Hey people,

I haven't had a chance to touch base much since getting to Africa. Internet is found only in major cities and even here in the capital city of Kenya it doesn't work about half the time. I'll attempt an update but must keep it quick as I'm jumping on a train in a few minutes. We arrived in Nairobi two weeks ago- I'm here on a school course studying slum upgrading in Kenya and Tanzania. (Upgrading is the process of formalizing slums/informal settlements/squatter settlements by land rights and improving infrastructure). So, the ten of us take turns leading case studies of various slums- we typically meet w/ officials and then tour the slum projects for the rest of the day. We are still working in Kenya and our guide is the Kenya Slum Upgrading office within the Ministry of Housing. So far we've covered 5 case studies in about 8 slums. The first week and a half were spent in Nairobi and we then travelled to Kisumu on Lake Victoria. The conditions of the slums are, of course, appalling- though they are also places of bustling street activity, commerce, .... and really cute kids. We saw the worst conditions on our first day, in the Kibera slum- considered the largest slum in Africa with over a million residents. Walking in sewage, children playing on garbage heaps... you get the idea. We are quite a sight in the slums-- kids can spot a white person from about a mile away and dash up to see the 'mzungu', touch them, and give the only English phrase they know, 'how are yooooooo?'. The population of Nairobi is made up of about 60% slums... so no one knows exactly how big it is--- 2m? 6m? Estimates vary. The central district was essentially built entirely in the last 50 years, in appearance it is stuck in the 70s. Traffic is insane (ever seen a traffic circle with stop lights in the middle? they don't work) and the air pollution from automobiles is unbelievable.

We rented cars to get to Kisumu, a large city on Lake Victoria- not the best idea considering the road there is more pot-hole than road. We often found the dirt shoulder of the road in better condition. According to a friend, workers do a poor job fixing the road so they can be assured a job next year. The seven hour drive was completely insane! The city of Kisumu was not quite as trying as Nairobi- highlights include eating Tilapia on the shore of Lake Victoria and going to a live music show of tribal Luo music in one of our slums.

We've had a chance to see some wildlife- zebras, giraffes, monkeys, warthogs, wildebeests, flamingos, etc- and hope to see more if we can work in a safari in Tanzania.

Our schedule stands as follows: tonight we catch an overnight train to Voi for a meeting and a slum visit tomorrow, then take the train to Mombasa- our last stop in Kenya. Then it is off to Tanzania- Dar es Salaam (my case study), Zanzibar, and then Arusha. I'll stay behind in Arusha as the group leaves around the 4th of July. The plan there is to go to Serengeti National Park to see some animals, sit in on the Rwanda genocide trials in Arusha, and then trek Mt. Kilimanjaro. It is going to be hard to find email in the upcoming weeks so contact might be spotty- but hope all is well and give me a holler if you get a shot. (And mom, don't be concerned if I don't respond for awhile.) So much has happened in the last couple weeks and I'll definitely send out a link to photos in the future, because that is really the only way to imagine some of it- especially the squalor of the slums.

Train time!

-Lauren