Your experience of culture shock in Kenya

Hi Christine,

About four years ago, I had just started driving in Nairobi and was on my way home one night when I came across a "road block". I had never seen anything like it before. Cops were walking around with huge big guns slung over their shoulders, and there was this very crude dangerous metal spikey thing put across the road, indicating it was a road block. The cop stopped me and asked me for my papers. He checked the car thoroughly (inside and outside) and found there to be nothing wrong.  As he was letting me go, he asked me for some "tea". My comment at the time was "how do you expect me to make you tea?  Where is the kettle, teabag, milk and sugar?"  I had NO IDEA that asking for "tea" was a way to ask for a bribe, and my response was so surprising to him that he just laughed and let me drive off!

Sadly, after four years of living and working in Kenya, this asking for "tea" is almost a daily experience for me and has proven to be very annoying. Although, more times than not, my response is always the same - "how do you expect me to make you tea while I am driving?"

Regards
Cat Johnstone

Hey guys,

So I spent only 6 months being in Kenya as an intern (part of my University Degree) in charity foundations with connections to Sweden (my home country), so my experiences might not be so many due to the short stay.

Anyway, I was surprised to notice that the bribery and corruption starts on such a low level from normal guards (at nightclubs/similar) up to the highest instances of business and negations. One example is a work we were doing with the Nairobi City Council and in which we support some of the politicians meetings and events were they were doing to attract voters. The amount of money that these events were given from us as an organization, just go become on their "good side" and have them ow us "favors" was surprisingly high and I am very doubtful that it would be allowed to continue if the knowledge was spread in Sweden.

In general, Kenya is very similar to United Kingdom, the systems, language, culture and business resembles UK a lot, naturally with a African touch like the lateness and similar. As a foreigner a foreign company it's appropriate to always be on time to meetings but if you are late they are normally understanding, I noticed that quite a few of my superiors used the lateness as a way to show of power when meeting with smaller companies.

My advise is the explore the Kenyan culture, visit loads of restaurants, bars and nightclubs but early on try to keep yourself to the parts of Nairobi which are populated by foreigners. Westlands is generally the place to be for all of the above, try some other places but ensure that in those cases you do it with a Kenyan friend or college. In addition, try to keep a few taxi drivers on call, it's very cheap and important to have people you trust so you don't get robbed. Normally you can use company drivers during work hours but for private use it might not be possible, ask colleges or friends when you arrive and they normally provide you with numbers.

Traffic is horrible, always make sure to have a good amount of time when traveling during the morning and evening, talk with the drivers about what they think would be a good starting time and respect their advise. Hookers and beggars are everywhere trying to get you to pay them, be mindful of your valuables and if in a rough area it might be advisable not to show off stuff like expensive mobiles, laptops and tablets. Food and Family is a very important piece of the Kenyan culture, don't be afraid to ask about your friends/colleges situation and if you wish share your own, it's something that you can count on being asked on a daily basis.

Expect that you will have a million people asking to be your friend on facebook, even people you have never meet or know, "white" people are almost as an valuable to show off, so be careful who are your real friends, and who is just using you.