The internet connections here are a bit iffy. There are long stretches where the only site I can get to is Google.co.ke., although Skype appears to work all the time. Go figure. So this is my post from Thursday.
In the morning I met with Mercy Corps for about 2 1/2 hours and then with FIDA Kenya (Federation of Women Lawyers) for another couple of hours. I’ll talk more about each of those meetings and organizations in later posts; each person I met was amazing.
The meetings both were wonderful and fruitful. I am going to attend Mercy Corps’ Conflict Training Program on April 5-6 in Nairobi, and a workshop with FIDA on April 7-8 in Naivasha, about 140 km away. The FIDA workshop is for public sector lawyers and will focus on Kenya's new Constitution, the new Bill of Rights and new civil procedures rules. I'm not sure, but I think I may have agreed to be a presenter.
Getting around Nairobi is not an easy thing. I used a car and driver. The cost for 10 hours was 4500 kes, or about $53, plus gas ($24) and a $12 tip. Many places simply don’t have an address. You try to get close using a local landmark of some sort and then stop and call for final directions.
The driver’s name is Joseph or Junior; he said he answers to either. We talked Kenyan politics all day during the very long drives back and forth to my meetings. The big news right now are the ICC indictments against the “Ocampo Six” related to the violence and deaths in the last election. Joseph’s 18 year old son is in a technology school; he had to wait one year after graduating from high school to apply to a public university.
I’m trying to find statistics for the number of women in law school now versus 20 years ago to help evaluate a requirement for certain positions in Kenya that a lawyer must have 20 years of experience to apply. I’m having a bit of a problem gathering that information. There are 6 law schools in Nairobi – 3 public and 3 private. I spent the afternoon at the University of Nairobi School of Law and hope to meet next week with the Dean. If that doesn’t work, I’ll start contacting the other law schools, which is something I hope to do while I’m here in any case.
This morning (Friday), Nairobi's “Daily Nation” had an article titled “Studies reveal reason to hire more women.” It described an event next week on March 31 hosted by the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM) Alumni Association on “Expanding Opportunities for Women in the Workplace.” Keynote speakers are expected to discuss what their organisations [sic] are doing towards supporting the enhanced participation of women in the workplace.
The article identified the chair as Naserian Kimathi (one of her quotes: “The topic of enhancing female participation in the workplace needs to move from a ‘nice to have’ discussion to a core business conversation.” ) So I spent some time tracking down contact information for Ms. Kimathi. I caught up with her this afternoon and she sent me an invitation.
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