Up and down

I won’t lie to you (said in my best Uncle Bryn voice) there have been times when I have found it pretty hard, particularly in the first few days.

Getting used to Nairobi takes some doing but not as long as I thought initially, probably because of the fantastic welcome I have been given and the friendliness of the people here. After the first day at the office I was beginning to think ‘what have I let myself in for?’ With only one computer in the office, no phone that I could use and very little information to go on it all seemed a bit daunting.

That night after some very welcome texts from people all over the place to cheer me up or take the piss (both equally welcome) I decided to follow one of my favourite phrases (thanks Hon Sec) and take a fuck it tablet and get on with it. I’ve made a decision to come and I owe it to a lot of people to make it work.

Now I’ve settled in I can see this will probably be the most challenging and rewarding thing I have done and there is a chance to make a real difference.
Saturday was a day of extremes, in the morning I went to the Gymkhana Club where the national side are playing a visiting team from Baroda in India. The Baroda side includes superstar Yusuf Pathan who plays for India and makes a fortune from his IPL contract no doubt. We met in NZ when India toured there a year ago and we are introduced, he says he remembers me, yeah right, of course you do!

That morning before the game starts there is a minutes silence in honour of the mother of one of our players who died suddenly overnight. An hour later I meet with one of the guys from the office who tells me his sister in law died yesterday giving birth. Kyalo drives me to a primary schools tournament for kids from some of the poorest slum areas of Nairobi. On the way we pass a distraught crowd surrounding a young woman in tears who is holding what looks like a dead baby in her arms. Life seems very fragile here.

If ever you needed something to lift the spirits the primary schools tournament was ideal. Played on a scrubby field with balls bouncing everywhere and whatever kit these kids could get their hands on being gratefully accepted it was great to see. These kids have next to nothing, many didn’t have shoes and were dressed in not much better than rags but they were loving every minute of it.

Huge smiles on their faces, desperate to do well, it was also comforting to see that they behaved just like any other kids with a fair amount of bat throwing, arguing the toss with the umpires and getting stuck into anyone who dropped a catch! The best moment was when a girls team from a really deprived area, who have only been playing the game for two weeks, won their first match. The smiles were great to see and the whole experience was pretty humbling even for a cynical old git like me!

That night I am invited to dinner at an Indian family’s house along with a few people involved in cricket including some of the visiting Indian team. We entered a private estate where the properties were enormous. There is extreme wealth here as well as extreme poverty. It was a really good night with a ridiculous amount of drink put away. The daughter of the host is due to get married the following week and I am invited, I protest that it is a family event but they insist I come and I am very grateful. They then tell me there will be around 2500 guests and suddenly I don’t feel so special!