Mwiki, "Middleclass Neighborhood" Next Door

One of the sights that has haunted me since the day I arrived at Rafiki is the drive through Mwiki Township, right outside the gate of the Rafiki compound. As YL and David (our driver) brought me through the city of Nairobi from the B&B where I stayed the first night, YL acted as tour guide, pointing out certain landmarks such as museums and universities in town. I was impressed by the beauty of "Embassy Row", the lush manicured boulevard on the outskirts of the city that holds the gated mansions serving as residences of the ambassadors from all over the world.

Eventually, that beauty gave way to more commercial sights. Driving out further, heading northeast from the urban district on Kasarani Road, we began to encounter dusty villages with goats and chickens and masses of Kenyan pedestrians clogging the dirt road in front of numerous sidewalk vendors and tin storefronts. Litter was the norm, along with bad driving by 'matatus', the minivan taxis that jam too many locals into their seats. As we neared Rafiki Village and were only blocks away, I surveyed the surrounding squalor and thought perhaps I was near the famous slum of Kibera. Imagine my dismay when YL described this township as the Kenyan "middle class" residential area from where most of our staff lives and walks to work. My heart sank to learn that David and his family of 6 live there. I kept my mouth shut, but swallowed hard.

Then I learned of the recent riot in Mwiki against the police. Apparently, the week before I arrived, the police were chasing someone, someone whose brother is one of our contract construction workers here building the new secondary school. Word has it that the 'chasee' jumped into a lake in the quarries next door to escape the police. Unfortunately, he drowned. The locals of Mwiki were thus rioting against the police. The good news is that our own nurse/missionary Carolyn was driving home to Rafiki alone when she encountered the rioters blocking the road and throwing rocks. Miraculously, the townspeople recognized her, and let her pass through safely, although somewhat shaken by the experience.

This compound of Rafiki, with the beautiful Kenyatta House, was once the summer home of the first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta. He was elected in 1965, I believe, when Kenya was granted independence from its former colonial status under Great Britain. The story, it seems, is that one of his daughters was a Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) student, like myself. She heard of the difficulties that Rafiki was encountering in trying to buy land to build this village somewhere else, across Nairobi. God touched her heart, and she convinced her family to rent the land to Rafiki, and allow them to renovate the Kenyatta House and Wageni guest house (where we MiniMissionaries stay), for something like $1/year. Since then, the cottages, missionary residences, primary and secondary school, and dining hall have been added.

See if you can spot Kenyatta House from amongst these images...