THEFT AND EDUCATION

(photos - me at Maai Mahiu market, a bustling bi-weekly market.












I have had money stolen before.

Travellers often face issues with stolen money, ‘missing’ gadgets, ‘repaired’ items of various sorts.

Last week, someone stole a total of about $50 from my home. Two people had a key to my house – one neighbour because if I am locked out of my home (ie if I lock my keys inside), I want a friend to be able to let me in; one for the sake of convenience, as my home operates as ‘office’ as well. My neighbour grew up in an orphanage, and living with him now is another guy from the orphanage, who also could have accessed the keys to my place.

What do I do? I’ve confronted the three of them, separately together, seeking to find the truth – and then to accept an apology and forgive the person involved.

None of that has happened. Instead, I have been left with a terrible situation – one of three people whom I previously trusted is at fault, and will not admit it.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY…

I have access to more money – even if it is borrowed from credit cards, etc – than most people here could imagine. By virtue of being Canadian, I have access to opportunities which make me wealthier than every single one of my friends here. I have always had behind me an impressive social security net – I have used free medical services, gotten jobs funded by the federal government, benefited from free secondary school & subsidised university education… I’ve always had the assumption that ‘money should not be a barrier’ – that if I really believe something needs to be done, I can find a way to make it work.

Here, money doesn’t work like that. First, people deal entirely in cash. There is not a single bank in Maai Mahiu - ! People get paid in cash, and then live off of that cash for as long as they can. When that runs out, they literally have nowhere to go, financially speaking. There is no ‘overdraft’, no Visa/Mastercard, no line of credit… no way at all to get extra cash flow, except to eat meals at friends’ houses, ask for money from friends & family, etc.

What a different world here. This picture shows the lucky grade 12 students are able to watch 'Merchant of Venice' on a laptop - however, they must pay 40 Ksh (80 cents) for the privilege. Only about 20 out of 45 got to watch the film. I watched one student trying to 'sneak in' - he got roundly scolded & embarrassed for wanting to watch Shakespeare without paying. Light years away from Bodwell - !

Does inequality, lack of opportunity, and personal ambition excuse theft, and dishonesty about that theft? No, of course not. But, in some senses, I do understand. Where-ever inequality exists, property crime & petty theft become a problem. Vancouver is a prime example – in the past 10 years living in Vancouver, I’ve seen the rise of ‘security’ at banks, in pharmacies, even at grocery stores!

OUR GLOBAL VILLAGE!

I will never forget one thing I learned in university.

I discovered it while researching the rise & fall of resource-based communities on the Pacific Coast. I was trying to compare baseline data with data from resource-based communities. I had to ask my prof for confirmation of what I found. I found that the baseline data for North America from the 1960s – 1980s shows an overall DECREASE in real income for the bottom 10% of the population. That means that the poor really are getting poorer. Even in North America!

As the gap widens between rich and poor, property crimes are inevitable. Having moved from one incredibly wealthy part of the world to a community which lives well below the poverty line, I’ve incited a few property crimes just by my presence.

ONE PERSON

This week would definitely be George, the aspiring journalist and a deputy school prefect (middle in the photo here). George has, according to his teachers, always wanted to be a journalist. He’s pushed his teachers into pursuing an active journalism club at the school, which presents current events & news items at the Monday/Wednesday/Friday 8 am assemblies.

When I came back to Maai Mahiu Secondary one month ago, George was proudly wearing his ‘journalism club’ badge. He read with interest the ‘Canada Eh’ and ‘Kenya Imagine’ first editions… and promptly got to work on making his own edition. He had individual club members write short ‘stories’ and plan out the photographs needed to be taken. After two paper drafts, he passed over the copy to me. For the first time round, I typed & laid out the newsletter… but as he proudly told me, by the end of the summer he plans to be completely conversant in MS Word newsletter production.

HOPE

There is hope for the future of Kenya, I truly believe that. I taught my 139 Business students today about the ‘factors of production’ – land, labour, capital, entrepreneurship. Like it or not, the students in my class will enter a society with a huge surplus of labour & lack of capital. I can only hope that they will choose a path of integrity and hard work, rather than the promise of quick cash through theft, the sex trade, or corruption.

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”

I’m thinking about that quote this week.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mali

PS – check out new school blogs at maaimahiusecondary.blogspot.com and longonotsecondary.blogspot.com… they'll be updated more in the weeks to come!