I’m not certain why this post never got published, but it collected dust in my drafts folder for a few months now. Rather than try to re-capture what I was feeling at the time, I’m just going to publish it as it is, unpolished and all…

The first draft of this post started out sounding like a movie review for “The First Grader” (BBC Films, 2010). That isn’t my intent, so here’s draft two. Maybe I’ll write the reivew someday, but all I really need to say is “Go see it.”

The reason you should see it is, unless you’ve lived in Kenya all your life, and even if you have, you may not realize how big of a deal the concept of free universal primary education has been since implementation by President Kibaki in 2003. Even if you were aware of it, this movie, along with being a heart-warming true story, will drive home the very human effect of such policy.

My wife and I stumbled across the film not too long ago, so it seemed well-timed when not long after, I heard a segment on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered talking about the ongoing challenges associated with this policy. John Burnett, NPR’s correspondent from their Austin National Desk, explained that while the Republic of Kenya fully intends to provide free universal primary education to every boy and girl in Kenya, they just don’t have the budgets to make that a reality. This lack of funds has resulted in a nation-wide shortage of teachers, and often substandard learning conditions for thousands of pupils. This, in turn, is resulting in many families being asked for fees to cover local needs that the Ministry of Education simply hasn’t provided for.

But as I listened to this compelling radio story, I thought back to the film, and wondered to myself, “Yes, it is a bad thing that poor children still find obstacles in their way as they seek something I take for granted: the ability to read, write, and express or articulate myself intelligently. However, considering the national policy is less than a decade old, should we really consider it as a crisis?”

The United States has had free primary schools available in every state since 1870 (Paul Monroe, A cyclopedia of education, 4 vol., 1911)., yet the fact that some schools continue to be well below the minimum standards plagues that system 158 years later! Surely some level of patience an perserverance is needed. Few national policies spring forth from the lawmakers flawless and fully ready for successful implementation. I venture to guess none of them do. In the Army, we joked that “no plan survived the first ten minutes of contact with the enemy,” yet we always took the time to make plans for multiple contingencies. Why? because we knew the desired outcome, and so long as we kept that focus, we could adjust the plan to deal with the unexpected obstacles encountered during implementation.

So what’s my point? My point is that I only had the perspective I had when I heard that NPR story because I had happened to see a movie on the same topic a few days prior. I think it’s safe to say that many listeners to the show have never seen that movie, never read about Kenya’s educational reforms, or even read about Kenya for that matter.

While it is an INCREDIBLY entertaining read, this article in Esquire is really just another shrine in the growing cult of veteran-worship as we disengage from a decade of war-fighting.

The Shooter, as they refer to him, surely did our nation a great service by the role he played in this historic mission, but then, so did the bombardier on the Enola Gay by that same regard. The Shooter chose to leave the Navy after sixteen years, and as such qualifies for full benefits from the Veterans Administration. He does not qualify for retirement, though I personally think he ought to. Those are just the way the regs are written, and he knew them full well.

While I am grateful for his service, as I am that of all my fellow veterans, I do not think we are some sort of super-humans or demi-gods who deserve to have the adoration and wealth of a nation showered upon us when we choose to leave our time of service. It is “service” after all. We say we don’t do it for the glory or rewards. We need to act like it.

If I were the Shooter, I’d leverage a small bit of the gratitude of rural Americans to get a great price on some cheap land in the hills of NC or WV, and I’d farm and live as much of a life of peace for the rest of my days, satisfied with the knowledge that I served, and am still alive to enjoy the love of my family. But that’s just my two cents…

I know this post may seem odd on this blog. It may seem especially odd to East Africans, many of whom still have strong ties to farming. But as many Kenyans and other East Africans rush away from the “shags” to “the city” to pursue the glamorous life found there, just as Americans did in decades past, hopefully they will recall this wisdom, and hold on to their roots just a bit.

Proverbs 27:23-27 NLT
“Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds, for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generation. After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears and the mountain grasses are gathered in, your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will provide the price of a field. And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself, your family, and your servant girls.”

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/116/pro.27.23.nlt

I often heard this passage used to admonish us to be fiscally wise. Being post-agrarian, we internalize “flocks” and “herds” to mean any wealth that we have accumulated. Cash, savings, IRA, 401K, etc.

But as I read it today, reflecting as I do with a perspective made cynical by the “great recession”, I wonder if the wisdom contained here is more literal than we usually read it.

“Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds, for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.”

Verses 23-24 contain the core of the advice given. It’s the age-old wisdom that the future holds uncertainty, so the present demands diligence. I don’t disagree at all! However, as I look at the explanation that follows, I begin to think there is something more to it. The writer expressly states the benefits of livestock “after the hay has been harvested.” They are a safe investment. Sheep provide clothing. Goats provide milk, or can be sold for meat to provide “the price for your fields.”

Now I know farming is not glamorous. Sure, as a fan of Wendell Berry, I have at times been captured by a romantic view of it. But it is dirty, hard work. My hypothesis is just this: we humans, in some part, small or large, were meant to farm. Perhaps, prior to The Fall recorded in Genesis 3, man (and woman) was a “gatherer” (no hunting necessary!), but since being cursed to toil against the soil from which we came, we have been farmers.

Until about last century (in this country, at least).

I’m not going to write here about how or why we moved away from farming. I am not even going to speculate about the ethics of “technological progress” (as I peck away on my iPhone).

All I want to do is provide the food for thought that maybe we all would be a bit better off with a little livestock. Sure, the market may crash. The government may perpetually fail to figure out a balance sheet. “The crown might not be passed to the next generation.” (The height of political unrest in monarchal society is the usurping of natural succession!) But at least with some sheep, goats, cattle, or even chickens, you know that your kids will not starve. If inflation made all of your fiat paper money worthless, eggs and milk still provide sustenance.

With diligence, your goats will not simply provide milk for you and your family, but you will be able to take care of others (“your servant girls”) as well.

by Mac Otani, Head of News, Ghetto Radio, Nairobi

When Kenyans passed the new constitution on August 4, 2010 it was meant to signal the dawn of a new era in how governance issues are handled, but most of all how Kenyans deal with the government and issues that affect them. Many sectors are reforming, albeit slowly, key among them being the judiciary, police and parliament.

Unfortunately, the mentality of Kenyans about corruption in relation to leadership still remains the same. I live in a country where one will only speak out against graft in the government if the opponent of his favorite politician is the one involved or is alleged to be involved.

We act as if leadership and corruption scandals should go hand in hand and our leaders engaging in such scandals are the rules rather than the exception. It seems the work of checking corruption in the government has been left to the skewed civil society groups and a handful of hired university students, who always organize a few street demonstrations whenever a scam is revealed or alleged.

A good example is the recent book, Peeling Back the Mask, authored by former aide and confidant to Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Miguna Miguna.  In the book, Miguna alleged that Odinga and his cronies who work in his office were involved in the scandals that rocked the Kazi Kwa Vijana programme, illegal sale of maize from the country’s Strategic Grain Reserves among others.

A section of Kenyans, civil society and those on social media expressed outrage with majority lashing out at the former close aide and Chief Advisor to the PM for taking a “holier than thou” attitude against Odinga after he was sacked under controversial circumstances. However, the biggest casualty in this entire hullabaloo is the fight against corruption.

My main outrage with Miguna was that he chose to speak out against corruption in the PM’s office only after he was dismissed to the office, making his allegations seem like just a hit-back at Odinga and his chest-thumping and threatening remarks at the book launch and media interviews just added fire to my beliefs about his intentions. The best thing he should have done, to be believable enough, was to provide relevant evidence sufficient to prosecute the Premier and his close office aides he mentioned in the book to have allegedly gained from corrupt dealings, with Odinga’s consent or knowledge, since when they came into government in after February 2008 National Accord signing to end the post election skirmishes.

Miguna aside, the biggest problem is WE Kenyans. We like to complain about how bad and corrupt our leaders and politicians are yet when we get the opportunity to take them to task our tribes and political affiliations come into play. We hold demos in a scattered manner for a few days then go back to our normal lives like nothing happened. We forget one corruption or criminal scandal involving our leaders as soon as some other scandal erupts or something more interesting comes along.

How effective are we in taking our leaders to task? Do the few street demos a few of us hold every time there is a scandal in the government make any impact? Are mere allegations we make against public officials, without sufficient proof to prosecute, enough to make a difference? Is it enough to only call for public officials to resign from their offices when their alleged to be involved in graft then forget that they are supposed to answer in court for their transgressions? Is it enough to protest on the streets, blogs and social media then later act as if nothing happened and continue with life as usual?

When are we as Kenyans ever going to start pushing the right agencies to take action against corrupt government officials? Why do we hold demos to the offices of the alleged merchants of corruption when we can pressure the Attorney General, Director of Public Prosecutions, police and the judiciary, whose offices and reforms we ratified by passing the new constitution, to take action? Why do we look up to the government to fight graft alone, yet the biggest merchants of corruption are always found within the Public Service?

For how long are we going to point fingers at the government for lacking commitment to fight corruption yet the four remaining fingers are pointing back at us? WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT!

…from Hell?

Before you read this post, take a few minutes to click through Foreign Policy Magazine’s “Postcards From Hell, 2012” photo essay about their list of failed states compiled in collaboration with Fund For Peace.

Gross Misrepresentation

Though it might be semantics, there is a problem with appearing to label so many nations as “failed states.” Especially when the top twenty are all in Africa or West/Central Asia (the notable exception being Haiti, which I would argue most Americans see as a satellite African nation rather than a Hispanic nation, despite being located on the island of Hispaniola). This perpetuates the Western perception that all of Africa and the Middle East are full of violent tribesmen, oppressed women, starving children, and lots of AK-47s.

I’m not going to dispute the methodology Foreign Policy used to rank nations. I am not a statistician, and I am certain that such a publication was thorough enough in it’s research to justify the specific scores of one nation over another. Rather, my dispute is with their perspective.

In labelling their photo journal “Postcards from Hell” Foreign Policy immediately sends the not-so-subtle message of “No one would ever want to live in one of these places!” Even if their index includes the US and Europe, having the large “Failed States” at the top of a page that displays nations with functioning governments and thriving local economies is misleading to say the least, and internationally damaging at worst!

But Why?

Perhaps all of this is just a form of marketing. It was suggested by Kevin Tuitoek that NGOs might benefit from their target regions being labelled in such a negative light. This is not unbelievable. I can easily imagine fundraising literature describing how “Kenya is listed by Foreign Policy Magazine as ranked 16 in their Failed States Index in 2012.” Give money now. Cynical? Perhaps. But definitely possible.

Another alternative is that it’s an effort to discourage investment abroad and re-direct it to “safer” western markets. Again, cynical, but possible.

Lastly, and much less cynically, perhaps Foreign Policy truely believes that they are informing the public about problems worldwide, and that more action will be taken as a result.

The Larger, Less Scary Story

To the uninformed, it is definitely a good primer on problems facing developing nations. However, these problems are only one page in a much larger storybook.

The rest of the story for most of these nations is one of growth and opportunity in a time when the West faces recession and economic uncertainty. Three of the nations listed in the top 20 are members of the East African Community, which in 2010 had an average GDP growth rate of 5.9% at a time when the US was barely at 3.9%. (In 2009, during the worst of the recession, EAC nations averaged a full 4.4% growth while the US suffered through -9% contraction!) Kenya, listed at 16th most failing state, has a staggering 93% of its population using mobile technology, according to a World Bank report.

The developing world has success after success that can and should be highlighted. Certainly there are problems. There are even places where external organizations and governments can step in and help out! But to only show the problems that continue to afflict these nations is nothing short of negligent.

I would love to see a “Postcards of Opportunity” photo journal, highlighting the local innovation and investment opportunities that abound in so many of these nations deemed “failed” by Foreign Policy. Let’s celebrate and spread those stories, and maybe we’ll find solutions to the problems along the way.

Postscript

As a parting thought, I would like to highlight a reaction to the photo journal that I had not expected to see. Sewe Saldanha, one of the thoughtful #KOT I follow on Twitter, reminded us, “Dear Kenyans, please note this [page detailing the post-election violence], it is very easy for the country to sink forever. Stay warned!” In this the choice is made to focus not on the age-old label of Africa as scary, but rather seized on the opportunity to remind fellow countrymen of the danger of tribalism – a warning we all do well to heed. 

And if you’re reading this and thinking “I’m not Kenyan, why do I care?” just substitute “racism” for “tribalism” and reflect on how easily we’ve seen our own nation slip into violence (LA, Cincinnati, New Orleans, etc). Immigrant nation = tribes of skin color.

How do those who desire to help and have the means/resources to do so best assess the true needs of those they wish to help?

For instance, how do we know that maize is the best crop for rural Kenyans to grow in order to rise out of poverty? Might there be more profitable crops that they could consider? What about crop diversification to insure against specific pests and diseases? (Not to mention the fact that some crops are very nicely complimentary.)

What about those poor who do not have soil of their own? What about the growing urban population? Do we simply assume that rural = poor/backwards/underprivileged, and urban = progressive/ambitious/socially-mobile?

I know that no one can be all things to all people. Different organizations serve different populations.

But still, my root question is, “Are we fully leveraging local knowledge to identify and correctly address local issues?”

I missed it live yesterday, but today I was able to catch a great segment from al-Jazeera’s “The Stream” featuring TMS “Teddy” Ruge (@tmsruge), Co-Founder of Project Diaspora and Joel Charny, Vice President for Humanitarian Policy at InterAction (@interactionorg). They discussed the often unseen negative counter-effect that well-intentioned but uninformed western aid projects can have. In a sort of parody of TOMS Shoes’ “Day Without Shoes” campaign, Project Diaspora advocates a “Day Without Dignity” campaign (hashtag #Dignity2012) that promotes local heroes rather than western “saviors”.

Please watch the interview and check out the post on Project Diaspora’s page. Then comment here, tweet about it to your friends, talk to your neighbors.

This is a discussion worth having… and as you walk away from your discussions, find a way to act. Help local heroes.

The Stream – African aid: helpful or hazardous?

Project Diaspora – Spring 2012: Introducing Another “Day Without Dignity”

Image copyright Nuru International.

While the world got worked up about Kony2012 two weeks ago, a little headline about sustainable development in rural East Africa from Robert Johnson (@JohnsonRW) over at Business Insider caught my attention. It caught my attention for a few reasons, but primarily because of the shared connection I felt as soon as I saw it.

The title was, “How A Former Spec Ops Platoon Commander Is Creating A New Social Approach To The War On Terror.”

This immediately grabbed my attention. I have fought in the War on Terror. I have worked in Special Operations. I have been incredibly frustrated at what I would call our overwhelming ineptitude in winning the social side of the conflict. So without a moment’s hesitation, I found myself devouring the article with fascination.

Though it was a bit simplistic in description, Meredith Galante’s (@mkgalante) article painted an articulate picture of the founder of Nuru International, Jake Harriman, his background, and the transformative work that his organization is daily accomplishing in a rural district in southeastern Kenya called Kuria West. His story excited me (perhaps because I could easily see myself taking a similar path) because not only was it described constructive good being done in the world in an effort to curb the weaknesses exploited by those who spread terror, but it was doing it in Kenya! This was an amazing blend of common factors indeed!

Let me take a second here and explain a little bit about why Kenya is so significant. It’s fairly simple, really. My wife was born and raised in Nairobi, and her entire family is Kenyan. My son is half-Kenyan, just like President Obama (though of a different tribe). I am, essentially, adopted Kenyan if you ask her family. So far I have only had the privilege of visiting Nairobi once, but I loved my time there, and can’t wait to go back. As part of her (and now my) family live their daily lives in Kenya, I am as interested, if not more so, in seeing it do well as I am in seeing Georgia, North Carolina, or Ohio do well. I daily follow news and politics about the nation and the surrounding region. I am certain that whatever I end up doing my grad work in, it will have some connection or focus on Kenya. But I digress…

A few minutes later, my skepticism kicked in. I have to be skeptical. I know that it is all too easy to take a few pictures of rural “Africa”, tell a sad story, get money from guilt-ridden (and perhaps a bit paternalistic) Americans, and set yourself up in a nice lodge in Karen. Never mind the fact that, while still considered to be a developing nation, Kenya is well on its way to being a technological and commercial powerhouse in East Africa. And even before the recent explosion in growth, it had an excellent centralized educational curriculum that has produced a slew of academics over the past half-century (not the least of whom was the father of the current President of the United States). There are plenty of Kenyans who are working very hard to improve Kenya, and most are doing it without a single US Dollar.

I decided to dig past the BI article and check this Nuru out. I tweeted a few feelers out to journalists that I know in Nairobi to see if anyone had heard of the organization and it’s work. Unfortunately, none had. Well, maybe that is fortunate, as they hadn’t heard anything negative either. Instead I turned to their website to get into the nitty gritty details of Nuru’s work.

At the same time, I was contacted by Billy Williams (@chanchanchepon), the Grassroots Movement Director at Nuru. He graciously offered to personally answer any questions I had about the organization and I gladly took him up on the offer. Over the course of several emails and a great phone conversation, Billy explained the Nuru story in great detail. It would take a long time for me to share everything that he did, and I’d probably do his ability to explain things a disservice, so I’ll just hit some of the highlights:

- From the beginning, Nuru has involved local Kenyans in the direction, planning, and execution of their work in Kuria West district.

- They believe in putting as few westerners on the ground as possible, instead preferring to mentor, train, equip, and empower local servant leaders to lead out the initiative.

- Their educational assistance initiatives work with, not in place of, the existing Ministry of Education schools. They supplement rather than replace.

- The agricultural program is more education than aid. Participant farmers pay back the initial input loans (seed & fertilizer) quickly, and often join in efforts to educate others.

- Kuria is part of Nuru’s “Proof of Concept”. While it does have extreme poverty, it is not necessarily as ripe for terrorist exploitation as, say, southwestern Somalia. Nuru wants to polish their systems before branching into failed states and post conflict areas.

- When Nuru scales in Kenya beyond Kuria West, the initiative will not be led by western staff or western funding, but rather by local Kenyan staff who have been mentored and trained in the Nuru model as they served in their communities in Kuria. (Hopefully I will be able to explain this part in greater detail in a future post, as this is the part of their model they are most excited about.)

In short, I think they are doing it right. I anxiously follow their work, and look forward to watching their success (which I am confident they will have). I would love to hear from any Kenyans who have interacted with them, good or bad.

If you are interested in finding out more, check out the following links, or contact them on Twitter (@IAMNURU):

www.nuruinternational.org – Their organizational website. Contains great videos and explanations of their work and concept.

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/linking-extreme-poverty-and-global-terrorism/ – An excellent feature in the New York Times by Jake Harriman about his motivation and vision for Nuru.

Finally, I pray that they are blessed with not only success but also with the humility required to remain successful in the long run. I hope they will live servant leadership that is infectious, bringing another little corner of Creation closer to the way things ought to be.

Courtesy of the BBC:

Al-Shabab: Terror timeline

• February 2009: Suicide attack on an African Union military base in Mogadishu kills 11 soldiers
• June 2009: Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden and more than 30 others killed in suicide attack in Beledweyne, north of Mogadishu
• September 2009: Double suicide attack on AU military base in Mogadishu kills more than 20 people
• December 2009: Suicide bombing at a university graduation ceremony in Mogadishu kills 24 people, including three government ministers, doctors and students
• July 2010: Double suicide bombing in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, kills 76 people watching the football World Cup final on television
• August 2010: Attack on a hotel in Mogadishu kills more than 30 people, including parliamentarians
• September 2010: Car bomb attack outside Mogadishu’s airport kills at least nine people
• February 2011: Suicide bombing at a police station in Mogadishu kills at least eight people
• June 2011: Interior Minister Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan killed by suicide bomber in Mogadishu
• October 2011: Lorry bomb attack kills more than 70 people in Mogadishu

BBC News - Why is Uganda fighting in ‘hellish’ Somalia?

I’m still not exactly certain what direction I want to go when I get out. I know that we want to stay here local. I know that I want a job that will allow me to spend much more time with my wife and my son. But as far as what I actually want to do, I have no idea.

I am currently in the interview process with a “career transition service” for junior military officers. Basically a headhunter. They seem pretty slick, and come with good recommendations from other soldiers I’ve talked to, but I don’t hold high hopes for them placing me here in Savannah.

On top of that, what I would really enjoy doing, I think, is harnessing my experiences and insights from the military into some sort of humanitarian or at least developmental work. Some sort of risk/security analysis or something like that. If I could do it primarily from home using Internet resources, all the better. I’d love to focus on East Africa and the Horn of Africa. I see so much potential in that region, and my language experience will help me there as well.

It’s all yet to be seen. I will continue to search and pray and explore.