Kenya Travel Tip #3: Bring your Rose-colored Glasses
2007-03-01 17:10:00
(Written Thursday morning, March 1, 2007) I imagine that every single person who participates in an overseas volunteer program has a different experience. I am reminded of what one volunteer said to me before she left Kenya
and went back home: “The Kenyans are such a peaceful people.” That is not my impression at all.This particular volunteer spent one month in Kiminini. She ended her trip with a safari but ventured to no other places inside this country. She spent most of her time inside Joshua’s compound, working at the school. She took occasional strolls outside the compound, and she went into town accompanied by Joshua. I don’t think she ever rode in a matatu, and I doubt she picked up a Kenyan newspaper even once since she viewed the New York Times as the gospel. She certainly did not spend any significant amount of time with the people who live in this area, listening in disbelief to their stories of forced marriages, murdered spouses whose bodies were dumped in the river
Read more: Travel
, Glasses
Blessing or Curse?
2007-03-01 17:07:00
(Written Wednesday evening, February 28, 2007) I had a heart wrenching interview with a widow this week. I know Gladys is struggling now that her husband is dead, but a small part of me really is glad that he is gone. Gladys’ story of how she came to be married makes me furious.Gladys was still rather young when her parents died. So she went to live with her grandmother in Kitale. She was 16 years old when she met her husband, who was 12 years her senior. Morris was a 28-year-old truck driver when he first spotted Gladys walking to a shop in town. He immediately pulled over his truck, got out and called to the shy teenager. Gladys immediately ran away. But Morris stalked her for two years, finding out all he could about her family and her routine. He discovered that Gladys was an orphan, which meant that when she got married no family members would pressure the husband to pay a dowry. So after two years of watching her, Morris made his move. He snatched Gladys off the street one day
Bureaucracy is Universal
2007-03-01 17:01:00
(Written Wednesday morning, February 28, 2007) All this work with widows has made me wonder just how many Kenyan women are struggling to survive following the deaths of their husbands. Of course, I may never know for sure. People keep telling me that the number is increasing due to the spread of AIDS as well as the deaths of the men who practiced polygamy during the first half of the 20th century. I figured one way to gauge the growth in the number of the widows was to investigate just how many widows groups are registered with Kenya’s Department of Social Services. If you think getting data from a U.S. government office is difficult, you’ve never tried to get data from an African government office.Joshua made an appointment for me to meet yesterday with the assistant director of the local Social Services office. I thought for sure that I would have to wait all day just to see her. But, in Kenya, if you know someone things move a little more quickly. Luckily, Joshua was friends wit
Read more: Universal
Kenya Travel Tip #2: Learn the Local Lingo
2007-03-01 16:57:00
(Written Tuesday, February 27, 2007) You should see the looks on people’s faces when I manage to spit out a few words of Bukusu, a Luyha dialect. I’ve picked up some Kiswahili, too, but the majority of the women with whom I work are Bukusu. So I could not imagine spending a couple of months here and not learning at least the basic greetings. But people just seem so surprised when they hear me say, “Oriana” (How are you?). And they go nuts when I say, “Buliye” (Good-bye).Bukusu is sort of like math. It’s something that I figured I would play around with while I am here but never actually use for any significant purpose. I could not have been more wrong. On the way to Kitale today, Joshua and I were pulled over at a police checkpoint (Yes, I am tired of being bothered by the police). I have no idea why the policeman pulled us over. He inspected the licensing decals on the windshield of Joshua’s car, and then he came to my window. I rolled down the window, and the policema
Read more: Kenya
, Travel
, Local
, Lingo
Call me Nafula
2007-03-01 16:54:00
(Written Monday, February 26, 2007) The women with whom I am working had a fairly easy time accepting me into their community. One of the first things they did was name me “Nafula.” It is a Luyha name given to a baby who arrives during the rainy season. Normally, it is very hot and arid this time of year in Kenya. One of the two rainy seasons ends in December. However, it has been raining off and on here ever since I arrived in early January. Thus, I was christened “Nafula” because the women believe I brought the rain with me. And that’s just fine by me. I am not a hot weather person. I much prefer the rain. When it rains here, the weather cools off significantly. So, let there be rain! We even had hail the size of large gumballs one day after I returned from horrible Muhuru Bay. I wonder if I caused that, too. After all, I was pretty angry.
Outstretched Hands at Every Turn
2007-03-09 17:02:00
(Written Wednesday, March 7, 2007) I came to Africa thinking I could dispel the notion that the people of this continent always have their hands outstretched, asking for more help. It is how Africans often are portrayed in the media - the continent can't help itself so it looks to the West for help, and then when that help isn't enough, they ask for more. After 2 ½ months of living here, I am not so sure I disagree.As a journalist, there is not much I can do to help the people who are struggling to survive. I can write their stories and hope my work spurs someone to act. Still, in my time here, I have used my skills to write the life stories of women who otherwise might be forgotten by their very young children. Every single woman I have interviewed has been overwhelmingly grateful for my work. But just when it seems that I have given them something, they ask for more.They always want to know if I can help them get some money. Can I talk someone into paying for their children to
Read more: Hands
Inherited Tradition of Oppression of Women
2007-03-09 16:52:00
(Written Tuesday, March 6, 2007) I wrapped up my oral history project last week and am spending this week trying to conduct interviews for articles I hope to publish. In the midst of all this, I am very excited about the prospect of coming home next week. I can't wait to see my husband and my dogs. And I am craving cheese dip and margaritas like crazy! I wrote a total of 26 oral histories. Looking back, I am glad my project in Muhuru Bay did not work out. I learned much from the last six women I interviewed in Mbai. I met a woman who was a victim of wife inheritance - after the husband dies, his brothers come to the widow and basically force her to marry one of them. She eventually left her abusive second husband, but she has suffered tremendous hardship because of this decision. During her second marriage, her husband took all her money and property. She had to abandon the nice home and farm that she and her first husband shared. She now lives in a one-room cow dung and mud house
Read more: Tradition
, Women
Long time, no post
2008-07-28 21:35:00
Yeah, so when I left Africa, I was a bit disenchanted with everything. It's been more than a year, and I'm just now ready to start writing again. So....here we go. It’s been more than a year since I came home from a three-month stay in Africa. When I first returned, I didn’t want to talk about my experience. I was disappointed. A few bad encounters had left me wondering if people could really
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