We’re finally settled into our new place. The move was quite the stressful experience, although I didn’t participate in the physical moving myself (lucky me!). The problem was really being bounced around by different landlords about the dates we were supposed to move out and in. It’s kind of a drawn-out story, but the short version is that due to landlords being inflexible and communicating very badly, we were left homeless for a night and had to scramble for a place to put our stuff while we waited for the new place to free up. George came through for us, though. He worked his contacts, found a place to store our things for the night and moved everything there with a friend. That night, we stayed at a cheap hotel in town, and the following day George and his brother moved our stuff into the new place in South C. Throughout this whole ordeal, I was at work fretting away… but all ended well.

As I mentioned before, our place is behind the house of our new landlord Nancy, although she never seems to be around. Her two young kids mostly stay with the housegirl. Housegirls are essentially live-in maids and sometimes nannies, who generally come from rural areas to live and work in the middle-class homes of Nairobi. They clean, cook, watch over kids, do the laundry, everything. They are paid in addition to getting meals and board, but I have no idea what the average salary would be. When I first came across a housegirl, Josephine, who works for Lucy, I was a bit shocked. Then I found out that it’s quite common to have full-time, live-in help. Still, it seemed like servitude and I was very uncomfortable having Josephine prepare my meals, delicious as they were. Now I’m not sure how I feel about it. If your employer treats you well (and that’s a very big if), it does seem to be a good arrangement for all involved, as the housegirls are able to make some money, as well as eating regular meals and staying in nice houses. But maybe I’m making assumptions, since the only housegirls I’ve ever known have been employed by friends of mine who are good folk. The position must open women up to all sorts of terrible, exploitative situations quite frequently. I’m thinking specifically of sexual harassment and rape, because of the power dynamic between employer and employee, and the housegirls’ constant presence in the home. It could be very easy for men to take advantage of their position, and it’s not as if many women press charges for harassment or rape here (or anywhere, for that matter). If a housegirl has to deal with unwanted advances from her employer, she either has to put up with the abuse, or lose her job.

Despite feeling pretty ambivalent about the housegirl phenomenon, I am kind of hoping that Mumbe, Nancy’s housegirl, will be willing to do our laundry for some extra cash. I’m just plain bad at hand-washing laundry. The day after we moved in, Mumbe came over with the two kids, David (5) and Brittney (11). Mumbe is a sweet girl, and so young. She’s just out of high school and already working full-time for Nancy. She showed me photos of her rural home, a few hours outside of Nairobi, and told me that she wants to continue with school to become a doctor. I don’t know how she’ll manage that, but I hope that she does make it back to school some day. She seems to be missing home. It must be really difficult to basically give up your own life and dedicate yourself to caring for someone else’s house and children. David would be quite the handful, too – he’s full of energy and gets into everything. Brittney’s a pretty sassy kid, but she’s bright.

The new place is much more Kenyan in its location and layout. In Buruburu, our apartment was sandwiched between two upscale grocery stores, and there were restaurants and bars within ten minutes’ walk. Here the only shops are little stands selling fruit and veg, and the closest nightlife (as far as I know) is a short matatu ride away. This is actually a good thing, since eating out and entertainment tipped me way over my budget last month. I’m going to make an effort to be more of a homebody for awhile, at least on weekdays. As our neighbourhood is much less Westernized and more residential now, it shouldn’t be so difficult. That said, town is only about half an hour away by matatu, if the traffic is good. Of course, it takes about an hour on weekday mornings because of jams. Damn roundabouts. We also got a fridge, which is so exciting and I think will save money in the long-term. No more guilty food-wasting!

The flat itself is divided up – the living room, bathroom and kitchen all have separate entrances, so you have to step outside to go to the loo. The bedroom and living room are attached. I really love the place – it’s cozy and feels more like a real home somehow. There’s also a small courtyard area between the house and the flat, so when it’s sunny I can pull out a chair and enjoy the sun. The only drawback to the place is the bathroom, particularly the toilet. Yes, we now have a squat toilet. It’s actually quite attractive, as squat toilets go – it’s white porcelain with a flush, and little blocks for your feet. It’s still not quite as dignified as a “throne”, but it’s actually not that bad when you get used to it. The shower is basically just beside the toilet, with no dividing area between the two, which is very common in small Kenyan apartments. It means that the shower drains into the toilet, which I still find a bit weird. I’ll take some pictures so that you see what I mean (though I’m very behind on my photo posting – it’s tough to find a cyber café were they’ll actually load). In any case, I’m glad we’re back in South C again and am looking forward to seeing what else is around this section of the neighbourhood.

At work, I’m scrambling to get a lot of publications finished before the UN’s Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples in New York in mid-April, and the Commission on Sustainable Development in Germany in May. Also looking ahead to doing some fundraising this month to register for a conference for money in women’s rights, which will be in South Africa in November (if I can raise enough for about six participants, which could be a bit tough at a little over $1,000 a head, I might be able to make it to that one). That conference is hosted by the Association for Women in Development, which is a very interesting organization that I’m keeping in mind for potential volunteer work (or maybe even actual employment?) if I end up in Toronto. I think they also have offices in Cape Town and Mexico City.

We have a new guest at the office, as well. Her name is Rukia, and she runs an organization for HIV-positive women in Moyale, a town in the far North of Kenya, near the border with Ethiopia. She’s a real character, very outgoing and dedicated to her work. I’ve never met anyone in Kenya so open about being positive, and she’s a very brave and strong woman for being so. I know she must have taken a lot of abuse for it. Rukia was the first wife of her husband, who took two other wives without her consent. When he became sick, the two other wives took off, leaving Rukia to care for her husband for seven years before he died. She is still in pretty good health, and runs a bit of a side business importing goods from Ethiopia. Like quite a few of the older women I’ve been lucky enough to get to know here, she reminds me a bit of my grandma – full of stories, tough and funny, and a great cook. People from our partner organizations in rural areas tend to come to Nairobi for awhile, and hang out in the office during the day, chatting with us and having meetings with Lucy. I don’t know exactly how long Rukia will be in town, but I’m glad she’s here and hope that I get to make it up to Moyale before I go home.

Meanwhile, Roots has started on the development stage of the adolescent health program, which will bring information about sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, self-esteem, children’s rights and probably other topics into the schools of Mathare, particularly the “informal” schools which don’t run on a government curriculum. These schools are attended by children whose families are unable to buy the uniforms and supplies necessary to attend public school, and are mostly staffed by volunteers from the community. I desperately want to take part in the program, since it’s right in my field of interest, but since the school workshops will be taking place on weekdays, I obviously won’t be able to take part in those. I’m still attending about half the meetings though, since it’s interesting to see how the program is being formulated, and I help out where I can. The planning will run for a few weeks while the kids are out on school holidays, and hopefully the program will be ready in time for the new term.

On the side, I’m also looking for an organization or individuals who would be willing to sponsor Evariste, a youth from Unissions-Nous pour le Promotion des Batwa, the Burundi Batwa organization, to attend the World Youth Summit in Quebec City in August. He was accepted to attend, but needs to raise money for the plane ticket and I think accommodation as well. Evariste is in charge of the Youth, Sports and Culture department at UNIPROBA, is very dedicated and smart and I’m sure he would make great connections at the summit. I’ve been trying to search for organizations but it’s a bit tough when I’m swamped with work and have a bad internet connection! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

With all of this plus Kiswahili lessons and trying to fit food and exercise in there somewhere, life certainly remains interesting. I’m also trying to keep up with the news, which is not looking too good these days. The cabinet was supposed to be named on Sunday, but PNU and ODM have re-entered a deadlock and still can’t agree on the size and composition of the cabinet. If this coalition government ever does come together, I don’t see Kenya moving forward much in the next couple of years. The fact that they can’t even manage to form a cabinet after a month is indicative that neither side is taking the “sharing” aspect of the national accord too seriously.