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| a simple solution! |
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| my least favorite pathway |
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| the source of my misery |
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| this is a fun exercise! |
At first I thought it
must have deeper meaning, and that it might indeed symbolize something important, because I have found it so personally upsetting.
However, after now watching it grow, deteriorate
and destabilize, fill with water, stones, mud, men, rebar, wood and concrete, for
some 6 weeks, I have accepted its presence, and I see that it is actually just
a Big hole. The fact that it affects my daily routine and I must think about it
every morning has got me thinking of it as somehow emblematic of something here. Mostly it just bums me out.
They dug the hole
about 7 weeks ago. At first it looked like a normal public works project, and
there seemed to be some purpose. We were not clear what the purpose was, but
after speaking to a few people who have been here awhile it seemed they were
trying to deal with the drainage issues on our road. Apparently, our road,
becomes “like a river” during the rainy season, something we have not yet had
the joy to experience. Wisely, they decided to work on the issue long before the
rainy season begins, which should be in March or April if all predictions hold
true. In fact, a couple of months ago, I walked by this corner, which is my
normal path into town or to the hospital, where I volunteer, and there were
some guys digging a big hole by hand next
to the drainage ditch and they were quite pleased with themselves, calling out
to me “see! We are fixing the ditch!”, with big grins on their faces. I waved
and acted as if I knew what they were talking about. They may have thought I
was a different white woman, maybe the woman who used to live in our house; or
maybe some other mzungu complained to
the city about the enormous amount of water flowing down the road making
it impossible for pedestrians, last rainy season. In any case, they dug a big
hole, and then left the large pile of dirt sitting for a couple of months. At
first I wondered what they had planned to do but then I just forgot about it
and got used to seeing the sort of harmless hill of dirt along my way.
So when the work started a month and a half ago, we felt
somewhat optimistic that they were going to actually continue that job and
perhaps even finish. Fixing a drainage issue shouldn’t be too difficult, right?
The first couple of days seemed to have
ended up rather disastrously, with this large, I mean as big as your living
room, LARGE hole which takes up the
entire intersection, being left. Well, it may not be as big as some American
living rooms, but you surely could fit a few chairs, a couch, and an
entertainment center in there. That is how big it is.
That same day, and maybe because of the hole, a large
digging machine got stuck in it and lots of people gathered round to coach,
discuss, laugh, and who knows what. Then it just seemed to fall apart from
there. The hole filled with water from rains, the paths for pedestrians
disintegrated, people fell into the sewage, etc. It was awful. Unfortunately
for me, there is no better way to get to town and the most convenient
“diversion” is a dirt road down the way which during the dry season gets so
dusty you can’t see or breathe. It
became particularly bad during the first two very dry weeks that the
construction was going on, because ALL of the diverted traffic went on that
road. It was literally like a dust storm 24/7.
Luckily for us, the holidays were upon us and we were able
to borrow a vehicle from AMPATH to get around. I don’t like driving around in
Eldoret because there is so much pollution and the traffic is terrible.
However, I dislike twisting an ankle, breathing in voluminous amounts of dust, or falling into a sewage ditch even less, so I
did let Michael take me to the hospital a few times at the beginning of this
saga.
Since my volunteer work was slowing down at about the time
the first phase of the giant hole started, I didn’t have as much need to go in
as I had had, but it was definitely cramping my style and making me grumpy
about feeling dependent on Michael for a ride. It was, all in all, ridiculous.
Liam, of course, has no issue jumping over the various objects
that are in the way, or the various small tributaries that have been created
since the hole was first created. The pedestrian passages have changed
configuration multiple times and they never seem to bother him. In fact, for him and Michael, it is an endless
source of amusement and entertainment.
Now that we no longer have a vehicle, I am braving the paths
which run through a side hole, filled with rocks, trash, and some broken part of the sewage system. I fear for my life each time I try to cross
and Liam or Michael often have to take my hand so that I don’t get paralyzed
part way across. It’s not high, it’s just treacherous. It seems like they would
have put up at least a plank so that people could cross more easily. In fact,
this is a major pedestrian, bicycling zone. It’s a major artery, really. But
they did nothing to ease the way for all the people who use it. Michael, being
in construction, has been trying to encourage, coach, give a bit of input to the
crew and supervisor since the beginning, but to no avail. The thing is, no one
else has complained, it seems. The Kenyans just keep walking through it as if
it were completely normal, which, I am afraid, it is. Me, I want to yell at
them every time I go by, “YOUR MOTHER IS A PEDESTRIAN!” but Michael says it
would do no good.
On a daily basis now, being discouraged and pissed off, I stand at the edge for a couple of minutes before crossing, and grumble and moan
to myself, sometimes striking up a conversation with a fellow walker. I feel better bitching about it but everyone
else seems to just want to get through it and get to where they are going. It
takes a lot of nerve for me to go in that ditch. And I am not wearing high
heels, or carrying a bicycle, wood on my head, children, or anything! Again, it
seems ridiculous. A few days ago they put rebar in the hole. So now I have the
added potential of being gored on rusty rebar if I do fall in! Yea!
The fact that the people in this city have not raised hell because
of this work is in itself stunning to us. Perhaps we are spoiled, or perhaps we
are just lucky to come from a place where the powers that be give a damn how
the citizenry feels about what is going on. I think of all the letters to the
editors and angry calls to city hall people at home make if say, the roads
don’t get cleared fast enough after a snowstorm! People just accept the misery. Their leaders
are taking their money, and they know it, yet the same leaders get reelected
time and time again. If you mention to someone from here that they could vote
for change they just look uncomfortable and laugh. Or if you mention that the
public works project is making it terribly inconvenient for the entire city,
they will just laugh and shake their heads. “Yes, this is the way Kenyans are, “
they say. One has to wonder what is up.
Maybe it comes from
generations of just having to accept that bad things happen and no one is going to make it better necessarily. There's a certain amount of complacency that is curious. The other thing is , as we note, on a daily
basis, most of these folks are busy trying to make ends meet, get from place to
place, feed their kids, and pay their school fees. I doubt they have the energy
to make a big stink about something so seemingly minor as a big hole in their
way. They just climb through it and make their way. Me, I am not quite there
yet, but I have learned two important things: 1) I am not nearly as nimble as
your average Kenyan, and 2) I still want a plank.
