Oliver and I were lucky enough to avoid daily haggling with taxis as we were introduced to a fantastic driver by Robert Mutsaers of Green Power. Sammy the driver has been our guide every day of our stay in Nairobi and is one of those wonderfully humble souls who could do anything with some support. He's smart, kind, inquisitive, and oddly enough for Nairobi, extremely punctual. For this reason we gave him a Swiss nickname, Oliver's vote is Urs, mine is Ueli-Sam, pronounced "You-li-Sam". Sammy and I have long conversations about all manner of things, mostly answering questions with information that anyone educated in the developed world, or through University-level takes for granted. We talk about cholera and typhoid, how they breeds and transfer, the Ph levels in water and what it means in relation to taste, and how the Internet works. I have also learned a great deal from him, mainly about how spoiled and fortunate I am.
We coast along the highways of the city in his low-profile beater with super tinted windows quite happily. In a city recently dubbed 'Nairobbery' for its petty crime and mugging, we are grateful for this inconspicuous ride. I heard from the 'master-franchiser' of Solar Aid, that just the week before a man reached into their car and was choking his daughter, trying to lift her simple jewelry and bag. The penalty for these sorts of crimes is typically metered out immediately by the local community. The corruption and lack on confidence in the police force and justice system is so extreme that citizens know they must take punishment into their own hands. This is not always so in Nairobi, and certainly not so for white people unrecognized by the community. Translation; your tourist tush will not be rescued.
I chatted to a lovely man from the Netherlands, Professor Ted, who lived in west Africa for 15 years with his wife and children. He felt the sense of community and security is even stronger in west Africa than in the east. He told me a story about his cook in Mali who participated in this sort of community justice on his way to town one day (once in 15 years). The cook was riding the local bus when a man stood up crying "theft!". The driver stopped and searched every single person aboard. The thief was dressed in a suit and carried a briefcase, but sure enough, they found him with the exact amount missing in the carrying case specified by the victim. Instead of delivering him to local police, the entire bus de-boarded right there, and offered the thief a choice: death by tire or nail. The tire option consists of placing a car tire around your neck that is then filled with petrol and lit on fire. The second option is to drive an 8 in. nail into the top of your skull. Both punishments obviously result in death, but you must also pay for the nail or tire and petrol.
Although gruesome, it makes for extremely safe, tight-knit communities in which everyone is accountable for both crime and punishment. I can appreciate that sort of cosa nostra approach. Hopefully, however, these practices will diminish drastically as local systems, and in turn federal infrastructure develops bringing transparency and good governance to Africa, which is sorely needed. In fact, it is emerging as the key element to attracting large-scale investment to the continent. Certainly, impact investment is facilitating this growth and laying the groundwork for major development-continent wide. Africa is one to watch. You read it here first!
'Til next time,
Hilaria
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