Story of Africa

No.1

Korean-English translated by Soyoung Yoo

2014. 11. 1 (Sat).

A visa problem gets complicated when staying abroad for a long time. I came to Kenya to renew my expired Kenya visa that was issued 2 years ago. I needed to have a long-term visa in order to continue our project in Kenya.

However, it is hard to get a long-term visa although all of the needed documents are already prepared. I think the problem is because of Africa’s inconsistent administration. In my experience for the past two years, it is needed to go to the Immigration office several times. Also, a visa does not go as promised. One Immigration officer may pass the documents, but another may decline. It might take forever. There are all sorts of stories by others’ experiences with the Immigration office.

So, I decided to rent a house for a month. Renting a house is much cheaper than staying at a guesthouse for a month. However, owners of houses were not willing to let me rent a house just for a month. Kenyan KVO worker, Ms. Lillian rented a house for me. I was lucky. The house was for 65,000Khs ($730) per month with a deposit of 10,000khs. According to Ms. Lillian, the couple that owned the house were Ethiopians. They looked wealthy. When Ms. Lillian said, “Daenanachu” in Amharic which is an Ethiopia language, the couple asked her how she knew Amharic. So she told them that she learned it from the Sisters who knew Ethiopia so well. The landlady insisted to let Sister rent the house although her husband wanted someone who would rent for a long period of time.  

This house is located close to Riana and Yaya where I used to live before. The building gives a feeling of old and shabby. There is only one big tree near the front gate and parking place on the cement block. The house has one bed room, living room, small kitchen, and bathroom with a shower booth. The bathroom ceiling seem to leak and has mold. There are orthodox-style pictures hanging in the living room and bed room. I think it is because the owner is an Ethiopian.

Anyway, it is good to have my own house although it is just for a short time. The garden in the front of the house overlooking my window is beautiful.

This is the calm scenery of Africa.

2014. 11. 3(Mon).

When I went to take out the garbage, a big woman who keeps the front gate said, “Welcome sister!” She was having lunch with a cleaning lady around 3pm. Their lunch was just Zzapatie (Kenya’s food) with some coffee. I wanted to give them some boiled eggs. Is Korean’s warmhearted nature about to invoke?...

I approached her while asking in my broken English, “Your name is…?” Her name was Hiyachinda. She was a mom with two kids. She works as a gatekeeper during daytime. She was a typical type of Kenyan that had an out-going personality.

Her face turned to anger when I asked her if she was from Kikuyu area. She said that she was from the west area. So, I asked her if she was from Kakamega. She said yes. So I said jokingly, “I am also from Ruo. I am from Got Mar where Kakame is located nearby. My Kenya ID says that.” It seems like she was interested. And I said that Kikuyu tribe is Kenyan as well as Ruo tribe, so they should like each other, not feud with each other. She agrees with a smile on her face.

I had a similar experience with a regular taxi driver in Kisumu. I asked him to spread my opinion about the two tribes. He laughed broadly and said that he was doing it when I asked him if he was doing what I was asked for.

Whenever I face a situation like this, I try to reconcile Africans in my own way. In my experience, with Africans’ naïve nature, they tend to accept other’s opinions willingly when an appropriate explanation is provided. I hope that Africans have a chance to have this kind of education and/or communication.

This is an important yet critical problem. This could be a reason to cause an internal war in Africa.

2014. 11. 6 (Thurs).

The Internet has been down for 3 days. The bathroom is leaking making the floor wet. Ms. Lillian made a phone call to Zuku, the Internet company, and explained the situation over the phone for quite some time. They kept saying they were coming. After calling several times, they finally came at 4 pm to replace the Internet modem.

Ms. Lillian also made a phone call to the owner of the house. They came with a technician to see what was wrong with the bathroom. All he had to do was replace a small part. After calling him several times, he finally came to fix it after 5pm.

This is Africa’s style!!

2014. 11. 11(Mon)

The Internet worked on Thursday, but it is not working again. It has been like that throughout the weekend. It turned out that there was an Internet problem across Kenya. I was told that it would start working by tonight.

I was told to visit the Immigration office in the middle of the month, but I went to the Immigration office today with Ms. Lillian anyway. Little progress had been made. Applicants are required to pass a meeting with the Immigration officer for reviewing all the documents. My documents will be reviewed this week due to a large number of applicants. The rule has been changed again so the result will be mailed to each P. O Box. My result will be sent to Kisumu because my official address is Kisumu. This will make things more complicated. Their postal operation is slow, so I wouldn't know when I would receive the mail. Also Mr. Adam needs to mail it back to Nairobi after receiving it...

So I went up to the 5th floor to see if there was another way to receive the visa. If I get lucky, I might be able to get it in person before mailing it to Kisumu. Starting next week, I should keep an eye on this in order to get my visa.

On the way home, I went to grocery store shopping with Ms. Lillian. We had a very late but pleasant lunch, and Ms. Lillian’s chatting started.

The chatting will be on the next episode..

-With Mrs. Hiyachinda -

The garden in the front of the house overlooking my window