Kibera, Finally!!

On Monday morning (7/11) we said goodbye to our friends at KIOF and were kindly offered a ride into Nairobi by John, the Director. We were so thankful because we didn’t want to have to take a matatu with our big bags, which we’ve named Reynold and Reba respectively. On the ride bag to “town” we had a most interesting and enlightening conversation about marriage. Apparently in Kenya, there are 3 types of marriages. The first type of marriage, which they call “traditional,” is in accordance with each tribe’s customs. So basically, a man can have more than wife depending on what the tribe allows. The second type of marriage is a “Christian” marriage. This is where a man marries one woman and remains faithful only to her. The last kind of marriage is a Muslim marriage, which involves a man marrying up to 4 wives so long as he can take care of them financially. Islamic law oversees the rules of a Muslim marriage. To our complete surprise, dowries are still compulsory here in Kenya. A wedding is not recognized until the husband has given the minimal dowry of a baby goat and a lamb. In addition, men are supposed to give 90 goats or the monetary equivalent. Sometimes, they are asked to contribute other things to the wife’s family to replace her, in a sense. For example, if the daughter of a family used to carry water to the house, the family may ask for a water pump from the husband. We were baffled when our friend Anne, a young Kenyan girl in the car with us, explained how she thought it was irresponsible for a man to have more than 2 wives. John and Anne were equally as baffled when we explained that in the US, dowries are a thing of the past and, typically, a man gives a woman an engagement ring and that the wife’s family usually pays for the wedding. In fact, they found it completely disrespectful that the husband leaves a wife’s family with “nothing!”

Anyway, we made it back to the home sweet hostel to see our Kenyan dad, James. We dropped off our bags and headed over to the Java House to check email, etc. We also planned to meet Jordyn, our contact person at the Kibera School for Girls. We met her at Yaya, a nearby shopping mall. No surprise, it was full of mzungus. Jordyn talked us through arriving at the boarding house for the school, in Kibera, where we would be staying. We also got to discuss a bit about what we would be doing over the next week and a half. Jordyn gave us the contact information of our new favorite cab driver, Buloma. He took us back to the hostel and we geared up to go to Kibera the next day.

After walking around Nairobi for most of the day, we met Buloma who would drive us to the boarding house. Driving there, we realized the boarding house, named Margaret’s Safe Place, is directly on the outskirts of Kibera itself. Six girls who live at Margaret’s Safe Place, Alice the cook/launderer, and Tina the guardian met us. The girls: Faith, Sarah, Beldin, Lucy, Valerie, and Shiro are all completely amazing and warmed up to us right away. We learned that the girls are at the boarding house because they are orphans or their family lives are too dangerous for them to stay. We also realized we would be sharing a room with Lucy and Sarah, but we’re happy to report that there were no bugs! In fact, everything was very clean. We got to help Alice make dinner, where we learned to make ugali and greens. We ate with the girls and short after, got ready for bed. What a sight! The girls were obsessed with all of our things, including our contacts which they called “taking our eyes out.” We felt really fortunate when we asked about them putting on pajamas and they responded, “What are pajamas?” We couldn’t help but think that we are unbelievably lucky to have all the things we do. Bedtime is around 8pm, because the dog next door starts barking at 8:30. But really, the girls wake up at 6am to get ready for school.

The night noises in Kibera are about what you’d expect. Dogs barking, people yelling- making it very hard to sleep. Early the next morning, though, the light switched and we had 6 pairs of eyes waiting for us to get up. We dressed and went downstairs for breakfast of tea and bread. The girls were so excited to get to school! They lead us through Kibera to the school. On the way, we noticed Kibera is a slum in every sense of the word. There are shacks lined up next to each other, trash everywhere, dogs everywhere, and sewage running through the trenches. There are no trash receptacles anywhere, so people throw their trash on the walkways or burn it wherever there is space.

We knew we’d found the school when we saw a brightly painted pink building. The yellow hallway of the school leads past 4 classrooms, pre-K to 2nd grade, and an art room/music room/library. After the girls were on parade outside, we were able to sit in a couple of classrooms to observe. The classrooms are about a third of the size, maybe, of a Logan classroom. There are many homemade posters on the walls, and usually 2 tables set with chairs. In each class there are between 15-20 girls and two teachers. The girls have a notebook for every subject and can each write and read very well. While observing, we saw the typical call and response style of teaching and a bunch of copying from the chalkboard. Noticeably, modeling by the teacher in any way was absent. How different! When it was time for the girls to have their porridge, we met with Jordyn and the headmistress, Anne. We also met Claire, a teacher from NY who had been at the school creating a new social studies unit with the teachers. They all explained to us that our task would be to research and collect/create materials for the teachers to use when implementing a new unit on Kibera, next year. There is a huge lack of reading material, especially age appropriate material, for the girls to use to “do research.” Our hope is to essentially create projects/activities/resources like we do at Logan for this new unit on Kibera.

However, our time at the school was limited, as we needed to take a trip to the hospital. Katie had been feeling not well and was experiencing pain in her right ear. Buloma drove us to AgaKahn hospital where we waited, Katie had blood drawn, and it was determined she had an ear infection. She got some antibiotics and 6 hours later, we headed back to the boarding house to collect our belongings. Surprisingly, with an ER visit, blood work and antibiotics, the bill ended up being around $40. Shocking! We were sad to say goodbye to all of the girls at the boarding house, but we couldn’t stay with Katie’s illness. Buloma then drove us back to the hostel where we’ll be for the last 2 weeks of our trip. James ended up giving us a great deal on our room, so that we’ll spend less than $100 for our last 14 nights in Nairobi. Sweet!

Yesterday we spent the day roaming around Nairobi doing background research to build our knowledge base on Kibera. We decided when planning the new unit materials, we’ll be focusing on Kibera’s history and its people. We took a trip to the National Archives and then to the National Library, where we’re sure we’ll be spending more time. We can’t wait to learn more about Kibera, as it’s a wonderfully diverse, fascinating place. We plan to spend some mornings at the school with the girls, and the rest of our time researching and planning.

Not only are we excited to share what we discover and create with the school, but also we’re equally as excited to bring all of this knowledge and experience back with us.

On a side note, we’ve discovered a love for MANGOS! There is a fruit stand by our hostel and we bought our own knife, so that like Oscar Kister, we can have half a mango for breakfast every morning. We would also like to add that we’ve been taking the matatus successfully, and saving ourselves SO much money as a ride is about 20 cents.

Hope all is well in Denver and that everyone is staying dry!