My rant at Nairobi

So here I am about to say hello home! I’ve been in Nairobi since Monday last week and I have to say there are some people who made me feel at home. Needless to say there are two Kenyans on the list. Actually I have to say they are on the list Why? Because the rest have been more or less tolerating me The two are a guy and a girl. I sit with them and they went an extra mile to make me feel welcome. Now I have 3 Kenyans I can say I connect with. Here I have to say the third I’ve never met. I just follow her blog The rest of the people who made me feel welcome and at home are from Zambia, Malawi and of course Zimbabwe. They are now based here permanently and I guess because the people here are not so open or welcoming, they’ve now formed their own clique. So they took me for lunch a couple of days and we chat So there! They got to me via food Back home we have a saying ‘hukama igasva hunozadziswa nekudya’ Translated, friendship or relationships are a bond that ties people together and it is kept strong and alive by FOOD  I really don’t know what it is with the Kenyans I work with, they just have a phobia of us Zimbos and they think they are superior to everyone else Yes, you can only be made to feel less by someone ONLY with your consent But when they throw it in your face and make decisions that ensure you’re below them, well it’s kinda hard to have kind feelings or sentiments towards them Anyway, my point is they’re just not friendly or open They are just too much focused on cultural boundaries that they let the world pass them by How? They don’t interact well with outsiders and believe you me they become too bigoted they think they are the best they can be or there is yet someone better is sitting next to them They could learn A LOT of things from others not just foreigners but from each other and actually make their country something which a Zimbabwean can say they can without a doubt want to make home I’m not just saying because I feel homesick, but the sentiments are the same from any black person I’ve talked to who’s not from Kenya It’s unanimous “those people” when you speak to anyone about a Kenyan even people outside my organization who work with Kenyans or have worked with them The down side of their character is that it strains the other party to a point where they don’t interact but just work They make you lose passion and become like them –God forbid! I’ve come across a bunch who won’t say outright they’ve made a blunder They’ll push it under the rug and hope no one notices a change I hate people who are not honest Integrity is something I value in business and life, so when it’s a good bunch of people who wait for the boat to sink lest someone knows they drilled a hole by mistake, I’m just aggravated to fight Natural right? Maybe not But I find out that I fight more often when I’m working with Kenyans I don’t know how someone cannot listen and hear that you’re saying the same thing as they want to say to you. Worse if it’s something you’ve already done For crying out loud, why do you want things to play out in your words when they’ve already taken place on my terms It’s just infuriating and I’ll be glad to be home They hide behind being independent like forever that someone did poor planning hence the state of the country, but for heaven’s sake, why don’t you care about the brother next to you Ethnic lines are just killing and delaying whatever good there can be for this country My country by my standards and theirs even, is beautiful I just can’t figure the disorganisation there is with their city structure But hey, guess that’s another part of Africa that lives by it’s own rules and pride But come on, at least care about the next person without being forced. Then I’ll think of you in a better light. God knows why they are like what they are and I pray one day they will be a breed of people someone wishes to be like or be intimate with (someone other than an east African of course).