Kim’s hope now lies in an alternative revenue source for the school. The disadvantage of his slum-setting also provides the potential for his success. There are no water sources in the immediate vicinity of his school or the families that share his tin walls. He is completing a business plan/proposal that would have the school purchase a large water tank that could be filled daily by the Nairobi Water Company. The school could then sell the water (for about 1 shilling a gallon). Considering other sources, community size, and operating expenses, the water sales would be able to generate 30% of the needed revenue annually.

Selling water would be a service to this community, an empowering business for the school, and a gift to the disenfranchised children in the area.

I walked home in the dark, energized by the buzz of this community. The muddy path out was lined with families selling fresh fruit, fried tilapia, brass padlocks, pencils… …life was happening all around me. Yet despite the worst of conditions everyone’s smiles seemed to glow as brightly as the kerosene lanterns that marked the way.

I’m back in Nairobi and trying hard to stay focused and disciplined in my work for The 1010 Project.  My immediate goals are to complete the NGO registration process with the government here, write the constitution & standard operating procedures for in-country operations, & to do a written evaluation of all of our current partners.  In the meantime I am also being intentional about getting out, exploring, & having fun. I really want to climb Mt. Kenya (& maybe Kilimanjaro) before I leave Nairobi. Yes, I will be leaving Nairobi. I have been accepted to work with Doctors Without Borders/Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) as a logistician. This is a “Roster” type position where give them my availability, & they try to find a “mission” to match my skill-set. I don’t know where I will be; that’s half of the excitement. The missions are typically 6 months at a time. I have posted myself as available starting in August. That should give me enough time to finish up what I am working on with 1010. I cannot tell you how excited I am to move back towards the relief side of the house. I have been craving something a bit more physically challenging, faster pace, & with more immediate results. I suddenly realized that I like to sweat, have my adrenalin pumped, and see the results of my work quickly… …ok maybe I’m a bit impatient.   Anyways, that’s the update. I am taking french lessons at the local Alliance Francaise. Brushing up on it will help me pick up missions with MSF faster. Check them out. They are a impressive org doing very intense work… 

I also have uploaded a number of pictures from my explorations around Kenya. Check them out here: http://picasaweb.google.com/KeithBIves

I need some food to wash the disappointment out of my mouth. I leave and continue walking down the road. I know a good place to grab Mbuzi Choma (grilled goat) about a kilometer down the road. Arriving I find more disappointment. They are closed. I walk a bit further dodging the puddles left from tonight’s rain. Mud gets stuck between the bed of my Chaco sandal & my foot, as I notice that the air smells like a port-a-john in need of servicing. This has to be the only country that smells worse after it rains.

I spot a kiosk down the road with lights on. I head that way and begin to smell burning charcoal & see smoke. I walk into the brightly lit shack & find a 20-something man alone manning a fire with a large metal pot on it. I ask if he has anything left. He assures me that his beans and chapattis are always ready – 24 hours a day. I order a bowl, sit down, & pull out another cigarette.  It is just as disappointing as the last. The man brings me a very hot and very overcooked bowl of beans, a perfect chapatti, and a cup of chai. My first sip of the tea awarded me with a mouthful of slimy skin. I finished it all and silently hope that my stomach would not punish me for taking a gamble on food from a kiosk at 3:00am.

The late night chef takes a seat next to me & asks how I find my meal, Kenya & Eastlands (the area I am in). I lie a bit and tell him that I love all three. I offer him a smoke and we light up together. I notice two women walking down the street & suggest that it is a bit dangerous for “mamas” to be walking around this time of night. He retorts that business is good for them around this hour. “Oh… …They are prostitutes?” I half ask half state. He confirms my conclusion and then explains that they use the small hotel just down the alley from where we are. “The rates are good.” He explains that you can just go into the bar area and ask to see the magazine. “From there you just point to the picture of the girl you want.”  He goes on to explain that he used to find a prostitute to pay for sex every Friday night. It was his routine of sorts. He explains to me in a matter-of-fact tone that sometimes he wouldn’t even use protection. Laughingly, I tell him that he is being stupid. “You are a good looking guy, why would you pay for sex. Dangerous sex at that!” He quickly jumps in and reassures me that he doesn’t do it anymore.  A few months ago he went to a VCT (Free HIV testing/counseling center). He found out that he was “negative.” He went on to explain that now that he knows he is clean he doesn’t take those sort of chances anymore. I offer a few words and acknowledge his wise decision.

I ask him if he has any eggs I can buy, and he confirms that he has fresh ones. I buy three to boil for breakfast the next day. He puts them in a baggie and takes 100 KSH for the meal & eggs. I leave him the rest of the pack of cigarettes and nervously begin to walk back home. I really don’t want to deal with any punks on the way home. I’ve been called brave; I’ve been called stupid. Either way I don’t like to run into guys with big knives.

Its starts to rain again…

After a few hours on a paved road our driver left the “hardball” and started down a dirt path. Passing pastoralists, small villages, & vast panoramic views we drove towards the National Park & our camp. We arrived in the early afternoon at a surprisingly comfortable lodge or “Safari Camp.”  We cleaned up and rested while we waited for the afternoon rain to clear up. Refreshed from the trip & anxious to see lions, we took off on our first game drive. 3 kilometers into our “hunt” we came to an impromptu river that the rain had formed. It was too wide to through a rock across (yes I tried, its what Marines do when they’re bored), and waist deep (no I didn’t try, I let someone else be the measuring stick.) We returned to camp a bit defeated. Mara = 1 Keith = 0

The next two days brought us great weather, unbelievable scenery, and a lot of lions! It was unbelievable. We drove around the savannah hunting for one animal or another: Lions, Malibu, hyenas, hippos, elephants, zebras, buffalo, monkeys, dik dik, birds, birds, and more birds…

The trip, the exploration, the bit of adventure… …it was just what I needed.

More Pictures Here