Halfway

Posted by: Helen

Happy New Year to you all, we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break.  We had a fantastic time with our friend Matt, travelling and celebrating Christmas and New Year along the way (pictures to follow soon).  Hoping the very best of things for everyone in this brand new year of 2012.

As January dawns it comes to pass that we’ve been in Kenya for 6 months.  Our year is whooshing by, and I’m sure time will only gather pace now we’ve turned the corner into 2012. But I want to stop for a minute and look back from this halfway point.  Reflecting on the last 6 months, it’s a whole jumble of Joys and Challenges.  What follows is a way of bringing order to some of these thoughts to mark this milestone of being halfway through.

On Nairobi

The joy of seeing and feeling the hustle and bustle of an African city on a daily basis (and surviving).

The challenge of getting anywhere when too many cars and people jam the city to a standstill.

The joy of a weekend in Nairobi, as the traffic thins dramatically and we can potter about with ease.
The pain of a suspected stress fracture in my foot from months of walking over a construction site on my way to work (x-ray showed nothing in the end, and I'm very happy in new, better trainers)

On South B
The joy of our neighbourhood, with its friendly people and community feel.

The challenge of a good night’s sleep on Saturday nights between the bar that blasts music until 4am, and the church that starts very loud worship at 6am on Sunday morning.

Street food
The joy of buying fruit, veg, samosas, chicken, chips and roasted maise from right outside our flat.
The challenge of saying no to the scruffy young boys that ask us to buy dinner for them every night.

Our building
The joy of the view from our flat over the city.

The challenge of climbing 5 flights of stairs to reach the flat in the first place.


Laundry
The joy of having our clothes washed for us by a local lady, Marietta.
The challenge of communication with our poor Swahili and her poor English.
The challenge of our clothes drying outside where the women make stew; our clothes always smell like meat.

The challenge of washing all our underwear by hand, every week (because it’s not done to outsource that, apparently).
The unexpected joy of washing all our underwear by hand, every week, because it’s satisfying and takes the length of a BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs podcast :-)

Being a VSO
The privilege of working within a Kenyan organisation, and being given the chance to share our skills to improve people’s lives.
The challenge of trying hard not to just ‘do’ things, but to hold on fiercely to VSO principles of training, sharing and leaving things behind.  It’s not about me, it’s about them.
The challenge of working in partnership when colleagues are busy, uninterested, absent or have many home-based pressures; when it feels like the chance you've been given to affect change is just slipping away...
The challenge of being employed to ‘strengthen’ and ‘build capacity’ for the longer term, when often giving food or money would give us a more immediate sense of achievement, and serve our conscience.
The sometimes longing for a ‘normal job’ with objectives, tasks and a clear sense of focus.
The challenge of working alongside Kenyan colleagues who behave in unexpected ways, and challenge my definitions of ‘work,’ ‘good practice.’ and ‘best use of time’on a daily basis.
The joy of working alongside Kenyan colleagues who teach me unexpected things, and remind me that family and friends are more important than work. 

Lunchtimes
The joy of my hearty working lunch that costs 30p.
The challenge of a complete lack of variety for lunch (a choice of chapati, ndengu (lentils), or chapati AND ndengu has almost killed this foodie)

Work-life balance
The joy of leaving work at 4.30pm, and 2pm on a Friday
The strangeness of there being less distinction in Kenya between ‘work’ and ‘life’; they overlap so much.  (At first I thought my colleagues were office-idle; now I know they will work weekends on a moments notice and give up their Christmas break if the boss asks them to, and without complaint.  I'm given time off whenever I want it, but I'm also always expected to be working...so how does THAT work?)

Exercise
The challenge of keeping fit in a hot, dusty, pavement-less city, especially when you feel like a target after dark.
The joy of our now-weekly circuit training on the roof of our building, led by Dan; four muzungus running up and down the stairs and lunging with bean-cans to the strains of Bruce Springsteen (much to our neighbours’ amusement).  We give thanks to a January in which it’s warm and light enough to exercise outside!

Friends
The joy of making new friends very quickly when you’re all away from home.

The challenge of only ever socialising with people you’ve known a few months.
The joy of hanging out regularly with lovely people in a new place that we’re all exploring together.

The challenge of being away from old friends and missing how well they know you and your quirks.

Travel

The joy of travelling to incredible holiday destinations just hours from our home.
The challenge of having limited time off to enjoy all the places we want to go.
The joy of residents’ rates at National Parks.

The challenge of playing down my western-savings-funded trips when speaking to my colleagues who struggle to pay rent.

Living in the tropics

The joy of a warm climate where even in the rain you’re never cold.
The pain of being bitten to death by mosquitoes and the craziness that takes us over when they all itch at once.

Being a Mzungu (foreigner)
The joy of being greeted and welcomed by a nation of friendly people.
The challenge of being asked: when will you come to my church? and, Can you take me to your country? and Can I have your contacts so we can hook up?
(OK, I’ll admit it) The joy of feeling like a complete celebrity when strangers target you for cheery greetings wherever you go, adults and children alike.

The challenge of being yelled at in the street and hassled everywhere we go. 
The annoyance of other bus passengers just 'checking' there's nothing in our back pockets, or being successfully pick pocketed by desperate people.

Language
The joy of using our basic Swahili to change the atmosphere and invite big smiles and warm handshakes.
The challenge of often not knowing what’s going on as colleagues, crowds and bus passengers blend Swahili, sheng/slang and their mother tongue language at high speed.

Learning

The joy of learning wonderful, funny things about Kenya and its people (educated women fetch a much higher bride price; in Swahili phones don’t ring like a bell, they cry like a baby).

The worry of learning the scarier things about Kenya and its people (corrupt police, mob justice, ethnic violence, and ignorant, harmful local beliefs)

Economy
The joy of getting by on a few shillings a day.
The strange feeling of knowing that most people only have that, and we have so much more.

Kenya
The optimism that comes from Kenya’s new constitution, new progressive legislation, and their hopes to be a middle-income country by 2030.

The cynicism that comes with knowing endemic corruption and massive social challenges mean this dream is still so far away.

Being here together
The joy of experiencing everything together; the support, the discussion and excited sharing of stories from our day.
The challenge of finding head space to support the other, in this jumble of joys and challenges.
The complete joy of knowing that even if it’s just us; we’re all we need.