Waizeh Solonka is a Nairobi lawyer who walks into Kenya's remand prison and finds people who don't belong there. Not because they are innocent — though some are — but because they cannot afford bail. When I was last in Kenya, I spent time volunteering alongside her in the early days of AJAR, when it was just three people with a desire to see injustice addressed. This is a conversation about justice, faith, and what it actually costs to stand in the gap for someone the system has forgotten.

Sometimes God speaks through the most ordinary things.

During a quiet time on my balcony overlooking Brussels’ Parc du Cinquantenaire, I felt prompted simply to “look at the trees.” What began as an everyday view soon became a profound reminder of how God sees the world—not as anonymous crowds, but as unique individuals, each known and loved by Him.

In this personal reflection, I explore how that moment has changed the way I think about cities, people, and our forthcoming move to Nairobi. It’s also a glimpse into the heart behind Msaada Kidogo and our desire to serve not by trying to change a nation, but by noticing the people God places in front of us.

I hope this episode encourages you to pause, look a little more closely, and remember that the God who knows every leaf also knows you.

This week, I speak to my friend Eunice, who shares the inspirational story of how an unsettling experience at a resort on the Kenyan coast when she was a young, naive 21-year-old student led to her establishing and leading an amazing social outreach programme for sex-workers here in Nairobi.

In this brief reflection, I take a moment to consider the need to be in the right mindset to engage with those around you who might have a different take on life

I talk to my close friend Esther about her experiences of growing up in Nairobi, how her faith has influenced her, and how she sees Msaada Kidogo as a manifestation of hope here in the city.

A short reflection on my need to recalibrate to the concept of African Time

This week, I am talking with my friend Miruca Gwada, who pastors a youth church in Nairobi. He gives us his perspective on what it's like to be an ambitious and hopeful twenty-something youth in Kenya's hustle capital today.

I talk to my friend Molly and her assistance dog, Piglet, about the issues she faces while traveling around the world. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Piglet has little to contribute - but Molly tells me a few things that really surprise me.

This is the first episode of The Road to Nairobi — a reflective, story-driven podcast exploring the experiences, questions, and convictions that have gradually shaped one person’s understanding of leadership, faith, and what it means to be useful.

In this opening episode, Ian Westerman introduces himself and the road that has brought him here — from a career as a British Army officer, through academic research and teaching, to years living and working across East Africa.

Along the way, he reflects on a few of the people whose stories stayed with him: a young Afghan interpreter full of hope in 2004, a woman in Kampala writing her story in a cyber café in the evenings, and a flower seller in Nairobi who simply needed someone to believe the next step was possible.

This podcast is not instructional. There are no ten steps to anything. It is simply an honest account of a long journey — and an attempt to make sense of where that journey may now be leading.

Ian’s wife Ronnie joins him briefly at the end of the episode for a conversation about what they saw during their years connected to East Africa, and why they are now preparing to return to Nairobi to build something small and practical called Msaada Kidogo — Swahili for “a little help.”