Busy December

December was one of our busiest months in recent memory. In addition to the things already mentioned in previous blog posts, we squeezed in a number of other events.

 

Cross-country

The first Friday after I returned from the US, the girls had their annual cross-country running event. Compared to sporting events in many other countries (and even many other schools in Kenya), it is pretty basic. Kids run a loop through the forest (two loops for the older kids). Everyone receives participation medals and they have a little podium ceremony for the top three in each class. The one key difference about this event and those from other schools is that all students are expected to participate and not just those interested in cross-country. It's basically an extension of the physical education class.

Kinaya passing on the homestretch to take 4th place

It was a warm day and some of the kids really suffered. But there were no major mishaps and it ended up being relatively successful. However, of the many things that I would do differently in organizing the event, one important change would be to avoid holding it on a Friday afternoon such that it ended at 4pm, launching everyone into rush-hour traffic.

Kiran coming in as Mom films

 

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Christmas Fair

The next day we would have two events. From late morning until mid-afternoon was the annual French school Christmas fair. It’s the one thing that the school does quite well. They have loads of events throughout the day, great food and drink options, music, etc. I was just getting over a stomach infection so it was the first day in nearly a week that I was eating.

* * *

Carols by Candlelight 

Later in the day we would go to our annual Christmas carols at our church. This is always a nice event and a good opportunity to catch up with friends, particularly since I had been away all of November. My wife and daughters sang in the choir and the children always put on a Christmas play. This year they topped previous years by having live sheep. It’s hard enough to herd small children through a play let alone bringing in real animals. Tending to the sheep was clearly beyond the skill set of the little shepherds and a couple of adults helped to keep Jesus from being trampled. In spite of the chaos, it was a lot of fun.

There are a couple of real sheep in there somewhere

 

* * *

Naivasha

The next week, Kiran was off on a school trip to Naivasha for the week, a town a couple hours north of Nairobi. I was a bit jealous of the activities they did. Among other things they did a boat tour on the lake seeing all sorts of wildlife including hippos, waterbucks, etc. I’ve done that a couple times before but it’s an enjoyable thing to do. They climbed Mt. Longonot. I’ve done that as well, but it’s a rather fun climb and provides some amazing views, both of the crater and the surrounding areas.

Beginning of the hike

They toured a geothermal power plant and also visited flower greenhouses. Nearly half of Kenya’s energy is from geothermal sources in this part of the country. Kenya is also a major exporter of flowers to other countries. At the power plant, they also took a swim in a massive geothermal pool. 

 

* * *

All of the above (and the previous blog entry) took place before mid-December. We had much more ahead of us.

CEO Visit

After returning to Kenya, there was no rest. I was in the last stages of organizing a trip to Mogadishu with our CEO. At the same time, we were in full preparation for moving to a new apartment. To make matters worse, I came down with a bad stomach infection which stayed with me almost a full week. It was horrible timing.

I had to prioritize. The visit was top priority. Getting ready for the move would happen in small gaps in my schedule here and there, but I didn’t have the ability to put much energy towards it until the visit was over. The sickness just made everything more difficult. But I didn’t have the luxury of just staying in bed. I had no choice but to plug on.

* * *

Organizing the visit was extremely complex. We had hosted him before back in 2018, which gave my team, most of whom were around back then, some experience with such a visit. I had hosted him in Burundi back in 2014, but that was a much different context and a lot has changed between then and now.

Making our way across Mogadishu

 

The initial discussion concerned the potential itinerary. Given the small window of time we had to deal with, it would be necessarily be a half-day of meetings in Nairobi (including a dinner with a group of ambassadors) followed by a day trip to Mogadishu, similar to what we did in 2018. But the security situation meant that we wouldn’t be able to visit the internal displacement encampments on the outskirts of the city as we did previously. We would need to focus on a hospital that we support followed by a meeting with the prime minister. We would then make our way to the office to meet and have lunch with staff.

Meeting with the Prime Minister

We would then make our way back into the “green zone” to have a couple of meetings with the UK, the UN and other important stakeholders. After these meetings, we would head back to the airport (including VIP treatment) and our evening flight back to Nairobi.

The hospital visit

 

Thankfully, it all went more or less according to plan. In fact, it was the first external visit I’ve had that was consistently ahead of schedule. That never happens. We had built in some extra time for navigating traffic and all of the police checkpoints. We had an inside connection with the government that enabled us to pass through these checks with far less hassle than normal. It made a huge difference and allowed us to spend less wasted time in the vehicles.

During the clinic visit, we were chatting with a 23-year-old woman who was having her baby checked. The baby was well below normal weight and the nurse asked her how many other children she had. She said this was her seventh. The CEO and I looked at each other with a bit of surprise. Seven children by the time she was 23. I realize that this is not terribly uncommon in Somalia. But it's always a tough thing to get my head around, particularly for someone who has almost no means to support herself.  

Meeting with staff

 

* * *

It is always stressful given how much could go wrong over the course of a visit like this. There is so much that you can’t control. Thanks to years of experience doing this sort of thing, and years of experience with mostly the same team, we could quickly respond to obstacles as they appeared. It is satisfying to be at the helm of such a talented and effective group of professionals.

  

* * *

On the flight back to Nairobi, I sat next to the CEO. We talked a bit but mostly absorbed ourselves in the tasks awaiting us on our respective tablets. I was exhausted after a day and a half of tense meetings and all of the organizing, but I wanted to push through a bit longer so that I wouldn’t have a ton of work awaiting me the next morning.

After we landed, we made our way through immigration. We said our farewells and I existed the terminal and located my awaiting taxi. Once in the car, I took a moment to exhale and think about all that I had been through over the past days and weeks. It’s been a lot, but I’m thankful that all of it has worked out so well.

Alas, more big challenges were awaiting. The move to the new apartment. On the heels of that, we would have a visit by my sister-in-law and her partner for the Christmas holidays. It would be full steam ahead to make sure we were ready to host and settle into our new place.

Dad 4 - Moving On

After returning to Boise, and in the short time I had left before returning to Africa, I wanted to spend time with my mom as well as fit in some other activities. My brother-in-law had tickets to a Boise State basketball game. I think I’ve only been to one or two games sent I went to school there. In addition to the fact that BSU beat the odds and won, it was fun just soaking in the atmosphere and taking my mind off other things.

I had also arranged with my two central Idaho siblings to head to the mountains for some time to hang out with them, rest a bit, and clear my head. If I had my way, I would spend ninety percent of my time in the mountains. As it is now, it’s probably one percent.

I headed up on the last Monday of November. It was dark and chilly when I arrived, though not as cold as it normally is this time of year. Uncharacteristically, there was no snow as of yet. Over the next couple of days, we would spend our time doing a lot of the things that I enjoy: doing outdoor activities, eating well and watching (American) football. There are times when skiing is possible this time of year but, alas, it was not to be on this occasion.

This would be the first time that I had spent Thanksgiving in the US in twenty-one years. As such, the holiday hasn’t been a big thing for me. I do enjoy the tradition and, in spite of all that has happened, I have plenty to be thankful for. 

 

Amazing Thanksgiving dinner

* * *

During my time in Boise, I did fit in another sporting event. My well-connected brother-in-law also had tickets to a BSU football game. I couldn’t pass up this chilly opportunity to see the Broncos in action. Though they were clearly not at the level that they were last year where they made the college football playoffs, they did have a good game and won rather easily. Two BSU sporting events and two Bronco victories. It would have been fun either way but winning does make it more fun. 

 

* * *

On Saturday morning, my sister took me to the airport. I checked in my bags and made my way to the gate. I purchased a pricey cup of coffee and sat down to collect my thoughts. I generally feel like airports either make me stressed or pensive. In this case, it was the latter. I thought back to all that had transpired over the month and was thankful that I was able to play a part in such an important family moment. From my dad’s last days, to his passing and aftermath, to hours of sorting through family belongings and heirlooms, to valuable time with my siblings, mom, relatives and friends. It wasn’t always pleasant, but I was happy about how it all worked out.

But it was time to rejoin my family in Nairobi and attend to some rather big things awaiting me on the other side of the globe.

Dad 3 - The Aftermath

After my dad’s passing, I was eligible for bereavement leave for a few days. The idea of not needing to wake up in the wee hours of the morning was wonderful. Unfortunately, because my body clock was set to do so, I would wake up anyway.

On Tuesday, I would need to take my mom to a doctor’s appointment. Though she was doing better than she had been the weeks prior, I was still not used to her being frail. My dad had been frail for a few years before his death and I became accustomed to him in that state. But my mom has always seemed to be strong and steady. In retrospect, she probably wasn’t as strong as I perceived her to be in recent years, but it’s why assisting her now, with her walker, is still an adjustment for me. When you’re in your upper 80s, it’s to be expected.

* * *

One thing that we needed to sort out sooner rather than later was what we were going to do to commemorate my father’s passing. My mom had pivoted a bit on this. Prior to his death, she was thinking about some sort of celebration of life at a later date and likely not in a church. Though my dad grew up Presbyterian, in his adult life he tended to avoid church like he did medical appointments. But now that he had passed, my mom was rethinking the whole thing and was now saying she wanted a proper funeral in a church. Logistically, this was a tough ask. I only had a few days remaining in my time in the US and the obligations awaiting me in Mogadishu and Nairobi meant that extending my time in Idaho was prohibitive. They could carry on without me, but my mom said that was not an option. At this point I suggested we look into seeing if her Methodist church would welcome the idea of us inserting some sort of short memorial into their normal service the coming Sunday. My mother had played the piano at the church for several decades and I knew that her congregation missed her very much during the months that she had been away for health reasons (and caring for my dad). If my mom felt that would be a good compromise, we would check with the church and begin setting it up.

* * *

In the end, that’s what we did. I volunteered to draft the obituary and get it published ASAP such that people could be informed about the service in a timely manner. It’s a bit unorthodox to do it this way, but given all of our constraints, it worked out pretty well. My mom said that she would play a couple of songs (as well as practice in the days prior) and, given that it was my idea and that I drafted the obit, I was volunteered to also say a few words at the service.

Mom working her magic on the piano

I wasn’t sure how the church would feel about us invading their service, but all indication was that they were more than happy to have my mom back, even if it was for just the day. It may well have been the last time she would ever play at the church, or for any church. Also, I would think it was nice to have a temporary injection of a hundred or so extra people in a congregation that has steadily dwindled over the past several years.

My sister who has a house in Twin Falls offered to host a gathering after the service. It was a very nice evening though cut short given that I needed to escort my mom the two hours back to Boise. I had been worried about how she would hold up given all of the stress and emotion of the long day. But she did amazingly well and, when we pulled up in front of her care home, commented that she felt the drive was too short and would have enjoyed continuing our chat a bit longer.

I, on the other hand, was exhausted. I think the accumulation of all the care giving, the work of preparing the house for sale, the emotions, the early mornings, etc. had sucked me dry. I needed a break.