Politics in Kenya, a National Pasttime

It’s election year in Kenya.  Politics is all everyone is talking about.  Yesterday, we got caught in a campaign rally.  The candidate is known as “The Bullfighter” because he organizes the local bullfights.  In reality, all of people are being paid a very small amount to participate and rouse the rest of the electorate.  

Since independence in 1963, there have only been 3 democratic elections, including this year.  Prior to 2002, there were two presidents “for life”….

In the 2007 election, the incumbent guy, Kibaki, announced early in the day that he had won.  It caused major riots in the Western part of Kenya that supposedly was financed by the party that lost.  Before the country started holding elections, there wasn’t any conflict between any of Kenya’s 42 tribes.  But now the politicians are really exploiting the tribalism which causes unrest no matter who is elected. 

To make things even more complicated, the presidential and vice presidential candidates from one party are accused of organizing and perpetrating the violence following the 2007 election that resulted in about 1000 people dying.  They have been formally charged and are supposed to appear before the International Court in The Hague sometime before the election in March.  But they keep trying to get the trial date moved until after the election, I guess in some sort of move to gain diplomatic immunity?  

It can be both interesting and risky to read and hear about all the machinations of Kenyan politics, everyone has an opinion.  The other day, I was sitting in the back of a taxi going down a very bad dirt road in the rain and the driver was carrying on a heated political discussion.  His remarks were punctuation by lots of gesturing as he was swerved left and right to miss potholes, kids, bikes, motorcycles and goats.  

Now that I think about it, Kenyan politics isn’t all that much different than home……

Scenes of Kenya

One of the things I love most about Kenya is that everywhere I go, there are people.  On the other hand, as an American, one of the hardest things about Kenya is that there are people and noise everywhere I go.  But, when I get home to Chico, I miss the hustle and bustle and feel kind of isolated, especially in the winter. Have you noticed?  There aren't many people outside their houses during the winter.  And because we rarely walk, our daily contact with a people is diminished.  Enclosed in a car, we miss being intimately connected to our surroundings.

Here are some of the things I see on my daily walk to town;  women doing laundry, kiosks constructed from sticks and boards selling vegetables, goats tethered anywhere there is something green to eat, hundreds of guys on boda bodas (bicycle taxis) waiting to carry a passenger, people walking and carrying a plastic bag, thousands of discarded plastic bags, women carrying bundles on their heads, and every few yards, racks and piles of used clothing. 

The used clothing business is booming here thanks to the Salvation Army and other thrift stores in the U.S. and Europe.  Did you know that the clothing we donate and is only slightly worn is sorted out from our contributions and sold in huge bales to a middleman?  The middleman then ships containers of the used clothing to Africa where vendors buy them at a discounted price and turn around and sell them to Africans.  Jeans sell for about $5, shirts at $2 and shoes at $3.  Most people just can't afford new clothing, nor can they afford to buy more than one or two items of clothing that they wear until it is worn out. 

However....because cable TV has come to Kenya, girls are increasinly becoming more aware of fashion trends. Girls whose families are at a higher income level wear western fashions like bling jeans and tights with tunics.  I've even seen some of those shoes that zip up the back!

But just a couple of miles out of town, in the villages, women still dress in traditional clothing and wear only skirts, lesos and headscarves.   It's such a wild contrast that when I go to the villages, I feel like I'm traveling back in time. City mouse and Country mouse; it exists everywhere.

Barney comes to Kenya and Cindy dances up a storm

 Progress continues to steal (or steamroll) into Kakamega.  Barney has arrived.  The family I live with, who are better off than most, now have cable TV.  I’m in my room listening to “I’m a Little Teapot.” Yesterday it was reruns of Hawaii Five O.   It seems weirdly incongruous to my image of Africa. 

I also overhead Chris Mathews on MSNBC and caught up on the Hillary Clinton hearing, the conspiracy theorists and the newest fiscal cliff mess.  Too bad, I was really looking forward to a whole month of not hearing about the problems in the U.S.  Every time I come to Kenya, I’m reminded again how our problems are so inconsequential compared to the problems the people living in the villages face.  It's a never ending struggle to make just enough money for food the means for educating their children.  

 

  Cindy finished her visit with a presentation on reproductive health to a group of women and young mothers.  As you can see, the women really studied the pictures in the handouts Cindy provided. While most of the women know these things on a basic level, to see it explained through illustrations was eye opening.  Discussion about sex between mother and daughter is not common, so young girls rely on rumor and myth.    Unfortunately, they also rely on customs that have been accepted for generations…men refuse to use condoms and any resistance is met with domestic violence.  Therefore large families and the spread of HIV is a self-perpetuating cycle. The Kenyan government is currently promoting “family planning” but it is a tough sell.   

 

As Emma explained it; for women, who virtually have nothing, children are their most valuable asset. 

In 2011, the Chinese came into Kenya and are investing in and improving the country’s infrastructure.  They’ve brought lots of massive equipment and are constructing new major roads everywhere.  It’s a huge contrast to the manual labor I saw a few years ago where men and women were spreading gravel on the road by hand. Not surprisingly, the Chinese are the administration and supervisors; the Kenyans are the laborers. The Kenyans are extremely happy about the roads, but they are not happy that there are so many Chinese living here.  They are suspicious of their motives. I would guess they are looking to expand their exports to Kenya, most manufactured products already come from China.

Visitors to Kenya and Just One Person

As always, can't believe I'm back in Kakamega, Kenya again.  This is the 8th year I've come and it's starting to feel like home.

Cindy with a rain forest butterfly at the Kakamega Butterfly Farm

This year, Cindy Green, a registered nurse from Chico came with me to see what's up with Just One Person, to learn about Kenya and to meet some of the wonderful people here.  We've kept Cindy busy from morning till night, but she's enjoyed every minute and fallen in love with Kenya like so many people who visit do.  It's a challenge to come to Kenya with all the inconveniences, the crazy bumpy roads and seeing the poverty level, but the courage and positive attitude that people maintain here it awesome to experience.  When I'm here, I always stop and reflect on how lucky I am to, merely by chance,  live in such an affluent country.  I always come home with a sense of gratitude for all those things that make my life easy.

Kicking back while she eats...resting her back foot.

There's a long list of things that Cindy and I've seen and experienced during the last week.  After doing some sightseeing in Nairobi, including the elephant nursery, we took an 9 hour bus ride to Kakamega so Cindy could see the countryside and diversity of geography in Western Kenya.  Contrary to most people's image of Kenya, Western Kenya is mountainous, lush and abundant with growing crops.  We passed by tea plantations, plots growing corn everywhere there is a small space and the Rift Valley.  Kakamega receives a lot of rain and is located at about 5,000 feet.  It never really gets cold here, but the nights do cool off and are a relief from the heat.

One of the highlights in Kakamega has been visiting a Children's Health clinic located in rural Kenya and operated by a wonderful Swiss couple.  With funding from private foundations from Switzerland and Spain, they've built a clinic that treats children who suffer from severe malnutrition and infections resulting from jigger worms burrowing into their feet.  The children aren't malnourished because they don't have food, but rather they don't have nutritious enough food and because the women have babies often and close together so babies aren't breastfed for long enough.  The basic diet for rural families is black tea and ugali, which is a doughy dumpling made from corn flour and water.  It's very filling, but doesn't provide the protein children need for grow healthy.  The toll it takes on their bodies is evident...this little boy, once he had a full stomach, fell asleep immediately.  The children that are treated usually return to their families after about 2 weeks and then community health workers work with the moms to educate them and help them to provide more nutritious food.  That's easier said than done because so many household don't have ways to make even the $2 a day that they need to buy an egg or some vegetables.

On a brighter note, we also visited Shibuha School where Sylvia and Marion, two of our newest Just One Person participants are attending school.  They're sophomores this year and are very serous about taking advantage of JOP programs and doing well in school.  We're proud to report that of the 25 pioneers of JOP, 15 of them are currently attending colleges or universities. All of our JOP girls come from very poor homes. With this further education, these girls will not only be able to escape poverty themselves, but will also help their families to eat and go to school. 

Progress and change are slow in a program like Just One Person where eating always takes priority over education.  But girls who have participated in JOP will teach their daughters, neighbors and granddaughters and over time, many lives will be changed.  That's what keeps us motivated....knowing that by helping a small number of girls, the cumulative effect will create a lasting, sustainable change in many people's lives.

Exactly What is Sustainable Community Development?

I have a personal mission.  To educate people in the U.S and in the western world about the difference between charity and sustainable community development.

So here I am on my soapbox.

There is a place and time for charity... like Haiti after the earthquake.  Charity is  temporary assistance for people who've lived through a natural disaster and need immediate funds for food, shelter and medical needs.  In the chaos following a natural disaster, people don;t have access to resources and are simply unable to organize and take action on their own.  

But charity is a temporary solution.  What must come next are programs that empower people, are locally operated and find creative solutions to become financially stable.

Initially funding for most U.S. non profits working in developing countries comes from two main sources...grants and individual contributions.  But many profits fail when relying totally on donor funds.   During the economic downturn resulting from the banking disaster in the U.S., donations dropped dramatically and scores of non profits in the U.S. were forced to close their doors.

Ideally, as an international non profit program grows and matures,  funding should include a greater percentage generated by local fundraising efforts and income generating activities associated with the programs.  This only happens if the non profit has a strong board of directors "in country" who are committed to the success of the program and want the program to eventually be locally "owned and operated."

This is called "sustainable community development."

Based on my strong belief in the concept of sustainable community development, Just One Person started working toward the goal of financial sustainability and local ownership right from the beginning.  

Initially, we relied on U.S. donor funding and we worked hard to develop a program for girls that is regarded as effective and valuable by our stakeholders....schools, parents, governmental agencies and employers.  Once we established and operated our program for two years, we registered in Kenya as an NGO and we invited several key members of the community to join the Board of Directors.  Our Board members all work in areas concerned with youth development and as a result, have a wide range of contacts in agencies and other non profits that share our mission and are are potential partners in achieving our goals.

The next step continues to be the most challenging but it's very crucial to perpetuating our programs. We launched our sustainable income generating activities.  We're fortunate that our executive director is an experienced entrepreneur.  We currently have several small businesses in the start up phase...some which generate small funds now, but several that will take more time to become profitable.  Among those businesses we've started are poultry raising, an apiary, mushroom production and manufacturing charcoal briquettes.  In addition, we employ several women to produce products that I sell in the U.S.

It's been slow going...but thanks to our committed and involved executive director and the support of our local Board, our goal is to reach 80% sustainability within the next three years.

Only by engaging the community and developing financially sustainability, will Just One Person be able to extend our outreach to future generations of girls who will be prepared to contribute to the social and economic well being of Kenya.

New Friends In Kenya.

This is Emma, our Just One Person executive director, her mother and her two aunts at her mother’s home in the village.  As you can see, Mama Emma lives in a traditional mud walled house on a small piece of land called a “shamba  The kitchen is attached to one end of the house and is split into two parts, the cooking area and the cow’s stall.  The cow lives inside so that it is protected from theft from neighbors.  The cow, “Mama Junior”, definitely noticed my white skin. While she stared at me intently, I could see the wondering look in her eye, trying to make sense of this alien being.  Emma’s mother and her sister grow maize in the backyard and some grass for the cow. Emma’s father and one brother are buried in the front yard.

While we were served chapatis and chai, a mentally ill woman appeared in the open front door.  She was only half dressed and as thin as a rail.  The scoop is that her whole family suffers from mental illness and it’s believed that the family must have committed a grievous wrongdoing to be suffering from this illness.  Mama Emma was very put out by the interruption to our visit and she somewhat unwillingly gave the woman some chapati and chai while insisting the visitor stay seated outside the door.  Later I found out that this same woman makes the rounds of the neighborhood every day for her meals and she had already visited the house earlier in the morning for breakfast, so today she taking advantage of my visit to double dip.  

The village was far off the beaten path in a place I had never visited before.  Driving through the countryside, I discovered that in this part of Kenya, time has been suspended.  People don’t adhere to a schedule that is dictated by time.  They eat when hungry and sleep when it’s dark. They get as much work done as possible during daylight hours, knowing that whatever else needs to done, will be done tomorrow or the next day.  People walk long distances to visit neighbors or relatives at no pre-arranged time, and are welcomed when they show up at the door. The pace of life to me as a westerner felt very surreal.

I wonder if it would be possible to learn to live with time suspended after having been governed by schedules since I was a baby…naptime, dinnertime, bedtime, time to go to school, and time to go to work.  Probably not, I think that probably my identity is too closely tied to the value of adhering to a socially acceptable schedule. 

My 2012 Africa Reading List

Kakamega is about 20 miles north of the equator and that means that every 24 hours there is 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night.  There's not a lot to do after dark, so I crawl into bed, under my mosquito net, and read and read and read.  Thank God for the Kindle.  In the old days, most of the weight in my suitcases was from the books I brought.  Here's some of what I''ve read so far...with my starred reviews

Patient Zero **                 A Framework for Understanding Poverty***
The Lock Artist***           Creepiosity*
Growing Up Amish**     1222***
                                    Defending Jacob****

Does anyone have any good suggestions?

Take a trip to town with me in Kakamega