Kenya the Frustrating

Like any place in the world, Kenya has its pros and cons. Unfortunately the cons seem to be outweighing the pros of late and I’ve been a little frustrated with this place.

My frustration comes from the fact that nothing works. The long rains have arrived in Kenya and everything shuts down. They come every year and everyone knows they’re coming, yet no does the work necessary to prepare for them. Last week my apartment went 48 hours without any electricity. That means no hot showers, no internet, and going to sleep at 9:00 out of sheer boredom. Even after the 48 hour stint, electricity has been intermittent at best and I’ve come to see it as a privilege, not a right. It’s hard to plan or be productive when you have no idea if you’ll be able to turn on your computer. Even worse than the electricity is the problem of traffic. Nairobi’s roads are not capable of handling the traffic as it is but when you add torrential rain, poor drainage, bad drivers and more pot holes, getting around town becomes a nightmare. On Tuesday I spent 4 hours in traffic to go less than 20 miles. It might have been okay except for the fact that selfish drivers pass you on the other side and cut in when they see another car coming. Selfish people make things worse for everyone around them.

Anyway, I don’t want to be such a downer but it’s difficult knowing Kenya’s potential and comparing that to where the country is today. If people would work together instead of cheating and stealing to get just a little ahead, if corrupt politicians would be replaced with true leaders, this country would be truly great. It has the intellectual capital, land, resources and location to become wealthy, yet poverty persists because individuals think more of themselves than the people around them. No, I’m not advocating the demise of capitalism (I think capitalism, not aid is the solution) but that people obey the rule of law, stop stealing and diligently perform the jobs that they are given. Then the unbelievable inefficiencies of this country would be reduced and Kenyans would have the ability to pull themselves out of poverty rather than having to rely on aid. I would also like a million dollars but alas, the world is far from perfect.

Journey to Eldoret

Once again it has been entirely too long since I have written anything. The normalcy and busyness of everyday life have prevented me from blogging more and I apologize. Things are still going well in Kenya. I’ve registered my company, ordered a container of water filters, and am in the process of getting a work visa. It’s crazy that just two months ago I was working at Paradigm and everything has changed s much. Once in a while I have a minor panic-moment when I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing here and worry that everything will fail but most of the time I’m excited about these opportunities and know that I’m in the right place. Even if I fail I will have tried and I believe that’s the most important thing.

Over the last few days I traveled to Nakuru and Eldoret in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. There was an agricultural trade show in Nakuru on Wednesday so I went with some guys from Paradigm and Affirm Kenya (who I have a part-time job with) to demonstrate some products. Farmers generally don’t speak English and my conversational Swahili was fairly useless when describing combustion chambers on stoves so I decided to buy some wood and demonstrate the product. Buying wood turned into more of an adventure than I had imagined. No one sold it in town, so they told me to drive to a smaller village where they still use wood to cook their meals. The village didn’t even sell it so I drove further into the bush to a person’s farm and had them chop wood for me. I’m sure a white guy driving in the bush by himself looking for firewood was quite a sight indeed.

On Thursday Isaac (my partner in the chili pepper business) and I drove to Eldoret to meet with a lady running a chili pepper export business. She wasn’t around the first night though so we stayed on a farm with Isaac’s friend who lives in a two-room hut and farms. It was a cool experience until the rooster started crowing at 3:00 AM and wasn’t about to go back to sleep. I suppose that’s part of the farm experience. Our meeting on Friday was successful (they want us to grow another variety of chili on our farm) and we headed back for our 5-hour bus ride to Nairobi. It’s beautiful country of there with rolling hills, forests and plains, and it’s always good to get out of the city. Check out some of my pictures below.

The two-room house where we stayed

This is the biggest tomato I have ever seen. Notice the comparison to my hand

African Bird's Eye Chili that we will be growing

 

Starting a Business

I left off last time as I was “taking the plunge”, getting ready to launch into this thing called entrepreneurship and being my own boss. It’s been almost 3 weeks now, and I’m happy to say I haven’t quit yet. There are so many things to take care of before starting, and the last couple of weeks have been filled with running those errands. It’s a strange feeling being completely on my own, deciding what meetings to set up and prioritizing my own work. I’m glad for the employment experience I received from Paradigm (even though it was only 9 months) but feel like working for yourself is a much more motivating and rewarding experience.

On the water filtration business, I’ve talked with my lawyer and will have an officially registered Kenyan company in 2 weeks. In addition to setting up the company, it looks like I’m less than a week away from placing my first order of filters! (unfortunately they take 3 months to arrive) I know that challenges and problems will arise, but it’s exciting how things have worked out and I’m actually doing what I’ve learned so much about in school. Things are still moving rather slow on the chili farm. We’ve planted our first acre, but they haven’t begun producing anything yet. I’m traveling to Kurungu again next week when I’ll be able to work for a few days on the project and should have more news.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, I bought a car! It’s a Toyota Probox, super ugly bun functional. The car will definitely help me start these businesses and give me mobility in Nairobi that I didn’t have before. I tried to post some pictures but my internet is not cooperating.

 

Taking the Plunge

I want to apologize for not blogging in over 3 weeks. It’s been a combination of sheer laziness and absolutely nothing interesting happening that has brought about this unfortunate reality. The next few months look promising though so I’ll keep my readers updated.

As my title says I am taking the plunge. The plunge from employment to entrepreneurship, from guaranteed salary to a big fat question mark. It’s exciting and terrifying but I’m glad I’m doing it because whether I succeed or fail, the experience will be worth it. Although my contract didn’t end until June, my company and I came to a mutual agreement that we would part ways. I was interested in becoming a salesperson for water products while they wanted a researcher/report writer. They’ve generously allowed me to stay in my apartment through my original contract though so I’m grateful. Although I’m planning on beginning my own businesses (water filters and the chili farm), I have a potential job offer during the interim until I receive my work permit and company registration. I might work as an operations manager/accountant for one of our partner companies who needs increased bandwidth for their director. I’ve yet to confirm but the opportunity could be great for being exposed to a completely different set of experiences.

On another note, I had a firsthand experience with why they call this place Nairobbery. My friends had taken me out after the weekend of my Birthday and we visited a dance club to have a couple of drinks. After being on the dance floor for a few minutes, I felt someone around me reach for my wallet. As I grabbed my pockets, I immediately realized that my iPhone was missing. I looked around but whoever did it had already melted into the sea of dancing people. Bummer, what a Birthday. At least I got to enjoy it for a year and the incident has made me realize it’s not the most important thing in the world.

Hopefully I’ll be updating my blog more frequently. If nothing else, there should be crazy stories of this white guy trying to start a profitable venture in Africa. It will be difficult, but the opportunity is there and I relish the challenge.

Ice Hockey in Africa

Yes, you read it correctly. I have officially joined a weekly ice hockey game in Kenya. It’s random I know, but without some randomness I think you run the risk of living monotonously. I can now say that the first time I ever played ice hockey was in Africa!

I realize that I haven’t posted anything in a couple of weeks. Life here has become fairly normal, composed of daily routines. I work during the day, have a couple of hours in the evenings to go play some random sport (like ice hockey) and do it over again. On the weekends I hang out with people, go to movies, or find something else to do. I’ll post something new when I have another crazy experience, but for the last few weeks I’ve stayed in Nairobi.

My sports schedule is pretty cool though (If I do say so myself). On Sunday I play soccer or frisbee. On Monday and Thursday I play squash. On Tuesday I have a weekly volleyball/worship service. On Wednesday I play ice hockey. On Friday I usually take a break And on Saturday I play tennis. I’ve never gotten to play this many sports at the same time and I’m loving it. Most of my social interactions involve some type of physical activity, which is great. When I first arrived in Kenya during the summer I didn’t know enough people to do these things with so I am very thankful for the community and opportunity.

I’m also considering playing in a squash tournament in February and a tennis tournament in March. The tennis tournament even includes prize money… If nothing else, I’ll get to meet new people and blog about the experience right? That’s all for now, I will update when I have more news.

Nairobi Arboretum

Over Christmas, I bought a new camera to improve my photography skills and take some cool pictures while I’m in Africa. Right across from my apartment is the Nairobi Arboretum, a public park complete with fields, walking trails and equestrian grounds. I thought I would explore the park and take pictures of my adventure. As you’ll see, it turned into quite the experience!

Nairobi Arboretum in the middle of the city

Playing around with some different flash settings on this butterfly

Monkeys!

After walking around for a while, I decided to lay down and rest. After a few minutes, a couple of guys approached me and we started talking. Apparently, they are professional dancers and wanted to teach me how to break dance. I content myself with just watching, but got some good pictures out of it!

Crazy guy #1

Crazy guy #2

Hanging out with my break-dancing friends in the Arboretum

The Best Trip Ever

I made it back to Kenya safely! It’s exciting being back among the crazy traffic, sights and smells of Nairobi. I’m excited to be here, get into the swing of things, see some friends and work on my potential business ideas. I have no idea what this year will hold but I have no doubt it’s going to be a great ride.

I must say though that this trip to Kenya was among the worst I’ve experienced. Because it was the cheapest ticket, I ended up booking a flight that included a night in the Washington D.C. airport. Not a good decision. I got there around 11:00 PM and had a 10-hour layover before my 13-hour flight to Ethiopia. I was praying that D.C. would have a soft carpet or a bench without armrests where I could curl up and rest. No such luck. Instead, I found a 24-hour café and watched Australian Open tennis ALL NIGHT. It was alright, but not something I would voluntarily do over. Next time I’ll pay the extra $200 and fly to Dubai. I did, however, think about the fact that homeless people face this situation every night. The only difference is they don’t have the fortitude of spending nights inside, on a soft chair. Even more than the physical challenge, it would be psychologically difficult knowing you had no one and nowhere to go. When I was tempted to complain about my own situation, I remembered the plight of the people I work with in Kenya. After that, it’s hard to complain about having a single night of discomfort among so many blessings. Life is about the journey, not the destination and if I’m too busy complaining I’ll miss out on the best parts.

Needless to say, I slept for over half the flight from D.C. to Addis Ababa and arrived safely in Kenya, 33 hours after leaving Denver. I hope you enjoy reading about my next few months in Africa as I continue my life here.