Meetings, reggae, and YAYA market

I met with my Program director (Caroline) to discuss what specifically I am doing this summer. I have several ideas, which are flexible and I will try to implement which ever ones are most desired by the girls:

1. Revamp Vagina Monologues with the girls (have girls write their own monologues about current issues in their lives)
2. Try to fund and organize a library containing text books, novels, women's issues etc.
3. Improv dance lessons: to build relation/connection to each other and also to help build confidence in front of others
4. Help with drama rehearsals, give tips/recommendations for improvement.
5. Anonymous question and answer session about sexuality/bodies/reproduction/ or me and my experiences

Looking forward to all these things and whatever else comes up as important/needed or wanted by the binti girls.


Last week Blair and I traveled around Kibera with Ben to see other medical clinics in Kibera that we sometimes refer patients to. Kibera is huge and every time I walk through it I see something new. I am trying to learn Kiswahili (which people speak in addition to several others) and it is going pretty well so far! It's amazing how "Mambo? Poa." (How's it going? cool.) can take you so far! It's a really fun language.

On Saturday I went with a couple of the older Binti girls to a Braintrust meeting, which is a division of Binti Pamjoa where we meet with girls that represent several other women's groups across Nairobi and the surrounding area. On the way to the meeting space I traveled by matatu (small crazy bus) with one of the Binti girls. I fell in love with matatus that day because on our ride there was a rocking remix of amazing grace blaring so loud you couldn't hear the person next to you. I laughed most of the ride, and luckily no one noticed because the music was so loud :)
When we arrived at the high school, all of the students we out on balconies of the 7 story building. I was the only mzungu around and I think they must have stared at me for about 15 solid minutes. I felt like and exotic animal and haven't felt that self conscious in a while! It's amazing what 7 stories of shameless school kids staring at you can do:) Funny, nonetheless.

It was wonderful to be in an intimate setting with a small group of girls (about 18). The program is pretty brilliant because it spreads knowledge about a given topic to these girls which in turn return to their organizations and continue the education. It seems to be very effective. One of the girls I met was particularly impressive. She told me when her older sister got pregnant and dropped out of school she decided as the second born, she wanted to be a positive, successful role model for her siblings. She received several marriage proposals after primary school, but (which the support of a very forward thinking mother) refused them and took a year off to save money to attend high school. She now has finished high school and is hoping to attend college for Mass Communication. She continues to mentor her younger siblings and encourages them to strive for the best and achieve their dreams despite social pressure to marry young. Hell ya.

After the meeting we went to a reggae concert in an outdoor venue. There were two stages, one with traditional African music and dancing and another with African Hip hop and young artists. Both were awesome. Petit, one of the binti girls, was full of energy and dance moves and we went back and forth between the stages dancing, jumping around and having a great time! At one point at the traditional stage one of the little girls and I faced each other in a dance off: swings our arms up and down and grooving for as long as we could stand it. She of course won the dance off, and I nearly fell over myself with dizziness and laughter.

Sunday was the masai market at YAYA which is walking distance from our house. Blair Yaniv and I all went early in the morning. Vendors have goods sprawled out all over the parking lot of a shopping center, which you weave through to see. Being mzungus, we got harassed like no tomorrow. We had to do some serious bargaining and convince folks of the following:
1. we aren't actually rich
2. we work in Kibera (the slum)
3. we can speak some swahili
4. and we aren't suckers.

Not as easy as it sounds. But we had fun, made some friends, and got a few good deals.

Afterwards, I went to Kibera to the Alumni girls meeting, all of whom have small groups of younger girls across Kibera that the educate and mentor. We talked about challenges and successes and possible solutions. One of the biggest challenges was attendance for a variety of reasons including overlap with school activities and parental restrictions among others.

Oh and one last little thing. I was walking through Kibera and a little boy (maybe age six) said 'how are you?' like they always do and reached out for a hand slap. I slapped his hand, but he didn't let go, and we walked down the street, hand in hand, without saying anything else. Then we went our separate ways and said bye like we had always known each other. Neat kid, I think if we all held hands with strangers the world would be a better place.

much love.

alisa