Sunday, March 27, 2011

Zanzibar



Natives outside enjoying the cooling of the day as well as the beautiful sun set


The Irony. Come to Africa and never really socialize with the Africans. Just hang with others like you and be served by the Africans who still unfortunately think there is something special/superior about Wazungus. Wazungus are seen as benefactors.




Wazungus, three stories above in a nice hotel named "Africa House" seperated from the culture and enjoying alcholic beverages. This is what happens when tourism is the biggest part of a country's economy. It dictates and changes places that are conservative muslims where women are suppose to wear Bui BUi into an enviroment catered to a culture that is unacceptable.Andre and I were the only non whites in this space which is guarded by an african guard that probably wouldn't have let us in until he heard our english and figured we weren't just natives try to beg or something. This is a beautiful veiw though. I hope that we get to the point that we can exchange cultures without the stigma of one culture over powering and over shadowing the "smaller" cultures.


Tanzania (Dar es Salaam & Zanzibar)





Dar es Salaam

Today's Newspaper

Zanzibar
Zanzibar











What Swahili call the White People (foreign people)





Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Harambee

Harambee- The coming together of people to accomplish a common goal. It is the official motto of Kenya because it comes from a Kenyan/African tradition of community self help. A great example of this would be the library that we worked on everyday in Taita with the men and women of the community who’s children will benefit from it’s existence. This is an old African ideology that togetherness on a common goal is not just efficient but good for community moral. In Taita the community puts fundraisers together or just collect a little money from each family to buy the cement and other materials necessary to build. Harambee literally means, “All pull together” in Kiswahili, which happens in many ways. The Taita community pulled together many resources as well as provided the labor as a form of mortar to bring all the parts together into a whole. First prime minister and president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, implemented the word after Kenya’s independence as a metaphor for how he saw the nation being build. It was perhaps done to try to move away from tribalism and encourage unity and solidarity.

       Some Kenyan Christians that are aware that the origins of the word may come from the Hindu deity, Ambee, seem to have a problem with the use of the word though they participate in methodology of harambee.
     Others believe that it is from the Swahili/Bantu word Hala Ambele “This word was originally used by porters at the coastal parts of Kenya like Mombasa, Lamu, Malindi and later throughout the county (Ombudo, 1986).” The reason that it was transformed to harambee is because some tribes like the Kikuyu mix up the sound of  the letters “L” and “R” and since Kenyatta was the one to use it as the motto and because he was Kikuyu he pronounced it harambee. This was during a time in which no one would have dared correct him so the name stuck. This ideology was excepted when introduced to the masses because it resonated with the societies and their educational systems which thought communalism. Different names were given to this term in different communities: “Kikuyu-Ngwatio; Luo - Konyir; Luhya - Obwasio; Kamba - Mwethia; Maasai - Ematonyok etc.”


Monday, March 14, 2011

Their Own People

If anybody wishes to state that the people of the sea are not their own people then I challenge them to examine Swahili time and/or explain it. The Swahili tell time like no one else in the world. The Swahili did not conform to the way the Arabs, Indians, Portugese, English, Chinese or any other group they encountered tell time. They start the day at sun rise which is always at 6am world time because to them it made no since to start counting while people were still asleep before the day began. So 7am is Saa Moja which means one hour and therefore 8am is Saa Mbili (second hour). Due to the fact that the Swahili live so close to the equator they can set their clocks to the equinox which means that they have equal day and night. 12 hours of each. After Silent bartering was over each group that traded with the swahili learned Kiswahili which means that the Portuguese, Indians, Chinese, and Arabs had to tell time like this. 
Portugese missionaries helped the spread of Kiswahili into the interiors of East Africa because it was already such a developed language when they arrived. More developed than most of the other languages in the area; Because the Swahili were muslim they already had words for crucifix, god, angels and many other things that would have been hard to try to introduce to the many different languages that existed in the area. Some missionaries didn't want to use Kiswahili because of it's clear connection to Islam but it was the easiest way to spread to the most amount of people.  

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Swedish Man in Lamu & Landing in Malindi

So as we sit by the coast of Lamu in the Palace Hotel we meet a Swedish guy in his 50s. Andrew the Swede started to talk to us. After all the tomfoolery and a few irrelevant preliminary conversations he looked at me, said my name wrong and asked if he could ask me a question. I said sure with a look of "PLEASE DON'T SAY SOMETHING STUPID". (One is allowed to hope). He said, "I know what it's like to be white in Africa but what is it like to be Black in Africa?" I then gave him the why you say something stupid face. Noticing how stupid it sounds to ask a Black person/African what it feels like to be Black in Africa he said, "I mean being a Black American in Africa"which still isn't a better question. He saw the (white) privilege that I had and was surprised that I was Black and was wondering what it felt be the only black people in an all Black island to have just as much privilege as he. 
The question should be reversed and should be furthered by asking why do some whites feel a need to come to "developing countries" just to feel superior, important, adequate or maybe even comfortable. A more interesting question would be "why do whites feel so comfortable in a place where they are the minority/ what are you doing in Africa?

I wish I could have answered Swedish Andrew with my experience in the coming day

  So either this is EXACTLY how a terrorist looks or they were singling out Cheickna and I as soon as we landed in Malindi. Apparently when we were waiting for our plane in Lamu to Malindi amongst only/majority whites "someone" pointed out the two darkest brothers on the thirty passenger plane as "suspicious". So when we landed we were greeted by "authorities" (one guy with an AK 47 and the other with a serious look and bad pronunciation of our names.) We were asked for our passports. Cheickna was furious. In a Muslim nation we were suspicious because we were wearing a hat (Kofia). 40 minutes of our life wasted in trying to prove that Cheickna and I are not terrorist with American passports. It didn't help that my passport states that I was not American born, our names were both West African and we claimed to be American (good thing we had an "American Accent") nor did it help that Cheickna and I have the EXACT same birthday except I'm one year older.
He wrote down all the info on our ID's and Passports but then his superior comes in and says that they need a photocopy of our passport but they didn't have a scanner or any means of coping it there. So the Academic Director, Cheickna and I had to go to a store and get a copy while he followed on a motocycle. We gave him the copy and he said, "sorry brothers we too are muslim but we must do our jobs." 

So, what's it like to be conscious in the Black Continent? It's frustrating to see the "others" who have shaped a place that's not theirs so much so that till this day they feel entitled to come and go as they please. While locals cant move around as freely because they don't have the money that the "others" have amassed doing god knows what. To the the point that "locals" look out of place in their own space. Europeans and other westerners use Africa as  an "under developed Las Vegas" where their money goes even further. They are addicted, fasinated, and obssesed with Africa so they take advantage of the sad situations in Africa that was instigated by colonialism and now by business and Neo-Colonialism. Jomo Kenyatta opened up Kenya to the Westerners after independence as if he forgot the struggle and lives lost to attain independence from England. An Independence that was done through much bloodshed ie Land Freedom Army (falsely labeled Mau Mau). 
I guess there is a reason why whites settled in Kenya during colonialism and dubbed the name, "White Man's Land". Maybe someone should pull out a map and point out Europe.  


Friday, March 4, 2011

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Kiwayu


Where the guys slept

What We floated in on
The island of Kiwayu is even smaller than Lamu and should be about 40 miles away from Lamu; but for some reason it was a four hour trip there and a nine hour journey back. We ran out of gas and had to sail 90% of the way back which would have been okay of the winds weren't blowing at 5mph.
Despite the irregular amount of time spend on water Kiwayu was a pleasant place because of it's remote location. There was no electricity and we slept two nights on beach while the girls slept in the tree house.
First day there we went to the white sand beach and played soccer. 5v4 against the locals and we still didn't win though we held our own. Ate dinner and built a camp fire on the beach.  The director of the program, Athman, invited all of us around the fire to try some octopus. Tried it but have absolutely no desire to try it again.


Returning to Lamu. Maulidi Mubarak
Second day we snorkeled around 10am with some local sailboats and sailors. Had shark for lunch which by the way is way better than octopus. We slept through soccer and made a bonfire.

Sleeping in the Bow of the boat. It was HOT on DECK. Marisa decided to join since clearly I look to be comfortable. 


Maulidi First Few Days

DHOW RACE TOMORROW! The crew will sleep on boat to insure that no one sabotages

     Maulidi is a week long celebration in honor of the birth of the prophet Muhammad. The holiday is very controversial in the islamic community. Orthodox muslims like the Wahhabi considers the act "haram", which is a sin. They argue that the prophet never celebrated his birthday like this therefore it is not "Sunna". Sunna is anything that the prophet did that was not said by Allah but is considered good to mimic though if you don't you are not punished. It's used to enhance one's faith. They consider the Maulidi to be blasphemous and nearing idol worship. However on the very muslim island of Lamu they celebrate this week with Donkey Races, Dhow Races, Bow ( like mancala) Competitions, swimming competitions and of course soccer tournaments where there will be monetary prizes for first. Islamic schools known as madrasa's come from kilometers way to chant and represent in the festivals. 
     Lamu is well known for hosting the biggest festival in Eastern Africa today because a man known as Habib Swaleh or Swaleh ibn Alwy ibn Abdullah Jamal al-Lail. Habib Swaleh was a Shariff (a descendant of Prophet Mohamed) of Lamu in the 19th century but his origins are from Yemen. He brought this holiday and made it famous by interfacing the aspects of local culture into the celebrations i.e donkey races ( since lamu has no cars, donkeys are the best mode of transport).
To learn more about the history of Lamu Click here.
     On this day people ask the deceased like Muhammad and Habib to pray and talk to Allah on their behave which is a very African concept that elders and ancestors are the connects between man and the devine. Thinking about how Habib is treated after his death and how the prophet is treated informs that even though Africans were/are invaded, influenced and marginalized they retain there culture and traditions that can never be done away not through colonialism, imperialism or religion.