Hello everyone!

Saturday was my last day at Baraton University. It was also the Sabbath for the Seventh Day Adventists, meaning that it was required to be a day of rest. Absolutely no work was permitted. All stores and offices on campus were closed, as were the library and computer clusters. Neither exercise nor laundry could be done. The students attended church from 9am to 1pm, and again from 6pm to 7.

For me, it was a very slow day. That is until my 1pm lunch at the home of Professor Ssemanda, the professor who had invited me to campus in the first place.

She had prepared a meal for seven people: herself, her sister, a nephew, his friend, a pastor, a lecturer, and myself. This meal for seven people was probably enough for 20. It was fantastic – chapati, fried chicken, two delicious varieties of rice, stewed vegetables, potatoes, and more. And no one could leave the table until it was gone. I ate until I thought I would burst. I guess this was my opportunity to make up for having missed thanksgiving.

Afterwards, we sat around the living room engaged in a fairly animated debate of women’s rights in Kenya and the United States. This is a topic about which almost every Kenyan seems to have a strong opinion, but which is almost never discussed. I will return to this issue later within this post, but for now suffice it to say that I spent a very intense hour (civil and polite on all sides, but intense) defending women’s rights with my host and her sister. There were some very disappointing perspectives voiced by the other side, even from the highly educated lecturer and pastor. More about the gender rights issue in a minute. I also had the honor of spending an hour or more going through family photo albums with my host.

Afterwards, I ran (waddled, perhaps, after all the food I had been given) immediately to the home of another two professors, this time an American ex-pat and his Taiwanese wife, both of whom were enormously kind and courteous.

Then it was off to see the fourth professor of the day, this time another Kenyan. He and his wife were fabulous hosts, making me feel absolutely at home. We discussed the merits of learning Swahili as an American (a question I commonly have to field, both here and at home), the American education system, and my impressions of Kenya and Baraton in particular. Once again, I was brought to the brink of explosion by the amount of food I found on my plate. And after I barely managed to finish that, I was compelled by my overzealous host to “just finish the potatoes.” And then the rice. And then the vegetables. It was almost too much to bear.

Then he brought out a GIANT tray of fruit. Mangoes, Papaya, Passion Fruit, Melons, and a nice tall glass of Pineapple Juice. I really don’t think I have ever eaten that much fruit before in my life. Seriously. And this was AFTER two enormous meals before. Of course, everything was delicious beyond words. The food was spectacular, and I’ve never tasted sweeter fruit than those the professor gave me. It’s just that the concept of “please, no more – I’m full” does not stand a chance against Kenyan culture and it’s stipulations about hospitality. Even my hosts were laughing about how funny it is that a guest can’t escape being over fed. If I hadn’t been miserable with all my delicious food, I would have joined in their mirth.

When I left, I was invited by Salim to accompany him to another professor’s late night goat roast. I went on the condition that he wouldn’t let anyone force me to eat anything. Of course, that deal went right out the window the minute we walked in the door. I managed to limit the damage to one small bowl of the Filipino professor’s wife’s sticky rice (purple rice fried in brown sugar and spices until it forms a play-dough like consistency with the most delicious caramel flavor you can imagine), but even this was almost too much to bear. It was incredible.

I returned to sleep that night around midnight still as full as when I left the table, and on a tremendous sugar high.

The next day I traveled with professor Ssemanda to her small but beautiful tea farm just off campus, and from there to Eldoret, where we boarded a matatu for Nakuru. The road was miserable, but we had a good time talking and taking pictures of the people and places that we passed along the way. I arrived in the evening, met briefly with Dennis, and then returned to my host family in Mangu, where we had a lovely reunion and lots of exciting planning for the week ahead. It’s good to be “home” again in Nakuru.

Here’s the aforementioned discussion of women’s rights in Kenya as I have come to understand them:

While many communities are making significant strides towards what most Americans would consider a more equitable and progressive gender situation, many more are very, very far behind. There are still families in which the woman is never permitted to leave the home. Young daughters are raised into a lifestyle of subservience from the outset, and many young rural girls stay at home to work while the boys go off to school. Domestic violence remains an issue. Even many westernized families believe that the roles of women and men should remain apart. In many instances the role of the wife is to take care of the family and the home, and then to take care of the husband when he returns from work. While much progress is being made, outdated ideas remain, often not too far beneath the surface.

In the current ongoing election and campaign season, several female candidates have been victims of severe violence, including one woman who was murdered. Many others have been the recipients of death threats and threats against their families. The common understanding is that the violence is intended to “keep women in their place” and out of office.

Even some of my REPACTED friends had to struggle (or their mothers had to struggle on their behalves) to defy their fathers or families and receive an education. I can only imagine how many more were not so fortunate.

There has been a tremendous upwelling in the women’s rights movement in the past few years, and much good work is being done. But it is still an area that needs improvement. In addition to being a fundamental human rights campaign, the movement towards gender equality will also assist in many other critical development issues. Many case studies from across sub-Saharan Africa (a large and diverse region, but the results are still valid) have shown that the advancement of women’s rights and women’s education can do wonders to limit the spread of HIV and other STDs, reduce violence, and even promote economic development. (See the book “The Invisible Cure” for further reading.) Hopefully the current trends of progressive thinking (There is a common saying: “a woman educated is a nation educated”) will prevail over the violence and subjugation that continues, and things will continue to improve.