Another day at the office...

So I wasn’t planning on updating every day, but
a) things keep happening that are amazing, and deserve to be documented and
b) we aren’t allowed to go out at night, so updating is a good way to pass time

Anyway, today was my first day of work at the Africa Regional Office of the World Scout Bureau. I went to bed really early last night so I could be nice and rested for my first day. I had to be up at 630am, which to me is a horrible, inhumane hour of the day. If only I could have been so lucky... as it turns out, right outside my bedroom window is the neighbourhood rooster. That’s right, starting at 4am, my new pal was cock-a-doodle-dooing NON-STOP. So needless to say, I was a very sleepy girl all day.

The work van picked me up at 7:10, I’m the very first stop, we don’t get to the office until about 8:30. A very long, bumpy ride later, we got to the office, where they showed me to my desk and gave me a few minutes to get settled. Then I sat down with Jacques, the acting regional director, to go over some of my options for what work I can do for them. We are going to have a more formal meeting Monday, so until then I guess it’s still pretty up in the air. Suffice to say I will spend Mondays-Thursdays at a desk on a computer doing research and writing. Something along the lines of helping write policy recommendations, or facilitating partnerships with different branches, especially throughout Europe.

After our chat, Jacques gave me a tour of the office and introduced me to everyone. There are only about 10 people in the office, they all seem so kind and welcoming. After tea, we all sat down in the boardroom, basically so I could be introduced to everyone as a group instead of one-by-one.

As it turns out, today is World Environment Day, a UNEP initiative started back in 1972. To commemorate, the Scout Bureau (who’ve committed to planting 10 million trees in Kenya this year) headed to a nearby elementary school to plant 100 trees. (Check out http://www.unep.org/wed/2009/english/content/about.asp !)

It was the most amazing experience, one I can’t believe I’ve had this early in my trip. We pulled up to the school and the kids came running over. They were timid at first, but soon all of us from the office were elbows deep in mud alongside the kids.

This school had almost 2000 students, many of whom were HIV positive. I spent about 20 minutes talking with one of the teachers from the school, a middle aged woman named Lea. She herself was HIV positive, and she was talking about the importance of reducing the stigma of being infected. She said they encourage openness at the school, and that the children are so kind and understanding to each other when the truth is right out there in the open. She says it goes so far as a healthy kid reminding his pal to take his HIV medication, the way a mom might remind her kid to take her vitamins back in Canada. The thing the woman talked about most though was hope. It’s easy to hear about the HIV/AIDS epidemic at home, but to talk to this kind, soulful, strong woman and imagine the struggles she faces every day, I’m still reeling.

The school was located in the middle of Kibera, a huge slum home to over a million people, with a population density of 300 000 people per square kilometre. It is regarded as the worst slum in Africa, one of the worst in the world. Driving through it, I was in total disbelief. Loose garbage literally lined the sides of the roads. The stench was so bad I could barely stand it. I couldn’t even imagine spending one day of my life living the way literally MILLIONS are living.

The whole day basically summarized what I always imagined a trip to Africa being like: seeing horrible poverty, feeling incredibly blessed for the things I have in my life, doing something as simple as planting a tree in the hopes of making even a miniscule difference in the world.

Something Pauline from the office said to me today really struck me. We were watching all of the children running along with trees and manure and water planting, and she said “I know climate change is a global problem, but if it were a local problem, we would have it solved by now”. From what I’ve seen, I would have to agree. People are so passive at home. We hear about global issues, and intend to do something about it, but few take it past that step. Good intentions are just not enough.

I can only hope that my whole time here continues to be as rewarding and eye-opening as today has been. The one thing I can say already for sure...Africa is able to both mend and shatter a heart, all at the same time.