Back to Reality....

if you can finish that line, you win...... well nothing, i'm in Kenya, I could potentially give you a shout out, on my blog read by my family and a friend or two?

Anyways, I qm FINALLY back in Nairobi. safe and sound in my bed,

in fact bed time.

I promise a VERY long and detailed post about my rural adventures, and them some within the next day or so, and a security update from our program, which I'm sure a lot of you have been watching the news.

More updates to come soon.

Know i'm alive and well..... and showered.

don't forget to smile today!

Western Kenya

So I leave first thing tomorrow morning (5am WOMP) for rural Kenya! I'm living with a family for a home stay!

Updates to come when I return, I won't have any internet access until then!

don't forget to smile today!

I'm being safe i promise!

I know Kenya has been in the news a lot lately, I just want to let everyone know I am being safe I don't go to nightclubs or malls where foreigners hang out very often, and now won't be going at all.

The threats Kenya has been getting have been happening for years, it's just on higher alert because it is the first time the country has ever gone to war, remember Al Shaabab is a guerilla terrorist group, it isn't a country, in fact Kenya has the whole AU (African Union backing them up). Everyone on the program is taking extra cautions, however still going about our daily business. We live in a safe area, and we are careful when traveling!

We aren't too worried here because we are careful already, and will just be extra vigilant because of the US Embassy warning.

I love everyone, and know I am safe!

don't forget to smile today!

Just as I was about to write my conclusion...

This happened.... DOUBLE RAINBOW

Here's some food for thought...

Since I'm swamped with work, I thought (some of you) may find this interesting, it's a question I had to answer for a part of my final exam (Politics of Culture in Kenya). I also would love any feedback, or questions, or even arguments.

3. Is foreign aid good for Kenya?  What are the arguments for or against using pure capital to improve the quality of life for Kenyans?  Besides aid, what are some other solutions to Kenya’s underdevelopment?

            Foreign aid has been pouring into Africa since after the Second World War and the creation of the United Nations. Over the past 50 or so years billions of dollars have been invested in African countries to try to help reduce and eliminate poverty and the plethora of problems associated with it such as: diseases like HIV/AIDS, human rights, corruption, lack of food and water supplies. However, after years of aid money steadily coming into Kenya it is still a country with a surplus of poverty and problems. From petty and grand corruption, or inequality and disparity, or ethic clashes, or human rights violations and excessive crime rates, Nairobi itself is nicknamed “Ni-robbery.” Kenya continues to be a country submerged with deep seeded issues, even with foreign aid and money flowing into the national GDP. The timeline comparing the amount of foreign aid money pumped into Kenya corresponds with an increasing rate of poverty (Warah 14). Foreign aid in Kenya is not working; the current foreign aid in Kenya is not working.

The quality of life for the majority of the Kenyan population is below the poverty level. Within the past 40 years the number of slums in Kenya has almost quadrupled according to UN reports Warah cites in the introduction to her anthology, Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits (14). And according to Victoria Schlesinger’s contribution to the anthology, “at least 50 per cent of Kenya’s 35 million people live below the poverty line,” and a possible two million people infected with HIV/AIDS (Schlesinger 24). These are current statistics. Why are these numbers still staggering with years of foreign aid behind Kenya? Foreign aid has not only failed Kenya it has helped to perpetuate its instability, impermanence, and dependency of the country and its population. However, the idea to pull out foreign aid from countries like Kenya is taboo, “… the development industry is perhaps the only industry in the world where results… do not determine whether or not it will survive,” (Warah 9). The liberal constituency circulating among “developed” nations will not allow foreign aid to be cut off (Farrell).

Ideally, countries that can afford to give aid should feel an obligation to allocate a portion of their surplus funds to areas not as fortunate. However, the ultimate goal should be to create a state of being where foreign aid is no longer needed within that particular nation state. Many international organizations, non-profits, NGOs and the like are all in full support of helping nations like Kenya simply because Kenya is attractive to foreign aid donors. Large organizations like the United Nations (UN) have many programs and fund raising efforts to donate to Kenya, and they are not trying to perpetuate the state of poverty, in fact they believe they are doing the country good by supplying these aid funds and programs on the ground. Again this ideally should work however, the UN and other organizations are infiltrating a culture they don’t personally understand and are trying to implement their ideas of what is best.

Kenya is attractive to foreign aid because it represents of the “real Africa.” Media propagates this thought through Public Service Announcements (PSAs), documentaries, and the exploitation of the worst. Photos of malnourished children, littered streets, statistics showing high crime rates and violence all which propose that Kenya is a dangerous place full of starving people and poor sanitation. While these may be true it creates this image of pity towards Kenya and other African cultures. Through these medias Kenya appears to need our help, eventually Kenyans believe they need our help, and the government keeps asking for help. This is how the responsibility of Kenya went from, “fathers of nations” to “lovers of nations,” (Wainaina 87). It is a continuous cycle where Kenya is now completely dependent on aid to function:

Late in 2005 we heard that people were starving to death in many places all over Kenya. Immediately, the government urged the donor community to help. And the donor community urged the world community to help. And we saw large sad eyes of many nameless people on the very verge of death; and caring spokespeople, all white and tanned, told the world: People are dying! (Wainaina 90).

While awareness and education of these horrible situations is valuable to promote compassion and understanding the pity is harmful. It allows for aid workers and donors to feel good about what their doing with ignorance for the actual outcome- the fact that there hasn’t been sustainable growth or advancement on a large scale. What is not shown are the bustling cities like Nairobi, the business opportunities, and innovative thinking coming from Kenya. Mobile banking came out of Kenya and it reshaped banking as the world knew it.

            Dambisa Moyo in her novel Dead Aid and Binyavanga Wainaina in her article “The Power of Love” both express their concerns of the economic impact of aid. They believe that looking at Kenya as a business venture, rather than a charity case, could provide sustainable means to pumping money into the economy from locals for locals (Wainaina 89). Kenyans need jobs, Kenya needs money however, and it needs a sustainable income so it no longer is dependent. Moyo and Wainaina argue they need a model like Chinese, “…the Chinese do not view Africa’s development as charity, but as a business opportunity” (Wainaina 89). Moyo also claims that the money currently being fed into government funds is only being redistributed within the government through political corruption. A concept Michela Wrong explores deeply in her novel, It’s Our Turn to Eat. This redistribution of government funds is also expanding the gap between the rich and the poor (Warah 9).

            This divide, specific to Kenya, comes from a history of a country founded on exclusion and an entitlement to everyone’s greedy share. Since independence there has been large tension between ethnic groups, “The Kikuyu knew in their hearts that they were doing unfairly well out of the Kenyatta presidency,” (Wrong 113). This was only followed by the Moi regime, which the Kikuyu tribe tried desperately to eradicate with the Gikuyu, Embu, Meru Assiciation (GEMA). These ethnic tensions provided a platform and an excuse to take funds that do not belong to them, “… those fortunate favours can always convince themselves their luck is somehow deserved,” (Wong 113). This corruption is a cause enough to stop the flow of aid capital to the Kenyan government. It is harming rather than helping, intensifying the gap between the wealthy and poor.

            Corruption is not the only problem with capital aid. The dependency on the international community provides many concerns as well. With corrupt politicians “eating” away at funds and the lack of civic education there are no funds to provide for basic public goods, which should be provided by governments. Instead Non-Profits and similar organizations provide private solutions for public problems. When the government could potentially create jobs and eliminate parts of the informal sector providing the universal basic goods that every citizen has a right to.

To reiterate, foreign aid is not helping. In fact it is adding to the struggles within Kenya and other African countries receiving it. However, aid is not a bad thing. The concept of helping others globally is inspiring. The concept of aid needs to be reformulated. Aid needs to be individualized and specialized through collaborations of people and cultures to work towards the goal of sustainable solutions to various problems. There is no global solution to poverty as the Millennium Promise claims to, “Doing all of it, all at once” (Warah, 30). If we want to see change you can’t just have a good-sounding idea, it need to be a well researched and studied. A solution that applies to individual people or cultures and is implemented by the people who it affects the most, not from foreigners as Jeffery Sachs did. Dumping capital into governments doesn’t do any good either, if anything it perpetuates greed and corruption as seen first hand in the Kenyan Government and the notion that people need this help; why can’t they do it themselves? Unfortunately, the media and programs like the MVP maintain this notion of pity and non-progress.

 Aid is necessary in a form of sharing knowledge and ideas, we are a globalized generation and the world is our home. But the world is also diverse we need to understand, accept that and allow for a flow of knowledge to spread appropriately. An innovative way to aid should be imposed to empower those who are lacking or who are in need. A form of collaboration, not an outpouring of money or installation of our (our being the "western world") ideas and taking over insisting we have the “right” way to do things. 

Works Cited

Farrell, Lynsey. "The Myth of Development." Politics of Culture In Kenya: Week Seven.

Nairobi. 11 Oct. 2011. Lecture.

Kenyans for Kenya. Web. <http://www.kenyans4kenya.co.ke/>.

Schlesinger, Victoria. "Journey To Nowhere." Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits: an

Anthology. Ed. Rasna Warah. Central Milton Keynes: AuthorHouse, 2008. 23-44. Print.

Wainaina, Binyavanga. "The Power of Love." Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits: an

Anthology. Ed. Rasna Warah. Central Milton Keynes: AuthorHouse, 2008. 87-91.

Print.

Warah, Rasna. "The Development Myth." Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits: an

Anthology. By Rasna Warah. Central Milton Keynes: AuthorHouse, 2008. 3-20.

Print.

Wrong, Michela. It's Our Turn To Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-Blower. New

York: Harper, 2009. Print.

don't forget to smile today!

One more thing...

A quick blurb on my personal opinion/observations on government, media, and social progress... or rather a rant on a little bit of everything...

I've been following the news pretty closely, and well nothing has gotten me very excited for the future.

1. US deployed "advisers" or troops (?) into Uganda after the LRA
2. Kenya declared a right to protect it's boarder and sent in military to Somalia after the AL-Queda linked group Al-Shaabab (http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Kenya+declares+war+on+Al+Shaabab/-/1056/1255736/-/kl4knaz/-/index.html)
3. The alleged attack on the Saudi Arabia ambassador in the US and the White House reaction/statements on Iran
4. Occupy protests have been expanding both peacefully and violently around the world.

First a quick PLEASE DON'T WORRY:
...don't worry about Somalia, I am far away form the border, and the fighting is in Somalia NOT in Kenya. I am safe where I live and I take the precautions seriously about being here. Obviously there is a risk- I am a foreigner in Kenya, but we have a class on the culture here for a reason and strict guidelines to keep us safe. I also have a huge network of people here not only through AU but through connections I've made to make sure I am well informed and safe.

Now these are not comments on the specific events listed above, those are just some of the topics I have been discussing, but rather I'm discussing how I'm taking in all of the news being poured out from every outlet available... online, in print, and in person. We are a generation receiving infinite information faster than anyone can possibly process any of it. And here is my reaction:

My confidence in Obama as a president is being questioned, this coming Presidential election is the first I will be able to vote in, and seeing the system here in Kenya I believe civic education is more important than anything. Based off of that I have been trying to educate myself as much as possible on issues in the US.  I am not by any means am I saying I am supporting any conservative ideals, and I am 100% born, raised and I have now chosen to uphold liberal ideals. However, I am finally educating myself on various problems as well as solutions (not that I haven't before, but I just took what I read as transparent facts), and who stands for what, and well hell I'm forming my own opinion, WHATT!? Crazy, I am aware.

I've come to discover that the media isn't the best source for news, the news I'm looking for. It's actually the people. By "the people" I literally mean citizens of the world (yes, I'm spreading my new found knowledge to the world via a blog- how cliche, again, I am aware). I've become more addicted to twitter, social media sites, and general discussion more than ever. And not for facts, but for opinions, photos, and updates. Facts are pretty damn subjective as I have come to learn in Kenya (Example A: did you know that eating Watermelon seeds can guarantee men to have a son? -from an actual published newspaper), and the only thing I have to compare it to are the American systems... and well I have definitely started questioning that. News sources I used to follow frequently I've almost given up on. I'm looking for real updates, no more numbers or statistics, because well unless I research it on my own, how am I supposed to know who is skewing what, or outright lying? The world is too interconnected, we are a globalized community of human beings- thanks to technology and other international advancements- whether we like it or not. And everyone has different opinions, facts, problems and solutions. The question isn't how can we consider everyone, but how can we not consider everyone?

I'm only touching on my frenzy of thoughts, opinions, and ideas here (trust me there is a lot more where this has come from), but I figured since I have a substantial base of readers following, especially those close to me, why not share them?

Disclaimer #1: By no means am I saying I know what is best, but I am saying I am trying to learn... and learn to ask more about everything.

Disclaimer #2: this was spurred by the non-stop (literally) stimulating discussion among myself and those around me in Kenya, because... well... you can't take in any information here without questioning it or wanting to know more. So we all compare it to what we know- America.

Well, so much for "one more thing" seems I had more to say than I realized.

So there you have it. A little bit of my own critical thinking out on the inter-webs.

It's been a while.

First, apologies for not updating for a few weeks, I've been pretty busy.

Coming up this week I have two midterms for my USIU classes, a Kiswahili midterm, my take home final exam due as well as my research paper and presentation for my Politics of Culture in Kenya class.

I've been running around doing interviews, doing research, plus working, volunteering and going to classes.

I've had a chance to interview some really amazing people like an art professor, an employee of Kenya's first creative writing publisher, a local public school teacher, among others. In fact yesterday my co-worker Lillian invited me to her sisters home to interview her, a school teacher for a local slum area, I walked into their home and was immediately given chai (local tea) and a huge plate for lunch, which was beyond delicious. They have their own garden and chickens. The kids (5 boys) all came home while I was there and all looked very confused asking why a "mzungu" was in their home. Lillian introduced me as "rafiki yangu" or "my friend."

On top of my work I have been busy emailing back and fourth with AU trying to get approval to stay a second semester, which is quite frustrating. But hopefully I will have conformation by the end of next week.

Although I haven't been posting on my blog I have had the opportunity to talk to a lot of different people from home, my family, and friends (both in DC and NJ) which has been great. Although the more I talk with people back home the more I miss everybody. Don't get me wrong everything is still beyond fantastic here, I love my work (I'm actually holding a team building workshop in November for the Hospital Project Team) and my volunteering with the Saturday class, I've been put in charge of the advanced acrobats- which let me tell you is hilarious, they love when I try and speak Sheng or Kiswahili.

I've also been socializing more with locals, including my co-workers, and peers at USIU which has been great instead of wandering around with the AU group.

The power keeps going out, it's become sort of a daily routine, which I don't mind- except I have SO MUCH WORK to get done, so i sit outside (the hallways are all outside) by the outlets connected to the generator to charge my laptop. Also I haven't taken a heated shower since last week because the water pressure/ hot water has been out- #thisisafrica

Hopefully the power will return later today and I can take that much needed hot shower.

Alright, it's time for me to get back to work. I probably won't have much time to update this week, and the following week is Rural week- no running water or constant electricity (aka I won't have my laptop). So expect a LONG update after then, because well, living in Rural Kenya in a home stay. It will be very different than my apartment with my roomies. I can't wait for it actually.

Also please feel free to email me (you can get my email from my parents) or send me a facebook messages if you want to chat before I leave for Rural Week (I always love to chat with people from back home) if you want a brief update! Especially with the Occupy Wall Street protests- I have to admit I am spending way too much time on Twitter readings articles from around the world and am trying to gather people's opinions and stories.


Until then, don't forget to smile today!