Twigas (giraffes)

Friday I went to a conference on Traditional Medicine that Olungah was speaking at as well as a few different traditional medicine men. It was really interesting. Traditional medicine in Kenya is called “ethno-medicine” because each tribe or ethnic group has its own medicinal practices and traditions. They talked about how Western medicine only treats the body, as if it is mechanical, while traditional medicine focuses on the body as part of spiritual well being and social environment. Traditional medicine is also a much better option for most people in Kenya for many reasons, such as it is what has been known and trusted for centuries, even millennia. It is readily available and convenient, as many Traditional Healers can come to the home of the ailing. Another huge aspect is that modern hospitals cost large amounts of money, while traditional healers can be paid in livestock, or even a daughter for marriage. Towards the end, a traditional healer spoke who talked about how traditional medicine can be developed, such as putting herbs into capsule form, and that it should be more widely recognized because it really works and has helped a lot of people. I completely agree with him, and I said that in the West, you can see people starting to turn towards more homeopathic remedies for things. Overall, it was a really great conference and it was cool to hear from all these different speakers.
On Saturday Chipa, Whitney, Michelle, Tanya (cousins) and I went to see Ocean’s Thirteen. I wasn’t expecting much, but the movie was actually good. Afterwards Chipa and I came home and Erin Brockovich was on TV, so we watched that. It was a movie filled Saturday.
On Sunday Whitney and I checked off a lot of our tourist boxes. First we took the bus to Karen to go to the Giraffe Center where you can hand feed giraffes! It was pretty amazing to hold out your hand and have a giraffe’s big long purple tongue come out and grab the food. We even held a piece of food between our teeth and the giraffe “kissed” us. It was pretty gross. The giraffes live on this wildlife reserve and the brave ones get fed by visitors coming to the center. I say brave, because most of the younger ones are too scared to come near people. We met Njuhi and her friends Brian and Roman there and then we all got back on the bus and went to visit Kazuri Beads, a place that makes pretty beads and pottery, and then went to the Karen Blixen museum, which is where Karen Blixen lived in Kenya. Njuhi said that Blixen’s home wasn’t very highly regarded by most Kenyans because it was a reminder of all the native people who were displaced by whites when they colonized Kenya. I told her I could see how that would be true, and then thought about how the United States is like that times one million. It is pretty sad. Afterwards, we headed back to the city and all went home pretty tired, but feeling like we had accomplished a lot in terms of “must see things” around Nairobi.