Kenyan Ramblings

• National Pride???

  Posted: May 22, 2008, 6:14 am by Tafsiri Hii

  (written in July 2007, when Kibaki still Toshad and before the words "grand coalition" appeared in front of "government"!)
  
  Why does it seem that we become more patriotic only when we leave Kenya? We wear our 'Tusker T-shirts and display our Kenyan flags in our rooms and loudly announce to anyone who's willing to listen that we are very proud to be Kenyans! We join groups on the web and reminisce on the fun we had when we went to 'F2, K1 and Carni ' over our summer holidays and 'Coasto' over christmas. Oh, lets not forget nyama choma, our national beverage (tusker) and Kenchic. Sigh...and then we go back to speaking in a foreign tongue, listening to foreign music, wearing 'designer' clothes and basically emulating a culture that is not our own (preferably the American).
  
  How many of us young Kenyans can speak fluent Maa, Meru, Kikuyu, Dholuo, Hindi, Kamba or Luhya? (by young, i mean those who were born a few years before and after the´82 Coup. No, the definition of the word 'youth' is not flexible no matter what those darn MPs say!) Basically, how many of us speak our mother-tongue fluently? And what happened to 'Swahili Sanifu'? You know that Kiswahili that you learnt from Class One to Form Four? Why consider your fluency in French/Italian/Spanish/English an achievement if your Swahili sucks?! What happened to the Kenya National Dress? How many of us know our family's, clan's, tribe's and country's history? How can we appreciate another culture if we do not understand our own? Who among us can confidently represent our great country as a cultural ambassador?
  
  One Kenyan mission in Europe is housed in a beautiful building called, not surprisingly, 'Kenya House'. The decor inside Kenya House is disappointing: besides three unattractive photographs (there is one of Maasai Market) and two posters of Ketepa Tea and of the Kenya Tourism Board, most part of the building that the public has access to is, well, empty. There are none of those celebrated Kamba soapstone carvings, no wood carvings, no batik paintings, no kikoys or khangas, no kiondos, no photograph of Tusker or of a Maasai Moran...basically, none of those interesting items that are oh-so-Kenyan are displayed in this Embassy. Neither is there literature on Kenya; whether cultural, socio-economic or political. Yet this building is associated with, and houses people who are charged with, the representation of Kenya's interests abroad.
  
  While I am all for multiculturalism, I do not believe in cutting off one's roots and completely taking up another's way of life. There is nothing more embarrassing than a foreigner teaching you about your culture and your country. I should know, it has happened to me. I applaud the Government's 'Najivunie Kuwa Mkenya' initiative, but this is not enough!! I propose national cultural schools and clubs! How about teaching our kids about our history, our ways, our languages and our music from a tender age? Then we will have a future generation that identifies with, and is proud of, its country! And finally, maybe we can put an end to this tribal nonsense.
  
  This is a challenge to Kenyans at home and abroad: go back to your roots!!!!

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes