What a dollar a day really means

I think that when we hear catch phrases as "dollar a day" we do not know the full meaning of it. Statistics just blend together as a bunch of numbers with some being larger than others. So when we see advertisements on t.v. about how half of the world's population lives on less than a dollar a day, we think, "wow, billions of people live on a dollar a day. That's a lot of people." Then we forget about the real meaning and suffering of the people that the statistic shows.

Then a breaking news story comes between headlines on CNN or MSNBC talking about riots in Kenya. Along with the headlines, graphic images are provided with teens with machetes killing innocent people in the streets.

What happened? Isn't Kenya supposed to be that beautiful country in Africa with lions and grass plains that we see in movies? Why are there riots there now? Many of these questions go on and most Americans do not have a clue why.

This is going to be the first entry on Kenya of many. First I want to say, that like most African countries, the problems cannot be completely explained in a blog. So I will just cover a little bit for you. Also, Kenya is seen as a prospering country by many people across the world, when compared to other African countries. So why should I write about Kenya, when far many other countries have more serious problems than Kenya. So in a few sentences I will explain:

While Kenya does and have had their problems suffering throughout their history, it had always seen as a place of some stability. Tourism is big there, they allow the press to have offices there, and many people think of Kenya as what we see in the movies: vast beautiful plains with tall grass, glowing sunsets, lions and elephants. So when the riots broke out, a lot of people wondered why, because they didn't see it coming. many thought, "why is Kenya going back to violence and killings after they have been doing so well for so long?"

Well, they weren't doing well. With massive corruption in politics and the cities, millions of people in the slums in cities and villages were starving while the cats kept getting fatter in the cities. So for my first entry on Kenya, I will talk about the poverty in the country, not the corruption in the cities.

The BBC just came out with an excellent audio documentary on "Dollar a day" by Mike Wooldridge. There is a global target to halve world poverty by 2015. In this series, Wooldridge goes around the world to share real stories of individual people that live for less than one dollar a day. His first segment is about Kenya.

In the documentary he interviews people from that live in the villages of Kenya that live on less than a dollar a day. So what does that mean? Isaiah Mawangu of Kaimosi in Western Kenya is a farmer. He supports his disabled wife and six grand children from his farm. Most of the food grown on his farm is not for sale. Because the soil is not fertile, he can only grow enough maize to feed his family of eight people. He does grow tea and sells that as well for extra income. An income of about 6 dollars a month. That is what he has to live on.

Education in Kenya is free, but children have to buy uniforms, that cost about 3 dollars each. Doesn't sound like much but when you are supporting a family of 8 on 6 dollars a month, it is.

I encourage you to listen to the 23 minute documentary about Kenya and the farmers listening on less than a dollar a day. It is not all doom and gloom. You will hear stories from caring people, that while they are not rich, they have a positive attitude of life. Also, check out the story that was written.

Stay tuned for more. The next piece that will be up in a few days will go over the history of the Kenyans.