from Garissa to Dadaab

Yesterday I indulged in some local cuisine at the "local 5-star," at the Almond Hotel.  Marika and I had goat stew, which had a fantastic flavor and was served with lots of veggies, but the meat itself was incredibly tough.  Josh had the camel stew which he said was the same...and he eventually gave up trying to chew it and just swallowed the chunks whole!  I really wish I could post some photos here, but the internet is such a slow connection (and apparently cuts out from 6pm-9pm when the local somalis essentially hijack the electricity) that it won't let me upload anything right now.

Through some miracle we made it to Dadaab today.  In typical fashion, there were 3 people riding up front (in a smaller sized 4-door Toyota pickup), including one of the provincial health officers and his accountant, and 5 of us in the back seat (myself, marika, erin, josh, and christine)...and yes, it was excuciatingly hot and cramped and we all had various paresthesias by the time the ride was over.  The road out of Garissa was paved and had surprisingly few potholes (compared to the road to Garissa from Nairobi), but about 1/3 of the way to Dadaab the roads turn to sand...so you can imagine, with 5 people in the backseat...

Around 10am we pulled in to the United Nations compound, where we'll be staying for the next week (we would have like to stay longer but it's far more expensive than we predicted and there's no bank in Dadaab to get more cash).  I feel a bit guilty staying in this "posh" UN compound knowing that we're living near almost 260,000 Somali refugees, I even have my own bathroom and shower bucket, AND an overhead fan!!! We were told it's not safe for us (meaning those of us with lighter skin) to stay outside the compound, as we "would fetch quite a ransom" in this area, so that makes me feel a little better about staying here.  There's people from all different NGOs staying here - like CARE and Doctors w/o Borders.  The nightly expat hangout spots are called Burr Hole and Grease Pit...should be an interesting experience. 

Almost all the women here (and in Garissa) wear the full headscarf and long robes, exposing only their faces, and there is a large group within them who wear the full burqua with only a slit for their eyes.  I can't imagine how hot they must get under their robes.  And the older men have their beards dyed red with henna - Christine says it's to hide their gray hairs!   The people have all been incredibly friendly so far, one woman told us we were the first white people she had ever met.  The men are typical men (i say that with all due respect)...at one of the police roadblocks on the way to Garissa from Nairobi, one officer politely asked our driver if he'd be willing to leave one of us at the roadblock.   There are cows, goats, camels, cats, and gigantic birds (HUGE, like 4 feet tall, they almost look prehistoric), all roaming along the side of the road along with the crowds of people...the cows were nibbling on roadside trash piles, which made us all start to reconsider the meaning of "free-range" meat.

We are going to be working with a relatively new NGO called ADEO (African Development and Emergency Organization - www.adeo.or.ke), a Kenyan NGO, which does a lot of HIV work here.  Tomorrow morning we meet with them to find out the specifics of our schedule here, and where we'll be most effective and least in-the-way.   The 3 refugee "camps" in Dadaab are called Ifo, Hagadera, and Dagahale, and have be around for more than 10 years...which makes one wonder why they're still called refugee camps and not Kenyan cities.  Although last summer was one of the largest peaks with nearly 300,000 people, and the influx due to both violence and environmental instability (flooding AND droughts).  Apparently the Somalis are very business oriented and are major traders (jeeps, weapons, etc), so within the "camps" you can buy a brand new blackberry with 2-year warranty, and other luxuries that you'd never expect to find at the ends of the earth.

We've met some interesting characters that we're hoping to interview for our video project, one guy in particular who has bouncing from one humanitarian mission to the next over the last 30 years, Pakistan, Afghanistan, all over Central Asia...he said he came to work in Dadaab as a vacation from all the other places!  Although he did say that if he had to choose, he'd live in Kabul permanently...he said the people there are the nicest.

In any case, it's nearly  5pm and 96 degrees and we're all starting to adjust to the heat and embrace the stickiness of it all, but are all amazed at how much water we drink without ever having to go to the bathroom.  It's pretty exciting to finally be here, our hard work of coordinating things over the last year is finally happening!  Working in this environment is something i've dreamed of doing for as long as i can remember, so i'm really enjoying every sticky dehydrated moment and am thankful to have this amazing opportunity and meet such dedicated people.