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! 

deforestation in Brasil

Today I decided it was time to spend some hours on a serious topic, so I collect some pieces of information about the deforestation of the rainforest in Brazil.

This is what Lourenço told me about it. Lourenço is doing his B-degree in biology at USP, the Universidade de São Paulo, which is thought to be one of the best universities in Brazil. He also told me some curiosities about university traditions, but I’ll tell abut them later on.

Deforestation in Brazil

The Amazon is a vast and majestic rainforest, the largest one remaining on the Earth, teeming with an estimated quarter of all known land species. The jaguar, the pink river dolphin, the sloth, the world's largest flower, a monkey the size of a toothbrush and a spider the size of a baseball are just a few of the species that we know about - there are many more yet to be discovered.

It is also home to over 20 million people including hundreds of indigenous peoples, some of which have never been contacted by the ‘outside world’.

And finally, the Amazon stores 80 to 120 billion tons of carbon, helping to stabilize the planet's climate.

Brazil once had the highest deforestation rate in the world and as of 2005 till has the larger area of forest removed annually. Since 1970, over 600.000 square kilometers of rainforest have been destroyed. This was due to economical reasons: the government lack support to built highways and colonization programs, so the farmers made their own politic and went deep into the forest to get new lands for agriculture and animal breeding. In 2001, the Amazon was approximately 5.4 million square kilometers, which is only 87% of the Amazon’s original state.

In recent years, however, Brazilian deforestation rate is considerably declined. Despite the economic growth (about 40%), the forest has been protected by the enforcement of new environmental law, incentives in utilizing already deforested lands, a more severe monitoring from satellites and less profits coming from agriculture. The last, but not least, factor involved in the change  is the expansion of the protected natural areas and the indigenous reserved. Also the strong criticism that came from private sector companies and the emerging awareness of the values of ecosystem afforded by the Amazon play a role in the change of the deforestation trend.

http://www.mongabay.com/brazil.html

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

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/forests/amazon/

Discovering Rio

13.30

After all this samba I am starving! Dancing with pretty ladies is fun but I am exhausted. It is time to have some food. I am very surprised by the fact that there are so many sushi restaurants here in Rio. I didn't know it but in Brazil there are a lot of Japanese immigrants, and of course fresh seafood everyday. Obrigado, but no more sushi for me! I am going to try the churrascaria João told me about.

19.00

Oh my God I love this place. I must thank João for suggesting me this amazing restaurant: it is called Porcão and it is one of the best Rio's churrascarias, aka meat heaven! Vegans stay away. It is an all you can eat restaurant, and what is original is that when you seat you get two cards: the green one “sim gracias”, which means that you want more food, and the red one “não, obrigado” that you use when you are full! My green card has been literally my passport to paradise, and since I am not a guy who easily back down, passadores covered me whit meat. What can I say about it? It is delicious, cooked and served in huge sticks from which waiters (oops passadores) carve the meat directly in your plate.

Typical side dishes are rice (arroz branco), manioc and vegetables of all kind. I also tasted the famous fejoada, which is a stew of beans and pork. Delicious!

I had a huge meal, so I decided to have a walk. Here in Rio beaches are beautiful: sandy, wide and free so people can sunbath, surf, play volleyball, dance and eat without any worries. The most famous ones are of course Ipanema beach and Copacabana beach.

Ipanema is known all over the world thanks to the song “Garota de Ipanema”. You may not recall te title in Portuguese, but it is unlikely you have never heard it! Maybe the Portuguese name do not sound familiar to you but I bet you've heard it at least once!

Copacabana is a little way from Ipanema, with beautiful golden sand and a lot of accommodation for tourists.

Beach going is a lifestyle: fio dental bikinis, futevoley and, here again, lot of food! Coconut juice drunk directly from the coconut, empanadas, and typical coktails such as Caipirinha. Since it was Spritz time, I decided to have a Caipirinha, made of cachaça (sugar cane rum), sugar and lime.

Brazilian beaches are wonderful but I feel there is something much more beyond them in this country that is worthy to be discovered.

I want to find out a first-hand truth about the favelas, the sexual tourism, the Amazonian forest which is being deforesting and the biofuel policy.

I will write down everything, I promise!

http://www.youtube.com/v/VbXNmIvWa1c&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1

November 5^th 2012, 10.30

I admit it .... I'm a terrible dancer but now that I have arrived in Brazil I can’t not improvise a few steps of samba! :)

The thing that surprised me is that the majority of the population lives in poverty and although they do not have enough food and money, they do not ever miss the smile and joy to live!

João, the owner of the guesthouse where I stay, I advice me a lot of places to visit and one of these is the Sambadrome!

http://www.concierge.com/travelguide/riodejaneiro/photos/photoview/60849

The Sambadrome was designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 1984 and in the last two years, it has been expanded to contain more people. It was created to became the temple of samba during Carnival of Rio, in fact every year, in February, the most important samba school parade in it!

Video: http://article.wn.com/view/2012/02/20/In_pictures_Rio_de_Janeiro_carnival/

I didn’t know samba is so famous in Brazil and in particular in Rio and Sant Paul! João say me that in Rio there is an organization of the most important samba school called “Liga Independente das Escolas de Samba do Rio de Janeiro” founded in the same year of Sambadrome, but the tradition to dancing samba is more older than the organization. Samba schools are divided in groups, from the most talented to less, they focus every efforts to preparation of Carnival, they choose the topic to build allegorical wagons then they choose the music that play the band and the choreography but only the most famous groups dancing in Sambadrome, the others parading in Avenida Rio Branco, that is a long street in the centre of Rio. Moreover every year, before the beginning of Carnival there is the incoronation of the Carnival’s queen, and this year the queen of 2013 is Evelyn Bastos, she is 19 and dancing for the Mangueira school, one of the most popular samba school!

http://elsolonline.com/noticias/view/153418/conoce-a-evelyn-bastos-la-reina-del-carnaval-de-rio-2013-

Brazil is beautiful!!:)

Japan is great, but time has come to go on and continue my travel around the world. The next stop will be…. BRAZIL! I’m so excited to go there, in my dreams it is the land of samba, caipiroska, pluvial forest sandy beaches, hot and.. really handsome girls! ;)

I can’t look forward to the landing of the plane, so I’ll be able to jump out of it and find out whether my dreams are just illusion or if they are reality! News from Rio de Janeiro coming soon =)

Berto

November 3rd, 2012

02.00

I’m back. What a weird dinner! I was looking for a restaurant in my hotel street but unfortunately there weren’t any. I had to walk for a while but finally I found this little and cute place called Fusion.

Firstly I didn’t pay attention to the name of the restaurant but when I looked the menu everything was clear...a fusion of Italian and Japanese cuisine. I’ve never heard something like that!

It seems like Italian cuisine is having a huge success here in Japan and people are going crazy for that. Anyway...I decided to stay classic asking for some sushi: six nighiri and six uramaki.

I noticed immediately the absence of the napkin on my sit, I thought they may have forgotten it, but looking at the other tables it was clear that in Japan people don’t use napkins...

I can assure you the Japanese food we are use to eat in Italy is just a bad copy of the original one; eating my dish I had an explosion of flavours in my mouth.

There wasn’t even need to ask more wasabi, my passion, because it was already inside the rise and fish rolls. The waiter, a young and polite man, told me wasabi must be present inside sushi and he was surprised that outside Japan we eat it in a different way.

I finished the dinner really late and I was the last customer inside the restaurant so, drinking my sake, I decided to ask some questions to the waiter. His name is Akinobu and he’s a 21 years old student.

He confirmed that during the last 4-5 years Italian food is spreading in Japan and, on television, there are a lot of cuisine programmes with famous chefs cooking strange dishes in which Italian and Japanese cuisine are mixed.

It was even more interesting what he told me about his job and about the absence of unemployment in his country!

He started to work at 18, as the majority of Japanese guys. Here turning eighteen means becoming adults, having more responsibilities and being independent, even economically.

But, the most incredible thing Akinobu told me was that in Japan the occupation is near 100%!

The government prefers to create useless jobs instead of having unemployed people, you can find, for example, a person who’s job is to call the elevator and to invite you to enter.

Not having a job is a huge dishonour in Japan!

This is it. The first day is gone! Keep following my blog and I’d love to see a lot of comments!

Bye guys!

I suggest you to see this short video of “Wasabi” a French movie with Jean Renò...I just love this scene!!

 

02/11/2012

08.00

Today, the destination is Kamakura!

Someone has never heard of this small coast town?...no?

Kamakura is an hour by train from Tokyo. It’s famous for its friendly atmosphere, for its zen temples and also for the National Heritage Museum in Kamakura.

…Let’s go!:)

10.30

Here I am in Kamakura! Starts the tour…..

11.00

I decided to visit the sanctuary of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu! It’s only 15 minutes walk from the east exit of Kamakura’s station, the opening hours: 9:00-16:00, closed on Mondays and at the end of each month, admission is 100 yen.

Do you like it?...it’s Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine

It is the symbol of the old capital, it was founded by Minamoto Yoritoshi, ancestor of the shogun Minamoto Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura feudal government that ruled Japan from 1192 to 1333.

15.00

As a second destination for today I decided to visit the Great Buddha, or "Daibutsu" but it will better for me to hurry up before the temple of Kotoku-in closes, because the opening hours is 7:00 to 18:00 (17:30 from October to March).

17.00

After the travel by bus, I'm just down to Daibutsu-mae. The admission is 200 yen and the supplement is 20 yen to access the interior of the Great Buddha. Let’s go!

SPECTACULAR!!..... This is the statue of the Great Buddha!!

It is a giant statue 11.4 meters height and with a 122 tons weight.It represents the Buddha in the lotus position in the sky AND it is made of bronze plates mounted on a hollow structure, which allows enterING inside the monument!

….. I think that's enough for today, the day has been full of emotions!!

18.30
I am in the train that takes me back to Kamakura, in Tokyo and I am reading a book about the religions in Japan. I feel ignorant, after the day I spent in the temple, I realised that I don’t know anything about this topic!!

Which would you say to be the most common religion in Japan?

It’s the Shintoism that is based on cult of ancestors and nature, it’s organized in about 200 sects.

In the end of the 18 hundred, it became the official/state religion and the figure of the imperator became sacred, every cities were obliged to practice the cult of the Shinto temples. But thanks to the Constitution of 1947, everyone could practice the religion that they wanted and the imperator had renounced to be sacred.

The second religion is the Buddhism, which is also organized in sects. There is also a percentage of Christians, represented by Protestants, Catholics and Greek-orthodox, but it is professed by less than 4% of the population.

19.25

…..now I leave you because I’m going to arrive at/in Tokyo!:)