Bungoma, New Home-a

Apologies for the groan-worthy title. Hope you'll still allow me to tell you a little about Bumgoma, my new home. It’s in Western Kenya, a few hours from the eastern shores of Lake Victoria; on the other side lies Uganda. Bungoma sits on some of the main road and rail trade lines between Uganda and Kenya (and its ports). We also cross the equator on every trip to the airport, so the day lengths here don’t change much and it gets hot in the dry season (as it is right now).

Interesting note on the name: either it came from the name of an occupying clan, or, and I prefer this explanation, it’s named for the drums (engoma) which used to be played to signal the elder meetings taking place here. 

I’d call it a small town but last time they counted in the nineties there were 60,000 people living here. It may be contained primarily within two parallel roads, but it’s bustling with commerce and construction. In addition to innumerable small shops, medium sized supermarkets are also plentiful. While they cover a relatively basic range of goods it’s really all the essentials, and they also double as home-goods stores, their many floors packed with identical plastic houseware items, metal utensils, and pricey appliances. There also more restaurants and bars you could visit in one weekend. Food options include Indian, pretty good pizza, and of course Kenyan, which I find beats Zambian food in both flavor and variety.

The new house is has been well-invested in and is quite homey and comfortable. Walls are painted cheery shades of blue and green, the kitchen is large and well stocked, and there are nice touches of fabric done by a talented tailor including curtains, pillowcases, and a comforter cover. After a few months, it’s fair to say home is feeling like home.

 (The new place, from the outside)

(Backyard tiki hut)

Work is equally coming into its own. After a busy few months of trips at the start, things were quieter from November to January. I’ve spent a lot of time developing some interesting projects, and its satisfying to see them reaching a point where they’ll be ready for regular use or sharing soon. I’ve also worked to create a plan for the communications component of our team. This includes arranging for speaking events as well as publications in different types of outlets, all to share our thoughts and work in building the farm finance sector. A colleague and I recently had the first of these pieces published on the Seep Network blog, you can read it here.

The next few months will include some new work trips, locations TBD, a return to the Princeton in Africa retreat, and likely attending and speaking at a couple financial inclusion/ farm finance events. With all that to get ready for, it’s good to have established a base here in Bungoma, and to have home here waiting.