We’re sorry we haven’t posted anything on the blog in a
while, but we’ve been very busy. For the
past two weeks, Don and I have traveled extensively around Western Kenya. We have been to West Pokot, Kitale, Eldoret,
Nandi, Kericho and Nakuru.
Each area has its unique personality and problems. For example, West Pokot is an extremely poor
region of Kenya—70% of the population lives on less than $1/day. Nearly two out of 10 people do not live past
the age of five. There are numerous conflicts in West Pokot and some of the
other regions due to land disputes and cattle rustling with neighboring areas. In
contrast, portions of Kericho and Nandi have significant agricultural production. Their tea plantations are lush, presenting a spectacular
sight.
The purpose of our trip was to review and summarize the
results of a development project focusing on the youth of Kenya and scheduled
to come to an end. My role is to write a
series of articles reflecting the success of the project. Don’s role was to
meet with youth groups who had started various small businesses in order to
advise and mentor them forward.
We literally spoke to hundreds of people: local officials,
youth groups, elders, and women mentoring girls on staying in school, gender-based
violence (GBV) and female genital mutilation (FGM).
The Kenyan people we met were all very impressive. Our hero was a young woman who raised money
making bricks. With the money, she
bought a piece of land and single-handedly built a pre-school. Her 35 students
were from three to seven years old. Many
had lost their parents to AIDs and could not pay the $5/month tuition. She employs three other teachers who she pays
$20 each/month when she can afford it.
One of my favorite memories of the trip was glancing over my
shoulder to see a group of young tomato farmers surrounding Don as he outlined
a detailed budget and workplan for their next harvest. The men were mesmerized during the two hours
he devoted to calculating their expenses and advising them how to maximize
their profits.
Below you’ll see a picture of us visiting a group of women
who were earning money by creating and selling beaded jewelry and belts. They adorned me with layers of beaded
necklaces (how could they have known of my love of jewelry?) and presented Don
with a colorful beaded belt. We plan to help them find a cheaper source of
supply for the beads to make their business more profitable.
Don and I continue to be fascinated as we learn about the
culture of the various ethnic tribes (42 in total) and the impact it has on
their lives. The cultural rules,
differences and competition among the tribes are often the cause of
conflict. For example, circumcision for
men is common among most of the tribes; however, the age of circumcision varies
from 12-15 years for one tribe and 25-35 for another. The process represents initiation into
manhood. One dominant tribe does not
believe in circumcision at all, and the other tribes refer to those uncircumcised
men as “children.” There also are stereotypes associated with some tribes: one
is great in business and frugal; another is lazy and likes to show-off flashy
purchases. Each person’s tribal affiliation
has a significant impact on his or her interactions and associations with other
Kenyans.
