Valentine gifts

So, Valentine’s Day has been and gone. It’s been interesting to see how it has played out in the Kenyan press. UK papers have been criticised for being ‘London Centric’ for some time and Kenyan papers suffer from the same focus on an urban elite – the emerging middle class in Nairobi. As ever the ads for Valentine’s Day products, like most other western celebration days, have been a little unusual, (though very enterprising). I would never have thought of his and hers mobile phones as an obvious Valentine’s gift and was surprised at the Valentine promotion for the latest model Blackberry phones. Even more bizarre was an advert for a lager style beer. I know that women do drink beer but it’s not exactly a romantic beverage. Dressing it up with a free glass offer for one pack size and 6 roses for a bigger one didn’t really seem to be in the real spirit of the event. In the run up to Feb 14^th there have been a number of articles about keeping the romance alive in long term relationships and marriage. Call me old fashioned but is seems a shame to see the worst aspects of cheap Western commercialism and ‘reality TV’ culture colonising Kenyan media space – in the newspapers, on TV and on numerous billboards. Needless to say the Valentine’s Day celebrations in our community were conspicuous by their absence.

I had a very positive day today, courtesy of the Kenyan government. Mary and I were invited to see the DC, (District Commissioner), this morning. The DC is the head man at the District Administration centre in Kosele. We weren’t sure why he wanted to see us so we set off to his office with a sense of anticipation. As it turned out we saw the DC’s Deputy, (the DO1 – District Officer 1). He is a very nice man, new to this District and, this morning, the bearer of great news for us. Occasionally the government distributes sacks of rice, beans and other staples such as cooking oil and ‘porridge’ to the ‘wananchi’ – (local community members). Our invitation to the DC’s office today came via the DCO, (go on, have a guess ……… OK, District Children’s Officer). He had nominated our children’s home, (and two others), to be the beneficiaries of some food rations that had been left over from a wider distribution in the community. After chatting with the DO1 we were sent to the stores to pick up our ‘chit’ for 150kg of beans, 250kg of rice, 30 litres of cooking oil and a small bale of the porridge flour that we use for feeding the children before school. This unexpected assistance will keep us in beans and rice for the best part of a month.

Chit in hand Mary, our manager, and I hot footed it, (well at least as fast as our Landrover allows), seven kilometres down the road, to the government grain stores next to Lake Victoria, to load up our precious cargo. Once the paper work had been properly processed we were asked to pull up outside a large warehouse where a team of 3 guys loaded us up. We had travelled to the store with the Director of one of the other homes so we split the cost of paying the guys for their labour, (our contribution worked out at about £1.50 or $2.35). The strength of the guys who do this kind of work never ceases to amaze me. They are always very thin and look like they’d blow over in a strong wind. They think nothing of lugging two 50kg sacks on their backs at a time, tossing them with practised ease into any configuration of vehicle.

We took the ‘scenic route’ home – avoiding the vehicle pounding potholes of the shortest route. It’s easy, as a Westerner, to criticise the governments of developing countries and to bemoan the lack of assistance that they provide for their citizens,charities and NGOs, (Non Governmental Organisation). It can be very frustrating working through official channels. Every once in a while though, on a day like today, you can celebrate a little. Knowing that you have been part of a very positive partnership, even for a short time, leaves you feeling that a small step has been taken and that doom, and gloom do not have to set the pattern for the future.