Annie Wardroup | Lumos Student Travel Award Program

Greetings from Nairobi! I have been in Nairobi for a bit over a week now and am settling in wonderfully!

My final week at home was filled with running errands and spending time with family and friends as I prepared to leave. I had to ensure that I had everything I needed to be traveling and living in my new home for six months – from getting last minute toiletries to buying a few snacks that would come in handy as I become familiar with eating new foods. When it came to packing, I attempted to create something of a capsule wardrobe, ensuring that most pieces would work together to avoid over packing. I also brought along enough essentials and more “luxury” items (i.e. my handheld espresso maker) that would help me bridge the gap as I acclimate to my life here without packing so much that I lack some immersion into the day-to-day life of Nairobi. After packing my bags and saying my goodbyes, it was off to the airport!

My travel day(s) to get here was thankfully quite smooth. I traveled through Boston and Paris and arrived here in the night on Monday August 11. After briefly meeting my roommate for the time being, unpacking, and heading to bed, I jumped into my first day of work on Tuesday.

Tuesday was filled with meeting everyone at UCESCO-Africa and visiting the project sites in Kibera. UCESCO focuses on uplifting and empowering women and children living in Kibera slum through education and healthcare and is currently operating 3 schools, an orphanage, a center for young girls, and a healthcare clinic. In the morning, I was able to visit most of these locations, introduce myself, and learn about the unique mission they each have. The rest of my day was spent observing and participating in a dance lesson at the primary school (Peggy Lucas School). The kids here can dance!

As for the rest of the week, I worked primarily at the orphanage – Paradise Community Center. This is a center for children who, for one reason or another, have found themselves without guardianship and in need of basic necessities. There are currently 25 children at the center, each of whom are funny, smart, talented, and bright. Throughout the week, I, with two other volunteers from Italy, lead the children in cooking lessons and games. We made pasta, pizza, and cookies, played many hands of Uno, watched many football (soccer) highlight videos, and engaged in meaningful conversations. Did I mention that they are all very invested in teaching everyone Swahili? Many hours were spent with them shouting Swahili words at me while I tried my hardest to commit them all to memory.

After the long work days, I was able to enjoy a bit of “play” each day doing activities in the city with the other volunteers. One day, we went on a gastro tour, a tour of street and local food in the downtown district. Our guide, Joel, was just as amazing as all the food and we had a great time sharing small plates and getting a real taste of the local cuisine. My favorites included samosas (small pockets of dough stuffed with meat or vegetables) and mandazi (sweet deep-fried bread, a common Kenyan breakfast or snack food). I also spent one day going through souvenir shops and another walking around the mall and playing pool.

Finally, this weekend I was able to visit the Nairobi National Park, go on a sunrise game drive there, and visit the Nairobi giraffe center and elephant orphanage. While in the park, we saw rhinos, buffalo, hippos, giraffes, zebras, gazelle, and baboons. One baboon even jumped into our car (while no one was inside, thankfully) and stole someone’s lunch! The elephant orphanage is a rehabilitation program that saves baby elephants that are found stranded without a mother and cares for them until they are 3-4 years old before returning them to the wild. Each day, they allow visitors to watch their 11 am feed and to observe the elephants for one hour. The youngest elephant was just 5 months old and was so small! We ended the day by visiting the giraffe center where you can feed giraffes.

All in all, I had a pretty great first week here in Nairobi. While the work may be mentally and physically taxing at times, I am excited to continue, to learn more and become more immersed in this place with each day. I have felt so welcome here already and can’t wait to see what is to come!