What is in a name?

O'loitokitok in kimaasai means a land bubbling with water. Loitokitok gets its name from the several springs found in the area. After several weeks in this area without seeing this famous springs I set out looking for them.

Loitokitok is one very cosmopolitan town. Its predominantly Maasai, followed by Kikuyus and Kambas, then a sprinkling of all the other communities (I even met a third generation Turkana family living in Loitokitok!). Mama Elvis, my neighbor, tells me Loitokitok was heavily forested until as recently as twenty years ago, when Maasai land owners started actively selling land to outsiders.

I followed a foot path out side my house to some hills south of my house. What a beauty this place is! The rain is slowing down and the once bare land is now covered in beautiful green folliage. Vast areas have been cleared to make way for shambas. You can tell from the exotic trees in the area, the few odd indigenous trees in the area, and sadly tree stumps in the middle of shambas.
A little forested area caught my eye, and I walked over to it. I was told its Kawele springs, it was my first time to see a spring and I spent some time th

ere. It has been covered with concrete for protection, and fro

m the inscriptions I could gather the construction was sponsored by AMREF and that Nasepa Welfare Association 'take care of it'. I chatted up a herdsman who was watering his huge grade-ish cows and he told me Kawele Springs is gradually drying off. It used to take a minute to fill up a twenty liter jerican. He also told me that Kawele is not the springs that supplies Loitokitok with its water, and pointed me in the direction of it.

Nalemuru
Along Nalemuru River is a deep gorge that houses Nalemuru springs. I remember being hit by several distinct emotions. One was a feeling of awe at the beauty of the gorge. The other was the calming effect the trees and the sound of the river flowing below

had on me. Its cold in Loitokitok but there was a bunch of kids

engaging in swimming mischief at the small waterfall.

The week that was

It was a kawaida week. My life in Loitokitok is pretty much routine; I go to work, eat, sleep, and write a little once in a while, Oh! And I go over to Ark 2 Hotel every evening to watch Storm over Paradise:-), all tv-lovers without a tv set converge there. On Wednesday I learnt some Behavior Change Communication games – almost a week later my arms are still aching from throwing balls, catching balls and running, I really should try to exercise more – but it was fun. Have you ever been happy you got out of your house? I did on Thursday. I wanted to find out what is beyond my house. That story will be blogged some other time.

The new road is almost reaching Loitokitok and new shuttle ma3s are starting to ply the Nairobi-Loitokitok route. Nairobi has never been so accessible. Finally I can finish work on Friday afternoon, hop into a mat3 and go back to ‘Naisanity’. Being the late adopter I am, I should be the only Non-Loitokitokian who is yet to sample this civilization:-), that’s why Saturday morning saw me on a Secret Admirer bus to Nairobi.

Speaking of Nairobi, I did not do much of what I planned to do – it was Jamhuri day, most places were closed. The city was pleasantly deserted though, you could walk in peace. Pictures from the Kenya Burning Photo Exhibition are on display at the Hilton hotel Park and walking through it I could almost hack the poignancy in the air with a machete! There weren’t any nice movies worth going into; there is a Jim Carrey one coming soon called A Christmas carol and I’m a fan of Jim Carrey. That makes it number one on my must watch list

I have a day trip tomorrow to a town called Rombo. If it’s interesting enough for Snippets of a diary I will tell you about it.

Meanwhile you have yourself a nice week ahead.

Crazy about blogger widgets

I have spent this whole weekend changing the outlook of Snippets of a diary. I have also installed a few fun gadgets here and there to make sure you have a good laugh while in there. Check out the baboon pondering about some things in life. There is the funny quotes area with some really hilarious and witty quotes. And tips on whitening you pearly whites:-)! I think I was hungry at one point, that is how come we end up with a Burger game at the very bottom. while down there get a dose of inspiration from the daily inspiration area.



Have fun.

Of lives past and occupational hazards

The tens of deja vu sensations I have been getting all my life have convinced me that I'm in my third life. I am also convinced I was a garbage-collector in my last life, and some occupational hazards transited into my present life. That explains why I’m a pack rat; I do not like throwing things away. It also explains why I love going through discarded stuff (and looking through the trash when I can get away with). I stumbled upon a joke the other day and it made my otherwise bland week. Here goes:

Dear Tech Support:

Re: Installing a husband

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the Jewellery and Flower applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.
In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs such as Romance 9.5, and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs and House Cleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix this problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed
Desperate.

Dear Desperate;

First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 an Operating System. Please enter command: ithotyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If this application works as designed, Husband should then automatically run the applications Jewellery 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband to default to Grumpy silence 2.5, and Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (It runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Lingerie 7.7

Good Luck
Tech Support.

How the HIV Red Ribbon came about

Its exactly 32 days since I last blogged, half of which I did not use the internet. I never thought that could ever happen, but karibu loitokitok.

Today is World AIDS day. A day set aside to create awareness about this pandemic, raise funds, fight prejudice and improve education. The theme this year is ‘universal access and human rights’. It’s about time for a country which has about a quarter of its HIV+ population on ARVs.

A Masai lady hawking red ribbons in Loitokitok town today made me realize I really didn’t know how it came about, so I made a point of asking around, and finally I resorted to my good friend google. Apparently there is an assortment of colored ribbons for a myriad of courses; the red ribbon is a symbol for heart disease, stroke, substance abuse, and several other conditions, but it has been completely usurped for the fight against HIV and AIDS- thanks to the Visual AIDS Artists Caucus. It’s worn all year round and particularly around World Aids day to demonstrate care and concern about HIV and AIDS, and to remind others of the need for their support and commitment. First worn publicly by Jeremy Irons (the guy who voices Scar in Lion King), the ribbon soon became a politically correct fashion accessory on the lapels of celebrities. It continues to be a force in the fight to increase public awareness of HIV and AIDS and in Lobbying efforts to increase funding for AIDS services and research.


Now you know :-)

The Dark house

My second week in Loitokitok is coming to an end. This means two things part one: I have to seriously start looking for a house; I get kicked out of the hotel I’ve been staying at on Sunday. Part two: the down side to part one, setting it up and the consequent chores.

It’s with this in mind that every evening of this week I set out looking for a house. A colleague of mine, I nicknamed him Ng’ang’alito, has been kind enough to show me the residential areas of Loitokitok. And Boy! You would think it would be easy business getting a house in this outback! For starters, I was getting three bed roomed houses only; I plan to get a bed, mattress, beddings, kitchen stuff and bathroom stuff. A three bed roomed house is just too big (I have been wishing this was Nairobi and there were such house offers and at such prizes).

Wednesday night I went to sleep rather stressed about the housing thing, and I remember praying….. Having a conversation with God was kind of like it. The prayer was something to the effect that I really need a house I can afford and that if She was going to do something about it She should also consider the financial aspect of it. Friday came and it was decision time. The morning part was set for parking lot issues like housing for some of us, so I decided to meet up with the landlord of a three bed roomed house I had decided on

The genesis.

I had previously only gone through the residential areas in a vehicle a motor bike ride, on Friday I decided to trek through and you know gauge distances too. There are several buildings coming up, so I decided to find out if there was any vacant house. The foreman told me he knows where I can get a house that befits me; he is the one who actually manages them. This was my business of the morning after all so I tagged along. The houses looked smaller from out and while he was opening I peed through the window. A single room which was what I have been looking for all this time. I did not think twice I paid for it there and then, got the receipt; pad locked it and went back to work, mission accomplished.

My stress levels plummeted, and my attitude was near-frivolous. I have fixed the one thing that has been clouding my days. I happen to be one of those people who are happy all the time, if something bothers them it shows and people could see my mood was changed to happy, and I told them why. No one believed the package I got, small, at that little a price. Did it have electricity and water was the first question.

Did I check if it had Electricity and water? I wondered out loud. Every one burst out laughing and left me to my devices. God! I am so bummed by that. How could I not check the two prerequisites I have for housing! I was so bent on getting a little place for a whole week; I did not think twice when I found IT. But what is done is done. I will be leaving in a house without electricity for the next two months- my colleagues have christened it the Dark House. One of them has volunteered to buy me a koroboi; the cheek of it.

Internet is a whole natha story in this town; this is why my posts are not as tmely as I would like. I could fix it. But I can’t.

The magnificent Mt. Kilimanjaro

It rises out of Loitokitok's backyard, its humongous, it’s beautiful. It’s the landmark in this area: Mt Kilimanjaro. On good days it dons a white crown and on other days it disappears behind a cloudy curtain


I tend to learn a lot about people, places and things from the name. Mlima is Kiswahili for mountain, kilima on the other hand is a hill, so I was intrigued by this suffix in 'kilimanjaro'. Turns out the name comes from the Chagga who have lived on the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro for a couple of hundreds of years. They used to refer to it as 'Kilima Kyaro' meaning the 'shining mountain'. The Brits could not pronounce it right, so they coined Kilimanjaro, and it stuck to this day.


Mt Kili is a stratovolcano, as the name implies they are formed by stratified layers of both viscous lava flows and fragmental material, their towering peaks rise several thousand feet above their sorroundings. Mt. Kilimanjaro has three peaks Mawenzi,Kibo and little known Shira. Kibo is the youngest, while Shira is the oldest.

Been hoping to write about my eye-candy in Loitokitok for a long time .

(Mt Kili from the plains of amboseli)

travelling to Loitokitok: The Transformation

It’s Sunday, the day of travel. Am up pretty early for someone who was too excited too sleep in the first place. I still have a few hours before my bus leaves so I take my sweet time getting ready doing some last minute packing and all. I get a message from a number I don’t know telling me that my bus is leaving in a bit, where the hell I am! My hell breaks loose. See I have to be in Loitokitok by this evening or I get myself explaining to do. I call back immediately and start haranguing the guy... long story short I’m booked on another bus- someone was kind enough. I ask when the bus is leaving and that is the funny bit. Its still coming from Loitokitok, nobody knows where it is or when it arrives. So it’s better to hang around. After the call I haul myself to the booking office and start the WAIT. Luckily I have company, I hardly notice three hours drag by.


The bus finally arrives. And everyone boards, everything is loaded in exactly 15 minutes, but we do not leave for another 30 minutes. When we finally do its 1400Hrs which means we will be getting to Loitokitok by 2000Hrs or thereabouts. The conductor is kind enough to inform us that we will have two stops, the petrol station for fuel, and Emali for lunch (30min). Nice, I think to my self. At least we won’t waste time stopping at every bus stage to pick more passengers.


It’s slow getting out of the city, but then we get to Mombasa highway and the pace starts to pick up. The journey is rather uneventful and past Mlolongo I start dozing off. The sound of the rain pelting my window wakes me. From the gentle slope I can tell we are in Salama. It’s a small town but pretty busy for its size, with lots of trucks stopping over. There is a road diversion just out of the town which is causing a traffic snarl up. Our driver is behaving like he would like to beat Loitokitok town to Loitokitok town I instinctively reach for my dirty seat belt.


Its 1730Hrs now and we are in Emali. Stop number two. We stop in front of a hotel and I expect people will get out to relieve themselves, stretch and what not, but alas its loading part two! men and two three mamas with kids strapped on their backs start streaming in and in no time the bus filled up to double capacity. They support themselves by holding any thing from the hand rails on the matatu ceiling to peoples head and shoulders. I thank God I got the window seat.

We take a right after Emali town (how I wish the bus was going straight to coasto). The lady next to me is awoken by a Massai who was lounging on her shoulder. We laugh about that and she tells me her name is Taiko. We start chatting about the weather, drought/famine, and the rains expected Turkanas, and moving swiftly to Maasais -my current pet subject. I ask her when this road was constructed, because I used it in mid-July and it was one of the roughest I've been on and she tells me, it’s just a small stretch, and I should brace myself for some rough road (I’ve been on worse but I don’t tell her). We are being driven very fast and Taiko is wondering when how long this overloading is going to tease common driving logic. In Merweshi we get a puncture, and a tyre has to be changed. It’s an opportune time to stretch. As soon as there is some space on the corridor to step out I get out.


20 minutes later we are on our way again, and I have quashed all hopes of watching the premier episode of Sakata. Its okay, I tell myself. One more thing not to get used to. Tarmac ends and we are on rough road. As we drive through kalesilwa I notice the whole area is strewn with black rocks of all sizes, a result of volcanic activity in the past I wager. I ask Taiko if there is a myth to this phenomenon and she tells me she doesn’t know. The only vegetation is little clusters of dry acacias and I spot three beautifully camouflaged elephants browsing on them.


Dusk was approaching, and the pink eastern sky was bidding the setting sun good bye. We passed through Embonjo, which I was told means a swamp - explains the green stretch on the further out my window. Come Siineti and almost everyone who boarded the bus in Emali alights, including two guys on opposite ends of the corridor who had been talking to each other like they weren’t separated by almost fifteen people.

We reached Kimana well after dark, Taiko’s final destination. She told me she will crush at her daughter's place because it wasn’t safe to walk at night because of elephants. We exchanged numbers, and promised to keep in touch before she alighted. It was pitch black out side and my eyes were tired of peaking into the dark. The road was rough I could tell from the way we were almost being tossed from one side to the other, and the bus almost tipping over side ways.

I started musing at everything around me. The Maasai guy who had alighted a minute ago and disappeared into the darkness (there wasn’t a sign of a homestead anywhere...). The beaded lady standing in front of me (I wondered if the beadry on her meant anything).

And soon we were in Loitokitok. Horn blasts, whistles and shouts from conductors (the number had moved up from one coming out of Nairobi to more than seven hanging out of the bus door by the end of the day) announced Promise's arrival to Loitokitok.

Taiko called to find out if I have arrived in one piece. Such a nice acquaintance. So does my sister and Mother.

Before after

Prepping part 1

What to carry to loitokitok?

This is the main feature on my mind right now. I have never had to worry about this in the past. Because, in Kitui, every time I have had to set up temporary shelter, I raided my mum's house for stuff from pillow cases to spoons and everything in between. Her place is 20 minutes taxi ride or two hours walk (my pace), up and down two ridges from the former training center. Loitokitok is roughly seven hours travel give or take (without factoring in time spent connecting matatus).

Then there is the little matter of clothing, and appropriate ones for that matter. Im a relatively conservative dresser, my job though, requires me to be even more consevative. Every time I'm done with training I dump my clothes to my kitui closet, cant work for Nairobi....

The whole of this week I'm rummaging through clothes and piecing together seven outfits. This should sail me through ten weeks. I think. Whatever else I need for ten weeks in Loitokitok, I should be able to find it there.

Intro

Hi

My name is Grace Mwopa, am 24 years old. Several days ago I was invited for an interview that set the ball rolling for a job I will be doing for the next ten or so weeks.

The job tittle is Language and Cross Cultural Facilitator.

I have worked for this organization before, and they were based in Kitui (my second home town). My new station of work is Loitokitok.

In this blog, I will share with you my experiences in this part of Kenya; from the place, to the people and everything in between. Of course I will drop a few personals here and there about my self and my day to day life, just for spices.