First week in Nairobi...sorry, it's a bit of a long one!

"Welcome to Nairobi! We have no running water at the moment". And thus my adventure begins...

I think family makes the transition from "home" to a "new home" infinitely easier. My cousin George and his family have once again opened their home to me and made me feel welcome and at ease. Having a place to unpack your bags, even briefly, makes you feel less like you're travelling and more like you are at home. For those that know me and my past adventures, that's how I roll!

So, let's see, how to summarize six days worth of excitement and experiences?

Well, there was no time for jet lag, that's for sure! I arrived Saturday night and went to bed shortly after we got home (the joys of travelling for 24 hours and being exhausted). Sunday I did feel pretty much on schedule and had a relaxing day and then on Monday the fun began!

After months of correspondence with very little details about my new job, I finally got a text message of where I was supposed to be going...kind of, no address but I guess everyone knows where the UN Complex is. So, Monday morning at 9am I got in my private taxi, that George arranged for me, and off I went for my first day at work. I must admit, I did have "first day at school" butterflies in my stomach but I was also strangely confident that I had done this before and that everything was going to be fine. And what a delight it was to wear a dress and light cardigan! Bye bye winter.

Picture of the weather - from my phone

"30 minutes to cross town! No big deal. I don't know why everyone was warning me about the traffic". Ha ha, I was so naïve back then (4 days ago). After arriving at the UN Complex and being rejected by security for not having any papers, my colleague came to get me and we crossed the large campus, passed through several buildings and finally into ours. I could envisage myself getting lost many times over the next few weeks!

Map of the UN Complex

This is going to sound crazy but even though I knew I was going to be working for UNICEF I didn't realize that I was going to be working for THE UN. That's kind of a big deal and a dream come true! We're across from the American Embassy so there are a lot of armed guards on this street...I don't have if that makes me feel safer or not!



Covert pic - you can't see the sign that says "no photography"



Beautiful grounds at the UN complex



My office - not my bicycle

My office is small and reminds of the portables we used to have at school. Pretty different from the 47th floor of the KPMG building in Toronto! But it has everything you would need in an NGO office - meaning I get a desk and have to use my own phone and laptop, lol. My team (Education, Kenya Country office - not to be confused with the Regional office which is down the hall) were very busy but everyone made an effort come over to introduce themselves and say "Karibu" (welcome). Three of my colleagues made sure I found the cafeteria and joined me for lunch. In the afternoon I proceeded to do all my HR/security paper work (which should have been done before I got there but would in fact take the next two days) and all in all it was a pretty light day. In just a few conversations with my colleagues I was in awe of the projects they are working on! I couldn't wait to get involved and learn from them.

If you look closely you can see it has my middle name instead of my last name - oops!

My boss (Chief of Education) is very nice and "hooked me up" with his private taxi driver and made sure I got a good rate. The journey home was much worse than the morning (1.5 hours to go 26kms) but not as bad as it would be for the rest of the week (avg 2 hours and 15 minutes)! He also put me in touch with another UNICEF employee that has a room in his apartment for rent. It is ACROSS the street and amazingly modern. Seriously, much nicer than my place in Toronto. Moving this weekend, yay!

Wednesday the work started in earnest. I attended an "innovation" brainstorming session all morning - I cannot tell you how fulfilling it is to be surrounded by people, from Kenya and around the world, all doing work you're interested in and sharing the same passion! I was really impressed and very inspired. I feel like I have definitely made the right decision to come here. I got to work closely with the deputy rep (basically second in charge at UNICEF) in my breakout group and I think she was pleased with what I was able to contribute...seeing as it was my third day. The afternoon was all hands on deck (including my own) to put together a surprise status update presentation for the Ministry of Education. It was a long day as we worked until 7pm, took my 2 hours taxi ride home, and finished up the PowerPoint at 1am. 

Up early Thursday to catch my 7am taxi back into work (you see why I'm moving across the street) and it was another long day....the meeting at the MoE office in town took 3 1/2 hours...turns out it was long overdue and there was a lot to talk about! I'm so glad I was included (despite being "voluntold" to take minutes and I didn't have my laptop with me) as it was great to see how the government and UNICEF work together and the challenges they've had so far. As well, I got to see the dynamic of working here and how people communicate with each other. Very open and a bit blunt but no arguing or escalating voices. Definitely much more transparent than what I am used to working in the corporate environment in Canada.They didn't make me feel invisible either. I got tasked with tracking all the action items and meeting the Ministry monthly to follow up on progress. I'm a bit scared but secretly glad they're putting me to work right away and giving me responsibility - gives me a chance to show what I can do! And I do love a challenge.

And here we are today, Good Friday and my first day off. Exhaustion finally caught up with me and I slept for 11 hours last night. Just finished my afternoon snack...when in Nairobi...

Chapati and chai!

Speaking of being in Nairobi....I have figured out/remembered the following things so far:

• Having a bath by filling the tub with a small amount of water from a bucket 
• Making tea with tea leaves in a special tea pot on the stove
• Turning on the gas stove
• Turning on the stove and electric sockets from a switch on the wall
• Using the vape machine at night to keep the mosquitoes away
• Sleeping while simultaneously being too hot and too cold
• How to pass time when stuck in Nairobi traffic (no point in road rage)
• Closing the window so monkeys don't get in and steal your food

And with that I'll leave with you with these final few images for those that are not following me on Facebook or Instagram. Looking forward to seeing what next week has to bring!

Love, Tash

Cheeky monkey

 

Mandazi! And very good Kenyan coffee