Hakuna Matata

Ohh... I'm good, Ive only skipped one day. :) I'm trying really hard to keep up with this. So what has happened you would like to know? Friday, June 8 Alright, well yesterday Sandra and I got up and talked all morning long (we like to do that you see) and then we took a trip into town. It was my first time on a Mat (short for Mutatu), which is the public transportation. Its wonderful, because to get into Nairobi, it cost about 30 cents... what a deal. However, I was a bit scared as a Mat is much different that US public transportation. Imagine a hippie van with max capacity seating and the door constantly opening and the driving out of control on the streets on Chicago and people getting in and out whenever they like... that will give you an image of why I was a bit scared. However, like confronting all fears I found that it was nothing... in fact, I felt very safe and was in fact delighted when I converted the price to find that it cost me only 30 cents. Anyway, we took the Mat into Nairobi where we visited Internews, where Sandra works. Internews is an NGO (worldwide) that works with local media to help them develop accurate stories and reach the public. Her division focuses on healthcare, so their main issues are HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria, and other STIs (our STDs). It was interesting to see what they do, as I actually got to see a few stories that were going to cast on the local and national news that were edited, produced and or worked on by Sandra and her colleagues. However, they don't take any credit for these stories, they give the ownership to the local media and train them how to develop a story line, take good shots, etc. This brought in a great deal of appreciation for the media, as I didn't realize that organizations like hers existed. After Internews we walked around she gave me a brief history of the city and we went to eat some traditional Kenya food. Ohhhhh.... as my father would say... straight from the lawnmower and onto my plate, just the way I like it. ha ha. It was wonderful. The fresh food here is just amazing and they find a way to cook it would out all of the fats and spices so that the natural tastes salivate your taste buds. We walked around a bit more, came back home and relaxed. I had some time to read (as Peter has given me another assignment - beyond pushing his car). Later on that evening Tony, Sandra's friend came over and we had a good laugh while enjoying Borat... a classic! :) Today - Saturday, June 9 Up early... again. Peter was here to greet me at 8:20am. Ok, I don't recall how much of a background I gave you on Peter, so I'm ganna do it again incase I didn't. In fact, once his website is up and running I will direct you to that. Peter is a "consultant" as he does anything and everything. I met him last time I was in Kenya as he was in charge of all of our travel arrangements. Not like plane tickets, more like going to the UN and and Safari and such. Peter knows everyone who is anyone, but he will be the last to tell you that. He runs a African Homestay business where he connects people to live, work and study in Kenya. He deals with all of Marquette, a lot of Chinese business men and many people from around the world. He speaks Swahili, English, his tribal tongue, Chinese and a few other tribes. He is thirty-something but has the spirit of a ten year old (in a positive manner) and can make conversation with anyone he meets. Ok, now that you have the history, once we left at 8:20 we took a mat and a bus to what is called "Capitol Hill" which looks pretty much like a fancy business park. It is where all of the Ministry (healthy, security, education, etc) buildings, main banks and insurance companies have these ridiculously nice buildings that look like anything you would see in a normal US city. We found our way (after getting lost) to the Africa Re building where the IFC, a division of the World Bank is located. Peter is on a team to screen business proposals to reduce poverty in developing countries, which was our mission today. There are millions of dollars invested and it has grown and helped people all over the world, check it our if you are interested at http://www.bidnetwork.org . Since Kenyans have a way of welcoming everyone I was soon invited to become part of the prestigious screening team, even though these people when through a tremendous screening process themselves. :) This may be long and boring for most of you, so feel free to skip over, but it was very interesting. The criteria were to reduce poverty, meet the Millennium Development Goals (set by the UN), and encourage entrepreneurship. It gave me a new perspective on business. More often than not I find myself wanting to challenge business to do better for the community, and here it is doing just that. Oddly enough, Peter in the same day, introduced me to a woman who was also using business to work in her favor, or rather the favor of others. Jane started a nonprofit organization that is an outreach organization for waitresses. Why waitresses you ask? Well, because often they don't make enough money so they double as prostitutes. Her group has reached the stages where the women form investment groups and create business ventures on their own. The start-up capital is allotted by grants and funds provided. There is a lot of counseling, meetings, etc. along the way, but that is the general idea. Jane is also starting an outreach group on sex education for teens who have dropped out of school. Next week I will be joining her in some meetings with these women to hear about their business proposals in their groups and hopefully I will be able to spare some of my free days to help her write grants as well as reach out to the people in the slums, where they have trouble getting to. Peter and I met with some people he with and then came back to Sandras. After visiting for a while Sandra, Jeff, Tony, Nancy and I went to see Mr. Bean Holiday, which was quiet funny. We visited and told funny college stories and compared youth times. It was interesting to see what differences there are in culture, but mainly, how much is actually similar. Anna's Lesson that has been learned: Well, a million, but one that can always be reiterated and is never really appreciated enough, is to listen. Ive listened a lot. Well, maybe its because I ask so many questions. ha ha. No, but all to often in life we don't listen to each other. I really appreciate what these people have to say and what they are doing and they are so interested and willing to share and it just makes me so happy. Today Jane traveled across town, just to speak with me. Peter got up at 6 am to pick me up at the airport. Sandra took off time from work. People shouldn't be going out of their way like this, I just feel horrible. They do, and they do because its their culture. Every time I meet someone they say Karibu (welcome) at least 3 times and they offer me anything and everything. Are you hungry, thirty, do you have somewhere to stay, are you enjoying yourself. --Wait, I don't know how I got on this tangent.-- Anyway, the point is, if you take the time to listen you will hear that people actually care and they care a whole lot. :) If you want to stay updated on local news check out http://www.nationmedia.com, they are great source of Kenyan news. AND they had something good to say about Georgie today as he raised the Pepfar (Presidents Emergency Program For Assistance Relief - I think) has almost doubled the funding to Kenya in this area of relief for HIV/AIDS help, which is much needed. So, when you all say that I have nothing nice to say about GW... I think that was WONDERFUL of him to make such an effort and if I read my CNN email reports correctly today he is still focusing on AIDS relief even after the G8 summit, thats wonderful. Ok, I will stop before I run out of nice things to say. So, I have only been here a few days, but I have learned so much in these few days. And though we have spent maybe 4 hours of conversation on violence and danger I still feel very safe and welcomed, so I will end in a Swahili phrase you should all know, Hakuna Matata. :)