May 22nd,
2013
We arrived in Nairobi, Kenya after a 12
hour bus journey. We left Mwanza at
6:30am. The drive was nice as we drove
though an area of the Serengeti. I
really had no idea what to expect when entering Kenya. Once the bus stopped, we began to walk towards
the border. We were approached by many
people trying to sell us items, including Kenyan shillings. It seemed strange to literally walk across
the border with almost no security at all.
Once we were at the Kenyan side of the border, I proceeded to try and get
my Kenyan Visa. The officer told me it
would cost 50 USD. I did not have USD on
me but was able to find a location close by that changed my TSH into USD. We finally buckled up on the bus that would
take us into Nairobi.
The drive through Kenya was more gorgeous than I
ever imagined! Although, it
was hot and very crammed on the bus, I was very happy to be able to see all the
country side. It was so green! The rolling hills and valleys were breath
taking. As we moved closer to Nairobi, we
drove past the Great Rift Valley of East Africa. The scenery was unreal! It was one of the most beautiful things I
have ever seen. I remember thinking, this
must be nature at its very best! I tried to
take as many pictures as possible from the bus window but the sun and glare did
not give them justice. There was a very
kind elderly man sitting next to us that kept trying to tell us all about what
we were looking at and give us stories about Kenyan history.
I’m sure what he was saying would have been very interesting, unfortunately, I was unable to understand him
and had to just keep shaking my head in an attempt not to come across as being
rude. When arriving into Nairobi I was
stunned. There were many bill boards,
buildings, and cars. The big city atmosphere
definitely felt more like home. I
remember continuously saying how much I love Kenya in my head. 
Our hunt for the perfect packaging began early the
next day. We started by going to the
industrial area. To get there, we had to
ride matatu’s (small vans that fit many people inside). They are very cheap but drive a little
crazy. We visited 6 companies in total
over two days. Everyone was very
friendly and informative. We were
feeling positive about the information that we were receiving even though our
hunt had lead us to some very remote places.
Meeting the people working for these companies was definitely worth the
trip. The information that we were able
to gain and the questions we were able to ask were irreplaceable. On our second day, our colleagues from
Muungano kitchen in Kenya joined us! It
was great to see them. We discussed
everything that we had discovered the previous day and they were just as
excited about the information as we were.
We proceeded to visit a few more companies together and were able to
touch base on issues from both kitchens and exchange our thoughts, ideas, and
future goals.
Travelling around Nairobi was a very interesting experience. People seem to cross the street just about everywhere, regardless of the traffic, and there is a lot of traffic! The streets are crowded and the roads are jammed. It is a busy city that does not sleep! From my hotel window I could hear the matatu’s honking their horns for most of the night. Although our trip was going well, it was time to head back to Mwanza!
We began our travel back on Saturday evening. It was a long trip through the night. I was a little nervous at first but everything turned out fine. Upon arriving back to Tanzania, I was happy to see familiar ground. The trip was definitely long and the bumpy ride did my body no favours. Overall, it was a very successful trip. We made connections and networked in ways that would be impossible over the internet. Meeting with our colleagues from Muungano was fantastic for building our relationship and sharing our thoughts and business plans. I would definitely visit Nairobi again but for now, I am very happy to be back in Mwanza!
On Monday morning we presented our findings during
the morning meeting. I proceeded to create a document that outlined all of the information
we gained and added the photos to help with the description of the products. Today, we had another full meeting with the
marketing team and things are starting to develop as everyone is beginning to
generate ideas and add their opinions about the direction of packaging and production. I am very glad that I have been able to work
with APYN during this process and am excited to see what the final result will
be. In addition, our new roommate
arrived on Friday. It is great to have
her here. It is hard to believe how quickly
the time is going already. As I get more
involved in my work here and building relationships, I can see that it will be
very difficult to leave.
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