Sunday, April 10, 2011

Warning: This May Be Educational

It recently occurred to me that some people might be interested in actually hearing about what's happening in this part of the world as opposed to snippets of my own life here. As the title implies, this may be educational, so if you're not into that sort of thing, stop reading.
More than anything else, this program has been a survey of the people of Kenya. We've lived with/alongside rural farmers, pastoralists (cattle herders), hunter gatherers, and wealthy city-goers. The emphasis in the course has been on the future. The future looks incredibly bleak for the pastoralist Maasai. They lost more land than any ethnic group during colonialism, and they continue to sell their land. To practice sustainable pastoralism you must be semi-nomadic. Because the Maasai have needed to grow crops to supplement their incomes, they have started staying in one place. This leads to overgrazing, and there are many large patches of ground in south-eastern Kenya that are barren. They look like what I picture Mars looking like. Land usage trends show that pastoralism will die out soon if several trends are not corrected.
The outlook for the hunter gatherers we stayed with is better. There is an NGO that works specifically to make sure they keep their land. Nevertheless, because of population pressure, pastoralists and farmers from neighboring groups move onto land illegally by bribing officials. Cattle or crops mean reduced wildlife, but gathering forms a larger part of their diet, so as long as they retain their land, they can survive.
The outlook for the survival of rural farmers is good, but that's a relative term. Kenya is experiencing rapid population growth, and farms that used to be large have been divided between sons through the generations to the point where many are too small to support a family just trying to subsist. This leads many people to go to the cities. There will, however, always be farmers. The question is, will they continue to be heavily marginalized (the man I stayed with sold coffee beans at $0.60 a kilo. A kilo will make 10 cups of coffee. 1 cup of coffee at WashU is like $4. You do the math.) and will they continue to live in a system where they are constantly wishing to become urban elite, or better yet, like Americans. They worshipped America, and if I ever tried to tell them any negatives, they didn't believe me. It wasn't so much America they worshipped as the image of America, specifically, the American Dream.
The urbanites worshipped America in a different way. The original goal of colonization was to create a captive market for goods. The effects of that are still highly visible. There are not very many U.S. based companies here, but most companies are imitations of western companies. There is fake Taco Bell in the center of Nairobi. All the cultural pollution that we produce (Jersey Shore, SUVs, WWE wrestling, Real Housewives of Atlanta) is consumed heavily by the wealthy urban population.

Kenya has elections every 5 years. The last one was in 2007, and a disputed outcome led to riots that caused the deaths of thousands of people and the displacement of tens of thousands. If you do the math, the next election will be next year. There are many questions surrounding the election, but the most important is whether or not it will be peaceful. 
In the U.S. we often hear the [insert African country name here] politics described as "tribal." The political situation here is endlessly complicated, but what I've learned has convinced me it is not tribal. Kenyans must deal with a scarcity of resources unknown on a large scale in the U.S. Because of this, their voting patterns are motivated by rational self interest. The question in the U.S. is, "which candidate most accurately represents my views?" or, "which candidate is the best leader?" In Kenya, the question is, "which candidate will be the most successful at getting resources to me?" Obviously, limited resources mean there are not enough to go around, and people vote for candidates who they think will get them the resources. Whether it is because of tribal, regional, or economic reasons, people will vote for the candidate they feel closest to. On a day to day basis, Kenyans discuss politics without stopping, but it's never about what candidates stance is on abortion or gay marriage, but whether or not the person will win, and whether or not he/she will be corrupt.
Six Kenyans were recently indicted by the International Criminal Court (The Hague) for their role in the post-election violence of 2007. Several of those six were among the hand picked predecessors for the current president, Mwai Kibaki. If they actually stand trial in May as they're supposed to, they will not be eligible to run for president. Because of this, Kibaki's government has deflected the issue away from the fact that thousands of people died and many more were displaced (and still have nowhere to go) to the fact that the ICC is treating Kenya like a colony. The government is organizing a protest of the ICC and the indictments for this Monday, and they hope to get 1 to 2 million people in the streets of Nairobi, blocking the busiest highway. Only last week, several hundred students held a peaceful demonstration on that same highway and were fired upon with rubber bullets and tear gas.
Sorry, I just needed to clear all that from my system. It was like word vomit. Sorry if I reeled you in with semi-interesting stories about the craziness that is living here and then you had to slog through this mess. I just wanted to let you know that there is more to this trip than touching baby elephants and sleeping on cowskin. Let me know if you have any questions.

Aaron

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