A Day on the Farm

We had a change of pace over the weekend. We celebrated our anniversary on saturday. On sunday, Collin spent the day looking for the non-existant vineyard church in shimoni. Apparently we received bad intel that led us to believe that such a church exists, because after a couple of hours of riding the bike around and asking countless locals in the very small village of shimoni, we are quite certain that no such church exists.

Today we went up to Vuga, met Terry at Pamoja, and set off walking deep into the rolling green hills. It was so fun to be inside the lush green hills that we always see as we drive through town on our motorbike. It is so beautiful and serene: the red dirt, the banana trees, the contoured maize fields that extend as far as your eye can see. The air smells so good from charcoal burning and various foods cooking. There is something so freeing to go farther back into the remote beauty of Kwale. The homes are made of mud and branches from the coconut palms. The coconut palms are made into shingles and the roofs are thatched. The walls are made with such precision and construction that it is difficult for me to believe the bricks are made of mud.

We walked for several miles today to get to the home of Terry's friend. I don't think we ever made introductions, so I don't know her name. She and her family live on a farm that is 5 hectares. The farm is very productive. They have mango trees, orange trees, banana trees, corn, beans, cassava, cabbage, and probably a lot more that I didn't recognize. It is impressive, especially considering that all the labor is done by hand. They plow, weed, water, and harvest by hand.

Also, it's an organic, vegan farm! They compost the garden with the inedible debris from the fruits and vegetables. That is how they fertilize. No pesticides. No cow manure. The family maintains it, and they are subsistence farmers. This means they rely on it for food and not as much for income. Actually, they really would like some cows at some point to help with the plowing, but for now, they spend their all day, every day managing the farm.

When I write about their family, you may be picturing a family of 5, 6, or maybe 7. In fact the family members that we met today were the first wife (of two) and her husband, their 11 children (of 16 when totaled from both marriages), their daughters-in-law and and 7 grandchildren. There are several other houses on the farm where other family members live. Of course, most of the children are too young to help as of yet, but the proximity of adult family members on the property makes managing the farm possible.

I asked some questions about land ownership. Within the Digo culture there is land ownership, but that is separate from the Kenyan government. This farm, for example, was passed on to the husband of this family from his father. The family that we met today has been living there for 25 years, and his father's family lived there before that.

The Kenyan government, however, by default owns any land that has not been legally purchased. This family does not have a deed, a title, and whatever else is necessary to ensure that the government will not sell their land to someone else.

In fact, there is a case where this happened a few years ago. A woman from Europe decided to start an orphanage. She purchased some land and had a building built. This all sounds lovely, but in fact it was quite detrimental for several reasons. It displaced the families that had been living there for generations. We met one of the families that was displaced because of this. They were landless and homeless at the drop of a hat after living on that land for generations.

Also, orphanages are not what the community wants here in Digoland. The institutionalized method of raising a lot of kids in a home until they are 18 is discouraged by Digo culture. 

The community in this region feels that it is much healthier for orphaned children to be placed in the homes of relatives. This makes more sense given the nature of how extended families often live nearby, if not on the same shared land. Also, when kids who have been raised in an orphanage turn 18, they are no longer under the care and provision of the orphanage. Often these people have a very difficult time adjusting. The community does not really feel that they are Digo anymore because they have been raised in an institution where the cultural norms and expectations are much different. It makes transition to adulthood very challenging. This information is per Terry and several women that we interviewed last year.

How can we avoid mistakes like this? This is an ongoing question that I think we must never decide has been finally answered. We must remain students and have the humility to realize that the members of the community are the main stakeholders, the experts, and the beneficiaries (or victims) of any development action that outsiders facilitate. In order to make projects sustainable, the community members must own the vision. It must be from them, of them, and by them to a large degree. 

We try to learn by observation, soliciting the views and needs expressed by the community, and deferring to Terry (who is the Community Development Specialist from Kenya). Though Terry is from Nairobi which is very different from Digo culture, she has spent the past 9 years living in Digo culture. She speaks Swahili, ChiDigo, and English fluently. She has a very good rapport with the community. She has had much success with her development efforts, and she has learned what often works and what usually doesn't.

Today was about learning. We got to see more into the farming culture here in Digoland. Collin and I wanted to further understand Digo culture in this region, and this trip has several days geared towards that. Today was one of those days, and we really enjoyed it.