Kenya struggle
I had a very skewed perception of the world when I grew up. They say the world has gotten smaller. For me, the world was always small. I learned in primary school that the earth was round and it had seven continents and all except one consisted of many countries. For whatever reason, the world in my eyes (outside of South Asia) was made up of London & New York. The Eiffel tower was in London. And all the few billion people at that time were spread out on the continents. So you could imagine my shock when this country called Italy popped up and we moved there to live. Ironically, within the first few months of our move, I went on a school trip to Paris and found Eiffel Tower was there. And suddenly as I was atop the Tower, filled with fear that I would get blown off the tower as a punishment for thinking it was located in London, the world suddenly grew bigger. In those three years I learned all the countries that made up Europe & their capital cities. I learned the US had more cities than NYC, but they were all on paper. The first two countries that was real to me was introduced to me by my classmate who had gone there with her family for a holiday.
They were Kenya & Tanzania. They became such exotic places that I wanted to go to. It all started with the trip my classmate in Middle School (Rome) took and the photos and stories she brought back with her. I fell in love. For the longest time no other place ever took that spot of places I daydreamed about. Even in Hawai'i, I still pictured these two places as the most intriguing places I wanted to see. I even had researched places I would like to visit during college when I needed a break. Of course, it would be nice if I actually kept a back up of that information and not lose it when my computer crashed. sigh... Although I have never lived in these two countries, over time I grew attached to it. They became strangely distant homes.
And today as I follow the news about Kenya it not only scares me but it also saddens me. It's painful as I read the history of Kenya just before and after Independence through the eyes of Wangari Maathai - the Nobel Peace prize winner in 2004, in her memoir, Unbowed: A Memoir. The hopes and dreams they had to build a country that at the surface at least seemed so politically stable compared to other African countries. The main tribal groups, Kikiyu & Lou group have been at "war" with each other throughout history and over time were able to put that aside. But some bitterness still persists for the events that occurred in the past. It started out as a revolt against the elections and now the bitterness is showing up through violence. And it's just getting worse. I hope that they find some peace soon.
They were Kenya & Tanzania. They became such exotic places that I wanted to go to. It all started with the trip my classmate in Middle School (Rome) took and the photos and stories she brought back with her. I fell in love. For the longest time no other place ever took that spot of places I daydreamed about. Even in Hawai'i, I still pictured these two places as the most intriguing places I wanted to see. I even had researched places I would like to visit during college when I needed a break. Of course, it would be nice if I actually kept a back up of that information and not lose it when my computer crashed. sigh... Although I have never lived in these two countries, over time I grew attached to it. They became strangely distant homes.
And today as I follow the news about Kenya it not only scares me but it also saddens me. It's painful as I read the history of Kenya just before and after Independence through the eyes of Wangari Maathai - the Nobel Peace prize winner in 2004, in her memoir, Unbowed: A Memoir. The hopes and dreams they had to build a country that at the surface at least seemed so politically stable compared to other African countries. The main tribal groups, Kikiyu & Lou group have been at "war" with each other throughout history and over time were able to put that aside. But some bitterness still persists for the events that occurred in the past. It started out as a revolt against the elections and now the bitterness is showing up through violence. And it's just getting worse. I hope that they find some peace soon.