Greetings from Taita

Dear friends and family,

It has been nearly a month since I last wrote to you, and much has happened here in Kenya.
The good news is that I have completely recovered from malaria, and received a clean bill of health from my doctor a couple of weeks ago. Although it was no fun being sick, I must say that I enjoyed having the opportunity to take it easy for awhile, and to let my “mamas” here take care of me and teach me all about medicinal herbs and traditional remedies for curing malaria. I drank a bitter tea made from the bark and roots of the "Muarobaini" tree, which is known to cure 40 diseases (arobaini means 40 in Arabic and Kiswahili). The tea is nasty and strong but not bad with a large helping of local honey stirred in (like Mary Poppins says, "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way....").

I also have been eating a lot of "mchunga" - these wild herbs that are harvested during the rainy season, and considered a local delicacy offered to guests. They are known to prevent and treat malaria, and are loaded with iron, which is important to renew the red blood cells lost by malaria. They are also very bitter but are boiled in water, then stir fried in oil, onions, garlic and tomatoes (like “sukumawiki”). With plenty of salt and “ugali” (corn meal porridge), they really aren't bad. I have been eating these almost every day.

Aside from this very intimate exploration into local knowledge about medicinal herbs, I have also been enjoying being back in Taita and learning more about women’s groups and agricultural production. As is common throughout Africa, women comprise an estimated 80% of Kenya’s agricultural labor force. Since this is the rainy season, much of the focus in women’s groups here has turned to farming, and I have been meeting with groups who have taken me to their “shambas” (farms) where they are cultivating maize, beans, millet, sorghum, amaranth, arrowroots (nduma), cassava (mihogo), sweet potatoes, greengrams or mung beans (pojo), pigeon peas (kunde), pumpkins, sunflowers ….. the list goes on and on. The hills and valleys are so green and filled with vegetation these days after two months of heavy rains. I have met with members of the Mwakitutu Women’s Group, a group that I have been working with since January, and have also met two groups of “Farmers’ Field Schools,” which are groups that focus on agricultural production, and teaching new sustainable farming techniques to others in the community. It is inspiring to witness women working together collectively, sharing their harvest, and supporting each other in the many tasks and difficult labor of food production. Most of the cultivation is done here by hand, so often you will see a group of women with “jembes”, or heavy iron hoes, digging and tilling the earth in a line – like a collective human tractor. It is really difficult work and they are really strong.

I have not yet mastered the art of swinging the jembe, but I have enjoyed helping with the harvesting, drying, seed saving, and processing of food. (This is also my usual job at my own “shamba” at Willow Farm in Ohio!). I have especially enjoyed learning more about growing grains and beans, which is also a new area of food production that Joe is exploring with other farmers back home in Ohio. It has been an interesting conversation whenever I tell the women about our “shamba,” and they are delighted to hear about the foods that we grow, and the goats, chickens and donkey that we raise on our farm. They are really eager to know more about small farms, the local food system, organic foods, agricultural marketing, and other food issues in the U.S. We have been talking a lot about the increase in food prices – many basic food staples have almost doubled in price this year. They are surprised to know that this is also an issue in the U.S. and that there is a worldwide food shortage, as they thought that it was primarily due to the post-election violence here in Kenya. They are interested to hear about the revival in interest in “local foods” in the U.S. and are amazed when I tell them that there are people in the States who do not know how to grow their own food, or who do not know that milk comes from a cow, or who would rather buy their food in a grocery store than from a local farmer.

In many ways, Kenyans have a distinct advantage over Americans in terms of their knowledge about food production and their well-developed system of agriculture. Many of the small farmers here can sell pretty much everything they grow locally, as long as they are close enough to a town or a major road to get it to market by public transport. However, the local food system is being challenged by a dependency on foreign oil for transport, and the insistence upon using chemical fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified seeds that were brought here in the guise of the “green revolution” of agricultural development. Moreover, climate change has resulted in increasing aridity of the land, and rainy seasons are less predictable than ever. As water becomes an even more precious resource, farmers’ harvests are also affected, and women’s labor becomes more intense as they must carry water from even greater distances – often in large containers on their heads or backs.

Aside from agricultural production, I have also been learning more about some of the basic challenges to women’s organizing in rural areas, especially here in Taita. One of the major themes I keep hearing about is the resistance of men to women’s groups. Many of the women have said that they would have a lot more freedom and ability to participate in development projects if they were “allowed” by their husbands, but that many husbands feel suspicious of women’s groups. Part of this is that they fear that once women become economically independent and self-sufficient, they will begin to demand a greater share in the decision-making in the home, or they will challenge their husband’s authority if they make more of an income than their husbands. Some husbands also say that they fear that their wives will get new ideas from other women, and they will bring these ideas home to challenge their husbands. The resistance to girls’ and women’s education and empowerment among men is emerging as a major theme in my research – it seems like a much more controversial issue than I anticipated. Women’s education, empowerment, and organizing seems to contradict some deep-seated cultural attitudes about women’s proper “place” and behavior – and it also represents an aspect of social and economic change that seems to threaten the very structure of families and rural communities here in Taita, and also in Lamu (although for different cultural and religious reasons).

Another challenge is related to illiteracy among adult women, which is becoming a major theme of my research. As many women were denied access to education in the past –whether for economic or cultural reasons – there are large numbers of adult women in rural areas who do not have basic skills in literacy or numeracy. This makes it extremely difficult for women to organize themselves into groups or small businesses, as they are required to register the group with the government, write a constitution, keep minutes of the organization, or do financial accounting to keep track of expenses and income. Some groups are also involved in scientific “research,” such as testing new seeds or tracking crop production in the Farmers’ Field Schools, and they also need to develop skills in record-keeping. Some women’s groups, however, are engaged in adult literacy classes where they are learning these basic skills while they are also involved in income-generating activities. I have been meeting with a number of adult educators in the community and learning more about the provision of adult education in Kenya. However, the government seems more focused on supporting basic primary education for children in Kenya, and is working toward provision of free secondary education as well. Adult basic education remains a neglected program of the government, and many teachers complain that the need is much greater than the government is able to handle. Nevertheless, adult education services are a valuable link for women’s groups to connect to resources and assistance within the local government.

For example, the Mwakitutu women’s group was started in 1983 as an adult literacy class, taught by my friend Julius Mwakio Katuu. The group officially registered as a women’s group and they have been active for 25 years now. They have been involved in many projects – building water tanks, farming, selling charcoal, weaving beautiful sisal baskets, and building houses and rental buildings. They continue to struggle with basic literacy, however, and they often call on Julius and his wife, Mama Agneta, for assistance with organizational issues. Recently I assisted them by helping them to plan and write a proposal to the Women’s Enterprise Fund, which was initiated this year by the Government of Kenya to provide micro-enterprise loans for women’s groups. The program is well-intentioned, but it seems inaccessible to many rural women’s groups as the forms are written in English and require a lot of organizational skills such as preparing a budget, business planning, etc. However, the Social Services officer in Mwatate Division taught the women about the process and translated the forms, and Julius and Agneta and I interviewed them about their plans and assisted with the writing of the proposal. The proposal was accepted by the local government and has been forwarded to Nairobi. If they get the funding, the Mwakitutu group will have support to build a six-room structure on their land in Mwatate town, where they currently have several other structures that they have rented out to carpenters’ shops, kiosks, and small restaurants. They are excited about this opportunity to expand their investments in real estate, which will help them to generate even more income for their other projects. I have also been involved with them in examining their property lines and thinking creatively about how to approach other businesses that have encroached upon their land. It has been a fascinating process of watching them examine and solve problems based on their own experiences and practical wisdom, and of seeing their difficulty in accessing government services without the benefit of literacy. It has also been encouraging to see how they manage to work around the bureaucratic system through skillful negotiations, and by getting help from their local adult literacy teacher. I also have to give great kudos to Julius, who I think is a powerful example of a man who is gender sensitive, deeply dedicated to women’s empowerment, and is so humble and respectful in his interactions with women. This whole process has been a fascinating journey into “popular education” and the “pedagogy of the oppressed” (a la Myles Horton and Paulo Freire).

Aside from my work with women’s groups in Taita, I have also continued to support the Taita International School. In early May, I was approached by Aruna Amirthanayagam, the Cultural Attache of the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy, who is my supervisor for the Fulbright Program. Aruna was interested in visiting the school since he is responsible for organizing educational and cultural exchange programs between the U.S. and Kenya. He and a Kenyan staff member, Rukiya Mwinyi, visited the school on May 12, and it was a sight to behold. The students were fabulous, and they organized performances of poetry, skits, singing and dancing of traditional songs, and speeches. The Mwakitutu Women’s Group also attended the event, where they sang traditional Taita songs and demonstrated basket weaving. Then all the teachers and staff gave short speeches, telling about the history and significance of the school. The Embassy officials donated several boxes of books for the secondary school students, including a brand new set of World Book Encyclopedias, another set of MacMillan textbooks for the new Kenyan curriculum, a set of wall charts for Chemistry and Biology, and a huge map of Africa. These books are a valuable addition to our library, and the teachers were raving about how they had wanted to purchase the MacMillian books but the school just couldn’t afford them. The Embassy staff also promised to send more boxes of books for the nursery and primary school children. They also promised that we would begin an ongoing relationship between the Taita International School and the U.S. Embassy, with assistance in the form of scholarships for girls, summer camp enrichment programs, and other educational support. At the end of our visit, Rukiya and Aruna told me that they have visited dozens of schools throughout Kenya, but they have never been welcomed so warmly by any school or had such an impressive presentation. They said that they were so impressed with the school and were amazed at how much it has been developed in just a year and a half. I think that organizing this visit was perhaps my greatest accomplishment and legacy so far in Kenya, and I hope that this will lead to more scholarships and opportunities for Taita’s students in the future.

The next day, I traveled to Mombasa with Aruna and Rukiya to visit the Sheikh Khalifa bin Ziyad Secondary School. This is a private Muslim high school, and is one of the top 10 private schools in Kenya and among the top 20 of all high schools for students’ achievement in the national Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams. Although the school is mixed, it is still segregated by gender in keeping with Islamic tradition, as the boys and girls are separated in different classrooms and by a big partition between them in the auditorium. Last year, the U.S. embassy had organized a national essay competition for high school students to write about the importance of democratic elections, and the top three winners of the essay contest were girls from this school. We presented the girls with certificates and cash prizes (the First Place winner won 10,000 shillings, which is about $150). We also presented the school with a big check for 130,000 Kenyan shillings, which will support a tuition scholarship for one student for two years. Aruna asked me to present a short speech to the students, and I spoke in Kiswahili to the crowd of about 1,000 students to their delight and surprise – the whole auditorium was howling with laughter and cheers when I greeted them “Asalaam aleikum” (Peace be with you) and explained my research to them. I congratulated them on their academic achievements and encouraged them to study hard and they too could study abroad in the United States someday. It was really delightful to speak to them and to live my dream of making a whole roomful of people crack up with laughter! (I just hope I didn’t make any big mistakes and say something stupid or offensive – it is easy to mistake a vowel and completely change the meaning of a word…..)

After our trip to Sheikh Khalifa, I stayed in Mombasa for another two weeks, where I continued with my research and writing and visiting with women’s groups and friends throughout Mombasa. It was a wonderful visit and I am once again amazed at the polycentric, multicultural space of that city. It is so exciting to live in a place that is influenced by so many peoples from throughout the world, and especially around the Indian Ocean region. It is a testament to the polycentric nature of globalization – that “globalism” does not just mean the cultural dominance or neo-colonialism of the West over the Rest, but that there is a complex interweaving of cultural influences from Africa, Arabia, India, China, Indonesia, Europe, and beyond. Although British hegemony and the English language are still an issue in post-colonial Kenya, issues of identity are far more complicated by the reality of the post-modern world and influences of media from around the Indian Ocean region. It is interesting to note how young people on the Kenyan coast today look to the Arab world, India, China, Nigeria and other African countries even more than Europe or Hollywood. I hope to write about this issue more in my research someday.

Otherwise, life is good and I am happy. I hope that you too are enjoying life, wherever you are, and remembering to be grateful. I look forward to seeing some of you when I am home in Ohio – I will be home from July 2-20. Then I will head back to Kenya to continue my research until November. Please take care and be in touch.

Peace and Love,

Cat Cutcher