Péter's Report on His East African Trip

Please find below Péter's report on his East African trip.

On November 6, I arrived at Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, at night. My long-time friend, Nasir Daim, who has been helping our work in Kenya for about 15 years, was already waiting for me. The next day, I visited an herb farm where they mainly grow tarragon and basil.

On the 8th, I set off early in the morning for Kigali, with a layover before heading to Kamembe in western Rwanda. From there, I took a taxi to the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where, after a somewhat less-than-smooth border crossing, Christophe Cirhigiri, the son of our recently deceased friend Dieudonne Cirhigiri, was waiting for me.

From Bukavu, in Congo, we traveled by car to Nyangézi to visit our project supported by Hungary Helps. We filmed at the newly opened kindergarten, chicken farm, and, of course, the reconstruction and transformation work made possible by Hungary Helps.

Link: https://youtu.be/NpjE466YVeM?feature=shared

The following days were spent coordinating the continuation of the development and organizing new activities in Nyangézi and Bukavu.

On November 11, I traveled with Christophe to Kamembe, from where my flight to Kigali, Rwanda's capital, departed the next day. In Kigali, I had the pleasure of meeting with Zsófia Antal, the head of the Hungarian Embassy's office in Nairobi. We discussed several interesting projects and project opportunities, and in the afternoon, she kindly escorted me to the airport, from where I flew back to Nairobi a few hours later.

The day after my arrival in Nairobi was a public holiday in Kenya – it was Tree Planting Day. Despite that, I managed to meet with several representatives of Hungarian and Hungarian-affiliated companies. On November 14, I visited the Óbuda University office in Kenya with Nasir, where we discussed research, training, and scholarship opportunities with Elisabeth Ndichu, the head of the office.

Later, we met Dr. Jane Muita, who had worked for many years at UNICEF, including in Bulgaria. Jane invited us to her home, where we discussed research and other collaboration opportunities, as well as food security projects we are planning to develop and implement together. These projects will likely take place in countries such as Chad, located in the Sahel region.

Tomorrow, Dr. Zsolt Mészáros, the Hungarian Ambassador to Kenya, and I are scheduled to have dinner. I would like to thank him again for the kind invitation! We last met in Uganda, at Lake Bunyonyi, where we visited a project supported by the Hungarian Jane Goodall Institute and Hungary Helps. The Institute had built school boats and docks to help ensure the safe access of local children to school and improve access to a hospital located on one of the islands.

Link: https://youtu.be/wF6spHCsU7Y?si=FpyaRsYSk2yx7xzC

After tomorrow's dinner, I will head to the airport shortly afterward.

Next time, I will report from home!