Donor Visit to Nairobi - Day 2

Nairobi Day 2 wound up as another booming success, but again came with a host of frustrations. The frustrations stem primarily from the clash between my notion of punctuality and the Kenyan belief that “haraka haraka hayena baraka” (hurry hurry has no blessing). The morning we ran late again, and with my nagging finally got out on time. Zuhura was incredible on time today when we got her, and we made it to our destination right as the time the meeting was supposed to start. It ended up starting a little late, but we had no issues and no embarrassment.

We only had one meeting that day, which was with the Ford Foundation. Our relationship with them has been long and has always been good, so it was considered the least variable visit. They were right. We talked for a long time about projects, and finally, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Documentation. Zuhura was better prepared, the meeting was much smoother, and we got even more good news. Ford Foundation’s new president has a special interest in Monitoring, Evaluation, and Documentation. There is money available for that. The only hitch that might be difficult during the next round of funding is that of the American financial crisis which is pushing donors to the limits. Otherwise, Ford essentially wants to work with Ujamaa on how to improve the capacity of our staff and field workers in gathering information on their work and other activities related to M, E, & D. Next project cycle, the cash should flow as long as Ujamaa further conceptualizes the ideas of M, E, & D and is creative about where they want money and how they’ll use it. Wooooo!!!

The meeting was great but too long. We got out of the meeting at around 11:45, and the taxi to take me to my 12:30 bus was not around. It arrived late, got stuck in a jam, and had me stressing that I would have to hang around Nairobi another 10 hours waiting for the night buses. I wasn’t happy. I got to the bus depot on time, but then my colleague Phyllis, who had left the previous meeting to go to another, was late. I had her suitcase. I checked onto the bus. From there I went to great lengths to arrange a way she could meet with us. When we got to the other depot the bus stops at as it leaves Nairobi – there she was, happy and full of lunch. There I was stressed out about her missing the bus and hungry. I wasn’t happy. But, the ride home went well, and Phyllis I chatted a bunch. She said some nice things and gave me some really valuable advice on what I need to do before I leave to ensure the work I’ve done remains in place.

The trip to Nairobi was challenging to arrange, challenging to execute, but was worth every minute of frustration. Back at Ujamaa I can already feel the mood towards my project changing. I don’t have to work as hard to get things done and initiative is being taken by others, not only me. The trip that I wanted to use to get the donors on board actually brought the rest of the team on board.

Donor Visit to Nairobi - Day 1

This is a long post, but it’s broken into sections for your reading pleasure!

The Start

My oh my what a first day. Last night the three project managers at Ujamaa and myself left Mombasa at 10:30PM, arriving in Nairobi at 6AM for an unpredictable and eventful day. My colleagues and I began the day with a frustrating hotel search and I ended the day as a witness of mob justice. In between came an accident, breaking the rules of my grant, getting interrogated by a guard, and two very important and successful talks with donors.

Our day began hectic. We got off the bus at around 6 AM and didn’t get settled into our rooms until close to 8. For some odd reason, every hotel in the area was fully booked. A Monday night…Phyllis, one of the managers, said she had never had to go further than the second hotel before she got a room. We walked a good distance and tried at least 6 hotels. Finally we got a room, shower, and quick (but tasty) breakfast, but had no time to take a power nap.

The Reason

The conceptualization of the visit came when I began trying to solidify the sustainability of my project. I needed an undercutting tactic, something that would make Ujamaa continue to follow through on the project’s components even after I left. Each manager has a project they manage and each project receives funding from a separate donor. I decided I should share my work with the donors Ujamaa receives funding from to get them involved in the monitoring of my project. The director was all for it, and said the managers should visit their donors anyways. The trip was restructured during a chat with the managers to be first to talk about the respective project and then to get to monitoring, evaluation, and documentation. It was feared that if we came with the agenda of just monitoring, evaluation, and documentation, it would make it seem as if we were not doing of that before, when really we are just trying to improve those aspects of Ujamaa’s infrastructure. The trip would be headed by the managers and my project would get time at the end. We planned to ask for future funding to be directed specifically on monitoring, evaluation, and documentation as an autonomous focus within Ujamaa.

The grant for my project as a whole was fully funded (for around $631) but was based on one condition: the fare for me to go to Nairobi (which the grant covered) would have to go to someone else. The FSD Grant Committee decided that for the sake of sustainability I should not be the one taking the lead in the visits. They were right to some degree. But, since the focus of the visit had changed to the project managers taking the lead role, that wasn’t such an issue. I ended up going on Ujamaa’s bill, but Zuhura, the Ujamaa staff who will be taking control of my project when I leave, also came.

The Visits

My frustrations and insecurities about the day began at breakfast, when I realized that Zuhura might not be with us in the morning session. She had travelled separately and we were having serious coordination issues. I wasn’t sure how FSD would react to knowing that I presented my project instead of Zuhura, but there was little I could do. The managers were not sharing info and I was not happy. That conundrum was forgotten as the taxi we were in on the way to the first donor, the Royal Danish Embassy, got into an accident. A matatu got to close, the taxi wasn’t giving in, and the taxi’s side panel got pretty scratched up. Nothing dangerous, just really dumb. We left in another taxi - the matatu driver was being an ass and the angry and frustrated taxi driver came ever closer to fighting the matatu driver. Luckily the police were around to diffuse, but I hear that the police own many of the matatus so don’t often give the drivers much of a punishment, if any.

We arrived late to the Danish Embassy (RDE) and were without Zuhura. On the way in the guard asked, “Which oppice are you going to?” So we said, “What is an oppice?” The situation escalated to where we though he wasn’t going to let us through until we realized what we were talking about and were able to understand each other. I thought for a second he was going to consider us a threat and call the police!

The meeting with RDE went really really well, though I was forced to present my project. After talking about the Peace, Security, and Development project RDE funds, we discussed my improvements to Ujamaa’s infratructure. They were received with a lot of warmth and encouragement. They held it in high esteem, but used the opportunity to attack a little. The donor program manager was not so nice, asking many hard questions about where the money they put towards project administration goes, but when some unclear points about my project were clarified, peace was made and a great final decision come to: RDE asked us to come back in 6 months, see how these internal improvements have come along, and then talk about maybe funding a Monitoring and Evaluation department at Ujamaa. Woooo!!!

Next, we waited for an hour for a taxi, rushed to retrieve Zuhura, (I lost my nerve when she took forever to come since we had spent all day trying to get her with us, even though she had already committed to accompanying us), and finally zipped off to OSIEA (Open Society International – East Africa) who fund our Public Accountability Project. These guys were NICE. We went through the same motions, but with Zuhura starting off the discussion on my project. Since she wasn’t very well prepared, I was forced to step in and present a little, but it went much smoother than the previous meeting. OSIEA also were impressed with our work as a whole and the relationship between us grew very tight as we shared how we might work together again in the future. Woooo!!!

We left OSIEA in great spirits. The day was amazingly successful. I think I was happier than anyone else, though. Something incredible had transformed – the mangers were finally taking ownership of my project. Having that was something I really wanted, but couldn’t seem to attain since the beginning of my project. As we discussed my project with the donors, the managers provided excellent support, supplementing the presentation wonderfully. They were able to effectively tie their projects to Ujaamaa’s need for a Monitoring and Evaluation department, and allow me to further discuss tha need. As we rode in the taxi, I realized that I had hit two birds with one stone. Not only had I been able to bring our donors on board, using their expectation to pressure our compliance with the project’s goals, but I also got my most essential partners on board – the managers. They had become excited about it and talked as if it were something they were singlehandedly guaranteeing. Two huge doses of sustainability!! I was ecstatic. Let us hope that fire continues to burn even after we leave Nairobi tomorrow.

The Mob Justice

And, to wind up my night, for the first time I witnessed mob-justice firsthand. The restaurant I was in got excited. A man was dodging his way through a crowd, and finally began to be chased. A man in front of him turned and kicked him in the chest, dropping him to the floor. That was it for the man. A mob of men surrounded him and began to kick and punch. That man was a Mwizi, which is Swahili for “thief”. In Kenya, if someone grabs your bag, and you yell “mwizi!”, the crowd reacts violently. At the coast, 10 gangsters were hung by a local mob. Those gangsters were known for robberies and violence around the area Kira lives in. The ineffectiveness of the police combined with the communalism of African society empowers people to take justice into their own hands. The thief today was beaten bad. He once was able to stand up, and as he tried to walk away was pushed and kicked by more men. Every time he would limply fall to the ground. He was messed up, drained of energy. They wouldn’t let him go, and the mob just stood around him. I asked a waiter if they’d let him free. He said that they wouldn’t. The crowd wanted him to die. I asked if the police could come. He said they couldn’t, the police were busy elsewhere. To the waiter, everyone else at the restaurant, and the mob, he was a thief and deserved what he was getting. No remorse, no respect for due process of the law. I was disgusted and conflicted.

Conclusion

The day was crazy, it was long, it was exhausting, but I’ve learned so much and achieved so much. I can’t wait to make our last donor visit tomorrow, and to ultimately see how this event will effect my project’s overall success.