What We're Reading

I always like to pick up a good book before we get on an airplane.  But this venture especially has allowed for more reading besides just the time in transport.  When traveling to a foreign country I especially like to learn something about the history and culture we are to be immersed in. 

So, how to find writings from and about Kenyans?  I began this investigation by refering to the 'Literature' entry in the Lonely Planet guide to Kenya at Richland Public Library.  African literature often runs in to the problem of lanuage.  Some prefer to write in their native tribal tounge.  Others find it necessary to write in English in order to increase readership.  Several authors were mentioned in Lonely Planet, some with Kikuyu publications, some in Swahili, some in English, some whose work had be translated from Kikuyu to English... availablilty of many works is often limited...

A search of the authors in RCPL system produced only 2 hits.  One was a novel written for children, a 150 page tail.  It is quite a moving story about a Kenyan boy who befriends the grandson of a British expat, all set around the time of the Mau Mau rebellion.  I really enjoyed this simple story and can't remember the name of the book!  Sorry!

The second hit was “Gods and Soliders, The Penguin Anthology of Contemporary African Writing”.  This is a book of short stories and articles, both published and unpublished, written within the last 10 years by Africans.  The entries are organized by regions.  Some are small works of fiction, others are political commentary, some discuss issues of African identity and voice in literature.  After language, the problem of grouping a collection of writings under the title 'African' is that each country is so different.  Many share similar stories of western colonization followed by a struggle for independence.  But the details of each story are so complex relative to their political makeup, tribes, geography, and culture.  Many very intriguing works from a contininent searching for a voice.  However, it did not give me the insight into Kenya specifically that I was searching for...

A book that has been suggested to me by a fellow Tumutumu volunteer is “Britian's Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya” by Caroline Elkins.  The book is a detailed account of the MauMau uprising in rejection of British colonialism, gathered from interviews of both Kenyans and Brits.  The book is huge and it sounds a bit dry and dense for me, but perhaps a few chapters would shed light on that time in Kenya.

As previously mentioned, we consulted our friend Sarah Cooper Searight on an appropriate reference for ministry she suggested Henri Nouwen's “Gracias! A Latin American Journal”.  Though the culture of this book is Catholic and the local is South America, many of the issues of poverty transfer well to our setting in rural Kenya.  We hesitate to use the word “mission” to describe our trip... it can have such negative connotations.  But the tone of this journal and his approach to ministry is alligned with our philosophy.

'“It is the change from selling pearls to hunting for treasure.”  Indeed, not too long ago the task was seen as selling the pearls of good news to the poor and ignorant people.  Now a radically new perspective dominates... to search with the poor for the treasure hidden in the ground on which they stand.  It is the shift from spiritual colonialism to solidarity in servanthood...'

So many exerpts speak to us and this place.  We have been reading it aloud daily during our time of devotion.  We highly recommend it!

Matthew has been brushing up on his knowledge of tropical medicine by referencing “Principles of Medicine in Africa”, borrowed from Dr. Daniel Everett, a physician from the states also staying at our guest house.  He says it has a lot of infectious disease information and some about more common problems such as diabetes and heart failure. It's a little out of date, but it's nice to have something to reference for the diseases that aren't often seen in the US.