Nimefika Maai Mahiu – I have arrived in Maai Mahiu!
It smells like Kenya here. I don’t know exactly what that smell is – a mixture of charcoal smoke, cooking fat, boiled tea, and roasted meat – but I catch a whiff of it from time to time, in the corner of a duka (store) or beside the street.
Last time I stayed in Maai Mahiu I was in a single room – a ‘concrete cube’, really – with a pit toilet shared by 15 rooms. Water came either from the rain-fed water tank in the courtyard, or from the friendly donkey-driven water carts which pass through town at odd hours.
I’m living in a new place, this time. I’ll send photos, once I get the cameras working. I’ve got a sitting room, bedroom, kitchen, even my own bathroom with slowly running cold water. This standard is available only to the middle-class of Kenya – higher-up government workers, managers, professionals – probably no more than 5% of the population of Maai Mahiu. The cost of my little place? $80 per month – a f
ortune here!
The highlight of returning is seeing old friends. Here’s a few of the people I’ve reconnected with so far:
- Mungai – CTC employee and new neighbour!
- Mwaniki – Rafiki Link coordinator, ‘the tallest man in Maai Mahiu’ (right hand person int he photo)
- Oh Yes Oh No – so named for his enthusiasm! (left hand person in the photo)
- Rocky Muuri – environmental clubs coordinator extraordinaire.
- Fred Muuri - farmer (second from the left)
- Shiko – environmental clubs volunteer & my new Kikuyu teacher J
- Mama Njgona – good friend & mother of two
- Wairimu – friend & recently graduated seamstress
It feels good to be back, to be part of this world!
The weather is better than I had anticipated. The equatorial sun threatens to burn my skin in the daytime, but by nightfall I pull out my Vancouver fleece and bundle up against the strong wind which blows up the Rift Valley.
Tomorrow is my first day of work – I’ll be visiting the first of our three school partners, Maai Mahiu Secondary. For now, I’m buying buckets, plates, eggs, sheets, and other essentials – setting up my life here. The photo shows me with my bucket of supplies & Mbugwa -the friendly shop owner.
It smells like Kenya here. I don’t know exactly what that smell is – a mixture of charcoal smoke, cooking fat, boiled tea, and roasted meat – but I catch a whiff of it from time to time, in the corner of a duka (store) or beside the street.
Last time I stayed in Maai Mahiu I was in a single room – a ‘concrete cube’, really – with a pit toilet shared by 15 rooms. Water came either from the rain-fed water tank in the courtyard, or from the friendly donkey-driven water carts which pass through town at odd hours.
I’m living in a new place, this time. I’ll send photos, once I get the cameras working. I’ve got a sitting room, bedroom, kitchen, even my own bathroom with slowly running cold water. This standard is available only to the middle-class of Kenya – higher-up government workers, managers, professionals – probably no more than 5% of the population of Maai Mahiu. The cost of my little place? $80 per month – a f
ortune here!The highlight of returning is seeing old friends. Here’s a few of the people I’ve reconnected with so far:
- Mungai – CTC employee and new neighbour!
- Mwaniki – Rafiki Link coordinator, ‘the tallest man in Maai Mahiu’ (right hand person int he photo)
- Oh Yes Oh No – so named for his enthusiasm! (left hand person in the photo)
- Rocky Muuri – environmental clubs coordinator extraordinaire.
- Fred Muuri - farmer (second from the left)
- Shiko – environmental clubs volunteer & my new Kikuyu teacher J
- Mama Njgona – good friend & mother of two
- Wairimu – friend & recently graduated seamstress
It feels good to be back, to be part of this world!
The weather is better than I had anticipated. The equatorial sun threatens to burn my skin in the daytime, but by nightfall I pull out my Vancouver fleece and bundle up against the strong wind which blows up the Rift Valley.
Tomorrow is my first day of work – I’ll be visiting the first of our three school partners, Maai Mahiu Secondary. For now, I’m buying buckets, plates, eggs, sheets, and other essentials – setting up my life here. The photo shows me with my bucket of supplies & Mbugwa -the friendly shop owner.
I am so thankful for Mwaniki, who has set up this internet connection on one of the donated Bodwell computers. Internet is the key to happiness, for this mzungu…
Tutaonana!
Mzungu Mali
Tutaonana!
Mzungu Mali
0 comments:
Post a Comment