Maybe Common Sense isnt so Common Any More

This wise proverb came from Simon, a previous employee of Nyumbani, who I met through Kat and Beth, other volunteers. It was funny at the time but the longer I am here the more it makes sense. Today may have been my hardest day in Kenya; I didn't think that would actually happen. The day started out well with class and clubs. After that I supervise the children cleaning. Yesterday went very well, the kids worked hard and really had fun with it. Today, however was a whole new ball game. I didn't think that I had an cruel alter-ego, but she sure came out today. After only 10 minutes it was "I'm tired", "My arms hurt" "We have to do ALL this", "I don't want to sweep". The kids have to do these chores twice a week, aside from their cottage duties and by the reactions from the kids you'd think it was murder. Since it's only an hour of work I tried to make it fun; after they refused the fun I was just was making sure they were doing their work. It was very frustrating and a sure test of patience. I kept thinking that these kids dont live in the "real Kenya" and if they did they would be thanking for only having to do 1 hour of work. If they dont learn now, Im afraid they never will. These kids need a har work ethic if they are going to make it in "life after Nyumbani", which is why I couldnt just say "fine, we'll sweep, go play". However we managed to get through it and some kids were REALLY good. I made sure to give them candy. :) Judge if you will. After lunch a few of us needed to head into Karen and much to our surprise the walk was a bit different than usual. The local kiosks where we buy our fruits and veggies (from my friend Elizabeth) were completely demolished. They aren't much just tin shacks and wooden stands, but to these people they are their livelihoods. Our hearts sang, our minds lost... what could have happened. Trucks were hauling the tin and wood aways, people were in groups almost mourning and things looked misplaced. Was there a fire? Had mungiki, a local gang, been here? What happened? We looked for Elizabeth to ask her and to give her some support, even money but she was no where in sight. Finally, I couldn't take it. "Ma am, do you know what happened?", "Um, yah, the city council came". That was it, it was like a fact of life for her, as if a routine obstacle in life, it was sad. People are making a living here, they are selling local crops, they are cheaper for the residents and are harmless to the community. Maybe common sense isn't so common anymore. I shouldn't assume but I can guess that one of two things happened, either Nakumatt (the Kenyan Wal-mart) put up a fuss because they were losing money. A mango from Elizabeth is ksh 20 and a mango from Nakumatt is ksh 83; to give you a general idea. Or since Karen is FULL of British Kenyans who are very wealthy or as my friend Greg calls them "Kenyan Cowboys" they may put up a fuss about the way they look. Karen is a very nice city, in fact almost Western and these kiosks don't really "fit in". Maybe I am wrong, but either way it is an unfortunate event. Even worse is that this is a fact of life for Kenyans. Anyone who resides on government property is prepare to lose everything in a day. Whats the point? Its lost on me, that's for sure. Maybe to prove a point, maybe to encourage them to buy land, maybe there isn't a point. Jobs are hard enough to come by with a college education and now they are taking away jobs from these people. People without jobs creates idleness, idleness creates poverty, crime and inequality. There is no one way I can see this as being a good thing and yet there isn't a thing these people can do. Frustration. Anger. Fear. Chaos. No wonder crime, poverty and disease are so high, the government is the initiating factor of a horribly sick cycle. Sometimes there is no silver lining, sometimes life just isn't fair, sometimes you just have to pray. Maybe common sense isn't so common anymore.