At about two o'clock we were led on a march by a band down Uhuru highway to the DC's office, a busy dual carriageway normally chockablock with traffic. The police stopped the traffic for us and it was really enjoyable seeing how much this annoyed the matatu drivers - revenge is sweet. The march had some good points: it was visually effective and a good display of solidarity and pride for those with disabilities. However, it wasn't as well attended as it might have been, and on the inclusion front a lot of the people with physical disabilities really struggled to walk that far (somewhat ironic).I also thought it would have been more effective if we'd had a message or letter to deliver to the DC (still, it wasn't my event and it's probably best if I stick to one organisation at a time, eh?).
The day continued with refreshments and (the inevitable) speeches, and the self-advocates did a short play for everyone to emphasise that PWIDs have relationships like any other young people. I made a discreet exit before the second round of speeches started.
Tuesday 30 November - Wednesday 1 December
Two day evaluation workshop for my organisation to present it's work to Victor, a representative from one of the main funders, a Swedish disability charity called FUB. This was perhaps my first real challenge in terms of working in Kenya, and I found a few things difficult:
- time keeping is poor in Kenya
- things change all the time and planning is loose at best (more on this in a moment)
- everyone loves a chat, and there is a lot of prestige attached to speech making, which means meetings can go round in circles as everyone tries to reiterate the same point
I'd put a lot of time into helping pull together presentations from all the different regions into one document, all formatted in the same way, but when I arrived on Tuesday morning the programme had been drafted in a completely different order so the order of my slides didn't work at all. At the close of the day the national team was chatting with the Chairman, Stephen, and he decided that we should scrap the planned agenda for day two and that I would lead a SWOT analysis on how an effective board should be managed. This was good for me, but would have been more effective if I'd had time to prepare.
That said, the meeting generally went well and Victor seemed happy with the outcomes. He even agreed to provide funding for a computer in each of the five regional offices, which will be a huge help in improving communication between the different areas - some of the more remote areas are at least a day's travel from Nairobi.
Thursday 2 December
A visit to the support groups in Nyeri region. Nyeri is a farming area with coffee and tea plantations and a lot of small scale subsistence farming for bananas, maize and livestock. It's a good three hour journey from Nairobi so I met as arranged in town at 7.30am, forgetting that Kenyan time-keeping is somewhat lax. The rest of the team arrived at about 8am and the driver didn't turn up until half past. Heigh ho - I got to read the paper at least. We collected Victor and then got underway. The journey to Nyeri was very beautiful, through lush green hill country - very different from Nairobi smog.
Our first stop was a home visit to a a 72 year old woman and her 35 year old daughter, who was both physically and intellectually disabled quite severely, and with no wheelchair was largely confined to her home. Her mother was a very strong, determined woman who clearly cared for her daughter very much, but the poverty was palpable, and it's scary to think what would happen to her child once she died (bearing in mind that the average life expectancy in Kenya is around 48).
We then went to the meeting place in the village (a tree) where we were met by the support group, singing to welcome us. Shaking hands is big news in Kenya, so there was a lot of hand shaking, smiling and confused conversation in a mix of English, Kiswahili and Kikuyu. Then we all had to give speeches introducing ourselves and giving big ups to KAIH, before we moved on to another support group - and repeat x 3. Every time we were greeted with singing and were given a gift of fruit before negotiating an exit.
As well as providing a support network and pressure group lobbying local service providers like the Ministry of Education, a number of the groups run IGAs too, like goat and rabbit projects. These give the PWIDs a vocational skill and a focus. At the last group we visited we were fed a rabbit stew with cabbage and ugali followed by chai and I was given a beautiful necklace and the chaps got ties or belts, before we were finally allowed to leave at 6pm. Arrived home late around 9.30pm.
Friday 3 December
Went to Kiambu, a small town about half an hour from Nairobi, for an event to celebrate UN World Disability Day. The region had organised a sports day to show that PWIDs can also compete, and to bring the groups together. One of the highlights was the siblings support group, which is the first of its kind. The siblings read a poem they had written and spoke very powerfully about their support for their brothers and sisters. It was a really enjoyable day and great to meet so many passionate people. Everyone has high expectations of me, so I hope I can deliver.
The picture below shows one family. The little boy was so good at looking after his disabled brother (his twin I think) that they really touched me.
So, next week my first meeting with journalists and probably a trip to either Siaya or Migori - both of them are a bloomin' long way away, so in either case I will be spending two days of the next week on a bus. At least the scenery should be interesting...
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