Streets of Nairobi

It's quite a different scene from the U.S. around the city of Nairobi. I have attached some of the various images that are commonly seen.

Some local habitation.
Here we travel along a high end neighborhood on our way to a well kept but very modest community.

Manicured landscaping for the the diplomats. There is a part of town where all you see is luxurious large housing with high security.

These chickens are actually alive and calmly dangling from the bike during transport.

This ancient looking variety of bird is a common sight in the trees near downtown. For some strange reason the ground is often white underneath the trees.

Here is a residential part of town - somewhat nice by Kenyan standards, maybe middle class.

Here is an area that is quite upscale. What you can't see from the main road is that there is a large slum located down a road behind these buildings.

Everyday downtown.

This view from our office building shows one of the fanciest sky-scrapers in town.

On the bottom right of the screen notice the 2 towers with white caps. This is a Muslim masque where they make regular incantations over the loud speakers. There is also a masque near our dental clinic in South C; they blare their strange singing as early as 5:30am. It's quite annoying and I am looking forward to the peace and quite outside the city.

1st Love and Raila Education Centre

I visited a children's ministry that is coupled with a school recently. It borders the Kibera slum and provides meals and education for over 600 kids in the area. They have been growing very quickly as they are only a few years old. Many plans are in the works to expand the outreach.

Our host (middle) shows us around the school campus. She has been living nearby with her husband and children for the last 3 years.

Here is a portion of the Kibera slum that borders the school. This is very typical construction for the area. All of the students come from this area. Many of them have very scanty meals and are very appreciative of what they receive at school.

Ahhh. Here's a sympathy shot for you : )

Here are the cooks that prepare meals for the kids. The meals are very simple but nutritious. They were a very jovial group and dished out some hugs as well.

More campus.

Some artwork & name.

The students were very happy to have visitors which is typical of Kenyans. We stopped by several classrooms and said hello. They loved visiting and having their picture taken.

Now we're talking. This is where I'd be during recess. Hoop there it is...

In addition to the school is the 1st Love ministry. There is a new building that houses some young orphan girls who also attend the school.

Next we drove to the other property of 1st love. Here is my faithful 21st century moto-steed parked at their property. This is a new work for them and they have big plans here. It is very close to the school, but it was a long drive as we had to drive around the slum area to the other side. This is where the our directors live - our host, her husband and family.

This building being constructed will have a health clinic in it. Other buildings are on the drawing board as well. This ministry is well funded compared to most and is blessed to be able to grow so quickly and see its vision come to pass.

One problem with this property is that it is in a somewhat remote area without much security. Just the night before we visited they had a break-in. Their family was held at gunpoint and some things were stolen before the police arrived. No one was seriously injured but this young man who is on staff was hit in the head and tied up. They are almost sure that people from the construction crew were involved in the robbery. It turns out that the the neighbor was frequently robbed until they put in a high fence. This goes to show the importance of two things in Kenya - have a good tall fence & security and only hire trusted people that you know.