10 juillet 2006, 18:19
my nightmare
I never got a chance to write about it earlier, but I still can't stop thinking about it. When we were leaving Nairobi for the Mara on Saturday, I was busy chatting with Sarah when something outside caught my attention. A group of people - mostly children - were gathered around an obstable on the road. Road obstacles are incredibly common, but I almost vomited when I saw that it was a boy who was maybe 11 or 12y, though it was difficult to tell with all the blood and dirt. His eyes were open and his head was turned toward me, as if he was asking for my help. Paul then calmly explained that he was probably a thief, and was chased down by the community, beaten, and lynched - all to teach others a lesson and deter criminal behaviour - and all in the view of a dozen young children. I was furious, but didn't know what to do. Here I sat, a young, middle-class, mzungu female headed on safari for $65 a day, while no one did anything to help the poor dead boy. I wanted Mwo to stop the van. I wanted to undo it. I wanted to understand. I wanted to talk about crime and punishment. And children's rights. And fairness. And circumstance. But instead I did nothing - just carried on with my vacation.
That same afternoon, when stopped for lunch in Narok, we got into a conversation about the merits of hitting/spanking children to deter "bad" behaviour. Suzo and Paul felt that it was the only way to discipline Kenyan children. And, interestingly enough, I don't think anyone made the connection between spanking and the dead boy on the street.
I can't stop thinking about this, which in some perverted way, I am pleased about. I appreciate that if it didn't affect me, my life circumstances would probably have been a lot different.
We have spent a lot of time lately discussing cultural traditions versus imposed norms (and human rights). In most cases, I find myself mid-range in the argument. However, we are not talking about some remote, North Kenya, tribal village here. This happened just on the outskirts of Nairobi - an incredibly industrialized, educated, and huge (5 million + peopl) business centre in Eastern Africa. And no one was phased.