Absolute Poor

Antony and I on my last day in Nairobi.

It's hard to imagine living in absolute poverty.

I encounter the relative poor everyday. It's not uncommon to see overweight homeless people walking the streets of America. In developing countries, the poorest of the poor are skinny. When I lived in East Africa I could usually figure out who was the local village chief since he was the least skinny guy.

Absolute poverty didn't hit me until I lived in Nairobi. My predecessor told me it was customary for us to pay for meals for our drivers. My driver, Antony, took me to a gas station with fast food restaurants for dinner. He had chicken and rice and I had a Margherita pizza. Each of our dinners was the equivalent of $4.

We sat outside as I listen to him tell me about Kenya. After I finished eating I went back inside and bought a Nestle Drumstick. I was surprised it cost as much as my dinner. Pizza, chicken, and rice are inexpensive since their key ingredients are grown and processed locally. But, food that's imported, like name brand ice cream, is pricy.

When I sat back down at our table I asked Antony how much he thought my ice cream cost. His guess was about $1.50.

I'll never forget his response when I showed him my receipt. He casually tapped on the total, at the bottom of the receipt, and said, "That is more money than I make in a day."

More money than I make in a day?!?

Those words have haunted me ever since he spoke them.

My new best friend in Kenya was living on just over $3/day. It should have occurred to me sooner. I was responsible for managing my team's rental car contracts. I knew that we paid $70/day for our SUVs. It didn't dawn on me that it was only an extra $6/day to have a driver. That left just over $3 for Antony after the rental car company took their cut

Living on three dollars a day. Amazing.

Author: Joe Moreno

Living in a Safe House

The architecture of my Nairobi safe house reminded me of San Diego.

In 2005 I lived in a safe house in Nairobi. Actually, I lived in a couple safe houses, but the layout was essentially the same. What's different, in the real world compared to the movies, is that most safe houses aren't obscure hidden buildings with desolate interiors. Rather, like the White House, they are reinforced houses to prevent home invasions.

Sleep safely on the second floor, behind bars.

My safe houses were located in compounds with six to twelve other homes surrounded by walls topped with concertina (razor wire) and 24/7 guards. Another group I worked with lived in, what we affectionately called, the cathouse (Civil Affairs Team house) which had everything my house had plus an electric fence.

The windows in my safe house were covered with reinforced burglar bars and the bedrooms were located on the second floor where I could lock myself in, similar to a jail cell. There was a lever on my bedroom wall that I could pull to blow out a section of the bars to escape if there was a fire.

The red lever on the wall would blow out a section of bars.

It's hard to believe it's been almost a decade since I lived in Nairobi. This metropolis is the tech center of East Africa and the weather's better than San Diego. The city is located about 1° from the equator and, at a mile up, it's above the mosquito line. The summer highs were in the 80s and the winter lows were in the 50s. Nairobi gets a little more rain than Southern California so things we irrigate for in San Diego, like banana plants and birds of paradise, grow naturally without any humidity.

I highly recommend a trip to Nairobi and safari in Maasai Mara.


Author: Joe Moreno

U2's Beautiful Day; Nairobi, Kenya; and American Idol

There's something about U2's Beautiful Day that will, until my dying day, remind me of when I lived in Nairobi, Kenya. It started with my boss, at the American Embassy, who loved that song and it has been imprinted on me for the past few years.

I just found out that an American acquaintance, whom I worked with in Kenya, will be flying back there aboard Air Force 2. The funny part is how this connection was made, tonight, since DeWyze sang this song on American Idol.