine area of Kenya to camp for 2 nights was a great retreat from city life.  We camped at the Reedbuck campground, on the way up going through the beautiful Salient forest, and then on the way back coming the quicker way down the eastern edge of the range.  (googlemaps route)

The Aberdares are mountains north of Kenya that have excellent forest and subalpine areas, rising to around 13000 feet.  The area was known as a center of Mau Mau activity in the 1950's.  We didn't plan it specifically, but Mashujaa Day is "heroes" day in Swahili, the day for celebrating those that fought for Kenyan independence.  (see Radiolab's episode for a very interesting story about the Mau Mau period.]

Blue Minkey

[Blue Monkey is otherwise known here as the Sykes Monkey.  We've been enjoying the many primates that we see!]

Rogue Bushbuck

[Bushbuck were common in the area, one of the many beautiful ungulates we see in Kenya!  Every time we go out in Kenya we see new kinds of antelopes and such!  The bushbuck were fearless, roaming around our campsite]

Fisi (Hyena) Feces

[We don't see some of the species around, but see their evidence.  Here is evidence of the hyenas in the area, mostly fur left over from its prey]

Evil Safari Ants

[Safari ants are very painful to get into, so we keep a close lookout for them]

Reid, Alex, Sam, Evan, and Liesl

[The kids on the trip had a great time together.  Here at an overlook for waterfalls]

Karuru Falls

[The upper falls, about 300 meters.  There are middle and lower falls, also 300 to 400 meters each]

Falls with a cave below where the Mau Mau hid

Campsite

[Our campsite, during a rare sunny period.  The area is shrouded in mist and fog most of the time, but cleared at brief times. ]

Effulgent Ephalunt!!

[We looked all weekend for the elephants that inhabit the forests.  Finally on the drive out we spotted some - our first spotting of elephants here in Kenya!]

Misty Mountains

Male Waterbuck