From Kibera to the Blue Note

I spent the day in Kibera, the slum community on the outskirts of Nairobi, home to over a million people. It wasn't striking different from the informal settlement I had visited in Lusaka, or probably those I would see in Durban or Dakar. The houses made of corruated tin, cardboard, sod, plastic bags, and other various materials, stacked nearly on top of each other and criss crossed in haphazard rows. Sidewalks, filled with debris, lined the dirt paths, and all sorts of people filled them, hawking wares, arguing, eating, playing. They tossed incredulous looks at our giant land rover. The children asked "how are you? How are you?" No one begged.

The sites we visited were really hopeful examples of the best types of development projects. I was inspired by the difficult (often volunteer, always low paid) labor on behalf of our project's community leaders. It was, like every other time I've been in the field, a new insight into a completely different world.
My flight for Kisumu leaves in seven hours, and I have to cut this post short to sleep. However, I went to the MTV launch party for the MTV African Music Awards tonight as well. I have a photo with Wahu, (female performer of the year!) which was really cool. More to follow, as long as my hotel in Kisumu has internet...