Karibu Kisayani

These past 3 weeks I have spent getting to know the area of Kisayani, learning to cook local food, exploring the pipeline area, and conducting interviews. I have already finished 8 interviews and have a good introductory picture of some of the contributions and challenges of the water project. This is something I will comment on in more depth later. But for this post, I’ll update on my day-to-day activities and what I have been learning.

Baobab trees not far from my house

A few of the children

I have been here long enough to get to know some of the people around my area. My home is shared with about a dozen children and a few mamas who are their mothers, or hired to care for them. I wake every day to their crying and/or laughing have slowly begun to befriend me, though they were at first skeptical of me. The other children in town have made a habit to chasing me through town repeatedly shouting Mzungu (‘white-man’). While I am used to this from Tanzania, these kids are relentless. Plus the cuteness of it wears off quickly. I decided to teach them my name, so instead they chase me shouting my name repeatedly—a bit of an improvement, I guess. I tried learning their names, but there are too many of them, so I just shout back ‘Mtoto!’ (meaning: ‘little kid!’). I have also gotten to know where to buy the best veggies, who to go to for Papaya, and made friends in the market area, which has been beneficial.

Second on the left is all mine

Thus, I have not stared to death. In fact, I have learned to cook ugali (maize meal) and several other dishes (pilau—spiced rice, sikumawiki—boiled kale, and maharagwe—beans). When I tell Kenyan most Canadians have never heard or seen of such a dish, they are astounded as it is a daily meal for them. I ate it everyday if not twice when I was in Tanzania and didn’t have much of a taste for it, but for some reason the ugali here is actually delicious. I have also learned to cook beans (who knew how difficult it could be to cook them once they had been dried—I will never take for granted canned beans.) Tomorrow, the local police chief has organized a feast; he could not believe that I had not killed a chicken. So tomorrow I get to kill 3. The chicken I bought from the market actually ran away since I didn't know how to tie it up. After about half an hour frantically searching in the dark I found it... first time I ever lost a meal.

Cooking up a storm with Njoki - my UNairobi partner

I often get asked what our staple foods are, and what we grow. They are amazed just 5% of Canadians are farmers, and that we simply buy butchered chicken and have no idea how to harvest or process grains. I often avoid explaining how big area farms are and how much our land cost, since many farmers have just 1 acre or less and pay just $50-1000 for it.

As for work, each day is unpredictable. The interviews I schedule often don’t happen, and then they do it is often in the middle of another one I am doing. Moreover, the interviews are sometimes done in Swahili 
with a translator. My decent ...

Line-up for water at a kiosk

...comprehension of Swahili is good enough to know how much I am missing, but without knowing what exactly is lost in translation. At times people don’t understand Swahili well enough and I have to use a tertiary translator to go from Swahili to Kikamba (the local mother-tongue). One of the most frustrating things I deal with, is having to attain one's signature before the interview begins. Due to our Western bureaucracy and formality, research ethics requires me to hand out 3 page documents in English explaining the interview, research, and protocol before the interview begins. When they have been walked through it, I need to get their signature. Despite their verbal consent, many are very reluctant to sign as in Kenyan culture they are never or rarely asked to sign anything that doesn’t commit or bind them to something significant. Research ethic protocol is supposed to respect individual’s rights, but in this context and culture it seems to intrude on it more than respect it.

Kiosk without working water

Regardless work is coming along and I am learning lots. I have made several bodaboda trips (motor bike taxis) to the far ends of the pipelines to visit each of the kiosks and interview some households in those areas. These always prove eventful as I realize how Kisayani is much more developed than these areas, many of them lack electricity, selection of goods, access to basic medicines, and simple shops. Sadly, I have found that some of the communities at the very ends of the pipeline are not receiving water.


I am learning to conserve water myself (10L bucket showers) and also boiling the water I need to drink. It is still extremely dry here. Every interview has reaffirmed the bad drought for the past 4 years, and how it is affecting their crops and the water supply of the project (as well as demand). Along with the local farmers, I too am awaiting the rains which are to come in a week or so, and the transformation they will bring to the environment.

It has been a great experience thus far. The Kenyan reputation of being warm and welcoming is well surpassed, and my work is moving along. 


Stay tuned for:

• rain and greenery
• mangos
• pictures of me killing the chicken that ran away