ANDY's offices - where the magic happens

I thought I’d break our recent blog silence by introducing my new workplace while also responding to some feedback from earlier posts; this post is littered with lots of pictures for Jon Crampton to look at while the grown-ups read the words.

ANDY occupies three rooms adjoining an enormous church building on Kibera Drive, the main road which runs through the informal settlement (which is apparently about the size of New York’s central park).

This first picture presents the biggest issue with the office. This abandoned garage outside the church compound has become a fly-tippers paradise. The smell can be somewhat overwhelming, especially after the debris has been under the sun all day. Surprisingly, I haven't seen a single rat in it, but then they probably struggle to get a look in with the goats, dogs, chickens and birds that scavenge in it all day. One day I arrived to find some big machines clearing it away.

I expected by the end of the day to find the area clear and on its way to respectability. However, in removing some of it they succeeded in exposing the older, decaying layers to the sunlight, releasing a totally new category of smell into the air. Delightful.

The offices are in a fairly pleasant courtyard which seems a world removed from its surrounding streets. There are a few things about the office which I am sure would lead to everyone being sent home from Merrion House, my previous place of employ, such as some of the electrics (I stopped using one of the plugs after it hissed at me one too many times) and a lack of running water. And over the past couple of days we've been alternating between loss of internet and loss of power., which can be a bit frustrating. The difference here is that the office does not grind to a halt when the technology fails.

The power cuts seem to be linked to the short but very strong rains we've been getting, which makes me wonder at which point the rainwater is interacting with the electricity supply grid, and who is being put in extreme danger when it does.



Lilian and Geoffrey in the cybercafe

The offices are humble, but it’s the people in them that count and my new colleagues are great. In the ICT suite which doubles up as an income-generating printing service and cyber-café (fast connection, modern machines, only 1 Kenyan shilling a minute) are Lilian, a qualified counsellor who lives locally, and Geoffrey, who also lives here and manages our sports programme.

Geoffrey has been my guide to Kibera, taking me to meet people, giving me safety tips and even short cuts which have shaved an hour of my journey to work. He has promised to ‘make me famous’ here. I hope he simply means that I will know quite a few people.  

In my office I sit with Joshua, who you may recall from an earlier post I met during my week-long in-country training. He has a bigger desk, with drawers, but he is a lawyer so probably made a compelling case to receive it. What is great about ANDY is that it is an organisation which leads by example; so many organisations which advocate for marginalised groups don't include those groups as much as they could. Most of ANDY's staff are from the ranks of the young people with disabilities who we are helping to take control of their own lives. This provides an exceptional challenge to some of the negative perceptions of disability which permeate Kenyan society, while also providing inspiration to the beneficiaries of our programmes.

I don't have pictures of the boss, Fredrick, or the accountant Philomena but will amend that at the next opportunity. I have plans to adorn the walls with the colourful results of many a participatory exercise, but I will need to clear this with the boss when we finalise how exactly I'll be doing the job I came here to do. The golden VSO rule is that I am not just here to just do a job, I am here to make sure that my skills remain here when I leave. And in these rooms I shall rise to that challenge!