Running

Developing countries (and especially rapidly expanding cities in them, like Nairobi) typically are not great for running. They grow rapidly and unplanned without consideration or funding for public spaces; and often a lack of pavements and horrendous pollution from old vehicles on the roads. And Nairobi is somewhat like this, though some of the newer roads have pavements, and there are many residential areas secluded from main thoroughfares where the traffic is light.

During the weekdays I do a couple of laps (each one just over a mile) around our residential area, and on weekends try to do longer runs. Whilst preparing for the Lewa Half Marathon, this was a regular Saturday-morning run with colleagues. We rotated among three different locations: a route that is on-rode around the outside of the arboretum (the arboretum is quite nice but fairly small and running within it would be restricted to just a few km), out in Ngong Hills, a town bordering Nairobi with some rarely-used tracks suitable for long-distance running (the circular route around the hills would be at least 40km so we would be dropped off by the bus and run 15 or 20km one way, or go 5km or 10km one way before turning around and coming back), and also some off-road paths up and down the actual hills (though i've not yet tried them).

Now that an excuse for long-runs of weekends isn't possible and that regular training is over, but Andrea and the kids are not back yet, I can still spend my weekends running in Karura Forest.

This is a fantastic forest in an area just out of town where the UN and many embassies are. There are two parts, the larger part has playing fields (occasionally for rent for events), a lovely outdoor cafe, and many paths for cycling, walking, running and walking dogs... it is huge - there is a 15km running route that goes up and down four of the main paths in the forest, which still leaves another two or three main paths untouched. There are some bike hire shops, a couple of playgrounds, plenty of small animals (deer, monkeys etc) and thanks to very good management, the whole forest is very safe. There is even a lady who comes to the cafe most weekends and does painting with kids (for a small fee) and there are some tourist attractions (waterfalls, caves etc).

Yesterday i went to the smaller part of the forest (there is a road dividing the two) which is less busy, and much simpler--there are no waterfalls or cafes and the lake that is probably normally there is all dried up (at this time of year). The longest running track here is 10km, and a third of that is on winding footpaths up and down in the hills which require great attention to prevent tripping on tree roots and rocks (compared to most of the paths in the forest which are wider tracks that are cyclable). There is also an obstacle course for adults (which took me seven minutes to complete) which is an added test after a long run (I did the 5km route after completing the 10km route for a more respectable distance).

Due to the altitude in Nairobi (almost 2,000m elevated), the weather is usually about 15 degrees in the mornings and evenings, and only hotting up to 25 degrees or more after 10am or 11am. There is no humidity (unlike at the coastal regions) so it is perfect for running. There are two periods during the year where it rains (and that is usually mostly overnight when it is cooler) and the rest of the year it is dry. So it is a fantastic place for running on the whole, especially on weekends, in the forest, past the animals and with a nice cafe to relax in afterwards. I suppose the only downfall is that the swimming pool at our compound is usually very cold as it is outdoors, the water is quite deep and it is not in the sun much. Overnight it loses any heat gained during the day, but as my dad has shown it is still fine for a quick dip after a run!

Still waiting...

Since the Presidential election result is being contested by the opposition, all is calm and life has mostly returned to usual although slowly--since until the result is final the Cabinet reshuffling cannot begin and so Central government is not really making any decisions. Local government is still going through the processes of sorting out the County-level cabinets and staff appointments.

Meanwhile the recently elected politicians (only the Presidential result is being contested) are trying to stop a recent edict lowering their pay by 5 or 10 percent. They are some of the highest paid politicians in the entire world, more so than most rich economies and it is crazy. The country can't afford it and it is a major cause of corruption and political favours. There was less arguing about the decision when it was made just before the election, yet now the new politicians have already been elected and don't need to care what their electorate think of their greed, they are going all-out to reverse the decision.

This Friday we'll find out the final result in the Court (either it stands, or is re-run). If there's a re-run (in 60 days), there will be much more waiting and the whole uncertainty will start over again. If the result holds, the opposition threatens mass action campaigns and so violence is likely to break out again (though hopefully it won't be too bad due to a prepared police force). So we're still waiting, but by next weekend we may know more....

Detroit and depressed

So last night I watched Detroit; a film just as depressing as Goodbye Aleppo, though in very different ways. The film is very different: almost two and a half hours long, shot by a world-famous Oscar-winning Director, and with a global release (Goodybe Aleppo was an hour, shot by citizen journalists and only shown on BBC in that region).

The topic was entirely different, yet the film was also a true story (at least as much as anyone can work out without all of the facts). It wasn't shot in real-time, but was a reconstruction of events but it was just as depressing as Goodbye Aleppo. Showing the race riots in Detroit of fifty years ago, it focused on a particular incident where some white racist copes violently interrogated (i.e. abused and shot) black youths whilst looking for a possible sniper, and got away without any convictions for what they did.

It is very powerful, particularly in light of the Black Lives Matter campaign as well as the Alt-Right movement of recent years. Clearly not enough has changed in those fifty years--one could almost argue things are worse. African-Americans are more economically disadvantaged, racial tensions are possibly even higher and more intrinsic, and police brutality continues to have racist undertones. But I'm not American and won't pretend to have informed opinion; just an opinion that means it is a depressing film because it certainly seems like nothing has changed and nothing is changing, even when (unlike in Syria) it seems the answers are known, the means to make a change exist, and even the willingness to change sometimes exists.

What the film does highlight though is what it feels like to be interrogated and threatened whilst being scared and vulnerable. For me this is particularly shocking and scary. At any moment someone could make a fear-induced mistaken movement, or say something that someone else does not agree with, and someone's life will end. Just like that. It is a powerful movie and I hope all police forces make their staff watch it to better understand what it feels like during these situations where the powerful and the vulnerable face up and in one split second a life could end.

Anyway, it has not all been depressing films over the last few weeks. There's also been time to watch Atomic Blonde (a kick-ass female spy movie with lots of twists set during the fall of the Berlin Wall), the Hitman's Bodyguard (a great laugh of an action film with Samuel L Jackson) and several other films. Having so much free time in the evenings and weekends without the kids feels very strange. I even watched a "boxset" (Designated Survivor--just like 24 really, but from a different viewpoint) since I like Kiefer Sutherland in those kinds of roles and my family recommended it. Thankfully the family will be back tomorrow so it is possible the end of movie watching for a while!

Fleeing Aleppo

No, I am not in Syria, not do I plan to go there, but I did watch a documentary tonight called "Goodbye Aleppo", from the BBC, and with the Director attending for Q&A. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08wz1hy.

The BBC specifically commissioned the piece, i.e. paid 4 citizen journalists (who had done some work for the BBC before) to document their last few months in East Aleppo as it was taken over by the "Regime" (as they call it) and the "opposition" lost control and fled, along with 100,000 or so citizens.

What makes it slightly different to a typical documentary is that there is not really a story or purpose to the piece, and no real direction (though the BBC were talking to the journalists most days): it was 100 hours of footage cut down to 1 hour (subtitled as all the language is in Arabic), shown chronologically, and just showing their lives really. There was no voice over, just occasional written statements on the date and situation.After 3 years of being "under attack" having taken over the city in the revolution, the documentary opens with the the end-game, when the city really was encircled and under siege; bombed all the time and then invaded. As the space for the citizens to live in shrunk over time, the opposition basically surrendered and everyone was evacuated.

The way it is shown means there is some insight into what it is like living in this situation and seeing how it changes, some perspectives from people living there, and of course, this is not an optimistic film. But there is no explanation - so we don't really know who the City Council are or what they do or their role with the fighters, but we see a few minutes where the journalists attend a meeting there where a decision is made to ask the UN for help and evacuate. 

We don't see anything of the Regime (apart from bombs going off, helicopters and fighter jets flying overhead etc) or of the Opposition fighters; but since there is no script or real direction we also don't get a full picture of how they live/survive. They have some fuel for their motorbike and generator; they eat some basics like bread and lentils, but we don't know where they get it from (there is certainly no sign of any markets or life on most of the streets as everyone is hiding in basements most of the time).

It makes for quite interesting viewing, and somewhat like the Titanic, one kind of knows how it ends--in the collapse of the city-- though thankfully the journalists survive (it's not quite like a typical Hollywood film with them fleeing under fire, but they are trying to avoid snipers and hide in basements as bombs go off overhead). 

It brings over the helplessness of the people, the pointlessness of the revolution, the craziness of the destruction, the futility of war, the sorrow and loss that affected so many people. And there is no hope. Not in the documentary, not now (6 months later). Its not optimistic. It is a record. It shows the desire of the citizen journalists to want to record what is happening for the record, even if it won't make any difference. They fought a revolution, they lost all their loved ones, they survived for 4 years, they had to eventually abandon their city and their homes with nothing. The four of them survived (2 now in Turkey, 2 in other parts of Syria). And that's it.

Does this documentary achieve anything to help them? No. Will it make any difference to the Syrian conflict? No. Will it achieve anything? There will be some awareness into what such a conflict is like among those who watch it but I can't imagine it will (like almost any other photos or films or reports of war ever have) prevent any future conflicts.

The Director added some insights: such as the intentional decisions not to show both sides, not to provide a voice-over, not to provide context (which is so complicated it would be hard anyway), not to provide much direction or instructions, and interestingly, to verify every single scene (and almost every frame) though forensic analysis of the images and metadata, cross-referencing with others who were there, and others who were not but knew the city. It was an expensive operation. 

The BBC tried to ensure accuracy in the footage. They tried to be neutral in their editing whilst trying to also provide some meaning here and there (the odd discussion about how the original uprising felt, about how they lost family members, about the infighting among the opposition affecting the opposition's success etc). Overall they just wanted to document what was happening, since it was so hard to do so.

Will there be a storm?

No, not in England... of course there is a storm there, whilst its sunny and warm in Germany. Typical of course, but good timing for the girls to go there!

I mean the storm in Kenya - the protests after the election. Once the official results are announced (possibly tomorrow, or over the weekend) and the opposition rejects them, will they incite protests? when the opposition go to court to argue their case (they definitely will, even if they have no chance of winning, since they need to put on a show) and they lose, will they then incite protests?

So we face uncertainly for either a few days or a few weeks or even longer, and Kenya's election will remain on the front pages globally as everyone waits to see how bad the protests and violence will get.

So far, the voting itself was peaceful and the post-voting skirmishes have been mild (caused by the opposition criticizing the unofficial and incomplete results) and the security forces are both well prepared and well responding as appropriate. 

Nairobi is mostly calm and quiet as people stay at home or off the streets, just in case (though most existing protests have been in some of the Nairobi slum areas, or some of the towns in Western Kenya where the opposition is stronger, and apparently those in the slums are partly just unhappy and unemployed youth looking for an excuse to make trouble). Voting day (Tuesday) was a public holiday and most companies gave employees off at least Wednesday, and often today (Thursday) too. Civil servants have been told to report to work tomorrow as usual and most companies will be doing the same, although most retailers (supermarkets, cafes etc) reopened on Wednesday so its perfectly possible to keep a normal lifestyle going. 

Whether business will return to normal soon or not is another matter...certainly the government won't be signing and contracts or issuing policies whilst things are up in the air; and whilst everyone fears for potential protests, there will be much subdued business activities and tourism. So we hope everything can be resolved fast.

As I listened to the press conference from the opposition complaining about the process (the incumbent has a large lead in the unofficial results), I almost laughed at their awful and contradictory statements, so if that is the best they can do, then they won't have much of a chance... once the paper forms (each of which was signed by the election commission at the poll center as well as representatives from the 2 main parties at each poll station to certify the tally) from each of the 40,000 poll stations are all online and added up by anyone and everyone, it will be fairly clear what the result is, irrelevant of the current unofficial results that have come from the online system. Each poll station also entered their results into the system that has been automatically adding them up) but as an online system is not seen as credible (at least by the opposition who claim hacking, strange algorithms and other things that are complete rubbish from the evidence the opposition has provided so far).

Unfortunately the opposition just does not want to accept the result and in their press conference came out with all sorts of contradictory comments and statements. It didn't help when in their letter to the electoral commission complaining about the process, they demanded their leader be declared the winner. This is before the final results are even in! 

Then they provided their own results, which they claim are final, provided to them by a whistle blower inside the electoral commission, even though the commission has not even received all the results, and even while the opposition are still counting the results from the paper forms (and complaining they need more computers to access so many paper forms that have been scanned and put online)!

They of course can't provide any evidence that their numbers are correct, or identify the whistle blower as they have to protect them, and whilst they claim that the system is rigged in how it adds up the different votes, they claim their numbers (from the same system) are accurate.

Yesterday they said they had evidence of hacking, yet produced only database log files which experts say showed only 2 things: 1) someone tried to log-in and failed, and 2) the system is slow. Today they didn't mention anything about that... Maybe there are flaws, maybe there has been manipulation, but the opposition will need to do a better job of showing it. I would think if they've seen and signed the 40,000 results forms, and if they can do their sums, it can't be too controversial, even if some processes from the electoral commission were strange (e.g. making public live online votes if they are not actually official or verified from the paper versions)

So its all a little amusing on one hand, and yet, a little scary on the other hand, because the opposition clearly will do whatever they can no matter what.... (Ten years ago the complaints and protests led to the opposition getting a compromise and the Deputy President position, and some suspect the opposition is just trying to achieve the same thing again). Personally I have been impressed with the current government in charge of the security service and the electoral commission and I think everything will blow over... a few protests here and there after the results are announced and again after the opposition loses the court cases and that will be it... but in the meantime, we just hold our breath, and Kenya's economy suffers...

2 weeks in England: tourism, cycling, camping and more

I'm just back in Kenya following two weeks back home; most of which was spent visiting tourist sites together with the family and some visiting friends from China as well as a mixture of other outdoors activities.

With Hannah having two Chinese friends (and their mum's) visiting, we visited a carefully curated list of tourist activities that would be kid-friendly and also diverse:

• A day at Legoland in Windsor, which was somewhat disappointing with only a half-hearted attempt to really use lego and not too many rides that are actually any good (for the cost and long queues) but the kids had fun, and I suppose lego doesn't really have any particular stories or characters unlike Disney that can really engage.
• A day at Mountfitchet Castle, a rebuilt Norman Castle (though in those days they were only made of wood and were quite simple) and village which is entertaining for the children to run around in and explore: there are various instruments of torture, villagers' houses, and buildings for the baron, doctor, workshops etc as well as a catapult demonstration. Next door is a toy museum which was also a hit of course.
• A day at Knebworth House with its massive playground (including a play fort and long slides), dinosaur park, maze, and country house.
• A day in London with a short walk around Trafalgar Square, Horse Guards Parade and Big Ben then a Boat along the Thames down to Greenwich and a couple of hours on the Cutty Sark and another couple of hours in the wonderful Museum of London in the Docklands. The Cutty Sark is a famous ship that originally transported tea from China to England and has been faithfully restored and has many fun things to do on a visit; the Docklands Museum was fantastically well done with great exhibits on the Docklands, its role in the slave trade, its role in the Wars, and its transformation--and also an indoor playground. Of course the driverless DLR is also fun for the kids.
• A day out at Bekonscot Model Village which has incredible replicas of British life with an airfield, hospital, race course, marina, castle and much more. It is the attention to detail that is delightful, especially for adults, with the fox chase, model trains and lots of other things.
• A day out at the Chiltern Open Air Museum which is a working farm but focuses on exploring what farms used to be like and various farm buildings through the ages. It also had a medieval themed series of events with dancing, fighting and costumes which went down well, though the rain was a bit of a dampener.
• A visit to the Science museum
• Visits to pubs and indoor and outdoor playgrounds, as well as time playing at my mum's house

There is so much to see and do in England from the weird to the strange to the normal to the famous; and no matter where you are there are so many things to see - so much is kid friendly too. It can be cultural, historical, natural, or even mad-made. It is one of the best things about England, if I am to be honest. Even better than the great pub lunches (just about) and all the public playgrounds in most towns and villages!
Then without the Chinese we went camping for a few days and did some walking and cycling, as well as visiting the very interesting Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker which was where the UK government would have been evacuated to during a nuclear attach to continue running the country. It is a three storey underground structure that houses 600 people and has a wonderful audio tour - highly recommended.
There was also time for a kids musical in London and a trip to Wembley for Hannah to see her first Spurs game (against Juventus; 2-0 victory). We also found time to see our cousins, ensure my sisters could spend time with the kids too, and for me and my Dad to do a 100-mile bike ride. phew, what a busy two-weeks.