Shikamoo

Shikamoo. This means Hello or Good Day, to an elder, in Swahili. I love this word, particularly because every letter that I receive from my Compassion child starts with "Shikamoo my friend". I love it.

I’m leaving for Kenya in 26 days and I cannot wait.

I’m traveling with twelve other students and two instructors for school. I just had my first class where we learned from others about their conservation and human development efforts in Kenya, specifically from the Dean of my school and his human development work and from the Denver Public Zoo on their conservation work. It was amazing to hear about their experiences with the land, animals, and the people.

Although I don’t have an exact schedule, I assume that it may go something like this:

Day 1: First, we will fly into Nairobi where we will spend 1 to 2 days learning from other social work practitioners and students about what social work is in Kenya.
Day 2: Visit one of the world’s largest slums in Nairobi. And continue to learn from those at the university.
Day3: Begin our travel to the southern part of the country in the southern end of Tsavo National Park. We will be visiting an elephant orphanage where we will learn and participate in the important connection between animals and humans.
Day 4 through Day 13: Begin our work in several different communities/villages. We will be working with those in the village to develop strategies for economic sustainability. Because this part of Africa, like many parts, is agrarian, economic sustainability often means looking at issues of conservation.
Day 14-15: Head back to Nairobi and get ready to depart.

In preparation for the trip, one of the books we are reading is called “The Challenge for Africa” by Wangari Maathai (2009). A Kenyan native, Ms. Maathai started the Green Belt Movement with a focus on social issues, mainly environmental conservation. She received the Nobel Peace Prize for her sustainability work in Africa. Her book is worth reading for advocates, workers, or anyone interested in learning more. Her perspective is unique in that she is a powerful, educated, African woman who has experienced civil war, corruption, and exploitation of her own land and people.

I pulled out a couple of important quotes/concepts from her book thus far:
She states, “I strongly believe that if Africa, particularly that part of the continent south of the Sahara, is to progress so it is no longer dependent on aid from the international community, or if it is to cease being a byword for poverty, conflict, and corruption, it is on hillsides like these and with women such as that farmer that we must work. That’s where those of us concerned about the fate of Africa and her citizens must focus our energies, for it is where the vast majority of Africa’s peoples are, and it is with their lives that we must engage.”

The woman on the hillside that the author speaks of was preparing the soil for seed in such a way that was incredibly inefficient. So much so, that the soil would be ruined and the seed most likely not take root. She states that if only African states’ agricultural services were not underfunded than maybe this woman would have been provided the education needed to prepare the land correctly. Maybe she would have access to more modern equipment. And maybe she would have more support that would enable her to farm efficiently and less destructively to the soil.

This similar issue of underfunding and lack of education comes up in many areas all over Africa: HIV/AIDS education and access to antiretroviral treatment. Access and education about childhood diarrhea, which kills 1.5 million children per year in developing countries- more than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined (Interesting article: As Donors Focus on AIDS, Child Illnesses Languish). Access and education to mosquito nets for the prevention of malaria. The list goes on.

She continues, “Africa has been on her knees for too long, whether during the dehumanizing slave trade, under the colonial yoke, begging for aid from the international community, paying now-illegitimate debts, or praying for miracles… They [Africans] must believe in themselves again; that they are capable of clearing their own path and forging their own identity; that they no longer need to be event to today’s needs; and that they no longer need to be indebted – financially, intellectually, and spiritually – to those who once governed them. They must rise up and walk.

Good words. More to come.