Crime on your doorstep

Crime in Nairobi exists. Hey! I just got back from a fairly harrowing run. A man followed me for 2km despite me shouting at him to leave me alone. I eventually had to ask some strangers to restrain him whilst I ran off and hid in a compound. It was a horrible experience, which has left me shaken and thinking a lot about crime in the area and my safety.

In addition our neighbourhood has also been suffering a lot of break-ins during the last month. Security is tightened , doors are doubled checked every night but regardless we all live slightly on edge . I’m saddened as this is a feeling I thought I would leave behind when I left Cape Town.

Cape Town vs crime in Nairobi

When departed Cape Town after 6 years I gave a silent cheer that we had gotten through our time there with no incidents . I used to run on Table Mountain but I always felt afraid. Regardless I armed myself with pepper spray and still went out most days. Foolish? Probably, but I told myself that the thing I most enjoyed about Cape Town was the mountain and no one had the right to take it away from me. I guess I wouldn’t be so cocky if I were one of the ones who were unlucky.

When I got home after my run, I’d walk through my electric gate, to my house. My home was surrounded by an electric fence, with detector beams in the garden, and burglar bars on the window . I didn’t actively feel unsafe in my home with all the security but it was ever present on my mind. Where in the house would I run to with the kids if someone did get in? What if the security company didn’t come in time? And I lived in an expat bubble. Far away from where the real atrocities are committed .

Crime happens everywhere

Now in Kenya I find myself Now in Kenya I find myself sadly in the same situation. In a house with electric fences, and security guards and alarms. Going for a run and feeling afraid. These experiences make me wonder if we are doing the right thing raising our children here. They make me feel isolated. I can’t talk to people back home as they will worry. I can’t talk to people here as they are often surviving in worse circumstances than me.

All of which begs the question. Why am I here?

The truth is that crime in Nairobi isn’t excessive:

What happened today could have happened anywhere.

Robberies happen all over the world. The layers of security on my house mean my house is harder to break in to than most.

live in an affluent area and really have little exposure to where most of the crime is committed .

Crime in Nairobi is largely opportunist and not planned. Driven by desperation rather than cunning.

I know a few people who have had items stolen in Nairobi.

I don’t know anyone that was attacked or broken into in 6 years in Cape Town.

I know that living your life in fear isn’t the answer.

Did you know that:

Cows kill roughly 20 Americans per year

Getting struck by lightning : 32 per Americans per year 142 people killed in terror attacks in Europe last year

Driving your car roughly : 37,000 deaths in the US per year

When do we choose to stop being afraid? When we run alone? When we visit a shopping mall? When we get in our cars? When we lie in our beds at night?

Bad stuff happens all the time.

This is the reason I still ran on Table Mountain. This is the reason I’ll still run in Nairobi. This is the reason I chose to keep my kids in Nairobi rather than take them back to the relative ‘safety’ of the UK. Because there are no safe countries. No safe places. If they don’t get you with terrorism or petty crime, or cyber crime then a cow’ll probably sit you on. Living in fear isn’t the answer.

Look I’m not completely naïve. My city is ranked high on the dangerous cities index. For all my bravado and gumption only an idiot would ignore that fact. In my opinion living your best life is about taking sensible precautions so you don’t have to live in fear. So in the spirit of being sensible and cautious here are some t ips for staying safe

10 tips on staying safe in a high crime country