Obama's Inauguration

In the days leading up to the Inauguration, the different Kenyan news channels would feature at least 10 minutes of Barack Obama stories each night. In some ways, I think Kenyans are more informed about American politics than most Americans.

Yesterday walking around Kisumu you could feel the energy in the air. The city of Kisumu had made elaborate plans for an Inauguration party at the Jomo Kenyatta Sports Grounds, a large open area with a stage, near the center of town.

When I arrived at work, the secretary was wearing a skirt made out of the Obama leso I bought for her while I was in Mombasa. A leso/kanga is a large piece of material that is often colorfully decorated and features a Swahili quotation in a text box. "A leso/kanga can be a declaration of love, a flirtation, an insult, a riddle, a political slogan, a famous proverb and many other things" (Leso/Kanga) The Obama leso I bought for the secretary featured three faces of Obama in the center and instead of the usual Swahili quotation, it featured the campaign slogan of "Yes We Can." One of my other co-workers was wearing an Obama t-shirt so the three of us took a picture together.

After work I met up with a few of the other students from my program. We decided to go to the Sports Grounds to check out the festivities. When we starting getting cloer to the Sports Grounds, we saw dozens of people selling everything Obama and America. Small American flags, Obama shirts, and much more were being sold but my personal favorites were the American flag-patterned shoes. By the time we got there, there were already hundreds of people gathered. One of the newspapers sponsored several projection screens that were erected to show the Inauguration speech. Right when we arrived at the Sports Grounds, the Kisumu version of Barack Obama arrived. There had been talks in the days before the Inauguration that this Kisumu version of Obama would be escorted through town by a caravan of motorcycles and bicycles (both common forms of transport in Kisumu). The Kisumu Obama gave a speech to the crowd frequently mentioning the terms "change" and "yes we can." One of the events that was held earlier in the day was a contest of who could best imitate Obama. The winner received 50,000 KSH (approx $641).

We didn't stay very long among the huge crowd of people because as a group of 6 white people, we attracted a lot of attention. A lot of the street kids (many of them carrying their bottles of glue that they sniff in order to get a high) kept coming up to us asking for money and they were much more aggressive than they usually are. We took a few pictures but had to be very vigilant of our cameras and other valuables. We decided to watch the festivities for awhile from the safe vantage point of the upstairs bar/restaurant at the Sports Grounds. At one point some people lit some things on fire and were swinging the fire around on chains. People thankfully didn't seem to be supporting that and the crowd dispersed quickly from those people. From where we were sitting on the rooftop bar/restaurant, we couldn't see the projection screens so we decided to go across the street to the Imperial Hotel where there would be a much calmer and organized group of people watching the events.

We ended up watching everything in the 5th floor bar/restaurant with a lot of other white people. It was funny to see when we walked in because there was such a segregation of white and black. Down on the street level, thousands of people had gathered in the Sports Grounds and there on the 5th floor of the nicest hotel in Kisumu, two dozen white people (we students included) gathered together in a nice bar/restaurant to watch the events on a flat screen TV. The 5th floor bar/restaurant was supposed to be for hotel residents only but I'm pretty sure that just because the six of us were white we were not questioned when we walked in the hotel. I am sure that if six Kenyans tried to watch the events at the same place, their motives would be questioned.

Watching the Inauguration while in Kenya was certainly a unique experience. The one (white) girl we were with had come to Kenya a few years ago, met a Kenyan man and has since married him and moved to Kisumu. As we watched, she explained a lot of the symbolism of the ceremony to her husband.

Listening to Obama's Inauguration speech was also interesting from the Kenyan perspective. People all over the city of Kisumu erupted when Obama said "to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more."

People also erupted into jubilant cheers when he said: "To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds" Kenya as a country is currently facing a horrible food shortage. Because of the post-election violence, crops were destroyed and even worse some crops were unable to be planted for months. So even a year after the horrible events of the post-election violence, Kenyans are still suffering from the repercussions. There is also widespread corruption on the parts of the millers and different government ministries. Today over 10 million Kenyans face starvation with that number increasing daily because the country is in the middle of the dry season. The rains will not come until mid-March and until then the fields are dry, barren and dusty. Even in Kisumu, food prices have doubled and there are very limited vegetables one can buy - if they can afford them.

Immediately after the conclusion of the Inauguration speech the band in the Sports Grounds resumed playing and the entire crowd started dancing. We decided to join the crowd for a little while. Almost immediately after walking into the Sports Grounds we attracted a lot of attention with a lot of the men asking the girls if they wanted to "make the next Obama." One girl caught two people trying to go through her bag and I felt people going through my pockets. A security guard in a suit found us and stood by us making sure no one came too close to us. We all felt pretty uncomfortable so we left.

All in all, it was a very interesting evening. The Kenyan news channels replayed the Inauguration speech all night. Commentators during the Inauguration coverage remarked a few times that the whole world was watching. In many ways that statement is incredibly true. People all over the world found a television or radio to listen to the events of the Inauguration knowing that the change in leadership of the United States could directly impact their lives. From the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to the Israelis and Palestinians holding on to a fragile cease fire, to the soldiers fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - the world is truly affected by the actions of the United States.

In a city in the middle of Western Kenya on the coast of Lake Victoria, among thousands of very happy Kenyans, I watched Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States of America.

Travels in Uganda

The day after Christmas I took a bus from Kisumu to Kampala, the capital of Uganda. My perception of time when it comes to traveling has become so relative lately. The bus ride took about 8 hours which seemed easy in comparison to some of the other trips I've taken. I wasn't feeling well the entire bus ride which is always scary because the bus rarely makes stops. The bathrooms are of course really dirty and you have to pay to use them (equivalent of 6 cents US). When I was in the bathroom, I heard a guy pleading with the guy at the entrance to let him use the bathroom because he didn't have any change with him. The guy was refusing to let him in so when I paid, I gave enough for me and the other guy and said "no one should be refused the right to go to the bathroom." I didn't even realize the guy from the bathroom was on my bus and he found me when we got back on the bus and kept thanking me.

I was sitting across from this guy on the bus who looked really familiar. I sat there for a really long time confused as to how I knew the guy and then I realized that he was a guest lecturer for one of my classes in Nairobi. I asked him hesitantly what he did for a living because I still wasn't sure if it was him. He said he was a teacher and then I asked him if he knew Dr. Jama from the University of Nairobi who is the director of my program. He started laughing and said that he did so I told him how he taught one of my classes. We talked for about an hour after that. He's originally from northern Uganda but knew Kampala really well so he gave me great advice about where to stay, what to do, etc.

I arrived in Kampala around 8:30pm. I had arranged through a family friend from home to have a Sister (nun) pick me up from the bus stop and bring me back to their hostel for me to stay the night. The Sister was about 15 minutes late because of traffic and thankfully that teacher offered to stay with me until she came. The taxi ended up being really expensive and I'm pretty sure the Sister didn't negotiate at all since I was the one paying for it.

I spent the night at the Sisters hostel but still wasn't feeling well. The shower was ICE cold and I got to the point where I would put water in a bucket to "warm" it to room temperature.

Rachel arrived the next day. Sister and I took a taxi to go pick her from the airport and she once again didn't negotiate for the price so it was really expensive. Rachel brought with her essentially a belated Christmas for me. I got some cards from people from home and presents from my family including the much anticipated Christmas cookies.

The day after Rachel arrived we wandered around Kampala all day. We tried finding the booking office of the bus company to go to Kigali, Rwanda but the "African Map" (walking around asking people directions until you find where you're going) failed us miserably. We didn't want to look like naive tourists carrying around our Lonely Planet book so we memorized the directions but just needed clarification since none of the streets were marked. The first woman who we asked for directions told us the wrong way which subsequently led to 45 minutes of walking around a crowded bus/matatu stage getting turned around and lost. We eventually gave in and took a motorcycle to the booking office instead of walking.

We ended up booking with Jaguar Executive Coach to go from Kampala to Kigali. I have a history of booking with companies that have cool-sounding names, but this one was also based on the recommendation of the teacher from the bus from Kisumu to Kampala. African bus companies make me laugh - the guy at the booking office told us that if we took the 7:30am bus it would arrive at 6:30pm or we could take the 9:30am bus and arrive at 4:30pm. So somehow if we left two hours later, we'd arrive two hours earlier. Evidently there are two border crossings into Rwanda and the earlier bus takes a longer route. I found that out later.

On December 29th, we met up with Fr. Mark who is a friend of my family's. He is from Uganda but has been a priest in America for over ten years. My parents sent some things with him so I got a mini-Christmas all over again. He took us to his village where his nieces and nephews still live. We drove for about an hour and a half and Fr. Mark showed us all around the area he grew up. He showed us the church where he was baptized and the different churches he worked at. As we were driving through one of the villages he saw a guy he knew so we stopped and talked to him. They hadn't seen each other in 3 years. Rachel of course gravitated to the cute kids and made friends with them by giving them Jolly Ranchers. We stopped for dinner at a restaurant Fr. Mark knew but I still wasn't feeling well so I didn't eat very much.

We eventually made it to his home and met his nieces. His sister died a few years back so the oldest niece now takes care of the other children. St. Barbara's, my parish at home, has supported his family and the community for many years. When I was in grade school, we raised money to buy goats for his village. The goal was for the women in the village to raise the goats and then give the offspring to neighboring communities. While I was in the village, I took a picture with some of the goats to send home. Rachel once again gravitated to the cute children and gave out the last of our Jolly Ranchers that we brought with us. We've basically learned to carry sweets with us where ever we go to give to the kids we encounter. I thankfully received a 3.5 lb bag of Jolly Ranchers before I came to Kenya which has proven very useful.

On December 30th, we departed for Kigali the capital of Rwanda in the morning.

Christmas in Kenya

After I got back from Arusha, Tanzania I left with my host family on December 21st to go to Maseno, a small town 30 minutes outside of Kisumu in Western Kenya. I had driven through Maseno once before on the same day I met Obama's grandmother and I stopped on the side of the road that day to take pictures at the small landmark that designates where the Equator is. On Dec 21st, as we entered the town of Maseno I made a comment that I remembered the town because of the Equator and my host dad told me that the Equator passes within feet of his house. I of course thought he was exaggerating but as soon as we passed the Equator landmark, we turned right and headed up the mountain to his rural home where his mother still resides.

For Christmas, most Kenyans return to their ancestral homes to be with their families. When people retire in Kenya, they often build a house in their ancestral area surrounded by people from their ethnic group. In a country like Kenya where there are 42 different ethnic groups, each with their own distinct language, culture and traditions, it is comforting for people to retire amongst familiar things.

When we arrived at the rural home, there were three houses within the fenced-in compound. In the main house, my host father's mother lives in addition to his youngest brother who is 18 years old. My host family is Luhya and it is Luhya tradition that the sons build homes next to their father's house. The other two buildings in the compound are for my host father and his brother. In the days before Christmas the house was filled with many many people! They would often joke around that there was no way to know who had eaten and who was forgotten because there were so many people around the house. I learned quickly that every evening before going to bed, everyone takes tea (usually milk tea/chai). My body has gotten so accustomed to taking tea upwards of 4 to 5 times a day that it doesn't keep me up at night but I certainly feel the withdrawal if 10:30 am passes and I haven't had my tea yet. The first night staying in Maseno was interesting. I shared a room with my host brother's friend and the farm help. Both of the guys I shared the room with snored but for a good part of the night I just laughed to myself because it reminded me of episodes of the Three Stooges that I would watch as a kid with my dad. The one guy had a loud deep snore while the other guy followed with a soft wimpering snore.

Much of the town of Maseno consists of homes built on the mountain. A few different times, I went on hikes with my host father's nephews and brother. All around the hill there are these huge boulders that we did some rock climbing on. We saw a few monkeys and geckos. I was told that leopards used to be all over the mountain but as the population expanded and houses were built in different areas, the leopards moved away.

In the days before Christmas I inquired about if there was a Catholic church that I could go to on Christmas. No one really knew but on Christmas morning I was woken up by someone saying that they found a place that was having a Catholic Mass but that it started in 45 minutes. So I quickly got dressed and had tea before I headed down the mountain with the help of one of my host father's nephews to Maseno University. When we arrived at the building they usually have Mass at, the entire place was empty. We finally found a woman who told us that the Mass wasn't starting for another hour. So the two of us walked all the way back up the mountain and I had more of a proper breakfast before making the walk back to church.

This Christmas Mass is definitely one that I will remember for many years. The Mass was celebrated in a lecture hall of Maseno University that was in the shape of a small gymnasium. There were no benches but everyone sat in desks. Sitting in a desk for church was something that seemed peculiar at first but as I reflected on it, it seemed to make sense. When we go to church, don't we go to learn and be educated? In much the same way a professor stands in front of a class and lectures, a priest also lectures and discusses the lessons of the Bible.

When the Mass started there were about 15 people, I was of course the only white person and was very aware of it since the children who were present stared at me the entire time. After the priest finished the homily, I heard a large commotion in the back of church and I turned around to see over 50 people entering the church. All of these people had arrived late in the typical Kenyan style but did not want to disrupt the homily.

The entire church service was very basic. There were no elaborate Christmas decorations or poinsettias. There were no elaborate vestments the priest wore. There were no Christmas songs accompanied by musicians playing expensive instruments. The choir consisted of the three people in the front of the congregation who actually had a song book. The only accompaniment came from one woman with a tambourine. During the offertory, people brought up all sorts of things including a huge bunch of bananas, bags of rice and even a live chicken.

When I returned to the house after church, I helped prepare the large Christmas lunch of pilau which is rice mixed with spices from Zanzibar and beef. Per tradition, every single person assists in some way. I volunteered to cut tomatoes and other vegetables. It was funny to see people's reactions because men normally do not cook in Kenyan culture, let alone a white man. People watched me for a few minutes to make sure I actually knew what I was doing and wasn't going to cut myself on the knife. It reminded me of the time my girlfriend Rachel and I cooked hamburgers for my host family in Nairobi. My host mother kept coming in to check on us (particularly me) to make sure we weren't burning down her kitchen and that we weren't going to serve them inedible food.

After the lunch was prepared, we had a short prayer service where we sang and read the Christmas story from the Bible. Many of the people present were not conversant in English so the service was entirely in Swahili. After prayers, everyone ate and entertained the various visitors who stopped by throughout the day. Besides the large lunch, nothing else special was planned.

The one notable thing I realized was that no one exchanged presents. There was never even any mention of gifts or Santa which was VERY different from the material-driven American version of Christmas. The focus during this Christmas wasn't on having more "stuff" but was simply a day to spend time with family and be thankful for what they do have. I feel that so many times in America, we often forget the meaning of Christmas. One episode of The Simpsons comes to mind where Bart Simpson says, "I think people are starting to forget the true meaning of Christmas...to celebrate the birth of Santa Clause."

As a belated Christmas gift, just last week I was able to deliver 5 soccer balls to an orphanage in Kibera slum. The soccer balls were all donated by people from home. Before Rachel and I went to Kibera, we stopped by the store to buy a bag of 100 candies for less than a dollar. When we were playing with the kids and brought the bag out, word spread quickly that there was candy as all the kids started yelling "SWEEEEETS!!!" Those 100 candies went very fast but the kids all loved them.

This Christmas was the first Christmas I have ever spent away from my family. It wasn't until coming to Kenya and spending time with people like all of the orphan children in Kibera that I realized just how many things I have to be thankful for.