Mira'n'glue
Trip Start
Jun 20, 2008
1
13
19
Trip End
Jul 16, 2008
Meru,
Kenya
Monday, July 7, 2008
Silently saying hello to mt.Kenya as it greeted us back by revealing the highest peak from the clouds, we passed Nanyuki and arrived to Meru. No trip to the mountain. Logically we decided not to, as the mountain is often in mist when in low season. To climb all the way up and to swim in the cloud? Nope, I have that experience already...
So Meru. Sammy is community development officer and a very inteligent guy. He brought as around showing the places they work: AIDS prevention courses in prison, Magnet Theatre in schools, and we visited S.O.S. children village as well.
What struck me most, is the amount of people chewing mira - the plant that grows around mt.Kenya. People get passive, they do not have any aspirations...
And children sniffing glue. Oh my gosh, their eyes are watered, and their mouths cannot contain saliva. Disgusting, sad, worrying... I was angry, sad and helpless. Apparently government did try to help them - to put into houses, take care of them, but they came back to the jungle of vicious circle...
Our evening finished with long conversations about culture differences and politics. Sammy and his colleagues explained a little about nowadays situation. "As you can notice males are not very much up to date the town girls. The reason is - the roof expectations that cannot be met by men anymore. If you do not have a decent car, you cannot provide with sufficient money, you are of no interest. And the girls now try to be very self sufficient. Feminism grows, but it leaves man in undefined role. You can look at female polititians - their career took the chance from them to be loved and they spent the rest of the life in solitude. "
On the other hand, woman are very strong here. Besides the every day chores, majority of them have full time jobs and kids.
We are on our way back to Nairobi, and then to Mombasa. We will see what is awaiting there!
