Driving in Nairobi these are tricks to learn

If you cannot avoid driving in Nairobi, you need to learn some survival skills on the road. Before I completed driving lessons, I used to dread the day I will be on my own. I knew that it will be completely impossible for me to make the sudden moves used to avoid collisions in a bid to get to a junction first, swerve from Matatus (mini buses).

There are some rules in Nairobi City to enable you adjust to the adjusting driving conditions:

1. Rules change it’s not the same for each road.
2. Rules enforcement changes, speed limit is 50kph but when there is no police, it goes all the way up. Put up with horns, curses and raised fingers at you if you have to keep to the 50kph.
3. Roads change; your usual route might be closed today.
4. Know the program for residing and visiting dignitaries such as the president and prime minister. Roads can be closed one hour before come and one hour after they have left.
5. Learn all the official and unofficial routes along your way.
6. Keep a tab of social media – it sure proves helpful if you are in doubt.

How to Overcome Traffic in Nairobi City

How to Overcome Traffic in Nairobi City


Radar Detector Car Dash and Windshield Mount

To Kampala By Bus

On the trip to Kampala, we used the Kampala coach. It appeared to be the most comfortable with good legroom and reclining seats. I had booked two seats on the left behind the driver. In case the road turned bumpy and rough this position would give some cushion as opposed to the back seats. The engine noise however was something to get used to.

This is one of the journeys that a regular traveller should take in East Africa, at least once. The distance of 670km and 12 hours gives a variety of experiences for night and day travels. The road is smooth from Nairobi to Eldoret then narrows to Busia or Malaba border points. After the border, it is a better ride to Kampala. The sights are beautiful especially when crossing the Nalubale Power Station Bridge at Owell falls.

We had the excitement of leaving Nairobi by the night bus. The departure was for 2030Hrs but it seemed no one has the intention of ever keeping that time and so the real departure was 2130 hrs.

After the city, there is little to see in the dark countryside. The first stop is Nakuru town for the use of washrooms and purchase of snacks. In the night there is little choice in the small shop at the booking office. It is better to carry light dinner and lots of drinking water. Sitting for more than 10 hours will not be fun on an empty stomach and a dehydrated body.

The next stop is the border point. There are two border points out of Kenya to Uganda; Busia and Malaba. We used the Busia border point. We arrived there at 5am. I knew because my phone’s alarm for wake up had always been set for 5am and it had gone off a few minutes to the border. You alight and hand over your trave documents..., pass ports or temporary passes for East Africa residents not having passports.

To cross into Uganda we ran across the no man’s land under a light drizzle to catch up with the bus that had already gone ahead of us. Busia town runs a few meters into Uganda with shops offering the last products to get in Kenya especially airtime.

There is a wide good stretch of surfaced road after the Kenyan border. The countryside is beautiful in the early morning. Drop offs start at Tororo and Njinja, the two major towns to pass through on the way to Kampala. The countryside has scattered small-scale farmers growing traditional crops, mostly bananas and sugarcane.

It is now the eleventh hour since the journey started in Nairobi. We yearned for a stretch, a shower and a good breakfast. We cannot wait to get to Kampala.

Welcome to Kampala! Our welcome was not so fortunate. Unaware to us the previous night being the finals for world cup, there was two bomb incidents in the city, one at Ethiopian Village Restaurant and the other at Kampala’s Kyadondo Rugby Club.

During the day we passed the government hospital and saw hundreds of anxious people wating to know the fate of their loved ones. We knew then the gravity of the problem in the city from the extra security we were subjected to at the shopping malls the whole day long as our host took us round. We later learnt that more than sixty people died in the bomb attacks.

The return journey was on the next morning. We were up at 5am in order to catch the bus at 6.30am. The Kampala coach has two booking offices. Out of confusion or lack of communication, there were double bookings. This caused a lot of arguments and delays that made us leave at 8.30am.

We had an opportunity to see the countryside better after a relaxing night. From Kampala to the Malaba border, it is a rich and productive land. As seen in Kenya too, the smallholdings by farmers indicated unutilised potential in agriculture and much that governments need to do to reduce poverty in the rural areas.

At several stops there are a collection of foods offered for sale. Standing out was roasted chicken and other birds and meats, stuck into long sticks. They thrust the delicacies through the bus windows in attempt to raise your appetite. We thought best to keep off from roadside cooked food. We needed peace with our stomachs at the end of the journey. Bananas, fruits and plenty of water were adequate for the journey to Nairobi.

Unlike night journeys, the day travel was filled with many stops either to pick passengers or goods from the various booking offices. By the time we got to Nairobi city, it was already past 10pm, 13 hours on the road, sore joints, fitful sleep and enough experience. Home was the best place to recuperate and do a similar journey better prepared next time.

Social Entrepreneurs Competition

Dear Friend of Echoing Green,




We are excited to launch our search for the next class of Echoing Green fellows. If you are interested in applying, you can get started now by downloading the application questions here. We will be in touch again when the online application goes live.



Complete details are available at: http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellowship



And please consider helping us spread the word more broadly:

· Forward this to group email lists or list-servs that you have access to

· Submit the note below to any newsletters where you can contribute

· Blog, Tweet, mention on Facebook/LinkedIn, etc.



Thank you so much!



Rebecca



- - - - - - - - - -

Rebecca Magee

Data and Events Coordinator, Fellow and Alumni Programs

Echoing Green

A: 494 Eighth Avenue Second Floor

New York, NY 10001

W: http://www.echoinggreen.org

T: @echoinggreen



Echoing Green Seeks World’s Leading Social Entrepreneurs

Since 1987, Echoing Green has provided seed funding and support to nearly 500 social entrepreneurs – including the founders of Teach For America, City Year, College Summit, SKS Microfinance, and Genocide Intervention Network.



In Spring 2011 Echoing Green will award between 12 and 20 fellowships to early-stage social entrepreneurs. Fellows receive up to $90,000 in seed funding over two years, technical support, and access to a powerful global community of fellows and alumni.



The online application will open in October 2010. Right now, potential applicants should review the application questionsand sign up for application updatesfrom us. Complete details are available at: http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellowship



Turn your dream for social change into a reality.

Sales And Golf, the ‘Links’ to Learn

I have studied the strong bond between golf and salesmen. Probably since the outset of the game, and most of the top sales professionals are extremely good golfers, a lot of business is conducted on the links, but this article isn’t about how to sell on the golf course, rather it’s about the many similarities between selling and playing the perfect round of golf.

An adept player says, “It’s a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get.” The same can be said of sales: the more activity you put into your craft and work day, the better the results will be. Selling is not about luck or chance, top salesmen may give the impression that it’s easy, but that has come from years of practice, and often many costly mistakes. The bottom line is, you can’t shortcut the hard work needed to be successful (and that goes for anything in life!)


The object of the game of golf is very simple: you have clubs and a little, white ball, the course has 18 holes, and you have to hit the little ball as few times as possible until it goes into the hole. Likewise (the game of) sales is equally as simple: there are buyers and there are sellers, and there are products and services. The salesman has to sell his products or services to as many buyers as possible. Just like golf, even if you are playing in a group, every time you’re really just playing against yourself. With sales it’s the same thing: what you’re really selling is yourself (the product or service is usually secondary, unless you have a high-demand item and limited availability.)

Both golf and sales are a mental game. If you walk onto the golf course with the wrong attitude, it will show in your performance. If you make a bad stroke and stew over it, you’ll have a run of bad strokes. Keep a clear head, take it each shot at a time, don’t over-think it, and you’ll be surprised how much better you play. The same applies to sales. If you have problems at home and you drag those thoughts around with you, you won’t be as productive that day. If you have money issues, the potential buyer will pick up on the fact that you want the sale more than they need what you’re selling. If a sales appointment goes badly, have some techniques to clear your head and move on. Conversely, if you have a great appointment and make a sale, leverage that positive attitude and turn a great day into an awesome day.

I’ll leave you with one other useful comparison: know when to call it a day. When your energy is high, the weather is perfect, and your game is on, that is the time to consider maybe playing two rounds (or at least another 9!) Just the same with a perfect sales day or week, even if you’ve hit your quota, this is the time to get ahead to cover for the bad times – go for a personal record. At the opposite spectrum, if a bad day just keeps getting worse, you’re doing yourself no favors by battling on regardless – that’s when a bad day can turn into a big slump. Best thing you can do on a day like that… Dust off the clubs and head to the country club!

Adopted from Anthony Donnelly

After Your Best Wish...

You can dream for the loftiest heights within reach of your imagination. On the highest peak, there is still left more of the best for you.



Last Saturday, I attended a wedding in Naivasha, my hometown. Meeting acquaintances last seen more than 10 years ago brought nostalgia and with it memories of the strongest desires then for the future.



Oscar Wilde said, “When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers". If some of the prayers of our former lives were answered, we would prefer to be far from the answer.



Since we dream to be something, we rarely become. I believe the easy to achieve dreams are those of getting qualities in life such as love and happiness around us. However we aspire for what is seen and approved by others in title and position in life.



Dreaming and seeking qualities of life that are indestructible is independent of title and position in life. Whether in a shack or palace, you will always have them.



When young, there are many dreams I had that related little to life qualities of love and relationship. There was great inspiration from the teachers seeing them as know it all. That then was a big dream.



Today, having obtained an Engineering degree, practiced and smelled of lofty positions, the real dream is to be a model father to my children and a good friend to those around me. A strong relationship with God is the highest inspiration. It is much more than any position I could wish for.

Five wishes by Gay Hendricks will be an interesting read for you.

Instructions

When is the last time you read instructions for your new gadget? For three years we have been using a microwave oven the wrong way. When we got the microwave oven, all we did was plug it in the socket and started using.




Today morning while in Kitchen I realized that the top surface was dirty and the thin vinyl covering was coming off. I thought, can’t this be removed? Then the clear notice in three languages became noticeable to me for the first time, “your microwave oven is covered by a vinyl covering to protect it. BEFORE using for the first time, remove the covering bottom up”. A diagram was drawn to show this. I pealed the covering in one minute.



Today morning I am going to the bank for the third day with embarrassment. I deposited money I a fixed account six months ago, got the certificate and misplaced it. Yesterday my wife found it in a place where we had not searched – next to the wedding certificate. On the deposit certificate are instructions for recovering the money on maturity. The last two days I claimed to the bank that I knew nothing about the instruction. It time to bite the humble pie and admit that I was wrong.


Life can be easier today if you read and understand the instructions for your life today. There is the best source for you here.