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Kenya: Ties That Bind American Women to Rural Kenya
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The Nation (Nairobi)
20 September 2007
Posted to the web 19 September 2007
Kenneth Ogosia
Nairobi
Mrs Marcia Tate-Arunga's love stretches not only beyond her motherland but also, her husband's home.
Born in the US city of Seattle, a symbol of wealth and industry, she married Mr Dave Arunga from Karachuonyo's Huma hills, which is ravaged by poverty, tattered roads, HIV and Aids and death.
But her vigorous campaign in her motherland for transformation of her marital home has demonstrated the meaning of marriage as an institution ordained by God to surpass race, tribe, language and cultural barriers.
Thanks to her efforts, 57 American women of diverse professional and economic backgrounds visit the county on a charity mission every year.
As the women traverse Rachuonyo, Homa Bay, Kibera and Kakamega, they raise the hopes of Aids orphans and support a number of community projects.
Support projects
Mrs Arunga founded the African-American Kenyan Women Organisation to support community projects in Huma, Kochia, Kanyamfwa and Kakdhimu villages where her husband's kin live.
Mrs Philgona Okundi, whose charm and motherly demeanor cradled the hopes of the poor majority in the region, was, until she died, the Kenyan pillar of the project.
"Many women from Kenya have been to Seattle City to get inspiration. We also invite these sisters who fate consigned to the distant lands to get to know the effects of slavery and colonialism in Africa," Mrs Arunga says.
The majority of the group's members are African-Americans.
The organisation dispatched 57 cultural ambassadors to Africa from where their forefathers were captured.
Their visits have created satellites of Seattle City in the state of Washington within Homa Bay, Rachuonyo and Kibera slums through development.
Presidential candidate
Their brother, Illinois Senator and Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, is linked to the region, but their presence does not attract the excitement the politician sparked when he toured the area.
They keep off politics and treat as a coincidence Mrs Arunga's marriage to the ODM presidential candidate Raila Odinga's aide.
But they cannot conceal their support for Mr Obama.
They consider their attachment to the Kenyan villages the retracing of their roots.
"We represent African historical pains through slavery. Marriages now form the umbilical cord back to our cultural homes through annual pilgrimage rivalling Senator Barack Obama's 2006 triumphal return home," says Mrs Arunga.
She believes her ancestors together with those of her colleagues in the group were captured as slaves about 400 years ago to work in distant lands where they died and lost their roots in Africa.
Through marriage to Dr Arunga, formerly a student in US who hails from Rachuonyo District, Mrs Arunga says she had found her roots and for the last seven years, the group members have been flying to their "village" in Kenya in what is dubbed a cultural reconnection mission.
Mrs Arunga, who holds a Masters degree in Human Development, founded the organisation together with Mrs Okundi, wife to Rangwe MP Phillip Okundi.
The women support orphanages, donate books to schools, promote poultry and livestock farming and build water tanks.
In her booklet, Same Country Different Lens, team member Dawn Mason says Kenya is a beautiful country and they are inspired by support adults give children.
"We are in a cultural reconnection mission; women of African descent travelling home to reconnect and find a cultural commonality. Through photography and other media we are recording our experiences. We are preserving and studying the present in preparation for a better future for Kenya's children," she says.
She says Kenyan children and women need help to create a brighter future.
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She notes that the Kenyan experience is that of pride for children who are deeply loved. "Kenyan children and community is our own and we must help them get education they need to sustain them in today's world," Dawn says.
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