Sidney Lanier
08-21-2008, 09:08 PM
About 8 years ago we visited Kenya for a safari experience (amazing!) and had occasion, during our free time, to meet a young man named Isaac and two of his friends, John and Eddie, in a flea market-type setting that we probably had no business going to on our own (our heads told us...) but in which we felt comfortable nonetheless (our guts told us...). They were probably in their mid-20s. Isaac was responsible for our finding some marvelous historical pieces that we brought back, some of which we have in our TV home, as well as for our being able to buy much more reasonably than if we had gone on our own in the midst of very, very aggressive sellers.
The five of us walked back to our hotel (about 10 blocks) for us to pay them, as we had made it clear from the beginning that we carried very little cash. On the way we chatted, picking their brains about life in Kenya, and we were so incredibly impressed with the eruditeness, awareness, and political- and economics-consciousness of these young men (something, sad to say, that we so often see lacking in young Americans of that age who tend to be either more cynical or simply uninterested...). As the oldest sibling, he had received only a 6th grade education and went to work to help his parents support the younger children for them to receive more education than he had, and even with this level of education he struck us as more 'literate' than many. After paying for our purchases and spending more time chatting in the hotel lobby, we exchanged email addresses with Isaac (he uses a public computer) and we offered to help him out whenever he found himself in a position to start his own little business, which we ultimately did, to the tune of a munificent $100, which was all he needed!
After the unrest and contested elections in Kenya a few months ago, we emailed to Isaac, fearing that he would have been the kind of person who would have been caught up in the protests. To our dismay, a few months passed without our hearing from him. Recently we finally got an answer to our email:
Hi,
This is your Kenyan friend Isaac who is tring to break his silence by sending the word of hey on to you.By the way,how is the life treating you in America?I hope now you have grown yonger.my family and I are fine and healthy.I god married and now am blessed with a baby boy.I will stop there for now but if you still remember me,please drop a line and tell me how are you doing.Thanks and may God bless you all.
From your friend Isaac.
(Grown younger indeed!) We were naturally delighted to hear from him and to know that he hadn't been hurt or even killed in the uprising, and we wrote back to him asking him to let us know more about what was happening in his life and how John and Eddie were. (John had been ill for a long time; Eddie is an artist who goes by the name 'Eddie Picasso'--I'm not making this up....) His response follows:
Hey,
Thanks again for your reply.John Eddy and I are fine.Okey,at the moment the life here is abit tough coz we were more affected by Election violence.Our house in upcountry were burned down due to ethencity during election.We are just trying to overcome the grief coz i lost my parents and now am the bread winner of my youngest two brother and they are still in high school.Us you know my work is selling curios to tourist,they were not coming to Kenya for the last five month.I thanks our Almighty father for bringing our country back to normal.Please if you are able,i request the little you can support me to assist my family coz the business is not good yet.I will appreciate and God will bles you.Next time i will send you my wife and my son picture.Bye and have a nice time,take care.
Yours Faithfully,Isaac.
We emailed back to tell Isaac that we would be happy to help; after all, this is one family on this Earth that we share to another, and we are certainly in a position to do something. We also asked about his parents, whom he had told us about in the past. Here's what he wrote back:
Hi again,Thanks alot for your quick responce.My parents were residing in the village where the violent erapted most.I think you know most people in the village dont attend school coz of financial difficult.so when election comes,they get used by our politician with small money and due to povertty they can do whatever you tell them.Last year election was the most horrible thing we experience not only me but the lest of the country.It was about triblerism and thats why people were turning against there neibour and kill.that what happened with my parents.My brothers are doing fine and they are remaining two years to finish high school.Oky,the best way to use is through Western Union coz is quick and save.you just use the same name you used last time,Isaac ... and i will appreciate anything and God will bless you.I will stop there for now but i will keep in touch.Bye.
Yours Faithfully,Isaac.
When we see something like this, all we can think of is 'And we think we have troubles?!' Too often we are clueless about what's happening in other parts of the world where, like here, people are putting one foot in front of the other, keeping a roof overhead and putting food on the table, and doing the best they can. In many says Kenya is a beautiful jewel of a country, terribly affected by western colonialism, that got its independence from Great Britain only in 1963; in fact, a first cousin of mine, a (now retired) biochemist working in the field of public health, had volunteered to spend several years in Nairobi helping the newly independent nation set up its public health system in the '60s. I could write so much more about our experiences in the country, though this might be more appropriate in the Travel Forum. Please PM me if youd like to hear more. Meantime, I thought TOTVers might be interested in Isaac's story....
The five of us walked back to our hotel (about 10 blocks) for us to pay them, as we had made it clear from the beginning that we carried very little cash. On the way we chatted, picking their brains about life in Kenya, and we were so incredibly impressed with the eruditeness, awareness, and political- and economics-consciousness of these young men (something, sad to say, that we so often see lacking in young Americans of that age who tend to be either more cynical or simply uninterested...). As the oldest sibling, he had received only a 6th grade education and went to work to help his parents support the younger children for them to receive more education than he had, and even with this level of education he struck us as more 'literate' than many. After paying for our purchases and spending more time chatting in the hotel lobby, we exchanged email addresses with Isaac (he uses a public computer) and we offered to help him out whenever he found himself in a position to start his own little business, which we ultimately did, to the tune of a munificent $100, which was all he needed!
After the unrest and contested elections in Kenya a few months ago, we emailed to Isaac, fearing that he would have been the kind of person who would have been caught up in the protests. To our dismay, a few months passed without our hearing from him. Recently we finally got an answer to our email:
Hi,
This is your Kenyan friend Isaac who is tring to break his silence by sending the word of hey on to you.By the way,how is the life treating you in America?I hope now you have grown yonger.my family and I are fine and healthy.I god married and now am blessed with a baby boy.I will stop there for now but if you still remember me,please drop a line and tell me how are you doing.Thanks and may God bless you all.
From your friend Isaac.
(Grown younger indeed!) We were naturally delighted to hear from him and to know that he hadn't been hurt or even killed in the uprising, and we wrote back to him asking him to let us know more about what was happening in his life and how John and Eddie were. (John had been ill for a long time; Eddie is an artist who goes by the name 'Eddie Picasso'--I'm not making this up....) His response follows:
Hey,
Thanks again for your reply.John Eddy and I are fine.Okey,at the moment the life here is abit tough coz we were more affected by Election violence.Our house in upcountry were burned down due to ethencity during election.We are just trying to overcome the grief coz i lost my parents and now am the bread winner of my youngest two brother and they are still in high school.Us you know my work is selling curios to tourist,they were not coming to Kenya for the last five month.I thanks our Almighty father for bringing our country back to normal.Please if you are able,i request the little you can support me to assist my family coz the business is not good yet.I will appreciate and God will bles you.Next time i will send you my wife and my son picture.Bye and have a nice time,take care.
Yours Faithfully,Isaac.
We emailed back to tell Isaac that we would be happy to help; after all, this is one family on this Earth that we share to another, and we are certainly in a position to do something. We also asked about his parents, whom he had told us about in the past. Here's what he wrote back:
Hi again,Thanks alot for your quick responce.My parents were residing in the village where the violent erapted most.I think you know most people in the village dont attend school coz of financial difficult.so when election comes,they get used by our politician with small money and due to povertty they can do whatever you tell them.Last year election was the most horrible thing we experience not only me but the lest of the country.It was about triblerism and thats why people were turning against there neibour and kill.that what happened with my parents.My brothers are doing fine and they are remaining two years to finish high school.Oky,the best way to use is through Western Union coz is quick and save.you just use the same name you used last time,Isaac ... and i will appreciate anything and God will bless you.I will stop there for now but i will keep in touch.Bye.
Yours Faithfully,Isaac.
When we see something like this, all we can think of is 'And we think we have troubles?!' Too often we are clueless about what's happening in other parts of the world where, like here, people are putting one foot in front of the other, keeping a roof overhead and putting food on the table, and doing the best they can. In many says Kenya is a beautiful jewel of a country, terribly affected by western colonialism, that got its independence from Great Britain only in 1963; in fact, a first cousin of mine, a (now retired) biochemist working in the field of public health, had volunteered to spend several years in Nairobi helping the newly independent nation set up its public health system in the '60s. I could write so much more about our experiences in the country, though this might be more appropriate in the Travel Forum. Please PM me if youd like to hear more. Meantime, I thought TOTVers might be interested in Isaac's story....