My room with a view!

After 25 hours of traveling, fighting a head cold, and functioning on a few hours of sleep, I have finally made it to Nairobi, Kenya to start my fellowship!

I am excited to be working with Stella and her daughter Zawadi, along with the dedicated members of Shield of Faith, the association of mainly single mothers who are using composting to end pollution and under-nutrition in the informal settlements of Nairobi. Hopefully, you’ve all read about them through AP news bulletins and the movie we produced earlier this year. “The Worm Ladies of Kibera” are famous! You can meet them here.

Stella and I have set two main goals for my summer fellowship: first, help Shield of Faith build a social media presence to increase international and community support for the composting project; and second, report on the composting project through my blogs.

This is the year that the project moves from an experimental start-up to a full-blown program. Much of the model has been thoroughly tested and found to work, but Stella has identified two new activities that are central to the program’s future: take the composting model from individual homes into communities, and introduce composting and kitchen gardens to schools.

I’m here to help and I’m also enjoying Africa for the first time! After I stepped out of my plane in Nairobi I was met with a beautiful sunrise that reminded me of home, and immediately felt a little more at ease.

I’m staying in a high-rise apartment in the neighborhood of Kileleshwa, where many visitors from AP have stayed. It’s comfortable and modern so I believe I will be fine here! On my first day in Kenya I got to meet my wonderful host Stella, who will be my mentor for the next ten weeks. The jet lag has been difficult to handle and the lack of sleep is really making me miss home, but Stella and Zawadi have been kind and welcoming. Spending time with them has made me feel so much better and helped with the homesickness.

My first week was full of administrative chores, such as setting up an eSIM (phone card) and MPESA (mobile money transfers). It took Stella and I many hours, but after the third day we had officially got it all figured out. Over the weekend I got the opportunity to go into the city with Zawadi and it was a culture shock to say the least! The cars drive on the opposite side of the street, and I never thought that crossing a road could be so hard. With how often everyone crosses the street, I was surprised there are very few crosswalks and red lights seem more like a suggestion to drivers than a command. This makes it difficult to know when you can and cannot cross.

Thankfully Zawadi led the way and made sure I did not walk into oncoming traffic!