A Reflection of Kenya by Br. Bryan Dolejsi, OP

This past six months I have been living and studying with the Dominican community in Nairobi, Kenya. In many respects, my experience has been one of being on the "edge" of things. I have been on the edge here geographically, culturally, and economically. This so-called ‘edge’ provides a space of vulnerability and learning, a liminal space of opportunity. An opportunity where God’s Grace can move in an individuals life transforming one more and more into the Paschal Mystery of Christ.

Some two years ago, Fr. Kieran Healey, O.P. of the Western Province, who has worked in Kenya for the past 11 years, encouraged me to come study for a year. I believed, even though somewhat naively, that I would be piercing the very ‘heart of Africa’ through relationships, educational opportunities, ministerial experiences, travel, and spirituality. However, instead of finding myself in the heart of things, I have found myself more on the edge, of humanity and within myself.

There are three Dominican houses in East Africa all within Kenya. Two of the houses are primarily focused on formation and education, including not only students but also professors at Tangaza College where the Dominicans attend school. The third house is based around a one-year-old parish on the outskirts of Nairobi and also serving as chaplains to a number of university and secondary schools. In this milieu, it is appropriate to be here as a student brother in studies. Life as a student here has more similarities than differences to the student life in California with regular prayer, class, community time, and limited ministry opportunities. However, being a student in an institution of higher learning on this continent already places one somewhere near the "edge", as I primarily encounter a very select and privileged cross-section of society of within the overall population. Tangaza College is truly the "Rome of Africa" including over 900 students (seminarians, religious sisters, and lay) from almost every sub-Saharan African country (52 nationalities, including me…the ONE American student!) coming from over 100 religious communities. It is not uncommon for me to enter into a group discussion with people from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Liberia, Malawi, and sometimes even a Kenyan! Also, within Nairobi, there is the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, St. Thomas Aquinas Diocesan Seminary (originally founded by Dominicans), Hekima Jesuit Scholastic, and various other minor seminaries.

I also live on the edge geographically. Kenya is one of the few nations in the area which has not experienced a major civil war, while remaining an extremely viable tourist area for safaris and hiking, and its overall stability opens up mediums for international influence and investment from primarily the E.U. and India as somewhat of a ‘gateway to east Africa.’ During the Christmas holiday I had an opportunity to penetrate into the ‘heart of Africa’ around Lake Victoria. My travels took me deep into Uganda and then one sobering day in Rwanda viewing various genocide sites where over 1 million Tutsi’s were killed within the span of three months in 1994. This experience reflected the continued unrest in this part of the world with continued conflict in Burundi, northern Uganda (the "Lord’s Liberation Army"), southern Sudan, Somalia, a dictatorship in Zimbabwe?, and insurgence’s of conflict in the Congo. Even where the studentate is located, in the town of Karen, is on the "edge" of Nairobi itself, situated in an extremely nice and safe neighborhood of Karen Blixen (Out of Africa) fame. This provides us with yet another interesting view of the world, as we live a lifestyle that only perhaps 5% of the population enjoys with a large compound, garden, vehicles, guards, and even our own water source. Outside of Nairobi, Mombassa, and a few other major cities, the majority of people in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa in general live by means of subsistent agricultural farming which usually provides an adequate diet even though health care and appropriate education remains somewhat limited.

We are also on the edge culturally. Even though English is the common language of schools and upper end business, Swahili is still a dominant factor. Most Churches offer Masses in both English and Swahili and much of our teaching in campus ministries, parish settings, and schools of theology and philosophy is done in English. However, this common language creates a bit of a façade for cultural similarities. The varying modes of communication, numerous tribes, and such provide unfolding cultural exchanges. Ministerial visits to public hospitals, prisons, homeless shelters for youth, HIV orphanages, and parishes located in the largest slums in Nairobi have also revealed another depth of the culture here. Most Kenyans remain proud, friendly, and confident, poverty has influenced the lives of countless through various degrees of suffering. Public hospitals are overcrowded, with two or sometimes three ill people on one bed (often times with different illnesses!), inadequate resources even lacking suitable food in some places, and with people suffering from HIV, cancer, malaria, violent injuries, and other such ailments. The experience itself is sobering. The conditions in the prisons are near inhumane without an adequate diet, medicine, or pastoral resources; as both men and women suffer acutely in the ‘correctional system’ here. HIV has affected many as well, as I have visited various houses for homeless children and HIV orphans. Lastly, I have spent time in a thriving parish in the center of the largest slum (Kibera) in Nairobi. In all these situations there is an unquenchable human hope which is enkindled by the help of others. In the face of such conditions, the Dominicans continue to offer ministerial support, along with providing school fees for needy children as an investment in the future.

Economically we remain on the edge as well. Kenya, and other nations in Africa face numerous issues such as international debt, fighting against internal government corruption, responding to the needs of the HIV pandemic (29 million of the 42 million people in the world infected are living in Africa), striving for peaceful resolutions to internal conflict, and increasing the quality and opportunities to quality education (all public universities in Kenya have been on strike for the past 3 months due to disagreement over wages for lecturers). However, the largest justice issue facing Kenya is truly free and equal access to the global economy. Globalization is a factor of life here, providing many advantages such as increased access to medical supplies, information, and education, yet consistent pressures such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) failed trade talks, various loans by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank are creating a situation where Kenya is unable to compete in the global economy, often times becoming a trade partner out of desperation and more of a consumer than an agent of influence and change. Tourism remains the largest income producing business in Kenya, while major exports include primarily tea, coffee, and sugar. On average, Africa only produces 2% of all goods circulating in the global economy. Heavy agricultural subsidies in the U.S. and European Union (E.U.) control the international market on many levels, leaving Kenya susceptible to fluctuations in global trade. Neo-liberal capitalism continues to provide a great deal of wealth for a small minority of the world’s population, as over 50% of all Africans live on less than $1 a day. Africa has responded in various ways, most hopeful is the African Union which should provide a stronger base of support in the face of increasing global economic pressures. The Catholic Church here continues to play a vital role in governmental decisions and in offering a social commentary upon economic developments throughout the country.

All of these experiences have led me, first, more deeply into prayer for the needs of the world. Secondly, I have moved more deeply into understanding my role in promoting justice as a seminarian within the Catholic Church. Thirdly, I continue to reflect and analyze the role of the United States in globalization, both positive and negative impacts. Lastly, I have been led more deeply into relationships, based primarily on listening and being a witness to the experiences of others from the highly educated and religiously minded to the poorest of the poor and those business people driven by the capitalist economic motive. To be honest, it has not been easy remaining on this ‘edge,’ but my hope is that eventually, by remaining where things are not necessarily comfortable and clear, I will be transformed into the heart of the mystery of being. The mystery of the Triune God active in the world, the mystery of the joy and suffering of common humanity, and lastly into the mystery of my own identity and role in these two larger contexts.

Notes on Peace and Justice

Photos of Africa