Ujima

Kenya, in common with many African countries, faces some huge challenges. Although Kenya’s economy has made many important strides forward, about 50% of the population is estimated to be living below the poverty line. The average life expectancy of a Kenyan is 47 years (for comparison, US average life expectancy is 77 years). Kenya’s population grew rapidly in the recent past, so young people make up a large proportion of the population. Over 40% of the population is under 15 years old (for comparison, only 21% of the US population is under 15 years old). In addition, the AIDS epidemic is ravaging Kenya, along with most of the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. More than 2.2 million Kenyans are living with HIV/AIDS, or over one in every thirteen Kenyans. Estimates of the increasing and horrifying toll taken by AIDS vary: up to 270,000 people die each year from the disease, or about 750 Kenyans each day. Other diseases such as malaria also pose serious problems. Much of the country’s infrastructure is underdeveloped or in poor condition, including its educational system. There are some hopeful signs in the midst of these tragedies: the rate of population growth, for example, has dropped to around 1.15% per year, down considerably from the 3.6% growth rate of the 1980s (some of this reduction, sadly, is due to the AIDS epidemic). Kenya’s new, democratic government, elected in December 2002, also offers hope for a better future. The number of potential links on these issues is vast. Below are some sites that provide useful and informative overviews of Kenya’s problems. Ongoing detailed coverage is also provided by the news organizations listed in the Recent News section.

Children wait for class to begin at the children’s home Mjiwa Salama in Mombasa, Kenya, Monday Sept. 13, 1999. The center takes care of some 250 orphans whose parents died of AIDS. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi; caption source: AP Photo)

General Overviews

• http://www.hrw.org/africa/kenya.php Although this site focuses on human rights, it also deals with many of the other challenges facing Kenya
• http://www.freeafrica.org/index.html A useful and hard-hitting overview of many of the problems that plague Africa, including ethnic strife, human rights issues and corruption
  • HIV/AIDS IN JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
    A NCSU conducted case study concerning AIDS/HIV in Africa and Kenya
  • Wife Inheritance Spurs AIDS Rise in Kenya
    A WashingtonPost.com article giving an account of an HIV-positive woman and the choices she has made for herself and her children

Specific Issues

(there are many sites, and it is recommended that the viewer conduct further web searches).