More pictures from Nairobi...

Enjoy!

Nairobi

You may have picked up on my travel to study ratio. It hasn’t been exactly even, as it were. This has been partly due to Rotary’s encouragement to learn outside the classroom as much as inside it. But it’s mostly due to the utter lack of organized, productive class time at the University of Dar es Salaam.

Two weeks ago, just as I departed for my Uganda/Rwanda trip, the Tanzanian undergraduate students went on strike. They were protesting the opaque system of federal loan disbursement and demanding 100% tuition coverage. Strikes in the United States usually consist of a few picket lines, chants, and the occasional scab. This strike, however, was a bit more “eventful.” Students who were not participating were dragged out of their dorm rooms and out of buses by angry protestors. Student leaders held booming rallies in lecture halls. International students were advised to be nowhere near campus. The entire campus erupted. It lasted three days. And the university’s bylaws state that classes be suspended after any strike lasting at least 3 days.

I came to learn that all local students were evicted from campus, classes were suspended indefinitely, and only foreign and graduate students would be taught. So now, after only 4 weeks of actual class time, I am preparing for finals next week. Finals, mind you, in a classroom with only foreign students.

Needless to say, this is not ideal. So Kris and I used the helter skelter class schedule to duck out of Dar once again and head to Nairobi, capital of Kenya, for some Rotarizing.

We had the good fortune of meeting some amazingly generous, hospitable, and fun people there. After attending our first Rotary meeting, we were escorted by some very kind Rotarians to all the very touristy and non-so-touristy attractions of Nairobi.

Feeding giraffes

Babysitting

Eating at Carnivore

Visiting the baby elephant orphanage

Attending a 1-year-old’s birthday party

Feeding ostriches

Enjoying a home cooked meal with a Rotary family

Easily the most enjoyable part of the 5-day trip was my visit to the Emmanuel Center. It’s a drug rehabilitation program for young boys, ages 7 to 20, who were taken off the streets and put on the right path. The founder and director is a 27-year-old Rotarian. Dan Nduati is a rehabilitated drug addict himself and took on this ambitious vision when he was 21-years-old. He’s now responsible for hundreds of transformations.

The center houses 40 boys (several of whom have HIV/AIDS), puts them in school, enforces strict discipline, and turns out charming, enterprising success stories. It was hard not to fall in love with these boys.

The season of charity is upon us and I’ll use this post to pull on your heartstrings a bit. These boys need clothes, books, school supplies, toiletries, bedding… really anything and everything they would need to survive and succeed in daily life. And, since sending things to Kenya is a bit expensive, they’d also gladly accept monetary donations as well. These boys are so ambitious and hopeful, especially charged with the success of their hero, President-elect Barack Obama.

If you can, send money through the following contact:

Afretech Aid Society
7693 Garfield Dr.
Delta, B.C.
Canada V4C 4E6
afretech@dccnet.com
www.afretech.org
(1) 604.594.9154

Donations are received by Afretech either by check (made out to Afretech Aid Society with 'for ebrc' in the note line) or online via Canada Helps.

If you prefer to send items, send them to the following address:

c/o Daniel Nduati
PO Box 345 - 00502
Karen, Kenya

Also, if you have any ideas on fundraising at home, in your Rotary clubs, in your circle of friends, or whatever, please send me an email at jinna.yun@gmail.com. There is no telling how big an impact can come from something little you do.

When in East Africa...

My friend Noelle gave me a great postcard before I left Chicago, filled with quotes about travel. One rings particularly true about my week-long trip around East Africa: "Travel is more than a seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."

This was my first trip outside of Tanzania... and we did it in a big way.

Uganda
We drove about 40 hours through Tanzania, Kenya and finally arrived in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The landscapes changed as frequently as the bus did for potty breaks. When we left on November 6, we were on the dusty streets of Dar es Salaam. When we arrived on November 7, we were surrounded by the menthol green of Uganda. Kampala is a clean, modern city with manicured roundabouts, medians and hedges. The entire city teems with color and energy. After a night of chatting with backpackers and tasting the local brew, we set off for Jinja to go white water rafting. Flipping over in class 5 rapids in the Nile River is easily the most "extreme" thing I've ever done. (Felt an urge to chug a Mountain Dew afterwards.)

Rwanda
We weren't quite ready to go home so we made an impromptu trek over to Rwanda. By this time, our passport pages were filling up with visas/bragging rights. Kigali is the capital of this French-speaking, drives on the right side of the road, phoenix from the ashes country. We visited the genocide memorial and walked out with a newfound wonder and respect for the people around us. Kigali is a labyrinth of hills and motor bikes, a place where you can see your breath at night. Plastic shopping bags, by the way, are illegal here.

And now for the audio/visual part of the post...

Gobama!

It feels strange to experience the culmination of a 2-year campaign marathon from the shores of the Indian Ocean. But, just as it was a clearly historic moment in the United States, my memories of November 5 will not soon be forgotten.

We gathered at Stephanie and David’s apartment for the long night before us. (We are now 9 hours ahead of Chicago.) After seeing the polls close on the East Coast, we took a quick nap and awoke at 4am to thunderous, torrential rains.

We flicked on Al Jazeera to see this: Obama projected to win Pennsylvania. It was clear from that point on that the junior senator from Illinois was well on his way to making history. But, without skipping a beat, just as the announcers declared Barack Obama the projected winner of the presidency, the power cut out. Stupid rain.

Wading through thigh-high waters (maybe knee-high for others), we sloshed through the sewage and trash, caught a bus, marveled at the water world around us, and then ran like mad to the US embassy where they were having an election viewing party for US citizens. We caught the last five minutes of Obama’s speech.

Since then, I’ve seen his speech in its entirety. I’ve seen McCain’s concession speech. I’ve heard journalists and pundits wax poetic about the immensity of this moment. And I’ve seen the montages of the colorful campaign trail.

Yet, I still don’t feel the weight of the news. Tanzanians are happy. I am happy. But I’m a long way from Chicago.

It’s been like watching the time trials but missing the Olympics. And now, it seems like I’ll miss the medals ceremony, too.