(English version) - Adventures in Africa - 3 final

You’ve been very patient, and here’s the last part of our report.
Let’s start with some curious facts and data, and also answer some questions.

We went through a non profit organization called "Global Volunteers Network", based in New Zealand.I researched more than 8 volunteer travel providers, and we chose the cheapest one.Some of you asked, yes, we paid everything ourselves and we used our vacation time.
If you want more info, check out: http://www.volunteer.org.nz/programs/

Kenya has 31 million inhabitants, of which 3.5 million live in Nairobi.
There are 42 tribes, the biggest being the Kikuyo, and they live in the central part of the country (including Nairobi area).Each tribe has its own language, but they converge in the national one, which is Swahili (Kiswahili). The official language (for school, government, etc) is English.
Many of them pronounce differently the R in the beginning of the words, speaking kind of like the Japanese (‘rain’ they pronounce “lain”).

There’s no physical contact between man and woman in public. Andre and I didn’t even walk hand in hand.
But sometimes you see two men or two women holding hands. Among friends of the same sex, there’s not problem.
Taking pictures is not an appreciated gesture. It’s completely forbidden to photograph public buildings.If you try to take a picture of a masaai, for example, even from far away, they will throw stones at you. But if you stop, ask permission and PAY, then things change.In several places we saw curious situations, absurd things and interesting people, but couldn’t photograph.

The local beer is called Tusker, and is very light. There’s a lager version too (or was is ale?), very tasty!
The only fruit we ate outside the orphanage was a passionfruit, very small and sweet, that a guy insisted for us to taste at the city market. We were very reluctant, because it was not washed and the knife he used to cut it was old and dirty. But we ate it and it was good.They don’t eat fresh salad. Vegetables are only used in dishes that they cook.
The public restroom I used downtown Nairobi was also a squat toilet.
We went to a restaurant called “Carnivore”, where we had ostrich meatballs and crocodile meat. The first one is strong, but very good. The reptile is fat and greasy, and reminds us of a mixture of chicken and fish.
We saw several Kenyan athletes training. They run everywhere, incredible distances, and show no sign of being tired.We saw on TV that the marathon winners were really upset, because they received no incentive from the government, NADA. They got a flat screen TV from a local store, and that’s it.

There are police barricades everywhere. After dark, in certain roads, every ½ mile you see a police check.

The anti-malaria medication we took is a preventive. You start taking it 2 days before the trip, and finish 7 days after you’re back. It’s expensive, something for foreigners.We were not attacked by mosquitos, but most of the people there has had malaria.
The Nigerian girl that went on safari with us had it 15 times in the same year. But they have a very effective treatment, if you take it right after the first symptoms.

At our orphanage there were cats, but for practical reasons. The mother would enter the living room, proudly showing off the rats she hunted.
In orphanages were other volunteers were, on the other side of the Ngong Hills (bordering the forest), the kids killed a black mamba (one of the most poisonous snakes in the world) right there in the garden. Every night they could hear hyenas and a neighbor was attacked by a leopard.
One of the volunteers was stung by a “Nairobi fly”, a tiny red fly/mosquito that causes a round burn, that takes weeks to disappear.

We met several nice friendly people.
Many stopped us in the street, told us we were welcome to their country, asked about us, shook our hands.
When we would say we were from Brazil, the reaction was always good. Everybody talked about Ronaldinho (soccer player).
They like teams from England there. While we were there, there was a match between Manchester and Milan. The whole orphanage was rooting for Manchester, but Kaka (a Brazilian), scored a few times for Milan, winning the game.

This part below now is for those not weak of stomach (or heart). Here we will talk about the biggest problems and the most difficult day, the last one, at the Kibera slum.
It’s up to you if you want to keep reading.

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As in any other country or big city of the world, there are two kinds of people: good and bad.

An upsetting thing was that they are always trying to take advantage of you.They assume that any foreigner (and white) has a lot of money, and that we have to pay much more for anything we buy.\
You have to check the change all the time, negotiate the price of matatu and taxi in advance, and bargain a lot for every single item you intend to buy.
We were taught to divide the original price by 4 and go from there, never paying more than 50% of the initial price.

Unfortunately, Kenya is much more dangerous than we thought.
Even being one of the most peaceful and calm countries of Africa, it’s still not easy.
There’s a gang (murderers for hire) called “mungiki”, which attacks in certain neighborhoods killing everyone that crosses their path (with machetes) and burning down buses and matatus.
Some unaware volunteers got robbed and even carjacked.
There are occasional tribe fights that end up with somebody dead.
And just a few miles from our orphanage, and American couple was killed last year.
We were on the base of the Ngong Hills, where until recently the previous president assassinated his opponent and anyone else who refused to join his corruption schemes.

That means, you have to follow the rules: white people should not be out on the streets after dark, and if you have to take a matatu (the vans), you have to do it before 4:00 pm.
You should not carry a lot of money or any valuables, no jewelry, and avoid certain areas.
But we knew we were protected and safe all the time, because there were lots of people praying for us.
We knew God had a purpose for this trip, and that His angels were with us all the time.
We took the bus a few times with no problem.

Corruption is king.
You want to get your driver’s licence? Just “buy” it. If you want to do it legally, you’ll still have to pay a bribe anyway.
You want to do military service or work in a public office? Only if you bribe a lot of people.
Donations to international aid organizations and orphanages? Most of it ends up in somebody’s pocket instead.
The new government is doing a lot of good things, but is very corrupt.

The kids at our orphanage are well, happy, growing and improving.
But their past history is very sad.
We know several were abused (in several ways), but we only asked a few things to Ruth. They moved on, and we didn’t want to bring up painful past memories.They are all orphans, most of them lost their parents because of AIDS, but also tuberculosis and other problems.
Once a year they visit their remaining relatives (siblings, cousins, uncles or whoever they still have). The relatives had to sign a letter in which they commit and guarantee nothing bad will have to the child. In this letter there are laws and consequences stated. The purpose and necessity of this letter is to avoid that a child ends up raped by his/her own uncle, for example…

We heard horrible stories about orphanages that “sell” children to foreign couples (which I believe come with good intentions trying to adopt).
And even worse, orphanages being a disguise for devil worship, with children being sacrificed (fortunately closed by the government a few years ago).
Today the State has a rigid control, with annual inspections, audits and regulations. If the conditions are not adequate, they close down the place.

There are so many orphans, that there are orphanages everywhere. We were in a rural area, 1 hour distance from the city, but the were at least 10 other orphanages around.

Saturday morning we said good-bye and went back to the city.
Since our flight was later that day, we decided to do the Kibera walk, a guided “tour” of the Kibera slum, to see how it was and deliver some gifts and donations to the kids there.
Our guide was a local (he lives in the slum), our safest option.

Kibera is a gigantic slum. There are more than 1 million people living there.
It’s estimated that 80% are HIV infected.

It’s much worse than any Brazilian slum. The biggest we have, Rocinha (in Sao Paulo), would be almost luxurious if compared to Kibera.

There is a main road, paved, were all the buses run. Then all the other streets, paths, are dirt (no pavement).
It’s almost like a city itself. There’s a lot of commerce (again those stands falling apart), a market.

With donations from NGOs and volunteers, a clinic and maternity was built, for them a big progress, but for us something we only imagine in the deep remote dry poor areas of north Brazil (sertao).
It’s free, they only pay a small (symbolic?) amount for service.

In Kenya there are quick AIDS tests, with results ready in 10 minutes.
There are 2 different tests, the lab technician explained us they check the anti-bodies.
But the test only works if the person has been infected for more than 3 months, so they have to repeat after this period.

If the person is HIV positive, the government supplies free medication.
But the problem is bigger than we think.
First, the person is completely discriminated. Even among relatives and family, nobody wants contact with the infected. Mothers isolated children, children ignore parent, siblings get away, etc.
These people have nobody to count on.
And according to other volunteers who work at the slum, many of them have nothing to eat. And since the AIDS medication is very strong, if they take the drugs on an empty stomach, it makes them feel even worse.

People have no notion of hygiene.
Until recently, there were two options to “answer nature’s call” (going to the restroom).
One is called the “flying toilet”. People did what they had to do in a plastic bag and threw it far away, not caring where the “product” was going to land.
The other option was to do it in any corner, in the street, behind the house, etc.
There is no sewage, no septic tanks, no running water and not many galleries for rain water flow.
So, you can imagine what used to happen when there was pouring rain and flooding. All this human waste (and animals as well, dogs, goats) would float and spread diseases all over.
The production/crew/cast of the movie “The Constant Gardener” built restrooms and public showers in several places of the slum, easily solving a complicated issue.
Of course is still not 100%, and some people that don’t need to be mentioned managed to step on s…

The UN built big tanks to store water, so that people no longer have to walk long distances to get water for cooking and drinking.

The houses are made of mud and branches, and the roof is a metal sheet. We entered the guide’s house, a tiny room where he lives with his wife and 5 kids.
The few clothes they have are hanged on the wall itself. Among their possessions, a small (very small) TV and a radio.
And he is one of the lucky guys, who’s employed (he chooses locations and guides TV crews who come to film documentaries in the slum – he was the one who chose the location for the Constant Gardener), and he’s kind of influent in the community.

Garbage is everywhere.

An “advantage” is that there, as opposed to Brazil, the slums are not dominated by the drug dealers.
Drugs there are serious business and if you get caught (as user) you get 7 years in jail. If you’re selling it (dealer), it’s life time imprisonment.
Even so, marijuana is very cheap and many children sniff (inhale?) glue.

But the biggest of this kind of problem is drinking.
They have home “breweries” and a glass of alcohol can be bought for 1 shilling = US$ 0.015.
We read sometimes they mix all kinds of things in the alcohol, including batteries, tapes, etc.
It seems last year somewhere in the country 50 people died after drinking one of these alcoholic-homemade-mix all beverages.

We saw a man selling barbecue, cow/ox feet (with hoof, fur and everything).

It’s very heartbreaking to see people, especially children, in that condition.
No human being should be submitted to such suffering.
It’s a level of poverty so absurd, our mind cannot conceive it. Ugliness, dirt, lack of everything.
But it’s real, and there are thousands and thousands of people living that every day.
Even so, when we talked to people, they do not seem to know how terrible the situation is.
They were born there, always lived like that, it’s the life they know, and some even seem to be comfortable with it.
Of course they have the wish to improve and move out of there, but excluding the ones that are abused, hungry or sick, the other seem somehow conformed (acceptance).

When we gave a pencil, a plastic medal, a sticker to the children, their eyes would sparkle, they would open up a big smile and seemed very happy.
They have no manners though, they didn’t learn to say please or thank you.

After 2 hours walking, our stomachs were blocked, our spirit and hearts were broken.
The problem is so big, it seems impossible to solve, and you feel completely powerless.
But if everybody does a little bit, if everyone donates something, if the governments and business people of these world would unite, if the non-profits and NGOs worked together, if people started acting, slowly things could change and improve.

This made us realize Brazil, with all its problems, is still in a much better condition than the African people.
We are priviledged (blessed), and we should be very, very grateful for everything we are and have.
And as such, we have an obligation to do our part and help in anything possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s in Africa, in Brazil or in our own community anywhere.