Dec 2006

Blog 2006dec21

Things are going well and Kenya is fun.

I spent the first few days here feeling a bit up and down.
One minute – Wow, I’m in Kenya baby!!! (How exciting!... said like Scott)
Next minute – UuugGGGGHHH, this is impossible.
Next minute – Positive about work and task and staff I work with
Next minute – What are the thinking!!?!?! (other staff at work)
Next minute – Wow, Kenya baby!
Next minute – Return to hotel room and feel a bit lonely and unsettled.

The ups and downs have subsided a lot now that I’m getting to know the situation at work and have moved into a nice apartment with some UN interns. I spent all weekend looking for rooms in shared flats. I wanted to have people I could go home to at the end of the day and chill with. Being alone is not really me, but particularly in Nairobi, where to go out anywhere (especially after dark) it is necessary to get a taxi.

On Saturday night, in desperation, I texted an advert that wanted female flatmates who were committed Christians. Hmmm. Well, I got a nice response saying room was taken, but she had a friend who might have space. I could meet her after church… by the way, did I want to go to church with her.

I thought, no harm in that. I’ve never been to an African church.
So, Anna picked me up on Sunday morning and took me to breakfast and then to her Nairobi Penticostal Church. What a blast! It wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, but a definite cultural experience. It was a couple of thousand Africans on two floors all singing and dancing and waving hands and loud “Amens” being shouted out from excited congregants. Really, it was a lot like on TV, but better. And perhaps what the british evangelicals are aiming at, except it really seems to fit in this culture. Didn’t feel weird at all, like it can do when middle class white brits are trying to imitate it. However, I don’t think its somewhere I’ll be frequenting.

There were bits outside the singing I was less keen on. And some really bizarre bits.
For example, they were just finishing a bible marathon, during which some members were reading the whole bible over a year. They had a quiz in the service sheet with questions about the bible eg.

David said to the Lord “… I have sinned greatly in what I have done… take away the guild of your sevant. I have done a very foolish thing…”. What sin had David committed?
a) he had committed adultery with Bathsheba
b) had counted the fighting men
c) had planned for the death of Uriah in the battle field
d) had eaten bread from the temple

The people who had read all the way through the bible were asked to stand up and others marked there service sheet. The pastor was rather disappointed that nobody got 11 out of 11. Then the best 6 people were summoned up onto the stage / sanctuary. Now, my fear at this point had been it would become a holier than though, I know the bible type of thing… but it wasn’t at all. Nobody was judgemental that people got some questions wrong, or that others hadn’t finished the bible. Up till this point it really had been away of making it a bit of fun and letting the whole congregation share in the experience…. What was really bizarre was the following quick-fire round of questions in order to gain prizes (donated by church members). And we’re not just talking about a bunch or flowers or chocolates… but
1. a laptop
2. a tv
3. a 3 year scholarship to a catering college
etc.

Anyway, after church I did indeed meet Anna’s friend, Sihnae, from South Korea. And she had a lovely flat, at a reasonable price, with great flatmates, and more great people living upstairs.

Work is going well too. The NGO (Non-governmental organisation… or charity) where I work has very recently taken on some new staff who have a very positive attitude about bringing accountability, transparency and efficiency to the organisations work. They seem quite excited to have me work with them and seem to appreciate my ideas. The programme officer (number 2 to the boss) insists on calling me Dr Priest, and just yesterday emailed all their collaborators to tell them about how a ‘Senior Officer’ from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation was working with them. I’m not sure I’ve quite reached that place in the UN pecking order yet (my Terms of Reference describe me as a volunteer).

It worries me slightly that I’m quite enjoying having the authority of the UN behind many of my pronouncements. On certain controversial methods, when I want more weight behind my statements, I sit back on my chair, cross my legs, (if I had a pipe, I’d puff on it gently) and say
“well the position of FAO on this one is that…”
I, of course, only use this when I know that my comments reflect those of my superiors.

Is this the start of a lust for power which will corrupt and destroy my very core? Maybe I should go back to that church…

Also had a sweet meeting with the African interns at the NGO yesterday. They had cle

Oh, forgot to mention that my apartment has a pool. I’m sure those of my friends who lived with me in Sri Lanka will understand the hardship I suffer when there are leaves in it.

Don’t know what I’m doing for Christmas yet.

Hi,

Please note my contacts

Appartment 41
Post Kenya Comfort Hotel
PO Box 30425
00100, GPO
Nairobi
Kenya

or for important stuff

Care of FAO-REP
PO Box 30470
00100, GPO
Nairobi,
Kenya

Telephone office
+254 20 4444 558, ask Rose to transfer you

Telephone appartment
+254 20 272 3414
+254 20 271 9060 or 1
ask for reception to put you through to appartment 41.

Mobile number
+254 733454516

Dave

Had an Interesting first day in the office.

ALso have a mobile number
+254 733454516

My last few weeks in Rome were good. I’ve met a lot of great people at FAO and have begun to understand a little more about how the organisation works and also my own job.

I feel very privileged to have been able to work, eat, drink, dance alongside so many interesting people from across the world. Yes, we all rant at each other regularly about the annoying system, but as Louisa pointed out to me… we get upset because we care about what we’re doing.

My own project has become a little clearer. I’ve been trying to analyse what has been going on with it both in Rome and Africa. Who’s who. Who’s done what. Where the strengths and weaknesses are and what are the best possibilities to move forwards. This is largely in the context of how we can help crop scientists do better science. On the side I’ve also been reading up on how products of research using biotechnologies (such as a new variety of rice that will tolerate drought) actually reach to small poor farmers and the impacts that they may have.

It perhaps shouldn’t have been surprising to me that this is a major major stumbling block. There are countless improved crops which only stay in the lab, or with the rich farmers. It is easy to think that a new improved rice is the answer. Even if we assume that this new improved rice really is great, and has been crossed into farmer favoured lines so maintains all the characteristics that farmers like (which is a big if) then there are still lots of problems.

“But surely”, says the innocent plant scientist “All we have to do is multiply seed and give it to farmers”. But this is quite a big “all we have to do”. Producing seed is apparently a big bottle neck. In addition, extension systems in many countries are inadequate, staff poorly trained and access to information limited.

I’ve also, in the last few weeks, begun to make my mark in a wider sense on the organisation. I think I mentioned in a previous blog the importance of coffees. How the organisation is so big that it can be difficult to find out what’s going on, or how to do things, or who is the key person to talk to about use of rural radio stations to dialogue with farmers about their agricultural needs or who to talk to get a visa sorted for Kenya.

Also got chatting with the volunteers and realised that I don’t really know what each they do, or what their departments are experts in. Ok, I knew that: Frederic was studying migration of fisherman in west Africa; and that Claudine works on promoting the concept of the fundamental human ‘Right to Food’; and that Emily is trying to find machines that will help poor schools make milk from Soy and improve the nutrition of their kiddies; and that Alice studies trade flows of Fair Trade and Organic produce. But I didn’t really know more than that. We thought that it would be a terrible waste of the opportunities given to us to work in Headquarters if we left still not knowing. It was also apparent that some of us could help or advise each other on our projects. For example, Emily may know lots about Soy-milk-making-machines but less about growth of Soy crops, or about its nutritional details. However, Margherita is working on a School Gardens project and could quite possibly feed in background information.

It also seemed ludicrous to me, coming from a PhD background, that there was no structure in place to facilitate our sharing these ideas with each other. So, I (with some help) decided to start up a Volunteers Lunch Club, where any volunteers who want to can come and present their work , ask questions, get advice in an informal, non-threatening environment. Within hours of my first email being sent out I had 20 -30 enthusiastic YES’s. We haven’t done this officially at all and it feels a bit like we’re in a conspiracy to rebel against the formalised system of FAO that keeps us apart.

Then because I was leaving Rome, I handed over responsibility for organisation to some of my fellow conspirators at the end of the first meeting. I missed the second meeting (being in Calcutta, India for Sanhita’s wedding – which was incredible) and by the third meeting, three days ago the Volunteers Lunch Club had already evolved into the Volunteers and JUNIOR CONSULTANTS Lunch Club because some of the young paid staff felt left out and thought that they’d benefit from it too. Assuming the Lunch Club continues into the new year, we’re going to try to hit the Personnel department for formalised advertising to new young staff and suggest that they provide free lunches/coffees for us… worth a try.

Felt a bit sad to be leaving all that behind. My new friends. The comfort of having an environment I was getting used to. But work-wise, it makes sense. I’ve done all I really can do in Headquarters. And I applied for this thing for the purpose of getting field experience. Not corridor experience. So now I’m pretty keen to get stuck into my work in Kenya.

Arrived in Nairobi a few hours ago. Was picked up by a young man called Benson, who’s going to be working closely on my project with me – running the website. He dropped me at my hotel and said he’d come back in a few hours once I’d washed and had a rest. He seems like a nice guy. Laughs a lot and I know he has the respect of my bosses in Rome. I’m a bit nervous myself. Not quite sure what role to play. ‘The man from Rome’. The assertive coordinator. The listener. The motivator. Or just me. The danger of being too assertive to begin with is I might alienate people or not hear what they have to say. But if I’m too meek, I might get pigeon holed into a ‘not respected’ persona. I think, all I can do is be me though. I’m not good at playing games.

Will make a tour of the offices and meet the bigwigs tomorrow.