Headline News….!!!!!

I got a good laugh out of the headline in the The Standard Newspaperin Nairobi today 30th April…

The next BIG Battle…… Women declare sex boycott over reforms and wrangling…

“Sex money and power are said to make the world go round, especially when dealing with politicians who take people round in circles until they feel dizzy. Now women in Kenya have joined hands to boycott sex for the next seven days to push for reforms and

constitutional review……
No reforms.. No Sex..”

I would love to see the effect these threats would have with the Irish Politicians!!!! Some how I don’t think Brian Cowen et al would bat an eye lid ……!

http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144012904&cid=4&ttl=Women%20declare%20sex%20boycott

And all that Jazz......

Nairobi Night life certainly doesn't disappoint.... Last night a few of us went to a Jazz festival held in the grounds of the National Museum.... It was really good music... I was even practically dancing ... well shrugging my shoulders and moving my ass from side to side constitutes as dancing in my book!!!... i know me dancing!!!. The event was sponsored by the South African Commission to celebrate their Independence day and the lead performer was a South African soul diva called "Lira" who was great!! Check out Lira out on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp6HI7tkESk

http://www.misslira.co.za/home.php

Public holiday on Friday so roll next weekend for another day off work.....

just like home eh!!!

So close and yet so Far......!!!

Just had a great Easter weekend with 3 other volunteers Kelly, Anna and Rachel up in Lake Baringo… 2 and ½ hours north of Nakuru National Park!!!!

On Saturday I made my way from Nairobi by matatu to Soysambuu (just south of Nakuru) where I met a friend of a guy I used to work with in Musgraves. He lives in a house on the estate of Lord Delamare and has his very own wildlife park in his back garden. Got to see lots of flamingos, impalas, monkeys from his veranda as we sipped a glass of wine…. Eventually got a lift to Nakuru and met up with the girls in a small hotel for the night….

Early start at 7am on Saturday morning as we were informed that we could take the public Kenya Wildlife Service park bus into Lake Nakuru for a few hours trip which we were told left town at 8am.........WRONG… we waited and waited and waited ... until we we enquired again and found out it wasn’t going till much later on .....SO we decided to cut our losses and head on up to Lake Baringo…. Lake Nakuru could wait till the way back......

We bundled into a matatu and after 2 hours were dropped in a small town called Marigat.. from there we then argued for ages over the 70 shilling fare that the driver of a car wanted to charge us to take us to Lake Baringo.... after a stand-off for about 30 mins in the midday sun we finally gave in…….Finally arrived at Lake Baringo tired, sweaty, thirsty and a bit annoyed at ourselves for fighting over such little money… BUT it is the PRINCIPLE!!!
Lake Baringo as the guide book says is a twitters paradise (mmm!!) and home to loads of hippos which come out in droves at night..... so around our camp fire sipping our beer we could see them munching about 20 feet away from our tent by the lake shore….

On Sunday myself and Kelly went for a “guided scorpion and Snake walk” around the area (well we saw only 2 scorpions and one tiny poisonous snake!!!!) ... we got caught in a torrential downpour so we had to shelter for about an hour in a locals house until it passed … …. The whole place needed the rain as the area hadn’t had rain for months but my clothes are still BROWN from the mud afterwards.

We left relaxed on Monday am and got the direct bus to Nakuru this time and thought we would be in time to take the Official tour bus into Nakuru National Park............. BUT again we got some conflicting information and ended up negotiating with a guy from a tour company to take us around the park for 2.5 hours in his jeep @ 5 euro each (note: VERY GOOD PRICE)…. SO just as we are driving towards the park I spot the Actual official Kenya Wildlife bus behind us (which we knew was Only 2 euro per person) ….. so we flagged it down to get on and we ALL jumped out of the jeep and hopped on the tour bus… ONLY to find there were NO seats left and our jeep took off… SO we were dumped on the side of the road… and no way into Lake Nakuru this time……….............So close and yet so Far away!!!!!!
A bit disgruntled and mad with ourselves for being so stupid ........(note the recurring theme) we headed on back to Nairobi !!!! Lake Nakuru can wait......

Here at last- It never rains but it pours!!!!

I will keep this short and snappish from here on in so you don't become too bored of my rants!!! But I will bring you up to speed on my Nairobi Experience so far....Well ...Month 1 down and only 23 to go!!!- Arrived in Nairobi a month ago with 3 other VSO volunteers. We were joined on Saturday 7th March by 12 other volunteers from Canada, USA, UK, Uganda and Australia for one week of In Country Training. After a week of some lessons in basic Kiswahili, Kenyan Culture, Health & Safety workshops, meeting our employers and VSO training we were soon dispatched off to our various placements around Kenya. I am working in fundraising and PR with the Kenya Society for the Blind based here in Nairobi - one of the 600 NGOs based here in Kenya- so not much competition!!!!

So the last month has been a serious of mixed emotions for me: frustration, impatience, amazement, and panic.... you name it... but overall I am definitely happy to be here. The job will be challenging given the economic climate and funds are tight no matter what organisation people work for. However I am determined to give it my best shot and hopefully will leave the organisation in 2 years with strategies in place that will enable them to sustain the projects that they are involved in working with the visually impaired in Kenya. ...well that is the the idea anyway.... Along the way I hope to have a lot of fun too!!

Nairobi- what can I say- Noisy, busy, dirty, dangerous but.... definitely not dull. You can get pretty much everything here but on my salary not everything is in my price range- if you get my drift. Small bar of Cadburys Dairy Milk is 48 cence (euro) approx- so it is a luxury on my 8 euro a day salary!!

On first impression my accommodation resembles Ballymun flats but once you’re inside it is quite respectable now that I have blown my home furnishing allowance on some fancy new curtains. Never mind that there isn’t any furniture in the sitting room or a table and chair to eat from... but hey I know how to prioritise!!! I am sharing with another Volunteer who is working for UNICEF so we can share bills which is great!! Good news for my prospective guests- I have a flushing toilet and electricity (So the ole hairdryer gets an outing occasionally), a shower (but cold water- unless I can be bothered to boil a kettle) which I haven’t yet cause I am way too lazy in the mornings ....so prefer to gasp under the torrent of cold water at 6am each day. Unfortunately lie -ins can be a rare thing as the flat is on the ground floor and there are builders working outside my window every day except Sunday.... hammering away and if that doesn’t prevent me from my precious sleep it is the persistant screaming child in the flat above!!!! Oh and did I mention the cockroaches – yes giant ones- thankfully they only average about 1 per week so I have me DOOM spray at the ready all the time!!

Nairobians seem to be trapped in some kind of 80’s music time warp ... Every morning on the way to work I can look forward to a medley of Luther Van Dross, Whitney Houston, Gloria Gaynor or Rick Astley.... however on the faster Matatus there is a good mix of rap/ hip hop thrown in there for good measure. What can i say- about the Matatus (Hiace Vans that I use for transport) .... Only that I spend about 3 hours on average in them each day on the commute to work- it’s not the distance so much but the traffic jams. Luckily I haven’t crashed in one just yet but witnessed a few prangs-so I am just trying to avoid sitting behind the driver- “the death seat”!!!

Work is going well so far but the pace is slow - that goes for my computer at work too which is on a serious "go slow" mode and takes about 15 mins to boot up- .... My colleagues are great and are still trying to suss me out and what my story is.....I think it will take me a little while to find my feet in there and get my networking hat on with gusto....I am still holding out for an invite to the Irish Embassy for my welcoming party but nothing yet.... I live in hope!!!!!

So finally onto the weather – a favourite Irish Subject ... no I don’t have an inkling of a tan yet even though it has been about 25 degrees pretty consistently here since i arrived... cause every day I lather on the factor 30 every time i go out to prevent "lobsteritis" occurring... however last Monday the long awaited rains came to Nairobi and boy when it rains here ....it Rains!!!! I have invested in an umbrella for walking to work but seriously considering buying a pair of wellies as well!!!!