The Basics: Inequality

I was brainstorming the other day on things that I could write about on my blog, and I realized that I've really skipped some of the most fundamental topics about Kenya. Things like poverty, religion, crime, etc.: These are so important and so obvious, but they are hard to talk about. First of all, I want to be fair and sensitive to the issues, and speak to them in a way that is accurate and politically correct. This is kind of hard right now, because what's considered impolite and polite here is SO different than in the US. Let me explain: Here, people don't act like we're all equal, because clearly we're not. Here, there are distinct classes. There are the poor, and the rich. And the poor wait on the rich and no one is uncomfortable with this. For instance, when I am at work, me and the boss will be given a soda. Me because I'm white, the boss because she's in charge. All the community health workers can look on and see that they are of a different "level," but this is accepted here. Of course at first, this made me really uncomfortable. I didn't want to be viewed differently, I wanted to "fit in!" YEAH RIGHT. Not possible here. I've had to let that go. If I try to push that I'm equal, it's actually considered very impolite. How dare I refuse that soda because 30 poor people are watching me! Now on the other hand, in the United States, we like to pretend we're all equal. We all say we're middle class, we deny racism, we hate to discuss inequal gender roles; and in many ways we are a much more "middle class" society in the US. In Kenya though, the differences are glaring instead of subtle.

My point here is that I've gotten comfortable with inequality. It doesn't shock me. I speak frankly about race, which can rub people the wrong way (with very good reason). On top of my desensitization, the vocabulary used in Kenya is quite different. You can outright call someone fat (I get it everyday), you can straight call someone "black" or "white" or "Indian," without the awkwardness there is in the US. To top off my discussion difficulties, I am so emotionally entrenched in these things. I have great bitterness about the way I'm viewed here, as a bag of money or a woman to receive cat calls. I have great bitterness about the government's blatant corruption, which is feeding my Kisumu family's poverty. So when I talk about things I can get angry.

I want to talk about these things though. I can't leave this country without explaining to all my family and friends exactly what the poverty is like, or without telling you how incredibly passionate religion is here. You would miss some of the most influential parts of this place. So this is what I will try to do in the next few posts: tell you the basics.