I wanted to work for Vital Voices because their vision of development is directly in line with my own: locate emerging women leaders who are already empowered and have great ideas for community development and support their projects however necessary.  Vital Voices provides means for capacity building through access to funds, training and broad based advocacy initiatives.

Through their relationship to ABWN (the Africa Business Women’s Network) and hub offices throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Vital Voices aims to strengthen businesswomen’s organizations throughout the region.   This strengthening occurs through regional conferences where business growth skills and “best practices” are shared across the continent as well as through increased funding and infrastructural/organizational support.  My counterpart organization, KAWBO, is Kenya’s hub, and its mission is to become the leading businesswomen’s organization in Kenya.  The board members that I have met are all empowered, successful Kenyan woman.  They have conquered adversity, attained economic independence and committed themselves to empowering other women business owners in Nairobi.  The work that I will be doing here will hopefully enable KAWBO to broaden their membership and increase their visibility locally and internationally.  No pressure.

A few days ago, with my host sister and mother out of the house I sat down at the dinner table alone and was presented with an amazing feast—which somehow seemed less exciting because there was no one to share it with.  I asked Beatrice, the servant in the house to sit with me and try some of the amazing butternut squash soup that she had made.  After much protestation she eventually agreed to sit with me.  She had left the previous afternoon to visit three of her four children who live on the outskirts of Nairobi and had returned that afternoon. I inquired how her visit went.

Beatrice told me that she cooked for her children, washed and ironed all of their clothes and cleaned their house–the same thing that she does every week on her one day-off.  She told me that she woke up at 5 in the morning to transport water from the community pump to her children’s home. She walked ¼ mile with a 20-liter bucket on her head, and a 5-liter bucket in one hand, and she repeated this trip 6 times.  I told her that it didn’t sound like much of a day off-and she laughed and said that this was her responsibility.  She has been single since her husband died 7 years ago from Malaria and she wanted her children to go to school and be taken care of.  Her oldest is about to take his exam to enter college and she is hopeful that he will pass but unaware of how he will be able to afford college if he does decide to go.  Scholarships are few and far between and bank loans difficult to obtain.

When I inquired about her own schooling as a child Beatrice told me a story that is all too familiar throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East where resources are scarce and male children are favored.    Beatrice is from the Western Province of Kenya.  She grew up in a house built of mud walls with aluminum sheets for a roof.  She grew up with 10 siblings; 6 brothers and 4 sisters.  Beatrice is the second oldest girl, and she and her sister were not allowed to attend school beyond the 6^th grade because her parents refused to pay for it.  Funding her brothers’ education was justifiable because they would later contribute to the household income—paying for a girls education however, was the equivalent of throwing money away.  These girls would marry, move out of the house, and that investment would have been wasted.   I asked Beatrice whether her younger sisters went to school.  She answered that yes, they had, because Beatrice and her older sister were working and therefore were able to help pay for their younger sisters’ schooling.  Beatrice was never able to attend school beyond the 6^th grade and thus was limited in her job opportunities as an adult, she didn’t want to the same limitations to affect her children.

I have only been in Nairobi for a week, and only met a handful of women and already I can’t help but be struck by the stark contrasts between different women’s lives.  My host-mother attended college in Florida, became a leader in her field and has owned her own successful business for the past 10 years.  Beatrice left school at the age of 12, is only able to visit her mother in Western Province once a year and never really gets a day off.  This scenario is familiar in almost any developing or developed country that I have lived in—the advancement and empowerment of some women in a society is inevitable counter balanced by the influx of poorer, less educated women as domestic help.   My professor in Gender and Sexuality 101 at NYU described this trend as feminism’s dirty little secret.  In all of our excitement over women entering the workforce in America—abandoning their aprons and burning their bras—we failed to notice the Filipino, Ecuadorian and Caribbean women walking right back into these women’s aprons and kitchens to take their place.  This is not to undermine the great importance of those women who enter the workforce and gain access to careers that would have previously been impossible, only a recognition that these “gender advancements”, and strives toward “equality” are not necessarily impacting all women equally.

I would never belittle my host-mother or her accomplishments; she has achieved extraordinary things as a businesswoman in the face of great challenges and has earned all of her great success.  I only wish to highlight an inequality that seems to be pervasive internationally.  I can’t necessarily even dismiss it as “right” or “wrong,” but simply complicated, and frustrating.   This inequity further highlights the foolishness of a one-size-fits-all gender development strategy.  In central Nairobi women need access to business growth strategies and in Western Province women need access to the 7^th grade.

Development projects should vary accordingly.

I apologize for cramming 2 separate entries into one blog, there is simply too much going on in this first week and I wanted to make sure to share as much as possible.  Enjoy!

Jambo!

I arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Friday morning, exhausted after my 2-day journey from New York and incredibly excited to begin this adventure in Nairobi. I will be working with the Kenyan Association of Women Business Owners while I’m here, and I am already quite convinced that they will be extraordinarily hospitable and welcoming hosts during my 2 ½ month stay.

I was met at the airport by Taiyana, a member of KAWBO who was generous enough to answer the slew of questions that I had in our taxi ride over to what would be my residence during my stay here.  She told me all about Vice President Biden’s recent trip to Nairobi and the incredible traffic jams that it caused as well as her familiarity with Yale, my present University, thanks to her love of Gilmore Girls.  She dropped me off at the home of Njambi, a board member of KAWBO who, concerned about the safety and quality of the hostels that my meager budget would allow for, has agreed to let me stay in her home for the summer.  I am incredibly grateful to her.  If I even attempted to properly express the generosity and kindness of this woman I would not do her justice.  As someone who has lived with homestay families in 3 different countries (Italy, Uzbekistan and Suriname) I knew immediately upon meeting her that Njambi would be an amazing host.  And she is.

Planning for my 2 ½ month work plan and potluck contributions begin…

Yesterday I had my first meeting with the KAWBO board, an incredibly inspiring and committed group of women who are eager to make use of my 10 weeks here.  My responsibilities consist of administering a baseline survey of current KAWBO members; intended to assess their needs, challenges and expectations as businesswomen in Nairobi.  I will also have the opportunity to profile a few of these women; sharing their stories via film, photography and interviews through this blog, the newsletter of the African Business Women’s Network and their own website.  It was clear from our meeting yesterday that I will also be supporting KAWBO’s overall advocacy goals; helping them to establish a long-term plan to increase their national exposure and broaden their membership.

Our very professional discussion of the work plan and long-term goals was spotted with discussion of Nairobi nightlife, politics and a potential potluck that the board and I will have soon.  I’ve promised to make a “traditional American dish”, which is more likely to be my Eastern European Jewish contribution of mandelbrodt or haroset.  Thankfully, my Passover Seder staples will come to some use.  The ladies of KAWBO are eager to try them out.

I went food shopping with Njambi and we went into this amazingly crowded and fragrant shop filled with spices. The man in the photo (all you see is his hand) is presently filling that small paper bag with freshly ground ginger. It smelled amazing!

Hello all!  This is the first installation of my blog, which I will be maintaining throughout my summer internship.  In just 2 weeks I will be heading to Nairobi, Kenya to work with the Kenyan Association of Women Business Owners (KAWBO).  As a Vital Voices/Advocacy Project fellow I will be conducting a baseline survey developed by Vital Voices of KAWBO participants, as well as producing success story profiles, networking with media outlets, expanding the KAWBO website and maintaining this weekly blog.

I look forward to arriving in Kenya, meeting with my co-workers at KAWBO and spending the summer supporting their efforts to strengthen female business owners in Nairobi.  Keep following my blog and I’ll keep you updated on my life and work in Kenya.