Leah’s Travel Page

Yesterday we stayed on the ICIPE site all day, which I predicted might be outrageously dull, but actually turned out to be a really interesting demonstration of all the ways people are using insect research. In one centre their studying malaria and mosquitos. In another, they’re doing research on locust pheromones, because locusts are generally solitary but then something triggers pheromones which causes them to communicate and then swarm…if scientists can understand how to release similar pheromones, then they can control the swarming and subsequent crop devastation. On site, there is also bee keeping for honey and bee venom, silkworm production to make silk to sell to the global market, etc. And a lot of this knowledge can be transmitted to small communities so that they can create sustainable income-generation projects.

After that, we got into groups for our major research project for the semester. We’ve gotten into groups of about 7 and will work in conjunction with scientists/social scientists throughout the next few months and present our findings at the end. For example, my group will focus on rural urban migration. From the rural side, we will interview people in the communities we travel to about their livelihoods, what drives them to migrate to the cities, the kinds of infrastructure in the rural areas, what makes it possible for them to stay in rural areas and the challenges that poses, etc. From the urban side, we can look at the informal sector and how that absorbs the inflow of migrants, or even look at places like Kibera, where most of the people living there have come to the city from their rural homes for better economic opportunities. For that, we’ll be in touch with some of the people from UN-HABITAT again. It should be a great incentive to really communicate with some of the people we meet over the next few months. Some of the other groups will cover subjects like malaria diagnosis and treatment, vector control used by farmers, and some other public health issues.

Other than that, the day was pretty relaxing. I’ve been kind of sick since I got here, Wednesday I had a fever of 101…only I would be sick the first week in Kenya! But yesterday and today I’ve felt better and my fever is gone, so all that remains is congestion and a really gross cough that I’m sure means no one will want to be my friend. Just kidding, who wouldn’t want to be MY friend?

We’re going into Nairobi today, so it’ll be nice to get off the compound. We’re going to the big Maasai market that’s here every Friday. I’m sure it’ll be ridiculously touristy, a bit unnecessary since we’ll actually be LIVING in a Maasai village in a few weeks, but I’m looking forward to it as it will be my first exposure to African market haggling.

We’re leaving ICIPE Sunday morning for Uganda, and then I’ll be completely out of touch for about 2 weeks. We’re staying at a really remote field research station in Kibale Rainforest National Park…apparently they don’t even have a phone, only a satellite one for emergency purposes. So if there’s anything any of you need to tell me, let me know in the next two days! i’m also going to try to upload some of my pictures tonight, so you can all get some giraffe inspiration.

Hi everyone!

I arrived in Nairobi last night, from Montreal via Amsterdam. The trip was pretty uneventful, but I was fortunate to trade with someone for a window seat for the Amsterdam-Nairobi leg, so the views over the Swiss Alps and then the Sahara were pretty extraordinary….we flew directly over Khartoum, which was really cool to see, because it’s in Sudan, so it’s just totally remote.

I almost never made it to the airport in Montreal, though…funny story. So about 45 minutes before I was going to leave for the airport, I stopped by the bank to deposit a cheque. You know those little garbage slots they have beside the ATMs to put discarded receipts in? Well, I was stuffing my receipt into it a little too vigorously and my hand got fully stuck in it just below my knuckles…I was totally panicking and had this vision of me missing my whole trip to Africa because I was trapped in the TD bank ATM on a Sunday and no one would find me! Basically I was yanking on my arm as hard as I could for about 45 seconds (which seemed like forever, of course), and finally my hand came free. But those things are made of marble, so now my knuckles on my right hand are all busted up…Haha, you know they caught all that on surveillance camera, too.

But anyways, I DID make it to Kenya. When we arrived at the airport it wasn’t that late but it was dark because the sun sets at about 6:30 everynight since we’re on the equator. One girl in the group’s luggage never made it out of Montreal, but the rest of us were all good. We had a bit of a hassle going through customs because they wanted us to declare the boxes of books and medical supplies we’re bringing for some of the communities we’ll be visiting. After about 45 minutes of negotiations, though, they finally let us through. Nairobi is at a fairly high altitude, so the temperature is a nice 23 degrees. We’re staying at ICIPE, which is the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology, which is interesting because even though their focus is on insects, that also covers other issues from malaria to horticulture. Also, the security is really tight because we’re on the same compound as USAID, so we all had our pictures taken for our own security-clearance badges…I feel so official.

This morning we woke up and headed off for the day to Nairobi National Park, which is just on the outskirts of town. It was a pretty great way to start off the trip…it’s basically open savannah with giraffes, zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, ostrich…. We kept an eye out for rhino, but no luck. And all this with the Nairobi skyline on the horizon. We were there almost all day, so it was pretty easy-going.

Tomorrow we start real course-work. We’re going to the United Nations compound in the morning, which I’m really excited about, obviously, because that’s where I want to work. Then, in the afternoon, we’ll have the most extraordinary chance to visit Kibera, which is one of the most well-known slums in the world (maybe after Soweto), and I’ve learned about it a hundred times in classes. It’s the largest slum in Africa, with over a million people living in a valley on the edge of the city…we passed it today on the way to the National Park. I’m really looking forward to going there, because that’s an experience most people to Nairobi would never get.

It’s really, really dusty in Nairobi because Kenya is in the middle of a severe drought (the November rainy season never came, and the next one isn’t until March). I think I’m having allergy attacks to all the dust, so hopefully that won’t last, or I’ll be looking like I’m about to cry for the next 6 months! I’m currently drugged up on Reactine, so hopefully that will do the trick.

Anyways, there are 38 people competing for two slow dial-up computers, so if I don’t get off soon, it might start a lynch mob.