i stop work tomorrow, with the inevitable wish that i had done a lot more.
brother holden arrives 630am thursday, so ill meet him at the airport --> hostel --> work --> hostel --> nightime bus to the start of climb --> mt kenya (mau mau caves?!) --> back to town by 19th --> leave night of 20 (england for 1 day, visit friend matt at brown for 4 days, home and start classes the next day). whew.
i think im probably done with this blog. my thoughts on that are: 1 - they easily become an exercise in vanity, and 2 - the information they convey is not that useful, but 3 - they are a good way to waste time and preserve memories.
pretty sure a journal can accomplish 3 without publicizing 1 and forcing family and friends to wade through 2. live and learn.
my final thought on kenya is that it would be a real sad statement if one could sum up their summer in a foreign land (or anywhere, i guess) in one thought, paragraph, or multiple paragraph devolve-into-minutia blog post.
that said, i had a great time and would love to do it again. thank you to my funders, supporters and partners in crime.
special thanks to pa and lucy for the best high school graduation present a kortum could ever ask for.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
meet the mungiki
*mungiki is big kikuyu gang in nairobi.
his name is george. he works at the kenya railway station on the mutatu line that i take to get home. hes about 22 (my guess), doesnt chew mira (local drug), and wears a georgia bulldogs baseball cap (looks puzzled when i ask him if hes a fan). he works weekends and morning-afternoons. hes kind of unnerved by interested muzungus but generally friendly. he reports to a 40-year old due who comes and goes, from what i can tell.
his basic job is to collect 20-50 shillings a day from each mutatu, tell them where police are stationed so they can pick up and drop off in illegal spots, and help funnell the masses of folks into mutatus and buses in a more or less orderly fashion. he says hes never done anything violent, or, for that matter, particularly illegal.
mutatu drivers tend to like the mungiki on my route (they only apparently work on routes where theres substantial enough payments being made - my town-kibera route has no mungiki working it) because they bring order and good information about where police are located. they joke with george and dont seem at all threatened by his presence. that said, ive only talked to mutatu drivers/conductors who pay him, so im working with a skewed sample.
on a larger level, it seems like the mungiki have a pretty informal/low key protection racket going for mutatus and street vendors and selected stores. if it stopped there, i dont think most people in kenya would care too much.
the problem is, it doesnt -- trade in drugs, untaxed imports, etc has driven them to up their levels of violence and levels of power vis a vis police, which creates tension. probably more worryingly, they have become tools of politicians to mobilize people for political violence and carry out behind the scenes thuggery more generally. police retaliation, citizen mobs, etc = escalation and you end up with this.
its hard to reconcile what you see in some aspects of mungiki (george and mutatu driver support), with what you see in others -- butchering police, public support for extra-judicial killings of mungiki members.
sorry i just read mcmafia so this interests me a lot more than it probably does anyone else.
his name is george. he works at the kenya railway station on the mutatu line that i take to get home. hes about 22 (my guess), doesnt chew mira (local drug), and wears a georgia bulldogs baseball cap (looks puzzled when i ask him if hes a fan). he works weekends and morning-afternoons. hes kind of unnerved by interested muzungus but generally friendly. he reports to a 40-year old due who comes and goes, from what i can tell.
his basic job is to collect 20-50 shillings a day from each mutatu, tell them where police are stationed so they can pick up and drop off in illegal spots, and help funnell the masses of folks into mutatus and buses in a more or less orderly fashion. he says hes never done anything violent, or, for that matter, particularly illegal.
mutatu drivers tend to like the mungiki on my route (they only apparently work on routes where theres substantial enough payments being made - my town-kibera route has no mungiki working it) because they bring order and good information about where police are located. they joke with george and dont seem at all threatened by his presence. that said, ive only talked to mutatu drivers/conductors who pay him, so im working with a skewed sample.
on a larger level, it seems like the mungiki have a pretty informal/low key protection racket going for mutatus and street vendors and selected stores. if it stopped there, i dont think most people in kenya would care too much.
the problem is, it doesnt -- trade in drugs, untaxed imports, etc has driven them to up their levels of violence and levels of power vis a vis police, which creates tension. probably more worryingly, they have become tools of politicians to mobilize people for political violence and carry out behind the scenes thuggery more generally. police retaliation, citizen mobs, etc = escalation and you end up with this.
its hard to reconcile what you see in some aspects of mungiki (george and mutatu driver support), with what you see in others -- butchering police, public support for extra-judicial killings of mungiki members.
sorry i just read mcmafia so this interests me a lot more than it probably does anyone else.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
water and power issues
actually, one issue. they get shut off all the time, for days at a time, and its only vaguely apparently when or why the shutoffs happen.
not in rural or slum areas either - all over the capital, at least twice a week for the whole day.
the two key issues being (1) there is no water and power, and (2) the sound of little power generators is really, really annoying.
im not sure how businesses, especially small businesses, are supposed to stay afloat without power twice a week (much less issues like showers, sanitation, or heating)
but i trust that kenyan politicians will understand these interests of the middle and lower classes and act accordingly <----- giggle
not in rural or slum areas either - all over the capital, at least twice a week for the whole day.
the two key issues being (1) there is no water and power, and (2) the sound of little power generators is really, really annoying.
im not sure how businesses, especially small businesses, are supposed to stay afloat without power twice a week (much less issues like showers, sanitation, or heating)
but i trust that kenyan politicians will understand these interests of the middle and lower classes and act accordingly <----- giggle
everything i need to know about political impunity i learned from kenyan politicians
#16: if you are ever facing coordinated international and domestic pressure to set up a tribunal that will hold you and your ilk accountable for political violence, do it. then, oh-so-sneakily deprive it of any mandate or power to investigate the election YOU have your hands dirty with.
it should be noted that i have no proof that these political machinations are actually occurring.
it should also be noted that similar political machinations have been occurring for three decades.
it should be noted that i have no proof that these political machinations are actually occurring.
it should also be noted that similar political machinations have been occurring for three decades.
and so it came to pass
that dylan groves spent his last weekend in nairobi applying for 10k for an documentary and subsequent meda campaign on abused handicapped folks in the Northern Fronteir District rather than going to hells gate and cycling alongside zebras.
will the travel gods ever forgive him?
will the travel gods ever forgive him?
Winstons got foresight
from "the decline and fall of the british empire":
Winston Churchill on 'pacification' of northern Nigeria:
the whole enterprise is liable to be misrepresented by persons unacquainted with Imperial terminology as the murdering of natives and stealing their lands.
yup.
Winston Churchill on 'pacification' of northern Nigeria:
the whole enterprise is liable to be misrepresented by persons unacquainted with Imperial terminology as the murdering of natives and stealing their lands.
yup.
Friday, August 7, 2009
some things i do
it has come to my attention that i say little to nothing of any importance on this blog. i plead guilty, but lets be serious
(1) most of the serious political/social/economic things i would say would be even more boring than what i already write, and
(2) a blog designed to stave off complaints of non-communication is not really an apt forum for them anyway
however, here is a word (many words) about what i do at work:
first, i helped design a national advocacy campaign for this 15 member disability rights organization. that means researching a bunch about disability in kenya (1 in 10 are disabled, 90% unemployed and in povery, less than 15% attend highschool, and then issues in specific areas like in kibera folks cant get around, in rural areas social stigma leads many families to hide disabled children, etc), identifying target groups and advocacy messages that might be useful in reaching them, and potential programs for raising awareness, lobbying, building networks. most of this comes out in written form (absurdly long memos that im sure few read) and meetings / workshops with kedan members. does this mean i spend a lot of time in front of really slow / prone-to-shut off computers when i could be working on the ground in kibera? yes. but its also probably the most helpful thing i do.
second, i write grant proposals. this is straightforward yet time consuming (but it does allow me to spend time in field asking abotu what sorts of things need to be done and participating in programs). also helpful. it has taught me that (1) being a competent writer and (2) being about to think in concrete, specific terms (Specific! Measurable! Acheivable! Realistic! Timely! SMART! redundant! written everywhere in advocacy manuals!) are very important. so far i have written two grant proposals for kedan members to do disability rights internships abroad and one for an advocacy grant to fight for disabled inclusion in hiv/aids care. you basically only get money if (1) you in some way deal with aids, and/or (2) you have a personal connection
third, i do press stuff where necessary
fourth, i do networking - basically meeting and contacting folks from other organizations and talking about what we do, what they do, and what we could do together. i feel like i might be better at this if i shaved and got a haircut, but its pretty easy anyway as long as your enthusiastic. for example right now im trying to get in contact with some church folks to start an inter-faith initiative to promote disability rights in the slums.
fifth, i do sports. mostly this involves playing and helping with wheelchair basketball or deaf volleyball. this is fun and draws a lot of youth towards kedan and activism stuff, so i like it.
so thats that. told ya it would be boring
(1) most of the serious political/social/economic things i would say would be even more boring than what i already write, and
(2) a blog designed to stave off complaints of non-communication is not really an apt forum for them anyway
however, here is a word (many words) about what i do at work:
first, i helped design a national advocacy campaign for this 15 member disability rights organization. that means researching a bunch about disability in kenya (1 in 10 are disabled, 90% unemployed and in povery, less than 15% attend highschool, and then issues in specific areas like in kibera folks cant get around, in rural areas social stigma leads many families to hide disabled children, etc), identifying target groups and advocacy messages that might be useful in reaching them, and potential programs for raising awareness, lobbying, building networks. most of this comes out in written form (absurdly long memos that im sure few read) and meetings / workshops with kedan members. does this mean i spend a lot of time in front of really slow / prone-to-shut off computers when i could be working on the ground in kibera? yes. but its also probably the most helpful thing i do.
second, i write grant proposals. this is straightforward yet time consuming (but it does allow me to spend time in field asking abotu what sorts of things need to be done and participating in programs). also helpful. it has taught me that (1) being a competent writer and (2) being about to think in concrete, specific terms (Specific! Measurable! Acheivable! Realistic! Timely! SMART! redundant! written everywhere in advocacy manuals!) are very important. so far i have written two grant proposals for kedan members to do disability rights internships abroad and one for an advocacy grant to fight for disabled inclusion in hiv/aids care. you basically only get money if (1) you in some way deal with aids, and/or (2) you have a personal connection
third, i do press stuff where necessary
fourth, i do networking - basically meeting and contacting folks from other organizations and talking about what we do, what they do, and what we could do together. i feel like i might be better at this if i shaved and got a haircut, but its pretty easy anyway as long as your enthusiastic. for example right now im trying to get in contact with some church folks to start an inter-faith initiative to promote disability rights in the slums.
fifth, i do sports. mostly this involves playing and helping with wheelchair basketball or deaf volleyball. this is fun and draws a lot of youth towards kedan and activism stuff, so i like it.
so thats that. told ya it would be boring
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