Life in Kenya

Kenya is an enriching experience to all our senses!!! This can be clearly seen in Rongai, a suburb situated about 35mins from Nairobi city, where my sister Dine and I have been living for the past 2 ½ weeks.

Dine and I are one of the very few ‘mzungus’ in this area, which in their Kiswhahili language translates to ‘white people’. We are called this name by children, teenagers, adults, elderly people, you name it. Some children come to us on the streets to touch our skin and then run away. I think to them, who have never seen mzungus before, we look more or less like ‘aliens’. J At first, people look at us suspiciously… then, when say to them ‘habari yako’ (how are you?), they open the biggest smile and greet us back. Kenyans are very friendly people! According to our host father Wangure, the total population of white people in Kenya is less than one percent.

The children at the orphanage may think that we look different but they are all coming to a realization that we are all equal. Frederick and I sealing our friendship at Overcomers Centre for Orphans.


Making new friends

Markets can be found everywhere in Nairobi city. The Rongai Market sells everything from food to clothes, to toys and medicines. My sister and I often have to bargain very hard in all tents to pay a fair price for our fruits as they often want to charge us mzungu price. It’s an amusing experience bargaining with Kenyan people! We all have a good laugh with them. J

Rongai Market

Shops around the main road in all areas of Nairobi city are great stimulators to our visual sense along with their marketing signs.

Shops with great visual polution

In Nairobi city big outdoors can be found, but in suburbs further away from the city, such as Rongai, these advertisement signs are more easily seen everywhere along the main road.

Advertisement Signs

They sell absolutely everything you can imagine on the sidewalks next to the main road, not only in Rongai, but everywhere around Nairobi. What captured most my attention were these funeral stones for sale.

Funeral Stones for sale on the streets

According to our host father, quarry workers receive an average wages of $300 Kshs (shillings) per day, which is equivalent to US$3.65 dollars. This photo was taken right next to the main road in Rongai. This looked like a very primitive job as there were no machines to be seen, but only manual workers turning big rocks into stones with small hammers.  This quarry is located on the opposite side of the road from the orphanage, where Dine and I have been working. Every day we pass by, we receive a warming welcome from the quarry workers. J

Quarry Workers

On the streets of Nairobi, animals can be seen roaming everywhere around the streets. The ones most commonly seen are donkeys, cows and goats. This donkey cart was in our host family house one day to deliver water. By the way, I forgot to mention that for the last 2 ½ weeks, my sister and I have been taking what we call of ‘splash’ showers. J Lack of running water is a common thing in many areas of Nairobi city. The good news is that our host family provided us with a kettle, which we use to boil the water to take our hot shower.

Going back to the donkeys, the only thing that breaks my heart is to see some owners beating these hard worker animals so hard with their whips. When I see a donkey with a wound on their skin, from being severely beaten by their owners, I have to turn my face away. In saying that, our host father Wangure told us that nowadays donkeys are being beaten a lot less by their owners.

Donkey Cart

Our transportation to and from home to the orphanages is done by ‘matatus’ or vans. There are also some colorful private buses around (no such a thing as public buses!) but they come around as often as the matatus. The drivers are just maniacs! When my sister and I are not laughing, we seriously think we are going to die on their hands. J We also have to bargain with them nearly everyday to pay the same price as Kenyans pay for their fares. The good thing is that some of them are seeing Dine and I day after day and are slowly stopping overcharging us.

A common feature of all the matatus is that they play songs very loudly. People don’t complain about this, they accept that ‘it is the way it is’. One cheeky matatu had a sticker saying ‘if it’s too loud, you are too old’. I’m especially fond of matatus playing mellow songs, particularly in the early mornings on our way to the orphanages. After all, no one deserves loud American rap songs first thing in the day. I think I’m getting old… J

Bus & Matatus Terminal

This is our host family house, in Rongai. My sister and I share a room in the house downstairs, while our host family lives in the house upstairs. There was another volunteer from Australia sharing the house with us, but she has now left.

Host Family House

Our host family is lovely. We are living with a Pastor called Wangure, his wife Margaret and their two children Violet (15yo) and Vincent (12yo). We share breakfast and dinner with them daily. We have to pray before each meal, before leaving the house and before going to bed. The family members take turn to pray and they also include the volunteers, who are requested to lead the pray every now and then. By the time we have dinner, usually between 8pm and 9pm, I’m so hungry that when it’s my turn to pray I always thank the food we are about to receive. J

Host Family - Pastor Wangure, me, Violet, Vincent & Margaret

And this is our home pet. He doesn’t have a name as he is about to turn into food very soon, so my sister and I just named him ‘cute rabbit’. He only gets fed kale (the most popular green in Kenya). To make his life a bit more pleasing, I’ve feeding him a carrot every day. As soon as he hears my voice, he puts his paws on the wire fence to greet me. It puts a big smile on my face. J

Cute Pet Rabbit