July 4 – Hosting a Nike Foundation representative in Mukuru
Yesterday I found out that I was going to be “team lead” to host a representative from Nike Foundation which sponsored the Young Women in Enterprise (YWE) program for the last year. Esta and Joan had coordinated with a program alumna to arrange a tour of a few businesses emerging from the Enterprise Clubs’ business plan competitions.
On July 4th (not a holiday in Kenya) we picked up our American guest a bit late (T.i.A.) who had already called the office worried. New to Nike, he was very enthusiastic about his first trip to Africa. We drove 30 minutes out of downtown Nairobi into the large Mukuru slum. All Nairobi slums actually consist of multiple villages though as an outsider, I couldn’t tell where one ended and another began.
Led by TechnoServe's Young Women in Enterprise team and alumna Cecilia*, we entered one slum village. There were hundreds of rows of hundreds of one-room, tin-roofed-and-walled huts, most windowless, dirt floors, and cloth as doors when the solid doors were open to the streets. The streets consisted of mud with a liberal coating of trash and garbage, often split by running water, the source of which I didn’t want to consider. Due to these conditions, the main 3 modes of transportation are walking, pull-carts, and bicycles (all Dutch according to our Nike guest who lived 5 yrs. in Amsterdam). We did have to move out of the way once for a small pickup and once for an older Mercedes sedan, probably a landlord. All the slum lands are owned privately and tenants pay rent to the landlords. Water is shared from a single faucet on most streets. Electricity is usually pirated from the few paying customers. Most often, shops are the “store-fronts” of people’s living quarters that line the main streets where people walk, children play, and the sewage system runs. After a few minutes of getting our balance on the slippery road surface, we crossed a bridge over a river which just seemed like another branch of the sewage system. As we entered the “main” area of the slum village, I made several observations: how cleanly dressed most people are, despite their homes and streets; most children and adults wear flip-flops everywhere, even when warmly dressed in hoods and sweaters; and like kids anywhere, large groups play together then run up to anyone with a camera so they can be immortalized while being silly.
Inspiring Visit
Despite the environment, the Mukuru visit was very uplifting because the tour was coordinated by Cecilia (see separate blog below on her) with a few of her friends from the Young Women in Enterprise program. We were invited into the home of one of the Enterprise Club young women, where on the tarp-covered wall above the mother's head was the plaque her daughter won at the Young Women in Enterprise business plan competitions. This older mother had 7 daughters and 1 son. The parents (read, father) decided to educate the son and not the daughters. Unfortunately, the young man was electrocuted and the father disappeared, leaving the minimally-schooled mother and daughters to fend for themselves. 5 sisters still live with their mom in the one-room homestead. Nearby one daughter, the YWE alumna, runs a small kiosk where passers-by can purchase hot or cold milk in mugs (which she washes, re-uses). We visited another YWE alumna’s shop selling sweets. This single young mother of 2 had been divorced, though ex-husband was in the shop when we arrived, now attracted by her earning a living…
* Cecilia – future woman entrepreneur of the year and/or member of parliament
Our final Mukuru stop was at the home of our tour guide, Cecilia, who won first prize for her knitted clothes’ business and was a speaker at the YWE final competition. A good entrepreneur, she brought product samples and sold a bunch at the competition. At the event, I ordered 5 scarves in Kenyan colors, gave her my business card and asked her to call me when they were ready. A week later she called to ask when she could deliver them. Since I was in Uganda, I requested she come to the office on Wednesday the following week. When I asked how much the scarves were she said Ksh. 500 (~ US$7)—I assumed per scarf. The next Tuesday night she text messaged me (SMS is the local term) to confirm I would be in the office Wednesday afternoon. She arrived on time, wearing one of her colorful scarves on her head. I paid Ksh. 500 for all 5 scarves—her pricing. I then told her that she could get much higher price in Nairobi proper and if she would come back to me with her competitive research, I would buy many more scarves at the higher price. 2 weeks later, she called to say that she hadn’t had the time to do the research, so we discussed meeting in July after I returned from the U.S. to research together.
In her Mukuru home on July 4th, she showed the Nike guest her products and knitting machine. He bought a baby outfit and scarf, Esta and Joan each bought a scarf for Ksh. 200 apiece, and I took 2 samples to sell at our TechnoServe offsite the next day (which were auctioned off at Ksh. 500 apiece plus she got a few orders). Cecilia explained how she almost had enough money to buy a more compact knitting machine for herself. Then she would hire and train another girl to use the current device, thus expanding her business capacity 100%.
It is people like Cecilia who are the hope for Africa, especially African women. Her smile and enthusiasm are contagious. She is a natural leader, organizing her Mukuru YWE alumnae and friends to build better businesses through improved record-keeping, stock purchasing, etc. I fully expect that in 10 years or less, with her entrepreneurial savvy, she will run a very successful business with multiple employees and locations. With her leadership skills, I predict she will be a Kenya Member of Parliament. Short-term, I will mentor her to make more money for product and sales expansion. Everyone should expect a Cecilia-made scarf as a gift from us!
July 3 – Nairobi
The good news was that my flights were uneventful and luggage arrived together. It’s strange to be back in the office, even on my 2nd day. We were preparing for a 2-day Strategic Planning offsite at the Outspan Hotel in Nyeri so I did not really have time to start new projects—only catch up on what I missed in the last month. There are new volunteers (aka VolCons), a few have left, and more are coming that I “hired” (VolCons are technically not supposed to hire anyone!). Somehow it is free-ing to know that while I’ve been missed, I’m not critical to the operations as I supposedly was in my high tech career when just widgets and software were “on the line”. Ironically, we now technically have more impact on individuals, families, and communities’ livelihoods with our many projects. Though their survival is not at stake daily, what TechnoServe is doing will—hopefully—profoundly affect these people’s future. The old tech buzz word “mission critical” has a new meaning now. And if we don’t “have the bandwidth” to make a difference, who will?
June 30 – Back to Nairobi
For the week before I flew back to Nairobi, all I could think of was how Diana felt before she flew back to Dominica. It is VERY hard to leave behind family and friends of many years. I know it’s silly but I also miss creature comforts such as drinking water from the tap, walking safely around our area, calling long distance anywhere with no delay. I did know that once I was back into my routine, it would be fine. But if I hadn’t been heading to Rick, our new apartment and re-connecting with Nairobi friends, I may not have gotten onto the plane…
June 15 - 16 – Diana’s Graduation at Lincoln Center & Celebrations Later & including the Famous Giraffe Story
Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall
If anyone is going to graduate from university in NYC, it should be at Lincoln Center for its elegance, massive size, and central location. Ross University Medical School may not have done too many things right administratively, but they were able to pull off a meaningful, coordinated ceremony for over 600 graduates with just enough pomp and circumstance to make anyone happy. In less than 2 hours of total audience sitting time! Because Ross has 3 starting classes of about 250 students annually, at the end of 4 years about 200 per class make it to graduation. Just marching that many people in and out with 4 or 5 family members each was handled with aplomb. The speakers were the President, 2 deans, and 1 doctor semi-famous in his specialty. The point that we remembered best was what the President noted, that the families should be applauded because they were as responsible for the graduates’ success as the grads themselves were.
Doctoral Diploma Ceremony
The actual diploma ceremony was a thing of beauty: one row of graduating students lined up at one side of the stage. Groups of 3 walked onto the stage in front of 3 deans, faced the audience, then were conferred their actual doctoral hoods by the deans. Each student handed their name card to the next dean, with pronunciation spoken by the student. The names reflected a gathering of United Nations, with 1st generation young people from almost every country. The dean coached the President to say the name correctly as the student walked to him and shook hands. The student then walked to the final dean who gave a leather diploma case to the student to hold as the two posed for a picture, and then the student walked off the stage and back to their row. The Avery Fisher Hall was emptying at 11:45 a.m.! The only glitch for Diana was that in typical Ross fashion, her student coordinator did not submit the grades for her last 2 rotations which would have increased her grade-point average to qualify for high honors. So she got a green instead of gold tassel for her “muffin-shaped” cap. At least her transcript is now correct and she’s outta there!!!
3 Dr. Diana Celebrations
There were 3 celebrations for Diana’s graduation. The night before, about 14 friends and family gathered at our apartment for a casual late dinner of pizza and beer. On the Friday of graduation, most of Diana’s friends were unable to get the day off so about 10 of us walked to the Café Luxembourg near Lincoln Center for a 3-hour luncheon. Present there were Diana, Adrian, Rick, Wendy, Grandmommy, Jason (Diana’s boyfriend), Rick’s sister Wendy, husband Keith, daughter Tori, and Diana’s friend since freshman dorm days, Jessica. We had champagne, good food, great conversations, and a finally relaxed graduate!
The final, official Dr. Diana Graduation Party was for Saturday starting about 4:00 p.m. at the Uptown Lounge on 3rd Ave. in the East 80s. We had an area up a few steps and a bartender to ourselves. Several couples from Wendy’s college days came from Philadelphia and Long Island. All of Rick’s sisters and/or their children were there. Diana’s friends came in from states all over the northeast, some of whom she’d known since 2 years old in California, who had migrated east as she had. We took lots of group pictures: Calif., Bucknell, Tufts, family, cousins, etc. Uptown did a phenomenal job of keep the food and alcohol flowing at a very reasonable price for 40+ people considering the party ended closer to 8:00 p.m. rather than 6:00 p.m. as planned. Diana looked terrific in her new red dress, purchased the day before with Mom, and really, really enjoyed being surrounded by her friends and family.
The Giraffe for Med School Graduation
Everyone was greeted by Sallie Mae, Diana’s just-named stuffed giraffe, as they walked up the stair. Many people, sober and not, posed with Sallie Mae whether they knew the story or not. When Diana was about 8, the whole family went to New York right before Thanksgiving. Of course we visited the famous F.A.O. Schwartz toy store with its doormen dressed as bear soldiers, toys as far as the eye could see on several floors, and many (whining) children clutching expensive items. Diana fell in love with a life-size (OK, its 6 to 8 feet tall, also seen in an old Visa TV ad where its head is sticking out of the sun-roof and gets chopped off as the car drives into an underpass. I diverge.) She begged her Daddy to buy it. He told her that she’d have to earn it by graduating from medical school. Thus Diana has always had a dual reason to become a doctor! The week before graduation, Diana received a huge package from UPS. She was totally surprised and delighted with the long-sought-after giraffe, which remained nameless until the graduation party. There, Diana’s NYC room-mate Elizabeth bestowed the giraffe’s name appropriately as Sallie Mae, representing all the government debt Diana owes for med school. And Diana and Sallie Mae are featured on the med school announcements and thank you notes with the story explained. Finally, a dream realized!
Up on the Rooftop
Before he had to head back to Boston, Jason, Diana, Aunt Leslie, Grandmommy, Rick, and I went for drinks to where Diana originally had wanted to hold her party but for the high cost. Hidden at the top of a mid-town high rise at 230 5th Avenue is an open rooftop bar by the same name. It was mobbed even on a random Sunday afternoon. It’s open all year round but as needed the guests are treated to heat lamps everywhere and robes and blankets to stay warm. Why so popular? The view of the Empire State Building (about half of the building is visible), especially at sunset, is absolutely stunning. This quiet, small celebration was a wonderful close to Dr. Diana’s celebration weekend.
June 5 to 30 – Too many wonderful U.S. events to detail
It was totally delightful to celebrate Diana’s graduation with all of our families and friends in the Bay Area, Bethesda, Boston and NYC! Flying and taking the train for thousands of miles, criss-crossing the Atlantic Ocean and the American continent, watching lots of movies on a 5” x 7” screen, and visiting different people most days may not sound relaxing to many people, but it was a great month for me and 2 weeks for Rick. Pictures do say it best though even they don’t convey all of our great times. Go to our Walleigh.com website where we’ve updated several pages: Diana’s Graduation, Friends and More Family.
We loved the Manhattan apartment where 4 to 7 of us could sleep and at one point 14 people came over for pizza and beer. The North End apartment was even more spacious and new. I definitely recommend Craig’s list, where you search by city then Vacation Rentals. If you want to go specifically to the sites from which we rented, go to urbanlegendNY.com for NYC and zoerentals.com for Boston. You’re welcome to use my name. We’ve had much cheaper and more comfy accommodation for the last 2 years in both cities than any hotel rooms. Though I have to admit that I got a last minute bargain through Priceline.com for my room at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston…
Several Taxi Drivers from Africa
Probably because we are now tuned into Africa and their rhythm of speaking English, we noticed several different taxi drivers in Boston, NYC and D.C. were African. In conversation with them, at least 2 were Nigerian, 1 from another small West African country, and 1 from Ethiopia. Surprisingly, the Ethiopian and I discussed colonialism (he was slowly earning a U.S. masters degree) and even more surprisingly he defended the Italians as the best colonialists, treating the natives with respect and trying to integrate them into the modern world. It seems there is no escaping a discussion about Africa including in the U.S.!
June 13 – Never fly Northwest / KLM!
When Northwest emerged from bankruptcy, the remaining staff must have been those who HR found too hard to dismiss due to seniority. With few exceptions, only rude people with no interest in their customers are stilling working for both airlines—from attendants to airport, reservation, and baggage agents.
On my return flight from San Jose, CA to D.C., I had to change planes in Minneapolis. I was scheduled to arrive near D.C. about 10:15 p.m., go to Bethesda, re-pack, and take Grandmommy with me the next morning, Wednesday, June 13th, for a 10:00 a.m. train to NYC. Diana’s medical school graduation was early morning June 15th. After we boarded the flight on time, the plane sat at the gate for about 1.5 hours until the captain announced that the U.S. northeastern airports were shut due to weather. As we disembarked, the flight bursar gave us an 800 number to call for re-booking. With all the cancellations, the only flights I could reserve into any D.C. airport would arrive 24 hours later. But I could arrive at Newark the next morning, so I booked that flight. There were no nearby hotel rooms available at 10:00 p.m. by the time I had arranged for Grandmommy to get safely dropped off in Union Station and picked up by Diana in Penn Station. So in an upstairs lounge, I slept on 2 chairs until my Newark flight. After several times checking with Northwest before and after I arrived in Newark I was assured that my luggage would be delivered into Manhattan but it might take 24 hours due to all the cancelled flights. By an amazing coincidence, I arrived into Penn Station shortly after Diana and Rick met Grandmommy. Mid-afternoon, we went to the delightful and roomy Upper East Side apartment we had rented near Diana. By late evening, Adrian had arrived from Boston, so we were all happily together.
Since my graduation clothes and shoes were still in my luggage yet-to-arrive, I began to call Northwest on Thursday morning, 24 hours after I arrived in Newark. For the next 10 hours, I was told that my suitcases were still not in New York area, but the term “voluntary separation from my luggage” started popping into conversations. However, until early evening, I was reassured that the suitcases would be delivered to Manhattan. Then the phone-based Baggage Agent and his female Supervisor from Hell told me that due to my “voluntary separation” I would have to pick up the bags at Newark myself. Despite over an hour of arguing, it was clear that in order to be appropriately dressed 12 hours later, I would need to be in Newark before Northwest’s Lost & Found closed at 11:00 p.m. $130 and 1.5 hours later, I had my suitcase. It would be almost impossible for an airline to be more un-helpful…And by the way, I haven’t heard yet from the CEO, VP of HR or VP of Customer Service yet…
June 3 – No electricity for 12 hours, train breaks down, torrential rain but it’s Bethesda, MD not Africa!
Ironically, on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at my mother-in-law’s house, we heard a small explosion then the power went out around her Bethesda neighborhood. Meanwhile, totally unconnected to the explosion, torrential rain began for the first time in a few weeks in the area.
Diana surprised me a couple of hours earlier by calling to say that she was taking the train from Delaware (where she had attended a Bachelorette Party for her college room-mate) down to DC. And totally unrelated to either the rain or electricity outage, Diana called from her train to say that an hour into the trip, it broke down and they must wait to be fixed or rescued by another train. The transportation gods definitely continued to give Diana a hard time.
The final blow was that KLM / Northwest refused to deliver my suitcase because they claimed that it had been at Dulles when I arrived, despite my searching diligently for it. So my brother-in-law Keith, who is a total angel, drove me back and forth to Dulles early Monday morning.
But the 3 generations of Walleigh women—Diana, Grandmommy and I—had a terrific time together!
June 2 – I and half my luggage arrive in a totally disorganized airport but it’s D.C. not Africa!
The 8-hour flight from Nairobi to Amsterdam was uneventful. During my 6-hour layover in Amsterdam’s lovely Schipol airport, I visited a mini-version of the famous Rijksmuseum right in the terminal! I also had to listen to threatening gate announcements every few minutes, where a woman announced in both Dutch and English that Mr. X and Mr. Y were delaying the flight to Z and if they did not immediately arrive at the gate, their luggage would be tossed off the plane. Despite remaining in the transit area, all international passengers and our carry- ons now must queue up for X-ray again then queue up a 2nd time to board. The flight into D.C. was also uneventful. But despite the hour-long process to connect between Dulles airport terminals AND the 6-hour Amsterdam layover, only 1 of my 2 suitcases arrived. Then I queued up to claim lost baggage and again for the taxis. I finally safely reached Rick’s mother’s house in Bethesda 3 hours after touching down in D.C.
June 1 – One last reminder of the highs and lows in Africa
On the day of my flight to the U.S., I relaxed to watch the Kenyan TV version of Animal Planet--from 50 years ago. I never tire of watching animals cavort in their homes. This is the last time I’ll see animals in Africa for a month, so I especially enjoyed the sequence of ten or more animal species who love to eat marula nuts when they fall off the trees during the short harvest season, then all get stumbling drunk.
However, delight was dowsed by reality as I later watched Aljazeera broadcast news about the misery in Sudan, rebels in Somalia, and drought in Ethiopia. The vast differences between where I was and where I’m going this evening was punctuated by a clip on water consumed per capita, reflecting access to clean water. On average each American consumes 103 Liters/day, Chinese 30, and Ethiopians 2.5 Liters. Still so far to go…
June 1 – Last day in Africa for a month
I spent the morning re-arranging the boxes and suitcases that we’d hastily moved hours before. Then Anna and Greg picked me up for lunch at La Rustique. The owners create Fusion menus that continuously innovate, resembling California more than Kenya. After lunch, they went back to pack their house for their own move in 1 week.
I was picked up for the airport about 7:15pm and arrived slightly after Rick flew in from Kisumu. Fortunately he kissed me hello and told me where to meet to have a drink and bite to eat with him once I checked in. Unfortunately, the Byzantine check in procedures at Jomo Kenyatta airport prevented me from doing more than handing Rick the apartment key almost 2 hours later. Bags were screened and weighed separately; there were long queues to check in/weigh bags/check passports/get boarding pass. Even after going through official passport control, there was one more screening of carry-ons. After awhile at the gate, we began to board. Typical of Africa, people aggressively elbow each other out of the way to get an already-assigned seat.
May 31st – Not quite the end of the “long rains”
The “long rainy season” was supposed to have ended. Or if the rains are heavy, they stop within minutes. Shortly after 7pm Rick and I left the office to go back to finish packing our 3-bedroom apartment, but the sky opened up with torrential rains so were we unable to move our boxes, suitcases, and food.
It was still storming when Fred, the TechnoServe Kenya Country Director, picked us about 9pm to have dinner with Bruce, the TechnoServe CEO who was flying into Nairobi. We realized that our umbrellas were in our computer bags at the temporary apartment. So we dashed out into the rain that was causing flooding already after an hour, grabbed our umbrellas, and drove less than 2 miles to the Holiday Inn across from our offices. Sitting on the hotel restaurant’s veranda, we watched the water pouring down all the spouts to flood the garden. After Bruce arrived within minutes, we moved to a table for dinner and had a delightful, wide-ranging conversation (this was my first time meeting him).
Fred dropped Rick and me back at our complex at 11:15. Since the rain had stopped, Rick and I moved the remainder of our stuff. After midnight, we tumbled into a bed at a colleague’s apartment in the same complex (he’s in Tanzania). Poor Rick was picked up 5+ hours later for the 7:45 am flight to Kisumu in Western Kenya with Fred and Bruce.
