Everyone moves fast, minds their business, and somehow, it all works. New York hums with life. It’s loud, proud, diverse, and absolutely unforgettable.
When I learnt that I would be representing Willow Health Media in New York, excitement and disbelief collided. The more I tried to act calm, the more anxious I became. The night before travel was a blur of last-minute packing and anxious pacing. Thank God for ‘someone’, who kept me organised while I tried to remember if I had packed my passport. A few lucky men understand this.
Our flight was scheduled for 8:45am, and we had to check in by 6:00am. I barely slept. Why? That flight FOMO is real. Then, news came in that our departure might be delayed due to technical issues, which would mean an overnight layover in Doha, Qatar.
But here’s where it got interesting: we were flying Business Class: Boeing 777-300ER & Airbus A350-900. Forget those short flights in tiny birds begging the wind to have mercy.
Business Class in an Airbus rearranges your sense of comfort. They call you by name. In Economy, you’re a seat number. In Business, you sleep like you’ve just cleared a mortgage. In Economy, you wake up to check if the armrest is still yours.
Flying in Business Class makes you pity passengers sitting next to snoring strangers as you sip champagne and whiskey before take-off. It’s ruinous luxury for anyone used to cattle class. I don’t know how I’ll go back to limited legroom in Economy.
Almost forgot to tell you I was in the company of Dr Mercy Korir, the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Willow Health Media. We were attending both the Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers 2025 event and the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in what later became a story of discovery, inspiration, and a few light-hearted lessons along the way.
At JFK, planes take off every few minutes, like an air traffic orchestra conducted by caffeine
As fate would have it, Doha became more than just a layover.
There, in the calm of Hamad International Airport’s luxury lounge, we met Sarah Andries, Vice President at Global Health Strategies. We spoke about health communication, partnerships, and the value of storytelling in shaping Africa’s health agenda. We later reconnected at the UNGA 2025 Rooftop Reception.
Qatar Airways had booked us into a hotel about 20 minutes from the airport. We explored the city, sampled their signature shawarma, and admired the unreal desert lighting that made the city glow like a mirage. The only downside? The unrelenting heat!
Landing at JFK International Airport in Queens, New York, felt surreal. I couldn’t help comparing it to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi: At JFK, planes take off every few minutes, like an air traffic orchestra conducted by caffeine. At JKIA, you might actually recognise your pilot on the return flight and wave. JFK has six terminals, endless queues, and coffee that costs more than your Uber to the airport. JKIA has one main terminal, friendlier faces… You get the drift?
My ‘fake American accent’ slipped out immediately, as if my tongue had been rehearsing for this moment.
New York, the most linguistically diverse city in the world and home to more millionaires than anywhere else. Some familiar names: Michael Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Rupert Murdoch all call it home.
Yellow taxis, street hotdogs, and skyscrapers that stretch into tomorrow
New York hits different. It sounds just like the movies. Sirens blaring, drivers honking, some vendors shouting, “Clean Marijuana!” and subway trains roaring past on express tracks.
It is everything you see in films and more. Yellow taxis, street hotdogs, and skyscrapers that seem to stretch into tomorrow.
Nairobi’s soundscape depends on where you stand. Uptown, from Kimathi Street to Harambee Avenue, is calm. Downtown? Pure chaos. Matatus rev, vendors shout “Karibu customer!”, “Chunga kichwa!” and music from the shops competes with matatu stereos.
New York doesn’t smell fresh… a mix of trash, hot air, and subway steam. Maybe the summer heat. Nairobi may not be the cleanest city, but at least the air feels alive.
In Nairobi, Ksh50 -150 buys you street food royalty. Mutura (traditional Kenyan sausage), mahindi choma (roasted maize), and smocha (smokie + chapati). Lately, there’s the “Smoovamayacha”: chapati, mayai (eggs), avocado, smokie, and kachumbari (salsa) – an atomic flavour bomb that could make H. pylori do press-ups.
In New York, food trucks serve pizza slices, Italian hot dogs, bagels, pretzels, falafel, tacos, and halal chicken. For $5–15 (Ksh650-1,950), you get a meal that would require a restaurant in Nairobi.
In Nairobi, Ksh3,000–6,000 gets you bed and breakfast in a comfortable hotel. In New York, nothing short of $300–450 (about Ksh 45,000–60,000) will do.
Tipping. It is not optional. A waitress once insisted I top up 22 per cent of my $56 (Ksh7,280) bill, Ouch!
And the homelessness? Street begging is an international thing, bro.
Delegates, diplomats, journalists, and tourists moved briskly through the corridors
What they don’t tell you is that New York is a walking city. Dr Mercy had to induct me into the rhythm with a quick detour to a shoe shop; apparently, formal shoes don’t cut it on Manhattan pavements.
Also, New Yorkers love dogs: Labradors, poodles, huskies, all walking like they own Wall Street. While dogs in Kenya – the likes of ‘Bosco’ in every rural funeral or the ‘Githurai Shepherd’ in Nairobi- are more for security and idle boys to chase with stones for sport, in the Big Apple, they’re for company. Part of the family.
Our first stop was collecting our UNGA80 Press Pass and the ensuing delight of meeting Kenyan security officers asking “Mko salama? Huko kumenyesha? (Are you okay? Has there been any rain?)” a gentle reminder that home is never far away.
Inside, the energy was electric. Delegates, diplomats, journalists, and tourists moved briskly through the corridors. But seeing UN Secretary-General António Guterres walking past, a small entourage in tow, made me think, “That’s power. Quiet, intentional, and real.”
Ever wondered why the UN headquarters is in New York? Simple. It is the beating heart of global diplomacy. You brush shoulders with presidents, ministers and global icons.
At the GCA Leaders’ Dialogues, co-hosted by Kenya with Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, representing President William Ruto, I saw former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Bill Gates at close range -yes, the Bill Gates – an oddly humbling experience. You leave such rooms with a quiet conviction to do more, dream bigger.
Bill Gates’ speech lasted exactly three minutes, as the programme promised
The Goalkeepers 2025 event by the Gates Foundation was another highlight. The atmosphere? Electric. A room full of CEOs, innovators and changemakers. The event ran like clockwork. Bill Gates’ speech lasted exactly three minutes, as the programme promised. Such is the discipline of great minds.
At the Goalkeepers Champions Dinner the following evening, we interviewed Dr Paulin Basinga, the Director of the Gates Foundation Africa, and Mark Suzman, the CEO of the Gates Foundation. Both shared candid insights on Africa’s leadership in health innovation, equity, and the power of communication in driving impact. Their words reinforced why platforms like Willow Health Media exist: to tell stories that matter.
We later celebrated Jerop Limo, a Kenyan recognised for her eight-year fight for HIV care and women’s and children’s rights, before a thrilling performance by Nigeria’s Adekunle Gold, a perfect African crescendo in the heart of New York.
We also attended UNGA 80 side events, including the Amref Health Africa session on Africa’s Health Architecture: Optimising primary healthcare as a path to equity, moderated by Dr Mercy Korir, and the Foreign Policy side event featuring Dr Githinji Gitahi as a panellist.
In between, we conducted an insightful interview with Paul Walton, Executive Director of the Africa–Europe Foundation, and reconnected with Sarah Andries, who later invited us to the 2025 UNGA Rooftop Reception, graced by Indonesia’s Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
It was networking at its finest: global, intentional.
New York hums with life. It is loud, proud, diverse, unforgettable.
The writer, Moses Maweu, is a video & audio editor – ‘Chief of Cutology’ at Willow Health Media.
