Off to a good start

The Nairobi skyline as seen from my office. 

Well, I've just finished up my second week here in Nairobi. The first week was a blur of jet lag and currency conversions. Now, I am starting to settle into a routine, and life in Kenya is unfolding. It feels like I've been here longer than two weeks. The pace of life is pretty up-tempo. The work here will be pretty all consuming. I don't necessarily want this blog to be all about my work at International Justice Mission, because there are many confidentiality concerns and internal IJM communication policies. However, I've quickly learned that this work is going to become a defining factor in my life for the next 12 months. After that first week of orientation and falling asleep in meetings at 1:00 in the afternoon, I was quickly placed in the assignment rotation. There's a lot of work to do, and our case load is pretty chalk full for the relatively small legal staff.

It's such a nice thing to have work that you can pour yourself into. Law school was challenging for me because there was a lot of theory, and hypothetical, and a lot of made up fact patterns for made up exercises with made up clients. For me, it was hard to take a lot of that seriously, but here at IJM, I am dealing with people's very lives. My clients are facing serious injustice, and knowing that every research assignment, every case analysis, every memo, every meeting, and even little e-mails are all a vital part of securing justice for them is good fuel for the worker's soul. It's good to have work that has serious meaning. It's good to be in a place where you are pushed and motivated by the dire need of someone else.

It's also going to take some getting used to. The theme of our casework isn't exactly a joyful refrain. My office focuses on child sexual assaults, extra-judicial killing, and illegal detention. Heavy stuff. But even in my two weeks here, on several occasions the office has burst into shouting, cheering, and celebration as our field office director peeks out of a meeting to announce a conviction, or an arrest, or other good news in a business so colored by suffering.

Rocco DeFilippis, Justice Seeker.

Nairobi is an odd place. Having traveled to six African countries, some multiple times, Nairobi is by far the most developed city I've been to. Everything is under construction here. There are buildings going up left and right. Yet, even with all of this development, there's still a lot of poverty present. For example, you will walk past street children begging on the side of the road as you enter a fancy modern mall with posh restaurants and a movie theater showing the latest summer blockbusters. It's odd. I haven't seen much of the city yet, because, well, it's huge and sprawling. I spent a few minutes in the city center, switching from one matatu to another on the way to church. A matatu is a minibus taxi that, while privately owned, serves as the only form of public transportation. Downtown is odd. It has modern skyscrapers and lush parks, yet, it has this feel of danger to it. I don't know if it's all the security training I've been in, or if it's all the stories I've heard, but Nairobi has a dangerous feel to it. I mean, it's nickname is Nairobbery. I constantly hear from folks I've been talking to things like, "Oh, but don't go there alone" or "I wouldn't walk there at night." Everything has large walls, razor wire, electric fences, and private guards. The Marine in me says, "It can't be that bad," but then again, the Marine in me says, "Situational awareness, force protection." It will be interesting to see how the security situation effects life here. Already, there's a church I'd like to attend for a Wednesday night service, but walking home a half-mile might not be the best idea at night.

Overall, I'm starting to get into the swing of things. I look forward to exploring more. Unfortunately, I've forgotten my battery charger somewhere along the way from Wisconsin to Nairobi. It's either in Ohio or Washington, DC. So, I'm limited in the amount of photos just yet. Plus, now I'm all paranoid about getting robbed, so I don't know how often I will be bringing the camera out. I'll figure it out.

Westlands neighborhood. I live a bit behind the two tallest buildings on the upper right.