Clouds Over Rift ValleyKenya Gatsby Trust
We arrived at the Kenya Gatsby Trust’s (KGT) building early and waited for the CEO, Valentine Mehiso to meet with us. It wasn’t long however before he welcomed us into his office and asked us who we represented and what we had come to discuss. We briefly went over some of the projects that COMART had worked on and supported in the past and the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) paradigm that they served. Next we asked for a bit of information in the KGT and when we were all up to speed we turned to focus on the matter at hand, the Chujio water filters.
The KGT is a company that seeks to enable small businesses to grow and build capacity. They accomplish this by looking at all aspects of the business and marketing plans and also by building capacity within those businesses. Further, KGT has many different partners and connections so that they can make sure that the businesses that approach them are hooked up with the right partners. For Chujio water filters this means connecting them to Health and Water sectors of domestic civil societies.
Feeling invigorated by the possible synergies that KGT and Chujio could create, we set up a meeting for the following Tuesday between the two parties and, time allowing, us too. We left the KGT building and headed back to our hotel to prep for our next appointment of the day at a friend of Martha’s house.
Andrew in the Rift Valley
We met Andrew at the hotel parking lot at just before noon and headed out in his car to the outskirts of Nairobi to the Rift Valley which is Masai Territory (more on that later). On the way we past baboons at the side of the road picking through trash. They were explained to me as ‘a nuisance like racoons, but with the strength of bears.’ We arrived at Andrew’s house before long and were welcomed inside.
Rift Valley Before Sunset
Andrew and his wife lived in a nice flat and it was clear that they had cleaned the house especially for us. Pressed white linens hung on the furniture and a lunch was prepared for uswhile we chatted in the living room.
The church that Martha belongs to, Runnymede United, had been supporting Andrew and his wife to foster several children who would otherwise be orphans. We listened intently as the children’s stories were told to us and about all of the various projects that were underway as a result of the funding that the church was providing. At around 3pm Lunch was provided, cooked by one of the daughters who had been sponsored to attend cooking school. The meal was made of up local dishes that were prepared excellently. Clearly the chef school was put to good use.
Mansion Amid Bungalows
After lunch we organised a group photo of all of the family that was present and us. It over the course of the day kids had been filling into the house and by the end of the day there were twelve family members there and at least three were still missing! Following the pictures, the family sung a song to thank us and wish us safe travels and we said our goodbyes. We then took a ride in the car out to the Rift Valley to see some of the countryside.
The Country Club!
The Rift Valley is an area that is reserved for the Masai people. The Masai people are a nomadic people which drive their cattle across the country each year in search of green pastures. They are known for going wherever the grass takes them, including on to the international airport!
As we drove up to the Rift Valley hills we passed by many of the Masai people. The local people of the area can always tell which of the people walking beside the roads are Masai. From what I’ve learned the Masai have telltale features such as their red clothing, being very tall and extreme lean, and the configuration of their ears with spacers and part of their lobes removed. The other obvious way to tell them apart are the massive amount of cattle that they drive. The Masai people equate respect with the number of cows that a man can care for so these herds can sometimes reach well over 100 cattle.
Middle Class Housing
The scenery around us changed quite quickly. From the middle class Kenyan suburb it went to a far more rural setting. We began climbing in the hills and the views out the side of the windows began to become very picturesque. The rift valley runs all the way through Kenya and is quite deep. Naturally this produced some very beautiful scenes and I have done my best to capture them here. Eventually we came to the end of the road and turned back (providing a second opportunity to keep my shutter rolling). We stopped on the outskirts of the village and two boys sold us three trinkets for our keys for 50KSH in the Kenyan national colors.
The Rift, Rift Valley
Driving back to our hotel now, we took the long way home and passed though a forest that used to exist where Kibera now sits. It is incredible to think that instead of a slum, the area used to be a pristine natural forest. In fact, at the edge of the forest we came upon Kibera. We passed by an area of Kibera where Andrew had set up vegetable gardens that were thriving. As the sun had now set we passed through Kibera which was completely full of life. People were out enjoying one another’s company and generally having a great time. It was just like any other scene of a Saturday night, except the backdrop was slightly different. When we got to the other edge of Kibera we were at our hotel and after thanking Andrew for his hospitality we said our goodbyes and went off to bed.
The following day we prepared our belongings for the plane ride to Kisumu where we were to visit a few communities that COMART was supporting and to attend some ABCD training that World Neighbours had organized.
Nairobi was a fascinating city. The Centre was filled with smog and guns, the slums full of life, and the suburbs full of peoples and customs I had never seen before. I was eager to see more of this fascinating country as I got ready for the 45 minute flight to Kisumu.
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