The Kenya Project 2016

Sojourn in Kenya:
Acorn Meets Tree
Surveying the Ancestral Lands
Home Again

UPDATE: Kenya Trip 2016 All Photos and Videos

UPDATE (February 8, 2016): Why I'm Blegging for my Kenya Trip

UPDATE (February 6, 2016): One Week Before Take-Off

UPDATE (February 2, 2016): Destination: Kenya

UPDATE (November 7, 2015): Dream Come True

UPDATE (January 2, 2014): Added information to The Kenya Project: Who and What page.

UPDATE (December 20, 2013): The Kenya Project: Who and What

ORIGINAL PROPOSAL: Of course, this prospective project won't be my first.

Back in 2008, when Kenya was experiencing a civil/tribal war and when a man of Kenyan Luo descent was running for president of the United States, I put forth a series of posts at my old blog under the heading of Kenya Happenings and composed a page entitled Kenya: The Basics. (I hope I can get them back.) These posts and pages were meant to dispel several misconceptions about the country, its people, its history and the conflict that it was experiencing. Of course, I had a vested personal interest aside from that which all Americans had; as many know, my biological father, Philip Ochieng is also from Kenya and is Luo like Barack Obama, Sr. (On top of that, the two men were friends.)


But the American reportage I read during that time--from both traditional and new media sources--almost always left pertinent details out. And, as I said then, both types of media seem to not want to get information from the plentiful Kenyan sources. I don't know what that was about, but it seemed, well, stupid.


Now in 2013, as in 1998, Kenya finds itself reeling after a Islamic terror attack in its capital city. Al Shabaab, a Somalian offshoot of al Qaeda, attacked and brutally murdered patrons of Nairobi's Westgate Mall during a three-day siege. The particulars of it are all over the place, so I won't go into it here.


But when I began to read crap from my fellow Americans like " I didn't know they had malls in Africa," I knew it was time to start writing about Kenya again. This time, the focus will be to explore the foundational enmity between Kenyans and Somalians--in addition to the religious one.


And this time, I have the blessing and knowledge base of family members--not so much to correct any info I put forth, but to give it proper context. That was something that was difficult to come by in 2008. Additionally, after five years of a president of Kenyan descent as POTUS, we have even more context, both for ill and good.


I want to run this project concurrently with my other project, the completion of my second novel, Arlen's Harem. Of course, many of the expenses are identical. (Most of these fees, are for possible self-publishing and for paying a graphic artist.) I'll run it as a series for two weeks, to see if there's any interest. If there is, I'll keep going. And I still means that I'm going to need financial help. Donors who are willing can Go Fund Me or, if your want to get my Typepad bill paid right now and coffee in me early tomorrow morning, you can hit my Paypal tip jar at my blog site.
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For whatever reason, Kenya's fate seems to be bound up in ours--Americans. As a Christian, I know that nothing in the lives of the servants of Jesus the Christ is coincidental or accidental. Why God the Father would connect the fates of the Superpower and the tiny African country on the continent's east coast is beyond my ken. But, in the exploration of a political connection between the two countries, I believe that a spiritual connection will be revealed. I can feel it.


So it is that I wish to explore the history and present-day occurrences in my father's country. I am no historian, no do I have any educational credentials. All I have are will, faith and an Internet connection and, in my opinion, the faith is of the highest import.


A wise guy named Solomon asserted that reverence for the Lord--faith in Him--is the beginning of wisdom. That's my lone credential. May it be enough.