June 2006

Jambo,
Hi. How is everyone? How were finals and spring fling? I'm so curious about everyones summer plans, write to me and let me know. Also, work a trip to NYC around July 21st into those plans as I will be turning 21 and would like a crowd (but that can be discussed later). From e-mails it
seems that no one knows my plans, so: I will arrive home on July 1st and will divide my time between NYC public library thesis research and the fun of summer.
For the next month I will be continuing the field research that I began in April and May. I think I have given some details about these studies so please excuse me if this is repetitive. I started by looking at the daily economic choices of women with low incomes: how they make money, how they spend it, what assistance they receive from the Government, and what
limitations remain in basic service provision. I narrowed this focus by collecting participants from among the women that sell food on the sides of roads in Likoni. This population was easily accessible and clearly earning low incomes, but I soon realized that they had much more to offer
as research subjects. For reasons to complicated to explain in an e-mail it became obvious that the major obstacle to financial stability and growth in the lives and businesses of Likoni's food sellers is the governments harassment of micro enterprise sellers around the country. For
decades the Government has claimed it supports small industry while simultaneously demolishing kiosks, making sellers pay bribes, and restricting them from gaining ownership over their workplaces. As a result they never know if they businesses and incomes will continue to exist in the future.
So I did this research, wrote a paper, which is attach (and in very first draft form- please excuse that if you choice to read the thing), and then the semester ended. For over a week I traveled through East Africa with 6 friends. We first took a bus from Nairobi to Kampala, the capital of Uganda. On the way we got to see the rift valley and the mouth of the Nile river, all in all not to bad for sitting in a bus. The city is very different from Mombasa, it is more crowded but also much cleaner. The streets are crazy with cars, taxis, and motorbikes that carry passengers from place to place. You would think it is dangerous but the drivers seem ready for anything to happen at any moment so it is in fact safer than crossing the street in Mombasa where Matatus (privately owned public transport vans) are a bit out of control. Thank goodness this is true because your taxi ran out of gas on the way to the hostel. Our driver left us on the side of the road while he jumped on the back of a motorbike to go get gas. Now, there were seven of us so we were defiantly not helpless, but we had all just been in Nairobi for a week and that is not a place were you want to sit on the side of the road at night.... but the driver gets back and we are all OK. Then he tries to start the car. He of course has no success so we ended up having to push the car up a hill to get it to start. This must have been a great sight: a bunch of white kids pushing a taxi up a hill at night. Again, thank goodness Kampala is a nice city with nice people cause we were as ridiculous as they come! Leaving Kampala we took a night bus to Kisoro. This was another taxi adventure since our driver had no idea where to go and it was 2:30am. It worked out but not until our seats had been given away and some unfortunate souls had to get off the bus after thinking they had seats (this story is longer and a bit crazier- ask me if you want details). This bus took us to an area in south west Uganda bordering Rwanda and the
Congo. We stayed that day, night, and following morning at a national park. We hiked in a cave that use to be a Pygmy Kings Palace, walked on mountain sides inhabited by elephants and gorillas, crossed the border into the Congo, and did exercise for the first time in forever- not a bad day and a half.
We got to the Rwandan border in the back of a pickup truck, which is a great mode of transport for a large crowd that cant fit into a taxi. We then took the 1.5 hour ride south to Kigali, the capital city. We arrived in the evening with no Rwandan money and went on a bit of a crazy adventure to find an open bank. The general theme of this trip is that we arrived in each location not knowing where we would stay, how, or when we would get to the next location- we just know that some of us had to be back in Nairobi by a certain date and that before that date we had a lot we wanted to do. So we would arrive in a city, split into teams to find money, lodging and to get outbound bus into- go crazy for a little while making plans, and then work everything out in enough time to enjoy the sites of the stop before boarding a night bus or a 5am bus out. In general we did not sleep very much (except in buses). We also did not spend very much, between hostels, YMCAs and churches, plus cheap buses, pickup trucks and student discounts we managed to do the whole trip on under $150 per person. Obviously arriving in a place with no money is not a good idea but for some reason we had nothing but good luck. We spent the next day at the Genocide museum and spoke with a young man, 25 years old, who had survived the genocide in hiding and now devotes his efforts to peace and reconciliation. I am not convinced that the whole population is as well adjusted as he is but in general the city seems to
be doing very well. The roads are the best in East Africa (very much a result of EU funding) and the people are very well dresses- I even saw a street sweeper wearing a blouse and slacks! Also, the Rwandan frank is strong and prices are high. But it is hard to know if these economic changes are seeping into the hillsides. I spoke with an aid worker who explained that most people are still very traumatized and that this has a negative effect on job and school performance. Yet he also believes that peace and reconciliation efforts are having a strong and positive influence throughout the country. My friend from the museum is convinced that the next governments efforts to eliminate ethnic titles and teach the youth of Rwandans common history is having a large influence, but he is fearful that children are being taught old prejudices when they go home from school. These two individuals both believe the genocide will not be repeated, but I cant say if every in the country agrees. It is such an beautiful and interesting place, worth studying if you have the drive.
So we left Kigali the next morning and split into two groups, some went straight to Nairobi to fly home while I and 3 others spent a night in Kampala before busing to Kisumu. Kisumu is a Kenyan city on Lake Victoria, home of the Luo tribe. It is also the place with the highest rate of HIV and AIDS in Kenya, standing at 30%. My friend had been studying in that area so we spent time visiting the youth center and slums that she had been working in. This center does very active work to invite youth for testing, counseling, and fun. Their idea is that youth empowerment along with guidance and alternative activities will help kids avoid sex. Its a hard sell in an area where most kids are having sex at 12 or 13 and where girls are taught always to say yes to adults and therefore don't know how to say no to older men asking for sex. Its a beautiful city, its just a little scary to know that everyone you met has lost much of their family
to the disease and might be infected themselves. Another aspect of life in the area is that many Luos are polygamous and faithfulness is also not very common among men. As a result many men become infected, and then infect their wifes. So a father, supporting 4 wives and maybe 30 kids dies first, then the wifes die one after another, the older children are left
to support the younger ones. Some might contract HIV and pass away, and then eventually the last born children (if born to infected mothers) might be infected and die around the age of 12. It is an cycle of tragedy, but at the same time the youth center is working hard and anti retro viral
drugs are available to youth for free and adults at low costs.
After Kisumu we traveled to Nairobi. Here we visited the Masai market place (I purchased more stuff than I can carry), I visited the University of Nairobi and get great material and contacts for my research, we went to temple on Friday night!, we went ice skating at the only ice rink in East Africa, we visited the womens prison were my fiend Allegra had done her research, and I visited Kibera (the HUGE slum in Nairobi) and made friends who we took out to dinner. Nairobi is a crazy place, the center city is pretty, during the day it is clear of hawkers, and in general it is clear of all signs of poverty. But then there is Kibera where many people don't have access to toilets, and were the youth sit around idly because there are no jobs to speak of. This is a problem in Kenya- there are not jobs.
The friends I made in Kibera have both finished secondary school. Their parents stretched their resources as far as they would go, very experiencing one bit of material comfort, all in the hope that some day their children would move out of Kibera. Instead their sons are hoping to
make it as football stars, since that appears to be the only way to find an income. Yet when you stand in the center of the city, between the Hilton hotel and the Parliament, you would never know such poverty exists. All I can conclude is that it must require a lot of stern vigilance to
keep the impoverished people of the city out of this money rich center.
So now I'm back in Mombasa. I am resuming my research in Likoni; I don't yet know where I am going to live but soon as a figure that out I should be back in the swing of things. My data is really exciting, it agrees with the work published at the university of Nairobi, and is getting positive feedback from professors in the same field. Again I apologize for the
draftish nature of the attached document. Also, its a bit long, so take a break from the computer and come back later if you feel like giving it a try.
Write to me, I really want to hear what everyone is up to. I miss you all but will see you soon. Congratulations if you got to the end of this!
-Gabi