This morning I will go to shop in Nairobi. Pick up some more stuff for the kids and also an electric skillet for Lucy. I’m staying with Elizabeth - who is also Lucy sister (while in Nairobi) and will be staying with Lucy’s mom in Molo (which is the correct spelling).
Day three was not good - it started out a little bit uneasy - we were being given the opportunity to go into Nairobi and shop with Victor (I believe him to be a cousin). I was uneasy because I was unsure of where to leave my equipment. I have been very concerned about this from the beginning. It’s not that I’m worried about theft of the equipment itself - that can all be replaced. It’s that theft of the equipment means theft of the entire project.
As it turns out we were to be leaving all our stuff in the home of Elizabeth. She was going to work and her cousin Victor would pick us up at 8:00 am and take us for a quick trip through Nairobi via matatu. A matatu is the public transport of Kenya. It’s a little scary at first - they drive fast and furiously. They crowd people in quite tight and generally they are only 20 shillings (maybe 30 cents American) - you pay that once and you can ride for sometime. They stop when people want out and they pick you up when you call upon them. There is no schedule and no designated pick-up points but there are many matatus. So one is always near by.
Victor was a little late arriving and we got on the matatu only to run into a major traffic jam. This put the pressure on us to be able to return on time for our ride to Molo. I think we were both (Jordi and I) a little anxious to get to Molo. We really had a full tour of Nairobi and it is a great city to be sure. Having gained independence from England relatively recently the city of Nairobi had many monuments and heros who were a part of the struggle to gain independence. This happened in 1963.
The tour and the subsequent return to Elizabeth’s house was very long and both of us (Jordi and I) were worried because we didn’t want to travel in the dark. When we finally started driving to Molo (after a struggle to get the trunk open) - it was 3:30. It was good just to be on the road and the car got us all the way back but by American standards it was not road worthy. This made me a little nervous and Samuel was quite the speedy driver and passing on those roads seemed quite risky and we barely made it many times. And we nearly rear ended many vehicles and we were nearly rear ended many times and it was very difficult to sit back in the back seat. Something was wrong with the exhaust system too and the smell of gas fumes was difficult for me - over a three and a half hour drive.
This alone would have been quite stressful. I’m not sure if Samuel was driving like this because it’s just how he drives or a concern to not be on the road after dark. Unfortunately we came to a police check point (more solider like then police) and one fellow picked us out right away. He motioned for us to move off the road. He was a very large man with a very large gun, an AK-47 (which was pointed right into Jordi’s chest) he started in on “why are you not wearing your seat belts? - Do you think we take this offense lightly?" He was VERY angry - and yelling - over not wearing seat belts. I knew something was up. He asked for passports and ID.
I went to put my belt on as quick as I got into the car and found there were no seat belts in the back seat. It made no difference to this man of course. Then the he told Jordi to get into the back with me. The gun barrel was nearly touching Jordi’s chest. Jordi asked why he had to get into the back? I found the question to be rather funny (because there was a gun barrel nearly touching his chest! - seemed a good reason to me). I pointed out to the man that there was no room in the back - with the luggage we had. Seriously, this was a very small car and there was barely enough room for me. He said get in the back - we had to sit upon one another it was humiliating (Jordi said this later) and also incredibly uncomfortable. We squeezed two full-size men into a space too small for one. The man was finally able to get the door closed. It was like when you over-pack a suitcase and you need to really work to get the latches closed. Only with people.
The man got into the front seat and continued to harass us but mostly Samuel now. I couldn’t see Samuel but Jordi was unnerved because he could see his face and he was clearly worrying and panicking. Samuel was also begging the man to let us go and for leniency. The man told Samuel to drive down a different road and Samuel did. He said we’d all get a proper interrogation at the station and wanted to know if we’d like to sleep at the police station tonight? He accused us of disrespecting Kenya and their laws. He was very angry.
Finally he said we could pay a fine for the seat belt transgression - 6,000 shillings (nearly half a years wage in Kenya). He refused to let us out of the car till we paid. The problem was that neither of us were able to get to our money. We couldn’t physically get to our pockets / wallets. We were packed so tight. After many efforts we had to tell him it was impossible he’d have to let us out. Which he finally did. As I was getting out of the car Samuel looked at me and said "don't worry Daniel, it'll be OK", - the man said "why should Daniel worry"? I'm guessing I must have looked pretty shaken.
Unfortunately in my effort to pull cash for him I had accidently pulled out about ten $100 bills and they had fallen on the seat. I noticed them and grabbed them quickly - but he saw them too. This was over 80,000 KHS - a small fortune in Kenya. He spoke in Kiswalhili for the first time. He told Samuel he wanted the $100’s too. I have to say that for as bad as this experience was the fact that Samuel was able to convince him not to take the $100’s is amazing. This all happened in Kiswalhili so I don’t have the details. It was a part of the money I brought to help at the Center. He could have taken that, he had a gun on us, we were on a deserted road, he could have taken all my equipment, laptop anything he wanted.
He didn’t.
He wasn’t starving like so many you see there. He was quite healthy. No doubt his position as a policemen / solider afforded him many bribes and I’m sure he was doing well... what we gave him was quite substantial. I don’t think you can be angry with people in circumstances such as these for actions such as these. Samuel told him the money was for the helping the children in Molo. He mad a decision not to take it. It’s hard to explain really, but this man did something incredible he did the right thing.
Jordi and I came up with the 6,000 shillings. And the man then began talk friendly with Samuel. Had him turn around and we were released. It was a terrible way for me to start this whole thing and I don’t think I will be over it to soon. I mentioned to the group that in the US that would be considered kidnapping - and one of the African guests said it was kidnapping in Africa too. It was against Kenyan law for the man to even enter the vehicle. Kenya is quite corrupt.
It could have been far worse. It creates an enormous and difficult dilemma for me also. My mission here is to create a web site who’s primary purpose will be to attract IV’s. So do I share this rather troubling experience? It certainly wouldn’t be something many would be drawn to. But not sharing about it would be a little disingenuous. I really can’t even blog about it or discuss it. I’ll wait on deciding how to handle this in the context of the entire experience. At this point I really need to give it a little bit of time. Perhaps if this turns out to be the worst or if even the only bad experience then maybe it’s not so bad.
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