accommodations

Currently residents and students stay at the FACES Flat for $60/week. Coordinate with Kimberly Bale and Veronica Achieng on the payment and for housing dates. Kimberly can be reached at BaleK@globalhealth.ucsf.edu and Veronica can be reached at

vachieng@kemri-ucsf.org

The FACES Flat is located 1 block south of the Hare Krishna temple off Butere Road in Milimani, behind the Milimani shopping row on Nzoia Road. It has a gray gate that allows cars through. The flat is on the top floor, closest to the street. Keep in mind that most drivers don't know the names of the roads in Kisumu, so it's best to say something like, “one block down the street from the Hari Krishna Temple in Milimani, on the left”



Updated 11/29/07 by Kate

To tell boda or tuk-tuk drivers where to go, I found no one had ever heard of the Hare Krishna temple. Much better was "the new flats on the street behind Xaverian Secondary School". Worked every time. The shops on Nzoia Rd are the Kilimani shops, but the neighborhood is called Milimani.

The FACES flat is pretty nice; it's a 3-bedroom place with 2 bathrooms (one opens off one of the bedrooms), living room and kitchen. The kitchen has a fridge, sink, and cooktop burners (no oven). There are pots & pans and dishes, so no worries about that. When I left there was a lot of staple food (rice, lentils) that were recently purchased; on your way to the flat from the airport Vero will likely take you to the supermarket, so hold off on buying that stuff until you see what's left at the flat. The living room has a TV & VCR with a huge DVD collection (not all of them work in the African-system DVD player, but there's enough to keep you occupied on slow days). If you bring your own movies, you will likely not be able to play them on the VCR but you can on your computer. The bedrooms have sheets & blankets, pillows & mosquito nets. There are a few towels in the flat, but I'd recommend bringing at least a quick-dry camping towel. If there aren't any big towels for you to use, you can always buy one at the Nakumatt.

At present there is NO internet in the flat, to get access you need to go in town to Oginga Odinga Rd (expensive for wireless). There is free wireless internet in the residents lounge on (I think) the 5th floor of the Imperial Hotel. There is also a coffee shop ("the Italian Coffee Shop") on the second floor of the Universal Mall at the end of the road leading to FACES (the mall where Tusky's is). The coffee shop is upstairs next to the movie theater, they will give you the password for the wireless and you can use it as long as you want if you're a customer. There is wireless at FACES, also, which was a bit unreliable when I first arrived. It's very slow for downloads, etc, so if you think you may need articles or references, put them on your computer before you go. The FACES wireless is quite slow during the work day, so I usually got there early to email, skype, etc. DEFINITELY bring your computer!!