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Thank You
By Harmony | May 21, 2009 | 9:45 pm
Thank you to everyone who took time to send me words of encouragement after my last post. I received quite an outpouring of support, from friends, family, and even several people I have never met! I had no idea that my journal was so widely read, or that so many of you enjoy it. I feel so very blessed right now.
I am in a better place, I think. After some soul-searching, it occurred to me that my frustrations may have been ill defined. While I made a comment about having trouble with bureaucracy, corruption, and cultural differences, I’ve come to realize that the stress caused by all of these issues can be attributed to just one person within my community. Although I will have to deal with this person for the next 20 months, it has occurred to me that there may be more effective ways in which I can be doing it. The challenge for me will be standing up for what I believe, in spite of our differences in opinions, cultures, or whatever it is that causes us to butt heads so often.
As for the criticism I received about certain journal entries, I think they can best be summed up with a quote that a blog reader sent me:
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those you mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” -Dr. Seuss
And so that’s that. Let’s get on with the show.
Exploitation
Yesterday, my counterpart called tech support for help with her new laptop. The IT guy she called works for the government-run institution with which our project is affiliated. They were unable to resolve the problem on the telephone, so he offered to make a house call, if only she would pay for matatu fare. She declined, offering to meet him at the office in Mombasa instead, as she travels there regularly anyway.
Today, I met him by chance on a matatu on the way to my village. I discovered that he was traveling from a school 10 kms past my village, after making a personal visit there (the school also has a loose affiliation with the government-run institution for which he works). Since he was in the area, he decided to stop in to help my counterpart with her laptop. When he was done, he informed her that she would need to pay him for his round-trip matatu fare, since he had come all that way.
My counterpart didn’t think twice about it. Of course he should be paid; he came, and he solved her problem. I explained to her that he would have had to pay the fare anyway to make his personal visit; he was simply exploiting the situation to put a few extra shillings in his pocket. She didn’t understand my objections. Perhaps it seemed trivial to her that I would object to paying him 250 shillings, or just over $3, for his personal visit. But that 250 shillings can pay a local for a day’s labor. Instead of going to the community, it was put into the pocket of a government employee.
This story may seem anecdotal, but it is precisely the sort of exploitation that happens here every day. In my community alone, I can cite two specific examples of outright bribery between casual businessman and government official. I can’t count the number of times my matatu driver has paid off a police officer at a checkpoint. Some people call them facilitation fees. Locals call it chai. I call it shameful.
In Other News
I’m becoming quite well-read these days. Between the books I’ve received in care packages, books swapped with other volunteers, books purchased while in Nairobi, and the Gutenberg Project, I’ve rediscovered a joy for reading that I’ve had since I was very young, yet was always too busy to explore in depth.
One of my favorite topics, one that I’ve considered studying in grad school, is Economics. I’m currently reading a fabulous primer called The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford. There is an entire chapter titled “Why Poor Countries are Poor.” Every paragraph describing his experiences in the extremely-corrupt and under-developed country of Cameroon had me screaming “Yes, yes! That’s it exactly!” It’s one thing to read something in a book, and quite something else to experience it first hand.
There were some interesting insights in that chapter and one witty paragraph about public transportation that I may just have to address in my next entry. But for now, it is time for sleep. My bed has been much more comfortable these days, now that the rains have come to soften the effects of an equatorial sun. Until next time…
Topics: The Work |
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:52 am
*clap* It’s so good to have you back! I sorely missed your posts.
May 25th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Might I borrow The Undercover Economist when you’re done with it??
May 25th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
As another member of your fan club——-WELCOME BACK! WE MISSED YOU!