Count Me (in?)

Kenya's grand tradition of Sudden Public Holidays continues. You might remember Obama Day... Kenya erupted in joy at the election of their own semi-kenyan US President and declared a national day off for everyone.

But this time's reason might not appear to be holiday-worthy at first glance: The Census. Now, I _am_ a math teacher, and I get pretty excited about statistics, but a national holiday? Hm. I'd have picked Pi Day. But no, President Kibaki announced on Sunday that Tuesday would be a public holiday. Wow. A whole day's notice.

See, they want to get an accurate count of absolutely everyone, so they're putting all sort of incentives in place. They wanted the wandering Masaai herdsmen to show up, so they provided free grain and water at a particular border. And they wanted to be able to find all the crazy-living Nairobians, so they closed all the businesses and ordered the police to shut down "all bars and places of entertainment- let's take a break from drinking," said the Census Master.

Speaking of census officials, they gave special shirts to all the people coming around to count and ask questions. See, it's a door-to-door activity, and you wouldn't let just anyone into your house. So they have bright red polo shirts that say ENUMERATOR across the back. I cannot even express how badly I want one of those. =)

And it's a good thing I was home from work today. About 11 AM, Julie the Census Girl came by (sporting a cool red shirt, of course), and asked me questions like "How many people slept here last night?" "Do you have access to the internet?" "How many live children have you given birth to?" "How many still births?" "Do you own a TV?" "Do you own a fridge?" She tried to hide her shock that one, I live alone (Kenyans rarely do), and that two, I own a fridge but not a TV. How bizarre.

When the five-minute questionnaire was complete, she gathered her books, put her shoes back on, and marked my door with the serial number of my census form. I've been counted.

I made good use of the rest of my day off, as you can see from the photo below.

Now I'll take them to my small group meeting and enjoy the conclusion of this unexpected work-free day! Just remember- we might not get Snow Days here, but you probably don't get Census Days.