October 3, 2012
The past two days have proved the value of not judging a
book by its cover, and have managed to show me several things which I can
immediately appreciate and be thankful for about my situation here in Kenya. In
the span of only 5 days in the country, I have already entered many more homes
of Kenyans, many of them poor, than I ever did in Somaliland, and received
invitations to visit many more. I have had nice, intelligent conversations with
people all over the area, full of warmth and appreciation. I have exercised my
freedom, both by traveling all over the district, sans guard, and by walking
solo around the town on some errands. I’ve even chatted with a young lady who
works at M-Pesa, to the point she offered me a chair and then asked when I was
free so she could show me around Kisii, quote, because she “really enjoys my
company”. Now these things in and of themselves may not seem major, life
altering, or even particularly exciting, but they all lie in sharp contrast to
the previous year of my life, where contact with the outside was minimal,
freedom was limited to a small space within 4 walls, guards were a constant
presence, and talking with Somalis, let alone females, was a rare occasion.
Indeed these differences represent everything that I yearned
for during the previous year. I wanted the freedom to walk around and explore
on my own, the ability to develop friendships with local people and be invited
into their homes. These all being denied to me, I wished for them.
Now that I have them, I must give some space to appreciating them, for it is
the tendency of the human mind to ignore what it has and constantly bemoan what
it does not, seeking out new sources of misery and frustration. Indeed I can
now appreciate some of the things I had before more fully, such as a larger
room with my own bathroom, considerable space to do as I please within the
confines of our compound, the constant interaction with many people near my
age, the friendship of people like Suzanne, Claire, John and Dylan, with whom I
shared the experience of being young and having many cultural references in
common. Also the sense of purpose I gained through teaching, something I could
immediately engage in with my students and which never ceased to be relevant,
giving me a continual source of self-worth throughout the year. While this is
yet to come here, come it surely must, as I gain familiarity with the context
of this place, OAF’s role, and my own specifically, I will be able to start
creating value, and thus valuing my presence more and more with time.
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