Lost in northern Kenya

This is a review of a novel, The Names of Things by John Colman Wood, AshlandCreekPress.com, 2012.

     This novel, set for the most part in northern Kenya among the Gabra people, is essentially a meditation on mourning.  The plot is fairly simple. The protagonist, an anthropologist, goes to Kenya to live with and study the Dasse (apparently the Gabra’s name for themselves).  HIs wife, an artist, goes along reluctantly.  While he studies (and reflects upon the culture he is immersed in), she paints and contracts AIDS, perhaps from tainted blood, perhaps from sex.  Back in the states she dies and he is lost. So he returns to Kenya to mourn, to find closure, and perhaps a way forward. 

 

     All of this occurs against the back drop of the dry desert landscape of northern Kenya where nomadic life is tough and where the modern world has made little entry.  Our anthropologist (who is never named) continues to chronicle the cultural life of the Dasse, especially their death customs, as he tries to make sense of his own loss.   He slowly transforms from observer to participant, but yet can never cross the cultural divide.  Pitted against inhospitable terrain and loneliness, his final quest is an individual one. 

     Needless to say this is kind of an odd novel.  There are lots of ruminations about life and death, and the nature of relationships, all of it offset by the stark reality of nomadic life and the understandings, misunderstandings and just plain confusion that an outsider brings to people he encounters.  Yet the presumably accurate descriptions of what that life is and how people cope make the tale compelling. 

     I am perhaps the rare reviewer who has actually traveled through the region so aptly depicted in the novel.  Although I had little contact with the inhabitants, the geography and physical descriptions are accurate.  Readers curious about Kenya, about nomadic life and non-western cultures will find this an interesting story.  I did.

How is Africa changing?

This is a review of The Rift - A New Africa Breaks Free by Alex Perry, Little Brown and Company, NY, 2015.

The premise of this book is that Africa has changed. Duh! Is that enough to write a book about?  Apparently so.  Author Perry makes a good case, at least for those whose heads have been stuck in the sand for the last twenty years that the Africa they knew has indeed changed.   The title indicates that Africa has broken free of past constraints and is now master of its own fate.  The author observes that nations like Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe are no longer bound by colonial ties, and western visions of economies, but are forging their own ways with their own independent minded leaders.  Some leaders like Kagame and Museveni are politically astute and running their own show, others like Mugabe are lost in the past and rely on thuggish brutality to stay in power.  Perry underlines his views on Zimbabwe with an anecdote wherein he was imprisoned for several days by the regime’s minions. That’s his technique, he reports personal encounters with activists, observers, perpetrators and victims, then extrapolates his points from there.  It is an effective journalistic approach to writing.  

 Economically, Perry makes the point that the colonial paradigm of western exploitation of African resources no longer governs.  Others, like China, are involved, but the biggest current obstacles to economic progress are Africans themselves.  The portraits painted of South Africa and Nigeria where corruption is rife are insightful, especially the observation that South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, is intrinsically corrupt because as a freedom fighter organization it was anti- state and anti-law.  Ergo, its officials have inculcated an ethos to consider public assets fruit of the struggle.  Sadly, Nigerians cannot claim such a distinction, but Perry argues that British colonial favoring of the resource poor north contributed to the northern predilection to loot the oil rich south. 

Perry devotes quite a bit of space to conflict, especially violence with connections to global terrorism.  He (correctly) states that in three cases -  Somalia (Al Shabab),  Nigeria (Boko Harum)  and Mali (Al Qaeda in the Maghreb - AQIM) the roots of the terrorist organizations lie in indigenous nationalist movements.  Furthermore these movements expanded and grew in strength because the west, particularly the United States, saw fit to consider, treat and attack these movements as part of a global Al Qaeda network.  Perry argues that in part because of such pressures the groups did, in fact, align themselves with global networks.  Whatever the background, violence continues to be exacerbated by western, and western proxy intervention, i.e. Ethiopia and Uganda in Somalia, UN forces in Mali.  Perry has harsh words for U.S. renditions and interrogations of suspected Al Shabab operatives in East African prisons.  On the other hand he luridly describes videos of awful violence perpetrated by Boko Harum operatives in Nigeria, but offers little confidence that the inept Nigerian military can cope with the problem.

Beyond the negativism of much of the book, the author does find some reasons for optimism.  African politics are increasingly bereft of external string pulling.  Economic bright spots revolve around capitalizing on Africa’s enormous agriculture potential.  Reforming land tenure policies to permit individual ownership is key to investment that will lead to surplus production.  This is happening in Ethiopia. There and elsewhere in East Africa, modern cell phone communications make market prices available.  Unconstrained communications promote widespread freedoms of all sorts - information, political, economic and security.  Kenya’s mpesa electronic money system is setting a global precedent for a new type of financial system.  Innovative local leaders in urban areas, like the mayor of Lagos, are forging ahead with infrastructure and social projects that may make Africa’s sprawling cities more livable.   Finally, Perry has found throughout the continent people of integrity who are determined to battle for justice, equity and progress.  He puts faith in them. 

There is a lot I disagreed with in this book, more along the intensity of the presentation rather than the issues themselves.  I was dismayed by the vivid, almost voyeuristic descriptions, especially the opening account of watching a child die in Mogadishu.  However, agree or disagree, Perry makes his case. Africa has changed and is no longer subject to the same strictures as before.  Students of Africa or those who just want a perspective on the continent should read this book.  

The Raid on Entebbe

Herewith a review of Operation Thunderbolt - Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History, by Saul David, Little, Brown and Company, NY, 2015.

39 years after the fact, there is now a comprehensive blow-by-blow account of the Israeli military operation that freed hostages taken on a hijacked Air France flight by Palestinian terrorists in 1976.  You would think this would be a bit of a turgid read, but it is not. In fact, it gets fairly gripping.  The tale is divided into its concomitant parts - the situation of the hostages on the plane and later inside the Entebbe terminal, including their interactions with the terrorists; the political maneuvering within the Israeli leadership as they seek a solution, including efforts to placate Idi Amin; and not the least the planning, training and carrying out of the military operation itself.   

Author David delivers almost an hour by hour description.  Indeed to generate all of this he must have done an astonishing amount of research, not only of documents but also with interviews of people involved.  What comes across is credible, full of the nuances of change as matters evolved. The Israeli military men who conducted the attack, of course, are portrayed as the heroes they were, especially Yoni Netanyahu, who died on the scene.  The home leadership was haunted by the possible consequences of other alternatives, indecision or failure, yet made the decision to proceed. The hostages - passengers and crew - are well depicted as were their activities while captive and the stress they endured.  Even the terrorists themselves, especially the two Germans, are more than caricatures. Finally, Amin himself is honestly painted, mostly verbatim in his own words.

Readers know that the operation successfully freed the captives, but not without casualties: five Israelis, all of the terrorists and dozens of Ugandan soldiers were killed, and more were wounded.  Operation Thunderbolt drew a line in the sand to emphasize that nations of the world would not cave into terrorist demands.  Indeed that policy has mostly been honored every since.  The event also proved the value of small specialized highly competent strike teams which many nations of the world, including the United States subsequently developed for such contingencies.   

Refugee Hell in Kenya

Following is my review of City of Thorns - Nine Lives in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp by Ben Rawlence, Picador, NY, 2016.

In this gripping narrative author Rawlence charts in detail the lives of nine inhabitants of the Dadaab refugee camps.  His subjects (all but one are Somali) or their parents fled conflict and drought in their neighboring homeland and pitched up in Kenya’s northern desert.  From the beginning of the crisis in the early nineties, the camps have swollen and swollen again to encompass well over a half million souls.  Refugees are by definition in limbo. They were compelled by circumstances - war, intimidation, poverty, drought, and terrorism - to leave their homes to seek safety, succor and refuge elsewhere.  The camps deliver only a modicum of such relief. Instead they become a seething caldron of humanity, divided by ethnicity, religion and clan. Existence in the camps requires patience, perseverance and often, ingenuity.

Using the lives of his nine subjects, author Rawlence ably conveys the reality of the camps, Living conditions are abominable. It’s very hot. Dry wind blows dust and sand everywhere. When the rare rains come, it is a quagmire of mud and filth.  Families are jammed into squalid mud huts that they’ve built themselves.  Water is provided at central points, but sanitation is rudimentary.  Procedures to get rations, health or other services mean running a gauntlet of corrupt bureaucracy, where everyone has an angle. Several of Rawlence’s subjects came to the camp as children in the nineties.  Camp life is all they know. Other more recent arrivals perhaps found the safety they envisaged, at least initially, but not the life they hoped for.  Life in the camps is, in fact, miserable. The underground economy of petty trading, selling rations, and smuggling provide limited opportunities for refugees.  Because men cannot provide for their families, traditional social structure is under great pressure.  Families are disrupted, but still that basic human relationship is what enables most to survive. Official power is in the hands of the UN, NGOs and Kenyan authorities.

Yet, as Rawlence points out via his subjects, hope is a powerful motivator. In their fondest dreams they yearn for resettlement  to America, Australia or Europe.  Indeed several hundred persons a month get so lucky.  Lesser dreams include education or most prominently a job in the camp that pays a living wage. Even though the camps are essentially a huge city, paid employment is rare and all good jobs with international NGOs are reserved for Kenyan nationals.

The international community provides some support, especially rations, health care and a few educational opportunities, but it is never enough, and obtaining access to services is fraught with corruption. Compounding the problem of an inadequate international response is the fact that Kenya wants the camps dismantled and the Somalis sent home, especially after Al Shabaab attacks inside Kenya. By and large Kenyan officialdom, i.e. the police, equates refugees to terrorists. Their heavy handed and corrupt tactics on one hand offset by Al Shabaab’s infiltration and intimidation of the camps on the other meant that the vast majority of legitimate refugees are squeezed in the middle.  Violence within the camps became common.

I was surprised to learn that there is so much regular transport back and forth between the camps and Somalia. Trucks, buses and people come and go.  I was not, however, surprised to learn of the chaos and corruption that characterizes everyday camp life.  Kenya is not portrayed as a gracious host.  Rawlence accurately describes the traditional enmity most Kenyans feel about Somalis and notes how this distain easily morphs into the callous heartlessness displayed towards the refugees.  Additionally the author relates how corruption at the highest levels perpetuates the insecurity.  Insecurity is profitable.  For instance, sugar smuggling puts money into big pockets as do international contracts for camp services, and western support for Kenyan military incursions into Somalia. 

In sum, The City of Thorns is a penetrating look into the state of refugee issues.  The Dadaab camps and the nine persons profiled are but examples that allow the bigger picture to be seen.   Refugee life is a brutal process fraught with problems and with no end in sight. Reforms and improvements are indeed possible, but at least in Dadaab’s case, not too probable.  Yet where would the world be without the safety valve of camps and of international mechanisms to help victims cope with strife and despair? 

What makes Kenyans world champion runners?

This is a review of Running  with the Kenyans - Discovering the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth, by Adharanand Finn, Ballantine Books, London, 2013.
 

I was not sure what to expect in this book, but was pleasantly surprised. Finn, an English runner, journeys to Kenya to live and train with Kenyans for about six months.  His objective was first to gather material for a story along the lines of the subtitle - he worked for a sports magazine. But secondly he wanted to test himself as a runner to find out what he had left in his tank.  

Finn moved his family to Iten, a small town of five thousand people perched at 8,000 feet on the rim of the Great Rift Valley.  Iten has become the center of Kenya’s running culture.  A thousand or so folks congregate there in various training camps in order to focus exclusively on running.  It is a hard regime as the competition is fierce, yet global results prove that Kenyans, especially the Kalenjin people of the Iten region are in fact the fastest people on earth.  For the last forty years they have excelled in all distance running events, holding world and Olympic records. Kenyans regularly (and usually) win all the major big-city marathons.

During his sojourn Finn met dozens of champions.  He quizzed them and their coaches about what makes Kenyans fast. He befriended many and cobbled together a training group with the objective of competing in the Lewa (Kenya) marathon.   The book ties together these two themes - information about why Kenyans can run and a personal story of interactions with runners. 

 Acknowledging various scientific studies of the issues, the author gradually concludes that Kenyans runners are fast for a number of combined reasons.  They are rural people who live at altitude.  Genetically they are skinny and long legged. They work hard at farming, herding or as children running to school. They eat a high carbohydrate, low fat diet.  Thus, their bodies are prepared for running.  Then they train well, devoting all of their time to running, resting and eating. Psychologically they have strong internal discipline, can face hardship and persevere.  They harbor a fierce competitive streak.  Finally there is a pervasive culture of running.

Success has built upon success. Running is a way out of a subsistence quagmire to a modicum of success.  Monetary prizes permit buying more land, building a better house, starting a business and generally moving up the economic scale.

  

Finn investigates all these issues and in doing so really gets plugged into the running culture.  Conversations and interactions illuminate motivations and hopes as well as disappointments.  He finds, of course, gaps in understanding - him of them and them of him.  However, he paints genuinely humanizing portraits of his friends and colleagues as their friendships grow. 

 

In sum Running with the Kenyans is an insightful book about running and about Kenyans.  Readers with an interest in those topics will enjoy it.