Spring 2006

Social Sciences

Colonial Echoes in Kenyan : A First Person Account

Molly Cunningham In this paper, I critique the educational system in through Class of 2008 personal narratives from a visit I took there in 2004. By examining Cultural and Social Anthropology, English the history, curriculum, and language difficulties of this system, I paint a complicated portrait of a system that is overburdened and underfinanced. Deliberately avoiding any normative conclusions, my purpose is to expose the postcolonial currents that run through the educational system, continually stunting its success and compro- mising the autonomy of its subjects. Education must become a site for transitions to independence, not only for the young minds in the classroom, but also for a nation still plagued by postcolonial ghosts.

arrived at New Hope Children’s She also sends them all to school. Some me to praise God. Centre in the Uplands district out- of them even make it to , SMy students in my English composi- side of , Kenya on March 13, and “Mama” Chege prays she may even tion class at the local school were no dif- 2004. The two-story orphanage is have the resources to send a couple of the ferent. In their writing, every student was Ilocated off the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway, girls to . “as happy as a peasant marrying a king’s right on the . It houses The notes started to come in the sec- daughter,” or vowed to remember some 65 girls, most of who are between the ages ond week of my visit. Throughout my event until “the worms ate [their] corpse.” of 12 and 16. I was there to live and vol- day, between chores, games, or prayers, a Besides these identical idioms, most of unteer in the home and teach at the local little hand would slip a little piece of pa- their writing was incoherent, filled with school. Most of the girls were orphaned per into mine. They were each decorated muddled spelling and grammatical er- by the AIDS epidemic; many of them had with unique flair and signed with a unique rors. This did not deter me; in all of my suffered some combination of sexual and name. But they all read the same: earnest ignorance, I only wanted my stu- physical abuse, malnourishment, and molly, dents to discover some joy in writing. I homelessness. There are 1.7 million such first of all recieve a lot of greetings like a asked them to dream of something wild children in Kenya, approximately 40% of sand in the ocean. next is to thank you and exciting and then put it to words, in a who lost their parents to AIDS (Unicef). because of the love that you love us with. story. I told them not to fret over the rules may God bless you. and in the last day, New Hope offers sanctuary to a lucky few they had been taught, but just to have fun. you shall be called. sons of God. and you of these kids and, in many ways, rehabili- will see the kingdom of God. bye bye. Eight of my 37 students turned something tation. The home was founded in January from your lovely friend in. Only three of those were stories; the 2000 by a woman named Anne Chege, Elizabeth Wangui other five had just copied what I had writ- who explains her dedication to the girls More than half of the girls referred to ten on the board. I was excited about the as “answering God’s call.” She brings up “the sand in the ocean.” Many quoted the stories that I had, especially one involving the kids in the Christian faith and gives Bible or just jotted down “John 3:14.” All a girl who escaped rape by telling her tor- them practical training for the real world. sent greetings to my family and called on menters that she was HIV/AIDS positive. 37

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When I boasted of this student’s story in as a kitchen, and besides the small, ratty systems (Ntarangwi 221). the teacher’s lounge, the other teachers couch that I am sitting on, there is no Here begins the legacy of the colonial laughed and explained that the class had more furniture. Our legs awkwardly min- education of Africa: the first school in read that same story in a different class gle, hanging off the couch onto the single Kenya was created by a church mission- earlier in the week. They did not feel I patch of floor space. ary society. Its purpose after evangelism “I am lucky to have this place. It is quite should penalize the student; on the con- expensive to live in the city, especially was to develop labor and staff for the new trary, she was given good marks for her with no job.” My host is an unemployed, colonial administration (Ntarangwi 213). good penmanship and grammar. unmarried, middle-aged woman. She is The colonial government’s mandate for I believed my students were miss- personable, welcoming, and bright. But development amounted to defining native ing something—some main point. But she constantly laments her status and customs, health, and food as bad while es- how could I understand what it was? Their prospects, concerned for her financial tablishing itself as the authority of change world means slums, unemployment, de- future. She showers me with questions in education and Kenya (Ntarangwi 220). veloping—stagnantly, desperately. Their about the United States, but eagerly cuts The colonial powers needed to start country’s history reveals insidious colonial off my answers. capitalizing on their investment. They be- takeover, strife and struggle, and a hard- “I wish that is how it could be in Kenya! It gan injecting their own ideas of capitalist must be so nice there. Many single men! earned, twisted version of independence. And with jobs! Our country is such a ideas of production, exchange, industrial- Their lives outside of the classroom mean mess, so many without jobs and poor. The ization, and agriculture into Kenyan cul- everything to how my students will learn government takes all of the money. It is so ture. It was in this “waxen pot of colonial to think and what their education will corrupt. Sometimes I wish the white peo- urbanization [that] ethnic particularism represent. We must come to understand ple, you know, that Britain would come and African nationalism developed simul- their present and their past and begin to back and rule for us!” taneously” (Ochieng` 66). However, the ask ourselves: what will be their future? new modes of economics introduced by I have sought to question and under- The Context: History and the the British clashed with the traditional, in- stand what I experienced in Kenya, ex- Economy digenous methods, and by the 1920s, pro- ploring its history and economy, and ex- duction as dictated by the settlers began to Some Kenyan history textbooks gloss amining the educational system in terms fail (Ochieng` 104). the country’s colonial history positively. of its curriculum and language practices. Tension began mounting as the effects They characterize the British as a savior of These explorations have revealed inces- of the Great Depression began to reverber- some sort, “out to eradicate the slave trade tuous connections between the legacy of ate around the world in the 1930s. Conflict and spread a ‘civilizing mission’ designed colonialism and the psyche of a people, and consciousness were rising, as Africans to make [Africans] all full human beings, being perpetuated—despite its better in- suffered the friction and failure of colonial on earth and in heaven” (Independent Ke- tent—by the educational system. It is a misrule (Ochieng` 140). The British set- nya 3). In this light, British colonization dense and sensitive topic, and while I have tlers reacted by attempting to exacerbate appears as a benevolent, Christianizing tried to tease out some questions and nu- differences between ethnic groups. De- force, implemented with the Africans’ best ances, I cannot boast of any definitive con- spite these efforts, the resistance, especial- interest in mind. clusions. ly of the powerful union movements, was However conciliatory this view This is by no means my story. My in- powerfully multi-ethnic and tended to is, it is flagrantly incorrect. Kenya was sight cannot offer any candid portraits of organize around class lines (Independent snatched up in the Scramble for Africa at the culture and the institution I wish to ex- Kenya 9). Tensions peaked in the early the beginning of the twentieth century as a amine. My words can only show the colli- 1950s when anti-colonial militants broke means of protecting Britain’s naval ‘sphere sion of multiple voices and stories. Hope- out into violence against colonial powers of influence’ (Ochieng` 12). “Direct ter- fully this polyphony can shed some light and loyalists. A state of Emergency was ritorial take-over was a way of forestall- on the relationship between Africa and the declared, and the “Mau Mau Rebellion” ing competition and controlling areas of West, focusing on the base of socialization was eventually quelled. In the ensuing re- strategic economic value” (Independent and the vehicle that will lead us into the taliation undertaken by the British, 11,503 Kenya 3). British settlers came in by the future: the education of our children. Africans were killed, though some experts masses, snatching the best agricultural As a guest, I accept the hot tea that is of- estimate the numbers actually spanned far land. They began laying the groundwork fered me although I am nearly sweating. beyond these official statistics into a mas- for dependence, installing a colonial gov- It’s sunny and cool out in the bustling sacre comparable to genocide (Bergner). ernment to replace the former, less formal city streets, but in the apartment where I But the unrest could not be stifled; the am taking tea, I can hardly breathe. The systems of the peaceful, indigenous Ke- stage was set for independence. The Brit- apartment is really a room, or maybe a nyans. Christian missionaries provided a ish settlers began identifying indigenous closet built to store a person. The bed mechanism for replacing indigenous value doubles as a closet, the only table doubles loyalists, whom they exempted from taxes 38

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and fees, creating a sympathetic middle disturbing its economic interests or the the brittle skeleton of the former colonial class with earning power (Independent self-interested systems it had embedded structure, critics and reformers have big Kenya 11). into Kenyan culture long ago, accomplish- ideas but face considerable challenges. For As these deep social changes were ing “exploitation without responsibility” example, while the curriculum must be a taking place, the economy that would be (Ochieng` 197). means of conveying culture and a strong inherited by the winners of independence Consistent with this smooth political national identity, it must also accommo- was being shaped and concretized. After and economic transition, the educational date high levels of cultural and linguistic World War II, the United States began to structure following independence was diversity (Woolman 27). The curriculum emerge as an international superpower, hardly touched. There were minor shifts in must also be financially feasible, coping spreading its influence throughout the structure, but none in content. The teach- with the reality of too many student and world. Nairobi was dramatically trans- ers, trainers, movers, and shakers were too few resources. It must also incorporate formed by the resulting radical jerk to- now Kenyan, but the system remained the role of education in the critical issue of wards capitalism. It became, in the hands British. All ensuing tweaks and reforms development. The evolution of curricu- of foreign capital, a “regional financial, would be working from the foundation of lum in Kenya reflects a nation grappling marketing and manufacturing center for Kenya’s colonial heritage. with these issues and facing challenges East Africa” (Independent Kenya 7). The “Good morning, guys.” with the best intentions. influx of international capital transformed “Good morning, Teacher Molly!” At independence, the goals and the , giving settlers and “Thank you! Please, sit down! Today, expectations of curriculum development foreign investors “monopoly control of guys, we’re going to study nutrition!” I’m were fundamental: to produce manpower doing my best here, grinning ear-to-ear, as marketing, prices, and inputs” (Indepen- for economic development and to Afri- I turn to the board and write down ‘nutri- dent Kenya 7). By the 1950s, 4,000 white tion’ in large block letters. That morning, canize the civil service (Woolman 33). settlers held over seven million acres of I was handed the textbook for Class 4 Sci- From 1965-1975, the Primary Curriculum the best land in the country. Meanwhile, ence and was told to prepare a lesson on Revision sought to infuse materials with the average, indigenous Kenyan was earn- nutrition. I protested—“I know nothing Kenyan history and geography, starting by ing an annual income of three pounds, about the subject!” They laughed—“But using locally produced teaching materials. despite the fact that the price of the staple it’s in the textbook! Just tell them what it This “Revision” outlined student-oriented crop, maize, had increased by 800%. The says.” And here I find myself, smiling and teaching methods designed to develop people were performing all the labor, and copying the four food groups from the cooperation, creativity, and innovation were not only robbed of the proceeds, but book onto the board. (Woolman 36). There was a sustained call “To have healthy bodies and to grow, you also starved out of their own economy for continued change and evaluation of the need 2-3 servings of protein a day!” (Independent Kenya 4, 6). Some of my middle-class students have educational system. Intellectuals called With economic losses of the WWII meat once a week. The girls from New for a sort of African literacy, an education and US pressure bearing down (whether Hope each get a few pieces on holidays. “rooted in Africa’s own cultural heritage the US applied this pressure for ethical or “To keep your bones strong, you need and values [that has] relevance to African financial purposes is debatable), Britain -fi plenty of calcium! That means lots of societies” (Busia as quoted by Woolman nally began the process of decolonization milk!” 31). This idea raised questions on how to in Kenya, ultimately granting the people To even have water to drink, my girls must integrate scientific and technological -in independence in 1963 (Ochieng` 196). haul 5-gallon jugs for a mile. The little novations of the West (Woolman 31). All parties seemed to call for a continuity milk produced by the home’s cow goes to There was a Beecher Committee, a the youngest and weakest. of lifestyles—at least all parties involved Binns Report, an Ominde Commison, the “To grow strong muscles and keep your by the settlers arranging the transition. nervous system healthy, you need magne- Gachathi Committee, and a Mackay Re- In his speech at Independence, the new sium! Magnesium is found in green veg- port: intensive investigations and recom- president, , promised there etables, legumes, fish, and whole bran!” mendations, considerations and changes would be no loss of land or security for the I’m reading to forty blank faces. Faces (Omulando). But to what avail? How was British settlers. The Kenyan people had to that need healthy bodies, strong bones the Kenyan curriculum really affected by buy their own land back at inflated prices, and muscles. And all I can offer them are these deliberations? The textbooks have affordable only with loans from Britain these words; these awful, empty words. changed: they have black faces and beauti- and the World Bank (Independent Kenya ful African names. There have even been 12). Kenya embarked on its first year as Curriculum significant structural changes. The 8-4- a free nation already in obligation to the Since independence, Kenya has strug- 4 system was adopted in 1985, breaking West. In effect, Britain managed to re- gled to define a Kenyan schooling into 8 years of primary lieve itself of its nominal authority and and apply it meaningfully in an articulate school, 4 of secondary, and 4 of univer- all obligations of law and order, without and feasible curriculum. Working within sity. This system was adopted to address 39

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the lack of correlation between graduation ernment plan to actually implement this nya; Kiswahili, on the other hand is the and employment, providing vocational nobly stated curriculum? What do these national language. This subtle distinction training so that each stage or cycle is self- subjects and principles really mean to means that government and education are containing for students who do not con- the students whom they are supposed to in English, while everything else tends to tinue to the next (Omulando 265). benefit? What is the reality for the young be in Swahili. And, in actuality, most of A student’s chance at moving from minds in my class on nutrition that need government is in Swahili also (Kenya. one stage to the next depends entirely on to be nourished with answers and prom- com). his performance on a national examina- ises for a future? The curriculum will be tion, the Kenya Certificate of Primary Ex- meaningless and empty to them if there is But for Kenyans who live outside of ur- aminations (KCPE) or the Kenya Certifi- no implementation. ban centers, neither of these two languages cate of Secondary Examinations (KCSE). I asked Lucy to sit with me after class in is their first language. They are raised with The tradition of exam-oriented education the grass outside to review some things for their “mother tongue,” or MT, the language is a clear relic of the colonial system and English class. My tenure as a guest teach- associated with their ethnic group. For British educational philosophy. With the er at St. Joe’s overlapped for one day with example, in the Uplands, where I was stay- a woman earning her PhD. in Education introduction of the 8-4-4 system, many ing, the mother tongue was Kikuyu. There in Canada. She told me about Lucy. Lucy, pushed for a reduction of these inherited she explained, was dyslexic, confusing the are over 42 such language groups in Kenya systems. However, these proposals failed, b’s and d’s, p’s and q’s. At sixteen years old, (Woolman 38). And when children skip and students are persistently overloaded Lucy was illiterate. A challenge. nursery and (as often happens by exam material, setting them up for fail- Lucy and I sat in the sunshine. I held a in rural areas), they lose their most critical ure (Woolman 36). In fact, the importance workbook prepared by the Canadian years of language development. of the exams has only increased, as they teacher just for Lucy, filled with dotted English became the language of are the sole indicators of whether a stu- outlines of letters and fill-in-the-blank instruction in 1965, one of the few sig- dent will proceed to the next cycle—51% _ogs and pe_cils. nificant changes to the colonial adminis- are eliminated in the first exam, and about “Lucy,” I spoke slowly. “Can you tell me tration, which taught in MT (Muthwii 3). what this says?” 20% in the second. Every pronouncement To the newly independent nation, English She did not look at the notebook. She in the curriculum must be considered un- continued to look at me, smiling timidly. was seen as the language for “empower- der the light that the exam takes precedent I pointed. ment and advancement,” the route to au- to everything; therefore, facts and drills “Th-th-the…” I began sounding out. She tonomy, development, and success (Wool- come first, and more important material looked from the notebook to me, with man 38). This approach has been slightly at the end of the curriculum is neglected confused urgency flashing in her eyes. modified since the 1970s, during which for the “front-loaded” examinations. The smile stayed, stuck yet quivering. MT or Kiswahili (the former used only in The current curriculum resonates “The tah-tah-tah-rah-rah-rah-eeeeeee… monolingual schools) was implemented with high ideas of values and holistic de- the tree,” Lucy was silently listening to me, as the language of instruction for the first velopment. It encompasses life skills, na- the smile wavering with each awkward three years of primary school (Muthwii 4). noise I made. tional development and identity, universal This change both acknowledged English “Lucy, do you understand?” A hesitation. ideas with equal opportunity, cultural her- And a nod. as the ultimate objective for students and itage, social justice, human dignity, and “Can you sound it out for me?” Pause. accounted for the students’ need to relate multiculturalism—a strong laundry list of Nod. their education to their home environ- solid, foundational principles (Woolman Silence. ment. 33). It seeks to help students “internalize My insistence grew stronger as her smile But this is just policy; the ques- the values that underlie the country’s con- grew weaker. As we both desperately tion of language turns out to be a prime stitution and laws” (Omulando 305). The tried to communicate, I suddenly real- example of curriculum choices with sound subjects are integrative and comprehen- ized that was precisely the problem: com- intent but no means of practical imple- sive, with aims to teach critical thinking, munication. Lucy didn’t speak English. I mentation. In relatively affluent areas and excite curiosity and improve communica- was trying to teach, in English, a dyslexic urban centers—where English is often tion (Omulando 303). child, who did not speak English, how to spoken at home or on television—the pol- This new curriculum looks great read, well, English. icy translates well, and the transition from I sent Lucy to lunch. I sat alone in my on paper. All problems seem to be ad- MT or Kiswahili to English is smooth. classroom and cried for the rest of the pe- dressed by these abstract conceptions of riod. But in most schools, the reality amounts educational philosophy. We are given an to a faulty system of “code-switching,” in answer to multiculturalism and an an- Language which teachers first instruct in English and swer to development. But what about then translate (Muthwii 16). Often in this English is the official language of -Ke resources? How does the Kenyan gov- system, when students do not understand, 40

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they become silent, imitating the rest of in the classroom is still problematic. In his umbrella as the kids hurried to shelter the class’ response: nodding, smiling, ap- the previous discussion on curriculum, from the rain. peasing the teacher. Code-switching is education was identified as precisely the He’s asking me about America. His ques- a problematic band-aid for the language opposite: it was a bastion of cultural ide- tions are all loaded; he wants me to tell difficulties: students cannot respond, to als, Africanized images, and strong na- him that it’s better there, that I would only come to Africa out of pity. I protest, tak- the teacher or on tests, in the same code tional identity. Are these thoughts some- ing his words out of my mouths, walking in which they were presented the mate- how complementary, existing on different on egg shells, begging him to understand. rial. Students who mix languages in class planes somehow? Or is the discord deeper But my words fall on deaf ears. are often ridiculed by their teachers and than it seems? And then he says it. He says it without heckled by their classmates, creating class- As the situation currently stands, sarcasm, without contempt. He takes for rooms full of timid students who dread the examinations are English-oriented, granted that I believe it, and he even be- expressing themselves (Muthwii 45). and the curriculum is examination-ori- lieves it himself. Many teachers from rural areas ented, so there is no clear alternative for “You think that here in Africa, we are just feel their students would have a better classes being hindered by language prob- like monkeys, swinging from the trees.” chance for success if they were taught and lems. Some teachers resort to “code- tested in MT or in Kiswahili. Currently, switching”; others ridicule or even punish Ugly Truths and Inherited Lies most students think in MT or Kiswahili, students for the casual use of MT. For the When Kenyans maintained the old, and then must translate their thoughts into students who cannot grasp the language British structure of education, they at- English (Muthwii 28). In essence, they are of instruction, the “spontaneous interac- tempted to Africanize it. But there was tested twice in every exam they take: once tive response during learning activities” is something inherently un-African about on the subject matter and again on Eng- obstructed (Muthwii 55). Students mem- this structure. Traditional African edu- lish. But there does not seem to be anoth- orize facts that they do not comprehend cation was organic, informal, and based er possibility. Educational resources and and cannot apply to their lives or world. in the community. Transitions between textbooks are written in English; technical It is a difficult reality to address, and one age groups were natural and inclusive, math and science vocabulary is often not that is not likely to change soon: even not based on any system of elimination. translatable into MT; MT and Kiswahili the most profoundly effective new policy Learning was based on active discovery, can also compete with eachother, leaving from the government would—like most not textbooks, no matter how Africanized students juggling two or three languages past policies—not be adhered to or fully (Woolman 31). The colonial structure was at a time (Muthwii 19). be understood by teachers (Muthwii 55). a complete “subordination of Africans” Besides, the students are by no Such policy changes require expensive that introduced Eurocentric morality means asking for a switch in language pol- tools of implementation: teacher training, models that were individualistic and con- icy. Even while admitting they understand resources, and an active process of analysis tradictory to the traditional, communal MT and Kiswahili much better, most stu- and evaluation. In the meantime, teachers values (Uchendu as quoted by Woolman dents prefer English. Already at the pri- keep pushing, while the students continue 29). This imported culture of egocentric mary level, they understand English as the to nod and smile, and everybody waits to materialism caused “the decline of col- language of success, the language that will go to lunch. lective responsibility” and “contribut[ed] lead them to a “‘bright future’” (Muthwii This memory burns. Trust its accuracy: I directly to unemployment” (Rwomire as 21). English provides access to a larger can still smell it, see it, hear it… quoted by Woolman 30). body of knowledge, to employment, and I’m in the teacher’s lounge. My shoes are The stated value of traditional, . It opens pathways of muddy on the wet concrete floor, the rain African culture within the curriculum is is loud through broken window panes, communication across the country, the also questionable. Mwenda Ntarangwi the room smells of gloriously aged and continent, and the globe (Muthwii 33). To recalls being taught about the Mississippi mildewed textbooks—textbooks, only too and Rhine rivers before the Athi and Tana the West. Some acknowledge that under- few. I am, as usual, the only white person rivers of his nation (216). He remembers standing words and meaning is more dif- in the room. Usually, all the other teach- ficult in this language. Some even worry ers buzz around me, gossiping in Kikuyu, singing “London Bridge” without having about English alienating ethnic heritage. ignoring the eager, sycophantic young seen anything like it or understanding But this worry is mitigated by the belief American preparing lessons in her cor- remotely why. He argues that alienating that it is in the homes and communities ner. students from their heritage causes self- that should propagate culture. Ignoring But today, one of the teachers has become loathing (Ntarangwi 216). Alternatively, the American programming on television fascinated with me. He wants my opinion. superficial “Africanization” of materials He’s wearing a second or third hand suit, and rap music on the radio waves that stu- manifests as “indigenous knowledge… as too big for him, but freshly cleaned and dents are exposed to in their homes and a relic to be documented and saved,” rath- pressed. I remember him getting off the er than “a process that reaffirms different communities, this justification of English bus that morning, walking leisurely with 41

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ways of living and interpreting the world, herding everyone to their proper place Africa for years, and still, there is a gap. that ultimately leads to more appropriate without explanation (Independent Kenya It is time we face the possibility models of change” (Moita as quoted by 70). In fact, ex-President Moi was first that the “Western diagnosis” for develop- Ntarangwi 219). Indigenous culture is un- a schoolmaster and went on to treat “his ment does not answer to Africa’s realities dermined, and education deteriorates into country like his classroom,” where activ- (Ntarangwi 222). We have imported our students memorizing meaningless facts to ity falls “along rigidly authoritarian lines, culture, our resources, our technology, be parroted in a meaningless language. designed to kill initiative and independent and our institutions into the country with This reality echoes the ideas of thought” (Independent Kenya 70). This is the best and worst intentions. But to what Paulo Freire in his treatise on education, a “classroom” of the oppressed from which avail? The Western model of education of the Oppressed. In this sys- Kenyan citizens cannot emerge or escape. and economy is not working. The “shad- tem, he illustrates, education is boiled Ironically, this oppression of thought ow of the West” is stunting Kenya’s growth; down to the “banking concept” in which often translates to thought on develop- Kenyan citizens must be allowed to create the teacher is the depositor of knowl- ment. The popular belief—in both Kenya their own cultural framework and their edge, and the students are the depositories and the West—is that development is the own terms of development (Ntarangwi (Freire). There is no comprehension or natural answer for “underdeveloped” na- 222). In education, this means gearing digestion of the material, only memoriza- tions such as Kenya. But this belief and the curriculum to teach towards econom- tion. This system leaves the students with these terms may really be at the root of ic self-sufficiency of a country. It means a view that knowledge and the world is the problem. It reflects a certain spectrum teaching citizenship skills that liberate stu- somehow static, that there is no interac- that ranges from “primitive,” “underde- dents, engaging them with skills of ques- tion or critical discourse with the reality veloped,” “third world” (i.e., Africa) to tioning and critical thinking. It means they learn. The authoritative teacher role, “modern,” “developed,” “first world” (i.e., teaching history as a collective, inclusive in which the teacher holds all knowledge, the West) (Ntarangwi 220). Built into this pool of human knowledge rather than as projects ignorance onto the pupils, stifles spectrum are the assumptions that Africa a demeaning spectrum of societal evolu- inquiry, and undermines academic self- is somehow inferior, and that Africa must tion (Ntarangwi 223). It must be relevant esteem (which Freire notes is “character- evolve along the same path towards the to students themselves, and it must foster istic of oppression”) (Freire). By making same success as the West. These assump- a sense of self-worth and national pride learning passive and unquestioning, the tions are at the base of the Kenyan edu- that defies any comparison to the West. banking concept produces passive and cational system; this spectrum implicates Perhaps this alternative could not make it unquestioning students who adapt this education as a sign of modernity and key past the embryonic stages of hypothesis, approach to their society. The reality of to development. Kenya can never incor- but it is a possibility that calls for a new oppression is disguised to the students porate traditional material and systems in debate. But there must be a debate, there who learn numbness, subjugation, and a meaningful way as long as the dominat- must be new possibilities. There must be apathy, preparing them for their places in ing belief is that prosperity means West- change. the world (Freire). ernized development means Westernized During colonial rule, the citizens be- education (Ntarangwi 215). What results Mgure’s Story (Conclusion) came aware of the outright injustice of is a “system of education that is in itself a We are implicated. Kenya—Bra- their situation and were able to actively form of governmentality[...] where indi- zil, Tanzania, Laos, the “undeveloped resist. But in modern Kenya, the cultural viduals absorb dominant ideologies that world”—is thousands of miles away, out and economic dependency has been insid- construct imaginary pictures of prosperity of sight, out of mind. But this globalized iously ingrained into the next generation, that are shaped by foreign lifestyles” (Nta- world is shrinking everyday, and despite creating citizens who don’t judge or chal- rangwi 216). the thousands of miles, our culture has lenge their government and society (In- Everyday Kenyans are told education flooded their line of sight, and our econ- dependent Kenya 2). The rich and com- is the key to development and that educa- omy has skewed their frame of mind. The plex process of education, “through which tion accounts for 30% of the government’s West has set an international standard of values, aesthetics, spiritual beliefs, and all budgetary expenditures (Ntarangwi 219). education, language, and development parts of a people’s unique cultural orien- The reality is that 40% of Kenyans are un- that is insidiously colonizing a group of tation are transmitted from generation to employed (World Factbook) and that ev- people who were granted independence the next” has been reduced to schooling, ery year, highly-trained college graduates decades ago. As a result, students are a cheapened “process of perpetuating and cannot find a job in the very fields that are blocked from their own education, disal- mandating a society’s existing power rela- supposed to be so “key to development.” lowed the means of communicating, ex- tions and its institution” (Ntarangwi 222). Despite all the policies, spending and pro- pressing, and advancing. And worst of all, It is a system that prepares and divides grams, there is a gap. Aid, loans, and well- they hate themselves for it. Kenya’s prob- the future leaders and future beggars, meaning NGOs have been pouring into lems may be thousands of miles away, but 42

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we are implicated. candid portrait of Kenyan culture, I can only managed to survive selling her body But IMF economists, the US govern- offer my first person account of the clash for a few shillings. And how, at the age ment, or an Oxford think-tank cannot of cultures, the multiplicity of voices, and of thirteen, Mama Chege found her and undertake solving this problem, outlining perhaps, a little hope. We can always start brought her in. recommendations and creating commit- with understanding. She continues to speak, despite her tears, despite the translator, despite my sporadic For a week, I have been conducting inter- tees. Neither can a white American Stan- whimpers and sobs. She speaks for an views with the girls at New Hope, collect- ford student. I have presented a first person hour, hurriedly, including details of all ing their stories to recruit potential donors. account: my trip to Africa, my placement sorts: the cost of the first meal she had in We talk one-on-one, in my bedroom. The in the school, the treatment I received as exile from her own home, the number of interviews often last an hour; while the a teacher and as a traveler all reflect the street boys who found her all alone, the girls only speak for fifteen minutes, they shoes she wore when she was taken in as very problem I seek to present. This paper spend the majority of the time crying. a house girl by an abusive employer. I itself has traces of this mentality. I will not At first I thought I was doing irreparable scribble furiously on my pad, never quite seek to recommend or conclude because it damage, but Mama Chege assured me it exhausting my tears. is not my place to do so. We must finally was quite the opposite. The girls, she ex- When she finishes her story, I tell her ev- trust Kenya to decide its fate. plained, have never been asked their story. erything will be okay and that she is so They have never grieved, they have never Yet history cannot be retracted, and beautiful and so strong and that I love her explained, they have never been held and generations of oppression cannot be re- so much. I tell her that people in America rocked and whispered to, “Everything will versed. We cannot extricate ourselves so care and will love her so much too. I ask be just fine.” easily, nor will the reality of the “global vil- her what she would say to them. If she Mgure has been in my room for an hour, lage” ever allow us to do so. While Kenya could tell America one thing, one thing but she has been speaking the whole time. that I promise I will tell the whole coun- re-examines its own role, we must under- She needs a translator, from whom I hear try. stand our own, working towards a mutual in fifteen second delay how Mgure was She turns to me and wipes her tears and approach to mutual understanding, es- beaten and starved as a child, how when says to me in clear English, teem, and benefits. So while I cannot offer she ran away she was gang-raped by street “I just want them to know.” answers, sweeping conclusions, or even a boys, how she lived in dire poverty and

References

1. “At a Glance: Kenya.” Unicef. < http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/kenya_statistics.html>.

2. Bergner, Daniel, “White Man’s Bungle” (review), New York Times Book Review 30 Jan. 2005: 20.

3. “Dialect Map of Kenya.” Safaris & Travels: Kenya.com. < http://kenya.com/language.html>.

4. Freire, Paulo. Pegagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum Books, 1993 < http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/philosophy/ education/freire/freire-2.html>.

5. “Kenya.” The World Factbook. < http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ke.html#Econ>.

6. Journal of African Marxists on behalf of authors. Independent Kenya. Great Britain: Zed Press, 1982.

7. Muthwii, Margaret, ed. Language Policies and Practices in Education in Kenya and . Nairobi: Phoenix Publishers, 2002.

8. Ntarangwi, Mwenda. “The Challenges of Education and Development in Post-Colonial Kenya.” Africa Development 28.3,4 (2003) < http://www.codesria.org/Links/Publications/ad3_03/ntarangwi.pdf>.

9. Omulando, Silas and John Shiundu. Curriculum: Theory and Practice in Kenya. Nairobi: Oxford University Press, 1992.

10. Ochieng`, W.R., ed. A Modern , 1895-1980. Nairobi: Evans Brothers (Kenya) Limited, 1989.

11. Woolman, David. “Education reconstruction and the post-colonial curriculum development: A Comparative study of four Af- rican countries.” International Education Journal 2.5 (2001) < http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/iej/articles/v2n5/4Wool/paper. pdf>. 43

Book 1.indb 43 10/9/06 5:25:11 PM SURJ Spring 2006

Molly Cunningham Class of 2008 Cultural and Social Anthropology, English

Molly Cunningham is a sophomore planning to double major in Cultural and Social Anthropology and English. After spending time in East Africa, she has become interested in exploring cultural definitions of the orphan within the community and family in light of postcolonialism as well as the AIDS pandemic. She is currently planning a summer research project in Botswana to do ethno- graphic research on this topic. She is also interested in the politics of humanitarian aid and the inter- play between community and international donors. She is pretty sure that the gods must be crazy.

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