Africa Expat Wives Club

• Commuters in Nairobi and the infamous Nairobi fly
  I did the early school run this morning.  We left home at around 6.05am.  Admittedly, it's only the second time I've done this run (my husband normally goes) but now I'm filled with ideas over how to change the world for the better (of course).  Namely, high-visibility vests for pedestrians and cyclists.  I saw a couple of people wearing them today and they really are effective.
  
  If I was a government/aid organisation and had a budget to save lives in Nairobi, this is what I'd invest in.  I might start with handing out high-viz vests to employees of private guarding firms (they are to-ing and fro-ing from their...
  
  
• Tiger mothering ... even in Nairobi - or should we say lion mothering?
  
  
  
  The beginning of this school term has been like charging headlong into a maelstrom - then the realisation that I've turned into - a tiger mother.  Here's an article I wrote about it:
  
  
  “You’re becoming another one of those tiger mothers aren’t you?”
  
  The line was breaking up, surging as it was across the airwaves from over 6000 miles away, but the accusation was unmistakable and to be honest with you, it stung. Even in Nairobi, I had heard about Amy Chua and her mothering techniques.
  
  
• Breaking news - ICC cases confirmed against 4 suspects
  
  1.30pm:
  Glued to the TV - don't dare get up for a wee.  You could probably hear a pin drop in Kenya at this moment.
  
  The Hague/court say they are mindful of their decision affecting stability in Kenya and the weight of their onerous decision.  I know that the ICC has their work cut out - not only with having to wade through huge amounts of evidence, but in the local newspapers there have been numerous stories of ICC witnesses (some under witness protection, others in Kenya) either disappearing, turning up dead or suddenly recanting their statements.
  
  So far we know that...
  
  
• ICC confirmation of Charges pending..
  
  
  
  Here in Kenya we are awaiting, with great anticipation, for the ICC ruling on whether charges will be confirmed against those 6 prominent figures deemed most responsible for masterminding post election violence in Dec 2007/Jan 2008, which left over 1,300 Kenyans dead and more than 300,000 people displaced from their homes (many are still living in temporary accommodation as Internally Displace Persons/IDPs today).   I'm not sure why the overseas newspapers are making so little of this - it surely is the most momentous day for Kenya in decades - certainly since independence.  The outcome could not...
  
  
• Trivia - traffic, school and snow
  Temporarily, we have had to re-think our daily routine.  Why? Because school swimming training has begun.  It's complicated.  My husband is not only taking a packed lunch but a packed breakfast to work.  Forward planning is necessary.  Invariably things get forgotten.  Yesterday our middle daughter forgot to pack her school socks (she managed to borrow some).  The day before, my husband forgot his lunch.
  
  The children are supposed to report to the school pool at 6.30am, dive in and swim a gazillion lengths.  It's only just getting light in Nairobi at 6.30am, so the children have been driven to school in the...
  
  
• Karen Blixen and Denys Finch Hatton's grave today
  

  Karen Blixen's former house in Nairobi

  Having lived in Nairobi for years now, the Karen Blixen legend is still as enduring as ever. When I first moved to the area, I absolutely loved visiting Karen Blixen’s house which has been wonderfully preserved with some beautiful antiques (other items are reproduction, I think many are from the movie), a wide veranda, old outdoor kitchen with original utensils and then a rolling lawn with a view of the hills that does not ever disappoint. The house is small, but packed with atmosphere,...
  
  
• Happy New Year in Nairobi - Security threats nothwithstanding...
  This update is so long overdue, I hardly know where to begin... apologies for that..
  
  We've had a couple of tentative emails and text messages asking if we are alright in Kenya - particularly in view of the recent scaling up of the security threat/foreign office travel advisory.  In fact, in Kenya we are very much alright, security threats notwithstanding.  The sun in shining.  After a mega sized 'short' rains in November which lasted 6 weeks, the country is looking particularly green and beautiful for this time of year.  In previous years, the drought has meant that this time of year...
  
  
• UK dash - secondary schools
  We’ve had a solid month of rain here in Kenya – of the like, I’ve never seen before. Roads are more potholed than ever, storm drains flooded, rainfall records for the past ten years have been broken. Each day of November brought with it giant rain storms, threatening black clouds and thunder, or else a drizzling mist of rain all day. So, in this wet weather, with roof leaking and power outages of up to 12 hours per time, my husband and I decided to escape to England for a week, ostensibly to look at secondary schools. It was something...
  
  
• Post office in Kenya and the trials of dealing with local emergency services
  
  
  
  
  My husband announced last night that he might like to be a postman one day. I said that’s fine but he’d be hard pushed to be one in Kenya since there’s no postal delivery service here.
  
  It brought to mind the story from a year ago.  The 5 year olds in my daughter’s kindergarten class did a school project which involved writing and posting a letter to their parents. The parents dutifully filled in an address on a form, then the children wrote out a (brief) letter and addressed an envelope....
  
  
• Prince of Wales and Camilla sweat it out in Zanzibar
  

  Charles and Camilla arriving at Zanzibar airport.

  
  Seeing this photograph of Charles and Camila in Zanzibar brings memories flooding back.  First time visitors to the island, nothing can prepare you for the extreme humidity and heat.  And they are actually wearing jackets poor things?!  'Hot' does not even nearly begin to describe it.
  
  In 1999, my husband and I came from February in England to Zanzibar on honeymoon - I nearly died (not literally, but felt pretty close thanks to a bout of food poisoning).  I'd never been far beyond Europe...
  
  
• Family fun day - volunteering
  

  Fireworks Ban in Nairobi

  
  It was an odd sort of November 5th and Diwali in Nairobi this year, with all fireworks banned due to possible confusion over security threats and grenade attacks that have been threatened by Al Shabaab since Kenya began its 'incursion' into Somalia to flush the terrorists out.
  
  A strange atmosphere pervades.  There was a real worry that the Safari Sevens that took place in Nyayo Stadium last weekend might be a target for attack but fortunately all went smoothly.  Somebody summed it up for me yesterday,
  
  
  "Are you still shopping?" they asked. ...
  
  
• Reading books and visitor season
  I'm ashamed to say that it's been ages since I've actually read a book.  Following the Eurozone crisis and the local news avidly, then reading lifestyle columns online is one thing  - but getting inspired and lost inside a book is something else - and much better for the soul I imagine.  Plus they say that you can't write without reading - so that's where I'm going wrong!! - I say to myself...
  
  So, I went off to the library yesterday and got 'The Hare with Amber Eyes' by Edmund de Waal and am already totally stuck in.  I recognised the...
  
  
• Security warnings - a quiet weekend in Nairobi nonetheless
  

  Henry Wanyoike and his running partner Joseph

  
  My husband ran the 10km at the Standard Chartered marathon with quite a few of his work colleagues and our gardener, and managed not to get bombed by Al Shabaab.  Phew.  So glad that the incredible charity event went off without a hitch (they even dodged the rain that has been pouring down intermittently all weekend) and people turned out in record numbers as usual. 
  
  I felt a bit shifty and guilty for not running once again on Sunday morning once again when my husband's...
  
  
• Should we be worried? Kenya v al-Shabaab
  

  Kenyan Soldiers

  During the past week or so, events have been moving fast.  The recent kidnappings that took place within Kenya, (Lamu, Kiwayu, Dadaab) served as a catalyst which saw Kenyan forces going into Somalia on 16th October to seek out Al Shabaab, in spite of Al Shabaab denying any involvement in these crimes.  Much of Southern and Central Somalia is under Islamic militant Al Shabaab control and the humanitarian situation in Somalia has come to a head.  Over recent months, Kenya has seen tens of thousands of Somali refugees cross the border into Dadaab...
  
  
• Trip to State House
  

  State House, Nairobi

  
  My husband received an invitation to celebrate Mashujaa Day (Heroes Day) at State House. We figured, ‘why not go?’ We haven’t got much else on. 20th October used to mark Kenyatta Day, but since last year it was decided that it's better to celebrate a more generic heroes day instead.
  
  Working out what to wear was tricky. My husband said,
  
  “it’s Kenya, you could wear anything you like.”
  
  At the time I made a “tsk” sound and yanked yet more dusty wedding guest style clothes from the...
  
  
• Kenya at War
  “Al-Shabaab is used to pinching the bottom of a goat (Somalia's Transitional Federal Government) and now that they pinched that of a lion (Kenya), that is more fiercer and more prepared, it should be in for trouble,”
  
  said Prof Buyu of United States International University - Africa
  
  

  Kenyan soldiers on parade

  
  The BBC news on Monday night had a ticker tape running along the bottom that said; "Kenya declares war on Somalia"   More accurately Kenya are declaring war on Al Shabaab who are the Al Qaeda of East Africa.  Kenya has...
  
  
• Pirates and kidnappers - Kenya
  

  Somali pirates?

  It's been hard to bring myself to write anything much this week - there has been such a slew of bad news for Kenya.  The only good news is that it's raining (though rain causing havoc on the roads in Mombasa I hear). 
  The Kenya shilling fell further, bottoming out at 107 to the dollar (so far) - new all time lows keep being recorded daily, in spite of various efforts to stabilize the local currency.  We have an election coming up next year, but no one seems to be able to decide on...
  
  
• Banking developments
  The Central Bank of Kenya announced a 400 point interest rate rise to 11% in order to combat high inflation and stabilize the local currency, the Kenya Shilling, which has rapidly lost value against the dollar over the past couple of months (see previous post).  Bad news for those with loans and mortgages, however local commercial banks and money markets have been reportedly impressed by this show of affirmative action from the often dithering regulatory organisation.
  
  At the same time, the UK's Bank of England announced a second massive round of quantitive easing - QE2 (the first was in 2009), in order to counter the effects of global economic...
  
  
• The First Grader movie about Maruge - the oldest Kenyan primary school pupil
  

  The First Grader

  Watched a TV review of a British film called 'The First Grader' last night. Not sure how it managed to fall so far under my radar since it was released in May (US)/June (UK), but often foreign movies and documentaries made about Kenya are poorly circulated here. The TV program I watched was one of those reviews that basically tell you the whole story line and a lot of behind the scenes info too - so I'm not really sure I need to see the movie now...
  
  
• Will the Global Financial Crisis be the making of East Africa?
  An impertinent question I know, however, I just had to ask.  It sort of follows on from the last post.
  
  Since the financial outlook globally is now so dismal, surely Western governments will have to cut, even suspend their aid budgets to Africa for now?  The Wealthy West has suddenly become the Indebted West and for a while presumably East Africa and other developing nations will be left to fend for themselves financially? - So what happens if aid money is no longer flowing in to prop up corrupt governments and government officials?  Will this global financial crisis represent the beginning of a sea change in Africa? ...