I wrestle with the idea of giving. Why should I give? Should I give? What does my giving and someone else receiving do to each of us?
I have been given a lot. I"m striving to give a lot.
Some moments of being given have left me feeling used. I'm working to not have our students feel like that.
Can you give in a way that respects the humanity and dignity of the recipients? Does giving necessarily need to create a hierarchy with the giver on top and the recipient humbled and bent in suplication?
What is a good reason to give? Because it makes you feel good?
I really like the passage on giving from Khalil Gibran's The Prophet:
"you give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when
you give of yourself that you truly give. For what are your
possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them
tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying
bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy
city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full the thirst that is unquenchable?
There are those who give little of the much which they have -
and they give it for recognition and their hidden diesire make their
gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their
coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptisim.
And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they
seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue. They give as in yonder
valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space
Through the hands of these God speaks., and from behind their eyes he
smiles upon the earth.
www.akilidada.org
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Akili Dada updates!
I've been quiet the last couple of days producing the inaugural issue of Sauti Ya Akili Dada (Voice of Akili Dada) to update our supporters on the organization's growth and development in the last year. You can find the full version of the report here.
But below is the shortened version.
Dear Akili Dada friends and supporters,
As the end of the year approaches I am excited to briefly share our success in 2007, and ask you to continue your partnership with us as we continue full steam ahead into 2008. Please visit our website (www.akilidada.org ) for an extended report of this year's amazing success.
2007 has been a year of incredible growth here at Akili Dada and we have already surpassed many of the goals we set at the beginning of the year. In one year we have more than doubled the number of scholars we support, significantly increased the size of our mentoring network and leadership team, strengthened our operations in both Kenya and the U.S., and are marveling at the multiplying effects of our work!
Double the Scholars!
This year we added five new young women to our program, more than doubling the number of scholars supported by Akili Dada. Our ambitious new scholars dream of becoming a computer engineer, a doctor, a neurosurgeon, an entrepreneur, and a children's charity worker. Without your support and Akili Dada, these would have been dreams deferred. Each of the scholars has expressed her commitment to give back to her own community, thus paying forward the opportunities that Akili Dada has presented to her. Please visit our website to read more about these remarkable young women!
New Mentors
Akili Dada's mentoring network continues to grow at an exhilarating pace. This year's new mentors are top Kenyan professional women who are committed to nurturing and inspiring our scholars. Among them are a gynecologist, an ophthalmologist, a commercial airline pilot, an economist, two lawyers, a director of an international Non-profit, and a program officer at a transnational trade organization. We continue to expand the number and diversity of mentors and welcome your referrals of motivated, professional Kenyan women interested in serving as mentors.
Successful Mentoring Conference
This year's mentoring conference was a wild success thank to the engagement and energy of its thirty-one participants. The students, parents, teachers, mentors, and Akili Dada Board and Advisors participated in discussions that ranged from interviewing techniques, surviving life at a university campus, addressing sexual harassment, identifying career goals and ambitions, and pursuing careers in the specific fields of medicine, law, finance, aviation, and non-profit work.
Diversifying our revenue streams
Book your travel to East Africa through Kairi Tours and Safaris and they will donate 10% of your total invoice to Akili Dada! This is because Akili Dada has recently signed a corporate sponsorship agreement with Kairi Tours and Safaris based in Nairobi, Kenya. Kairi is the oldest indigenously owned Tours & Travel Company in Kenya; it specializes in custom tours throughout East Africa.
We are also diversifying our revenue stream by adding a fee-based portion to our increasingly popular mentoring program. It has become clear that young women from financially stable families would also benefit Akili Dada's growing mentoring resources. Under the new arrangement, these students will pay a fee to participate in our mentoring program while undergoing the same rigorous screening process as our scholarship students to ensure that we maintain our very high standards. Expanding our mentoring program will allow Akili Dada to both to increase its impact in the community while taking a step toward making the mentoring program self-sustaining. It also allows our scholars to transcend class boundaries and connect with a wider variety of motivated young women. As director of Akili Dada, I am keen to explore other means of diversifying our revenue streams and welcome your suggestions.
Strengthening our Kenyan Operations
A year of hard work culminated in Akili Dada being officially registered as an international non-governmental organization (NGO) in Kenya this year. With registration in place we can now operate local bank accounts in Kenya. A new U.S. dollar account and a Kenya Shilling account have streamlined our financial operations and make it possible for us to run smoothly on two continents.
This year we also launched our Kenya office through a partnership with the International Child Resource Institute (ICRI) Africa.
We continued to strengthen our Kenyan operations by established a relationship with another of Kenya's top high schools. Alliance Girls Secondary School has a long history of academic excellence in Kenya and was the first institution at which Black girls could receive an education under the apartheid-like system of British colonial rule in Kenya.
2007 has also seen us expand our leadership team. The Advisory Council also welcomed three new members : Dr. Laila Macharia, Susan Wangui Mbogo and Maggie Kamau-Biruri all based in Kenya. In addition, three new interns have joined our team: Ann Rubia in Nairobi, as well as Briana Shewan and Alexandra Kotcheff in San Francisco.
School Visits Inspire Students
Akili Dada staff members continue to canvass impoverished communities across Kenya in search of future scholars, sending a message of hope and possibility to the poorest students in the country. School heads have told me that, even when students do not perform well enough to qualify for our scholarships, the average grades for all students tend improve after a visit from the Akili Dada team. It seems that Akili Dada, aside from the direct impact of our scholarships, is spreading a message of hope for the future that creates a significant ripple effect in the impoverished primary schools we visit.
Support our Work for 2008
As you can see, 2007 has been a year of tremendous growth for Akili Dada. Without your generosity, none of this would be possible. We live in an interconnected world, and it takes something from each of us to make Akili Dada's vision a reality. Together, we are creating a support system that empowers extraordinary young women and brings Akili Dada's message of hope to girls throughout Kenya. I sincerely thank each of you for your past contributions, and I know that our scholars thank you as well. I urge you to continue partnering with us and to donate again.
Thank you and Happy Holidays!
Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg
Executive Director
Akili Dada
www.akilidada.org
p.s. with the holidays fast approaching, please consider a gift in honor of a loved one. Just include the person's name and address so we can send them a special note.
But below is the shortened version.
Dear Akili Dada friends and supporters,
As the end of the year approaches I am excited to briefly share our success in 2007, and ask you to continue your partnership with us as we continue full steam ahead into 2008. Please visit our website (www.akilidada.org ) for an extended report of this year's amazing success.
2007 has been a year of incredible growth here at Akili Dada and we have already surpassed many of the goals we set at the beginning of the year. In one year we have more than doubled the number of scholars we support, significantly increased the size of our mentoring network and leadership team, strengthened our operations in both Kenya and the U.S., and are marveling at the multiplying effects of our work!
Double the Scholars!
This year we added five new young women to our program, more than doubling the number of scholars supported by Akili Dada. Our ambitious new scholars dream of becoming a computer engineer, a doctor, a neurosurgeon, an entrepreneur, and a children's charity worker. Without your support and Akili Dada, these would have been dreams deferred. Each of the scholars has expressed her commitment to give back to her own community, thus paying forward the opportunities that Akili Dada has presented to her. Please visit our website to read more about these remarkable young women!
New Mentors
Akili Dada's mentoring network continues to grow at an exhilarating pace. This year's new mentors are top Kenyan professional women who are committed to nurturing and inspiring our scholars. Among them are a gynecologist, an ophthalmologist, a commercial airline pilot, an economist, two lawyers, a director of an international Non-profit, and a program officer at a transnational trade organization. We continue to expand the number and diversity of mentors and welcome your referrals of motivated, professional Kenyan women interested in serving as mentors.
Successful Mentoring Conference
This year's mentoring conference was a wild success thank to the engagement and energy of its thirty-one participants. The students, parents, teachers, mentors, and Akili Dada Board and Advisors participated in discussions that ranged from interviewing techniques, surviving life at a university campus, addressing sexual harassment, identifying career goals and ambitions, and pursuing careers in the specific fields of medicine, law, finance, aviation, and non-profit work.
Diversifying our revenue streams
Book your travel to East Africa through Kairi Tours and Safaris and they will donate 10% of your total invoice to Akili Dada! This is because Akili Dada has recently signed a corporate sponsorship agreement with Kairi Tours and Safaris based in Nairobi, Kenya. Kairi is the oldest indigenously owned Tours & Travel Company in Kenya; it specializes in custom tours throughout East Africa.
We are also diversifying our revenue stream by adding a fee-based portion to our increasingly popular mentoring program. It has become clear that young women from financially stable families would also benefit Akili Dada's growing mentoring resources. Under the new arrangement, these students will pay a fee to participate in our mentoring program while undergoing the same rigorous screening process as our scholarship students to ensure that we maintain our very high standards. Expanding our mentoring program will allow Akili Dada to both to increase its impact in the community while taking a step toward making the mentoring program self-sustaining. It also allows our scholars to transcend class boundaries and connect with a wider variety of motivated young women. As director of Akili Dada, I am keen to explore other means of diversifying our revenue streams and welcome your suggestions.
Strengthening our Kenyan Operations
A year of hard work culminated in Akili Dada being officially registered as an international non-governmental organization (NGO) in Kenya this year. With registration in place we can now operate local bank accounts in Kenya. A new U.S. dollar account and a Kenya Shilling account have streamlined our financial operations and make it possible for us to run smoothly on two continents.
This year we also launched our Kenya office through a partnership with the International Child Resource Institute (ICRI) Africa.
We continued to strengthen our Kenyan operations by established a relationship with another of Kenya's top high schools. Alliance Girls Secondary School has a long history of academic excellence in Kenya and was the first institution at which Black girls could receive an education under the apartheid-like system of British colonial rule in Kenya.
2007 has also seen us expand our leadership team. The Advisory Council also welcomed three new members : Dr. Laila Macharia, Susan Wangui Mbogo and Maggie Kamau-Biruri all based in Kenya. In addition, three new interns have joined our team: Ann Rubia in Nairobi, as well as Briana Shewan and Alexandra Kotcheff in San Francisco.
School Visits Inspire Students
Akili Dada staff members continue to canvass impoverished communities across Kenya in search of future scholars, sending a message of hope and possibility to the poorest students in the country. School heads have told me that, even when students do not perform well enough to qualify for our scholarships, the average grades for all students tend improve after a visit from the Akili Dada team. It seems that Akili Dada, aside from the direct impact of our scholarships, is spreading a message of hope for the future that creates a significant ripple effect in the impoverished primary schools we visit.
Support our Work for 2008
As you can see, 2007 has been a year of tremendous growth for Akili Dada. Without your generosity, none of this would be possible. We live in an interconnected world, and it takes something from each of us to make Akili Dada's vision a reality. Together, we are creating a support system that empowers extraordinary young women and brings Akili Dada's message of hope to girls throughout Kenya. I sincerely thank each of you for your past contributions, and I know that our scholars thank you as well. I urge you to continue partnering with us and to donate again.
Thank you and Happy Holidays!
Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg
Executive Director
Akili Dada
www.akilidada.org
p.s. with the holidays fast approaching, please consider a gift in honor of a loved one. Just include the person's name and address so we can send them a special note.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Hardest things and things I love about a start-up non profit
The hardest things about running a start-up non-profit
1. Burn out. I’m tired often. There is so much to do and I spend a lot of time feeling like I’m doing a mediocre job of everything. With a dissertation over my head and a course to teach, I’m stretched thin and not getting enough sleep. I leave the house at 9.30 and don’t get back until 10.30 pm. Repeat five days a week. The routine gets old really quick.
2. Its hard relying on other people. I wish I could do everything that needs to be done by myself and not need to ask for help from others. But I can’t do everything. And I’m not the most patient person in the world. O.k. not even close. So I get frustrated waiting on other people’s timelines. And there is nothing you can do because they are volunteering their time so its not like you have any right to get fussy about it.
3. Its hard to balance friendship with work. Many of the founders of Akili Dada came on board because they were my friends. I knew them from different points in my life and through working with Akili Dada they have become friends with each other too. I have also created friendships out of the professional relationships that have grown of Akili Dada. Akili Dada is a friendly place to be! But that has its challenges I feel like I don’t talk to my friends as my friends very much. We all have busy lives so the little time we have to talk ends up devoted to Akili Dada emergencies. I’m working hard to carve out time for conversations that are about us and our lives outside of Akili Dada.
The most awesome things about running a start-up non-profit
1. I am so attached to our scholars. I feel like I became a mother with the firsts scholarships we gave. I worry about them, I love them, I want them to do well in life so badly. I’m completely invested in nine other lives.
2. I’ve met really cool people that I might have never met before.
3. I have learnt skills that I would have had no reason to learn before. From designing a website to fundraising. It may surprise some who know me but I’m actually not a big fan of mingling and being social. I’d rather spend any day or night at home in front of the T.V. Akili Dada has forced me to get out there and network for my girls.
4. I feel good about myself. I feel like I am making an impact in the world. My life is not just benefiting me. I set off to do something hard and it seems to be working. There’s fulfillment in that.
5. I love connecting people to resources and Akili Dada lets me be at the hub of these connections. Not just connecting our scholars to our donors through school fees and mentors, but connecting mentors to each other, Kenyan organizations to U.S. organizations... There’s something spiritual about human connections. I can’t explain it but its satisfies my spirit to be able to connect people with a need to people with a gift to give.
6. Akili Dada has brought me closer to God. Its humbled me and made me realize I can’t do this by myself. Its been a vehicle that God has used to speak to me about so many character traits (my impatience, for example). It has brought me to a screeching halt and to my knees in important ways that I don’t think anything else could have.
1. Burn out. I’m tired often. There is so much to do and I spend a lot of time feeling like I’m doing a mediocre job of everything. With a dissertation over my head and a course to teach, I’m stretched thin and not getting enough sleep. I leave the house at 9.30 and don’t get back until 10.30 pm. Repeat five days a week. The routine gets old really quick.
2. Its hard relying on other people. I wish I could do everything that needs to be done by myself and not need to ask for help from others. But I can’t do everything. And I’m not the most patient person in the world. O.k. not even close. So I get frustrated waiting on other people’s timelines. And there is nothing you can do because they are volunteering their time so its not like you have any right to get fussy about it.
3. Its hard to balance friendship with work. Many of the founders of Akili Dada came on board because they were my friends. I knew them from different points in my life and through working with Akili Dada they have become friends with each other too. I have also created friendships out of the professional relationships that have grown of Akili Dada. Akili Dada is a friendly place to be! But that has its challenges I feel like I don’t talk to my friends as my friends very much. We all have busy lives so the little time we have to talk ends up devoted to Akili Dada emergencies. I’m working hard to carve out time for conversations that are about us and our lives outside of Akili Dada.
The most awesome things about running a start-up non-profit
1. I am so attached to our scholars. I feel like I became a mother with the firsts scholarships we gave. I worry about them, I love them, I want them to do well in life so badly. I’m completely invested in nine other lives.
2. I’ve met really cool people that I might have never met before.
3. I have learnt skills that I would have had no reason to learn before. From designing a website to fundraising. It may surprise some who know me but I’m actually not a big fan of mingling and being social. I’d rather spend any day or night at home in front of the T.V. Akili Dada has forced me to get out there and network for my girls.
4. I feel good about myself. I feel like I am making an impact in the world. My life is not just benefiting me. I set off to do something hard and it seems to be working. There’s fulfillment in that.
5. I love connecting people to resources and Akili Dada lets me be at the hub of these connections. Not just connecting our scholars to our donors through school fees and mentors, but connecting mentors to each other, Kenyan organizations to U.S. organizations... There’s something spiritual about human connections. I can’t explain it but its satisfies my spirit to be able to connect people with a need to people with a gift to give.
6. Akili Dada has brought me closer to God. Its humbled me and made me realize I can’t do this by myself. Its been a vehicle that God has used to speak to me about so many character traits (my impatience, for example). It has brought me to a screeching halt and to my knees in important ways that I don’t think anything else could have.
Coming to America
Coming to America
Coming to America was a gift. A huge gift that changed my life forever (ya don't say!)!
For some years I had been penpals with my cousin and we had written about how we were doing in school. I remember drafting and re-drafting those letters before I thought they were perfect enough to merit the expensive postage that would take them 'abroad'.
I was a bright kid with academic potential. I was not the brightest kid in my classes (Ashiali, Richa and Tatua made sure of that!). But I was in the top pack consistently.
Recognizing the potential, my uncle (father's brother) and his family invited me to come live with them while attending high school. Being in the U.S. would make it easier for me to look for college scholarships. The offer was made and my family hesitated for only a second before taking it. I was 14 years old. I had only ever been away from home for one year of boarding school during the first year of high school and It had been a rough adjustment.
But this was the offer of a lifetime and we all knew it presented unbelievable opportunities for me. I was barely into my teens but off I went. On my own to relatives I had never met in a country I had only seen on T.V. and pictures.
That first trip was a collaborative effort and a joint investment. My parents tried their best to get me emotionally ready while hiding their fears. They must have been so anxious but I had no idea! Only now can I think back and imagine what it must have felt like to them.
The Ted and Sylvia Hatfield not only paid for that first ticket, they also met me in London, showed me around and made sure I got on the right plane to Denver.
Then of course my Uncle's family was going to be my new family for the next four years.
The impact of this past on Akili Dada is that I’m excited to find potential and to support and nurture it. My uncle saw potential in me and offered me opportunity. I think that’s an incredible chain reaction to continue. Akili Dada is my attempt to magnify the investment in young Africa’s potential.
For the right people, the right opportunity can unlock magic. With Akili Dada I want to find young women thirsty for an opportunity. I want to find tenacious, hardworking dreamers and give them the opportunity to just rocket into the stars.
And of course Akili Dada is a collaborative effort and a joint investment. Many give their money and even more encourage me and nurture my spirit so I can keep doing this. I tell our scholars that their lives are like an IPO and we are buying stock with a hope that it will appreciate in the future. We are investing in them and the profit is the success that they make out of their lives.
Coming to America was a gift. A huge gift that changed my life forever (ya don't say!)!
For some years I had been penpals with my cousin and we had written about how we were doing in school. I remember drafting and re-drafting those letters before I thought they were perfect enough to merit the expensive postage that would take them 'abroad'.
I was a bright kid with academic potential. I was not the brightest kid in my classes (Ashiali, Richa and Tatua made sure of that!). But I was in the top pack consistently.
Recognizing the potential, my uncle (father's brother) and his family invited me to come live with them while attending high school. Being in the U.S. would make it easier for me to look for college scholarships. The offer was made and my family hesitated for only a second before taking it. I was 14 years old. I had only ever been away from home for one year of boarding school during the first year of high school and It had been a rough adjustment.
But this was the offer of a lifetime and we all knew it presented unbelievable opportunities for me. I was barely into my teens but off I went. On my own to relatives I had never met in a country I had only seen on T.V. and pictures.
That first trip was a collaborative effort and a joint investment. My parents tried their best to get me emotionally ready while hiding their fears. They must have been so anxious but I had no idea! Only now can I think back and imagine what it must have felt like to them.
The Ted and Sylvia Hatfield not only paid for that first ticket, they also met me in London, showed me around and made sure I got on the right plane to Denver.
Then of course my Uncle's family was going to be my new family for the next four years.
The impact of this past on Akili Dada is that I’m excited to find potential and to support and nurture it. My uncle saw potential in me and offered me opportunity. I think that’s an incredible chain reaction to continue. Akili Dada is my attempt to magnify the investment in young Africa’s potential.
For the right people, the right opportunity can unlock magic. With Akili Dada I want to find young women thirsty for an opportunity. I want to find tenacious, hardworking dreamers and give them the opportunity to just rocket into the stars.
And of course Akili Dada is a collaborative effort and a joint investment. Many give their money and even more encourage me and nurture my spirit so I can keep doing this. I tell our scholars that their lives are like an IPO and we are buying stock with a hope that it will appreciate in the future. We are investing in them and the profit is the success that they make out of their lives.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Life in Denver
Family life was hard. It was hard for me and I can only imagine how hard it must have been to crate space in a family of five for one more teenager.
I channeled the challenges into school. I did well at accademics but excelled in Speech and Debate. One major accomplishment is that I won the Colorado State Championships in Original Oratory in 1996! Accent and all!
In high school I also met three women who nurtured me and became my ‘other-mothers’. Mrs. Dachman who I cleaned for, Mary Hanna who I babysat Jonna and Evan for, and Melora’s (my best friend) mom who let me stay with them the summer after I graduated high school. These women gave me jobs so I had some pocket money, gave me rides, let me cry on their shoulders, and overall fed my spirit. The clincher for me is that for Mrs. Dachman and Mary Hanna came and supported me at every single award ceremony during my senior year of high school.
Two very important things about Akili Dada came out of my experiences in Denver.
What would it look like if we helped bright young women without having to take them away from their families?
At the time I left Kenya for the U.S. there were very limited opportunities in Kenya. That is changing drastically. The new democratic dispensation is creating incredible opportunities for education and advancement within the country that I think that outweighs the trauma of dislocating young high school students by sending them abroad. It is also important to build the educational infrastructure in Kenya by supporting schools that are there. That is why Akili Dada identifies the best girls schools in the country and supports them by paying the school fees of their poorest but best students. What we are doing is helping not just the scholars, but hopefully building the institutional capacity of the schools our scholars attend.
It is important for young women to have access to older women who nurture and mentor.
The teenage years and high school is hard enough without an uncomfortable family situation and culture shock in suburban Denver. I would not have made it out of Denver without my other-mothers. Their emotional support sustained me through the most difficult period of my life. Its important to me to try and avail that to our scholars. Our mentoring program is one step but as I read their essays, I think we need to do more. I’m thinking of ways to do more. Any ideas? How can we organize a mentoring/counseling program that is not too institutional to be useful but still effective? Its an ongoing conversation with the Board and Advisors.
I channeled the challenges into school. I did well at accademics but excelled in Speech and Debate. One major accomplishment is that I won the Colorado State Championships in Original Oratory in 1996! Accent and all!
In high school I also met three women who nurtured me and became my ‘other-mothers’. Mrs. Dachman who I cleaned for, Mary Hanna who I babysat Jonna and Evan for, and Melora’s (my best friend) mom who let me stay with them the summer after I graduated high school. These women gave me jobs so I had some pocket money, gave me rides, let me cry on their shoulders, and overall fed my spirit. The clincher for me is that for Mrs. Dachman and Mary Hanna came and supported me at every single award ceremony during my senior year of high school.
Two very important things about Akili Dada came out of my experiences in Denver.
What would it look like if we helped bright young women without having to take them away from their families?
At the time I left Kenya for the U.S. there were very limited opportunities in Kenya. That is changing drastically. The new democratic dispensation is creating incredible opportunities for education and advancement within the country that I think that outweighs the trauma of dislocating young high school students by sending them abroad. It is also important to build the educational infrastructure in Kenya by supporting schools that are there. That is why Akili Dada identifies the best girls schools in the country and supports them by paying the school fees of their poorest but best students. What we are doing is helping not just the scholars, but hopefully building the institutional capacity of the schools our scholars attend.
It is important for young women to have access to older women who nurture and mentor.
The teenage years and high school is hard enough without an uncomfortable family situation and culture shock in suburban Denver. I would not have made it out of Denver without my other-mothers. Their emotional support sustained me through the most difficult period of my life. Its important to me to try and avail that to our scholars. Our mentoring program is one step but as I read their essays, I think we need to do more. I’m thinking of ways to do more. Any ideas? How can we organize a mentoring/counseling program that is not too institutional to be useful but still effective? Its an ongoing conversation with the Board and Advisors.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Staring out the window wondering about White people
When I was a child I used to sit in my room, stare out the window into the clouds and wonder about people who lived in Europe and America. I knew they were white. But that only made me more curious.
I only knew one White person in my childhood. The local priest. Father Thomas who ran Buru Buru parish in Eastlands. I went to nursery school at St. Josephs nursery school which was a Montessori school run by, and at the church.
I remember Father Thomas came and blessed our house when we moved in. I must have been about four years old and I remember him sprinkling holy water around the house trailed by my parents and then we kids. They said a prayer in every room and then again in the living room. I think father Thomas was from Denver because when my father traveled to Denver in the 80s father Thomas was invited to come see the pictures.
Now I'm married to a White man (well Jewish but are Jews White? We've had many long conversations about this one) and teaching at a Catholic University.....
anyway, I would sit for hours staring out of the window into the clouds and wondering about airplanes and what it was like to live 'abroad'.
My dad was an engineer for Kenya airways and he got to fly to foreign countries sometimes. He would bring back foreign newspapers and I would stare and marvel.
My middle name is Nyaguthii. In Kikuyu it means 'one who travels' or 'one who goes'. Guthii is to go. I was named after my paternal grandmother. I wonder if, when they named me, my family had any idea. An inkling? A wish or a hope?
Its amazing the journey from spending hours at the window staring at clouds and longing to see the world beyond my neighbourhood to living in America. Its amazing how many places 'abroad' I feel comfortable in. Its amazing how many cities I can navigate with the ease of a native. I am thankful for that. The dreams of a little girl did come true. And 'abroad' is a complicated term for me.
Coming to America
Coming to America was a gift. A huge gift that changed my life forever (ya don't say!)!
For some years I had been penpals with my cousin and we had written about how we were doing in school. I remember drafting and re-drafting those letters before I thought they were perfect enough to merit the expensive postage that would take them 'abroad'.
I was a bright kid with academic potential. I was not the brightest kid in my classes (Ashiali, Richa and Tatua made sure of that!). But I was in the top pack consistently.
Recognizing the potential, my uncle (father's brother) and his family invited me to come live with them while attending high school. Being in the U.S. would make it easier for me to look for college scholarships. The offer was made and my family hesitated for only a second before taking it. I was 14 years old. I had only ever been away from home for one year of boarding school during the first year of high school and It had been a rough adjustment.
But this was the offer of a lifetime and we all knew it presented unbelievable opportunities for me. I was barely into my teens but off I went. On my own to relatives I had never met in a country I had only seen on T.V. and pictures.
That first trip was a collaborative effort and a joint investment. My parents tried their best to get me emotionally ready while hiding their fears. They must have been so anxious but I had no idea! Only now can I think back and imagine what it must have felt like to them.
The Ted and Sylvia Hatfield not only paid for that first ticket, they also met me in London, showed me around and made sure I got on the right plane to Denver.
Then of course my Uncle's family was going to be my new family for the next four years.
The impact of this past on Akili Dada is that I’m excited to find potential and to support and nurture it. My uncle saw potential in me and offered me opportunity. I think that’s an incredible chain reaction to continue. Akili Dada is my attempt to magnify the investment in young Africa’s potential.
For the right people, the right opportunity can unlock magic. With Akili Dada I want to find young women thirsty for an opportunity. I want to find tenacious, hardworking dreamers and give them the opportunity to just rocket into the stars.
And of course Akili Dada is a collaborative effort and a joint investment. Many give their money and even more encourage me and nurture my spirit so I can keep doing this. I tell our scholars that their lives are like an IPO and we are buying stock with a hope that it will appreciate in the future. We are investing in them and the profit is the success that they make out of their lives.
I only knew one White person in my childhood. The local priest. Father Thomas who ran Buru Buru parish in Eastlands. I went to nursery school at St. Josephs nursery school which was a Montessori school run by, and at the church.
I remember Father Thomas came and blessed our house when we moved in. I must have been about four years old and I remember him sprinkling holy water around the house trailed by my parents and then we kids. They said a prayer in every room and then again in the living room. I think father Thomas was from Denver because when my father traveled to Denver in the 80s father Thomas was invited to come see the pictures.
Now I'm married to a White man (well Jewish but are Jews White? We've had many long conversations about this one) and teaching at a Catholic University.....
anyway, I would sit for hours staring out of the window into the clouds and wondering about airplanes and what it was like to live 'abroad'.
My dad was an engineer for Kenya airways and he got to fly to foreign countries sometimes. He would bring back foreign newspapers and I would stare and marvel.
My middle name is Nyaguthii. In Kikuyu it means 'one who travels' or 'one who goes'. Guthii is to go. I was named after my paternal grandmother. I wonder if, when they named me, my family had any idea. An inkling? A wish or a hope?
Its amazing the journey from spending hours at the window staring at clouds and longing to see the world beyond my neighbourhood to living in America. Its amazing how many places 'abroad' I feel comfortable in. Its amazing how many cities I can navigate with the ease of a native. I am thankful for that. The dreams of a little girl did come true. And 'abroad' is a complicated term for me.
Coming to America
Coming to America was a gift. A huge gift that changed my life forever (ya don't say!)!
For some years I had been penpals with my cousin and we had written about how we were doing in school. I remember drafting and re-drafting those letters before I thought they were perfect enough to merit the expensive postage that would take them 'abroad'.
I was a bright kid with academic potential. I was not the brightest kid in my classes (Ashiali, Richa and Tatua made sure of that!). But I was in the top pack consistently.
Recognizing the potential, my uncle (father's brother) and his family invited me to come live with them while attending high school. Being in the U.S. would make it easier for me to look for college scholarships. The offer was made and my family hesitated for only a second before taking it. I was 14 years old. I had only ever been away from home for one year of boarding school during the first year of high school and It had been a rough adjustment.
But this was the offer of a lifetime and we all knew it presented unbelievable opportunities for me. I was barely into my teens but off I went. On my own to relatives I had never met in a country I had only seen on T.V. and pictures.
That first trip was a collaborative effort and a joint investment. My parents tried their best to get me emotionally ready while hiding their fears. They must have been so anxious but I had no idea! Only now can I think back and imagine what it must have felt like to them.
The Ted and Sylvia Hatfield not only paid for that first ticket, they also met me in London, showed me around and made sure I got on the right plane to Denver.
Then of course my Uncle's family was going to be my new family for the next four years.
The impact of this past on Akili Dada is that I’m excited to find potential and to support and nurture it. My uncle saw potential in me and offered me opportunity. I think that’s an incredible chain reaction to continue. Akili Dada is my attempt to magnify the investment in young Africa’s potential.
For the right people, the right opportunity can unlock magic. With Akili Dada I want to find young women thirsty for an opportunity. I want to find tenacious, hardworking dreamers and give them the opportunity to just rocket into the stars.
And of course Akili Dada is a collaborative effort and a joint investment. Many give their money and even more encourage me and nurture my spirit so I can keep doing this. I tell our scholars that their lives are like an IPO and we are buying stock with a hope that it will appreciate in the future. We are investing in them and the profit is the success that they make out of their lives.
How do I do this?
So I've got this bee in my bonnet about sharing the story of Akili Dada as things unfold. I think its interesting to see how the process of growing the organization has not necessarily been a straight shot to where we are. And I'm sure even though I know where I want to be with Akili Dada in ten years, I might not end up there and even if I do, it will be through a series of interesting meanders.
So do I go back to the begining and detail the birth of the idea and work my way forward to this point or do I start here and just write about what happens from now on?
Maybe a bit of both. scattered and confusing but I know that in ten years it will give me perspective on how far we've come.....
I think i'll try a bit of both. Weeeeeee here we go.
So do I go back to the begining and detail the birth of the idea and work my way forward to this point or do I start here and just write about what happens from now on?
Maybe a bit of both. scattered and confusing but I know that in ten years it will give me perspective on how far we've come.....
I think i'll try a bit of both. Weeeeeee here we go.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
re-purposing the blog
O.k.
I've decided to re-purpose my blog from a once a year detailing of my adventures in Kenya and to become more active in sharing my experiences starting and growing Akili Dada.
I've been meaning to trace the history and growth of the organization for a while now and I think keeping a blog documenting things as the happen might be a good way of doing it.
There's a lot of books out there about how to start a non-profit but I've always wondered what it would be like to have a record of perceptions and experiences of things as they happen rather than having the 20/20 perspective 10 or 20 years down the road.
The downside of engaging in this project is of course that Akili Dada could fail miserably but even then this blog could end up showing others what not to do. But If we keep succeeding as we are, the blog could offer insights to others trying to do the same thing.
We'll see.....
I've decided to re-purpose my blog from a once a year detailing of my adventures in Kenya and to become more active in sharing my experiences starting and growing Akili Dada.
I've been meaning to trace the history and growth of the organization for a while now and I think keeping a blog documenting things as the happen might be a good way of doing it.
There's a lot of books out there about how to start a non-profit but I've always wondered what it would be like to have a record of perceptions and experiences of things as they happen rather than having the 20/20 perspective 10 or 20 years down the road.
The downside of engaging in this project is of course that Akili Dada could fail miserably but even then this blog could end up showing others what not to do. But If we keep succeeding as we are, the blog could offer insights to others trying to do the same thing.
We'll see.....
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Back in Bush country
well friends,
I'm back in Bush country and I want to thank those of you who took the time to read the blog.
If you would like to catch up on what I wrote the posts are archived in chronological order at the bottom right hand corner of this page. Enjoy and feel free to post your own comments!
Now let me invite you to check out some pictures I took while in Kenya:
I'm back in Bush country and I want to thank those of you who took the time to read the blog.
If you would like to catch up on what I wrote the posts are archived in chronological order at the bottom right hand corner of this page. Enjoy and feel free to post your own comments!
Now let me invite you to check out some pictures I took while in Kenya:
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
A response to crazyfinger
I thought you made a really good comment to my last post and it gave me a really good place to jump off from so i'm posting my response to your comment as a new post. Again thanks for your questions. They definately stimulated my thinking.
I hear what you’re saying and I do believe when you say you’re coming from a supportive and Kind place.
Here’s where I’m coming from with my frustration:
I’ve seen many a ‘development’ project go horribly horribly awry owing to the backgrounds of the people that made decisions to implement it and the people hired to implement it.
It becomes about me when I and my family pay dearly, often with our lives for projects driven entirely by outsiders who haven’t the foggiest idea about what is happening on the ground. ‘Professionals’ who approach Africa’s problem with incredibly slanted and biased misconceptions. That’s when it becomes about me.
You’re not the first to espouse the “wait your turn, you’re still young and you’ll get your chance to change things when you’re older”
Its not what you said but its what I get out of you telling me that the movers and shakers started where I am now. Actually, Bill Gates started off in a different city and class situation. Gender, Race, Class and position within the global matrix still shape who has access to power and who becomes a mover and shaker….. To tell me and others like me that if we’re good and wait our turn at the policy-making table we will get a go at it is a lie that is not supported by the historical record.
What I’m saying is that its important to actively create space at the table for people like me and my friends while we are young. Young Black women from the third world who do have ideas about how the problems of their home country can be tackled. Before we get jaded and cynical. There is so much we could do with this energy and it makes no sense to frustrate us into diverting our energies into other pursuits. I think of other things I could do with my life other than Akili Dada. Jobs that would pay me impossible amounts of money to make sure that African’s come out more screwed than before. I could use my background and training to negotiate loans to African countries at horrible rates and conditions. It would certainly pay… And a lot too.
But that’s not what is driving me. I actually am still naïve enough to think that I can make a difference. That naivete and energy should be captured and its impact maginified. At least I’m hanging on to the last idea that my time and energy have value. Something that so many other African women give up on so early.
And I was thinking also, even though it’s a thin line, this blog is more about me sharing my personal experiences and less about Akili Dada. At least it’s a line that I’m working to make thicker and the distinctions more clear. Akili Dada the organization is more than just me, there is a whole board behind it. This blog is all me. So I’m the one that’s hysterical and self-concious. And I think the situation the continent is in calls for some hysteria and self-conciousness!!!
I hear what you’re saying and I do believe when you say you’re coming from a supportive and Kind place.
Here’s where I’m coming from with my frustration:
I’ve seen many a ‘development’ project go horribly horribly awry owing to the backgrounds of the people that made decisions to implement it and the people hired to implement it.
It becomes about me when I and my family pay dearly, often with our lives for projects driven entirely by outsiders who haven’t the foggiest idea about what is happening on the ground. ‘Professionals’ who approach Africa’s problem with incredibly slanted and biased misconceptions. That’s when it becomes about me.
You’re not the first to espouse the “wait your turn, you’re still young and you’ll get your chance to change things when you’re older”
Its not what you said but its what I get out of you telling me that the movers and shakers started where I am now. Actually, Bill Gates started off in a different city and class situation. Gender, Race, Class and position within the global matrix still shape who has access to power and who becomes a mover and shaker….. To tell me and others like me that if we’re good and wait our turn at the policy-making table we will get a go at it is a lie that is not supported by the historical record.
What I’m saying is that its important to actively create space at the table for people like me and my friends while we are young. Young Black women from the third world who do have ideas about how the problems of their home country can be tackled. Before we get jaded and cynical. There is so much we could do with this energy and it makes no sense to frustrate us into diverting our energies into other pursuits. I think of other things I could do with my life other than Akili Dada. Jobs that would pay me impossible amounts of money to make sure that African’s come out more screwed than before. I could use my background and training to negotiate loans to African countries at horrible rates and conditions. It would certainly pay… And a lot too.
But that’s not what is driving me. I actually am still naïve enough to think that I can make a difference. That naivete and energy should be captured and its impact maginified. At least I’m hanging on to the last idea that my time and energy have value. Something that so many other African women give up on so early.
And I was thinking also, even though it’s a thin line, this blog is more about me sharing my personal experiences and less about Akili Dada. At least it’s a line that I’m working to make thicker and the distinctions more clear. Akili Dada the organization is more than just me, there is a whole board behind it. This blog is all me. So I’m the one that’s hysterical and self-concious. And I think the situation the continent is in calls for some hysteria and self-conciousness!!!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
young, educated, energetic, and frustratingly under-utilized
There are two images of Africans: we are either filthy rich elites who have gotten fat off corruption and assorted other evils, or we are starving masses of children covered in flies.
Nobody is seeing the young, well educated, ambitious, dedicated Africans who are coming up across the continent; Me, Betty, Wangui, Mueni and Laila…. A few who happen to be on the Akili Dada board.
I’m watching a televised report of a conversation held at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos. Don’t ask. Voice of America carries C-Span. Who knew C-Span was so globally ubiquitous that I can watch it sitting in my Nairobi apartment at almost midnight…..
Anyway, there are a bunch of folk from around the world (including Bill Gates, Bono, Mbeki, and my personal hero, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia) sitting around a table discussing the challenges facing Africa.
I can’t help but wonder, in all these conversations, so earnest and keen on improving Africa’s lot, are these people aware of people like my friends and I? Why are they not tapping into us and the limitless energy that we have?
I mean, here I am, I’ve got a really good education, incredible energy to burn, and am willing and ready to work to change the continent. Yet even as hard as I am trying, I cannot find anybody to pay me what I’m worth to work in Kenya. Mind you, not that they are not willing to pay obscene amounts of money to Americans and Brits to do the same kind of work! (I’m working hard not to digress into so many topics including how little sense it makes to hire foreigners to do work that I can do just as well, if not better because of my knowledge of the Kenyan social and cultural context. And how if I applied for a job from Kenya I’d get paid a fraction of what a foreigner would get paid for the same job. Seriously, lets talk about brain drain and how I’m not going to come back home and tolerate getting paid a tenth of what my less educated and lower ranked foreign colleague is getting paid simply because of my nationality!)
There is a huge and horrible double standard out there among external organizations working to solve African problems that African’s are unable to do development work. There is such blindness to the amazing numbers of young people like myself who are actually locked out of opportunities to work towards the continent’s betterment. And I do feel locked out. Excluded from something that I very much want to be part of.
I mean, honestly, I’m busting my hump with very few resources to accomplish the work of Akili Dada yet with the proper kind of investments, a project like Akili Dada could reach so many young women in Kenya and across the region! But the sad reality is that even the moderate amount of success we have had, is directly attributable to the fact that I live in the U.S. and I’m able to meet people and make connections there. If I lived in Kenya, Akili Dada would not exist. And how incredibly sad is that!!!
To me its incredibly frustrating to watch a group of world movers and shakers sit around a table and rue Africa’s lot while I, a young, highly educated young African woman sit at home bubbling with ideas and energy while my resources go untapped. That, I think, is truly Africa’s greatest tragedy.
There is a generation of us dying for space at the policy-making table, ready and willing to do what it takes to turn the continent around, but we have no idea how to get heard. And those at the table are too busy talking to see or even listen to us. Its frustrating. If only they knew the young people I know. If only they were friends with my friends…..I’d like to think that their conversations would sound different.
Nobody is seeing the young, well educated, ambitious, dedicated Africans who are coming up across the continent; Me, Betty, Wangui, Mueni and Laila…. A few who happen to be on the Akili Dada board.
I’m watching a televised report of a conversation held at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos. Don’t ask. Voice of America carries C-Span. Who knew C-Span was so globally ubiquitous that I can watch it sitting in my Nairobi apartment at almost midnight…..
Anyway, there are a bunch of folk from around the world (including Bill Gates, Bono, Mbeki, and my personal hero, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia) sitting around a table discussing the challenges facing Africa.
I can’t help but wonder, in all these conversations, so earnest and keen on improving Africa’s lot, are these people aware of people like my friends and I? Why are they not tapping into us and the limitless energy that we have?
I mean, here I am, I’ve got a really good education, incredible energy to burn, and am willing and ready to work to change the continent. Yet even as hard as I am trying, I cannot find anybody to pay me what I’m worth to work in Kenya. Mind you, not that they are not willing to pay obscene amounts of money to Americans and Brits to do the same kind of work! (I’m working hard not to digress into so many topics including how little sense it makes to hire foreigners to do work that I can do just as well, if not better because of my knowledge of the Kenyan social and cultural context. And how if I applied for a job from Kenya I’d get paid a fraction of what a foreigner would get paid for the same job. Seriously, lets talk about brain drain and how I’m not going to come back home and tolerate getting paid a tenth of what my less educated and lower ranked foreign colleague is getting paid simply because of my nationality!)
There is a huge and horrible double standard out there among external organizations working to solve African problems that African’s are unable to do development work. There is such blindness to the amazing numbers of young people like myself who are actually locked out of opportunities to work towards the continent’s betterment. And I do feel locked out. Excluded from something that I very much want to be part of.
I mean, honestly, I’m busting my hump with very few resources to accomplish the work of Akili Dada yet with the proper kind of investments, a project like Akili Dada could reach so many young women in Kenya and across the region! But the sad reality is that even the moderate amount of success we have had, is directly attributable to the fact that I live in the U.S. and I’m able to meet people and make connections there. If I lived in Kenya, Akili Dada would not exist. And how incredibly sad is that!!!
To me its incredibly frustrating to watch a group of world movers and shakers sit around a table and rue Africa’s lot while I, a young, highly educated young African woman sit at home bubbling with ideas and energy while my resources go untapped. That, I think, is truly Africa’s greatest tragedy.
There is a generation of us dying for space at the policy-making table, ready and willing to do what it takes to turn the continent around, but we have no idea how to get heard. And those at the table are too busy talking to see or even listen to us. Its frustrating. If only they knew the young people I know. If only they were friends with my friends…..I’d like to think that their conversations would sound different.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Babies and dogs....
On a more mundane note….My neighbors in the apartment next door have a 10 month old daughter. She’s adorable. But she’s recently taken to waking up and crying bloody murder starting at
So most Kenyans now have dogs for security. They are often intentionally underfed so that they are even meaner towards strangers and across many urban Kenyan neighborhoods dogs are heard barking late into the night. My parents’ neighborhood has a stray pack of dogs that are a menace after a certain time of night. In a strange way they kept us safe. No thugs would be crazy enough to venture out with stray dogs roaming about.
The thing with stray dogs in
contradictions and frustrations
Its so weird that today, Rotary International (
It must have been so weird for Moi to sit by and watch his successor enjoy the trappings of presidency that he had enjoyed for 24 years. It takes guts to sit back and and watch that. He’s gotten so much older and thinner!
Its amazing that this man I loathed so much, who headed
I do wonder though, in his secret thoughts, what made him step down. Why give it all up? Was it the winds of change blowing across the continent? Was it pressure from foreign governments? Is he ill and he knew the end was coming? WHY? Was it easy? It can’t have been. Its always hard to give up power…. For that reason, I admire the man.
Simon Matheri has been killed. He was the most feared criminal in
But back to the question of justice in
Delamere, the grandson of our former colonial terrorizer, Lord Delamare, is still languishing in jail after making sport of shooting Black Kenyans. Apparently they are taking their time hoping that Kenyans will forget what he did. Twice in two years he shot and killed Black people on his farm. How sad is it that 40 years after independence race is still an issue for us. And Delamare, what was he thinking, did he forget for a second of his colonial history. It’s the last thing I would do if my last name was Delamare and I lived on the Delamare farm, is get into the habit of shooting Black people whenever I felt like it. He was able to wiggle his way out of the first murder but surely, he was stupid to commit the second!
Its not just the justice system that drags its feet. So last year I officially changed both my first and last names. It was a long time coming and I’ll spare you the details here. After going through the legal part of it I submitted my application for a new identity card and passport in March of last year. I got my passport two weeks later!! I was totally blown away by how efficient the immigration department was in terms of passports. The National Identity card though is a different story. I kept checking up on it last year and finally gave up deciding to give the government one full year to sort the whole thing out. I went to pick it up last week, convinced that a year latter it should be printed and waiting for me. I was further prompted by a story in the news that the government department was overwhelmed by the number of uncollected ID cards. The card was not ready!! A whole year latter the guy had the nerve to tell me to try again next week!
Convinced that something else must be the matter, I went today to the headquarters of the ID department; the source, so to speak. And was informed that their computers were down and to try again tomorrow!
Now, let me place this in context. You need a National ID to do virtually anything in
But again remember, I got my passport within two weeks as I was supposed to. So its not all government offices that are inept and cumbersome, just some. And unfortunately the ID folks are some of the most important offices that really cannot afford to be inept. That I think is the true cost of doing business in
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Poverty and attitude
I was standing in line for the bus no. 46 today after a long day trudging up and down town. First a bus came and let people who were at the back of the line get on. That got me because I’d been in line for a while and there is no reason for people who came after me to be able to get on the bus before me. Then, after some more frustrated waiting, this young woman comes up and just jumps in the queue! Granted it was behind me but that made me really mad still. I made a fuss about it despite the fact that I was not directly affected. I really hate waiting in line and I hate it even more when people jump the line!
Anyway, I soon found myself targeted by other people in the line who she had cut in front of. They went after me telling me to mind my own business! I couldn’t believe it. The no. 46 serves Kilimani, the wealthy suburb where I’m staying (but most people who live here own cars and rarely have to take public transport I’ve decided), as well as Kawangware, a really poor suburb.
My other experience queuing for a bus or matatu is the no. 58 which serves Buru Buru, not a wealthy area, but more white collar area of town where my parents’ house is. Had this woman jumped the queue on a no. 58 line, she would have been lynched! We did not take kindly to that mess and we made noise about it. The no. 46 folk seem to not mind.
So I can’t help but wonder if the differences are class differences. Do poor people care less for the sanctity of rules? Indeed, is it that poor people don’t follow rules because they are poor or are they poor because they don’t follow rules?
I see reluctance, through various interactions with people here, to follow the rules for the sake of following rules. If there is no-one to enforce the rules, then they don’t exist. For example, people don’t follow traffic lights unless there is a policeman around….. But I’d like to think that this is not just a Kenyan phenomenon. In the
Is it that the poor just give up on the system because it seems to be so heavily weighted against them? Is it that they don’t get anything out of following the rules so why bother?
Attitude
Its all tied into attitudes. I talked to a jobless relative this weekend who was blown away by my suggestion that she could just walk into an organization, offer to work as a volunteer, and be accepted. She insisted that she needed connections and to somehow use neopotism to land a position volunteering somewhere. That is just how closed off the system has been to people….
Because of my experiences living in the
How long will it take to change Kenyan’s attitudes so they grow to expect what is truly theirs?
Starbucks and development
Starbucks has just signed a deal to buy coffee directly from Kenyan farmers. I’m glad for the deal but also skeptical. I’ve been boycotting Starbucks for years now because of the way they have historically traded coffee. My father was a small scale coffee farmer. Much of my family is. Its amazing the prices they get for their coffee compared with what multinationals like Starbucks make. So this deal is interesting. I think these are the kind of investments that Sachs talks about as being necessary to get countries up the next rung on the development ladder.
Rungs of development. A ladder where
I used to think that the whole idea of development was a sham. I went through a phase of questioning the whole value system inherent in the ‘development’ project. The superiority complex that comes along with labeling some developed and others developing. I’m past that now. No mother wants to watch her child die for lack of medicine for an easily preventable disease. If development is easing that mother’s access to the medicine, then heck, develop away!!
I’m still not down with the superiority complex that many ‘development’ workers come with though. I’ve been exposed to one too many of them who think that because I’ve lived in the States I’ll join in roundly condemning the state of everything in
I watched the police commissioner on T.V. in a call-in show on KTN last night. He was completely open and vulnerable to the public. He took the criticism, explained the police approach to the current ‘wave’ of crime that is sweeping the country, and was the best ambassador the police could ever hope to have. I was so impressed by how articulate he was and totally bought into the vision that he was selling. I can’t believe it! Not only would this kind of public interview and scrutiny not have happened in the Moi days, its amazing for any democracy! Again I’m so impressed by the changes and improvements that the transition has brought. For example, Today I got interviewed by the CID (equivalent of FBI) about Akili Dada. This is part of the registration process for the organization. They have to make sure that we are not making Impressively, it was a really good experience. Hassan and I talked for hours and afterwards we talked about how he can help Akili Dada reach out to women in his home district. I hope something comes out of it.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Introductions and Contradictions
February 7th 2007. (10 hours in the country and blogging aready!)So this blog is going to be an interesting experiment. You’re actually getting an all access pass to my journal. I’m going to do this blog the same way I do my journal. On some days I have tons to say, and on others I’m too busy experiencing life to write…. I’m trying really hard to be honest to myself about my experiences and not focus on writing as a blog for outsiders. So, take all this with a grain of salt. I hope you enjoy this glimpse into what goes on into my head and if I do a good job of it, I will transport you to Kenya and show you a different side of the country, away from the tourist brochures or those infomercials of starving malnourished African orphans in slums (I hate those damn things. I think that’s an evil genre of TV. Its like porn for Westerners so they get to feel good about themselves for being so bright and smart and transforming their societies into vehicles of mass consumption at the expense of the rest of the world. No, you’re not so smart, you were just born lucky. Now stop exploiting children on those damn infomercials!)Aaahh I feel much better now.o.k. back to telling you what to expect from this blog. You’ll basically get a lot of me sharing my experiences here, processing them from both an individual standpoint but also trying to relate them to the broader global context through a reading of Jeffrey Sach’s the end of poverty. The book selection is thanks to Willy who always introduces me to new things then graciously allows me about six months for me to discover how cool they are. He told me about the book months ago but I was too clueless to realize how much I would love it. I finally got to check it out at the airport in San Francisco and bought it. I started reading it on the plane and I’m hooked. I plan on reading it and engaging with the text as I blog throughout this trip. I know, so academic…. But would you expect any different?So that’s what this blog is about: me experiencing things and processing them at an individual level and at a global level. Its basically a lot of me wrestling with issues.I really hope you will find it interesting enough to engage with me as I go through this process. Post comments to my entries and let me know what you think!
This is a country of contradictions. On the way from the airport a police officer straight up asked for a bribe. He didn’t bother trying to find a ruse for why the vehicle was contradicting a myriad of bizarre laws often made up on the spot. He just asked for money just because. He did not get one.
Fast forward to tonight where there was a documentary about the first ever open house for the judiciary. The judiciary is actually paying gobs of money to advertise its services to the public. To let people know what they do and how the average citizen can access legal services. In what country does the judiciary ever have an open house to sell its services to the citizens? I mean damn!! If ever there was a move to improve the quality of democracy, that’s it! I’m totally impressed and blown away.
On to more mundane stuff…
I checked into my apartment this morning. Damn!! Its nice. It’s a partially furnished studio (has some strange looking couches, a coffee table with stools, and a functioning TV on a stand that doubles as a bookshelf for me) I’m so excited especially about the T.V.! I have it on right now as I type this. The complex is a wonderful island of tranquility in a loud fast city. Its so worth the $500 a month. If only for the peace and feeling of security it is buying me. This is the first night spent in Kenya where I feel safe. I’m behind a tall wall topped by electric fencing and patrolled by guards. I’ve never felt safe on previous visits. This is partially because of the fact that Kenya apparently has a higher crime rate than Uganda and Tanzania combined. My parents’ home is in a rough neighborhood where, growing up, we did hear people getting violently robbed in the middle of the night. That kind of environment does not do good things to a child’s mind.
I kind of feel guilty for securing safety for myself while so many others will spend a terrorized night in their own homes. But I recognize my limitations and know that I can’t provide that for them. I used to always tell Jill this and I believe it more now, My first and foremost responsibility is to myself. If I am well, I can take care of others.
With that, I launch into the world out there after a comfortable night’s sleep in a safe apartment. I’m now focused on trying to settle in by buying the essentials like plates, a stove and soap, and re-establishing contacts with friends…….
Kenya, here I come!!!
This is a country of contradictions. On the way from the airport a police officer straight up asked for a bribe. He didn’t bother trying to find a ruse for why the vehicle was contradicting a myriad of bizarre laws often made up on the spot. He just asked for money just because. He did not get one.
Fast forward to tonight where there was a documentary about the first ever open house for the judiciary. The judiciary is actually paying gobs of money to advertise its services to the public. To let people know what they do and how the average citizen can access legal services. In what country does the judiciary ever have an open house to sell its services to the citizens? I mean damn!! If ever there was a move to improve the quality of democracy, that’s it! I’m totally impressed and blown away.
On to more mundane stuff…
I checked into my apartment this morning. Damn!! Its nice. It’s a partially furnished studio (has some strange looking couches, a coffee table with stools, and a functioning TV on a stand that doubles as a bookshelf for me) I’m so excited especially about the T.V.! I have it on right now as I type this. The complex is a wonderful island of tranquility in a loud fast city. Its so worth the $500 a month. If only for the peace and feeling of security it is buying me. This is the first night spent in Kenya where I feel safe. I’m behind a tall wall topped by electric fencing and patrolled by guards. I’ve never felt safe on previous visits. This is partially because of the fact that Kenya apparently has a higher crime rate than Uganda and Tanzania combined. My parents’ home is in a rough neighborhood where, growing up, we did hear people getting violently robbed in the middle of the night. That kind of environment does not do good things to a child’s mind.
I kind of feel guilty for securing safety for myself while so many others will spend a terrorized night in their own homes. But I recognize my limitations and know that I can’t provide that for them. I used to always tell Jill this and I believe it more now, My first and foremost responsibility is to myself. If I am well, I can take care of others.
With that, I launch into the world out there after a comfortable night’s sleep in a safe apartment. I’m now focused on trying to settle in by buying the essentials like plates, a stove and soap, and re-establishing contacts with friends…….
Kenya, here I come!!!
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