Kenya has been awesome so far. One of my favorite countries yet. Last week we spent time in the community of Kiti, spending time talking with members of the community where our church is located. The more we talked, the more I was able to get an understanding of the issues facing the people of the community. Africa is a giant continent and I have guarded myself against generalizing to state that the things I see in Nakuru, or even Kenya as the issues facing Africa as a whole, this is challenging as the now 54 countries of Africa are often lumped together to comprise a single entity in everyday conversation. Every time I slip up and say the issues of one small area of this giant continent are representative of the whole, I am corrected by a native and reassured that my political correctness is unwarranted. The continent shares many of the same issues, geography simply determines the severity.
Health is, unsurprisingly, one of the main issues facing the people here. I had always been aware of the prevalence of issues such as HIV/AIDs, malaria, malnutrition, and hunger in Africa. I was, however, not ready to see a room full of orphans, born with HIV. To me, this illustrated the magnitude of the health issues facing Africa. The generational obstacles that real progress faces. As we visit homes, people are sick. It is eye opening to be in a place where such serious health issues have become normal. The government provides money to parents of HIV positive children to buy them nutritious foods and medicine they need to keep their immune systems strong, unfortunately, the medicines they are purchasing aren’t always legitimate. Counterfeit medicine is a large problem and many of the neighborhood “Chemist’s” are responsible for the sale of these fake products. Many of the health and other issues relate to money, the flow of which has been difficult for me to wrap my mind around.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was in Kenya yesterday to announce a German aid package aimed at aiding the millions of Somalian refugees in overcrowded refugee camps near the Somalian border. The refugees have been coming across the border to the tune of 15,000 a day for years now, according to my contact here in Nakuru. One of the main camps has grown so overcrowded that 40,000 refugees are currently waiting outside until more facilities are created, this number grows daily. Refugee camps are yet another drain on the already limited resources of Kenya. While foreign aid will help create more facilities, it won’t stop the flow and more aid will be required. More often than not, the solutions here feel like bandages for wounds that need stitches. It is difficult to envision a Kenya operating relatively independent of foreign aid in the next two generations. One bright spot relating to the future of Kenya is education.
I have had the opportunity to visit four education centers during my time here. It has been refreshing to see the opportunities being provided to the youth of this nation. There are many schools of varying qualities here. Regardless of the physical quality of the schools, it has been refreshing to see that many opportunities are being provided. The majority of the schools we have visited are less than 10 years old and it is encouraging to hear stories of growth from year to year. Each site has had a story starting with, “when we started, it was just that building over there.” Each site also has a story ending with, “our growth is the reason we need your financial support.” The facilities and opportunities that are being provided here are, like most other enterprises, coming from foreign support. This isn’t a bad thing, the impact that foreign aid has had over the past twenty plus years has been incredible, but now you can’t help but wonder how a shift to sustainability could occur?
How do you untie a marionette and convince it to walk on it’s own? What is the first step? This is the question I feel Africa is ready to answer. From political upheavals in the north to improved education and political awareness in the sub-saharan regions, you can’t help but feel like parts of Africa are on the eve of a shift towards increased independence and enterprise. When we are young, we are pulled by our parents in wagons. Our parents teach us the value of movement and seeing new things, but they take us on the path of their choosing, we are just along for the ride. As we grow older, we get a bike, with training wheels of course. Our parents allow us to ride around an area of their choosing with the training wheels and their supervision. We are driving, but we are limited by their parameters and rules. After the training wheels are removed, we are free to ride around the neighborhood, as long as we are back by dinner, if we aren’t back by dinner, our bike will be locked up for a week. The consequences of disobedience are clear and there is a distinct authority guiding our actions. When we are old enough we get a car, and the training process begins again, now with a faster machine with a better range. The process ends when we are licensed adults, free to travel where we please, still within the broader parameters of legal systems, but exponentially more free than our wagon and bicycle days. I feel that parts of Africa are at the training wheel stage and there are opportunities for a shift towards increased independence. Other parts are closer to the driver’s-ed stage with a readiness for reduced foreign influence. Regardless of which stage a given region is currently occupying, it is essential that it’s leaders and providers of foreign aid are discussing how to move to the next stage. When the residents of areas begin asking, how can we solve our problems, lasting change will come.
These are the things I am thinking about. Thanks for reading!
Just how big is Africa? Check this out: http://flowingdata.com/2010/10/18/true-size-of-africa/
