Rural vs. Urban

Sorry, I've lost track of the past couple of days. Craziness back home with my sublet and craziness at work.

Yesterday I went with Faith (social worker) and 3 community health workers to Limuru to visit some clients. Limuru is about 20 minutes from Kangemi, but is still the closest Lea Toto Program to them. Most ride several matatus to come get medicine and the social workers take a whole day to visit them. We spent a total of 6 hours going from door to door checking on our clients. Most were not next to each other so we had to pile in the truck to a different home or walk a long way.

Let me just say that the truck was packed. Get this picture in your head- the driver, a upper middle-aged man in the front seat, then me and 3 other grown women in the back. We were literally on top of each other. The road was so bad that the best thing to do was make yourself jelly and just go with the bumps. At one point the bump was so bad that the woman sitting "next" to me landed in my lap. Not the best transportation for 6 hours, let me tell you.

There is a major difference between living in a informal settlement in Nairobi and living outside of the city. Most rural families do not go hungry because they at least have room for a garden that they can subsist off of. Most homes we visited were much bigger and had more furniture. Some even had a cow or two. Going further some were in compound-like facilities.

We met one woman who was clearly the matriarch of the family. She had the roughest hands I have ever felt/seen. The whole time Faith was speaking to her all I could think about was her story. She was older, probably around 75-80, and walked with the help of a sturdy walking stick. I cannot imagine what she has been through in her life or the years of hard, labor intensive work she has endured.

I normally ride with Leslie on the matatu in the morning because we both have to go to Kawangware. At the stop we usually split ways: Leslie walking 100 yards to work and I begin my 45 minute trek across Kawangware and through Kangemi. Going home we usually don't ride the same matatu. We both leave work at 5pm but she gets home much faster than I do. I tell you this so that you know why I catch a matatu by myself in the rush hour traffic to get home. I realized at an early age that my face is a permanent scowl unless I consciously try to turn the corners of my mouth up. I'm not mad or upset, that's just how my face is when it is relaxed. During my attempt to catch a matatu with everyone screaming at me in Swahili in rush hour traffic, I have come to fully appreciate my permanent scowl. If you do not look pleasant or like a newby, then most matatu drivers will not harass you. Very handy to know this. And when you look like you may go with another matatu, then they will open the door to the front seat :) Or if you look nice. Or are American. There are many reasons why you may sit up front. But it is really the best place to sit on a matatu.

Until next time!