Carols by Candlelight

Carol services and concerts bring back memories for me of cold churches, and the need therefore of wearing thermal underwear underneath whatever the choir or orchestra dress was, and of consuming vast quantities of Fisherman’s Friends in order to quell the inevitable tickly cough (which always seemed to be at its worst in the quieter moments for some reason?!).
Whilst Fisherman’s Friends do still make an appearance in concerts these days, our Carol Service last week was far from cold. For the last two years, Karen Vineyard Church has held its Carols by Candlelight service in the grounds of the Karen Blixen Museum (as in ‘Out of Africa’). So, whilst Karen Blixen “had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills”, so we had a beautiful carol service there. I arrived early for sound checks, and a last (and only 2nd) practice with my accompanist, as I was playing 3 flute solos as well as being part of the band for the carols. The gazebo that we were playing under was already set up, as was the sound system. We had a little panic with lights, realizing that the two light bulbs suspended from the canvas weren’t going to be sufficient for the band plus singers once the African night descended. Elsewhere, people set to making mulled wine, decorating trees with lights, and getting the candles ready for everyone coming to hold.
Gradually, people began to arrive with their picnics, sitting on blankets or shukas on the ground or on chairs that they’d brought. The sun by now was setting behind the hills. And then, just as it was getting dark, we started. A mix of traditional Christmas carols, readings, two solos sung by Doreen Ziegler, my contribution of pieces by Rutter and Telemann, and a short Christmas message from our pastor, Doug Brown. From my vantage point, I was aware of hundreds of flickering candles in the African night air, and the lights on the tree by the ‘stage’. The calls of nightbirds and cicadas added to the atmosphere (the blood-curdling call of the tree hyraxes didn’t start until afterwards!). There was one particularly beautiful moment when Doreen was singing, ‘O Holy Night’, and a single bright star was shining in the sky. The evening was rounded off with the mulled wine (nothing like it for warming you up on a ‘cold’ winter’s eve!!!!) and mince pies. What a wonderful and beautiful start to the Christmas season!

A Precious Commodity

A fairly common sight on Nairobi roads, competing with the cars, lorries and buses, are hand-pulled carts loaded with a variety of things – coconuts, vegetables,….. or yellow jerrycans for water. The latter are the only source of water for a good percentage of the population, where mains water is a luxury to dream of. Mind you, even when you’re on mains water, there’s no guarantee you’ll actually find anything coming out of the tap! Another common sight are water bowsers, lorries with a container of water on the back, for filling people’s water tanks (again, when there’s nothing coming through the mains). Nairobi has three dams, but the lack of rains over the last two years has meant that water levels have been exceedingly low, resulting in water rationing in large parts of the city. It is estimated that even with them full, they would supply just 81% of the city’s water demand (a supply of 525,000 cubic metres per day versus a demand of 650,000 cubic metres). Not a very good statistic, and with them far from full …….
We were promised El Nino rains, though what we’ve had so far, whilst heavy at times, has not been enough and couldn’t really be described as El Nino. However, one of the dams, Ndakaini, has seen an increase in its water level from 33% in October to 54% in November. There’s still quite a way to go to see it full, and we’re more than halfway through what would normally be the period of these short rains. So, whilst Manila, Ouagadougou and Cockermouth have experienced flooding in recent months, Nairobi seems, at this stage at least, to be set for more water rationing and a continuation of the drought in the months to come. Can’t we spread it out somehow?!

Vandals in the tree?

The rains have sort of started, though it’s hardly the El Nino that they’ve been talking about. We are desperately in need of plenty to fill the dams that serve the 4 million people living in Nairobi. With what we’ve had, the dust has finally settled on the mud road that I walk along to get from home to the office, and the grass is just starting to turn green again. There are reports however of the toll of the drought around the country on wildlife and domestic animals, and of course on people where crops have failed, and water has been so scarce for so long. Some plants, like grass, are amazingly resilient, springing back to life. It seems that the tree outside my flat, which has looked rather bare for a while now, isn’t faring so well. One sign of this has been woodpeckers in it, pecking away at the dead wood, presumably to get to whatever insects are living inside. I’ve heard their rhythmic tapping at various times over the last month, but on Saturday I was rewarded with a good sighting of them. A friend asked me what kind they are. Hmm, - hard to tell. Most of the 13 kinds of woodpeckers in my 'Birds of Kenya' book look pretty similar to these – small, speckled and with a red cap.
Several branches broke off the tree and fell down yesterday into the parking area, narrowly missing my car. Not sure if that would have happened anyway or if those woodpeckers were to blame!

Airports

“There’s a problem with your baggage. The police are holding it.” These were the words that greeted me as I attempted to board the plane at Ouagadougou airport to take me back to East Africa - or at least that was the translation I got from an Ethiopian Airlines steward a few minutes later! For a moment after being drawn aside at the bottom of the steps to the aircraft, I’d wondered whether they were going to upgrade me to Business Class – but no! It was a security issue. So, just 15 minutes before the plane was due to take off, I was whisked off back through security (where my handbag and laptop bag had been dutifully and rigorously manually searched a few minutes earlier), and back through Immigration. We were met by another steward who it seemed had gone the extra mile in putting my suitcase through the X-ray machine. Of course, there wasn’t anything in there (though my music stand sometimes gets people wondering, as does my flute in my hand luggage – not too many wandering minstrels passing through these African airports, it seems!). The main problem seemed to be that I’d locked it – but then, who wouldn’t?!
Airports vary immensely – and I’ve been through quite a few over the last few months. Jomo Kenyatta, Nairobi – London Heathrow – Dallas Fort Worth – John Wayne, Santa Ana – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – Philadelphia – Charlotte, North Carolina - Bole, Addis Ababa – Bamako – Ouagadougou. Some have an array of shops, eating places, video screens, wi-fi and electrical sockets so you can recharge your laptop allowing you to continue working for the duration of the next flight! At others, you’re lucky to find a seat. Some have signs letting you know exactly what to do; at others, you’re pretty much left to figure it out for yourself (and it’s not necessarily intuitive). Public announcements about flights were pretty much non-existent in Bamako. There was certainly no departures board, and the occasional tanoy announcement was very difficult to decipher. Ouagadougou Airport seemed to be more of a construction site than anything (that’s where seats were a rare luxury).
However, security is vigilant the world over. X-ray machines in most; physical searches in others. I was none too pleased though when I had to drink all the water that I’d filled my bottle with on the BA flight itself from Nairobi to London, as soon as I touched terra firma at Heathrow. There was still another 6 hours until I’d be airborne again. And they took my contact lens solution – Boots’ sales must be boosted from all the transit passengers who’ve suffered in similar ways! In the States, I flew to California with just hand luggage, borrowing small bottles from a friend, which I filled with the liquids and creams necessary for 4 nights away, and then squeezed them into a quart-size Ziploc bag (stretching the plastic as I did!). And bought sunscreen there which I gave away 3 days later – well, that was cheaper than paying for my weekend bag to go in the hold! My other American trick was to fill up the water bottle at one of the drinking fountains. Why oh why don’t such things exist in UK airports?! I wouldn’t want water from any in African airports mind, though at least there you can keep your water with you until you go to the gate itself, which any discerning traveller knows, you don’t do until you have to (no loos there for one thing!)!
Travelling across Africa can be entertaining. Such a variety of people and outfits. Some experienced travellers; for others, flying is clearly something very new. With the liquid restrictions, the days are now gone of seeing bottles of cooking oil brought onto the plane (I saw one once that had a piece of paper stuffed into the top, the cap apparently having gone missing!). However, you do see a lot of hand luggage. There is generally a bit of a stampede to get onto the plane and seize the overhead locker space. And there is certainly much less observance of matching your boarding pass with the seat that you then occupy! I did quite well out of that one this last trip, For some reason, our travel agent had booked aisle seats for me, when I generally prefer window ones. However, because of people not being able to follow seating plans, I wound up with window seats for most of the 6 flights anyway!
Anyway, the baggage held by the police was released, thanks to the Ethiopian Airlines steward, and I did make the flight (the next one to Addis wasn’t for another 3 days), and was back home in Nairobi the following day.

Period of Absence

For those who’re regular followers of my blog, it’s perhaps been noticeable that there has been a definite lack of postings over the last couple of months. An indication perhaps that I’ve been seemingly constantly on the move in that time - literally. Since my last post at the end of July, I’ve been on 10 planes, and have 2 more to go this week. Not a good carbon footprint, I’m afraid, though rather typical it seems of working in an international setting.
Some of the highlights of that time have been:
• Having the opportunity to work for a month in the International Finance department at SIL International headquarters in Dallas, Texas.
• The number of people I knew in Dallas, either because they’re normally, or have been, based in Nairobi, or through workshops in Nairobi, Togo or Cameroon. It made my time there seem like home from home.
• Experiencing a rodeo for the first time (I thought the guys riding the bucking broncos and bulls were completely mad!).
• A day visiting the sights of Fort Worth, Texas. Botanical gardens, the water gardens (when we finally found them), and the Stockyard area (definitely cowboy country!).
• Having the opportunity to meet with friends in California and Pennsylvania, given that I was in the neighbourhood (relatively speaking!).
• A bonus weekend with family in the UK, en route back to Nairobi from the US.
• A picnic lunch with my Nairobi church home group by the dam that provides the home of a couple in the group with water. Great people and an amazing setting.
• Meeting with people in Bamako, Mali and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. • An evening of traditional Burkinabe dancing and music at the French Cultural Centre in Ouagadougou. So energetic – and in this heat!!!

Nairobi in Bloom

I always like this time of year in Nairobi as it’s when the jacaranda blooms. Whilst not indigenous, it is a very striking tree. Around the end of September / beginning of October, the city becomes dotted with splashes of the lilac flowers, and even the ground becomes more colourful as the flowers start to drop. Jacaranda seems to be one of the few flowering trees here where the flowers come before the leaves. And it’s meant to be a sign of rain. I’m not sure if that’s because the tree ‘knows’ that rain is coming, or just because their flowering time precedes that of the rains. The tree here is just along the road from where I live. The area under it used to be full of dukas (small stalls) selling a variety of goods. These were torn down last October by Nairobi City Council. Some enterprising duka owners however have continued to set up shop each day and continue their business, just laying the fruit and vegetables on the ground around the stools that they sit on. They seem to be there from first thing in the morning, drinking cups of chai (sweet milky tea), keeping their businesses open until into the evening.

Turtle Release

We had our conference at Turtle Bay Beach Club in Watamu this year. A wonderful place! We had 6 days’ of meetings, but also had time to just enjoy the surroundings and the warmth after the cool of Nairobi. Whilst there, I was fortunate enough to witness the release of 2 lots of turtles back into the Indian Ocean. These had been caught in fishermen’s nets, then handed over to Watamu Turtle Watch (www.watamuturtles.com), who rehabilitated, checked and tagged them, and then released them back to the sea. Over the last 4 years they have apparently released over 3,000 turtles back to the wild. Without this scheme almost all of these turtles would have been killed. The remuneration to the fishermen is small in comparison to the (illegal) commercial worth of the turtle; so it is a sustainable programme and does not encourage abuse. What a treat to be there to witness 4 of these beautiful creatures being returned to their natural habitat!