Reality Is the Best Lesson
Pictured: KENYA, June 2024– Mass protests against government economic policies continued even after proposed tax hikes were rescinded
In 2009, I graduated from the University of California – Santa Cruz (UCSC). Although I was born in Idaho, my parents were from Kenya. I had never been to Kenya. Everyone in my school days assumed I was a black kid, and I was teased and bullied. I had an intense desire to visit Kenya.
I came to UCSC to study sustainable agriculture. During my student days, I met a comrade who worked on a communist newspaper. We participated in many campus struggles. He was particularly interested in life as an immigrant student. He gave me a book called The Lords of Poverty in my final year.
The book is a collection of stories of people from the US and Europe who got assignments to do relief work in countries devastated by famine, drought, or wars. These bureaucrats and technocrats would triple their salaries compared to the assignments in NY or Washington, D.C. The extravagant salary was justified because they were undertaking ‘dangerous’ tasks.
Those with these ‘dangerous’ tasks ended up living in luxurious villas in the affected countries, with chauffeur-driven cars, security personnel, chefs, and several household staff working around the clock.
After I graduated from UCSC, I worked in a non-profit organization that was trying to mitigate the effects of climate change. While it sounded like a noble cause, I discovered that their goal was not to change capitalism but to soften the effect of climate change. I said to myself, “I don’t want to be one of the lords of poverty.”
I left my job. The first opportunity I got to live in Kenya, I grabbed it. I was a field officer in charge of USAID in Kenya. I still thought I would not be what the book said: a corrupt, sell-out bureaucrat.
My assignment was very challenging. I met lots of people from around the world. Most importantly, I lived with a modest Kenyan family. I also saw huge demonstrations in Nairobi against US imperialism. There were rumors that USAID was a CIA front.
I looked at my assignment in Kenya with a myopic vision. But reality is the best lesson in life. People in the streets were furious at the US-sponsored entities. I was also getting the communist literature from my friend from UCSC. I lived with this split personality by justifying that I gave up lucrative assignments, opting to do the fieldwork.
Fast forward to February 2025. I was fired, along with thousands of USAID workers, around the world. After the initial shock, I started reading Red Flag seriously. What caught my attention were the stories from Gaza and Israel. There is a sizable Muslim community in Kenya and many public demonstrations.
I have another opportunity to shift to Johannesburg. We are living in interesting times. This opportunity is not another bureaucratic job. Over the years, I have known a good deal about the work of ICWP comrades in South Africa. I have a vast network of people from all over Africa. I look forward to meeting you soon.
—No Longer a Lord of Poverty