Baby making

Am sitting in Mom's office enjoying this country's high speed internet when one of Mom's nurses stops by to say hello and to give me her 2 cents at the obvious - "your mom really wants grandchildren, you know. I already have 2," she says with a proud grin. "And just so you know, you don't need a husband to get a baby anymore. Back in my day, if you had a child out of wedlock, you were called a slut, but these days, oh no, you can have a baby without a man with no problem to ya." She goes on to tell me how her daughter just went ahead and got impregnated by a sperm donor and "she's doing just fine." She gives me a hinting look as if to say, "you could do that too, you know!" I grinned back at her and, just for kicks, told her that I'd definitely consider her idea.

A conversation with Dad

My father is coming to East Africa for the first time early February. To get him upbeat and excited about the trip, I've been giving him a daily sprinkling of cool aspects of daily life in Kenya. Here is this morning's tidbit:

Me: "Dad, Dad, so in Kenya, one of the cool things you'll need to try are the  hard-boiled eggs with pilipili."

Dad: "Pilipili, huh?"

Me: "Yeah, there are these vendors that stand out on the street. They carry with them these huge plastic containers full of freshly boiled, hard-boiled eggs."

Dad "Uhuh."

Me: "When you order one from them, they have this neat way of grabbing you're selected egg with a plastic bag and pealing it without having ever touched the egg with their bare hands. So it's sanitary, you see, Dad?"

Dad: "Yup, gottit, so what's the big deal about the egg?"

Me: "Well, after they peal your egg, they slice it open with a knife, sprinkle it with salt, and then cover it with this spicy salsa that is just to die for."

Dad: "And then what?"

Me: "Then you eat it."

Dad: "What about the broken shells?"

Me: "They throw those on the ground."

Dad responds by raising an eyebrow in disapproval about people throwing eggshells on the ground part, as opposed to in the garbage or compost (love my Dad for that - he's so GREEN).

Me: "Yeah, but anyway, Dad, the egg and salsa...it's really good."

Dad: "Hymm, well how do you eat it?"

Me: "Just like that, Dad. They just give it to you in the plastic bag they've been using to prep your egg."

Dad: "They don't give you a fork and knife?"

I take a moment to study Dad's expression. No humor there. That was a serious question. I smile, "no fork and knife, Dad. You just pop the egg in your mouth. 2 or 3 bites and you're done! You'll love it, don't worry."

Dad: "Hymph. We'll see." Then he lightens up a bit, "I might have difficulty eating something like that though." He turns and gives me his famous I-just-made-a-joke-grin, "my whiskers would get in the way!" He chuckles to himself and walks away.

For all his idiosyncrasies and eccentricities, my Dad cracks me up more than any human being on the planet. He and I drive each other nuts sometimes, but you know how it is... Our parents are the ones who raised us, have seen us at our most ashamed, proud, emotional, what have you. They've been there to help us clean up the pieces after this or that relationship, to boast on our behalf and pull the curtain when we're not doing so hot. Our love for, and dedication to them runs so deep that not even the most bitter of disagreements or longest periods apart can change how much we care for them. So as much as I have certainly learned the importance of deep, chaturanga breathing during Dad's emotional moments, I adore him to pieces. And by the way, for the record, you will never see a smile on face in your direction if you mistreat him. Treat him like gold however and I will love you, bending over backwards in your times of need. 

Sometimes Fate calls and sometimes it YELLS!

October saw me leading my first circuit ride to the sandy expanse of Dadaab, Kenya - home to the world's largest refugee settlement. Though certainly not free of challenges, the ride was a success both in terms of refugee processing and in me keeping my team safe in the midst of the escalating insecurity that has now led to the current war between Kenya and al-Shabaab. I returned home to Nairobi thoroughly exhausted, but relieved having done my very best during a ride where so many things COULD HAVE, but DIDN'T go wrong.

In the field, members of our field team works long hours on weekdays, weekends and holidays. When we get back to Nairobi therefore we are given much deserved R and R. This time around, I was allotted 8 days. 

Now, I am not usually the most superstitious person. If a black cat looks like it might cross my path, I do hold my breath hoping that it won't, but if it does walk in front of me, I won't let it ruin my day. If I find a heads-up coin or a four-leaf clover, I will count myself as lucky, but I am not the type to go planning my days according to my horoscope. Last week however, an idea popped into my head as if slipped in there by God Himself (well, actually by my bf) and then Life found a way of popping in coincidences that just so happened to work in favor of that very idea becoming a reality. 

Before revealing the idea though, I must interject that recently I have been struck by an almost overwhelming amount of homesickness - the kind of homesickness that leaves you in tears staring forlorn into the unseeable distance. The ME wanting to be strong was frustrated with these feelings, but for the life of me, I couldn't shake them. I started stressing myself out wondering when I'd be able to move back to the States (if ever), wanting to live close to my parents like my brother, and even feeling bitterness towards my bf seeing him as the one keeping me far away from home as opposed to the job I've chosen and still enjoy. Needless to say, I wasn't in a good spot emotionally. And so, my ever patient bf suggested to the teary-eyed me that I try going home for a visit rather than immediately entertaining rash ideas of moving back completely. 

It started just like that. A simple idea planted in my head by someone I love.

Coincidence 1: I Expedia (yes I'm making that a verb) round-trip tickets to the States. I expected the rates to be at least 1.5K. I find a ticket for 1,017USD, inclusive of all taxes. 

"Interesting," I think to myself. 

Coincidence 2: My 8 days of R and R conveniently line up with Thanksgiving and the Friday after (also an office holiday) meaning 2 full weeks of me having nothing to do. 

"Interesting," I think to myself. 

Coincidence 3: I must admit that after the above 2 coincidences, I did get a tad bit excited, but that optimism was immediately dampened by the realization that I no longer had my passport in my possession. Just like in any country, foreigners working in Kenya require a work permit issued by the Kenyan Government. Mine was about to expire so my office had re-submitted my passport to get a new permit issued. The problem, however, is always that nobody knows when the Government will actually issue you your permit. Sometimes it takes 2 weeks, other times it take months. My passport had been with the Government for a month, so it was anybody's guess as to when it would come back to me.

The following workday, I asked my friend and colleague in HR to check up on my passport. "I'm toying with the idea of flying home to surprise my parents, but can't even consider the idea if I'm without my passport. Do you think it might be ready?" She gave me a doubtful look, but agreed to do me the favor of checking in. 

The next day rolls in and my friend/colleague has a big grin on her face. "You'll never guess what I have with me," she says to me, barely able to conceal her excitement. "No way...," I say as I realize what she might be hinting at. She then dives her hand into her pocket and reveals my passport with my new permit intact! "You're good to go, lady! Go surprise your family!" 

I bought my tickets as soon as I returned home, booking a departure for the following Monday at 10:55PM. But there was one more possible hitch. I was scheduled for surgery Monday morning, a surgery I could no longer put off. 

 Coincidence 4:  The weekend flies by, as it always does when I am in Nairobi (I blame it on a certain Kenyan). Early Monday morning, my bf takes a jumpy me to Aga Khan Hospital. I haven't packed anything for my trip and I'm nervous that something will go wrong during the surgery that will keep me in the hospital longer than planned. We're shown my room in the private wing, I change into my surgical gown and I'm wheeled off to the theatre (aka "operating room"in my part of the world) where I'm told corny jokes by the nurses and knocked out cold moments later by the anesthesiologist. 

I end up having to stay at the hospital till 6. Thankfully my bf is there for me throughout and assist the very groggy and dizzy me get home safely. I distinctly remember feeling as if I had somehow downed 5 shots of Zappa. All I wanted to do was crash and even the simplest questions by our driver or even my bf seemed to be the most confusing ever! Fortunately I didn't crash and managed to throw at least a shirt or two in my bag before my bf carefully led the very chemically drunk me to the airport-bound taxi. 

Coincidence 5: Both my flight to Dubai and my connecting flight to JFK were on-time and smooth. 

Coincidence 6: My JASC friend from way back agreed to host me for an overnight in NYC and just so happened to have an apartment located 2 minutes from Penn Station (where I take my trains to Upstate NY). 

Coincidence 7: ...And this is perhaps the most shocking of them all, my father who LOOOOVES to talk was actually able to keep it a secret from my mother that I would be visiting. 

------

And then comes the grand finale. 

Dad calls Mom at work and tells her this grand fabrication about how 2 of their old buddies from NYC had randomly decided to pop by Cooperstown (our village) for a surprise visit. "Oh how wonderful," Mom replies, "will I be able to see them too?" "Oh yes," Dad answers smoothly, "I actually already invited the 2 of them to join us at Bocca  for dinner this evening. We're meeting at 7. You'll meet us there?" "Got it," replies Mom obliviously. 

Several hours later, a confused Mom walks into Bocca. She sees Dad, but no buddies from NYC. "Where are they," she asks Dad while craning her neck to look around. I walk out from my hiding spot. Mom had thought that she wouldn't get to see me for another year mind you. She looked at me and her mouth dropped. 

"Wha...what are you...what are you doing here," she asked me, her voice already faltering?  

And then the flush to her cheeks came. "What are you doing here??" <bear hug> "What are you doing here, Amity? What are you doing here?" <question repeated x100> And then the happy tears came. And came and...it was one of my happiest moments. Those happy tears of my mother, they're the stuff I live on. 

It feels so good to be home.  

Nippon ni modoritai

Perhaps it is because so much of my life has been focused around work lately, but I have been increasingly nostalgic for the life in the States and Japan recently. The latter feeling was intensified yesterday when I payed a visit to a local fishery in Westlands, called Aloha. Every Tuesday and Friday they get shipments of freshly caught fish straight from Mombasa.Yesterday being Tuesday, I was able to purchase SUSHI GRADE tuna for the very affordable price of 350 shillings. Inspired by the mere idea of having access to sushi grade tuna in AFRICA, I rushed off to the home business of a Japanese friend of mine in order to purchase nori (seaweed), wasabi (horse radish) and Ugandan rice (the closest thing Kenya has to the sumptuous short-grained, sticky rice of Japan). My Japanese friend seemingly hadn't spoken in Japanese for a while and gladly chatted on and on with me for, ohhh, I'd say a good 30 minutes! Surprisingly my Japanese skills are still very much in tact, even after a year and a half away from Japan. It felt so GOOD chatting away with her. Not that we talked about anything that interesting, but the stereotypical mannerisms she has as a native Japanese seriously made my heart pound with pure joy! I really miss Japan. I miss the people, the food, the culture, I miss the little things that made up my life there. I left in March 2010. Wonder when I'll finally get a chance to go back again?

Dadaab showers

Rainstorms in Dadaab take your breath away. One minute the skies are blue, the sand is blistering under your sandaled feat and the sun is so hot on the back of your neck that you feel like an ant being tortured by a 4 year old with a magnifying glass. The next minute you can hardly hear because the rain is crashing down with such intensity on the tin roof above you. Even those with excellent focus must stop and stare wide-eyed out the doorway as curtains of rain pelt the sand below. The rain stops 20 minutes later and everybody exhales seemingly simultaneously, as if in their awe-struck observation of the  turbulent rains, they'd accidentally held their breath the entire time. This part of the world has been dry for far too long. Crops have withered and bore holes have run dry. But now the rains have come again and the Somalis breath a sigh of relief. The last several months have seen tens of thousands of their brothers and sisters flee for their lives and too often collapse with starvation. Now the rains have come and God willing, a breath of rejuvenated life. 

Dadaab - a humanitarian crisis

It's surreal to be here - in the heart of the world's largest humanitarian aid effort. Dadaab already hosted the largest refugee population in the world. Then the summer of 2011 saw drought and famine in Somalia, northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. Dadaab then saw thousands of Somalis DAILY fleeing into Kenya in search of safety and sustenance. I have heard that the UN has managed to receive 1,000 per day, but even those numbers do not reflect the actual population flows Dadaab has been overwhelmed with. The current number of registered refugees in Dadaab is around 455,000. MSF estimates that by the end of this year, the number of Somalis seeking refuge in Dadaab's refugee camps will pass 500,000. The UN, IOM, MSF and other aid organizations are doing their very best to provide the refugees with the aid they need, but with #s increasing daily, al-Shabaab led violence, kidnappings and carjackings on the rise, providing sufficient aid is proving difficult. MSF recently posted statistics on their website which state that in a recent nutrition survey of children seeking refuge in the the outskirts of one of Dadaab's 4 camps, "37.7 percent of children between six months and five years old were suffering from acute malnutrition," while "43.3 percent of children between five and 10 years old were malnourished." 

Referenced article: 

http://www.msf.org/msf/articles/2011/08/dadaab-kenya-somalis-fighting-for-survival.cfm

Kidnappings in Dadaab

14 Oct 2011

Update on the two MSF staff abducted in Kenya

Yesterday, Thursday October 13, an MSF team suffered an attack in Dadaab, Kenya. One of the MSF drivers, Mohamed Hassan Borle, age 31, was injured during this attack; his medical condition is stable, he is out of danger and remains hospitalized. Two international staff, both Spanish, were taken. As yet, MSF has not been able to establish contact with the two staff taken. A crisis team has been set up to deal with this incident.

The two Spanish colleagues abducted are Montserrat Serra, age 40, from Girona (Palafrugell) and Blanca Thiebaut, age 30, from Madrid, both working as logisticians for MSF in the Dadaab refugee camp. Their families have been informed. MSF is calling on all media to respect the privacy of the families in this difficult time.

"We are in regular contact with the families of our colleagues involved and relevant authorities since the first moments. We are doing all we can to ensure their safe and swift return. Our thoughts are with them and their families," says José Antonio Bastos, president of MSF in Spain.

Following the attack, MSF has evacuated part of its team working in Dagahaley and Ifo, two of the three refugee camps in Dadaab. As a consequence, crucial medical activities had to be stopped. However, MSF is still maintaining its life-saving activities.

This attack is jeopardizing the assistance to thousands of people in urgent need of humanitarian aid and a quick and satisfactory solution is necessary.

These incidents call for prudence and discretion. In order to facilitate the best and swiftest resolution of the incident, MSF will not provide further information for the moment nor will it comment on statements, rumors or public information related to it.

MSF is also calling on all actors involved to refrain from commenting publicly about this incident. “The current publicity around the incident is particularly unhelpful, for it can only hurt the families and jeopardize efforts to get our colleagues back,” says Bastos.

 

MSF started providing medical assistance in Dadaab in 2009.

 

Source: http://www.msf.org/msf/articles/2011/10/en/update-on-the-two-msf-staff-abducted-in-kenya.cfm