From Silicon Valley to Swaziland, Rick & Wendy Walleigh [i love reading books .txt] 📗

rocking. It was a feeling I had felt many times before in California, but I was in Nairobi, Kenya. Could this be an earthquake, here in Africa? Yes it was, and only the first of a number to come. Who knew they had earthquakes in Kenya? Looking at the geology, I guess it’s not surprising. Nairobi is located near the Great Rift Valley and between the extinct volcanoes of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya. All of these would be obvious clues to the most amateur geologist, but it hadn’t occurred to me.

Wendy sat near to me in the office and reacted quicker when she felt the tremor. She instantly positioned herself in the doorway as we are trained in California (because doorways are more strongly reinforced and can protect you from falling debris in a moderate earthquake in the United States (for advice on what to do in a very serious earthquake, especially outside of the United States, search online for “The Triangle of Life”). Although she reacted quickly and followed the guidelines we had been taught, this would have been a problem in a serious earthquake. The doorway in which she positioned herself was capped by a large glass panel, which would have shattered into many sharp pieces and seriously sliced anyone standing below. Fortunately, the first quake only measured 4.4 on the Richter scale, so was only a little wake-up call.

The next quake hit on Sunday night, and it registered 5.4 on the Richter scale, which meant that it was about ten times as powerful. It hit while I was sitting on the toilet in our apartment. Talk about the ultimate in terms of helplessness. The only solution was to let it happen and hope. Compounding the impact was the fact that I was feeling a little tipsy from the few glasses of wine I’d had with dinner. Boy, was there ever a wrong night to overimbibe.

On Tuesday, a 6.1 quake hit near the end of the work day, and the panic started. It was the strongest quake yet, and the fourth in five days. People streamed out of office buildings and were reluctant to go back the next day. At first, running out of buildings seemed to be a foolish reaction, since that was not what we were taught in California, but later we learned that 90 percent of Nairobi buildings were not designed by professional architects or engineers. Maybe running out of those buildings wasn’t a bad idea. I reminded myself that the rules are different in Africa.

As the tremors continued, so did the panic. There had been no destruction of buildings, but this had been the longest string of earthquakes ever felt in Nairobi. Fortunately, the city was 155 kilometers from the earthquake’s epicenter in Tanzania, so the impact was lessened. Rumors circulated about a big tremor that was coming and some people slept outside their homes. As rumors of an impending large quake accelerated, including the quake’s date and time, experts continued to deny that earthquake prediction was possible and the U.S. embassy was forced to issue an official press release saying that it had not predicted a large earthquake on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. Over time, the earthquakes subsided, as did the panic, and things went back to normal.

Getting beyond the concerns with disease, pestilence, earthquakes, and Somali invaders, traditional crime was still an issue. Within a month or two of my arrival in Nairobi, I had pretty much forgotten about the two fatal carjackings. My friends were probably right; these had been an aberration. However, the city still had a long-standing reputation for nonfatal crime and was nicknamed Nairobbery. There were even anecdotes about the old days when criminals would steal your car at gunpoint but then put you in the trunk and politely drop you off near your home before taking off with your car and your money. Anyone who recounted these stories always followed them up with a warning that modern criminals did not adhere to these old ways and were to be seriously feared. Just in case we were getting complacent, we received several messages that definitely put us on our guard.

The first message was from Peter, one of our coworkers, which he sent to everyone in the office. It said essentially, “Please send any e-mail messages to me in care of my personal e-mail account since my computer has been stolen, and I can’t access my work e-mail.” On his way home one night, Peter was accosted as he was about to drive into his yard. As with most homes outside the slums, his property was surrounded by a high fence with a locked gate. Although this generally provides protection, it can also provide an opportunity for thieves. People are vulnerable as they arrive home and exit their cars to unlock their gate, allowing thieves to easily attack, which is what happened to Peter. In some senses, Peter was lucky in that the thieves only took his cash, cell phone, and computer. They often take the car. And of course, the situation can be life-threatening as well. From our perspective, it appeared as if Peter mostly took it in stride and just set about fixing the problems. However, it had to be a harrowing experience. Several days later, he got good news; the thieves had been caught, and he was called to the police station to identify them. Although he got through it without serious physical harm, it must have left a mental scar. Several people at TechnoServe had experienced similar trauma. Erastus told me of an incident, several years earlier when he was confronted by a thief with a gun, and he was certain that he was going to die. In another incident, just months earlier, an expat couple who were our good friends had been forced to lie facedown in the dirt as armed thieves went through their pockets and purse.

The second message, which was e-mailed from the U.S. embassy, just reinforced the ideas.

Warden Message: Carjacking of USAID Employee

This Warden Message is being issued to alert American citizens to the ongoing danger of carjackings in Nairobi. On May 3, an American citizen was carjacked on Ridgeways Road, off of Kiambu Road, by three male teenagers, two of whom were armed with pistols. The victim was not injured in the incident.

Extreme caution is advised once you turn off of Kiambu Road, going towards the Windsor Hotel, as there are many blind turns and the ability to maneuver around potential threats is limited. Be aware of your surroundings when driving this or other similar routes, and be especially conscious of any person(s) acting in a suspicious manner, who might be acting as a lookout for potential hijackers ahead. Do not expect pedestrians or passers-by to lend assistance as witnesses are usually unwilling to get personally involved in this type of situation.

If criminals demand to go to your house, dissuade them by telling them you live in a large housing compound guarded by security guards and police.

It is advised that you carry credit cards or ATM cards only when you have a specific need for them. Be willing to give up your valuables immediately; they are not worth your life. It is imperative that you remain calm and let the carjackers know you will comply with their demands and give them all of your valuables. Keep talking to them, listen to their instructions, and comply immediately and fully.

As temporary residents, taking lots of precautions such as only taking taxis and not driving a fancy car along with being able to limit where we lived, worked, and shopped, I thought our chances were good that we wouldn’t have this type of experience. But there were no assurances. I felt bad for the local residents who must know in the back of their mind that eventually their luck will run out, and they will be robbed or worse. However, the locals seemed to adapt. They were very attentive to potential danger, while at the same time seemed to take it in stride, as illustrated by an e-mail we got from Henry, another TechnoServe colleague:

On Wednesday, on my way to [a local town] on one of the dirt roads, a saloon vehicle overtook me at very high speed and made me suspicious. I slowed down to observe their movements, and after moving for less than 2 kms the vehicle slowed down and parked near some thickets. The guys did not look good to me, so I turned at high speed and drove like mad to the highway. There, I found another suspicious car, so I drove to the direction of Nairobi and used a different route from the main Nyeri Highway.

I cannot for sure say that these guys were carjackers, but my intuition told me so, and I acted. Better to be safe than sorry.

Let’s be very alert particularly with [our TechnoServe Toyota Land Cruiser] Prados on off-road destinations, especially during this electioneering period when their demand has gone to an all-time high.

CHEERS,

Henry

Wendy’s increased discomfort with personal safety was obvious as she resisted walking even a block or two in our neighborhood at night to the nearby mall and supermarket. On the other hand, I had pretty much rationalized that we were pretty safe and had put the messages from our colleagues and the U.S. embassy out of my mind. So I talked her into walking to the Phoenician Restaurant near our apartment.

Nairobi had many good, very diverse restaurants, a number of which were located very near to our apartment. What a difference from Swaziland. We had been to several wonderful Indian places, a Japanese sushi bar, an Italian restaurant, a multicultural café that served enchiladas and a Tex-Mex outlet at the food court, as well as the Phoenician, which is Lebanese.

For safety’s sake, the general rule in Nairobi is to never walk anywhere at night—always take a taxi. We generally followed the rule. We also lived in a nice area where it was very safe to walk around during the day as the streets were busy with people. Even at night, the area was generally well-lit and occasionally people could be seen walking.

Since the Phoenician was less than four hundred meters from our apartment gate, it seemed ridiculous to take a taxi. We had previously walked at night to the Japanese restaurant that was only one hundred meters from our gate, but it was almost visible from our apartment, and we were always within yelling/running distance from the security guard at one location or the other. Of course, if attacked, you should neither run nor yell, but it still felt very safe. The Phoenician was just enough farther away, around a curve on a tree-lined street that Wendy was very uncomfortable, but I decided we should walk anyway.

We prepared to walk by emptying our pockets of everything except enough cash to pay for dinner and one cell phone between us. Then we set out. During the day, the walk would have been delightful. The street at this point is well constructed with new, paved sidewalks, bordered by trees and other attractive vegetation. It was even brightly lit. The weather was pleasant. It was a beautiful night for a stroll, but it was still Nairobi. As we turned from the street with our apartment to the street with the restaurant, it was nearly deserted. We saw one woman walking toward us. She was walking very purposely and passed us by with no one uttering a sound. Then we heard a man, coming up from behind us. He was walking more quickly than we were. We didn’t change our pace, but Wendy squeezed my hand tightly as the man approached. As he passed