A Couple Weeks in Nairobi

A State of Badness

I recently stumbled on a report that ranks US states by “sinfulness”. How do you determine sinfulness? Well, according to WalletHub, you do it by looking at 54 indicators ranging from violent crimes, to gambling disorders, prostitution arrests, thefts per capita, excessive drinking, disconnected youth (not in school or not working), road rage, etc. As flawed as these metrics are, they are an interesting glimpse into life in America.

As someone who has lived outside the US for most of my life, there were some things that stood out to me in the report. My native state of Idaho can seem a bit lawless at times, yet it ranked 48^th least “sinful” overall out of 50 (surprisingly fewest number of thefts per capita in the country). Its neighbor, Wyoming, ranked on top at 50. Utah was ranked 44^th so, generally speaking, it appears that the Rocky Mountains bring out the best in people, so long as you stay out of Colorado which clocked in at a lowly 18. Nevada won the award for most “sinful”.

What I find interesting is that the traditional Bible Belt states in America didn’t fare very well according to these metrics. In fact, all eleven ended up in the top 22 most “sinful”. There would be a lot to unpack in that interesting little irony but I will hold off – only say that these states make up the heart of Trump country.

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I have had a full couple of weeks in Nairobi, but it is soon coming to an end as I will be returning to Mogadishu on the weekend. There have been school events, dinners with friends, etc. as well as just some good times at home with the family. Time is flying by and I try not to take these times for granted. 

Artists at work

 

This year's finished products

One school event was the recognition of the Model UN representatives from the French school. The evening featured the ambassadors of both France and Morocco. Kinaya was among the honorees and their school finished number one of the 65 or so schools who participated. Lovely little nerds.

The French ambassador with Kinaya's photo on the backdrop slideshow

 

The baby whisperer. Haven't lost my touch.

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Transition

The news is out now that I will be leaving my current job later this year. It’s a combination of term limits established by my employer and my need to step away from a career that has been wonderfully fulfilling yet terribly draining on many levels. I had been planning on stepping down a year from July, but the term limits thing will bump it up a few months to the end of September. The more I have thought about it, the more I think September is the better alternative.

I have been with the same organization for almost 20 years – all in East Africa and often in some not-so-nice places (some that would rank high on an African sinful list). It’s a mix of apprehension and excitement to think of moving on, but overall it feels like the right thing to do. I have been in some discussions about possible career options from October onward, but I would relish an opportunity to take some time off. I haven’t had time off since before I was in high school and I feel like it's time for a break. The one thing that my family has decided is that they want to stay in Nairobi at least until the girls finish secondary school – roughly five more years. Though I’m indifferent about the idea of staying in Kenya, there are far worse places to live.