And, I've Made it to UGANDA!

Hello friends!

And this is currently where I am!

Welcome to Uganda. This is Sheena speaking to you through Jalesh, who I am cleverly using to update my blog since there is no internet connection at Kibale National Park, which is where I am currently residing.

Kibale has the highest biomass of primates IN THE WORLD. This means I see monkeys almost every day.

Hi pookey!

The black and white colobus monkeys look like old men that watch you from the trees....And there are blue lizards all over the place that do cute mating dances that look like pushups.

our dorm

I'm doing really well over all. We stay in a big long building that is divided into a bunch of rooms, each with 4 bunk beds in it and covered with a mosquito net (mine is pink!).









We wake up at about 7:30 every morning and class starts at 8:30 am. I am FOR SURE doing the most intense class out of the three that are offered this session. In the last five days, I have hiked to a papyrus swamp to sample invertebrates and cut transects straight into the jungle to measure different properties of the rain forest in order to determine the side of the "edge" of the forest.

Currently, we are being warned to watch out for elephants that are roaming our area of the park (This is NOT GOOD or REGULAR just fyi) and there is also a green mamba snake that has been seen on the property. Green mambas are one of the most poisonous snakes in the world.

So. Yeah you could say its a little scary but, its not every day that you are warmed to watch out for these kinda things so its A LITTLE exciting and we are all embracing it :)

The last few days have been so PACKED with action. Remind me to tell you about our field assistant's farm and his ten children, and about my "mpako" which is my "pet name" out here I am now called "abwoli"!

So for now, abwoli out!

monkey watching at the field statiom

A Day of Extremes: The Slums of Nairobi

First off: Hi Mom. If and when you read this please read this disclaimer first: I promise that I did not get sick from today's trips, even though I was most definitely exposed to communicable diseases and unsanitary conditions.

The point of this trip TODAY was to be made aware of the issues that face Nairobi and Kenya and the developing world in general.

Secondly: With this blog, I'm stating right now that I don't want to be this girl from Canada who travels to Africa and experiences all these 'life changing things' and comes to all these 'life changing conclusions' and preaches my deep and intense thoughts. Really - I think that a lot of what I'm going to write about aren't my ideas. They are ideas from other students that have emerged through on going discussions that I really think are worth sharing.

Today, the CFSIA students went into TWO slums in different areas of Nairobi, one called Kibera (also known as the largest slum in East Africa) and the other called Mathare. Mathare and Kibera are exactly what you imagine a slum to be like. If you can't imagine, let me help: Imagine a garbage dumb in your city. Then scatter aluminum sheeting all leaned up against each other to fit 600,000 people. Then throw in some running streams that pick up all the garbage and sewage, and of course, put in adults, children and animals alike living on top of all of this.

Mathare

Basically, these people - children, parents and business people - are living on a garbage dump. This is because they don't have any where to dispose of their waste, and because the city will not provide garbage pick up services because these people are living in informal settlements and don't pay taxes.

The slum was also full of these kids that ask (without knowning the meaning): How are you? every where you turn, because that is what they've learned from English tourists. Through this experience, I got to thinking about how different the standards of living are in different parts of the world:
While looking for our apartments back in Montreal, how many of us ask our landlord questions such as:
1. How is the water pressure in the shower?
2. Is there a washer and dryer inside the apartment?
3. How many people can take a shower without running out of hot water? 

and how many of us decide on an apartment based on the answers to these questions and really take them into consideration? A lot of us do because some of these apartment characteristics are just expected according to our standards of living...

Then I come to this slum where they have no shower, no laundry machine, no hot water...

I spent a portion of the day talking to International Development Students about how although we all KNOW that the living conditions of the slums need to change because everyone deserves to have their basic needs met, what change do we make? Which one will work? Where do we start???

But then I reconsider my questions: If I get discouraged by trying to figure out a plan, and if all we end up accomplishing is TALK, then NOTHING will ever happen to cause change. So we might as well take chances, make mistakes and GET MESSY (in the wise words of Ms. Frizzle...she really did know what she was talking about). 


Pictures from Mathare and Kibera:

Children playing in Mathare

Mathare kids in school

UN HABITAT's Office and project in Kibera

Kibera in all its glory

Click on the photos to enlarge!
Note: There are a lot of grassroot NGOs working in Kibera and Mathare improve the quality of life. Please check out Mathare Roots Youth Group Facebook page. The CFSIA program raises money for them every year and they provide a number of extra curricular activities to children in Mathare to prevent them from getting caught up with the wrong kind of crowd... if you know what I mean. 

Fear not, I've made it to Nairobi

And this is exactly where I am at the moment....

I wish I could make this blog post all pretty but I'm in Nairobi (I've only been here for 48 hours) and I know what the internet is like now: Not very fast or helpful. So this will be a really short (but hopefully informative) post which is just enough to let you all know that I am okay!

So - Our first say here, we obviously did the most East African thing you could think of...I don't know how much you know about East Africa so I'm just going to tell you what that is, which is: Go on Safari. Going on Safari involves us going on a game drive, looking for animals and today, we did this at Nairobi National Park, which is a part located right IN the City of Nairobi.

Guys... I saw lions!

It was completely surreal and the whole time, everyone on the program could barely believe that we were in East Africa!

My first impression:
Nairobi has a TON of construction going on at the moment. Going into the city takes about 40 mins each way when a drive of this distance would take about 15 mins in Montreal or Toronto. The city is extremely crowded and despite all the hustle and bustle, it moves at a snails pace.
The trucks we travel around in ensure that we draw a lot of attention to ourselves: Click here for a picture and our tour operator called BUNDUZ! They have been taking care of the program students for over 8 years.

we ride around in TWO of these

Today (day 2) - we spent time with the University of Nairobi students and walked with them through the downtown core of Nairobi and learned about their experiences in school and as students in this city. We became INSTA friends because the Kenyans are extremely warm people and by the end of the day, I had exchanged my contact info to make sure I could meet my new friends when I come back to Nairobi after the program is over.


Anyways, that is it for now because I have class outside. I hope you are all jealous :)


Pictures from Nairobi National Park:

Notice the buildings in the background! The park is fenced off from civilization.

Learning about skulls in NNP

Some beautiful landscapes right in the city!

The Lapid-faced Vulture

Who is this ugly creature, you may ask? Well, this here, is the "Lapid-Faced Vulture", it is also the animal/bird/creature that I have been officially assigned (2 days till departure) by my prof to look out for while I am in Nairobi National Park, the Masai Mara and Elangata Wuas (which is located in the Rift Valley in Kenya).

So far this 5-day orientation has been such a crazy in-between way to get ready for this trip. It's a weird time because every day we sit in classrooms and learn about the trip we are about to embark on and all the places we are going to go and all the things we have to be careful about but IN 2 DAYS - I'll be getting on an airplane and actually going there!

This has been a very PROLONGED process of introducing me to the biggest trip of my life..so far..the anticipation is rising!!!

I'm also in a very in-between place in my living situation. I currently am living in the living room of my very own apartment and sleeping on my couch because there is a new subletter in my room to take care of the place while I am gone. Many of us on the trip at this odd point... wandering the streets of Montreal looking for a place to belong, in these last few days here.

Meet Jayde, my Aussie replacement :)

Sessions so far have consisted of language learning (Mimi ni Sheena), "risk management", course prep, internship-finding tips ..... and it just keeps going! There have been some really nice surprises along the way. Today, the 38 of us were invited to MacDonald Campus to have lunch in the home of our Prof  who heads up the trip where we received a home cooked meal, cooked by his wife!

I hope for and look forward to more intimate moments with these unbelievably passionate researchers and professors on this trip.

The most important people I have met during this orientation are my fellow program participants from across different programs at McGill and different regions of Canada and the world, all of whom are soooo ready for this adventure to begin!

One last thing - here is me with my full backpack! Whhhhhhhhattt up! (and YES, this is all I'm bringing with me. How did I do it? I DON'T KNOW):

I was a little nervous... :-s

See you in Nairobi!!!!!!!

The day before I left -- Sheena the Explorer ready to GO!

Only 10 Days

There are ten days till I leave for East Africa. I just got back from AIESEC Canada's National Conference in Edmonton and the first thing that I did (after sleeping A LOT) was buy my traveling backpack from Mountain Equipment Co-op!!!

I have been to MEC a few times with my brother (who is the real adventure traveler/backpacker/camper in the house) but I have never really gone for myself. With the help of Debbie and my mom and a really rugged MEC sales guy named "Hanible", I tried on a few backpacks...

I'm happy because the backpack is empty

The packs were all definitely taller than me when full, and Hanible def needed to help me put it on my back (as in hold the entire weight of the pack up and let me put my arms through, like I was putting on a coat) and then quickly tighten all the straps before I began to fall over.. (We shall see how I manage this on my own in East Africa)....

This is my new pack!!

So with 35 pounds of weight in a 60 litre pack, I was instructed to walk around the store to get a feel for the pack that would carry all my possessions for 6 months.... This one was especially made for a female frame (that's me!) and I LOVED IT. I loved the colour, I loved how adventurous it made me look and most importantly, I loved that it said "diva" on it.... I'm pretty sure we will become the best of friends during the next few months.

I'm just a little worried about how its going to fit my 6 pairs of shoes, my formal dress, and my harry potter boxed set. Hahaha I KID... but really... I have no IDEA HOW TO PACK STRATEGICALLY, especially for an extended period of time and especially because I'll be in so many different environments like camping, research facilities, hotels etc..


Anything that you think I absolutely really really must bring?

My five day orientation starts Monday and I can't wait :)