I knew I was in love with Nairobi the moment I stepped out of the airport and felt the embrace of the cool night breeze. So much so, that it makes me feel at home.
As a Research Fellow at the PAL Network Secretariat, based in one of the most beautiful and centrally located areas of Westlands, Nairobi, surrounded by the lush greens reminded me of my time growing up in similar Kathmandu, Nepal, when the air was still crisp and we had more green than concrete.
Being open-minded bolstered my immersion in Nairobi, with people, food and culture. I longed to experience life as it is and not experiencing it out of my expectations. Fortunately, all the fellows were provided with a pre-departure manual that sufficiently outlined aspects of life at the Secretariat Office along with some preliminary ideas about the city. While the manual served well to give an idea of the office environment, the experiences I have lived and observations made, are mostly borne out of my interaction with people at the Secretariat and other lived moments.
I quickly became fond of many things in Nairobi, mainly its culture of food, clothes, beaded jewelry, the walks around different parts of the city, the wildlife safari and the importance people give to their families.
Undeniably, the culture of greeting one another, stood out to me, something remarkable in Nairobi. People are conspicuously hospitable, generous in greeting and ready to lend an ear when necessary. Another aspect is the pride Kenyans take in exhibiting their African fabric. The sensation created around the fabric is quite contagious, so much so, that I chose to adorn myself with it at a colleague’s traditional Kenyan wedding and absolutely loved it! It was fun to learn some Swahili words from colleagues who were so invested in teaching the fellows the language. I picked my favorite! Come Friday and I did not refrain from saying ‘Asante mungu ni ijumaa’ which translates as ‘thank God it’s Friday’! And saying it in Swahili seems to work as a pill for an overworked week.
Switching gears to the PAL Research Fellowship 2018- that got me to Nairobi, was one of my best learning experiences. The tittle of my research underwent multiple changes; from assessing the impact of conflict and natural disasters, to natural disasters and more specifically to floods as the choice of disaster to further explore how these have affected the learning of children-in school and dropouts- in the flood affected districts of Pakistan (2014-2016) and the state of Uttarakhand in India (2012 and 2014). The research received feedback, suggestions and support amidst respectable panels of educators, pioneers of ASER Center and doctoral students at the REAL Center, University of Cambridge. It couldn’t have been better learning and receiving feedback from such people. My journey as a PAL Research Fellow helped me grow personally and professionally. Being a part of workshops and meetings, learning sessions and observing how people work in the organization extended my horizons. Moreover, I benefitted a great deal through peer learning during my fellowship tenure. Had it not been for the support provided by my fellow researchers, my research would not be in shape it is today. This experience further strengthened my belief that collaborative peer learning helps in building great teams and producing great results. Finally, the Fellowship strengthened our cross-country relationships.
Nairobi became home very fast and four months did not seem enough to explore its countless spectacular sites. I will take back a lot of memories of my stay and the fellowship, built around love, learning, friendship, work, travel and lots of fun.
