This summer I got married, I and my wife went to Kenya for our honeymoon.
It was an amazing trip;
We started with one week of safari and ended with one week of sunbathing at a hotel.
When we landed our guide met us at the gate, a friend of a friend called Salaash.
He is an incredible guide, first of all he is Masai which means that he has grown up close to the animals, in addition he has studied in the U.S., worked as a professor at the largest universities in Kenya, worked for the Nairobi national museum and for Nairobi national park.
As we were getting ready to leave on our first day of safari we spoke with him about how it is to be a tourist. About how tourists rarely get to see the true side of the country we are in, usually just the tourist areas and a glorified view of the country.
He decided to show us some of the real thing.
He called two of his friends, to young men who own a company called “Kibera Tours” to show us Kibera, the world’s second largest slum.
We met Freddy and started talking, it turned out that not only did he have the tour company he owned another company “Life Force Kiosks”.
They were also very proud to live in Kibera.
They loved the closeness of the society, to be able to shout to his buddy next door that he needs salt and have it thrown through a crack in the wall and to be able to talk with everyone.
They also told us about how people in Nairobi look at Kibera, most people are afraid of it and believe that they will get robbed, murdered or raped if they go there, especially after nightfall.
We were pretty nervous me and Gisela (my wife) after hearing this but we had decided to go so we decided to follow through.
When we got there we saw how poor people where, they had metal shacks as homes, there was garbage everywhere but all at clean clothes and shoes.
What was amazing though was when we stepped out of the car, there was this amazing energy!
People where happy, hopefull, full of energy!
They waved to us, asked us how we were, spoke to us and with a complete honesty.
There was no bitterness about us being there, we didn’t have to be worried about getting robbed and they were incredible open and forthcoming with there lives.
They allowed us to take pictures and showed us their companies, their homes and their lives.
Our first view of Kibera.
This is a picture of an incredible woman, she has Aids. She has started the company Kibera HIV/AIDS Support Initiative Programme to help others with aids and fight for their rights in society. They help women start businesses, learn to save money, to work together and build a future.
This is one of the areas communal bathrooms. They had maybe 15 stalls in each house which was shared by 20 000 people.
In the bathroom they used the natural gas for cooking. They were incredibly entrepreneurial and used every opportunity open to them.
On the top floor of the bathrooms a man had started a shoe store.
This picture is of a incredible group of young men. 60 young men have gone together to start a company creating jewellery out of animal bones. They showed us the process of cleaning, cutting, shaping and sold us some of their wares.
Take a look at their website, the things were incredible: http://mobilemovement.tv/projects/details/29
If they can do it, so can you!
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Daniel,
It sounds like you and your wife had an amazing trip! Going to poorer countries, I’m often struck by how happy and joyful the most impoverished often are. I find it so inspiring and yes, there’s a lot of “If these people can be happy, I clearly have nothing to complain about. Ever.” Happiness isn’t tied to material wealth or even comfort as these people so valiantly demonstrate. It’s a state of mind. Kenya is definitely on my list of places to visit (it’s a long list). I’ve bookmarked this page so I can refer to the resources you’ve listed when I’m ready. Thanks so much for sharing this with us.
Hugs,
Melody
Hi Melody,
I agree. It is incredible that we can be so sad and stressed when we have it so easy in comparison.
I definitely think you should go to Kenya, it was incredible.