Final Thoughts...

August 26, 2009

In this my last post, I think it would be nice both for me and anyone reading the blog to look back over the whole summer and look at some big-picture things that I learned and observations that I am coming away with. In order to keep this post to a manageable length, I’ll break it down into three sections and briefly highlight a few points for each. Pictured above are (l-r) Judi, Re, Rowland, and I (my Kenyan family).

1) VEF’s program and the challenges faced by rural entrepreneurs
It is clear that VEF is providing a unique service to a population in rural Kenya that has serious trouble accessing business capital through avenues such as formal banks or microfinance institutions. The true catalysts that help the groups succeed, as far as I can tell, were the business mentors. The BMs’ aptitude in training people with low levels of education in a clear and encouraging manner makes a huge impact on the beneficiaries and makes them feel that they can succeed in business even if they’ve never engaged in formal business before. For the beneficiaries who already have small businesses, the training can make a huge difference in teaching them how to keep good records and work with a group to maximize the power that five people have when they work "pamoja" (together).

The other shining stars, of course, are the beneficiaries. I can’t count the number of times that I visited a group of old mamas who proceeded to describe to me their stunningly profitable and complex business operations, and the ways in which their group worked together to spin off new businesses and boost current ones. As Rowland constantly reminded me, people who live from hand to mouth have to be incredibly creative to ensure that there is food on the table every day. When you combine five people possessing that creativity and intuitive knowledge of the ways to scrape together an income, provide training, and then a small start up grant the results can be mind-blowing.

There are certainly many hurdles along the way for these businesses. Illness, other family members in need, and natural phenomena such as one bad rainy season can debilitate a business if it is not firmly established. Furthermore, there is always the conflict between short-term needs and long-term interests that every beneficiary and group deals with. To be frank, I met with a number of groups who admitted that they had spent some of the grant money on food or basic needs instead of their business. You can imagine the temptation that a beneficiary who hasn’t had a good meal in a week feels to just skim a little money off the grant for basic needs. The fact that the vast majority of business groups invest the entire grant in their business, however, is a testament both to the training, the work of the BM, and the group members’ determination to take advantage of the opportunity to switch their focus from just looking for the next meal to thinking about saving for a child’s education or a stable food supply further down the road.

2) On life in the village
I will start by saying that I do not want to romanticize life in Shijiko, the village where I lived. Many, many people there are living in serious poverty and they will face a particularly hard struggle this year because of poor rains leading to a poor harvest. It is common to see families with 6 or 7 young children running around, few if any of whom will probably be able to go to school past 7th grade. Abuse of chang’aa, the local equivalent of moonshine, is prevalent, and diseases such as AIDS and malaria are also present.

That being said, there were many things that I loved about living in the village and that caused me to think about some of oddities of our way of life in the United States. First of all, there is much more human interaction on a daily basis. The fact that no one has a car means that you’re likely to see and talk with many people walking on the paths, or exchange greetings with someone working in their garden or in the fields. Also, I loved the fact that no one was ever “too busy” to talk with someone else. If a friend stopped by your house or you saw them on the road, there was always time to exchange greetings and have a short conversation. Secondly, people are much more tolerant of strangers. If I walked up to a random person’s door in the US and asked if I could speak with them inside their home, the answer would probably be “no.” In Eregi, however, literally every beneficiary whom I spoke with warmly welcomed me into his or her house and usually offered me tea, too. Also, there is a communal expectation that each person will share whatever he or she has in the way of food when someone is in need. When you receive a gift or are invited into someone’s house for tea, the expectation is that you will reciprocate by inviting your hosts to your house sometime in the future.

The other aspect of life in the village that I really enjoyed was the community events I attended such as weddings and funerals. Because everybody knows everybody else, there is always a strong turnout. The lure of free food, of course, is another major factor in drawing big crowds to those events. And I cannot forget to mention the dancing and singing aspects of weddings and funerals, too. The Eregi Catholic Church choir was absolutely phenomenal.

Finally, as an American who was used to 24/7 access to internet and cable television, I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed unplugging for a few months. I think I managed to read 12 books in the span of 2+ months – a total I would certainly not have reached were I spending the summer in the United States.

3) On Kenya’s future
As a student of African Politics, I was keenly interested in getting a sense of Kenya’s development on a large scale and understanding how the government is playing a role in that process.

Kenya has had it’s fair share of problems recently, with the post-election violence being the most visible of those but also including rampant corruption and general government ineptitude. The country’s most crucial need, something that will begin to solve many of these problems, is simply the creation of jobs, jobs, and more jobs. So long as millions of Kenyans are out of work or living hand-to-mouth, elections will continue to be determined by which candidate hands out the most money to convince people to vote for him. The availability of stable jobs will lead people to vote based on the issues rather than just on money, and it will also lead them to demand results from their government (something which is not a primary concern for your average subsistence famer right now). Furthermore, people with a stable job and a family are much less likely to take up arms after elections, nor will they be likely to support anyone who advocates such actions.

Secondly, the government needs to focus on building strong institutions (which means reforming almost every single one that is currently in existence). The police force is comically inept and corrupt, the justice system is broken, and there is very little oversight to ensure that funds for government projects are spent responsibly. If institutions can be strengthened so that they are more immune to political interference from the party in power at any given time, government efficiency and transparency will improve. Ordinary Kenyans will begin to see an impact in their lives as electricity becomes available for rural homes, roads are paved, the education system is strengthened, and the police begin to work for the citizens as opposed to looking out just for their own good.

I had an absolutely fantastic time this summer in western Kenya, and I would encourage anyone interested in VEF’s work or in Kenya in general to make a visit to the area. It is very hard to get a sense of the reality on the ground unless you actually go there in person, meet the people, and experience the rhythms of daily life. I hope my posts have conveyed some of that reality to anyone reading them, and if you want any more insight feel free to email me at mkremer21@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!

NOTE: There are also 2 new posts right below this one.