Reflection on the values and beliefs of different cultures

Last week illuminated some very interesting and shocking values and beliefs that exist in Kenya. There was a huge scandal in the national news (and throughout the country) because two Kenyan men were married in the UK. I have never experienced such incredible homophobia. I was immediately reminded of what a bubble I’ve been living in, in the bay area. People were going crazy because of these men. What was the most shocking was that even people who I have become close to expressed some very disrespectful and hateful views about homosexuals. My supervisor at work (which is a faith-based NGO - mainly Christian, with some Muslims) actually sent an email to everyone at work entitled “REPENT” and went on to say, “REPENT! The world is coming to an end. This is bad. Jesus needs to come back NOW!” Attached were photos from the marriage between the two Kenyan men in the UK. I was absolutely shocked and incredibly offended. It was especially surprising that it came from my supervisor, because I’m close to him and he’s an authority figure, but most of all because Hope Worldwide Kenya says it does work with the MSM (men who have sex with men) population. I haven’t seen them making an effort to get in touch with the homosexual population…and now I understand why.
After reading the email, I immediately deleted it while exclaiming (aloud), “I don’t agree with this.” When asked why by my friends, I began to explain why I believed in homosexual rights…especially the right to wed. They were shocked that homosexuals were able to marry in some states. But what really caught me was that when I was trying to explain the way I thought about these issues I found myself constantly explaining that my views were not very representative of America as a whole. That was a very humbling experience, and it really inspired me to continue my research on stigmatization of the homosexual community in the US. It is very different to read about people in the US (or around the world) who strongly disagree with homosexuals and think they should be “punished,” but it is an entirely different thing to have friends that say that. It makes it WAY more personal, and I think this experience really made me realize that those people, who are incredibly homophobic, really do exist—they aren’t just random people who are in the news, documentaries and movies. I know it sounds really nieve to say…I do understand that homophobia exists (that’s why I did my honors thesis on it), but I guess I didn’t really understand to what extent. One of my friend’s host sister even said that if her son was homosexual she would kill him…she was completely serious. Wow.

So that was definitely an eye-opening experience for me. On a similar note, the past few weeks have been the first time, in my life, that I’ve really had a full conversation with very devout Christians about their beliefs(homosexuals obviously made it into those discussions). One of the more interesting conversations actually grew out of that homophobic email my boss sent me. I asked my friend if people really thought the world was coming to an end because people from the same sex were falling in love, having sex and getting married. She said “Yes!” like I was crazy to be even asking such a question…like she was asking “you don’t?!” When I asked why her explanation was as follows: “Because the bible prophesizes that when people start behaving badly and ‘against god’s will’ and when there are devastating diseases such as HIV/AIDS the world will come to an end.” When I asked her why the world didn’t stop earlier she said: “There were never homosexuals when my grandma was alive. Women obeyed their husbands and there was no diseases like HIV/AIDS.” I was SHOCKED when I heard that but tried not to give my thoughts away so I just smiled. She noticed my change in behavior and asked why I was smiling. I pointed out that homosexuals were probably around when her grandma was growing up because there were homosexuals in America at that time…heck, there is evidence that there were homosexuals in ancient Rome (they’re even mentioned in the bible!!). I also pointed out that there have been devastating diseases before HIV/AIDS…black plague. She had never heard of it. She was also very disbelieving that homosexuals existed before her grandma’s time. I told her they probably hid it because they knew they would be discriminated against (actually probably killed). I had some anger when I heard her say these things (not towards her, but towards the beliefs that she was representing). I am trying really hard to be understanding and accepting of different cultures and religions, but it is SO hard when they compromise the rights of other human beings. People here always talk about women’s rights; that they are human beings, just like men, so they should be treated equally. But then there is this huge double standard because it doesn’t apply to homosexuals. News flash: THEY ARE HUMANS TOO!!!! It really makes me so frustrated. It is hard to distinguish where the line is drawn between respectfully informing people about my beliefs and being culturally sensitive. I try to do the former, but I’m afraid that by doing so, I’m risking being culturally insensitive and rude. It’s definitely good experience. I’m learning how to tread lightly but still express my beliefs.

On a completely different note: work is going well. I’m in the midst of writing my grant for the project I want to do with PLWHAs (people living with HIV/AIDS). It is due by the end of this week, so I’ll be VERY busy. I’m really excited about it though. We are going to do a training with PLWHAs about how to start “kitchen gardens” in their homes. With these skills, PLWHAs can grow vegetables in their kitchen just using a sack with soil in it. Not only will this provide them with sustainable access to vegetables, when they start growing enough, they can sell them in the market and earn money to buy more food. This afternoon my advisor and I are meeting with Unity Bank to see if they can come and speak at our training session with PLWHAs about microfinance. Tomorrow we are meeting with the ministry of health, Likodep (a community development/ microfinance NGO) and the ministry of agriculture. I’m very excited for these meetings and getting my project up and running.

This past weekend was wonderful. It stopped raining on Thursday and has been hot and sunny for the past five days (knock on wood!). On Friday, Amanda and I went to this really amazing restaurant called Tamarind and had some good seafood. On Saturday, I went to town with my host sister and we had lunch with her good friend Superior (great name ☺. It was really nice to meet her and we had a good time. Then I met Amanda at Fort Jesus and walked around there with a tour guide. It was VERY interesting and I took lots of pictures. Fort Jesus was built by the Portuguese, when they first came to East Africa, as a military fort. A couple of years later, the Arabs took over and converted it to a place to keep slaves during the slave trade. Then the British army took it over and it was a government prison until independence. It was so interesting to see the artifacts and hear the history of the place (those of you who know me well know how I love visiting historic sites).
Later that night Amanda and I went to a house party to celebrate Halloween. It was at the house of a peace corps volunteer we know through FSD. It was SO much fun. Amanda went as a zebra and I, a cheetah. We had to get really creative with costumes, and I think we definitely succeeded. We used a headband and attached drawings of cheetah and zebra ears. It was pretty great considering the limited resources we had.
But yeah, things are good and I’m getting ready to write my grant this week. Wish me luck!

oxoxo Anna