In January I got accepted by an NGO in Kenya, which is focusing on “women empowerment”, i.e. helping women to become more independent, either financially or in general. We are unfortunately far from achieving gender equality and I do not mean Kenya in particular, the same applies to countries all over the world – including my home country – Germany.
Women receive lower pay for the same work, do not get the same opportunities for jobs and promotions as their male counterparts and in many countries, women cannot even get the same education as men resulting in a lower education level and lower income prospects. This causes that women often depend on their husband; this is also the case in Kenya.
On top of this, domestic violence is a huge issue, women might need to escape from. Domestic violence can not only result in physical pain, permanent injuries, infertility etc., but it also impacts mental health, which can reach from low self-esteem and PTSD to depression and suicide. Furthermore, when a woman tests positive for HIV, she might be kicked out of the house or domestic violence might become more severe, even if she got it from her husband. Infertility is also an issue in many African countries, where the woman is often blamed and divorced. I do not know the figures for Kenya, but global data suggests, that infertility is in one-third of all case caused by fertility problems in men (e.g. low sperm count) and in one-third of the cases it is based on fertility problems in the women. The rest is either, that there is a problem in both men and women, or no reason can be found.
This is just a short cut of several issues women are facing in this world and I could add so many things to it from sexual violence, human trafficking to the simple fact that work in the house and childcare is often the work the women have to do – even when working fulltime outside the house. For anyone interested in this topic, there is a course (provided by Coursera for free) from Stanford University on “Women’s ‘Health and Human Rights”. It is a very interesting course capturing several human rights violations against women and how they impair the health of women. I did this course last year and it inspired me to do more in this space and get the first-hand experience. That is why I am here.
Travelling and Coronavirus
I know that many people find it irresponsible to travel at the moment due to the Coronavirus and I agree to it with a few exceptions. Therefore, I would like to share my rationale for going anyhow. Only in February, I returned to Germany to plan my Africa trip, i.e. several visits at the doctor to update my vaccinations, a visit to the tropical ambulance to learn more about Malaria and which Chemoprophylaxis to use and I had to take care of my visas. Only end of February the Coronavirus started spreading in Germany. Until then we only had the case in Munich, where a company from the automobile industry was impacted. This was managed very well, and the spread was contained rapidly… But then carnival and holiday season began with many people returning from Italy and also some from Iran and Corona got slowly out of control in Germany. I avoided social gatherings – even before it had been recommended by the state – and whoever knows me, knows that I have always been carrying hand sanitizer in my handbag and using it regularly…. So, I was pretty sure, that I am “Corona-free” and Corona had not even reached my home town. We had only 3000 Corona case, when I entered the plane, i.e. only 0,0037% of the population in Germany. Of course, the risk to get infected while sitting in a plane is higher, as you cannot necessarily stay away from other people – I am aware of that – but washing hands regularly and not touching the face already helps a lot to reduce the risk. And I am not going on a two-week holiday trip, no, I committed helping out at an NGO. Just imagine what would happen if all aid workers and volunteers returned to their home country and turned their back on the ones in need. That is the reason why I went anyhow. Last week Kenya had no single case of Corona – so I also felt safe going to Kenya.
This has changed on the weekend. One Kenyan woman -carrying the virus – returned from the US and infected two more passengers on the plane. In the meantime, four more cases have been identified (all imported cases). Several people who were in contact with the patients were identified and put in quarantine. The government reacted very quickly, only 2 days after the first confirmed case, the president announced a lockdown. All schools and universities are closed, people are asked not to go to church (and going to church is very important here), weddings and funerals (big events in the communities) are supposed to be reduced to close family members and no foreigners (unless they have a residence permit) are allowed to enter Kenya anymore.
They have also asked everyone, who entered the country in the last 14 days to self-isolate themselves.
NGO under lockdown
The lockdown, of course, has implications on the NGOs and me. I applied at the NGO “International Volunteer Headquarters” which is allocating volunteers to local NGOs. IVHQ asked volunteers to leave Kenya, as no one knows, how many flights will be cancelled due to the new travel ban, and of course, the NGO wants to avoid that people get stuck in Kenya. So, guess what everyone booked a flight back home for the next days, except me. I anyhow planned to be in East Africa for 4 months, so even if there are several travel restrictions for the next 3 months, I will still be fine. I will of course track the development of Corona and adjust my travel plans accordingly. I hope I won’t regret that. Currently, it looks like there are still some flights to Europe/Germany in the coming weeks, in case the situation there worsens. If there is a risk for me to get Corona, I rather take that risk in Germany. But I hope that the lockdown will help to contain the spread in Kenya. I am also registered in the German crisis response list, so they know I am here and so far, I did not receive any notification, that I am supposed to come back to Germany.
Due to the lockdown, the women centre, I was supposed to work at is closed as well and I have to put myself in quarantine because I arrived less than 14 days ago (Yeah, 14 days without being able to take a walk:-0 ). There is still a lot of work to do for the NGO, I can do from home. I already started working on the curriculum. The women centre is educating the women amongst others about their rights, domestic violence (and what to do), business skills as well as health. As health is my passion, I immediately wrote the part about reproductive health capturing also the topics of STIs like HIV and HPV, which can amongst others cause cervical cancer. So, lots of work, I can easily do from home. The only limitations here is that it is very uncommon for families or even hostels to have Wi-Fi due to its costs. I am glad that I bought a SIM Card after arrival, so I have at least 12GB (for 25USD…).
First impressions
The first night all new volunteers stayed in the volunteer apartment in Nairobi to get some general instructions by IVHQ or rather their local partner – Network for Volunteer Services (NVS) before we were brought to our placements. I am in Kitengela – approx. 1h south of Nairobi and I live here with a Kenyan family. Unfortunately, the other 3 volunteers, who were here with me have already left due to Corona, so I am now the only volunteer in this guest family and this NGO.
Unfortunately, I only had two days in Kenya, in which I could move freely. Nairobi is so different from what I had expected, it is a very green city. At least in the parts, I have been to, you have plants and trees along the streets, the houses often have a garden making the city a very green one and not a “concrete jungle”. I have not yet been to the financial district, where you find skyscrapers or to one of the slums. I wanted to join another NGO on the weekend to see their work in the slums, but this has been cancelled due to Corona… I hope I can make this experience after the lockdown. In Nairobi, I have at least visited the National Museum of Kenya and the Snake park next to it. The museum is awesome. It captures several topics from evolution to mammals and birds in Kenya and of course the culture and history of Kenya. Everything is very well explained in English and Swahili. And in the snake park, I learned a lot about snakes, that the black mamba is grey and only her mouth is black – this is the deadliest snake (at least here) if you do not get the antiserum within less than 1h you are dead. So I now know, when to run away from a snake and how toxic it is.
Kitengela is very different from Nairobi. In Nairobi (except for the slums) the streets are paved. In Kitengela only the two main roads – the rest are bumpy dirt roads and the main life is of course around the main street, where you have the (“traditional”) market, several stores and a supermarket.
I noticed already quite some differences between Kenya and Germany (or other Western countries). The two houses I lived in so far, had no dining space, you eat in the living room. Living rooms are usually equipped with several couches to ensure the whole (extended) family can find a seat. The usual breakfast is coffee or tea with milk – milk seems to be a major component in both tea and coffee. So, I am now drinking “Chai Latte” every morning. Then you have toast with jam and/or butter and some fruits like bananas or watermelon. Lunchtime is here approx. between 2 and 3 pm and Kenyans often eat dinner only around 10 pm. I am glad, that the NGO asked the guest families to have dinner ready between 7-8 pm for the volunteers. When it comes to eating hours, I am so German – at noon I am hungry and at 6 pm 😛
The main component of every meal are carbs – you often have rice and potatoes or rice and Kenyan flatbread with some veggies and meat. Cabbage and spinach are the key vegetables here. So far, I like the food. It is not as spicy as I had expected, but even mashed potatoes do taste more interesting than the “boring” German version of mashed potatoes. I hope that in my next entry, I can share more information about Kitengela and Nairobi with you including pictures. I just need to find the internet café once my “quarantine” is over.
Wanderlust 