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I was excited from the very first day I found out about working in Kenya. Through my association with FS-UNEP Centre over the last one year in Frankfurt, the opportunity to enhance my experience in Kenya was very exciting. The colleagues helped me put together all the necessities for my stay and there I was in Nairobi in no time. I was pleasantly surprised with the city and it somehow gave me a familiar feeling of my hometown – Delhi.
Although, the work kept me preoccupied during the weekdays, I made sure to make the most of my time in Kenya by travelling during weekends and visiting the safaris! It is a truly beautiful country with each city having its own flavor – from a very busy and international Nairobi to the very calm, historical, and intercultural coast of Mombasa. The colleagues at the office were extremely nice and helpful, and invited me along to interesting activities such as hiking in the Ngong hills, visiting a children’s home and cooking for the small kids and one can not really miss out on the pubs and bars of Nairobi. One thing not to miss out on is the matatu ride with loud music and friendly people!
Only after three weeks of working on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Financing (SUNREF) project with my colleague Tobias Panofen, which involved various different and new tasks, understanding the way things work in Africa, there was an unexpected task waiting. Travelling to Tanzania for the project. Wow!! It just kept getting better and better.
During the site visit, we visited homes of people to get their feedback on using biogas as well as the hi-tech factory with some cool robots for the production of the biogas units. Although the task was not as simple as it required some innovative structuring and reasoning for the project, guidance and support from Tobias provided me better understanding. The diversity of the projects continued until the very last week, which included a conducting a site visit to an upcoming solar rooftop plant. By then, I had gained sufficient know-how to conduct the financial assessment by myself. It was overall a great learning and very enriching experience.
The two months went by faster than I could have ever imagined and I was on my flight back! I miss the sunny, bright and colorful Nairobi and would definitely like to go back some day to explore the country even more. It was full of new experiences, exciting projects and coming back with loads of wonderful memories!
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