“Do you want to meet the Kenyan Ambassador to China tomorrow?”  Said Kakenya Ntaiya, on our bumpy country road from Enoosaen-her remote village in the south of Kenya-to Kilgoris, a town with just-a-little-bigger-size, 20 kilometers away from Enoosaen.

“Ahahaha…” I looked at her face–all as usual-”Good joke.”

“Here is a message for you.” She handed her cell phone to me.

“‘Ming Tian Jian-Tell the Chinese to read it.’” I read the message loudly with shock, “It is Chinese saying of ‘See you tomorrow’! Who is this?”

“I told you, the Kenyan ambassador to China.” Kakenya smiled.

5:00 p.m. on the next day’s afternoon, I was therefore drinking the Kenyan milk tea contained in the Chinese-china with Kakenya in the ambassador’s house located on the hill in Gilgoris.

AP Fellow Luna Liu, dressing in Chinese traditional cheongsam-top, shaked hands with the present Kenyan Ambassador to China Julius Sunkuli at his home in Kilgoris, Kenya.

AP Fellow Luna Liu, dressing in Chinese traditional cheongsam-top, shaked hands with the present Kenyan Ambassador to China Julius Sunkuli at his home in Kilgoris, Kenya.

Ambassador Julius Sunkuli appeared in front of us with casual outfit and warmly hugged Kakenya. He then politely asked me not to mind him dressing comfortably to meet us as his friends–especially after his meeting with all different kinds of politicians from morning to evening. After greeting him in Maasai and Chinese mandarin, I started my conversation with the standard diplomatic question.

Luna Liu: Compared with the international relationship between Kenya and the U.S., how do you think about the relations between Kenya and China?

Julius Sunkuli : You know the relationship between the US and Kenya is a long relationship of good friendship. Kenya, during the cold war, was on the side of the U.S. .After the cold war, Kenya still remained a very strong relationship with the U.S. and U.S. is still considered to be a friendly country to Kenya. The relationship between Kenya and China, although was not really good during the cold war, in the comparative terms, it is better than the relationship between Kenya and the United States now. Because you know the U.S and many western countries, they adopted a system where they wanted to impose their ways of life to Kenya, and Kenya has resisted to it a lot because the idea that the American type of democracy must work everywhere in the world is considered to be offensive to many Kenyans. Worst of all, when Kenya is going through the financial hardship, the Americans attach politics to aid. They give you conditions for aid, and when you fulfill these conditions, they give you new words. There is always a new condition that you do not get aid. The Chinese policy is a win-win situation. They open up for trade, and today we can see within a short time, Kenya has erected the infrastructure. The roads in Kenya have been really built up during the last three years; this is mainly done by Chinese companies. We believe that we will get a good solution of our poverty from China, because we want to buy the cheap machinery, that is affordable, that is manufactured in China. We also want to accept the fact that Chinese are giving us good technology while Americans would rather sell us commodities. The (construction of) roads bring technology here with us. So the relationship of Kenya and China is growing a lot.

Most of the roads in Kenya now have been done by Chinese, for example, most important roads in Nairobi and Mombasa, the road from Nakuru to Eldoret and many other roads are bridged by Chinese… The Chinese are bidding for important projects, Mombasa port, Lamu port and railways from Mombasa to Kampala and to Central Africa and most likely Chinese can win them. So Chinese companies have a very huge influence in Kenyan road construction.

Luna Liu: Chinese construction companies in African region have been criticized by western media for not hiring local labors in their projects and therefore local people did not benefit from the employment created by these development activities. How would you like to address this opinion?

Julius Sunkuli : Most Chinese companies hire local people in Kenya; so I do not think that is a big problem here in Kenya. What matters for us is the quality of the road. We are the ones who benefit from the road; it will be the road for Kenyan people.

Luna Liu: How does the Chinese speedy economic development impact the economy in Kenya?

Julius Sunkuli : There is a little thing could be done, which is Chinese buy more commodities from Kenya, like tea, leather, coffee, flowers then we can try to balance the trade. But I think the trade between China and Kenya is going to grow.*

*For Ambassador Julius Sunkuli’s opinion about girls’ education in Kenya and his promise about supporting Kakenya Ntaiya’s dream-the Maasai girl school of Kakenya Center for Excellence, please see the incoming post- Meeting the Kenyan Ambassador to China Part 2 Maasai Girls’ Education.

* The interview notes were collected and proofread by AP Fellow Luna Liu on 8th, Aug 2009)

“明天你想不想见肯尼亚驻中国大使？”Kakenya Ntaiya，我在肯尼亚实习的老板，在上颠下跳的肯尼亚南部的乡村土路上就这样突然地问起来 。

“啊哈哈……干吗不？”我调侃地回答了她。

“看短信罢那就。”她递给我她的手机。

“Ming Tian Jian(明天见)—让中国人看这条短信。”我的嘴巴成了O字形，“这是中文呃!？谁？”

“跟你说了你不信，肯尼亚驻中国大使呗。”我的老板大笑起来。

如此于是。第二天的下午5：00，我恍然地坐在现任肯尼亚驻中国大使在Kilgoris乡村的家中庭院里，用中国的瓷杯喝着肯尼亚奶茶。

大使Julius Sunkuli (以下简称Julius)一身便装出现了。在热情拥抱了我的老板以后，大使很客气地说:  “你好吗？（以后为英文）自从回到这边以后，每天从早到晚都一身正装会见各种政治家，Kakenya是我的朋友，你是她的朋友，见面朋友，我还是想穿得舒服点。请见谅。”

尽管大使大约再也不想打官腔，难得与大使面对面，我于是还是以典型的外交问题开始了我们的对话。

Luna：相比起美国与肯尼亚之间的关系，你是怎么看待中肯关系的？

Ambassador Julius： 你大概知道美肯之间长久维持着良好的合作关系。肯尼亚在冷战时期，是支持美国的。在冷战之后，肯尼亚仍然与美国往来密切并且美国仍被认为是对肯尼亚的比较友好的国家之一。中肯关系，尽管在冷战时期比较僵硬，但现在来看，可以说是比美肯关系更为亲密。美国和一些西方国家，一直采取一种强硬的态度向世界上不同国家的人民推崇西方的生活方式和政治体制，这在肯尼亚是被认为有所冒犯的并难以被肯尼亚人民所接受的。尤其是，当肯尼亚在度过经济难关的时候，来自美国的国际援助总是被附带上政治条件。当肯尼亚履行完一个附带条件，美国的政治家会继续附加新的条件—总是有新的政治条款让肯尼亚人民难于获得援助。

相比之下，中国对肯尼亚的外交政策是一种双赢政策。中国对肯尼亚开放贸易，并且帮助肯尼亚进行基础建设。在过去的三年中，我们可以看到很多肯尼亚的公路是由中国公司建设起来的。我们相信，从中国我们可以学到解决贫困的方法，因为我们希望买到我们能力得以支付的中国制造的机器设备。我们也愿意接受一个现实，就是中国在通过建设道路帮助肯尼亚获得科技技术，而美国更愿意卖给我们商品。中肯关系在日益发展。

说起公路建设，在内罗毕和蒙巴萨最重要的公路，从Nakuru到Eldoret的公路，以及很多其它重要的公路都是由中国建设公司完成的。中国公司现在还在竞标一些其它的重要建筑工程比如蒙巴萨和拉木的港口，以及从蒙巴萨到卡帕拉（乌干达的首都）以及到中非的铁路。目前来说，中国公司很有希望标下这些项目。中国在肯尼亚的基础建设方面，因此是很有影响的。

Luna: 据我在美国的生活经验，西方媒体经常批评在非洲的中国建筑公司不雇佣当地劳工，因而中国在非洲的发展工程并没有为当地人民创造就业及收入机会并使之受益。对于这种意见，您是怎么看待的？

Ambassador Julius: 就我所知，大部分中国驻肯尼亚的建筑公司是基本雇佣当地劳工的，所以我不认为这在肯尼亚是一个很大的问题。我们看重公路的质量，因为这些公路将会是肯尼亚人民的，从其受惠的也将是肯尼亚人民。

Luna:中国的经济快速发展是如何影响肯尼亚的经济的？

Ambassador Julius: 我认为中国如果加大与肯尼亚的贸易，更多进口我们的茶叶，皮革，咖啡和鲜花，会有助于平衡我们的贸易逆差。但是无论如何，中肯之间的贸易一定会继续增长的。

本文是由AP志愿者刘路在2009年8月8日经整理采访录音笔记并校对翻译后所发表的

It is interesting to hear how differently the two groups in Lelmolok Internally Displaced Persons Camp addressed the challenges that they are facing now:

Group 1:

(1)No house

(2) Leaking tents

(3) Lack food

(4) Lack safe water for drinking

(5) Poor sanitation and health care

(6)Exposure of women to rapes and children to molestation

(7) Hostile community environment

Group 2:

(1)   The fear holds the community from making any investment and development

(2)   Land Ownership is still not guaranteed

(3)   Local employment policy is against hiring Kikuyus—So no job more than farming, no extra income

(4)   Local government corrupted aid goods

(5)   Food shortage

(6)   Insecurity

The first group was all consisted by Kikuyu women and the second group was all consisted by Kikuyu men.

Why there is such a big difference between women’s thoughts and men’s even those women and men are family members and experienced the same trauma due to the 2007 post-election violence?

“(It is because) the day-to-day life of women and men are so different.” A community development assistant said during the community facilitator training held by Ms. Abby Onencan, a global advisor of Vital Voices in Nanyuki, Kenya.

On the contrarary with busy women, men in Eldoret Lelmolok IDP Camp still have leisure time to play chess.

On the contrarary with busy women, men in Eldoret Lelmolok IDP Camp still have leisure time to play chess.

Although the Kikuyu communities in Nanyuki are different from the ones in Eldoret, they share the commons of social background on the issue of gender balance.

During that workshop, under Ms. Abby Onencan’s entitlement, I, as a fellow of Vital Voices and The Advocacy Project, conducted a session of Gender Awareness and Gender Balance in Community Development to the local governors who take in charge of empowering the community in their wards.  The participants were divided into three groups to profile 24-hour life of a typical local Kikuyu woman/man/youth from their communities.

The man’s character was described by the first group of CDAs as a 35-year-old unemployed farmer and his daily life was profiled as below:

On 5:00 a.m., he wakes up the women in his family and goes back to sleep. On 7:00a.m., he gets up to milk the cows and takes the milk to nearest dairy. From 8 to 9, he takes the breakfast prepared by his wife and gives order to his wife and children. From 9 to 10, he collects folders for the cows and goes to his farm to till the land until 1:00 p.m. He then takes the prepared lunch. After watering animals and repairing fence, he walks to the local market for news. During the whole four hours from 4p.m. to 8 p.m., he is drinking spray and talking with other men about politics. Around 8p.m., he goes back home, takes prepared supper, enjoys entertainment such as watching TV and A.O.B, and then sleeps.

Compared with this typical local Kikuyu man’s daily schedule, activities that a normal local Kikuyu woman did in a normal day, described by the second group of participants, exploded over the table on the flipchart.

5:00 a.m  She gets up and prey. Then she lights the fire, prepares the breakfast for her husband and children and takes the older children to schools.

6:00- 7:00 a.m. She assists her husband & younger children to dress up, feeds animals, fetches water, etc.*

7:00-10:00 a.m.  She fetches food for family and animals, etc.

10:00- 11:00 a.m. She attends community meeting, feeds animals, etc

11:00a.m.- 1:00 p.m. She prepares lunch for the family and then takes her lunch.

1:00-2:00 p.m. She goes to the local market for marketing.

2:00-4:00 p.m. She fetches firewood and water, etc.

4:00-6:00 p.m. She prepares supper, etc.

6:00-8:00 p.m. She feeds the family, cleans up the home, waters the animals, watches the children to do homework, etc.

8:00-10:00 p.m. She washes clothes for her husband and children, takes a bath, A.O.B. and sleeps.

I was having a headache by just listening to and writing down all these activities done by this represented woman character. According to one definition of working–“activity involving mental and physical effort done to achieve a purpose or result”–the typical local Kikuyu women work 17 hours a day, compared with 7 hours a day for local kikuyu men.

However, represented by the characters in this profile, women in Kenyan rural area work so much but barely do anything that advances themselves. Or, women work so much (on basic housework) so that they do not have time to advance themselves by talking about politics, reading or receiving any education. Or, the reason that they have to work so much is because they do not have alternative methods to raise themselves or to be independent.

Even more sadly, women in Kenyan rural area work so much only for increasing the family properties that are not under their control. While the men in the families who work much less hold main accesses, benefits and controls on most family assets such as houses, land, cows, goats, furniture, electricity, etc, women only have their total control on the chickens. The only benefit that women can obtain from these assets is domestic use. (For example, they can drink the milk milked from the cows that belong to their families.)

Women’s loads, in the rural of Kenya, yet end up with just feeding their husbands. The youth, who graduated from schools without being employed, also rely on their mothers– they only work for 4 hours per day with little income and waste the rest of the day by doing nothing. (Also shown by the profile mentioned above) No wonder the Kalenjin youth in Eldoret were so easily “incited” by a “salary” of 300 shilling/day, paid by local politician, to constantly cause violence against Kikuyus in this region post the election in 2007.

At the end of this post, I guess it is not hard to answer several questions about the gender issue in rural Kenya.

Who work most? Women. Who benefit least from their working? Women. Who suffer most during and post the social traumas such as the 2007 election violence? Women.

How to solve this gender imbalance?

The answer for this question is probably not as easy as “empowering women”, as the gender issue is not about women but the relations between women and men.

To better balance the relations between genders in Kenya, the hope may be left for the next generation under RFH mentorship program.

To better balance the relations between genders in Kenya, the hope may be left for the next generation under RFH mentorship program.

*etc means there were some activities were not written down due to limited space on the flip chart.

While women in Eldoret Lelmolok IDP Camp were trying to do everything to make their family tent as a home, men just wonder their life by playing chess all days.

Women in Eldoret Lelmolok IDP Camp were trying to do everything to make their family tent as a home.

“It is because women and men are different.” It is even not an answer.

“A good mentor can change a youth’s direction in his/her life.” Said Ezekiel, 25 year-old, a 4th-year-student studying bachelor of commerce in Egerton University, also a mentor within Ripe For Harvest Nakuru Mentorship Program.

After joining the RFH Nakuru Mentorship Program in his university, Ezekiel, through Flamingo Primary School teachers’ help, found his two mentees– Richard, 14 year old, an orphanage child whose primary school fee is sponsored by a church, and Joshua, also 14 year old, the same grade (8) as Richard, a child of a single mother.

I would not leave my mentees after I graduate from university. Mentorship is a relation lasting for many years Said Ezekiel.

"I would not leave my mentees after I graduate from university. Mentorship is a relation lasting for many years." Said Ezekiel.

When asked about the reason why he chose these two mentees, Ezekiel said, “It is important to have some one to advise teenagers about what kind of persons they want to become in future. As their (my mentees’) parents were not able to do this, I hope I can help.”

It is not easy for the kids who have family trauma to give their trust to a stranger. “In the beginning, it was hard for my mentees to open up. So I played soccer and music with them. We also ate and danced together. Our mentorship program also held group discussions and games for all mentors and meentees and I found sometimes it is easier for children to open up in a group. I kept visiting them about two hours per week since September last year. After I feel the basic trust between us was built up gradually, I tried to add more conversations during our activities.”

About the content of the conversations between him and his mentees, Ezekiel said he usually talked about the importance of academics. “For myself, I learned the lesson that education is the most accessible way to make people’s life different especially if they come from a poor family. Therefore I encouraged my mentees to work hard and I sometimes tutor their studies.” His two mentess, after sharing his own experience, decided by themselves to repeat the last year in their primary school in order to gain a better academic performance for getting in secondary school.

Besides school, Ezkiel also communicated with his mentees about their social life. He listened to them about their relationship with schoolmates and advised them how to treat their peers, especially their female peers. “Richard is a good boy but sometimes he behaved beyond his wish. I therefore paid attention to assist him to control his emotion.”

“The most important thing for these two mentees, as I think, is to guide them to look at their lives in a positive aspect.” He continued, “I told them that recently I could not help them on their financial problem but I want them to be confident about their abilities to live their lives.”

He described his two-year experience of doing business in Nairobi before going to the university. “I shared this part of my experiences with my mentees that to do business, basic education is needed. However, if they unfortunately are not able to have college education, do not feel there is no hope. They can start their own business, as in this field, creativity and communication skills are more essential—it is proved by a lot of celebrate businessmen who did not get through higher education.” Said Ezekiel.

Ezikiel and His Mentee Joshua

Ezikiel and His Mentee Joshua

When he was asked about what benefit he obtained through this mentorship relationship, he said sincerely, “I learned a lot.”

“I reviewed myself when I was sharing my experiences with my mentees. I understand more about what I had been missed during my teenage and I hope I can catch up with improving myself.”

“Also, I hope through sharing my experiences, my mentees will not miss the same thing and make the same mistakes as I did. It will be the happiest moment for me to see their good changes.”

“More importantly, they let me realize that I want to empower myself so I can help them and others more in future. I want to start my own business after graduation in this December, so I will have financial ability to help them on their education or support them with job positions in the coming future.”

The question about what he plans to do about his mentorship relations with his mentees after graduation therefore was not needed. “Mentorship is a thing may last for ever and I hope this mentorship circulation could be continued by my mentees’ mentoring others.”

Ezekiel just confirmed my thought. To be honest, I was also mentored by him through this short conversation.

Ripe For Harvest Mentorship Program

Ripe For Harvest Mentorship Program

“Cluck cluck…”
“Wo Wo Woo~!”
“Moooooooo….”
“Baaa……”
“Hee Haw…”

Kakenyas younger sister Violet is cleaning the dishes on Sunday afternoon.

Kakenya's younger sister Violet is cleaning the dishes on Sunday afternoon.

I opened my eyes and tried to find my cell-phone around the pillow in the darkness.

6:15 a.m. The time blinked on my made-in-China-and-purchased-in-Kenya LG cellphone screen.

I turned my head to the other side, trying to continue my sleeping. But as there were more and more sounds joining, the morning melody became louder and louder:
“Bark Bark…” –From three puppies and three dogs.
“Dang Lang Dang Lang…”–From the cowbells in the farm.
“Shi la la la…”When the wind passed through the leafs.
“ @#$%&*!” People talked in Maisai.
…

The natural alarm would not allow me to have a snooze for five more minutes. I got up. The moment when I walked outside of the door, I was dizzied by exposing myself under the sudden bright sunlight.

This is the one that sings morning alarm on 6:00 a.m. sharp, EVERY DAY.

This is the one that sings morning alarm on 6:00 a.m. sharp, EVERY DAY.

Without clear consciousness, I poured out the context lenses on the soil from the container before remembering to wear them.

“Shit…” I sat down on the coach after greeting a rooster that was standing besides, using the solution to wash the context lenses and struggled to put them on.

Finally, I was able to confirm my symptom –I had a jet-leg by traveling only 6 hours on the car from Nairobi –the most advanced metropolitan in Africa to Enoosean—a totally countryside Maisai village on the south of Kenya.

It is such a big interesting contrast: The night before yesterday, I was dancing under the disco ball in the local club with all Indian Kenyan and Mozongus until 2:00 a.m. A bottle of water there costs me about 100 shillings. Last night, I ate dinner with the kerosene light after the only solar light slowly went off, brushed teeth under the twinkle stars while seeing the moving track of a satellite and went to bed on 9:30 p.m.–no electricity, no night life.

Baby goats--The important property in the rural.

Baby goats--The important property in the rural.

My experience of living a life without electricity was OK until the moment that I had to go to the squat-toilet during mid-night. That was the moment that I truly felt regret that I was not as prepared as my fellow Kate –I did not bring a headlight or even a torch with me. But I had to force myself to find a light resource before rushing to the toilet.

After realizing the screen light on my cell phone was too weak, I somehow touched my digital camera. While the LSD screen light accompanied with starlight was enough to guide me to find the toilet, it was not enough to help me see the little hole on the ground when I was in the purely dark toilet.

Without any other choice, I used the camera flash to light the toilet. After taking several pictures about the toilet hole, the rest of battery of my camera died.

…
“ Do you wanna a cup of Kenyan tea?” Kakenya’s voice pulled me back from my memory about the horrible night, “if you want, you can milk the cows at first and drink the tea with the most fresh milk.”
…
I knew she was kidding– before her family mixes the milk into tea, they will boil it at first and restore it in the container. I would love to go back to the countryside life that I experienced when I was young back to my hometown in China. However, before getting a torch, I decided not to take any food that may cause the problem of going to the toilet during mid-night.

James Muiruri, 15 years old, a student in class 8 and a mentee within Ripe For Harvest Eldoret Mentorship Program. He and his family (parents, sisters and brothers) recently are still living in the Lelmolok IDP Camp in Eldoret.

The chairman Charles Wakibia of RFH Mentorship Program was walking with his mentees.

The chairman Charles Wakibia of RFH Mentorship Program was walking with his mentees.

AP fellow Luna Liu interviewed James on 15th, July about his experiences during the 2007 post-election violence and his opinion about the RFH program. (Luna as L and James as J)

L: What happened to you post 2007 election?

J: On the night that the election result was declared, my parents’ house was burnt. My family lost almost all the animals and food, and I lost my books and uniforms.

L: How did this night and the whole turmoil impact you?

J: I realized that I need to study harder in order to help my parents in future as I saw most-uneducated people suffered most during the violence…Since we moved to the camp, I gained more awareness about basic hygienic. For example, I know we need to dig the drainage around our tent to reduce mosquitoes and malaria infection… I think I am better at time management than before as I have more things to do to help my parents, compared with the time when we were living in the house.

L: What are “more” things that you have to do since living in the tent?

J: Before digging a well nearby our tent recently, we had to walk three kilometers to fetch water for family use. I need to clean the toilet more often (as it was public shared) constantly maintain the space in our tent.

L: How do you think about the Ripe For Harvest Mentorship Program during your living in the IDP Camp?

J: The mentors brought us clothes. They also told me how to live my life in the tent. They also listened to our experience, when we almost lost everything and had no hope. Their visiting let me feel that I am not forgotten and I can seek help from others. My mentor sets up a good model for me—he is from a poor family and raised by his single mother, but now he is a (engineering) student in Moi University. From his experience, I knew the importance of hard working. He also taught me how to treat the local Kalenjins and now we are accepted by out Kalenjin neighbors.

L: How about your schoolmates? How did your Kalenjin schoolmates treat you post 2007 election violence?

J: Some of them said to me as “Kikuyu, go back to your own land!” But my Kalenjin friends in the school understood my situation and their attitude towards me did not change.

L: Besides your experience about the 2007 post-election violence, what else do you talk with your mentors?

J: We talked about the drug issue as some of my friends have this problem. We also talked about children trafficking as one of my close friends disappeared and we suspected that he was trafficked.

James Muiruri- A mentee in RFH Mentorship Program

L: What other activities did you do with your mentors?

J: We played soccer, jumping and volleyball. We also made jokes with each other. I am really happy to be with them.

L: What more do you think should be added to your mentorship program?

J: I wish to have more sports and academic tutoring. Also reading materials such as innovation books.

L: What things do you think should be done to prevent the same kind of trauma from happening again?

J: The fighting groups should be reconciled as I think. I am not comfortable with ICC (trial) as I think there will be more violence happening to us. A good governance is also needed.

“My parents, my relatives and I are in suspense about the release of the Waki List—We are all afraid that we may suffer from attacks once again if the Kalenjin politicians’ names are mentioned on the Waki list or their convictions found.” Said a Kikuyu primary school student within the RiPe For Harvest Mentorship Program.

The men group in Eldoret IDP camp

The ICC trial may be not enough to erase the root of Kenyan 2007-2008 post election violence, as the controversy in terms of land property had existed among Kenyan tribes post colonial period due to the land-redistribution policy announced by the first president Kenyatta after national independence. While Kalenjins, the major tribe in Eldoret, believe that President Kenyatta, as a Kikuyu, migrated a huge population of his own tribe from the Central Province to the Rift Valley Province (also as “White Highland”), where the soil is more fertilized for farming; the Kikuyu men group that we interviewed in Eldoter IDP Camp told us the other side of the story.

“Maisai was the original tribe that lived in this area (the Rift Valley). Since British Colonial, different tribes, Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luo, etc, were brought by the white people from all parts of the country here to work in their farms. After independence, the local farmers either bought or were assigned with lands left by their former employers. It is not true that we Kikuyu obtained a larger proportion of land than other tribes.”

Another man continued, “However, the local politicians always promote the local major tribe Kalenjin with the idea that that we, Kikuyu, stole their land as a result of being favoured by President Kenyatta’s land policy. During the election campaigns in 2007, those politicians spoke to their tribal supporters as ‘if you vote for me, I will give the land back to you and let Kikuyu go back to where they came from!’”

Besides being incited by political propaganda on the issue of land, Kalenjin and other tribes, under politicians’ emotional manipulation, fear the fact that Kikuyu tribe is the majority nationwide. There is a belief among Kalenjins in Eldoret that if Kikuyu no longer held their land, they are not able to populate and therefore Kikuyu’s population will decrease, so does their economic and political power in Kenya.

If Kikuyu, a minority in this region, have been suffering so much due to the majority’s hostility that has existed for decades, why do not they move to other places where local communities are friendlier towards them? For example, the province where most residents are Kikuyus?

“If we could have this choice, we already did.” Grimly answered a Kikuyu man in the camp.

“It is not possible to sell the land here with a reasonable price as the only customers who will buy the land from us are local Kalenjins. The land only could be sold out with a very low price under their control.” He continued.

Did they seek help from governments for group resettlement in other regions?

“The local governors did not support us to do so.” Answered the men group. Ironically, the reason that Eldoret local governments refused to help group migration is because they hope to keep national tribal integration—at least, geographically.

If Kikuyus in Eldoret IDP camp do not account on ICC trial, what do they think should be done to resolve the long-lasting conflicts between them and local Kalenjins?

“We need a new legal system—A revised constitution that protects our property from locals’ intervention and uncorrupted local courts where the local criminals could be punished for what they have done to us.” Concluded the men group in IDP Camp.

For most recent report about life in Eldoret IDP Camp : Scars and Sufurias (http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144020152&cid=4), published by Standard Newspaper on Monday 27th, July.

Charles Wakibia, 21 years old, a 3rd year student majoring in Civil & Structural Engineering in Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. He joined the Ripe for Harvest mentorship program as a mentor in October 2008. Charles had been the Chairman in the mentorship program taking in charge of 19 other mentors in Moi University.

(Left) Charles, Chairman; (Right) Francis, treasurer

Francis Cini Munyi, 22 years old, a 3rd year Mechanical and Production Engineering studentin Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. He joined Ripe for Harvest in 2008, acting as the treasurer, programs co-coordinator and the group photo man. He was the brain behind IDP’s donations collection and Tent Repair programs for Eldoret IDP Camp. As the group photo man, he came up with the idea of the R4H pictorial page. Currently he is writing an article MY DIARY WITH THE IDP, which will cover his experiences as mentor and a friend to the Eldoret IDP.

Interview with Charles and Francis about Eldoret Mentorship Program:

* Background of Eldoret Mentorship Program:

Kenya is still recovering from post 2007 election violence and the country had a large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Eldoret is seriously affected by the violence. In view of this, students in Moi University decided to visit a nearby IDP camp and try to introduce the mentorship program to the adolescents who were present within the camp.

Initially it was a problem as the concept of mentoring was new and misunderstood by most parents in the camp who were hoping that the mentors were going to take their children and provide them with better living standards and a better education. Mentors therefore spent a few sessions with the parents to explain to them that what they were actually university students who were willing to share experiences with the children, in order to help them deal with the trauma obtained during the violence and guide them to become morally upright citizens in future. After most IDP resettled back to their own lands from the IDP camp this May, this mentorship program is not over but still developing, as mentors said: “Mentorship is a relationship that may last for many years.”

“We have been forgotten by the government after 2007 election violence.” Said a young Kikuyu woman, mother of two young children in the Eldoret IDP Camp.

During the most turbulent two months after the 2007 election, most Kikuyus in this region moved constantly from shelter to shelter, relying on the aid offered by their relatives and churches.

Almost one year and half after the election violence, the Kikuyu internally displaced persons are still living in the tents.

About six months after the violence, most IDPs had moved to camps across the country, such as the IDP camp in Eldoret where the tents were being supplied by the Red Cross, Catholic Relief Services, and USAID. The Kenyan government made a one-time grant of only10,000 shillings (US $130) to each household in order to cover lost or destroyed household items. And up until March this year, IDPs had been receiving food rations from the Red Cross amounting to 24 kg flour, 2 kg soybeans, 2 kg porridge flour and 1 litre of food oil per family of four per month only.

“We had to calculate exactly how much we use for each meal, but we were lucky compared with the families who have older kids.  My younger kids did not eat as much, one is six and the other one and a half years old,” the Kikuyu young mother continued.

“That time, we even had to pay a fee to use the private-owned toilets nearby.” The mother-in-law of the young mother continued, “We were basically living in filth until the mentors of Ripe For Harvest brought us some clothes donated by their university schoolmates. They also assisted us in digging ditches around the tents to reduce mosquitoes and relative diseases.”

Before this toilet was donated by the Red Cross, the refugee even had to pay the fee to use the personally owned toilet.

The Kikuyus also endured intense emotional trauma in the 2007 post-election violence. “We felt we were betrayed by our Kalenjin neighbours—they guided the Kalenjin youth to burn our house.” The mother-in-law of the young mother said. “We [Kikuyus] had intertribal marriages with Kalenjins. But after the violence, a Kikuyu woman who had married a Kalenjin man was chased away by members of the Kalenjin family.

Today, while most families who live in the Eldoret Camp have resettled in their own lands, many are still fearful, and feel that they live in a hostile environment among their Kalenjin neighbours. When we asked them about the effect of reconciliation meetings between Kikuyu tribe and Kalenjin tribe held by the local government after the violence, most of the Kikuyu refugees said it did not work as most Kalenjins who participated in the meetings were either forced to come or came just for material handouts.

When we asked the refugees what they thought about their Kalenjin neighbours now, the Kikuyu women in the camp said, “We want to forgive them as we are all living in the same land.”

However, Kikuyu men said, “We are tired of forgiving—local Kalenjins attacked and harrased us after every election since 1992. They destroyed, we rebuilt. They destroyed, we rebuilt. Now we are old, and we cannot afford to spend what remains of our lifesavings rebuilding. Let justice be done and the perpetrators punished. Otherwise, how can we feel safe doing anything to restart our day-to-day lives?”

A Kikuyu man standing on the mud where his house was used to be. One of the reasons that he is still living in the tent is because he did not have any money to rebuild his home. But also, as he stated resignedly, “I am less and less tempted to rebuild my house as I don’t know how soon it will be before I lose it again.”

The Kikuyu women’s desire to forgive is admirable, but there is sense in what the men’s demands for justice. Will justice be delivered through the International Criminal Court?

On Friday 17th July, the EU announced it would aid the International Criminal Court in the Hague bring to justice the suspected perpetrators of Kenya’s 2007-2008 post-election violence (See Daily Nation http://allafrica.com/stories/200907161023.html). This international prosecution process is moving forward at a surprisingly fast pace, however, the shattered lives of the Kikuyu refugees that were largely destroyed in the Rift Valley about two years ago have barely begun to heal. Just a day before this announcement, we, as Fellows of The Advocacy Project and Vital Voices, were in the Kikuyu Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Kesses, Eldoret, finishing up our interview on the Ripe For Harvest Eldoret Mentorship Program in a leaking family tent during the afternoon storm.

The Ruin of A Kikuyu's Home

A man in this camp, around 50 years old, told us he had been living in Eldoret as a farmer since 1974. During most election periods (1992, 1994, 1997 and 2007), he said, there were riots caused by locals (mainly from the Kalenjin tribe) against the Kikuyu tribe (as a minority in the Rift Valley area) under the manipulation of politicians. The riots of 2007 were the most severe. He suspected that the local Kalenjin residents began preparing for the riots since 2005 during frequently ‘public’ meetings that excluded the Kikuyus in the region.

During 2007 national riots, in Kesses most Kikuyu owned properties were totally destroyed; their lands, homes, clothing, food, cows, goats, and chickens were either burnt or stolen by members of tribes who voted for Odinga. A 56-year-old single mother told me the total assets that she lost due to post-election violence amounted to 1,500,000 shillings (about US $20,000).  (The average rural worker made 2000 shillings a month, and so her loss amounted to roughly 10 years wages.–See the Article of “Labor Market Institutions and Employment Opportunity in Kenya” )

In this group, most women are above 50 year-old--They still have to struggle with raising themselves, their children and their husbands.

However, the loss of property was nothing compared to the loss of human life. A 73 year-old Kikuyu woman and a 40 year-old Kikuyu man were killed by the locals. “At 6:00 p.m. the evening the election results were announced.” Another man in the camp described his experience of the 2007 election. “My friend and I were in my house. We heard screaming and then saw hundreds of local youths carrying stones in bags to surround my house. Then they began throwing stones through the kitchen window. Some of them began using hammers to destroy my living room. Others were gathering dry maize in order to set fire to my roof which was made of plants leaves.”

“Fortunately, I managed to escape and hid under some banana leafs,” he continued.  “However, my friend was caught by another group of youths while fleeing the home. I watched him get stoned to death by those local youths…”

“…The district officer and his attendant received news of [my friend’s] death and was trying to find some fuel for the car so that he could move my friend’s dead body. However, the youths blocked them. The officer ordered the gang to give way, but a fight erupted and he was forced to shoot a Kalenjin youth on his leg. The officer and the policeman were then killed by the mob and my friend’s remains were eventually eaten by dogs.”

Across the country, over 800 people lost their lives to post-election violence, and around 600,000 people who survived were often left with nothing.

17:06 P.M. Town Center, Nakuru, Kenya
Outside of a local super market in the town center of Nakuru, when I was enjoying my “luxury” ice cream as a little reward to myself for working hard during the whole week, a street boy, around 12 years old, walked to me from the corner and raised his hand:
“Give me.”

Seeing my face filled by question marks, he made a gesture of eating. He meant my ice cream.

The center of the town for shopping.

I of course did not question about what he wanted me to give him. Rather, the question was about whether I should give him and why.

My thinking process therefore was:
He was not asking for bread but ice cream. –> Bread can feed him if he was hungry, ice cream cannot. –> If he could not afford ice cream as a kind of luxury goods, he should bear his life without ice cream. → It is the same as that a poor adult who cannot afford a bottle of beer could not expect a stranger to give him a bottle of beer for free.

Moreover, I would not consider giving a stranger the leftover (even if I cannot finish the whole cup) as a respectful action, even he is a street boy dressing shabbily, even he requested. It is different from sharing it with a close friend. Most importantly, I do not think there is any good effect to him if I gave him the ice cream.

I eventually did not give him the ice cream. However, similar sceneries have been repeatedly appeared to me since I arrived in Kenya and each time, I have to make a complicated moral judge—to give or not?

Most times are about money.

Marleen, 5 year-old, and Anthony, 8 year-old, are playing together in the Door of Hope Children Center.Their clothes were bought by the Sister from the second hand market.

In Nairobi, a Matatu bus driver did not want to give change back to me, with the reason of “don’t you want to help me support my family?” In Nakuru, I was having a picnic with local friends after hiking to the crater, a 5-year-old (around) shepherd boy showed up in front of us, “giving order” to me with anger, “Give me 5 shilling.” Even when I was sitting in the Matatu bus station waiting for the departure to Eldoret, two old ladies who were sitting besides me tried to talk with me: “
@#$%%&(in Swahili) Money, money!”

The habits of begging money from foreigners, no matter politely or impolitely, are not only reflected by local individuals but also by the local NGOs, charities and some community organizations. The more I co-worked with these local institutions, the more I feel the desperate environment of seeking foreigners to help them escape poverty and other problems generating from poverty.

“We need money to till the bathroom for the children center.” “We need more donors, the students are out of food.” “This…” “That…” Compared with most such institutions in Asian developing countries, the “dependency culture” in Kenya is much heavier.

When is the end of asking and giving? When most donor countries are busy of taking care of their own finance this year, it is the time for the recipient countries to review the recrimination as a result of longtime donor-dependant relationship, which is far from being productive or necessary.

In Kenya, American mean money. However, Obamas policy towards Africa seems seeking a departure from business as usual donor-recipient relationship.

President Obama, the son of Kenyan, “has been criticized for not doing enough for Africa—at least not as much as his predecessor George Bush…(It is because) he is more inclined that Bush to see aid as a temporary solution to a problem that needs to be solved institutionally and through better governance.” Said by Ms Warah, an editor with UN, on the newspaper of Daily Nation, Monday, July 13, 2009.

For a sustainable development, Kenyans have to build their fates on their own. People in the institutions above could start from themselves. For the directors of schools or children centers as an example, it may be wiser to consider buying cows, goats and chickens and planting vegetables as constant supply of children’s’ food rather than spending money on tilling the bathroom well—the cost was supposed to be saved by simply painting, if there is a good budget control in these local charity institutions.

* For more pictures about the “Door of Hope” Orphanage Children Center,