Dear Friends and Family,
Happy holidays from Rome! I arrived here yesterday after an overnight journey from Mombasa. I left the grueling African sun and 100+ degree weather to arrive here in Italy to the cold cold weather of December in Europe… without a jacket. Luckily, today my jacket will be arriving care of my ladies! My mother and sister are en route for a holiday we all so thoroughly crave, and each others’ company, which we all so thoroughly need. The next ten days will see us explore Rome (probably my favorite city in the world), drive through Sicily, and then spend an extended weekend in a mystery locale. The girls only know it as Destination X, and I am rather impressed with myself, considering how many months after initially planning our itinerary, I have managed to keep the details under wraps, especially in the face of persistent pestering from two fiercely querying Jewish women. But I digress…
I thought I should send out an update to reassure you that Africa has not yet swallowed me whole, but rather, is slowly but surely eating away at me. I am doing my best to stay happy and healthy. I will briefly update you on my relatively mundane life, and further direct you to my blog ( http://www.anappleanight.com/wpblog), where I have been writing extensively on many a topic, including street children, my puppy, being white in Mombasa, a Muslim funeral, and what I will be pursuing upon my return home. Let it suffice to say that I could, and just might, write a book on my experiences living and working in Kenya. The snapshots I provide on my blog are my attempt to provide some insight into my daily and unique experiences. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.
I have been living in Mombasa now for 10 weeks, though it seems much much longer than that, and not at all in a bad way. Rather, a lot has happened and I have truly adapted to a new life. It has been a challenging, trying, and modestly rewarding time in my life. I doubt I will ever look back on this time as the best, but it is surely an opportunity and experience that will expose to me things that I otherwise would not encounter, and from which I will always benefit. In addition, my perspective on the world, one which I have always endeavored to challenge, expand, and challenge again, has been given a crucial dose of the have-nots, a critical yet often and easily overlooked segment of our brethren.
My health situation has been incredibly difficult, as I have visited the emergency room three times now. I now have the doctor’s cell phone number and the administrative staff knows be my name; perfectly nice people, but not my top choice when it comes to people I frequently see. I have suffered from anti-malarial drug side effects, diarrhea, fatigue, insomnia, viral infections, the flu, and god knows what else. Despite all that, my body continues to prevail, and I can only continue to hope that, despite logic and experience, I will adapt to my newly adopted home despite all of its malicious maladies.
Psychologically and emotionally I have reached a plateau of moderate contentment. As I have become more familiar with my surroundings and its previously foreign rhythm of daily life, I have begun to keep in synch and embrace the tempo. I continue to be blessed with amazing friends, but am sorely lacking friends from the western world, people with similar backgrounds experiencing similar things with whom to process my experience.
As for my work, I find it incredibly comical and slightly cheeky when I consider how many of you have let on that you think I have spent my time in Kenya digging latrines. For the record I have not even seen a shovel, nor would I, realistically, last an hour digging in the equatorial sun, in this, the hottest time of year in the tropics south of the equator. My time can best be described as fulfilling several roles, some prescribed, others adopted on the fly. Most of my time has been filled designing and implementing a Population Density Assessment for Kayafungo’s 4 sub-locations and 25 villages. This has entailed the training (through a translator) of close to 100 volunteers, mostly consisting of village elders and first wives, the design and translation of the forms, glossaries, and guides, and the patience and forbearance to carry out the assessment.
The results have yielded the clearest picture of the region on record, and will go a long way in the final decisions concerning the routing of the water pipeline. The rest of my time has been spent schlepping all over Kayafungo and Mombasa speaking with everyone from the community water boards, Chief, and Assistant Chiefs, to bigger government bureaucracies, engineers, community members, and many of the 18 candidates for the position of Kayafungo’s Development Councilor, with whom I will closely work once Election Day comes and goes at the end of this month.
I had not anticipated that I would be playing the role of researcher here, but alas, the job needed to be done. Working for such a small NGO has its advantages and disadvantages; I try to concentrate on the former, but find myself frequently beleaguered by the latter, namely a lack of both experience and resources. Despite this, I continue to remain committed to the work I came for, and will renew my contract at the end of the year for another three months. Needless to say my professional life has witnessed quite a transition, one totally lacking glamour, but I am have no doubt that I will retain my cocktail party skills for my return. Until then, please have a cocktail for me…
The fervor leading up to Kenya’s second democratic elections has been… intense. Kenya’s democracy is still quite fragile, with the presidential incumbent, Kibaki, having been elected just 5 years ago, after 23 years of Moi’s dictatorship. The northern part of the country has been ripped apart by tribal violence related to the election that has displaced thousands, and frankly, justifies many of the lasting stereotypes sub-Saharan Africa so desperately needs to overcome.  I will be returning to Kenya just in time for the elections, and remain wearily enthused and optimistic that Kenya will keep it together and democracy will prevail. Believe me, if it doesn’t, you will hear about it. I don’t say this to scare you, but rather, to convey the fragile African world in which I live.
And so my friends, I must bid you arrivederci. Your email updates and calls continue to be the highlights of my days and weeks, and are a constant source of juicy information, gracious encouragement, and necessary reminders of where I come from and just how amazing the people there are. Thank you for your continued support. I hope that the new year is one of health, happiness, and the right amount of adventure for you and your loved ones. As several of you prepare to come and visit in the coming months, I again extend the invitation to the rest of you. In the words of Hillel, if not now, when?
Much Love,
-Daniel
P.S. Now that I have rejoined western civilization (defined by a fast internet connection speed), even temporarily, I have uploaded some pictures of my flat, car, and life to http://www.flickr.com/photos/anappleanight. Enjoy…