Water and Power

Hi everyone! It is 1:30am in Nairobi and 5:30pm in Chicago. I arrived safely and with all my stuff intact and not stolen :)

And the Kenyan visa was only $25 USD this time, instead of $50...

I landed after 8:30pm and was picked up within an hour (after immigration, long wait for the baggage, and a quick stop at an ATM). Had a late dinner with Wendy, Kenya's wonderful in-country coordinator and city host, and we talked till 12:30am! We agreed that even though the last time I was here was 2008 it only felt like last year at the longest, or yesterday.

Nairobi is like most major cities with all the modern amenities of internet, plumbing, and 24-hour electricity. Depending on a volunteer's arrival time and preferences, volunteers stay overnight in Nairobi before embarking on the long shuttle rides out to the villages the following morning. The shuttles don't have a set departure time; they wait in the lot until the seats are filled. Since it's a weekday, people are less likely to want to go to villages, so I may end up waiting there for 3 hours... we never know! Wendy recommends leaving her home by 6am or 6:30 at the latest, so that I can at least pick a good seat. There are some uncomfortable middle seats or back seats that I'd want to avoid having to sit in for the 8-10 hour rides.

Weatherwise, I feel like it's a perfect, cozy room-temperature, indoors and out. That means some Kenyans are wearing sweaters tonight and I'll be the one sweating by the time the sun comes out. :: sigh ::

In any case, this really will be the last time I'll have internet for a while. So I figured I should take this opportunity to post something of mild interest before you have to wait a while for my next update. I wanted to show you how I sterilize water with a SteriPen, and show off my trusty universal plug.

Cleaning Water

First I fill my bottle up to .5 liter or more. Then I push twice on my SteriPen for .5 L or once for 1 L and wait for the little green light to flash.

Next I immerse it into the water and when the SteriPen senses liquid, its ultraviolet light switches on to eliminates over 99.9% of bacteria, viruses and protozoa that cause water-borne illness. I agitate the water to ensure full penetration. After about a minute, the light turns off to indicate it's done.

After drying off and wiping down the edge of the bottle with anti-bacterial stuff, it is safe to drink directly from it. This is also water that I must use for brushing my teeth.


Universal Plug