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The view from the verandah was magnificent in the late June sunset. Green fields of corn about four feet tall spread as far as the eye could see. Towards the right, the fields rose slightly in a gentle incline. Directly in front, they dipped into a valley then rose up a high hill. At the top of the hill, far on the horizon, were tall trees that seemed to form a border as though that was the end of the earth. Scattered throughout these fields were dwellings; some brick or concrete buildings, some grass-thatched mud huts.
Two brothers sat in rocking chairs staring in the distant. Musa was older by almost two years. He lived in Nairobi where he taught religious studies at a university. He had a house on the farm but only used it during the holidays or on an occasional weekend when he chose to visit. Juma, on the other hand, lived on the farm. He believed in his culture and traditions which he knew people in the big cities forgot. Though he visited Musa at his house in Nairobi, he still preferred the farm. His son had built him a big house just like the ones in the city. He had everything he needed plus the peace and quiet that comes with country living. No violence, no pollution, no noisy cars passing by constantly. This was good living.
"So how is the city?" Juma asked.
"Hectic as ever. More people are coming out there thinking there are jobs and opportunities waiting for them. Alas, all they encounter is despair, alcohol, drugs, prostitution and violence. What has happened to our people?" Musa spoke with sorrow in his voice. "My son is twenty-five now and still living with me. He cannot find a job and has turned to alcohol. He drinks and keeps bad company. Sometimes I think he does it all to punish me."
"We need to look back to the past in order to build a good future for our children." Juma said, gently rocking back and forth. "Our culture is rich with distinctively appropriate laws and traditions that have kept us on the right path for many years. All these so-called modern conveniences have spoiled us."
"What do you want us to do, go back to wearing skins and praying to the mountains?" Musa asked.
"Obviously you have to jump to such innate conclusions." Juma said sitting up straight in his chair. I am not talking about clothes - and what is wrong with praying to the mountains? Our ancestors knew that the mountain was not God. They only believed He lived there. Why is it okay for Moses to have gone to the mountain to talk to God but not our people? You have been brainwashed by the white man. That is all I can say."
"What is this thing you have against the white man?" Musa asked.
"Too much to explain in one sitting. See, I don't have anything against industrialization and bringing us an international language to enable us to communicate with the rest of the world. I also don't hate the white man. There are a lot of good Kenyans who are of European descent and I embrace them for their love of this country and their belief that we can all do something to better it. What I don't like is the way their forefathers came over by sending missionaries who convinced us that we were barbaric, Neanderthal beings who had neither knowledge nor direction. They told us that everything we ever believed in was wrong and that we must follow their ways and believe in their God or we were doomed."
"Maybe we needed some changes." Musa said. "Some of the things we did were frightening."
"I don't have anything against any religion as long as it teaches the good word. I have total respect for all religions that lead their followers on the righteous path. I don't think anybody should accuse one religion for being wrong just because he does not believe in it. But religion aside, the white men send their military might after the missionaries to take over our land. Since we had inferior weaponry, they had no problem taking over. Then the various European countries settled in different parts of Africa so when they fought their world wars, we were used to fight for them. Millions of Africans were killed in wars that had nothing to do with them. They were not fighting for their rights or their land. They were fighting for the white man. Has anyone compensated us for that? I don't think so."
"You need to let bygones be bygones. All men have been evil at one time or another. We need to learn from our mistakes."
"There has been too much western influence on our people. That is the main problem. We think that we are not good unless we try to be like the white man. This has been passed down through generations and it does not seem to be coming to an end anytime soon. I mean, if someone behaves well, we say they are like white people. If they behave badly then they are behaving like Africans. We have this mentality that white is good and black is bad. We have to follow the great white way or we shall perish. Young people are making their skins lighter and their noses smaller because they want to resemble whites. What is this nonsense?"
"I'll have to agree that there is a cultural influence on our people but I'm sure they know who they are and where they came from. They must know they are just as human as the white man." Musa said though he knew Juma was right.
"Everyday, we are told of how the white man invented this and that. What have we invented? What have we done to contribute to the industrial revolution? And now that the computer age is upon us what are we doing to contribute towards it? Is this all because we are stupid? I don't think so. We produce some of the finest minds right here. We also send some of our brightest students in virtually all parts of the world to study further. And when we come up with something like that AIDS medicine, the western world does not take notice. What's wrong here?"
"We don't have resources. We are a small, poor country. Africa is fragmented into these little countries that cannot do much on their own. If Africa was one country, we would be a superpower."
"Then why don't we unite? We don't have to be one country, we just need to help each other out. We already have the Organization of African Unity. We can use that as a platform to launch a definitive plan into effect. We can start out with a united bank into which each country donates some money. From there we can use each country's resources to build industries and plan constructive trade that would enable growth for all countries. We can encourage foreign companies to invest in us at the beginning to help us germinate, so to speak. It can be done." Juma spoke as if he had thought this over for a long time.
"All that is good talk but it's only a dream." Musa said. "We can't even unite the tribes of one country. What chance do we have of uniting different countries?"
"Through education and campaigns. I think that the more our children learn, the better they want our country to be. They want to throw out petty differences if it means doing better for themselves. There are hardly any jobs out there and whatever there is does not pay much. If they know we can do better by working together, they can see through the differences. Like I said, we have to look to the past. Our ancestors looked out for one another by taking care of everyone in the village. They would not let a child go hungry just because it was not their own. Everyone in the village was a member of the family. This is the formula we have to apply to make it.
My daughter calls me a primitive intellectual - one who is an intellect but sticks to primitive ways. We should all be primitive intellectuals. We should never forget our past or who we are. Too many of us are changing not only the way we think and act but also the way we look in imitation of the white man. We should not be ashamed of the color of our skin or our African features. We need to be proud of who we are. We are not animals who roamed the jungle before the white man came to save us as we are led to believe. We were a proud people who built great kingdoms and invented tools that would revolutionalise the world. We were a people with history and heritage and knowledge. We should not be belittled by other races. We have been scattered all over the earth, been made slaves, lost our languages and heritage but we are survivors who need to unite whether we live on this continent or elsewhere. We need to help one another out and be what we once were - a proud race."
The sun had gone down and it was getting dark. Juma stood up from his chair and Musa did likewise.
"You speak the truth, my brother." Musa said as they walked into the house. "We need to teach our children the way the ways of our forefathers. Somehow somewhere we lost our way. We need to find it once again."
"We shall find it again. I have faith in our youth. My children understand it all. They say that most young people in school want changes to. There is too much selfishness going on these days. Individuals are thinking of themselves and how to better themselves instead of bettering their community and country. But things will change. We will change. We have to to survive the twenty-first century. We have to do all we can to make it. Even if we all have to learn to be primitive intellectuals."
They both laughed lightly at that but they knew it was true.
