On Monday our Social and Political History of Kenya took a field trip to the Railway museum in Nairobi. From the AU center it was about an hour walk. It was nice to get a better directional grasp on the city and walk through downtown. Although by the time we got there we were all hot and dehydrated. It turned out the museum was located at an old rail yard in a garage type building, which did not help the heat situation (ie I basically had a heat stroke). A few of us ended up having to take a moment to go outside to avoid passing out. But the history of the railway was extremely interesting. Kenya is an odd case where the creation of the railroad actually “built” the country as opposed to most cases where having an established country prompted the building of the infrastructure like railroads. The Kenyan railway was constructed by the British beginning in 1896 to stretch from Mombasa on the coast to Lave Victoria in Uganda. The British had an interest in Lake Victoria because it was the source of the River Nile. The British had a stake in controlling the Nile as to prevent other parties from diverting water away from Egypt, where they also had investments and colonial interests. It wasn’t until they traveled through Kenya that they realized its resource potential and utility and as the railway was constructed, towns sprung up along it, including the current capital Nairobi. The location of the Nairobi railway camp was chosen due to its central position between Mombasa and Kampala, as well as its proximity to a network of rivers that could supply the camp with water. Nairobi is a translation of a Maasai phrase Enkare Nairobi, which means the “place of cool waters.” Essentially, Nairobi was a completely undeveloped Maasai pastureland before the railroad. The British used the railroad for a variety of purposes including transport of British soldiers and Christian missionaries into the interior as well as to transport economic resources and trade with local communities. I won’t bore you with anymore of the details but it was definitely very interesting and afterwards Mwangi took us out to a café at the KICC where I got a very delicious milkshake!
Basically, it is just really amazing to be here in the environment we are studying and to have everything we are learning be so relevant. In our history class we focus on the social and political history of Kenya from pre-colonization onward, while in our institutional strengthening class we analyze Kenyan institutions and discuss their challenges and some possible solutions. Some of the topics we’ve looked at so far are the justice system, healthcare, education, and agriculture/food insecurity. In my gender class we look at the hegemonic traditionally western and male-dominated discourses surrounding development practices while also applying case studies. One fascinating thing I’ve learned (in the really brief version) is that traditionally in many African societies women were the primary people involved in agriculture. It wasn’t until colonization and contact with the Europeans did those gender roles change. The Europeans assumed men were more productive and meant for agriculture (because it was men that were involved in agriculture in Europe) so they only trained men in new technologies and farming techniques, completely leaving women out of the process. Women lost their traditional livelihoods and were pushed into the household and were expected to only participate in domestic activities. And now we completely ignore that little historical fact and think its natural for African women to be confined to the domestic sphere. Basically, it’s amazing to be able experience directly the information we learn in the classroom through our internships, quick field trips in the city, the people we meet, and just being here. In short, I LOVE all my classes and they are all so interesting (even though that doesn’t necessarily mean I love every minute of being in class of course). But I have probably learned more information that directly relates to my interests this semester then all of college combined so far.
Basically, it is just really amazing to be here in the environment we are studying and to have everything we are learning be so relevant. In our history class we focus on the social and political history of Kenya from pre-colonization onward, while in our institutional strengthening class we analyze Kenyan institutions and discuss their challenges and some possible solutions. Some of the topics we’ve looked at so far are the justice system, healthcare, education, and agriculture/food insecurity. In my gender class we look at the hegemonic traditionally western and male-dominated discourses surrounding development practices while also applying case studies. One fascinating thing I’ve learned (in the really brief version) is that traditionally in many African societies women were the primary people involved in agriculture. It wasn’t until colonization and contact with the Europeans did those gender roles change. The Europeans assumed men were more productive and meant for agriculture (because it was men that were involved in agriculture in Europe) so they only trained men in new technologies and farming techniques, completely leaving women out of the process. Women lost their traditional livelihoods and were pushed into the household and were expected to only participate in domestic activities. And now we completely ignore that little historical fact and think its natural for African women to be confined to the domestic sphere. Basically, it’s amazing to be able experience directly the information we learn in the classroom through our internships, quick field trips in the city, the people we meet, and just being here. In short, I LOVE all my classes and they are all so interesting (even though that doesn’t necessarily mean I love every minute of being in class of course). But I have probably learned more information that directly relates to my interests this semester then all of college combined so far.