kaputiei village

Going back to last week... my week in Kaputiei with Beatrice, my "sho sho" (meaning grandmother in Kikuyu- one of the tribal languages) Living in the eco village was incredible. The experience of going from the completely uncivilized people, the Masaai to the wonderful development project of Kaputiei. Sho sho and her family, mainly consisting of her grandchildren, immediately treated me like family from day one. I arrived on Wednesday and as I walked around the village it was clear that people were not yet comfortable with the Mzungu being around. The people were quite timid and curious about me. Each day that I was there the people warmed up exponentially and by the end of the week I could not walk anywhere without stopping and conversing in English or very broken Swahili.

Sho Sho is a remarkable woman. She is extremely loved throughout the village. Everyone from the school teachers to the workers at the factor refer to her as Sho Sho, although they have no blood relation to her. Ten years ago she was one of the fifty original woman who lived on the streets of Nairobi and begged people for money and now she is living in a two bedroom house outside of the slums, owns 4 small businesses, employs over twenty people, while providing for TWELVE grandchildren.

She is a giver-- no matter who walks in her home she insists on giving them chai (tea), food, or whatever is around. I am so lucky to have met her in April.. I can't imagine this trip without my stay at her home.

Sho sho insisted not only that I become an African chef, but that I look like one. Sho Sho took alot of pride in telling me that she was very excited for my Dad to see how big I was going to grow  after a week with her-- it was horrible how much they served me and in the African culture you MUST finish everything. We made a different African dish every night, from chapattis to ugali with schmoliki, which helped with as much as I could. Their wonderful African hospitality was amazing, even too amazing some of the time. The house had two bedrooms and they gave me one of them for the whole time. I had a very impressive bed which I'm assuming was normally Sho Sho's bedroom. The other six family members shared two beds in the other room. I insisted on not needing my own space etc. but they quickly ignored my requests.

Throughout the week there was at least one van full of visitors in the village checking out the project. Everyone from bank managers, to development organizations from other countries, to pseudo celebrities wanting to invest. The project is truly remarkable. The houses are extremely nice, for African standards, especially those who have grown up in the Kibera slums. The Kaputiei project began as a solution to the many problems that arise in slum living. The Kibera slums are the largest slums in Sub Saharan Africa- TWO square miles and TWO million people. An unbelievable sight.

When the Jamii Bora borrowers take out their loan for their new house they have twenty years to complete the loan repayment. Once the loan is repaid the house is theirs. Forever and they do not have to pay a single electricity or water bill because of the solar panels on each house and the bore hole which produces water for the community, on a rationed basis of course. We had water pretty much every night from about 7pm to midnight... the people wash with the traditional basins. I used the garden hose to wash my hair twice during the week. After Sho Sho pleated my hair, aka corn rows, I needed to wash it... they all could not stop talking about how soft and silky my hair was which meant they were all touching it as well. Njoki, the girl pictured on the right, is one of Sho Sho's many children whom she "looks after".

I taught at the primary school some of the days in Kaputiei with the pre unit class, so essentially pre kindergarten. The kids were absolutely adorable! They were just beginning to learn English so it was a perfect age to teach! It was very interesting to observe the differences between the Masaai children, who were taught in a hut sitting on stones, with the children of Kaputiei, who had beautiful classrooms with desks and uniforms. The children followed the same pattern as most everyone else in the village, they were extremely shy at first but quickly warmed up and could not stop holding my hand and sitting on my lap. The Kenyan education system is very impressive. I spent alot of time looking over exams of the secondary school and comparing it with the high school education that I recieved. The concepts and principles are extremely parallel but the main difference that I observed was the amount of practical information incorporated in the Kenyan system. For instance, in their science class they learn a lot about farming and HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. Things that will serve them in everyday life.

During my time in Kaputiei I read an amazing book called 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in not only the impact of HIV/AIDS but African culture. The author Stephanie Nolen beautifully portrays the lives of 28 victims of HIV/AIDS in Africa while providing a deep understanding of the countries and cultures of many Sub Saharan African countries. It was fascinating to read the book while living in the village because many of the people I met provided very similar stories.


I was talking to Charlie one day and mentioned Agnes story, one of the featured woman in the book who lived in a Kenyan slum, and Charlie informed me that he knew her and if I wanted to meet her he'd bring me by! Just incredible. Charlie's brother works as a mentor and counselor for youths at an HIV youth centre so he knows Agnes quite well. I think I am going to meet him early this week and hopefully Agnes as well. Just incredible. The book was also extremely relevant to the work and reserach that I will be doing with Professor Niepold starting Tuesday! Grandmothers raising more than ten grandchildren is a very common sight, including Sho Sho who is currently caring for her 12 grandchildren. She is currently paying for 8 of their primary and secondary education and has already sent 4 grandchidlren all the way through secondary school, including Charlie.


Tomorrow or the next day I am going to meet her in the Mathere slums becuase she wants to give me a tour of where she grew up and show me the life "that was before". She told me that she never would have been able to invite me to stay in her home overnight had she still been living in the slums becuase it would be way too unsafe.

Kaputiei residents were about 1/5 at capacity while I was there. They expect all the houses to be complete and moved into within 2 years. The foundation for the shopping centre has been laid and the tree seedlings are just started to appear, I cannot wait to see the village in five years when I expect it will be a bustling village! The surrounding wildlife and environment is slowly adjusting to the village. When the first people began moving into the village they had a problem with lions entering the village at night but now that more people have come it is no longer a problem. Although the second night that I was there I awoke at 3am to screaming hens... Sho Sho ran outside to find one of the hens missing, which is a problem that most people face weekly. (For your information, a hen costs about 4-6 dollars depending on how fat they are, which is a lot of money!) Most days we would walk through the bush and see a herd of zebras and ostrichs grazing. The landscape is absolutely therapeutic, a perfect setting for these people who have grown up in the slums, where daily survival is uncertain.

Leaving the village a week after I arrived was very sad. I said goodbye to many teary eyed people and promised that I would be back soon. In the upcoming week I am going to meet with Jamii Bora founder and  Ingrid Munro to discuss my experience and learn more about her. I cannot wait, it's an experience that I've been dreaming about ever since I watched her give the opening address at the conference in April.  I feel that I could easily continue writing about my experience for hours but I am going find the Masaai market with an Irish friend that I just met. I will be at the Wildebeest until Friday morning when we fly to Mwanza, Tanzania, which is set right on Lake Victoria. Can't wait...