Mt. Kenya - Day 1

Climbing Mt. Kenya, Africa's second highest mountain, has been on my list for some time. After summitting Mt. Kilimanjaro back in 2007, Africa's highest mountain at 5,895 m./19,341 ft., I entertained the idea particularly because it’s in the neighborhood. The tricky thing about Mt. Kenya  (5,199m/17,057 ft.), however, is that the real summit requires equipment and a certain skill set that you don’t need for Kilimanjaro. Kili is a long hike with the challenge of altitude sickness which apparently ends the trek prematurely for about 50% of those who attempt it.

Most who climb Mt. Kenya don’t actually summit the highest peak. Rather, they target what is called Lenana Peak (4,985 m./16,355 ft.) – the highest point that doesn’t require ropes and harnesses and clocks in as Africa's sixth highest peak. As we would be going as a family, we obviously opted on Lenana. 

The hike plan was five days and four nights, including the 3-hour drive back and forth to the base of the mountain. As with most people who climb in Kenya, and as we did for Kilimanjaro, we hired a hiking company to facilitate the logistics and transportation.

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Nairobi to Chogoria Gate

A small van would pick us up on Saturday morning at 7am. It was a more reasonable start time than I initially anticipated. Our guide, Lance (admittedly not a common Kenyan name), arrived on time with a driver. We loaded up and made the four-hour drive to the town of Chogoria which sits near the base of Mt. Kenya. While I’ve been on the west side of the mountain a few times, this was my first time on the east side. According to Lance, the east side is by far more interesting. That would prove to be the case.

In Chogoria, we met with our porters who would assist us with the hike. We would also change vehicles and squeeze into a small Toyota for the drive from Chogoria into the park where we would begin the hike. But first we needed to grab a bite to eat at the restaurant where we had our rendezvous. A couple bucks for chicken and chips (fries).

By about 1pm, we were heading towards the park. When you arrive at the park entrance, you need to check in. It’s an extremely tedious process that, for some reason, is to be expected when doing this sort of thing. The people that arrived before us were there for probably twenty minutes to a half hour. We were as well. It made me think about the border crossing between Burundi and Tanzania. In these semi-remote locations, they don’t seem worried that the process is archaic and slow since they have all day with not many people flowing through. There’s no real motivation to make the slow, handwritten entries in a logbook more efficient.

Homemade weight room with concrete weights. Gives you something to do when you're not delaying climbers.

We then drove into the park another half hour or so and we were dropped off. It wasn’t the end of the road, rather, it was for us to start hiking and begin acclimatizing. We would walk for a couple hours to where we would camp near the Chogoria Gate.

Road hike for a bit and then it becomes trail.

It was here that the real hike would begin the following morning. We officially met our porters and received our briefing for the hike. It was a nice setting, located at around 3,000 meters/9,800 feet. There is supposedly a lot of wildlife in the area (and lots of scat around our tent to testify to it) but all we saw were about four waterbucks and some Sykes’ monkeys.

We had time to get settled in and relax a bit before the sun began to set and the temperature began to drop sharply. We bundled up, had a basic dinner in one of the nearby cabins, and before long made our way to our tents.

As is the norm, I was the first one up. I was able to watch the morning sun just as it was beginning to catch the top of the mountain. The temperature had dipped well below freezing during the night and there was ice shimmering on the tent. It made me a bit nervous. If it was this cold at our current location, we were in for some cold weather the next couple of nights as we incrementally gained significant altitude.

It was wonderful to be on our way. Take a break from work. No cell reception for four days. Just us and this mountain.

Mogadishu

TCK

I’m back in Mogadishu. As always, I have mixed feelings about being here. I love being with my team and I, for some reason, just enjoy being in Mogadishu. I often describe Somalia as an acquired taste. Some have a real disdain for the heat, insecurity, chaos, etc. (things I generally don’t like either), but after you’ve been here a few years, you tend to look past these things. You are able to see what is behind those things, probably a bit more like Somalis see their own country. Though those characteristics are very real and certainly not pleasant, it’s not the whole picture.

I met a Somali woman yesterday who is a midwife at one of the hospitals we support. She was raised in Finland and only arrived in Mogadishu about three weeks ago. It was interesting to hear her perspective. By appearance, she would seem to be similar to the other dozens of midwives and nurses we work with. It was interesting to hear her observations given that I, though not Somali, have spent probably 30 times longer in the country than she has. She was just as curious to hear my observations as I was to hear hers.

Though she feels very much Finnish, she did say that her whole life she has felt a bit like an outsider, largely due to her faith and appearance, including her hijab/abaya. She told me that she has always felt that she would finally feel at home once she was in Somalia. Unfortunately, it’s been difficult. She said she’s often at odds with her colleagues. She can’t understand why they don’t move faster, keep things cleaner, etc. She’s frustrated and is even talking about returning to Finland. I feel bad for her, but her experience is not uncommon. I’ve met several Somalis from the diaspora who have had similar experiences, many who have already left the country. It’s a massive adjustment.

I do think that the deep reverence that Somali diaspora have for their homeland contributes to this. The land, and notably pastoralism, is lauded through their poetry, music, literature, etc. There’s an emphasis on maintaining the language and preserving their identity in spite of their second and/or third generation existence in a dramatically different context.

The reality of modern Somalia has a hard time competing with the mythical Somalia that is preserved overseas. I know this plays out in similar ways for other nationalities and cultures. It’s just one manifestation of the “third culture kid” (TCK) experience playing out around the world, including, to some degree, with my own children. 

the old; the new; half of the road blocked off for security reasons

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Funding Cuts

I likely will spend less time in Somalia this year due to the impact of the funding cuts. In addition to the flights, just my presence incurs costs for food, transportation and certainly security. This visit was particularly important, however, to meet with donors, peer organizations and government officials. I have been able to squeeze in a lot in a very short period of time.

My first day was spent mostly in internal meetings and mostly dealing with our budget deficit. It’s been a grueling time as we make painful decisions around cutting staff positions and scaling back infrastructure. We’ve cut about 40% of our workforce and we’re not done yet. Hopefully, we’re getting close to balancing the books and we can get back to focusing on other things. Cuts have come not only from USG sources, but also European donors as governments continue to turn their focus towards domestic issues.

Contrary to what many think, USAID wasn’t created for altruistic purposes. JFK launched the agency in 1961 in the heart of the Cold War. Countries around the world were choosing sides and there was a need for soft power – a tool to sway developing countries away from communism. Certainly, there were those in the administration who were passionate about helping the world’s marginalized populations, but it appears that wasn’t the biggest concern of the White House at the time.

It proved to be successful then and has continued to be up to now. It will be interesting to see how political alliances are impacted going forward as the US administration has removed a tool from their foreign policy toolbox. Beyond that, I’m not at liberty to comment. Only to say that it will make supporting the marginalized populations much more difficult.

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FGM

On day two, I had an all-day workshop focused on female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM is a practice that is carried out on young girls which involves partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The practice has no health benefits for girls and women and can result in severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, menstrual difficulties, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.

FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women, though it’s currently being practiced in about 30 countries. In Somalia, it’s estimated that 99% of girls are cut.

The motivation behind the practice is generally religious (predominantly, but not exclusively, Muslim). However, the workshop confirmed that, according to most Muslim scholars, there is nothing in Islam that backs this. There are also many who believe it should be adhered to because it is cultural. Whether or not this is true of any given culture, there are practices in all cultures that should be abandoned because of the harm they cause.  

Probably the most significant benefit of the workshop was simply that it happened. It’s unlikely that an event like this would have taken place outside the protected confines of the “green zone”. There are many in Somalia who are violently opposed to such discussions and write them off as a troubling Western influence on their culture and/or religion. This sentiment is eroding somewhat, but at a glacial pace. I’ve been engaged in these conversations for many years and, as I mentioned, the data shows adherence to the practice remaining at 99%. The Somali women at my table expressed caution in interpreting the data. They felt that the statistics are jaded by the fact that many families who are against the practice are reluctant to reveal it to their neighbors for fear of backlash. When polled, according to them, many state that they have cut their daughters when it was, in fact, not the case.

Either way, it’s an uphill battle. Men dominate Somali society, and men are not being cut.

Girls Hitting the Trails

When we returned to Nairobi, it was back to the routines. A full month of activities was already waiting for us. After heading back to the office that first Monday in somewhat of a jet lagged stupor, we very soon began to launch into the events of the new year.

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Cross Country

At the end of our first week back, we had a cross-country running event for both girls. It was a particular challenge for Kiran in that she would need to wake up at 5am the following morning for an all-day hike with her hiking club. I don’t know how ready they were, but they participated anyway.

Kinaya nervously making her way to the start

As I mentioned previously, the French are sometimes not good at organizing things. This event was yet another example. Some of the lapse has to do with logistics, but a lot of it is just poor communication. Parents were confused in the days leading up to the event regarding timing of the races. I suppose in the end it didn’t matter since they were unable to bus the kids to the event on time. Signage was terrible. Parents were wandering around the forested area with no idea which way to go. I often wonder the degree to which technology is dumbing us down, erasing centuries’ old instincts of navigation and non-technology communication. We no longer have the ability to navigate without a phone nor can we explain to people how to find things without the crutch of technology.

Kinaya on the left, recovered from her post-run ills

Anyway, the event itself went okay. The course took the kids on a windy trail through the forest. I love trail running and this place was quite nice given its proximity to urban sprawl. Both girls felt they could have done better, and they were exhausted when it was over. Kinaya ended up in an ambulance after her race, though it sounds more dramatic than it really was. She developed a migraine (as she frequently does) and she just needed a place to lie down. One of the guys wiped out later on and she would need to cede her gurney to him. Thankfully, she was feeling better by then.

Kiran finishing lap one

For French school events, you need to plan accordingly. The last race began over an hour after it was supposed to and we didn’t get home until about two hours after the time we should have. But, as I said, it ended up being a lot of fun for the kids and time for parents to hang out.

The Short Hike

As I mentioned, the next day Kiran had to get up early to go on a hike in the Aberdare Range in central Kenya. The trek would take all day (including an hour and a half of driving each way) and was a preparatory hike for a week-long hiking trip the club would do a week later. 

Kiran in the light blue, making her way along the ridge

I give the school a hard time about their lack of organization ability, but this is one of those things they do well, or at least the teacher who is running this does very well.

Reaching the summit at 12,000 ft. (3,658 m.). Kiran on the right.

I was a sports (and English) teacher for eight years in Switzerland and I organized dozens of school trips. Some of them were more complex than others. I took kids on excursions around Switzerland as well as to other countries, including taking a group to Canada for a basketball tournament in mid-winter. We did weekly ski trips in the winter as well as hiking trips in the autumn and spring. I worked at a summer camp for a couple of years which included many more hiking trips with kids. Afterwards, when I was at grad school, I was a bicycle tour guide in southern France and northern Italy.

Taking kids on a hike in the Swiss Alps in the early 90's

All that to say, I know what it’s like and it’s not easy – especially when you’re working with kids from an international school located in a country that is not your own. All indication is that this teacher at the French school knows what he’s doing. He’s well organized. He seems to know how to motivate the kids. Though he had a couple of lapses in communication, I thought he did that well too. He took lots of great photos and even produced/shared a cool video of the trip which arrived on WhatsApp even before they even arrived home.

Posing with colleagues and students in Champery, Switzerland, after a hike in the early 90's

You have to be a bit fearless to do this sort of thing. You have a group of kids that are in your care and the range of things that could go wrong is immense. It makes my stomach tighten up thinking about it. As much as I like hiking, I wouldn’t want that job anymore.

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The Monster Hike

The big hike came a week later. Kiran’s hiking club would depart on a 5-day, 4-night trek again in the Aberdare Mountains of central Kenya. They would have porters to carry the overnight gear/food and the kids would carry day-packs. It would be the longest that she would be away from home, without her parents. In addition to being away from home, it would not for the faint of heart, for many reasons.

Off to a good start

The trek would be rather arduous. Though most days were of reasonable length, on one day they hiked for nearly 19 miles. That’s a long day for anyone, especially for kids that aren’t in great physical condition.

Kiran holding a chameleon

They would also reach an altitude of around 13,700 ft. (3,870 m.), which is the highest she has ever been – exceeding the highest point in Idaho. Thankfully, we live at about 5,900 ft. (1,800 m., the same altitude as the base of a ski mountain near our house in Idaho), an altitude that provides Kiran a decent base lung capacity and makes a small contribution to acclimatization to higher altitudes. It’s much more advantageous than when we lived at sea level.

I have to say, I was quite jealous

Another challenge would be that she was one of the youngest to take part in the hike. Most of the kids were the equivalent of high school age. For a girl who is a bit introverted, it can be a challenge to spend all day and evening surrounded by a couple dozen other kids.

So cool

We would receive occasional communications and photos from the teacher when he had phone connection (which was encouraging for anxious parents), but there were long stretches, particularly towards the end, when there was radio silence. We just didn’t want it to be a disaster for her so that she would be encouraged to do more of this sort of thing. Either way, we figured, it would be a growing experience.

Diverse landscape

In the end, she did well. She was able to keep up with the other kids, both physically and socially. She returned on Friday evening exhausted and smelly. But she was pleased with how it went – a big relief for all of us.

Mission accomplished

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Kinaya’s Hike

Troublemakers

Not to be left out, Kinaya would have a hike of her own the following week. It was the same teacher that organized all three of these. Hats off to him.  I was thinking that if I were to step off from my job at some point, and the kids are still in school, I would be tempted to volunteer to support some of these hikes. I know I said I wouldn’t want that job anymore. But if I was not the organizer, and was just there to support the hike itself, I could see myself doing that. Not now, though.

Kinaya’s hike, though not massive in length, was massive in numbers. There were two full bus loads and had a broad mix of ages. It would be less than six miles with nothing technical for the hikers to navigate, which is a very good thing when you have such a large group. It did have a waterfall which is always nice on a hike, even if you don’t brave the cold water and jump in. Kinaya, my pride and joy, did (as I would have done).

Snaking through the tea plantations

Braving the cold water

She also returned tired and smelly. Though I would say, she’s quite fit and my only concern for her was the potential for a migraine (as I mentioned above when discussing the cross-country event). Kids don’t always think about drinking water and taking in electrolytes, and in her case, it can be more problematic than for other kids. In the end, she had no issues and was beaming with joy as she entered the apartment, anxious to recount the exploits of the day.