A Brief Commentary on my Trip to Nairobi, Thika and Makongenie in Kenya
I flew into Nairobi, Kenya stayed at Bluepost Hotel for the first two days in Thika, where I would later teach RESPECT at Weaver College, approximately 40 kilometers outside of Nairobi. I then traveled and lived with a host in a small village named Makongenie which was an additional 30 or 40 kilometers on the outskirts of Thika.
My experience in Africa covers multiple areas. My initial intent was to share principles of RESPECT and learn as much as I could during my stay. Although that happened, I learned tremendously more than I taught. I learned about myself and my history. I learned what happened to people who were never taken from their homeland to have their backs broken and spirits, traditions, and language stripped from them. In Kenya they walk with their backs straight and live with PRIDE. I noticed how people there were not made to be ashamed of the color of their skin or their culture daily. Therefore they are unafraid of the sun and live with PRIDE, not the self-absorbed pride that exists before a fall but rather self-assuredness. I saw a strong collective work ethic among the men and the women. I noticed that the people in Africa that I spoke and lived with were not complainers about their lot in life. In fact in their exchange of greetings I heard no one saying “I’m just trying to make it,” “I’m just hanging in there” or anything close to that. Although they had much less in a material way than many who are economically disadvantaged here in the United States, they appeared to have the energy and focus that continued to propel them forward. They lived with a sense of self worth.
The land was very enriched and green due to the climate in some areas but very dry and dusty in other areas. I was taught how an individual could eat off the land on approximately $1 a day without a refrigerator or stove and remain healthy, by gathering only what an individual and their family could consume in a day. Kenyans eat a diet that consists mainly of fresh fruits, vegetables and starches. As a healthy part of my stay, I ate fresh fruits and vegetables daily.
There is an expression from a movie that says, “there are no coincidences; only the illusion based on details not yet reveled.” From that I say my luggage, that was carefully packed, NEVER arrived in Africa. Therefore in order to remain respectable for the length of time I was there, I basically had to be stripped of everything I had and be reclothed in Africa. After going through the process of being without my personal belongings, eating, sleeping, talking, singing and living with the people, I was renamed by a collective group of young African men from Makongenie, the small village I stayed in as, “SHUJAA”—translation “WARRIOR.” My experience was like being born again.
The students in Africa were very interested in what life is like for their brothers and sisters in the United States. Interestingly, that is how they refer to us as brothers and sisters, not as blacks or African Americans. I was given an opportunity to explain the life from slavery to present day including the civil rights struggle, things they were not taught in their schools.
I felt accepted as a brother returning home; in fact I was referred to in that way often. It is my intent to one day return to Africa to continue my education. I will share more of the Africa trip in my future blogs and Internet program.
Dr. Respect (Shujaa)
