How to Properly Kiss a Giraffe....

This past Saturday we decided to go and visit the Giraffe center in "Karen", a neighborhood to the west of the city.  It was a beautiful day, which we got to enjoy for a long time while queued up in traffic.  Jammed is a better term and is the normal condition for traffic in Nairobi - and Saturday is no exception. The center itself was pretty small with about 7 giraffes in residence. That makes the name of the center (a few) remarkably honest.  Note how high the altitude is on the sign.  Even though we are on the equator the high altitude tempers the heat.  The days are normally just a bit chilly if the sun is not out, which is almost every day as this is the rainy season.  Everyone at work is bundled up and asking about how we are taking the cold weather - but for us it is light jacket at the worst and normally about perfect.  It sounds like it only varies from the low 50's to the high 80's here so it is really a very mild climate.  I have not seen any sign of either heating or air conditioning in any building I have been in, including our apartment.

Dorothy with a new friend

Kimberley with a very good new friend

So, How do you properly kiss a Giraffe?  I think the first challenge is to get up to their level.  A nice hut on stilts helps with that immensely.  Next having a giraffe handy is essential.  A group of Rangers to call them over when they have wandered will help out there.  How to tempt the Giraffe to engage closely is the next problem.  A handful of their favorite food pellets will get their attention.  Finally the kiss itself - one must place a food pellet where the kiss is desired.  Get ready for a big, black, slimy, raspy tongue the size of a banana to come for the pellet.  Did I try it?  If there is no photo it never happened - right?

Warthogs too!

There were also Warthogs hanging out and other creatures in the bushes that we could not get clear sight of.  I was lucky they did not recognize me and attempt vengeance for all the troubles I have inflicted on their brethren across the seas. 

Welcome to AMREF

Courtyard of AMREF HQ

Our first day at the African Medical and Relief Foundation was Tuesday 6/19 and what a welcome it was.  We got an initial introduction to the organizations structure, then we  proceeded to be introduced to absolutely everyone in the building.  Everyone was glad to see us and many related to us what an important partner GSK is to their efforts. The two organizations have been working together for over 20 years in various projects.  The rest of the week the introductions continued as we had a very well coordinated series of briefings from all the department heads to introduce us to the scope and breath of their efforts.  

The Flying Doctors roll too!

AMREF is over 50 years old and was initially started as the Flying Doctors in 1957 by 3 surgeons: Michael Wood, Archibald McIndoe and Tom Rees.  These three piloted rough strip capable small planes into the most remote areas of east Africa to deliver surgery and medical treatment in the roughest conditions.  Their legacy continues to this day as AMREF continues to deliver surgeons and emergency evacuation services across east Africa.  We found through the briefings that the organization has grown past that important initial mission into one of the most respected Non Governmental Organisations in the region.

Kimberley, Garret and Dorothy showing off 
their new Volunteer badges on their first day

Kimberley and I will be working in the Directorate of Capacity Expansion under Peter Ngatia on planning the expansion of their Community Healthcare Worker program.  Dorothy is a Research Chemist and will be working in their medical labs on improvement of quality processes.

Kimberley and Dorothy with some Training materials

After only a week of introductions and background briefings I can't say I know it all about this great organization.  But we are ready to start digging into the definition of the project and getting more specific on the tasks at hand.  

Welcome to Kenya

It turned out to be quite a long day on Saturday 6/16.  I thought it was going to start with a low key brunch  in the company of my partner Kimberley and her husband Josh.  Brunch it was but we had quite a mob of her family and friends there to see her off.  I felt like part of their extended family right off and was really enchanted by how they took me in and the friendship I immediately felt with them all.  There were some toasts and lots of goodwill wishes to carry with us.

  

Kimberley Burbidge                   Dorothy Aikins

The flight From London to Nairobi turned out to be pretty long sleepless night.  We left at 8pm,  flew all night, and about 6am we landed and found our way to the customs area.  We had gone to great lengths before leaving to get "special passes"  for our Visa's so we thought it would be a breeze through the entry point.  Kimberley had the foresight to have us fill out regular visa applications anyway and that turned out to be a pretty smart move.  About an hour later when we got up to the officer it turned out he had never heard of a special pass - so tourist visa's it was!   No problem, we were good to go.  No one cared about looking in our bags and a driver from our apartments was waiting for us.  Pretty easy overall for the two of us.  Our colleague Dorothy would not be so lucky on her journey.  She was traveling directly from RDU and as a result of delay missed a connection.  She was rerouted though Istanbul from Zurich and ended up coming in about 10 hours late, a tiresome journey.  We collected her about 4am and all was good in the end.

Driving from the Airport to our apartment was my first sight of the city and I will be struggling to convey a holistic impression of it.  Some areas of the city look like any common inner city area you might find in the states.  In other places it is an understatement to say it is quite different.  I am sure I will be continuing to describe those differences in future posts, but here is a starter. 

Scaffolding, African Style.
Yes, those are just sticks tied together

Everywhere you go there are buildings in various states of construction.  Lots look to have been started and then halted mid stream.  Many of the unfinished ones seem to be occupied as you can see clothes lines and various possessions in the open floors.  The little motor bikes are absolutely everywhere and they have no limits in the traffic.  No matter if the lines of cars are stopped, the bikes will be zipping around and in between them all.  The also can carry the most magnificent burdens.  I saw one with 5 full sized auto tires wrapped all about the driver one afternoon.   

There are small markets all over the city that sell an amazing variety of goods.  Here are some photos that I just took from the car as we drove past.  We will no doubt be getting to know these better as we get the opportunity to explore on foot some more.  There are also food vendors and a favorite seems to be grilled corn on the cob - Reminds me of the State Fair! 

Something that has been a surprise has been the guards who search everyone as the enter any public place.  We are searched every time we enter anywhere that might have a crowd - including shopping malls and grocery stores.  We were even searched before entering Church today!   Men and Women always queue into separate lines for the search.

Ok, that's all I have on the city for now.  On an upcoming post I will have some pictures from the Giraffe center on the outskirts of town.  Until then

 See you later! 

Half way there...

Tower Bridge London

The flight was just overnight but the journey actually started in January 2012.  That is when I made my first application to the GSK Global Pulse program in about 3000 words of answers to essay questions.  But on June 11  I finally had passed all the gates, the only one left was the one at the airport and that plane headed to London.

I headed over a little early so I could meet some of the people running the program who I had been working with at a distance.  The program itself is the invention of our CEO Andrew Witty, who took office about 4 years ago and wanted to give a genuine opportunity to the people in GSK to go to the most needy places in the world.  Give people six months to make a real and lasting contribution, to actually help people in a significant way.  The Gift of Time.

Since I wasn't on an expense account I stayed in a youth hostel in London.  If you want to only spend 25 pounds a night this is a great way to do it.  Of course, you need to share your room with 6 other guys, but they are all interesting people mostly travelling the world.  Everyone has a great story to tell and you can just hang out in common rooms chatting at any hour.  So I recommend YHA Earls Court - right downtown, close to a Tube stop, clean and friendly.

Yeomen Warder

Being the born tourist I had to go to the Tower of London.   This is not as much a tower as a old fort that has been built onto and expanded over the centuries.  I joined in a tour given by one of the Yeomen Warders and was colorful, heavy in history, and pretty gory.  Politics was a full contact sport in the old days and this was the spot where they kept the penalty box.  

Inside the buildings they keep Crowns, Jewels, Swords, Armour, Torture Gear,  and all kinds of Cannons.  But what can compare to a dragon made of out of shields, helmets, and other odd bits?  This was way cool.

London has been around quite a while and it's a mix of new and old.  Right across the Thames from the Tower looks like a set from a Star Trek movie.   


A very interesting and fun city.


Next stop:  Nairobi!