The Humanitarian

June 30th ?2024 marked my last working day with War Child. Having joined the organization in January 2021 and relocating from Nairobi to Kampala Uganda to take up the multifaceted position that was all enriching and challenging, I made yet another career change. It has been an incredible journey with the organization which I came to love and call home. When I told a former colleague that I was leaving she said “I will believe you once you are already out. I made a number of friends whom I? look forward to keeping contact with even after moving on to a new challenge at Global Center on Adaptation (GCA). I have fond memories in my job with War Child which included working with very dedicated staff that give their all for the sake of the children affected by armed conflict in extremely challenging environments.

The job came with travel engagements to some of the most hard to reach areas and some of the places that you only hear about in news. This gave me an opportunity to experience various cultures, varied cuisines (including frog legs), people from different walks of life, insane wealth and mind boggling poverty. I loved getting immersed in what the locals of the various cities, towns, villages and bushes that I visited were engaged in, especially during weekends. It is here that I will highlight a few gems that these precious yet troubled countries have and hope that some media personalities like Larry Madowo will find it worthy show casing this. Getting immersed in other cultures’ ?way of life and their realities helps you to appreciate that your upbringing is not the only one neither is it the yardstick. It also makes you understand how privileged you are even if not a dynasty as Kenyans would put it. It makes you understand that having 3 meals a day is a cultural orientation and is should not be taken as the way of life for everyone.

Feb 22nd 2022 the engines of the Boeing 737-800 rumbled as we made our way from Entebbe International Airport in Uganda to Goma international Airport in North Kivu province of Eastern DRC via Bole international Airport in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. I spent the night in Goma where I was able to interact with the Chukudus and the following day took a boat for three and half hours ride on Lake Kivu to Bukavu in DRC. The boat is nothing like I had expected, it was state of the art 62 seater with wifi on board and a French movie screened throughout the journey. The wifi worked perfect for more than 70% of the journey. I even had a work call while aboard the boat. Most of us have no idea about this amazing travel between North Kivu and South Kivu. There are boats with discos, and accommodation amenities for night travel on lake Kivu. There is even one other boat with a helipad. The travel between North and South Kivu is really great thanks to these boats. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania as they share Lake Victoria, should consider building such to support connectivity among the 3 countries.

First forward to 2 days later, I had to travel to the field in a location called Fizi (268KMS) from Bukavu to see what programs were being run and how our field office operated. It took us 2 days using hard body Landcruiser to cover the distance. The road we used has been featured as one of the most dangerous roads in the world. My former colleague? Lara Melse still insists that I had an easy way out because the road she used even the hard body Landcruiser could not be used on had to use motorbikes and travelled for more than 7 hours. Along the way we passed a number of trucks with drivers and their teams making meals, some stuck in mud, others with their trucks broken down yet they still soldiered on to ensure they delivered the critical supplies to the last mile. Most of these trucks travelled for weeks to deliver goods in areas that one could not imagine existed. We passed many illegal road blocks where all private vehicles including motorbikes were required to part with bribes to gain access. We were told that the motorbike riders negotiated the base fare and any incidentals due to the illegal road blocks were passed to the passengers in real time. My colleagues on the field promised to get me the best hotel in Fizi. ?True to their word they got me the best and it cost me $10 per night (bed only) breakfast was not provided in the facility. They had very clean white sheets and for those of you that travel know that this is a gem especially when one travels to these remote locations. The team had interesting way of managing meals, they would take breakfast at 9am and wait till 3:30 for lunch which also served as dinner. I had not been warned but I had to adjust quickly after 2 days. The actual field visit where I was able to see and appreciate the work carried out by the team was 1 day but the total travel time was 5 days. It makes you appreciate what people go through to make the much needed support reach ?children affected by armed conflict.? These are heroes and people who make this happen deserve to be supported, encouraged and appreciated.

In one of my other visit to Bukavu I attended one of the best wedding events. The wedding plan was simple, attend a church event from 1pm to 3pm and then go back home (go back to the hotel room for me). Then go back to the reception at 6pm for good food, more than enough drinks and a dance floor for both seasoned and amateur dancers. On this particular visit Sunday found me in Bukavu and I attended a church service at Philadelphia Church in Bukavu. The congregants were so well dressed that I acknowledged my lack of style. The music was what I thought I would get in DRC, the embodiment of musical perfection and the fact that everyone was enjoying every bit of the music. ?I can assure you that there is life going on in these places and they need opportunities to do even more. I have met some of the most smart and sharpest minds in these places. They do the most with the little that they have. ?

On my second day in Kampala, I went with my colleagues for lunch and as a typical Nairobi dweller, I ordered Chapati and beans (kikomando). Please pronounce the “ki” as chi. Little did I know that this was not considered a proper meal in Uganda and that darkness needed to be part of the ingredients ?as is the case of “Mutura” in Kenya. All my colleagues turned and wondered what kind of “boss” had been employed. They knew for sure no salary increase will be proposed if the “boss” was this hard on himself. After some weeks they warmed up to me and eventually told me how eating kikomando on day 1 sent shivers down their spines. As you can imagine I defended Chapati with every ounce of energy that I had. I told them chapati was and is a Christmas meal in Kenya dearly loved and respected. Growing up we looked forward to festivities for chapati to be served. When I eat it during a normal lunch, I feel like I am committing crime against food protocol. Conversely I learnt that cassava, sweet potatoes and arrowroots (nduma) are lunch or dinner starches and are not for breakfast like in Kenya. If you need 7 starches (ugali/posho, nduma, cassava, sweet potatoes, rice, matoke and sometimes irish potatoes) on your plate during lunch all you had to say was “I want all food” and all the 7 starches appeared.

It is in Uganda that I learnt that “well done” is a greeting. On this same 2nd of Feb 2021 when I was coming from the office one of the guards saw me and was like “well done.” I looked at the gentleman and wondered, “for what” I did not know how to respond. I asked and I was told he is appreciating for the work I have been doing the whole day, I asked them whether he knows what I had been doing. Looks like we Kenyans do not say well done enough to our fellows. Maybe “Oya” is the Kenyan version of well done. ?I was privileged to attend some weddings in Uganda. Ugandans love life and live it with pomp and color. It is in Uganda that I had to buy a suit to attend a wedding when I was not part of the groom’s men.? A friend of mine who had been to Kenya and knew how we Kenyans attended events (I am told there is some level of change) asked me what I was going to wear to his event, and I described to him, he told me “NO.” He took me to a boutique and just like that I bought a suit for the event. The events are elaborate and grand. The brides and their maids change clothes 3 to 4 times in a wedding event. If you want to get the true meaning of YOLO, you need to visit Uganda. What I dreaded were the speeches in events. If you think Kenyan Aunties overdo it, come to Uganda and see events that started at 10 am end past midnight.

South Sudan is one of the countries that I worked with closely. The South Sudanese’ directness is unmatched in the East Africa Region. They make their points clear with umph and gusto. Amidist all the political unrest, South Sudanese find time to enjoy life. During weekends there are thousands of both local and non-local who brave the morning chill to climb the Jebel hill up to the top. At the top, various teams carry out routine exercises and some put traditional South Sudanese music and dance to the best of their abilities. You need to watch the dark tall South Sudanese dance, I can assure you it is a spectacle to behold. The 2 kilometer stretch is quite exciting and enables one to move away from the barricades of the airconditioned rooms under tight security in Juba hotels. ?Air travel has made it easier for humanitarian workers to quickly reach the remote parts of the country. Of course the cost of air travel is prohibitive to the majority of the citizens. The level of destruction that I saw in South Sudan when I visited one of the field locations was immense. Buildings, cars, hotels and other property were all brought to ashes during the skirmishes. On the contrary, the number of Toyota V8s in Juba is quite a scene and doesn’t represent the dire humanitarian need that is experienced by the majority of the citizens both in Juba and the rest of the country. Any other car ends up looking like a shopping basket. South Sudan has great potential for Agriculture and fishing and one wishes that this was tapped into by the country’s leadership for the best of its citizenry.

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In April 2021 I made my maiden trip to Burundi. It was at the height of Covid19 and had to pay $100 to be tested and also quarantined for 3 nights at own cost before engaging in any business that had taken you to Burundi. This was one of the many trips that followed. It was here that the then Country Director of War Child Burundi programme, treated me to a delicacy of well-prepared frog legs. They are yummy and delicious I can assure you. In my subsequent visits we had Hendrik van Gent as the Country Director. Since it was close to the weekend, he gave me his weekend routine and asked if I wanted to join. He was like, on Saturday I run up the hill and come back, have break fast and go to the office for a few hours and on Sunday too I go run up the hill, take breakfast and go to church. I agreed to Saturday run and going to church on Sunday but not to another run on Sunday. Here is where I discovered the gem of the running Burundi groups. The groups of between 50 and sometimes to more than? 100 run from various locations up the hill and when they get at the top they get varied spots to exercise before running downhill chanting various Burundian songs. It was amazing and I made it a habit that every time I travelled to Burundi I ran up the hill, exercised and ran downhill with these groups. Eliud kipchoge , if there is a place that a new breed of athletes from Africa could be trained is in Burundi. It could be a place to give back to the society and maybe a chat with the ministry of sports in Burundi could give birth to something great for the nation.

My heart bled for Africa when I landed at Bangui-M'poko international airport in Central Africa Republic (CAR)in February 2024. The country that gained independence on 13 August 1960, looked like was in the medieval ages save for the fact that there was an airport and of course fuel guzzlers used by who is who in the country. The level of poverty that greets just from the airport is wanting. It is gem of a country but really undermanagement and the resources either underutilized or used by others other than the owners. To travel to CAR you need a visa which has to be approved by more than 1 minister depending on the purpose of your visit. Please note the approval is not from the ministries or dedicated departments but by the minister, him/herself. It may take up to a month to get a visa approved. I stayed in CAR for 2 weeks and on one of the weekends I asked the Country Director, if there were any activities carried out by the Bangui dwellers to keep fit. I was told there was a field where a number of people ?go to run and/or exercise. On this particular day the Rwanda high commissioner was hosting the Rwandese community for the exercise and I ?joined them since the CD then was from Rwanda. Unlike in Burundi, here the groups that come together to run are small but the number of people in totality was quite considerable. I enjoyed the run and exercise but never forgot that CAR a country close to one and half times the size of Kenya is extremely poor, natural resources that they have not withstanding.

As I move on to new adventure it is my hope that leaders globally will know that No child should be part of War. Ever.