Unimaginable Events in Nairobi

Habari,

I returned to Nairobi on Saturday, September 10^th exhausted, but thrilled by the memories I had created.  I was thankful for the day of rest on Sunday before I had to return to the office Monday morning.  Monday, morning brought about the usual chaos when you’ve been out of the office for a week.  I found myself entering one meeting after another until I looked up and the day was over.  When I returned to my apartment that evening, I was met by a frantic email from one of my old Tyco employees and now good friend, Kevin.  He was checking to make sure I was okay because he had heard there was an explosion in Nairobi.

I had to scratch my head about this, because I hadn’t heard anything about an explosion.  So I went out on the Net to see if anything had hit about the story.  You see, Nairobi doesn’t have nightly news like we do in the States.  You have to wait for the newspaper to come out the next day to get the news or turn on the radio and hope that the story has been picked up.  CNN had picked up the story, but the coverage was brief.  When I finally found some substantial information on the story, I couldn’t believe what I was reading.

Apparently there was a major pipeline explosion in the Sinai slum in Nairobi.  Pipeline explosion?  In the Sinai slum?  I know what many of you are thinking, because I thought the same thing.  What the hell is a pipeline doing in the middle of a slum?  People live in slums!  It may not be the best environment to reside, but people live there none the less.  I’m wearing myself out with the constant comparisons back to the States, but I can’t help it.  I can’t imagine that people would be allowed to congregate around a pipeline, let alone build their homes right up on it in the States.  Well, in many third world countries, that is exactly what happens. 

It appears that the residents may not help their situation much either, by puncturing holes in the pipelines and siphoning fuel from them.  So, there are always leaks.  It is reported that stealing fuel from pipelines can be big business for the criminal element in these areas.  SMH.  Once the holes are open, apparently everyone comes to gather fuel for everything from cooking to running old cars.  Now, keep in mind these people are desperately poor.   Anyone who has grown up poor can think of at least one thing that you or someone you know has done that is extremely dangerous (e.g. Stealing electricity from the electric company or jumping on the back of a moving bus to get a free ride.)  For those lifelong suburban friends of mine…you will just have to trust me on this one.  But, this scenario is so outrageous to me that I’m finding it very difficult to wrap my brain around it.

There are so many reasons why you wouldn’t want to live around a leaking pipeline.  The obvious danger became a real life nightmare in Nairobi on September 12^th.  There are all sorts of rumors about how this happened, but somehow a hole opened up in the pipeline, large enough to draw crowds to gather free fuel.   People, they were running towards the fuel.  OMG.  Something ignited.  No one knows if it was a cigarette or a random spark near the sewage where the leaking fuel flowed freely, but there was a major explosion and fire was everywhere.

The scene that followed was horrific and unimaginable.  There were charred bodies everywhere in the aftermath.  The fire caught on to the makeshift houses that the residents built.  It was reported that there was an informal school in the area where all of the children burned.  Horrible!  The last count I heard was over 120 people died and over a hundred were injured.  For days after the explosion, you would hear on the radio about how the Kenyatta national Hospital was overwhelmed with survivors. 

How in the world does something like this happen?  In the States, a pipeline company would never be able to put a pipeline in an area without properly securing it.  The government would never allow people to dwell within close proximity to the pipeline.  The really sad thing is that some of the multinational companies that operate carelessly in these third world countries operate according to the rules and regulations of the richer countries.  Shame on them and shame on the governments that allow them to do so. 

You will all be happy to know that none of us were ever in any danger and none of our local Kenyan employees were impacted.  Sorry this week’s post wasn’t the usual upbeat story, but I think it’s important for you to experience the entire journey with me.  I apologize in advance for the gruesome pictures.

I’ll see you here again next week.  Thanks for signing up as a follower Deb!  The rest of you, don’t be shy.

Asante sana,

Della Rochelle
Copyright © 2011 by Della Rochelle Williams