So you would have to be living under a rock to not know that Obama won the US Presidential election. In Kenya there’s no way you couldn’t know. This is a recap of my memory of the day the first African American man became president…
About 5:00 am Kenya time I wake up in a pool of my own sweat because the air conditioner had stopped working at some point, and the hot Mombasa air was seeping into the bedroom. I thought, “Great way to start the day”. So unable to fall back asleep, or breath, or move, I got up and had a shower. When I got out I heard Meghan yelling from the other room, “Obama wins!”… something I would hear many times that day, and many days after.
I get into the matatu to work and blarring on the radio is news of Obama’s win and call in talk shows with Kenyans, not Americans, rejoicing in the victory… You did know that Obama is part Kenyan, right?
All the newspapers on the side of the road have Obama’s face on the cover and a catchy headline about the momentous occasion. I over hear conversations on my walk to the office, and amongst Kiswahili words, is Obama this and Obama that…
Before even entering the office, I’m told by the support staff that Obama has won.
The following are reactions heard that day:
Coworker- “Did you hear there was a record turn out for the election?”
Me- “No, I didn’t. That’s great!”
Coworker- “It must be the African touch”. (Note: the smile ear to ear)
Coworker- “You know I was supporting John McCain?”
Me- “Really? Why’s that?”
Coworker- “Because I want Obama to come to Kenya and be our President.”
Coworker- “Obama Day will be like our, (Kenya’s), Christmas because we didn’t get one last year.”
Needless to say very little work got done that day, and the day after, Obama Day.
Since then a day doesn’t go by without some mention of the win… although I think the radio and t.v. did stop the constant airing of his acceptance speech…
I’m not American and I’m not Kenyan, but I feel happy to have shared in some small way in the happiness people felt that day, and continue to feel. At the end of the day, no matter how you feel about Obama, and no matter the work he ends up doing as President, he’ll always represent for people the fact that someone can work hard, stand for what they believe, oppose the candidate that represents the kind of person the country has backed for generations, and win.
So Happy belated Obama Day… and to the Kenyans who have said to me that every day is Obama Day, I think you might be right.
11/13/2008
Political Perspective
On this election day, I sit in an office in Nairobi and get ready to go home for the day, and think of you in Canada as you start your day… and I sit and wonder who will be the next Prime Minister of Canada tomorrow. I’m worried, I’m hopefully, I’m sad, I’m waiting.
When the election was called I almost immediately looked into how I could vote from Kenya. I had to download a form and fill it out, then fax/mail it to Canada, then they would mail me a ballot (because it has to be an original), then I would fill it out, and then mail it back (again because it has to be the original ballot)… Now if you knew what I know about the Kenyan postal service you would laugh because the election would be longer over, the votes would be tallied, and my ballot would still be in transit to Canada… So realizing the futility of my efforts, and the ridiculous process that the government makes Canadians abroad go through in order to vote, (basically making it impossible to do so from remote or developing places), I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t be voting in this election.
I was really sad about the whole thing because I think it’s extremely important, and that it’s my duty, to exercise the right to vote… And that unlike in many places as a citizen, a young person, a woman, I can and do vote. So a little frustrated by the bureaucracy that is Canada, I was complaining to a friend of mine who is from Mombasa, that I couldn’t vote. And she looked at me like, what’s the big deal… and she said, without apology or hesitation, “I never vote!”… Of course I asked why, although living in Kenya I had a feeling I knew the answer, she said, “Because it doesn’t matter”… She explained that she had no faith that the person who actually had received the most votes would come into office, and that she doesn’t rely on the government for anything… she takes care of herself, and because she makes a good living she can take care of herself when the government doesn’t. And I thought to myself about how during the last Canadian election, there were so many discussions about voter apathy, and people becoming disillusioned by the parties and the leaders, and then I looked at my Kenyan friend, and saw real disillusionment… What it really means to have absolutely no faith in the government, to resign yourself to the fact that the only person who is looking out for you or is going to take care of you is, you.
And really, I couldn’t blame her, or argue with her.
So when you think about voting today, and say to yourself things like, “What’s the point? It will make no difference”, really think about how true that is, about places where there is no faith in the system, where people are and should be disillusioned… and get up, go out, and vote!
*Note: This entry was written on election day but I was not able to post it at that time. However, although slightly out of date, it might offer those of you who didn’t vote something to think about now…
When the election was called I almost immediately looked into how I could vote from Kenya. I had to download a form and fill it out, then fax/mail it to Canada, then they would mail me a ballot (because it has to be an original), then I would fill it out, and then mail it back (again because it has to be the original ballot)… Now if you knew what I know about the Kenyan postal service you would laugh because the election would be longer over, the votes would be tallied, and my ballot would still be in transit to Canada… So realizing the futility of my efforts, and the ridiculous process that the government makes Canadians abroad go through in order to vote, (basically making it impossible to do so from remote or developing places), I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t be voting in this election.
I was really sad about the whole thing because I think it’s extremely important, and that it’s my duty, to exercise the right to vote… And that unlike in many places as a citizen, a young person, a woman, I can and do vote. So a little frustrated by the bureaucracy that is Canada, I was complaining to a friend of mine who is from Mombasa, that I couldn’t vote. And she looked at me like, what’s the big deal… and she said, without apology or hesitation, “I never vote!”… Of course I asked why, although living in Kenya I had a feeling I knew the answer, she said, “Because it doesn’t matter”… She explained that she had no faith that the person who actually had received the most votes would come into office, and that she doesn’t rely on the government for anything… she takes care of herself, and because she makes a good living she can take care of herself when the government doesn’t. And I thought to myself about how during the last Canadian election, there were so many discussions about voter apathy, and people becoming disillusioned by the parties and the leaders, and then I looked at my Kenyan friend, and saw real disillusionment… What it really means to have absolutely no faith in the government, to resign yourself to the fact that the only person who is looking out for you or is going to take care of you is, you.
And really, I couldn’t blame her, or argue with her.
So when you think about voting today, and say to yourself things like, “What’s the point? It will make no difference”, really think about how true that is, about places where there is no faith in the system, where people are and should be disillusioned… and get up, go out, and vote!
*Note: This entry was written on election day but I was not able to post it at that time. However, although slightly out of date, it might offer those of you who didn’t vote something to think about now…
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