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When you think of Kenya, you quickly think of herds of zebras, vast plains with elephants and lakes filled with hippos. In addition, the country is known for its rich tribal culture, where people walk among the wild animals wearing red-blocked robes and carrying a walking stick. But what you may not have known is that Kenya also has very chill beaches én super-modern cities, making it the ideal place is to go on vacation or for a while work remotely.
During a workation I recently got to experience all these different aspects of Kenya and discovered that there are some things that we as Dutch can learn from the Kenyan culture.
More than 40 different tribes
Now I’ll say right off the bat that there really isn’t one Kenyan culture, because the population is divided into tribes, or tribes. There are more than 40 different tribes in Kenya, all of which have their own language, rituals, customs and pieces of land.
The capital Nairobi is a melting pot of all tribes, but outside the major cities there is often one tribe which clearly prevails.
Now the former president of Kenya did try his best to make all these cultures mix with each other. For example, by not allowing people to have school to have it figured out, but assigning them a university.
As a result, the students in class with people from other tribes and other areas. And by now there is some kind of common culture that connects people.
Compared to Dutch culture, these are some striking (and inspiring) differences:
1. Everyone is family
Something that very much characterizes Kenyan culture is that it is much less individualistic than in the Netherlands. If you look at how children are raised, it is literally: a child is raised by a village. Everywhere you go, a child can just be put on your lap. That would be very strange in the Netherlands.
Or if you’re visiting somewhere, they can just introduce a child to you and then leave it with you, because they’ll assume you’re looking after it. Even if you only go there to visit once a year, you very quickly belong to the family, just by being there. Being together is much stronger, so the beauty is also: you never have to be alone.
2. Surviving together
They will always do their best to care for and be there for each other. No man is left behind. If someone is in the hospital or there is a funeral and the family can’t actually pay for it, the whole community will contribute money to pay that bill.
People live in a participatory society because there is no government to fall back on. If a crisis breaks out in Kenya, the biggest problem is that you don’t go to bed hungry at night. Instead of: not being able to go to the pub in the evening.
In Kenya, people then look much more at: how can we make allmál survive? Instead of: how can I survive? And children will also always take care of their parents until they die And share everything with the family. There is no waiting until the parents die and they can rake in the inheritance.
3. Creative with few resources
In addition, it is admirable to see how creatively Kenyans can solve things. Sometimes you see things that zó are broken, but they still manage to continue or work with it.
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They are better at dealing with the things they already have, while the Dutch are more likely to look at what they still need. If something is broken, Kenyans will think: how am I going to solve this, with the means I already have? We can learn something from that.
4. Less direct communication
Another thing: Kenyans are not as direct as the Dutch. We like to tell it like it is and they will rather skirt around it. We can learn from them, because we can sometimes be blunt. While you can also do it in a nice way can say it in a nice way.
5. Dance and music is part of “being.
Furthermore, culture in Kenya is not something you practice, but what you are. Dance, theater and music is an expression of culture, not an art form. You dance when you are happy or at a celebration or party, that is a collective fact.
People are proud of their culture. The feeling of being part of a group and tradition plays a much stronger role there than in the Netherlands. For them, culture and life are not separate worlds. We can take an example from this.
6. Less rushing
Last but not least, we can learn from the Kenyans to rush less rush about nothing. People in the Netherlands already panic if the train is delayed for a few minutes, while the bus in Kenya can easily be 2 hours late and then nothing is wrong.
‘Pole pole’ means ‘slowly slowly’ in Swahili and this seems to be the life motto of the Kenyan people. Take it easy, relax, take it easy, no stress, everything will be fine.
The lessons we can learn from Kenyan culture