Unity in Diversity

In the XIX century Africa has been seen as a continent to conquer and exploit. It was considered as nobody's home and the white man's burden was to invade and rule over territories and aborigines, according to the principle “divide et impera”. After the process of decolonisation, borders haven't changed and several ethnic groups coexist in many African states. This is the case of Kenya with 42 ethnic groups. Bantu (67%) represents the majority, followed by Nilotic (30%), Kikuyu (22%), Luhya (14), Luo (13%), Kalenjin (12%), Kamba (11%), Kisii (6%), Meru (6%), other African (15%), and non African (1%).

This diversity has repercussions also in social aspects such as religion and language. Apart from English and Swahili, which are the two official languages, different ethnic groups speak their mother tongues, and Ethnologue reports 69 languages spoken in Kenya. Most belong to two broad linguistic families: Niger-Congo(Bantu branch) and Nilo-Saharan (Nilotic branch), spoken by the country's Bantu and Nilotic populations, respectively. The Cushitic and Arab ethnic minorities speak languages belonging to the separate Afro-Asiatic family, with the Hindustani and European residents speaking languages from the Indo-European phylum.

As far as religion is concerned, Christianity was spread by Portuguese colonist and nowadays is the most professed religion, followed by Baha'i, Hinduism, Islam, traditional African religions, based on animism and magic. Although traditional beliefs has been reduced to the individual sphere, they affect social life still now with dances and rites. There is also a percentage of atheists.

On this topic I found very interesting this article:

http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/democracy_power/kenya_ethnicity_tribe_state

It analyses the correlation between ethnicity and state, showing how the former is exploited in order to get the power. For instance, President Kenyatta based his campaign on the frustration of Kikuyu, while his successor was sensitive toward his ethnic group, Kalenjin.

In this case the European motto “unity in diversity” is a provocation. Unity is the result of the colonisation process, and ethnic groups were forced to live together in a totally artificial new state. But now that Kenya has gained its independence, ethnic groups are in conflict, power has been taken by élites that stress the diversity between minorities instead of trying to grow as a nation thanks to this cultural richness. What do you think about it? Is coexistence possible or because of the “artificial birth” of Kenya it will always be poisoned by violence?

SOURCES:

Ethnologue – Languages of Kenya

 CIA - The World Factbook - Kenya

I do not know much about Kenya so I tried to find a bit of information on the social and political reality and I discovered that the President of Kenya is Mwai Kibaki.

                                                      http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/

 

 

After he was elected on December  2002, he was re-elected on December 2007 but his presidency has been questioned for election fraud. There were a lot of violence, a lot of people died and the Kenyan police has been accused of tortures and murders not justified.

In Kenya the human rights aren't  respected. For example, the death penalty has not been abolished yet, after the fighters of Somalia during on January 2007, Kenya closed its confines and it didn’t accept any political refugee who asked for asylum and also it locked humanitarian aid for Somalia but these actions are violations of international law!

As well as this, the sexual violation against women and children is one of the most frequent crime unfortunately. The average age of a young bride is 13 years, in some cases 10 years, because the government has not yet set a minimum age for marriage of women. These young girls are married to men much older than them and they are almost always slaves. Husbands have any right to legal representation for them and also have the right to beat their wives. Despite in the new constitution there are new rights for women, their conditions have not changed at all. They must cultivate the land but they can not become the owners because for the men of the tribe only a man can have material possessions of the family.

 

 

                                      http://www.amref.it/img_din/100826donne_turkana.jpg

 

What is more, there is a strict control by the government over the media, in addiction there are a lot of intimidation against journalists.
However in 2002 was born a National Commission of  human rights (KNCHR) to control the respect of human right in Kenya.

http://www.knchr.org/

http://www.amnesty.it/

 

And..... 

 

One of my friend say me in Skype yesterday that there is an confederation called Oxfam (Oxford Famine Relief Commitee for) composed by 17 non-governmental organizations who work with 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solution to poverty and injustice. Oxfam works with local communities for sustainable development to promote awareness campaigns all over the world who want to inform the public about the causes of poverty and injustice and work to resolve them by acting on those who have the power to change things. Awareness campaigns of Oxfam aim is to mobilize the media and the general public through demonstration projects with high impact and instant recognition….so I wanted to see in Internet more information about Oxfam and I finded this interesting video about Kenya:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeMgqa_pEzQ&feature=player_detailpage

I’m arrived! And I am starving.. the food that is served on airplanes is horrible, I couldn’t get a bite of it! My discovering of this African country will start from a restaurant, I guess. =)

 

Kenya is a country located on the eastern coasts of Africa and its cousin deeply reflects its cultural background. Many dishes are made with food that the Portuguese brought/introduced from Brazil, such as maize, bananas, pineapple, chilies, peppers, sweet potatoes and cassava. The conquerors also brought oranges, lemons, limes and pigs from China and from India; all those products have now become local staples. More contributions to Kenyan agriculture has arrived from others Europeans, such as the British, who brought dishes and spices from India.

Due to its division in many ethnic groups, there is not a national typical dish in Kenya. Most of the communities, however, are nomads and relies on cattle herding (pastoralism). The traditional Kenyan food reflect the multi-racial traits of this society. Most of the dishes are simple and filling, not expensive to make since they consist mainly of corn, maize, potatoes and beans.

People who lives on the coasts rely also on fish and they have a more varied diet; people in the inland eat many cow and goat by-products (meat, milk, cheeses, etc.). rice is a very popular and important food for Kenyan cousin.

Today I was served ugali, which is commonly eaten in all the East Africa Great Lakes region; it is a dish of maize flour, cooked with water to a porridge-like consistency. he traditional method of eating ugali (and the most common in the rural areas) is to roll a lump into a ball with the right hand, and then dip it into a sauce or stew of vegetables or meat. Making a depression with the thumb allows the ugali to be used to scoop, and to wrap around pieces of meat to pick them up in the same way that flat bread is used in other cultures.

Lunch is the main meal of the day. Usually, ugali, rice or potatoes are served on a large dish that everyone can reach, using the right hand, and there are vegetables, meat or fish on the side. Fruit is commonly served in place of sweets.

Even if it is really tasty, due to all the spices that are used, and delicious, Kenyan cousin is rather poor and many children are undernourished because they do not have an adequate nutrition, most of all after the big drought that happened in the last decades.

 

http://www.foodbycountry.com/Kazakhstan-to-South-Africa/Kenya.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_groups_of_Kenya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenyan_cuisine#Cuisine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugali

My friend João told me that Brazil was not the only country conquered by the Portuguese, at the gold time of their Emperor. Before crossing the Atlantic Ocean, they went to Africa and they jumped out into the western coasts. One of the first place were they set was Kenya.

I just decided that KENYA will be my next stop! Tchau Brazil, Kenya, I’m coming, Jambo!

Breaking the taboo

Yesterday  some new friends made me  watch this incredible video and now I feel like I have to share it.

They were very proud of their former president Fernando H. Cardoso who’s one of the protagonist of this campaign called “Breaking the taboo”.

The motto of this new organization is: “The War on Drugs has failed. After 50 years of prohibition, illicit drugs are now the third most valuable industry in the world after food and oil, all in the control of criminals. Drugs are cheaper and more available than ever before. Millions of people are in prison for drugs offences. Corruption and violence, especially in producer and transit countries, endangers democracy. Tens of thousands of people die each year in drug wars.”

It’s time”... to end the war on drugs and the prohibition regime, and move towards a system based on decriminalisation, regulation, public health and education...”

Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton,  Juan Manuel Santos (President of the Republic of Colombia), Otto Pérez Molina (President of the Republic of Guatemala), César Gaviria (Former President of Colombia), Vincente Fox (Former President of Mexico) are only some of the main supporters.

http://www.breakingthetaboo.info/

Obama's speech in Rio 2011

I am having so much fun here in Rio and I am meeting new people everyday. Brazilians are so friendly and outgoing! I especially enjoy João's company, he's my guide and is teaching me few words of Portuguese. He's politically engaged, aware and proud of the role that Brazil can have in the world. Last year the US president Obama came here in Rio and João was there, standing in Teatro Municipal to listen to him. He told me it has been an amazing experience and Obama is a great speaker. I found the video of the speech online and you can write down your impressions if you want! 

Here you can also read the transcription of the speech:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/20/remarks-president-people-brazil-rio-de-janeiro-brazil

SEXUAL TOURISM

Wherever I look or I walk I see them! They’re everywhere! It’s incredible how many Italians there are here in Brazil! I’m talking not only about people with Italian origins but also tourists.

Rio is probably the most touristic city and it’s normal to see many Europeans here to have some fun having the possibility to disconnect their brain from normal life.

I’ve seen and tasted how much fun this place can offer: food, parties, the ocean and, of course, beautiful girls. All these opportunities are just not enough for someone and I’ve discovered it talking with a nice old man who was sat next to me in a bar.

He used to work in a hotel in Recife, the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco, with 1.5 million, and, over the years, he saw a lot of Italians, but he doesn’t have a good opinion on us (and after I’ve listened to him I couldn’t blame him).

Cities like Recife, Natal, Fortaleza and Joao Pessoa, in the north est of Brazil are famous for the sexual tourism and in these cities we, Italians, are very present. We are in the top with Germans and Portugueses in the list of sex tourists, especially with kids.

Natanael, the old man, described me how this horrible reality works; it’s easy for these men, they just have to choose a young girl, between 12 and 16 years old, walk with her, go shopping with her, offer a drink or a dinner and she’s going to stay with them all night.

Natanel now is retired but working in a hotel he saw this business changing. Now there are a lot of flies and some hotels don’t even ask the ID to the tourists, in this way they can maintain their anonymity. Clients can do whatever they want even if there is a number to call to denounce these crimes  but the mafia around the sex business is just too strong!