Formula to educate nomads totally defective!

There is one issue here that needs urgent attention if justice is to be served to those we purport to serve. It is a matter that remains popular but suppressed at the same time. Its popularity informs the non-inclusive response it has attracted from the many actors – appointed and self-appointed – who claim to be on a mission to effect social change. Actually, it is this so-called change that should be questioned, and if possible, its initiators subjected to a disciplinary process for failing to grasp a simple formula. That is, ensuring the change touches all: young, old, females, males, urban dwellers as wells as villagers, nomadic and settled persons.

This is how. The issue here hinges on how education enthusiasts have reached out to Kenyan nomadic communities and the resultant effect of their preachings; the hollowness of such preachings and why a quick search for answers is needed.

We all agree that education is the cornerstone of any social development, and that educating children is akin to insuring the society against future challenges. Another point, and which I think is the source of my frustration is this: we can't just base ourselves on this minimalist interpretation to lock out present needs. Insuring societies must also incorporate solving today's demands.

The central question here is: how will this be effected?

I have solid reasons to back this point. It is common knowledge that Kenyan nomadic communities are late beneficiaries of formal education. Two reasons pop up. One, the colonizer and the white evangelist, the two prominent faces that imported formal schooling to colonial Kenya saw no need to move up north. Two, post-independence governments reluctantly embraced northern Kenya and its people hence building schools in the region, not as a policy move to eradicate illiteracy but as a veiled attempt to express government's generosity.

The result is alive and visible. A huge proportion of the older generation can neither read nor write. Meaning they are completely locked out of daily socio-economic engagement. Besides, their survival depends on generosity of others and the State. This is why relief food is inherently the region's savior.

Which provokes another question. Why should this merit our attention when we have a younger generation to deal with?

The answer is simple and clear. Times have changed and our creativity must also evolve. I will explain.

In a number of years nomadism as a mode of subsistence will be no more. The disturbing question here is what will replace nomadism and how will former nomads respond to these changes? In places like Turkana, this change is no longer a myth. That oil thing you associate Turkana County with has brought with it irreversible changes that must push us to rethink our development strategies.

And here is my modest proposal. For development to win the hearts of these people, culture must play a prominent role. I know taking that route might prove vague. But here is the point. A look into cultures of nomadic peoples shows a depository of undercapitalized wealth. Their willingness to embrace change has also not been acted upon to their benefit.

Put those stereotypes you hear about nomads aside. Nomads have skills, and these skills are needed to power that sedentary lifestyle you consider "modern and superior".

That a people can crisscross hot, barren terrains for eons and still survive to tell their stories says something incredible about their smartness. It is this smartness that must accompany any move to spread education in their milieus.

Think of setting up integrated cultural and skills centers at strategic corners of their territory. I am opposed to this eliminate-and-replace kind of thinking that education evangelists tend to adopt when they venture into nomads’ lands. It is built on that unfounded belief that "only" what is modern is better and that any other thing must take a second position.

The road to inclusive development must be paved with consciousness and respect of local wealth. Upgrade the formula to educate nomads!

Twitter: @mlemukol 

Morocco’s Open-Border System Redefined Pan-Africanism

There is no doubt that the sweet stories we hear from our leaders, business people, and even the peasantry about integration and collective progress can be described as the formidable cornerstone of our engagement as members of an enlightened and a more privileged generation. Again, it is worth noting that Africa’s quest “to remain one” has been there, talked about by everybody, endlessly publicized, and conceptualized in the form of government programs since the 1960s.

The question, I think, has always been how to materialize these lofty concepts and to ensure that even the majority underclass pockets something.

In short, this togetherness chorus has hardly valued the support of the majority out there in the field. Until Morocco came in, the chorus has been about that clique that conferences every day, and far from the fields.

My reflections on the aforementioned concepts have been prompted by my seven year stay in Morocco and the observations I have made in the course of my learning tour.

That the Kingdom of Morocco should be ranked as a champion in advancing Pan-Africanist ideals despite it being a non-member of the African Union could well explain why equating integration to formation of hollow continental or regional unions or organizations, as opposed to banking on tangible people-centered results equals accepting defeat from the onset.

Through its Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation, established in 1986, Morocco has trained millions of students and professionals from across Africa and the Arab world. Currently, the population of foreign students in the Kingdom stands at about 40,000. For the past three years, the Agency has sought to spread its reach beyond Africa by inviting students from as far as the Caribbean Islands. As I write this, Rabat, the Kingdom’s capital city, hosts as many as 70 nationalities – all holed in one corner and sharing experiences.

The socio-economic impact of these souls on the local population is visible and felt by all.

Why and where does Morocco get the resources to implement this unprecedented move? My observation is informed by the choice of Morocco’s engagement. Morocco’s action falls, in my opinion, within that largely ignored perspective vis-a-vis rural development and city-based bureaucrats.

While many development enthusiasts may be of the view that development is anchored on thinking and putting in place solid plans, the rural chaps on their side major not on thoughts but action. What preoccupies these development-thirsty people is purely based on questions like: “what have you done for us?” or “can we see what you have brought to our hamlet?”

Meaning development and integration walk together and that integration takes root when development is felt by the majority. That is, the guys on the field and streets and not the few thinkers in well-furnished office blocks.

Now back to Morocco versus Africa’s integration efforts. Morocco comes top for one reason. It avoided the allure of big political statements and shiny conference halls and focused on what the African people wanted most – education. Talk to any foreign student in Morocco and you will note that Pan-Africanism would have grown had its initiators pointed out the continent’s missing link and provided lasting solutions.

To this date we still pontificate about how Africa’s founding fathers had great ideas; how progressive they were; how united they were in defending and advancing Africa’s and African interests. However, we fail to ask ourselves why these ideals failed to trickle down to the peasantry. 

Could it be that we know the outcome of entertaining such questions and the socio-political obligations attached thereto or we suffer from self-inflicted ignorance?

It is clear, Pan-Africanism of the 1960s was built around national political leaders. Theirs was a club of big men. The population was just but a bunch of helpless singing spectators. Morocco rightly diagnosed this anti-peasantry thing and came up with an appropriate answer. Education. Scholarships. Training. Not political conferences. Not luncheons devoid of substance. That is Pan-Africanism redefined!

Which brings me to my last point: does it matter to our continental and national thinkers that the concept of integration is a responsibility of all, and that leaders are just but initiators of the process?

The answer rests with us – the collectives.

Twitter: @mlemukol