Hakuna matata in Kenya

Getting to know local school kids at Mamba village

Jambo! Habari? Mzuri sana.(How is it going? Very well.) All’s well in Nairobi.

Sorry for the "radio silence"; modern technology is failing me in the form of wireless network issues (or is that just me...). More posts to come in later but here is a short summary on the first two days.

There is no wasting time with this group of people! Met most of team in person for the first time face to face at 8am for breakfast after 3,5 hrs of poor sleep but got really energized when meeting everyone. Although we have only been talking over the phone and hundreds of mails there was a feeling of belonging and knowing them all. Really nice and interesting team we have here: 12 people from 11 different countries...

During the first day in the country we saw already a lot: an elephant rescue center for baby elephants, giraffe breeding center including feeding these long tailed graceful animals (oh boy, they have a long, blue and slimy tongue…). It was wonderful to see these typical African animals already. Had a good laugh when watching the baby elephants playing. They were like human babies pushing each other and stealing the leaves from a friend. Their caretakers told that their have different characteristics one is playful, one is naughty, one is calm and nice etc. This center releases the animals back to nature when they are ready to survive on their own. Lovely place to visit!

Maasai people dancing

Baby elephant having a good time with a tree branch

Feeding giraffe

In the Saturday evening we had really fun and relaxed group dinner in very nice environment. We met the local NGO called DOT (Digital Opportunity Trust) reps Muriuki and Alex, who are doing incredible job in taking care of us and organizing this experience for the team. We have felt welcome and certainly feel we are here for a purpose.

Sunday was another eventful and fun filled day with the team and DOT. Got a valuable overview on Kenyan politics, background, history and their strategy for the next decades. Our sub team projects are all closely related to the vision of Kenya going forward and information we received will help us executing the work. I feel very privileged to be working in this team and for this purpose. It really feels we are doing this for a good cause and will hopefully contribute our tiny bit for the bigger picture and development of this country. Momentum is here!!

Visit to the Bomas of Kenya - a cultural center of Kenya - was excellent. Dances of different tribes (there are 42 different tribes / communities in Kenya!!) with colorful clothing and wonderful rhythms as well as exploring the different tribal villages (like Luo and Kuria tribes) gave a great introduction to the culture of this beautiful country.

Well, not too much fun...the real work has already started this Sunday evening and we are now ready to present our work plans to the clients tomorrow morning. Pretty exciting as the audience will also include representatives from ministries of Kenya. No pressure, eh... ;-)

Photos to follow as soon as possible (Yes, we are taking dozens of them all the time! You should see some of the lenses that people have!! So taking photographing very seriously here :-DD)

That's it for now. Have noticed already that we will be very busy here but will keep you posted how things go. In general I am just so happy to be here. What an opportunity that does not come across that often...will get memories for a lifetime!