Early April - curfew and no more nanny

We’re now going on three weeks of self-isolation. So far it’s weird but it’s been manageable. A week and a half ago we bid farewell to our beloved nanny/cleaning person, Catherine. Farewell for the time being anyway. We’ll keep paying her and hopefully we’ll have her back in a couple months. Hard to say at this point.

Catherine has been such a wonderful addition to our lives in Nairobi. She follows in the footsteps of our previous fantastic nanny in Bujumbura, Emilienne. (By the way, if you're thinking that having a nanny is only for the rich, this is not the case in many parts of the world. In some places, including Kenya, even nannies might have nannies. It's simply more affordable in the developing world. And creates jobs). We have been extremely fortunate. We’ve heard such terrible stories over the years, both in Burundi and in Kenya  People talk of nannies that are young and spend their entire time on their phones. Don’t engage with the kids. Steal from the house. Unreliable. Etc. Emi was none of that. She was dedicated and absolutely loved the girls. We put well-founded trust in her over the years that we were in Bujumbura and we all went through a lot together. We even considered bringing her to Nairobi but it really wasn’t practical. When we moved here in late 2016, she came for a month or so to assist with the transition (It was a big deal for her to travel from Bujumbura to Nairobi. She’d only been on an airplane once in her life and that was to go to Kigali with Priya and the girls when they were evacuated from Burundi in 2015 due to the unrest in the country.) When she headed back to Bujumbura, it was a sad time for all of us, particularly the girls. She supported us for five years and she knew the girls from the time they were born.

Emi playing with Kiran in March 2014

When Catherine came on board in early 2017, she was a bit hard to figure out in the beginning, at least for me. She seemed nice, honest and pretty good with the girls. But she’s very shy and she’s always been a bit awkward around me. It’s partially because I haven’t been around her much, given how much I travel and the fact that I’m normally at work during the same hours she’s at our apartment. A lot of nannies in sub-Saharan Africa are live-in but Catherine, like Emi before her, has been 8-5/M-F. Unlike most people, we don’t have her come on the weekend. I suppose it would be nice to have the support but I’m not a huge fan of someone else in the house in the evenings and on weekends, no matter how sweet they are. Plus, we want her to have that time with her family.

Over time it’s obvious that she’s really been a huge support and absolutely adores the kids. While the Covid-19 break might be considered for many to be an extended, paid holiday, Catherine seemed to be sad about the news that she would not be coming to work for a while, even though Priya assured her that she would continue to receive her wages. I think we all hope that things will improve to where she can return.

a very pleasant way to social distance yourself

The risks of Catherine coming to work are multi-fold. The virus in Kenya, as with many places, is spread by people who move around, particularly people who have traveled internationally. These are generally people with money. The people in our building fall into that category, many of whom have connections in Europe, a place that has been hard hit by the virus. So far Covid-19 hasn’t caught on in the poor areas, such as where Catherine and her family live. But if (when) it does, it will be devastating. People live in small spaces, often just corrugated metal sheeting for walls and roofing. The narrow streets and markets are crowded with people. Social distancing is impossible. And with few residences having internal plumbing, hygiene is much more of a challenge. Combining this with a poor healthcare system, it’s a huge disaster waiting to happen. Covid-19 could decimate large communities of people in a very short period of time.

the area where Catherine lives - so how is social distancing supposed to work here?

And then there is her commute. The small buses that she takes to come to our part of the city are packed with people. The government has ordered that they reduce their capacity to something like 60% to allow for some sort of social distancing but apparently few seem interested in compliance.

All this to say that it’s amazing that the virus hasn’t hit these communities yet. But it’s inevitable that it will invade an urban slum somewhere on the continent, at some point. I have to say, I’m impressed with the way many countries, including Kenya and Somalia, have been handling the crisis so far. I know that the Kenyan leadership has been criticized for reacting too late or reacting too harshly. No matter what a government does, the population can find fault. If you don’t take drastic measures, you’ve been inept and allowed the virus to spread. If you take drastic measures, you’ve devastated the economy and put lives at risk due to the inability of people to maintain their livelihoods. Finding the balance is incredibly difficult. But the slow rate of infection in Kenya over the past few weeks has been welcome news and the diligence of the Ministry of Health in tracking down those who have possibly been in contact with the infected has been impressive. The question is whether or not they can keep a lid on this thing given that the population, like in many countries, doesn’t seem overly interested in following protocols.

the online classroom

One of the most drastic measures that came into effect on Friday (Mar. 27) was the institution of a 10-hour lockdown (curfew) from 7pm to 5am. Apparently day one was a bit of a mess in some places as there was some resistance. But by day two it seemed to go more smoothly. I’m sure the impact on some livelihoods has been devastating, and there’s some criticism as to how helpful it is given that there are 14 hours of free movement (viruses only come out at night?). But I think the calculation is that a high percentage of the potentially harmful social transmission happens during those hours. And so it has been capped while allowing a considerable amount of business to carry on, albeit differently with no sit-down restaurants or bars.

storm bearing down on us

I have to say, it’s been strange. We live in an urban setting jammed with apartment buildings, most of which are about 10-15 stories high. It’s generally noisy throughout the day and into the evening. Since Friday, however, it’s been silent in the evenings. The streets are eerily empty. I have to say, given that we don’t normally go out much in the evening, the quiet has been rather pleasant. And the air is much cleaner.  It’s going to be rough on people whose livelihoods depend on the evening economy, but there are some up sides to being locked down – particularly if it slows the spread of the virus.