Kenya

It feels almost out of character that I should begin by blogging about Kenya. I have never been there, never studied the land extensively, and know little more than your average BBC News story reader would know about daily life. Yet I feel compelled to learn more about this land of 62 languages. Maybe it's because when someone has a question about Africa, they come to me... and if I don't have an answer, I wonder what's wrong with me. My mom asked me what the official language of Kenya is. Well I knew that... sort of... I said, "They speak English... and I'm pretty sure Swahili... hmm maybe French but lemme check..." So I googled Kenyan languages... and found a wiki answer that exclaimed Kenya has 3 official languages (yay i was right) but there are 62 languages spoken throughout the country. Fascinating. Here in America we tend to get angry when people speak Spanish instead of English, I know I get irritated at work when I can't communicate with someone due to a language barrier. Can you imagine 62 languages!?! The amazing thing is that a lot of people can speak more than one. I've tried my hand at French, and while I can get by ordering from a menu, I'm probably not going to win any medals for conversation.

Let's learn about Kenya together, shall we?

JAMBO! JAMBO BUANA akira yetu missouri sana heyetu missouri bishwe hora yetu hakuna matata... I learned a song in 3rd or 4th grade that I still sing... as evidenced by what I just typed, I sing it wrong and I have no idea what I'm saying. But I thin Swahili is a beautiful language and one day, one day i tell ya, I will learn how to speak Swahili.

Here is the actual song: (at least I got "Jambo" right....) visit this site to hear the song! and see some pictures of Kenya the translation comes from this site as well

Jambo
Jambo bwana
Habari gani?
Mzuri sana
Wageni mwakaribishwa
Kenya yetu
Hakuna matata

Verse
Kenya nchi nzuri
Nchi ya maajabu
Nchi ya kupeleza
Hakuna matata

Kenya yetu
Hakuna matata
Kenya wote

Jambo - Hi
Jambo bwana - Hi sir
Habari gani? - How are you?
Mzuri sana - Very fineW
ageni mwakaribishwa - Visitors are welcome
Kenya yetu - Our (country) Kenya
Hakuna matata - (there are) no worries

Verse
Kenya nchi nzuri - Kenya is a nice country
Nchi ya maajabu - A beautiful country
Nchi yenye amani - A peaceful country
Kenya yetu - Our country
Kenya wote - All Kenyans

Here's some interesting facts about their geography
(source: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107678.html)
"Kenya lies across the equator in east-central Africa, on the coast of the Indian Ocean. It is twice the size of Nevada. Kenya borders Somalia to the east, Ethiopia to the north, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest. In the north, the land is arid; the southwest corner is in the fertile Lake Victoria Basin; and a length of the eastern depression of the Great Rift Valley separates western highlands from those that rise from the lowland coastal strip."

Kenya and Poverty
- Most people hear Kenya and don't picture the poverty found in other African nations. They see Kenyan tourism, big cities, fancy souvenirs. People think about safaris and movies and relative peace (except for a few stories a few months ago about some violence... but they don't remember where or how long it lasted).

I would venture a guess that most average Americans have no idea that between 1/4 and half the Kenyan population lives on less than $1US a day (http://www.kenya-advisor.com/poverty-in-kenya.html - caution: this website has lots of strong opinion and the author goes on to discuss his opinion on cultural beliefs and lifestyles, that while may seem true, can't be entirely the reason for poverty)

poverty has roots in many things... for Africa, many times you will find poverty correlated with weather patterns (i know, you never thought about it, but now it makes sense) If an economy is entirely or semi-dependent upon Agriculture, and there's a drought, economic development is harshly effected. Traveling away from the cities into rural Kenya, job opportunities grow scarce.

Much like South Africa which has a great disparity between rich and poor, Kenya seems to be two nations in one. Unequal distribution of resources and opportunity make for a poor rural population yet a flourishing city population...
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Kenya-POVERTY-AND-WEALTH.html

Another factor in Kenyan poverty is disease:
"The proportion of the population infected with HIV/Aids has fallen from 14% in 1997 to around 4% now. " (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5033558.stm)
- Yellow Fever
- Malaria
- HIV/AIDS
- H1N1
- Measles

I encourage everyone reading this to learn more about Kenya... as I said, I have not extensively studied it, although I have heard some fascinating stories from a friend or two in my life... and I would definitely love to visit this land one day. I've also been supporting a World Vision sponsored child from Kenya for numerous years... and am a little ashamed it has taken me this long to learn more about his country.

Resources you may find helpful:
1. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/kenya.html
2. http://www.state.gov/p/af/ci/ke/
3. http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/sponsor/sponsor-kenya

Country Statistics
Population 34.2 million
Land Mass 219,788 sq. miles
Life Expectancy 49 years
Infant Mortality Rate 79 / 1,000
Literacy Rate 74%
School Enrollment 76%
Access to Safe Water 61%
Average Annual Income (GNI per capita) US$530

4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1024563.stm
5. Google: Kenya; Kenya and poverty; Kenya and disease; Kenya and tourism; Kenya and economic development; Kenya and Violence; Kenya and peace.... just explore until your eyes get tired...